§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Lord President of the Council what information he has about the total estimated632W cost of providing answers to written parliamentary questions in the current Session of Parliament; and how many such questions have been tabled.
§ Mr. WakehamRecords of the total cost of answering parliamentary questions are not kept centrally. However, following an interdepartmental exercise in 1972, an assessment was made of the average cost of answering a written parliamentary question. This average figure is updated regularly and currently stands at £51. A total of 43,128 written and priority written parliamentary questions have been tabled to date this Session.