asked the Minister for the Civil Service what was the total cost incurred by the Government Hospitality Fund during the course of the last three financial years; and if he will give full particulars of the costs incurred by each Government Department during this period.

The expenditure from the Government Hospitality Fund for all Departments for the last three financial years has been:

				£
1972–73	…	…	…	252,478
1973–74	…	…	…	262,061
1974–75	…	…	…	243,537

Individual Departments have delegated authority to incur expenditure on official entertainment within agreed provisions, but detailed records of actual expenditure incurred by Departments are not held centrally.The total provision for all Departments for the last three financial years was:

				£
1972–73	…	…	…	304,600
1973–74	…	…	…	370,000
1974–75	…	…	…	434,000