Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost to the public purse has been to date of implementing hybrid proceedings in Parliament.

The House of Commons Commission is responsible for the hybrid proceedings in the Commons. The costs set out below therefore relate only to work associated with the Commons, not Parliament as a whole. The figures show combined implementation/other one-off costs and running costs as at 31 May 2020, and cover committed spend up to that date, not just actual expenditure.

VIRTUAL CHAMBER REVENUE COSTS:

Chamber set up – £31,200

Broadcasting hub set up – £12,734

Specialist operating team – £176,000

Technical infrastructure hire – £334,000

Remote broadcasting provision for Ministers and other key Members – £70,000

Additional internet bandwidth – £6,000

Sub-total excluding VAT = £629,934

(all supplier costs concerned, excluding any capital costs, are VAT recoverable)

VIRTUAL CHAMBER CAPITAL COSTS:

Broadcasting equipment – £123,994

Hansard recording equipment – £58,306

Sub-total excluding VAT = £182,300

Sub-total including VAT = £218,760

REMOTE VOTING, BALLOTING AND ANNUNCIATOR COSTS:

Remote voting (development, hosting) – £40,000 approx.

Commons Balloting – £12,500

Remote annunciator (“UKParliamentNow”) – £33,464 (Commons share only)

Sub-total including VAT = £85,964

VIRTUAL COMMITTEES REVENUE COSTS:

Implementation = £24,327 ex VAT (£29,192 including VAT)

VIRTUAL COMMITTEES CAPITAL COSTS:

Implementation = £330,824 ex VAT (£396,988 including VAT)

ONLINE BY-ELECTION FOR SELECT COMMITTEE CHAIRS

£3,780 including VAT.

TOTAL REVENUE INCLUDING NON-RECOVERABLE VAT = £745,090

TOTAL CAPITAL INCLUDING VAT = £615,748

GRAND TOTAL = £1,360,838