To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff from her Department assist the Migration Advisory Committee; what their job titles and responsibilities are; and whether they assist the committee in a full-time capacity. (208992)

The MAC has a dedicated secretariat of nine staff, eight of which are full time and one part time, some of whom are on secondment from Government Departments. The job titles and responsibilities are:

Head of Secretariat

Head of Policy

Head of Analysis

Assistant Economist

Senior Research Officer

Policy Leader (Stakeholder engagement)

Policy Leader (Visits and Finance)

Policy Developer (Correspondence and Office Manager).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse has been of the Migration Advisory Committee and its staff, broken down by (a) salary, (b) accommodation, (c) consultant and external fees and (d) other costs. (209077)

Funding for the Migration Advisory Committee for 2007-08 was £0.5 million. This sum reflected the fact that the committee and secretariat would not be fully functional until November 2007.

The funding included the cost of setting up the committee, the cost of operating the secretariat and the cost of committee members' series of regional visits across England Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These costs are estimated as follows:

For 2008-09, the committee and secretariat have been awarded funding of £1.5 million, projected to break down as follows:

Accommodation costs are met centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Migration Advisory Committee has met since February 2008. (209080)

In addition to other activities, since February 2008 the Migration Advisory Committee has met formally on:

15 February 2008;

28 March 2008 (held in Scotland); and

2 May 2008.

The Committee will meet next on 20 June 2008 and 21 July 2008.