§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria he uses in declining to answer questions on the grounds of disproportionate effort which would be involved.
§ Mr. Heseltine[pursuant to his reply, 27 November 1984, c. 412]: It has been the practice of all Governments that answers to parliamentary questions need to be prepared with the same regard to economy as applies to 521W other aspects of Government business. It has been a long-standing convention that a Minister may decline to give a substantive reply to a question if he considers that the cost of providing that reply, mainly in terms of the cost of staff time involved, would be disproportionate to its value to Parliament and the public.