To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) how much the Lord Chancellor's Department spent on hospitality and entertainment in 1996 to 1997; (114016)

For figures for ministerial expenditure on hospitality and entertainment in 1996-97, I refer the hon. Member to the Prime Minister's answer of 9 February 1998 to my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham, (Mr. MacShane) Official Report, column 17W, which provides the global figure for Government expenditure on ministerial entertaining and hospitality for official purposes in 1996-97.

Information is not readily available for civil servants for 1996-97 as the Department updated its accounting system in the summer of 1998 and the cost of retrieval from archive would be at disproportionate cost.

Total expenditure (ministerial and civil servants) on hospitality and entertainment for the Department (formerly known as Lord Chancellor's Department), which covers costs for Her Majesty's Courts Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA headquarters in 2005-06 is £113,972.

All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety that is based on principles set out in Government Accounting.