§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials he employed(a) full-time and (b) part-time in his Department in each of the last three years to answer letters sent to him from hon. Members; and what was the estimated overall cost of replying to them in each of the last three years. [5610]
§ Sir George YoungNo staff in my Department are employed exclusively in answering letters from hon. Members. It is difficult to estimate the overall cost of replying to them but in 1994 Transport Ministers received over 15,000 letters from hon. Members.