§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, how many civil servants formerly employed in the(a) Wales and (b) Scotland offices will transfer to his Department; and how many will not transfer. [121474]
§ Mr. LammyThere are 49 civil servants currently in post in the Wales Office and a total of 122 in the Scotland Office, of which 33 are staff of the Advocate General for Scotland. They are all on loan or secondment principally from the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Executive respectively. Staff will be offered the options of either transferring to the complement of the DCA, remaining on secondment or loan, or returning to their parent department.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, what his estimate is of the costs of(a) an Independent Appointments Commission for judges and (b) the (i) office and (ii) salary of Speaker of the House of Lords. [121481]
§ Mr. LeslieOn part(a), I refer the right hon. Member for Wokingham to the statement I made on 19 June 2003, Official Report, column 19WS. The Government have undertaken to consult on the arrangements for the new Judicial Appointments Commission before the summer recess. The costs of the new Commission will depend upon the specific role and function of the Commission. No decisions will be taken on these issues until the consultation exercise has been completed.
On part (b), my right hon. and noble Friend the Leader of the Other Place is consulting on the Government's proposal concerning the Speakership of that House. It is too early to estimate costs of (i) office or (ii) salary, since these will depend on decisions which the House of Lords has not yet taken.