§ Mr. Phillip OppenheimTo ask the Lord President of the Council (1) how many parliamentary questions were answered in the year to 28 February 1994, by Government Department;
(2) who were the 10 members who asked the most parliamentary questions in the year to 28 February 1994; how many questions were asked by each; and at what estimated cost to the departments concerned.
§ Mr. Tony NewtonThe POLIS database holds records for the following 41,126 written answers given in the year to 28 February 1994:
261W
Department Number of answers Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1,643 Attorney General 261 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 457 Defence 3,003 Education 1,595 Employment 1,686
Department Number of answers Environment 3,427 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2,749 Health 4,405 Home Office 3,233 Lord Chancellor 552 Lord President of the Council 128 National Heritage 751 Northern Ireland Office 1,397 Prime Minister 844 Scottish Office 2,746 Social Security 2,138 Trade and Industry 2,995 Transport 2,589 Treasury 1,937 Welsh Office 2,343 Accommodation and Works Committee 51 Administration Committee 66 Catering Committee 22 Church Commissioners 42 Committee of Selection 1 Finance and Services Committee 10 House of Commons Commission 37 Information Committee 11 Public Accounts Commission 7 The 10 Members who received the highest number of these answers, together with the number of answers and the estimated cost, were as follows:
The hon. Member for: Answer Cost £ Blaenau Gwent (Mr. L. Smith) 1,323 128,000 Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) 983 95,000 Bristol, South (Ms Primarolo) 736 71,000 Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) 517 50,000 Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle) 488 47,000 Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) 474 46,000 Newcastle Upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) 419 41,000 Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) 414 40,000 Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) 411 40,000 Leyton (Mr. Cohen) 403 39,000 The cost is calculated from the most recent estimate of the average cost of giving a written answer to a parliamentary question, namely £97, rounded to the nearest £1,000.