Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether any staff not on his Department's payroll have accompanied Ministers in his Department on official (a) foreign and (b) domestic visits since May 2010.

From time to time, Ministers may be accompanied by civil servants from other departments, depending on the topic or nature of the visit.

Ministers may, of course, also be accompanied by staff from the organisation or local body that they are visiting. But this information is not centrally recorded.