§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list those investigations currently being carried out by her Department under the Companies Act, Financial Services Act and Insurance Companies Act legislation, indicating the cost of each investigation, the manner in which the costs are being apportioned between inspectors and the likely date of publication. [4821]
§ Mr. Nigel Griffiths[holding answer 25 June 1997]: The Department carries out a number of enquiries under the Companies, Financial Services and Insurance Companies Acts, most of which are confidential. There are currently five Companies Act inspectors which were publicly announced. The information requested by the hon. Member in respect of these is as follows:
§ Mr. BattleThe average number of full-time equivalent staff employed in the two groups within OST in the years requested was as follows:
269W
Transdepartmental group Grade Permanent Contract Total 1994 1995 1996 1997 1994 1995 1996 1997 1994 1995 1996 1997 CSA — — — — 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 SCS 4 4 4 4 — — — — 4 4 4 4 G6 4 5 2 2 — — — — 4 5 2 2 G7 15 21 24 21 — — — — 15 21 24 21 SSO/SEO/SIO 1 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 AT/HEOD 1 — 2 4 — — — — 1 0 2 4 HEO/HSO 6 9 8 10 — — — — 6 9 8 10 EO 5 5 8 10 — — — 1 5 5 8 11 AO 6 5 8 8 — — — — 6 5 8 8 AA 3 2 2 4 — — 1 — 3 2 3 4 SPS 1 1 1 1 — — — — 1 1 1 1 PS 5 4 4 4 — — — — 5 4 4 4 Typist 3 2 3 2 — — — — 3 2 3 2 54 60 68 73 2 2 3 3 56 62 71 76 The Transdepartmental Group numbers include the secretariat of the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) and the Management Support Unit for all of OST, and reflect the initiation and development of the Foresight Programme, the transfer of a section from elsewhere in DTI into the Group's International Directorate, the establishment of the secretariat for the Human Genetics Advisory Commission and, in 1997, a temporary increase in staff for the 1988 UK presidency of the EU and Framework V negotiations. The Science and Engineering Base Group includes the Director General of Research Councils (DGRC) and is responsible for the Science Budget and the Research Councils. Its numbers take into account the transfer in January 1996 of the Development Unit for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology from the Transdepartmental Group, and an increase in the number of Research Councils from six to seven.
The permanent staff figures in each year include about 20 staff on secondment from other Departments and Non Departmental Public Bodies including the Research Councils, and four secondees from private companies.