§ Mr. Hollandasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state in the Official Report the number 563W of public bodies, excluding departmental committees but including statutory corporations, to which he makes paid appointments, the total number of such appointments and the estimated total cost to public funds for the last year for which the information is available.
§ Mr. John SilkinI made 174 appointments—in some cases jointly with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as appropriate—to 17 bodies, excluding departmental committees, which are paid from public funds. The estimated total cost of salaries and fees during the past year is approximately £143,000; information about expenses, other than salaries and fees, is not readily available and could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.