To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many separate bookings at five star or above hotels were made by her Department under its contract with Expotel in the last 12 months; and at what cost. (315696)

DWP's business travel policy strictly stipulates that 5-star hotels must not be requested by staff, regardless of grade.

Exceptionally, 5-star accommodation may be booked if it clearly provides better value for money than comparable 4-star accommodation.

The number of bookings and expenditure on 5-star hotel accommodation over the last 12 months (January to December 2009) are set out in the table. The number of bookings represents 0.1 per cent. of total hotel bookings within the Department.