§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the names of the commissioners of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, giving in each case details of their remuneration and number of days worked each month.
§ Mr. BaldryA list of the current members of the Local Government Commission, together with their present annual rate of remuneration, appears in the table. Members' time inputs vary from month to month, according to the demands of the reviews for which they have been allocated specific responsibilities.
£ Sir John Banham—Chairman 33,170 David Ansbro 6,950 Professor Michael Chisholm 30,110 Christopher Chope OBE 20,070 Sir Kenneth Couzens KCB 20,070 Ken Ennals CB 40,140 Professor Malcolm Grant 13,890 Brian Hill CBE DL 40,140 Margaret Hodge MBE 20,070 Mary Leigh 35,120 Ann Levick 35,120 Robert Scruton 20,070 David Thomas 40,140 Clive Wilkinson 20,070 Lady Wilcox 9,260
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many officials were employed by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England; and in what capacity.
§ Mr. BaldryThe Local Government Commission currently employs 80 staff, including those on temporary secondment from local government and elsewhere. Of these, 62 staff are employed on the commission's reviews and the remaining 18 on administrative duties.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all meetings in 1993 between ministers and officials in his Department and representatives of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England; and what subjects were discussed at each meeting.
§ Mr. BaldryMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State or the then Secretary of State for the Environment, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), met the chairman or members of the Local Government Commission on the following occasions: 12 January, 27 January, 15 March, 5 May, 29 July, and 27 October. In addition, my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning or the then Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood),30W had similar meetings on 20 January, 22 February, 29 March, 19 April, 26 May, 8 June, 30 September, 12 October, 15 December and 21 December. These meetings covered a broad range of issues relevant to the work of the Commission.
There were also many meetings between officials of my Department and the staff of the commission, primarily to discuss issues connected with the day-to-day running of the commission.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the total cost so far and estimated future cost of the current review of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
§ Mr. BaldryThe Local Government Commission incurred expenditure of £2.056 million in 1992–93. We are making available £5.124 million to fund the commission's activities in 1993–94 and have announced provision of £8.3 million, £2.5 million and £1.5 million for the years 1994–95 to 1996–97.