HC Deb 22 June 1998 vol 314 cc377-9W
Mr. Maclean

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the amount of(a) Objective 5b funding and (b) Objective 1 funding spent in the United Kingdom over the last five years, broken down by (i) counties and (ii) projects. [45670]

Mrs. Roche

Figures showing funding by counties and projects are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The table gives allocations for each of the United Kingdom's Objective 1 and 5b regions.

Mrs. Beckett

For details of the numbers of Special Advisers and the annual cost of employing them, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) on 11 June 1998,Official Report, column 664.

National Insurance contributions are excluded from this figure but are paid under the same rules and at the same time 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.