§ Mr. Dickensasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he has any proposal to raise the advisory cost limit of £50 for answering parliamentary questions.
§ Mr. HayhoeYes. The advisory figure of £50 was introduced in 1965 as the level at which the likely cost of a full reply to a parliamentary question should be drawn to the attention of Ministers. This figure is clearly now out of date. It is accordingly being raised, as from the beginning of this parliamentary Session, to £200.
This does not alter the discretion of individual Ministers to decide that a particular question should be answered in full regardless of cost.