To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many separate bookings for stays at five star or above hotels were made through the Expotel contract by (a) the Cabinet Office, (b) the Charity Commission and (c) the Central Office of Information in the last year for which figures are available; and what the cost of such bookings was. (315275)

The information is as follows:

(a) In the period January 2009 to December 2009 (inclusive), 55 bookings were made through the Cabinet Office’s Expotel contract, for stays at five star hotels. This represents 3.3 per cent. of all hotel bookings for that period.

(b) No five star hotels were booked by Charity Commission staff through the Expotel contract in the period 1 January to 31 December 2009.

(c) No five star hotels were booked by the Central Office of Information staff through the Expotel contract in the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009.