§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list each of the overseas trips made by himself and other members of his ministerial team in each of the last four years, specifying the purpose and cost of each trip. [30177]
The Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of StateFor details of Cabinet Ministers' visits overseas costing more than £500 and the annual cost of all Ministers' visits overseas since 2 May 1997, I refer the hon. Member to the answers provided by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 17 June 1999,Official Report, columns 196–97W, 28 July 2000, Official Report, column 969W and 20 July 2001, Official Report, column 467W. The Government are committed to publishing this level of information on an annual basis, and information for 2001–02 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the current financial year. In view of this commitment which involves a significant amount of work and cost, the Government have no plans to widen the scope of the annual list to include junior Ministers.