HC Deb 08 September 2003 vol 410 cc32-3W
David Davis

To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the(a) foreign and (b) UK visits the Secretary of State has made since 1st April; what the cost was to public funds of each trip; who he met; and what gifts were received. [126893]

Mr. Leslie

The Government publishes the overall costs of all Ministerial overseas travel and a list of all visits overseas by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 on an annual basis. The list for the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 was published by the Prime Minister on 16 July 2003Official Report column 327W. The next list for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 will be published at the end of the financial year.

In respect of gifts received, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 March 2003, Official Report, column 482W.

With regards to domestic visits undertaken since 1 April 2003, the Lord Chancellor visited the Channel Islands at a cost of £1713.43 where he met members of the Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark Governments. He received a miniature milk churn, a tie, a paperweight and a book about Jersey.

He also visited Stratford-upon-Avon, at a cost of £288.00, where he met members of the Justices' Clerks' Society; Manchester, at a cost of £807.00, where he met members of the North West Law Centres Federation and the Solicitors Pro Bono Group; Hemsworth, at a costof £769.35, where he met various members of the public, and, the Isle of Man, at a cost of £551.32, where he met Her Majesty The Queen, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and representatives of the Manx Government.

The Lord Chancellor also visited Belfast, at a cost of £311.05, where he met the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland; Edinburgh, at a cost of £358.00, where he met Lord Cullen and Lord Gill; Preston, at a cost of £513.30, where he met members of the Lancashire Local Criminal Justice Board; and, Newcastle, at a cost of £877.43, where he met members of the Northumbrian Local Criminal Justice Board.