§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport press release of 11 November announcing the initial work programme of the Quality Efficiency and Standards Team (Quest): (a) how long they expect the independent Quest team to operate from Department for Culture, Media and Sport offices; (b) whether the initial budget of £500,000 per annum includes the cost of assumed rent for office space; and (c) if not, what allocation has been made to the future Quest budget for office rental when the team moves out of Department for Culture, Media and Sport offices. [HL62]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe Quality Efficiency and Standards Team (Quest) is operationally independent of DCMS, but currently works from a small number of offices on the DCMS estate which would otherwise be unoccupied. The initial allocation of £500,000 per annum for each of the three years of the current funding period was made on the basis that Quest would not be required to find new premises. While Quest therefore pays no rent to DCMS, records are kept of the notional costs of rent and other associated services, including heat, light and information technology, to enable the true costs of its operations to be fully understood.