Food Standards Agency: Conferences

Mr. Graham Stuart
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside the Food Standards Agency's buildings attended by civil servants in that Agency there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each.

Gillian Merron
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has spent approximately £581,117.74 on conference and away days since 2004-05.

Away days and conference attendance are not accounted for separately in the FSA, and to provide this breakdown would incur disproportionate cost as the information is not held centrally.