§ Mr. Fairbairnasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of vacancies in his Department for which recruits are required but which have not yet been filled.
§ Mr. William Ross236, including 137 vacancies in the Scottish Prisons Service.
§ Mr. Fairbairnasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many public relations officers were employed by his Department in March 1974; how many are employed now; whether he expects to recruit any more during the rest of 1975 and 1976; and what are the salaries of those he has recruited and expects to recruit.
§ Mr. William RossThe Scottish Information Office provides services in Scotland for other Departments as well as my own. In March 1974 the approved complement of the Information Officer
742W
Pupil/teacher Ratio January January January September 1953* 1960* 1970† 1974† (a) Primary … … … … … 32.7 33.5 28.8 23.4 (b) Secondary … … … … … 18.6 17.3 16.0 15.7 * On basis of all teachers employed. † On basis of full-time equivalent of all registered teachers employed. Group was 24; it is now 28. There were four vacancies in March 1974; there is now one.
Each of the four new posts is offset by a reduction elsewhere—three by reduction in administrative staff now replaced by Information Group staff and one by the transfer of a post from the Department of Industry (Glasgow) when I assumed responsibility for selective assistance to industry in July of this year. The net increase in public service manpower as a result of the increased complement is, therefore, nil. I expect the remaining vacancy to be filled in the course of this financial year on a salary scale of £3,900–£4,700.
Estimates for staff needs in 1976–77 are now under consideration.
§ Mr. Fairbairnasked the Secretary of State for Scotland for what reasons any extra staff were recruited in his Department between March 1974 and the present; and for what reasons are any extra staff likely to be recruited for the rest of this year and 1976.
§ Mr. William RossFor the reasons for increases in staff from March 1974 to the present I refer to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Melton (Mr. Latham) on 10th November—[Vol. 899, c. 454.] Further increases in 1975–76 will be kept to a minimum and will be within the limits of supply estimates approved by Parliament and for the broad purposes specified in the explanatory notes to the Estimates. Estimates for 1976–77 are presently under consideration.