§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Minister for the Civil Service what was the cost of the Civil Service in each of the past five years; and if he will give separate figures for Scotland.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisAs I explained to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North (Mr. Howell) on 22nd March—[Vol. 908, c.27]—information about expenditure is not collected in a form which enables me to identify the total cost of the Civil Service. It is, however, possible to identify estimates for the cost of wages and salaries for the years in question, which were:
£ million 1971–72 … … 1,300 1972–73 … … 1,419 1973–74 … … 1,509 1974–75 … … 1,840 1975–76 … … 2,543 Records of expenditure on general administrative expenditure, which covers 337W only part of the administrative costs, were not collated until the financial year 1975–76. The figure for that year was £540 million. This figure includes some expenditure, which is not directly attributable to the Civil Service.
Separate information for Scotland is not available.