§ Mr. Hawkins:To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) special advisers, (b) task force members and (c) review body members his Department employs; what is the total salary and benefits of (a) to (c); and what was the equivalent cost prior to 1 May. [19316]
§ Dr. David Clark:The Cabinet Office (Office of Public Service), employs two special advisers, and I refer the hon. Member to my earlier replies to the hon. Members for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) and for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr. Davey) on 25 November 1997, Official Report, columns 472–73, for details of the total paybill for all special advisers.
The Better Regulation Task Force reports to the Cabinet Office (Office of Public Service), and has fifteen external members. All members are unpaid apart from their travel expenses, as was the case before 1 May 19971
1 It is not possible to distinguish the cost of officials' time spent on Task Force and Review related work.