Research Assistants (Hansard, 4 December 1987)

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House if he will give a breakdown, by party, of the numbers and percentages of hon. and right hon. Members who currently employ three or more research assistants.

§ Mr. Wakeham
The information is as follows:

Percentages

12 Conservatives 1.8

13 Labour 2.0

8 Liberal 1.2

1 Plaid Cymru 0.15

1 Social Democrat 0.15

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House if he will give a breakdown, by party, of the numbers and percentages of hon. and right hon. Members who are currently allocated three or more desks for use by secretaries and research assistants.

§ Mr. Wakeham
No right hon. or hon. Member has been allocated more than one desk for use by a secretary or research assistant in any of the secretaries' typing rooms. However, the use of desks within rooms allocated to right hon. and hon. Members is a matter for them.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House if he will list the total number of research assistants' security passes which have been issued in each of the last five years.

§ Mr. Wakeham
I regret this information is not available.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House how many inquiries from individuals, other than Members, have been dealt with by the Library in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what was the estimated cost of dealing with these inquiries in each of those years.

§ Mr. Wakeham
A detailed breakdown of inquiries received from Members' secretaries and research assistants on behalf of their Members, as distinct from inquiries placed direct by Members, and the estimated cost of dealing with those inquiries, is not available. However, in 1980 the Library carried out a four-week survey of recorded research inquiries, which showed that out of a total of 576,152 such inquiries were received via Members' personal staff, or 26.4 per cent. of the total. Similarly, during the month of November 1987, 704 reference inquiries were received via Members' personal staff by the main Library's reference services section out of a total of 2,612 such inquiries, or 27 per cent. of the total.
Inquiries answered each year in writing by the research division for peers and other non-Members' excluding Members' personal staff were as follows: 738W

Year Inquiries Percentage of total research inquiries

1986 101 1.3

1985 120 1.6

1984 79 1.1

1983 112 1.7

1982 98 1.5

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House (1) if he will make it his policy to seek to limit to one the numbers of research assistants employed by a Member who may be issued with a pass to the Palace of Westminster at any given time; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will, in the interests of security, seek to make it a requirement for the issuing of a security pass for the Palace of Westminster that the holder has been resident in the United Kingdom for the previous six months; and if he will make a statement;
(3) whether he will seek to limit research assistants' access to the main Parliament building to holders of 9B passes; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Wakeham
Pursuant to the Resolution of the House of 10 November, control over access to the precincts of the House is to be considered by the Services Committee; and I am sure that the question of research assistants and the issue of security passes will be included in that examination.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House whether he has received any representations from staff and officers of the House concerning the numbers of research assistants; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Wakeham
No. But any such representations, submitted by officers and staff of the House, would of course be given consideration by the Services Committee, along with any other representations received.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House how many individuals currently holding research assistants' passes have held a security pass for three or more consecutive years.

§ Mr. Wakeham
This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton
To ask the Leader of the House how many: (i) Liberal, (ii) SDP, (iii) Nationalist party hon. and right hon. Members currently employ(a) one research assistant, (b) two research assistants, (c) three research assistants, (d) four research assistants, (e) five research assistants, (f) six research assistants and (g) seven or more research assistants.

§ Mr. Wakeham
The information requested is as follows:

(i) Liberals

(a) 1 Research Assistant — 4 Members

(b) 2 Research Assistants — 1 Member

(c) 3 Research Assistants — 1 Member

(d) 4 Research Assistants — 1 Member

(e) 5 Research Assistants — 2 Members

(f) 6 Research Assistants — 1 Member

(g) 7 or more Research Assistants — 3 Members

(ii) Social Democrats

(a) 1 Research Assistant — 3 Members

(c) 3 Research Assistants — 1 Member

(b), (d), (e), (f) and (g) are not applicable
739
(iii) Nationalist Parties

(a) 1 Research Assistant — 7 Members

(b) 2 Research Assistants — 2 Members

(c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) are not applicable

	Percentages
12 Conservatives	1.8
13 Labour	2.0
8 Liberal	1.2
1 Plaid Cymru	0.15
1 Social Democrat	0.15

Year	Inquiries	Percentage of total research inquiries
1986	101	1.3
1985	120	1.6
1984	79	1.1
1983	112	1.7
1982	98	1.5