To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many overseas visits by officials in his Department took place in each of the last 10 years; which countries were visited; and how much was spent on such visits in each such year. (181589)

It would incur disproportionate cost to collate the information requested by the hon. Member as this information is not held centrally in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. The Government’s annual publication about overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers is accessible at:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/ministers.aspx

The list includes details about the number of officials accompanying a Minister when non-scheduled travel is used for the trip. Copies of lists covering information going back to the 1997-98 financial year are also available in the Library of the House.

All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the ‘Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.’