§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Minister for the Civil Service what is his estimate of the average cost of answering a parliamentary Question; and what is the incremental cost for a marginal increase in the number of such Questions.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe estimated average cost is £26 for oral answer and £16 for Written Answer. These answers take account of cost increases since May 1972 when a costing exercise was last carried out.
Stationery costs, and telephone. etc., charges amount to about £1 per Question. Because dealing with parliamentary Questions involves only a small part of the time of many civil servants other incremental costs cannot readily be calculated.