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Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: Conferences

Volume 467: debated on Thursday 15 November 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what costs were incurred by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for the hire of outside meeting rooms, broken down by (a) location and (b) general purpose of each meeting in 2006-07; how much has been incurred for the same purpose in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. (163543)

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) incurred costs of £2.65 million in 2006-07 and £1.62 million in the current financial year to October for external meetings. Total costs by location are shown below. Information on the purpose of each meeting could be collected only at disproportionate cost, but a significant number were stakeholder meetings on key areas of QCA’s work, such as developing Diplomas and the national consultation on the Secondary Curriculum.

Location

Amount (£)

2006-07 (April-March)

Bath

1,179

Belfast

48,244

Birmingham

128,396

Blackburn

15,366

Bolton

395

Bournemouth

1,992

Bradford

2,727

Brighton

3,188

Bristol

23,542

Bromley

617

Cambridge

2,233

Cardiff

817

Chelmsford

2,831

Coventry

186,135

Crewe

1,101

Doncaster

205

Dudley

609

Enfield

5,509

Exeter

271

Guildford

5,058

Hemel Hempstead

2,767

Ipswich

1,062

Kingston upon Thames

81,371

Lancaster

1,088

Leeds

19,932

Leicester

37,340

Liverpool

2,181

Llandudno

1,481

London

1,472,455

Manchester

57,208

Middlesbrough

3,000

Milton Keynes

124,694

Newcastle upon Tyne

9,517

Northampton

134,684

Nottingham

2,950

Oldham

208

Oxford

8,491

Preston

220

Reading

53,303

Redhill

411

Sheffield

27,277

Slough

29,086

Southampton

12,364

St. Albans

1,101

Stockport

60,186

Stoke-on -Trent

1,756

Swansea

705

Telford

8,572

Truro

1,109

Twickenham

3,631

Wakefield

270

Warrington

30,000

Watford

2,228

Wolverhampton

212

York

28,777

Total

2,652,052

2007-08 (April-October)

Bath

500

Belfast

1,116

Birmingham

43,917

Blackburn

5,763

Bournemouth

31,319

Bristol

4,406

Bromley

1,050

Cambridge

589

Cardiff

1,150

Chelmsford

1,893

Chester

17,214

Coventry

99,774

Crewe

11,958

Croydon

304

Darlington

1,058

Derby

800

Doncaster

316

Dudley

563

Exeter

3,542

Gloucester

2,535

Harrogate

1,256

Hemel Hempstead

2,218

Hereford

470

Huddersfield

240

Hull

2,400

Ipswich

5,145

Kingston upon Thames

54,395

Lancaster

6,711

Leeds

5,961

Liverpool

525

London

1,050,836

Manchester

11,118

Middlesbrough

3,800

Milton Keynes

29,245

Northampton

39,529

Norwich

1,946

Nottingham

979

Oxford

45,943

Peterborough

469

Plymouth

6,334

Preston

6,575

Reading

10,747

Redhill

8,234

Rochester

527

Salisbury

242

Sheffield

2,512

Southampton

3,350

Stockport

29,164

Stoke-on-Trent

1,558

Sunderland

316

Swansea

2,250

Taunton

4,479

Truro

898

Tunbridge Welts

251

Uxbridge

4,277

Walsall

193

Watford

530

Wolverhampton

735

Worcester

14,417

York

28,447

Total

1,618,989

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which London hotels have been used by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for conferences and off-site meetings in each month since May 2007; at what cost; for what purpose; and if he will make a statement. (163551)

The London hotels used by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in the months from May this year, and the monthly cost, are shown in the following table. Information on the purpose of each booking could be collected only at disproportionate cost, but a significant number of these events were related to the national consultation on the Secondary Curriculum.

Month 2007

Hotel

Cost (£)

May

City Inn Westminster

Flemings Mayfair Hotel

Hilton London Green Park

Holiday Inn Mayfair

Holiday Inn-London Bloomsbury

Hotel Russell

Le Meridien Piccadilly

Millennium Hotel (London Mayfair)

Novotel London Euston

The Chesterfield Mayfair

The Washington Mayfair

106,380

June

Bonnington Hotel London

Flemings Mayfair Hotel

Hilton London Green Park

Holiday Inn Mayfair

Hotel Russell

The Chesterfield Mayfair

43,567

July

Bonnington Hotel London

Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington

Flemings Mayfair Hotel

Hilton London Islington

Holiday Inn Mayfair

Hotel Russell

Langham Hotel

The Cavendish London

The Chesterfield Mayfair

The Park Lane Hotel

Thistle Hotel Marble Arch

70,623

August

Flemings Mayfair Hotel

Holiday Inn Mayfair

Millennium Hotel (London Mayfair)

The Chesterfield Mayfair

The Rubens At The Palace Hotel

12,239

September

Flemings Mayfair Hotel

Hilton London Green Park

Hilton London Islington

Hilton London Metropole

Holiday Inn Mayfair

Millennium Gloucester Hotel

Millennium Hotel (London Mayfair)

The Chesterfield Mayfair

The Cumberland Hotel

The Park Lane Hotel

74,919

October

Flemings Mayfair Hotel

Le Meridien Piccadilly

Radisson Edwardian Marlborough Hotel

Rubens at the Palace

The Chesterfield Mayfair

Thistle Hotel Westminster

18,802

Total

326,530