To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many public consultations his Department has conducted in the last 12 months; how long each consultation was open for; how many responses were received in each case; and what the cost of conducting each consultation was. (259575)

In 2008 the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills conducted 13 consultations. On average each consultation was open for 12.5 weeks with an average of 583 responses received per consultation. The costs of conducting each consultation vary depending on the consultation route taken. It is not possible to provide the cost of conducting each one as this would incur disproportionate public expense.