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<p>A late sitting can refer to either an occasion when the House sits beyond its likely
scheduled rise (i.e. 10.30pm on Monday, 7.30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, 5.30pm on
Thursday); or whenever the House sits beyond 10.00pm.</p><p>Two types of payments
are made to staff in order to support evening sittings, including late sittings: the
Unsocial Hours Payment (UHP), an annual flat-rate allowance paid across the year to
staff required to work to an unspecified time during evening sittings; and the Evening
Additional Hours (EAH) payment which reflects the number of additional hours worked
after 6pm, paid at a standard rate from 1800 to 2230 and at a higher rate after 2230.
Additionally, in certain circumstances overtime may be paid to staff which may or
may not be related to the House’s sitting hours. These payments are not reflected
in this answer as the records do not indicate in which circumstances they were made
to support late sittings. A late night taxi service is provided to staff who are required
to work late; this service is only available after 2300.</p><p>Security staff are
employed by the Metropolitan Police Service and are paid in accordance with their
terms and conditions of employment.</p><p>The costs of UHP, EAH and the late night
taxi service in each year since 2010–11 was as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Unsocial
Hours Allowance*</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Evening hours payment*</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Travel
Costs</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total Cost</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010–2011</p></td><td><p>£373,409.48</p></td><td><p>£473,171.13</p></td><td><p>£376,892.69</p></td><td><p>£1,223,473.29</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011–2012</p></td><td><p>£345,556.57</p></td><td><p>£503,810.57</p></td><td><p>£369,859.62</p></td><td><p>£1,219,226.77</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012–2013</p></td><td><p>£334,516.90</p></td><td><p>£433,007.60</p></td><td><p>£264,314.70</p></td><td><p>£1,031,839.20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013–2014</p></td><td><p>£333,091.84</p></td><td><p>£412,079.02</p></td><td><p>£239,546.70</p></td><td><p>£984,717.56</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014–2015</p></td><td><p>£367,756.14</p></td><td><p>£341,638.12</p></td><td><p>£141,814.10</p></td><td><p>£851,208.36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£1,754,303.93</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£2,163,706.44</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£1,392,427.81</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£5,310,465.18</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>*
Inclusive of NI and pension contributions</p><p>It is not possible meaningfully to
equate these staffing costs related to evening sittings to an average overall cost
per hour of late night sittings for two reasons: firstly, costs for other types of
marginal expenditure related to late sittings, such as utilities charges, are not
recorded separately; secondly, the staffing costs are paid to facilitate all sittings
after 6.00pm, rather than “late” sittings specifically, whether defined as after 10.00pm
or beyond the likely scheduled rise.</p>
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