Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of responses to Written Parliamentary Questions drafted by external contractors since March 2020.
As part of their work in helping respond to the pandemic, external contractors may provide support in answering Written Questions if required. However, Senior Civil Servants review each reply to ensure it is accurate and provide final sign-off.
Information on how many responses to Written Questions have included contributions by external contractors and an estimate of costs to the Department is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.