§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of his officials attended conferences(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) overseas; and how many and what percentage made (i) oral and 603W (ii) written contributions to the matters under discussion in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [31179]
§ Dr. David ClarkFor the purposes of this answer, my Department is defined as the Office of Public Service (OPS) and the Executive Agencies for which I am responsible. Records are not kept in this form, but so far as I can establish, the number of officials who attended conferences in the United Kingdom in the period 1 January to 31 December 1997 was 216 and the number attending conferences overseas was 33. Of these, 109 made oral contributions and 38 made written contributions to the matters under discussion.
In addition, figures for the Central Office of Information, which is a separate Department, also reporting to me, are as follows: 32 officials attended conferences in the United Kingdom and one attended overseas. Of these, 7 made oral contributions and 1 made a written contribution.