Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for May 2022, for the accommodation of which individuals was £1,193.42 paid to the Hilton Back Bay Boston on 19 May 2022, and what was the purpose of that visit.

In May 2022, officials from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) were invited to speak at the Privacy-Enhancing Technology Summit in Boston, USA. The purpose of the trip was to support the CDEI's work programme on Responsible Data Access, including the delivery of the UK-US Privacy-Enhancing Technologies prize challenges. In line with departmental policy, value for money was assessed prior to confirming the visit and the Government Procurement Card was utilised to accommodate individuals during an official visit.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act, the Department will not disclose the names of the individual officials.