Question

To ask the Leader of the House what was the average cost of responding to a Question for Written Answer tabled in the House of Lords in the most recent year for which figures are available.

The information requested is not held. The cost to the public purse of answering written parliamentary questions depends on numerous factors, including the size of parliamentary teams, volumes of parliamentary questions submitted, and the complexity of the question asked (and required policy work to answer it), amongst other factors.

The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work) sets out: “There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.”