Written question asked by Robert Key (Conservative) on Monday, 15 March 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 19 March 1999. It was answered by Doug Henderson (Labour) on Friday, 19 March 1999 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many questions he has answered from the honourable Member for Portsmouth South since 1st January; and at what cost to his Department's budget. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many questions he has answered from the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) since 1 January; and at what cost to his Department's budget. [77483] Mr. Doug Henderson: Since 1 January 1999, our records show that 287 questions have been tabled to my Department by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) of which 240 have been answered to date. The cost to my Department's budget of answering individual Parliamentary Questions is not held centrally, however, the advisory cost limit of answering a Parliamentary Question is £500; therefore answering this number of questions may have cost some £120,000.

Secondary information