§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the hon. Member for, Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, whether, pursuant to his reply on 1 April, he will set out in the Official Report details subsequently communicated to the hon. Member for Leicester, East.
§ Mr. BeithThere are a total of 847 staff employed by the Commission, including 163 part-time workers, entitled to receive additional payment if they work hours in excess of normal; 431 such staff received additional payments for a varying number of extra hours in week ending 22 451W February 1985, including 208 staff in receipt of regular extra payments in the form of annual allowances calculated on the basis of the average hours of sitting of the House over the previous five years. The employment of additional staff for the hours covered by these payments would in most cases be uneconomic and impracticable because, for example, of the unpredictable tunes to which the House and Committees often sit; and accordingly there are no reliable assumptions on which to base an estimate of the number that would be required.