6 Resourcing the Work
6.1 The overall cost of running my office during
2006-07 was significantly higher than in the previous year, as
the table below shows:
| | 2003-04
£
| 2004-05
£
| 2005-06
£
| 2006-07
£
|
| Staffing etc | 301,425
| 298,869
| 308,121
| 379,609
|
| Running Costs | 33,833
| 3,964 |
8,713 | 6,939
|
| Total | 335,258
| 302,833
| 316,834
| 386,548
|
6.2 As can be seen, by far the major part of the
cost arises from the employment of staff. The rise in staff costs
over the past year was not, however, attributable to any real
increase in resources but mainly to changes in the way the House
treats staff pension costs for budgeting and accounting purposes.
Running costs were slightly down. They included not only costs
associated with printing the Register of Members' Interests but
transcription and translation costs arising from the major ongoing
inquiry to which I referred in Section 3 of this report.
6.3 Given the intense demands imposed by that inquiry
and by the high volume of other activity disclosed elsewhere in
this report, it is a tribute to my colleagues that (with the exception
of some limited assistance from the Department of the Clerk of
the House in relation to the major inquiry previously mentioned)
we coped with the high level of activity in 2006-07 within existing
staff resources. Given that the high level of activity has been
sustained into 2007-08, it will be comforting for my successor
to know that the House of Commons Commission has indicated that,
if the needs of the work were to require an increased level of
resources, it would be willing to make available whatever is required.[43]
43 HC 905, Session 2002-03 Back
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