§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what conferences his Department has(a) sponsored and (b) been represented at since May 2002; and what was the cost of each sponsored conference since May 2002. [91621]
§ Mr. LeslieThe main conference sponsored by the Office was the November 2002 Urban Summit conference at a cost of £300,000. The Summit contributed to Government's thinking on the future urban agenda, including the Sustainable Communities Plan.
Other significant conferences that the Office has contributed to include:
£ UNECE 9th Conference on Urban and Regional research 90,000 Six national E-local Government regional conferences 30,000 Major Infrastructures Conference 26,000 The Strategic Partnering Taskforce Conference 22,000 NHS Confederation "Connecting 2002" Annual Conference 20,000 New Economics Foundation Inner Cities 100 Forum 20,000 The Office has given support to a further 14 conferences, costing a total of £67,050.
Information on conferences at which the Office has been represented is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.