GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND THE COST OF CONFERENCES

That this House notes that the Departmentfor Work and Pensions spent 115 million on management conferences and external meetings between 2000 and 2010; further notes that most departments have refused to supply similar figures in answer to written questions, arguing that statistics on conferences are not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost; believes that the British public have a fundamental right to know how their taxes are spent by Government departments, and that Freedom of Information requests are being sent to every department which has refused to answer; and finally notes that the 115 million spent by the Departmentfor Work and Pensions under the previous administration on management conferences and external meetings appears to be a gross waste of taxypayer's money, given that the public debt increased to over 900 billion in early 2010.