§ Mr. Sutcliffeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the cost in each region of the Economic Planning Council; and whether any cost benefit analysis has been carried out.
§ Mr. Graham PageThe only direct costs of the regional economic planning councils in England are the honoraria paid to council chairmen and the out-of-pocket expenses paid to council members. In total these will amount to some £10,000 in the current financial year, divided more or less equally between 165W each of the eight regions. It is not possible to isolate the cost of servicing the councils since this work forms only a small part of the activities of the regional offices of the Departments concerned with regional planning. It would also not be practicable to undertake a cost benefit analysis of the work of advisory bodies of this kind.