§ Mr. Derek TwiggTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list(a) Government expenditure on ministerial overseas visits for the financial years 1995–96 to 1999–2000 and (b) all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 between 1 April 1999 and 31 March 2000, including the cost, destination and purpose of the visit. [133854]
§ The Prime MinisterExpenditure on Ministerial overseas visits for the periods requested is estimated as follows:
Year £ million 1995–96 7.3 1996–97 7.9 2 May 1997–31 March 1998 6.4 1998–99 4.9 1999–2000 4.6 The figure for 1995–97 does not include some expenditure falling to the Scottish Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Welsh Office because the information was not recorded centrally or is incomplete. Full costs are available from 1996–97 onwards. All figures are in 1999–2000 prices1. The figure for 1999–2000 reflects payments made so far for travel undertaken in this period; a few bills have yet to be submitted to Departments for payment.
A list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 has been placed in the Libraries of the House. The list provides details of the date, destination and purpose of all such visits and the cost of Ministers' travel and accommodation where appropriate.
1 Using GDP deflators dated 29 June 2000