To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his current estimate of the expenditure of his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on hospitality since 1 May 1997. [27805]

[holding answer 5 February 1998]: Total Spend by my Department, its agencies and its non-departmental public bodies for the period 1 May 1997 to 31 January 1998 is as follows:

	£000
Department	260
Agencies	83
NDPBs	411

The classification of hospitality expenditure in some cases differs between the Department, its Agencies and NDPBs, so the figures may not be directly comparable.