Parliament & politics: Questions and Answers

Costs at No 10

THE TOTAL staff costs for Number 10 were pounds 3.4m in 1996-97 and pounds 4.1m in 1997-98. Estimated costs for 1998/9 are pounds 4.9m, the Prime Minister told Malcolm Bruce, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman.

Asbestos deaths

THERE WERE 164 deaths caused by asbestos in 1995 - the last year for which figures are available, environment minister Angela Eagle told Lindsay Hoyle (Lab, Chorley).

Tourism income

TOURISM ACCOUNTED for 2.89 per cent of the UK's gross domestic product in 1995 - pounds 17,602m, the culture, media and sport minister Tom Clarke told Geraldine Smith (Lab, Morecambe and Lunesdale).

Twin birth rates

THE NUMBER of women who gave birth to twins rose from 7,533 in 1990 to 8,408 in 1997, the health minister Paul Boateng told Dafydd Wigley (PC, Caernarfon). The number of triplets rose from 190 to 279 in the same period.

Dome sponsors

MORE THAN pounds 100m of private-sector sponsorship for the Millennium Experience has been committed so far, and it is expected to achieve its sponsorship target of pounds 150m by the end of the year, Peter Mandelson told Austin Mitchell (Lab, Great Grimsby).