§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Lord Privy Seal how many secretaries accredited to hon. Members were in possession of photographic passes on 1 July; if he will publish a table showing the number of Members with nought, one, two and three, and so on accredited secretaries; what information he has as to the number of such secretaries working for one, two, three and so on hon. Members; and if he will give comparative figures for each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. BiffenThe number of Palace of Westminster photo-identity passes on issue to Members' secretaries on 1 July 1985 was 612. The information requested on the number of secretaries employed per Member is as follows:
Numbers Members employing no secretary 192 Members employing one secretary 342 Members employing two secretaries 79 Members employing three secretaries 23 Members employing four secretaries 5 5Members employing five secretaries 5 Members employing six secretaries 1 Members employing seven secretaries 0 Members employing eight secretaries 0 Members employing nine secretaries 1 It is understood that 15 secretaries work for two Members, and one secretary works for three Members. I regret that the records which are held by the authorities of the House do not enable me to give comparative figures for the other years requested.