Written question asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Brabazon of Tara (Non-affiliated) on Monday, 26 March 2012.

House of Lords: Committees

Question: To ask the Chairman of Committees what is the estimated annual cost of providing support for (1) the domestic committees of the House of Lords, and (2) the other Select Committees of the House of Lords, including all staff and administrative costs.

Answer: The majority of Select Committees are supported by the Committee Office. The Committee Office forecast outturn for 2011-12 was £3.56 million. The 1st report of the Liaison Committee 2010-12 estimated the additional marginal cost of a new unit of select committee activity as £225,000. This includes the cost of staffing, travel and all administrative costs, including printing. In addition, certain other Select Committees are staffed outside the Committee Office. For example, the Legislation Office supports the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee, the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, as well as other legislative committees. The domestic committees are served by staff with other primary duties, and do not generally take evidence in public, travel, appoint specialist advisers or incur any other discretely attributable administrative costs, apart from printing. Between April 2011 and February 2012, the total cost of printing reports from Select Committees supported outside the Committee Office, and domestic committees, was £57,244 plus a small cost for electronic publishing.

Secondary information