§ Mr. Fordasked the Minister for the Civil Service what is currently the cost of answering a parliamentary question (a) for oral answer and (b) for written answer; at what level of cost a substantive reply is not given on the grounds of disproportionate expense; on what basis each of these figures is calculated; and whether the calculations reflect the real or a notional cost.
§ Mr. Hayhoe[pursuant to his reply, 12 July 1982]: The costs of individual questions vary considerably, but the current average cost is assessed at £60 for oral answers and £37 for written answers. These figures are based on a service-wide survey of staff time by grade, the results of which are periodically revalued to reflect movements in staff costs. They are not, therefore, notional costs.
An advisory figure of £50 was introduced in 1965 as the level at which Ministers might consider whether the expense of a full reply was justified. It is for individual Ministers to decide particular cases, and there is no upper level of cost which automatically disqualifies a question from answer.