§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many parliamentary questions to his Department have not been answered because of disproportionate costs or because the information requested was not held centrally over the last five years; how many could be answered now due to computerisation and/or more effective operational systems; and if he will list each such question along with the name and constituency of the hon. Member who tabled it.
§ Mr. HagueThe POLIS database has been able to identify 352 questions which were not answered on the grounds of disproportionate cost or because the information was not held centrally in the five calendar years 1989–93. Details of each of those questions can be obtained from the POLIS database in the Library. Information on how many of these could now be answered is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.