Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what allowance is paid to people serving on government agencies and bodies who have to stay overnight in London to attend meetings or perform other duties.

Government agencies and bodies are made up of both civil servants and non-civil servants. For people serving on government agencies and bodies who are civil servants, the following applies.

There is no central government travel, subsistence and expenses (T,S&E) policy, and as such, rates and allowances are delegated for individual departments to decide upon. In setting their rates departments must be adherent with Section 8 of the Civil Service Management Code (CSMC), Jon Thompson's 2010 review of Civil Service expense policies and The Efficiency and Reform Group Business Travel Policy Principles launched on 20 July 2011.

As there is no cross-government T,S&E policy, there is no centrally held information on the accommodation allowance paid by departments to non-London based civil servants serving on government agencies and bodies when they are required to stay in London as part of their employment. This information will be held in individual departments.

For people serving on government agencies and bodies who are not civil servants, information on travel, subsistence and expenses allowances would not be held centrally within the Civil Service. Although some departments may hold some relevant information about the arrangements in their non-department public bodies.