§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many officials she employed(a) full-time and (b) part-time in her Department in each of the last three years to answer letters sent to her from hon. Members; and what was the estimated overall cost of replying to them in each of the last three years. [5613]
§ Mr. Robin Squire[holding answer 18 December 1995]: The Department for Education and Employment employs no staff exclusively to answer letters from hon. Members. Answers are prepared by a large number of officials as part of their normal duties. No estimate is readily available of the current overall cost of replies. In 1994, the former DFE Ministers received almost 13,000 letters—including all ministerial letters and those from hon. Members. In the same year, the former Employment Department received nearly 7,000 letters from hon. Members.