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Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Answer

Chris Grayling: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairsif he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the current occupants make towards the running costs of each; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure has been on those properties in each of the past five years; how much money was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2003-04; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment at each was in 2003-04. [213612] Mr. Lammy: My Department is not responsible for any official residences. The Palace of Westminster is responsible for the maintenance of the Lord Chancellor's residence in the House of Lords and for any work that needs to be carried out. There are no permanent staff employed at the residence. The Lord Chancellor's Private Office is responsible for the administration of the residence in terms of organising tours of the residence and keeping the diary of charitable functions. The Department does not make any contributions to the running cost of the residence. No refurbishment work has been carried out in the last five years. The cost of (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining and (c) food for the past five years is as follows: (a) Flowers and Plants 2004--£609.23 2005--£27 (b) Wine and Entertaining 2005--£248.76 2004- £2,914.12 2003- £841.49 (c) Food 2005--£5,286.46 2004--£29,440.78 2003--£8,447.71 No figures are available centrally before 2003

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

213612; 431 c1095-6W;431 c1091-2W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Electricity Government departments Natural gas Property Staff Utilities Repairs and maintenance Telephones Department for Constitutional Affairs Flowers Official residences Official hospitality Operating costs

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk