§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of (a) the normal working time and (b) what would normally have been the free time of (i) officials in his Department working full-time on matters relating to sport and recreation and (ii) Ministers in his Department, has been diverted to and spent on matters relating to the disorders connected with the international boxing match in France at the end of February or with the international football match in Paris at the beginning of March; and whether he will give an estimate of the cost of this work done by his Department.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneNo time has been spent specifically on the disorders connected with the international boxing match in Paris at the end of February. The best estimate I can make of time spent so far on matters relating to the France v. England football match is approximately 160 man-hours, of which about 40 hours would have been "free time"; additionally, I estimate that I have spent somewhere in the region of 40 hours of my time on those matters. Such a total would represent about £4,000 in staff costs.
This estimate does not include time spent beforehand in officials travelling time in preparing for the match and liaison meetings.