§ Mr. SteenTo ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, what has been the total cost of the inquiry by the Committee of Privileges regarding a complaint regarding an article inThe Sunday Times of 10 July 1994 relating to the conduct of hon. Members; how many staff at the House were involved; what was the cost of publishing the report and annexes; and how many copies were printed.
§ Mr. Beith[holding answer 18 April 1995]: The Committee of Privileges is staffed by existing staff of the Department of the Clerk of the House; consequently no significant additional staff costs arise. The Committee has one Clerk who is also Clerk of the Journals and has other responsibilities. He is assisted by a secretary and a chief office clerk, both of whom have other duties. The fees of the Official Shorthand Writer for transcripts of evidence taken by the Committee and tape recordings supplied by The Sunday Times amounted to £5,676. Other costs directly attributable to the Committee's inquiry and the preparation of the report amounted to approximately £1,400.
The cost to the House of copies of the report, evidence and appendices supplied for issue by the Vote Office is £16,800.
The cost to Her Majesty's Stationery Office of printing and publishing the report, evidence, and appendices is estimated by them to be £23,400. I understand that HMSO expects to recoup a substantial part of this cost in sales. The number of copies of the report, evidence and appendices printed so far is 1,400.