HC Deb 28 January 1994 vol 236 cc464-5W
Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the cost of setting up the Scottish Office inquiry line and the cost to date, the cost of administering the service, the number of staff employed and the salary of the head of the Scottish Office inquiry line.

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 27 January 1994]: The set-up costs for the Scottish Office inquiry line amount to £176,871. This includes initial publicity costs of £150,000 necessarily incurred to make the new arrangements known to the public. The estimated annual cost of operating the information line is £28,500; the costs to date are approximately £7,125.

The Scottish Office central inquiry unit has responsibility for the new information line and the unit was augmented by one to handle the new initiative. The unit is currently headed by a senior librarian whose annual salary is in the range of £19,215 to £24,780.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of calls received from each region between 1 October and 13 December 1993 to the Scottish Office inquiry line.

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 27 January 1994]: Statistics on the number of Scottish callers to the inquiry line are divided into three catchment areas plus a fourth covering England and Wales.

The number of calls received for the period 1 October to 13 December 1993 were:

Number
Aberdeen 297
Edinburgh 579
Glasgow 864
England and Wales— various locations 98

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of calls received between 1 October and 13 December 1993 to the Scottish Office inquiry line.

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 27 January 1994]: The Scottish Office inquiry line received 1,838 calls between I October and 13 December 1993.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the subject matter of calls received by the Scottish Office inquiry line; and which of his departments has been involved in each case.

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 27 January 1994]: No specific record is kept of the subject matter of each call received through the Scottish Office inquiry line but topics of inquiry have included trust hospitals, the opting out of schools, road building programmes, social services provision, planning and environmental issues.