HC Deb 16 January 2002 vol 378 cc305-6W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many all-party Parliamentary groups have received funding in each of the last four years; and how much was received in each year by each group. [27478]

Mr. Andrew Smith

Four all-party parliamentary groups have received funding from the Treasury in the last four years. They are the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the British American Parliamentary Group (BAPG) and the British-Irish Parliamentary Group (BIPG).

The amount of grant in aid paid to each of the groups in each of the last four years is set out in the table.

£
IPU CPA BIIP BAPG
1998–99 785,000 888,750 149,000 82,124
1999–2000 785,000 868,300 201,700 73,350
2000–01 853,000 2,498,683 218,000 84,600
2001–02 0 93,750 95,000 85,420
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change the criteria which his Department applies in awarding grants to all-party parliamentary groups. [27479]

Mr. Andrew Smith

There are no fixed criteria. Grants in aid for all-party parliamentary groups are financed from the Treasury's Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit, on the basis of an assessment of competing pressures.