§ Mr. Lathamasked the right hon. Memfor for Middlesbrough, as representing the House of Commons Commission, what financial ceilings have been allocated for (a) 1979–80 and (b) 1980–81 for staffing and administration costs of servicing Select Committees of the House; and what mechanism exists to ensure that Select Committees are aware of their individual budgets and keep within them.
§ Mr. Arthur BottomleyProvision is made in the House of Commons (Administration) Estimate for staffing the House and for meeting the various costs of Select Committee operations; but no ceiling is placed on the cost of permanent staff in individual offices such as the Committee Office—whose duties are not in any case confined to Select Committee operations.
312Wferred to the procurator fiscal, who in turn refers the case to the Crown Office for consideration by an advocate depute and subsequently by one of the Law Officers. Where the complaint is withdrawn before police investigations are completed, it is not normally referred to the procurator fiscal. About one-fifth of the total complaints shown at (a) in the table fall into this category. Twenty-three of the complaints made in 1979 are still under investigation.
In 1979–80 the sum of £108,000 was estimated for such Select Committee administration costs as those of shorthand writers, specialist advisers, expenses in the United Kingdom and entertainment; the Estimate for 1980–81 includes £138,000 for these purposes. Neither of these totals includes the token sum of £10,000 included for Select Committee travel overseas.
Individual Committees do not have budgets. But the Commission is responsible for seeing that expenditure is properly controlled and is at present engaged, with the assistance of the Liaison Committee, in deciding what special measures may be needed in addition to those applied to all expenditure on the Administration Vote.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the right hon. Member for Middlesbrough, as representing the House of Commons Commission, what is the current number of (a) per- 313W manent staff and (b) external specialist advisers serving Select Committees of the House; and how this compares with the previous arrangements before the new Committees were set up.
§ Mr. Arthur BottomleyThe staffing of Select Committees is undertaken mainly but not exclusively by permanent staff in the Committee Office. There are at present 78 such staff in the Committee Office—and in the Overseas Office, assisting the European Legislation Committee—compared with 59 in July 1979.
Specialist advisers from outside the House are employed by Select Committees on a per diem basis, as and when needed, so that the numbers on a Committee's books do not necessarily relate to the amount of help which a Committee is currently receiving. However, there are 41 specialist advisers who are currently helping Select Committees; the equivalent figure for the last Session of the last Parliament was approximately 24.