§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many tax control officers, other than those dealing with value added tax and income tax, are at present employed in the United Kingdom; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(2) how many income tax control officers are at present employed in the United Kingdom and in Wales and England; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answers 20 January 1988]: Inland Revenue investigation officers do not, in general, deal exclusively in particular taxes and it is not possible to give separate figures for those engaged on imcome tax compliance and those engaged on other taxes. Moreover, for many staff, work on avoidance and evasion is only a part of their duties. However, the total number of staff units employed throughout the UK in dealing with avoidance and evasion of income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax for each of the years 1980–87 (the figure for 1979 is not available) were as follows:
Number 1980 1,659 1981 1,966 1982 2,166 1983 2,495 1984 2,843 1985 3,201 1986 3,272 1987 3,276