---

Overseas Travel

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list each of the overseas trips made by himself and other members of his ministerial team since 2 May, specifying in each case (a) the participating Minister or Ministers, (b) the destination of the trip, (c) the purpose of the trip and (d) the cost of the trip; and if he will make a statement. [15228]

8 Dec 1997 : Column: 480

Dr. John Cunningham [holding answer 11 November 1997]: The costs of each overseas trip undertaken by myself or by members of my Ministerial team, including the costs of accompanying officials, since 2 May are as follows:

Date	Destination	Purpose	Costs £
20 May 1997 to 21 May 1997	Brussels	Agriculture Council (Dr. Cunningham)	1,840.72
20 May 1997	Brussels	Bilateral with Fisheries Commissioner (Mr. Morley and Dr. Cunningham--see above)	807.00
25 May 1997 to 27 May 1997	Netherlands	May Informal Council (Dr. Cunningham)	2,288.00
15 June 1997 to 16 June 1997	Stockholm	Bilateral with Swedish Agriculture Minister (Dr. Cunningham)	2,051.60
23 June 1997 to 24 June 1997	Luxembourg	Agriculture Council (Dr. Cunningham)	2,566.62
15 July 1997 to 16 July 1997	Strasbourg and Bonn	To meet the Temporary Committee European Parliament and then to Bonn for a bilateral (Dr. Cunningham)	3,340.00
21 July 1997 to 22 July 1997	Brussels	Agriculture Council (Dr. Cunningham)	3,150.24
06 October 1997 to 7 October 1997	Poland	Meeting with Ministers on CAP Reform and EU Enlargement (Lord Donoughue)	1,900.00
16 September 1997	Spain	Meeting of Fisheries Ministers (Mr. Morley)	2,300.40
22 September 1997 to 23 September 1997	Brussels	Agriculture Council (Dr. Cunningham)	2,625.20
9 September 1997 to 12 September 1997	Czech Republic and Hungary	Meeting with Ministers on CAP Reform and EU Enlargement (Lord Donoughue)	3,050.00
10 October 1997 to 12 October 1997	Rome	Bilateral with Italian Agriculture Minister (Dr. Cunningham)	1,593.00
13 October 1997	Cologne	ANUGA Food Fair (Dr. Cunningham)	547.80
16 October 1997	Indonesia	Trade Promotion (Lord Donoughue)	26,500.00
20 October 1997 to 21 October 1997	Luxembourg	Agriculture Council (Dr. Cunningham)	2,726.40
18 October 1997 to 26 October 1997	Monaco	Meeting of International Whaling Commission (Mr. Morley)	1,298.00
30 October 1997	Luxembourg	Fisheries Council (Mr. Morley)	2,849.40
7 November 1997 to 12 November 1997	South Africa	Trade Bilaterials (Dr. Cunningham)	13,415.60
17 November 1997 to 19 November 1997	Brussels	Agriculture Council (Dr. Cunningham)	3,266.00

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the expenditure by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies on overseas travel for (i) 1980-81, (ii) 1987-88, (iii) 1990-91, (iv) 1991-92, (v) 1992-93, (vi) 1993-94, (vii) 1994-95, (viii) 1995-96, (ix) 1996-97 and (x) 1 May to 30 September 1997; and if he will provide a breakdown to show (1) air fares and (2) other expenditure relating to overseas travel. [15227]

8 Dec 1997 : Column: 481

Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 November 1997]: Expenditure on overseas travel by Ministers and officials is shown in the table:

	MAFF
1980-81	n/a
1987-88	953,392
1990-91	1,444,905
1991-92	1,954,412
1992-93	2,159,191
1993-94	2,127,316
1994-95	1,910,202
1995-96	1,641,245
1996-97	1,834,381
1997-98 (May-September)	558,788

n/a = not available.

These figures do not include the expenditure by the Department's Agencies nor its non-departmental public bodies. Agencies will respond independently. The Department does not hold this information about its NDPBs, and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Dr. J. M. Rutter to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about expenditure on overseas travel by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, for (i) 1980-81, (ii) 1987-88, (iii) 1990-91, (iv) 1991-92, (v) 1992-93, (vi) 1993-94, (vii) 1994-95, (viii) 1995-96, (ix) 1996-97 and (x) 1st May to 30th September 1997, as this is an operational matter for which I am responsible.

The Directorate was established as a Next Steps Agency on 2 April 1990 and did not maintain its own accounts until 1991-92. Details of expenditure on overseas travel and subsistence since that date are shown below. Expenditure for airfares is not separately identifiable.

	£
1991-92	95,848
1992-93	112,386
1993-94	118,009
1994-95	126,864
1995-96	112,501
1996-97	98,676
1 May to 30 September 1997	24,289

The main element of overseas travel was in respect of inspections of manufacturing premises in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and Europe.

Letter from P. I. Stanley to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), to your question concerning expenditure on overseas travel.

Expenditure prior to 1992, when CSL was first launched as an Agency, is included in Departmental figures. The Agency was significantly enlarged and relaunched in 1994.

Expenditure on overseas travel within CSL is shown below:

Year	All £000
1992-93	98.7
1993-94	57.4
1994-95	155.8
1995-96	175.2
1996-97	198.3
1997-98 (April-October	105.4

Expenditure for air fares is not separately identifiable.

8 Dec 1997 : Column: 482

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), to your question concerning expenditure on overseas travel.

The Directorate was launched as an Executive Agency on 1 April 1993. Figures prior to this date are not available. Expenditure by PSD on all forms of overseas travel since this date are set out below:

Actual expenditure

	£
1993-94	97,668
1994-95	74,980
1995-96	107,914
1996-97	80,819
1997-98 (May to September)	34,128

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

In response to your Parliamentary Question on overseas travel, I have been asked to provide you with the relevant figures covering the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). These are as follows.

	£
1980-81	n/a
1987-88	n/a
1990-91	98,173
1991-92	122,525
1992-93	126,244
1993-94	98,554
1994-95	130,259
1995-96	154,883
1996-97	162,125
1997-98 April-September	4,672

n/a = not available.

Unfortunately it is not possible to separate the air fare costs.

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food concerning the level of expenditure on overseas travel for various periods has been passed to me for reply with regard to this Executive Agency.

The MHS was established as an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on 1 April 1995. It therefore does not have any information on expenditure on overseas travel prior to 1995.

I can advise you that the MHS spent the following sums, on an accruals basis, on the overseas travel during the respective financial years:

Year	Expenditure
1995-96	Nil
1996-97	Nil
1997-98 (to date)	£878 (£245 air travel)

Letter from Michael Finnigan to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about expenditure on overseas travel within the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA).

FRCA is a new agency which came into being on 1 April 1997, and cannot, therefore show expenditure for financial years prior to 1997-98.

8 Dec 1997 : Column: 483

For the period 1 May 1997 to 30 September 1997 expenditure on overseas travel was £485.

Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 8 December 1997:

The Minister has asked me to reply to your question on expenditure by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) on overseas travel.

The VLA was launched as an Agency on 1 October 1995 as a result of the merger between the Central Veterinary Laboratory, already an Agency since April 1990, and the Veterinary Investigation Service, which was formerly part of the State Veterinary Service.

Figures for expenditure on overseas travel are as follows:

	£
1993-94	61,700
1994-95	66,200
1995-96	63,900
1996-97	111,900
May-September 1997	74,300

Figures prior to 1993-94 are included in MAFF figures.

Figures from 1996-97 include the Veterinary Investigation Service following the merger in 1995. It is not possible to break down expenditure into air fares and expenditure relating to overseas travel.

---