To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the (a) costs and (b) the number of science-related posts in the diplomatic service for each year since 1979. [12325]
The costs, including salaries, allowances, travel costs and accommodation, and numbers for science-related posts in the diplomatic service are as follows:
| Numbers | £ cost | |
| 1993–94 | 24.4 | 2,240,586 |
| 1994–95 | 24.4 | 2,313,237 |
| Table 1: Staff numbers in EU institutions as amended by successive budgets | |||||
| 1994 | 1995 | 1995 | 1995 | 1996 | |
| Total staff | Budget increase | Supplementary budget increase | Total staff | Budget increase | |
| Court of Justice | 837 | 0 | 113 | 950 | 0 |
| Court of Auditors | 427 | 31 | 45 | 503 | 0 |
| Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions | 599 | 62 | 55 | 716 | 0 |
| Council | 2,304 | 75 | 86 | 2,465 | 42 |
| Commission | 14,918 | 650 | 268 | 15,836 | 193 |
Source:
Report of the Budget Committee to COREPER, on the 1996 budgetary procedure, 7 July 1995. Ref 8770/95.
With the latest enlargement, the European Parliament grew by 59 new MEPs. From 1995 to 1997, it will be taking on 335 extra staff, 157 for translation and interpreting.
Following enlargement only, the European Parliament has a redundancy programme. The programme was agreed by the Budget Council on 17 November 1995 and runs for five years. It is therefore too early to say what the average length of service is for those staff being made
Details for previous years are not readily available and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the planned (a) expenditure on and (b) cost of science-related posts in the diplomatic service over the next three years. [12326]
The forecast total cost and expenditure for science-related posts in the diplomatic service over the next three financial years are as follows:
- 1995–96: £2,174,000
- 1996–97: £2,139,906
- 1997–98: £2,193,404