§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he has any plans to increase the number of parliamentary draftsmen; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeThere are at present 23 parliamentary counsel—of all grades—of whom four are seconded to the Law Commission. Steps are being taken to recruit five more assistant parliamentary counsel, with a view to increasing from 19 to 22 the number of counsel working in the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and from four to six the number seconded to the Law Commission.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many pages of legislation have been prepared by parliamentary draftsmen in each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. HayhoeIn round figures, the number of pages of non-Scottish legislation prepared by parliamentary draftsmen in each of the past 10 years was:
605W
New Acts Consolidation Acts Total 1974 1,360 320 1,680 1975 1,690 640 2,330 1976 1,400 370 1,770
New Acts Consolidation Acts Total 1977 790 370 1,160 1978 830 280 1,110 1979 580 660 1,240 1980 1,470 780 2,250 1981 1,330 690 2,020 1982 1,360 400 1,760 1983 660 590 1,250
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will list the total number of parliamentary draftsmen who have been working full-time on the preparation of legislation in each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe number of parliamentary draftsmen who were working full-time on the preparation of non-Scottish legislation on 1 January in each of the years in question was:
In the Paliamentary Counsel Office At the Law Commission Total 1974 17 5 22 1975 19 5 24 1976 19 5 24 1977 20 5 25 1978 20 5 25 1979 20 4 24 1980 18 5 23 1981 18 4 22 1982 17 4 21 1983 19 6 25