Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the National Audit Office report published in April 2022, Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, if he will take steps to help avoid unnecessary expenditure by Government Departments on official cross-border travel in the context of potential further travel restrictions being introduced due to the emergence of new variants of covid-19.

The Government currently has no plans to introduce new travel restrictions at this time.

It is the responsibility of each individual department to ensure the proper and efficient use and spending of taxpayers money. All Cabinet Office employees that undertake cross-border travel must seek relevant approvals to do so and must book this travel through approved contractors.