§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost was to the Welsh Office of ministerial(a) pay, (b) travel, (c) entertainment, (d) conferences, (e) overseas travel and (f) other costs in each year from 1998–99 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [89957]
§ Peter HainMy Department came into being on 1 July 1999.
(a) the remuneration of Ministers was £65,000 from July 1999 to March 2000; between £70,000 and £78,000 in 2000–01; between £95,000 and £110,000 in 2001–02.
(b) and (e) Since 1999 this Government has published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government has also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
Costs of domestic travel by Ministers are not readily separable from those of the Department as a whole.
(c) figures are not readily available for 1999/00. Departmental spending on hospitality was £21,000 in 2000/01 and 8,000 in 2001/02
(d) figures are not readily available for 1999/00. No separate expenditure on conferences is recorded for 2000/01 or 2001/02
(e) most other Ministerial expenditure cannot readily be separated from general Departmental expenditure. However the cost of Ministerial cars was £113,000 in 2000/01; £154,000 in 2001/02 and has been £107,000 in 2002/03 to date.