§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what has been the cost of official entertainment at Dorneywood to his Department's budget in each year since May 1997; [125679]
439W(2) if he will list the occasions on which Dorneywood has been used for official purposes since 1 May 1997, listing the guests who attended on each occasion; [125678]
(3) how many staff paid out of his Department's budget have been employed at Dorneywood since May 1997. [125684]
§ Ms Beverley HughesUnder the terms of the endowment providing for its use by successive Governments since the 1950s, Dorneywood is maintained at no cost to the taxpayer. The same arrangement applies now as under previous administrations: no staff from any Government Department are employed at Dorneywood, and Government Ministers pay their own personal expenses on items such as food and drink when visiting Dorneywood privately.
When Ministers from my Department use Dorneywood for official Government business, expenses are paid by the Department. Since May 1997, Dorneywood has been used for meetings with a range of Ministers and officials on a number of occasions. The approximate total cost to the Department for each year since May 1997 was as follows:
Year £ May 1997-March 1998 3,000 April 1998-March 1999 2,000 April 1999-March 2000 1,300