§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of answering a written parliamentary question to his Department; and at what level he considers the cost to be disportionate.
§ Mr. RidleyComprehensive information on the costs of answering parliamentary questions to my Department is not available. A Civil Service wide survey, based on staff by grade, estimates the average cost of answering a written question to be £43.
An advisory figure of £200 is used throughout Government as the level at which consideration might be given to whether the cost of a full reply in a particular case is justified. Individual cases are considered on their merits, and there is no maximum level of costs which automatically disqualifies a question from answer.