§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will estimate the administrative costs of the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs in each of the years 1983 to 1987 inclusive.
§ Mr. BeithThe administrative costs of Select Committees borne on the House of Commons Vote include the costs of visits in the United Kingdom and overseas, the fees and expenses of specialist advisers, witnesses' expenses, entertainment expenses and the costs of preparing minutes of evidence for publication. Details of all such costs in respect of the Scottish Affairs Committee in the financial years 1983–84 to 1986–87 are set out in the Select Committee returns for each Session. The totals of these costs were as follows: 1983–84, £12,162; 1984–85, £38,612; 1985–86, £13,487; and 1986–87, £23,535.
Printing and publishing costs are borne by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and are also shown in the Sessional Returns. Staff serving the Committee varied from time to time in this period, and had other responsibilities in addition to their work for the Committee; it is not possible, therefore, to give precise figures of staff costs. For most of this time, however, the staff of the Scottish Affairs Committee consisted of a deputy principal clerk, an assistant clerk and a secretary.