asked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the total central costs of supporting the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office, and the Wales Office over the past three years.[HL7355]
The costs of running the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office and the Wales Office over the past three years are disclosed in the table below. Costs represent resource outturn as disclosed in the Northern Ireland Office’s resource accounts (for Northern Ireland) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs’ resource accounts (for the Scotland and Wales Offices).
£000s £000s £000s The Northern Ireland Office 1,039,185 1,092,677 1,292,038 The Scotland Office 6,283 4,050 3,638* The Wales Office 3,591 3,883 4,308*
The Northern Ireland Office is a department in its own right and has responsibility for Northern Ireland’s constitutional and security issues, in particular law and order, political affairs, policing and criminal justice. Since the Northern Ireland Executive was suspended in October 2002 the Northern Ireland Office also assumed responsibility for economic and social matters. The executive functions that were previously the responsibility of the Scotland and Wales Offices transferred to the devolved Assemblies on 1 July 1999.
*The Department for Constitutional Affairs’ 2005-06 resource accounts are currently subject to final audit. The costs of running the Scotland and Wales Offices are not expected to change.