§ Ms Rosie WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many overseas796W visits, and to which countries, the Minister for Europe has undertaken on official business since assuming his office. [156762]
§ Mr. VazThe information is in the table.
Overseas travel: Keith Vaz MP—Minister forEurope Serial number Dates Location 01 14–15 October 1999 Tampere 02 18 October 1999 Hungary 03 19–20 October 1999 Warsaw 04 31 October—01 November 1999 Yerevan 05 08–09 November 1999 Paris 06 15–16 November 1999 Brussels 07 17 November 1999 Strasbourg 08 20–21 November 1999 Florence 09 23 November 1999 Luxembourg 10 09—11 December 1999 Helsinki 11 16–18 January 2000 Rome 12 19–20 January 2000 Athens 13 22 January 2000 Paris 14 24–25 January 2000 Brussels 15 30 January—05 February 2000 India 16 14 February 2000 Brussels 17 18 February 2000 Zagreb 18 28 February—01 March 2000 Washington 19 15–16 March 2000 Berlin 20 23–24 March 2000 Lisbon 21 29–30 March 2000 Brussels 22 10–11 April 2000 Luxembourg 23 15–16 May 2000 Porto 24 18–19 May 2000 Gibraltar 25 23 May 2000 Brussels 26 24–25 May 2000 Spain 27 25–26 May 2000 Lisbon 28 13 June 2000 Luxembourg 29 18–19 June 2000 Porto 30 04–05 July 2000 Malta 31 10 July 2000 Brussels 32 25–26 July 2000 Athens 33 05–06 September 2000 Slovenia 34 07 September 2000 The Hague 35 11–12 September 2000 Sweden 36 18 September 2000 Brussels 37 12–13 October 2000 Biarritz 38 18–19 October 2000 Italy 39 08 November 2000 Latvia 40 09 November 2000 Lithuania 41 19–20 November 2000 Brussels 42 28 November 2000 Slovakia 43 04 December 2000 Brussels 44 07–12 December 2000 Nice 45 15 December 2000 Brussels 46 22 January 2001 Brussels 47 24 January 2001 Prague 48 09 February 2001 Helsinki 49 22–23 February 2001 Stockholm 50 26 February 2001 Brussels 51 28 February 2001 Austria 52 14 March 2001 Cyprus 53 19 March 2001 Brussels 54 22–24 March 2001 Stockholm
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) of 20 March 2001,Official Report, column 112W, for what reason the responsibilities of the Minister for Europe were expanded to include entry clearance. [156355]
797W
§ Mr. Robin CookThe Minister for Europe was asked to take on responsibility for entry clearance because he was the best man for the job. His stewardship of the portfolio since then has been an outstanding success, as has been recognised by many Members of this House. At home and overseas he has delivered a huge improvement in service. He eliminated the backlog of replies to Members' letters on entry clearance cases, and has achieved dramatic reductions in waiting times at overseas posts such as Islamabad.