§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special advisers, political advisers and other political appointees are working in his Department; at what annual cost to the public purse including recruitment costs, salaries, pensions and National Insurance contributions; and what was the position in the last full year of the last Government. [43322]
§ Mr. StrawFor details of the numbers of Special Advisers and the annual cost of employing them, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) on 11 June 1998,Official Report, column 664.
National Insurance contributions are excluded from the figures but are paid under the same rules and at the same rates as for other civil servants. Information on the paybill costs for Special Advisers within individual Departments is not provided in order to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.
Information on the cost of employing Special Advisers in previous years was given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) on 25 November 1997, Official Report, columns 472–73.