HC Deb 05 February 1973 vol 850 cc21-2W
Mr. Sheldon

asked the Lord President of the Council how many Parliamentary Questions marked with a "W", up to the latest convenient date, have been given complete answers on the date set down; and what proportion this figure represents of the total of such Questions tabled.

Mr. Prior

Up to the evening of Thursday 1st February 1973 a total of 301 Question for Written Priority Answer had been tabled. Of these, 296 were answered in full on the specified date.

Mr. William Price

asked the Lord President of the Council how many Parliamentary Questions were answered during 1972; and what was the approximate cost.

Mr. Prior

In the Session 1971–72 a total of 28,594 Parliamentary Questions were asked. Of these, 4,547 received Oral Answers; 6,561 which were tabled for oral answer received written replies and 17,486 for written reply were also answered.

An exercise undertaken by the Civil Service Department in 1972 determined that the average cost of preparing an answer to an Oral Question was £16 and for a Written Answer, £10. Using this as a basis for calculation, the total cost of answering Questions in the Session 1971–72 was, therefore, approximately £352,588.