Departmental Domestic Visits

Tim Loughton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times (a) he and (b) each other Minister in his Department has visited his Department’s offices at Quarry House, Leeds since June 2007.

Mr. Bradshaw
Ministers of this Department have had a number of meetings with Leeds departmental staff in Leeds and by videoconference. The Department makes as much use as possible of technology in holding meetings between Ministers and staff based in Leeds to help reduce both travel costs and carbon emissions. In 2007, the Secretary of State for Health, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) and the Minister of State my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo) and met staff at an all-staff event at a conference venue in Leeds. In 2008, the Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Islesworth, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ann Keen), the Minister of State my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo) and the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) met staff at the next all-staff event in Leeds, which was also based at a conference venue. In 2009, Ministers attended the Leeds all-staff event by videoconference. The dates on which Ministers have had meetings within Quarry House itself are in the following table.

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|Date of visit    |Minister                                                             |
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|15 August 2007   |Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health services (Ann Keen)|
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|20 September 2007|Secretary of State (Alan Johnson)                                    |
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|6 March 2008     |Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lord Ara Darzi)              |
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|28 August 2008   |Secretary of State (Alan Johnson)                                    |
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