Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average cost of (1) drafting a Government bill, and (2) its passage through Parliament.

The drafting and passage of a Government bill requires resource from a number of departmental teams including legal and policy officials as well as shared resource such as the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.

Each Government Bill requires a different amount of resource based on its size and complexity. The Guide to Making Legislation sets out that bill teams must be properly resourced, with a dedicated bill manager, separate to the policy team, in place to oversee progress from an early stage.

In addition, the passage of Government bills requires resource in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Government does not hold data on the average number of people required to, nor the cost of, producing and passing Government bills.