Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to Government Departments of preparing for and responding to Westminster Hall debates.

It is not possible to provide an exact cost for preparing Ministers to respond to Westminster Hall Debates. There will be differences in the costs of Civil Service, Special Adviser and Ministerial time depending on the policy matter and length of the debate. Debates can also be cross-cutting and require resources from multiple departments or engage departmental bodies.