To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were employed in his Department's ministerial correspondence unit in each of the last five years; and how much it cost to run the unit, including utilities and other expenses, in each year. (187050)

Although the Northern Ireland Office does not have a dedicated ministerial correspondence unit, there are staff within the Belfast and London private offices that act as correspondence clerks as part of their duties.

The measurement of the costs relating to the time spent completing correspondence duties could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.