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Written question asked by Lord Harper (Conservative) on Tuesday, 17 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 19 October 2006. It was answered by Barry Gardiner (Labour) on Monday, 30 October 2006 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Government Social Research Service

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of the Government Social Research Service in his Department in each of the last five years; how many projects have been completed by the Service in that period; and how many people are employed in the Service in his Department.
Answer

There were no Government Social Researchers in DEFRA prior to December 2003. Since that date, the requested figures are as follows:

£000 Number
Financial year Project cost Staff cost Total cost Completed projects¹ GSR staff (min-max)
2003-04 175 23 198 0 0-1
2004-05 1,222 109 1,331 9 1-4
2005-06 1,803 263 2,066 22 5-5
2006-07 ²1,034 ²234 ²1,268 10 4-5
¹ These figures do not include the considerable outputs of the Rural Evidence Research Centre, which take a variety of forms (including conference papers and workshops/seminars) and which are therefore more difficult to enumerate. ² Forecast.

The expenditure recorded does not necessarily reflect the total expenditure on social research across the whole of DEFRA, as sometimes work is commissioned and funded directly from policy budgets without the knowledge or involvement of GSR staff.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
451 c62W; 95854
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Government Social Research Service
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk