Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 18 May 2021 to Question 146 on Trade Agreements: Japan, whether she plans to correct her Department’s declaration of ministerial travel published on 7 May 2021 to reflect the cost to the public purse of her predecessor’s subsistence and expenses excluding travel when visiting Japan in October 2020.

Ministerial transparency returns publish costs incurred specifically by departmental Ministers. This uses a different methodology than asked in the subsequent parliamentary questions, about the overall cost to the public purse.

There were some ancillary costs incurred by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) overseas embassy team (billed separately), related to the costs incurred by the Department for International Trade (DIT). This included the cost of translation services.

In the interests of transparency, the Department will update the DIT return with the subsequent ancillary FCDO costs.