(2) how many overseas visits by officials in her 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.
The Department's expenditure on travel within and outside the UK in each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table.
1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Non-UK 1.18 0.89 1.43 1.38 2.07 2.35 4.45 5.47 6.88 10.60 UK 3.84 3.47 3.56 4.93 6.83 8.30 11.14 13.65 15.46 16.75 Total 5.02 4.35 4.99 6.31 8.90 10.65 15.59 19.13 22.34 27.35 Percentage of overall expenses 0.10 0.09 0.06 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.13 0.15 0.17 0.20
The difference in costs over the period reflects the changing nature of the Home Office's business, in particular the growth of international terrorism, migration and international travel. Collaboration and information exchange both domestically and internationally on counter-terrorism activities and border control have become increasingly critical to the effective discharge of the Department's responsibilities for asylum, immigration and national security.
This has involved higher levels of overseas and UK travel.
Details on the number of overseas visits and the countries visited could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The numbers include both official and ministerial travel. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.