§ 30. Mr. Buchanan-Smithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of public service manpower requirements in central and local government in Scotland over the next two years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MillanI can only answer for those Departments responsible to me. Apart from devolution, I expect that be622W tween now and 1st April 1979 the numbers in the Scottish Office, excluding prisons and the State Hospital, will stay at about the present level, which is some 300 below what it was in January 1976 and about the same level as it was at 1st July 1975. I expect the Prison Service to increase by about 150 staff, and the minor departments, particularly the Department of Registers of Scotland and the Scottish Courts Administration, to increase by a net 175: the size of these departments depends on the unavoidable demands placed on their services.
On the likely effects of devolution I have nothing to add to the Explanatory and Financial Memorandum to the Scotland and Wales Bill.
As regards local government, it is the responsibility of each local authority to control its manpower. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have told me that it expects a reduction of local authority manpower in 1977–78.