§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total cost to public funds of the recent operation to remove protestors from the last house in Fillebrook road, Leytonstone. [31944]
§ Mr. NorrisThis is an operational matter for the Highways Agency. I have asked its chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Harry Cohen, dated 5 July 1995:
As you know, the Minister for London, Mr. Steven Norris, has asked me to write in reply to your Parliamentary Question about the costs to public funds of evictions from 135 Fillebrook Road, Leytonstone in connection with the A12 Hackney Wick to M11 Link Road.248WThe operation took place only on June 21st, and so far we have identified only the costs of the Under Sheriff and his Officers and of the Treasury Solicitor and their disbursements. These amount to £239,349.52 in total.This leaves the cost of security guards and I will let you have the figure as soon as we have been billed. The other major cost is of course for police resources, and as such not a matter for the Highways Agency.No additional HA or consultant staff were employed specifically for the purposes of the eviction, and so we have not attributed any of our overhead costs to it.