§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 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. [5609]
§ Mr. Douglas Hogg[holding answer 18 December 1995]: This Department currently employs seven full-time staff to manage over 10,000 cases of Ministers' correspondence annually. However, it is impossible to estimate the precise cost of dealing with these, because no record is kept of the contribution made by other officials. The Department ensures that such correspondence is dealt with as cost effectively as possible.