§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what has been the cost to public funds of grammar school petition and ballot procedures which have been implemented to date; [138443]
(2) what costs have been incurred by his Department in respect of retaining Electoral Reform Society services during grammar school (a) petitions and (b) ballots. [138444]
§ Ms Estelle Morris[holding answer 15 November 2000]On the matter of Departmental staffing costs in relation to the grammar school ballots policy, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 November 2000,Official Report, column 504W.
The Department has paid Electoral Reform Services £292,391.09 for services undertaken in relation to grammar school petitions and ballots from March 1999 to date. This breaks down as follows:
Financial year Total payments to ERS (£) 1998–99 14,599.94 1999–2000 217,705.86 April-October 2000 160,085.29 1 Of this, £1,780.07 was for printing, postage and administration costs relating to the Ripon ballot.