§ Mr. TyrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions between 31 March 2001 and 31 March 2002(a) departmental and (b) non-departmental special advisers have travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [58721]
§ Mr. MorleyDEFRA was created on 7 June 2001, and since then up to 31 March 2002, our special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity, including accompanying the Secretary of State on nine occasions, at an average cost of £1,788 per trip. The countries visited were Belgium x 2, France, Luxembourg, Morocco, USA, Poland, India and South Africa.
909WAll travel by special advisers is undertaken fully in accordance with the guidelines set out in the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code".
§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when and where she advertised the positions for special adviser in her Department. [63644]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 24 June 2002]: The Government's position on advertising special adviser posts remains as set out in the Government's response to the report of the Public Administration Select Committee on special advisers published in December 2001.