§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Minister for the Civil Service what steps he proposes to take to encourage greater understanding by administrative staff of the advantage of an accountancy qualification both as a means of encouraging junior personnel to consider the pursuit of the professional qualification as an aid to career development and in enabling more senior staff to take greater advantage of the skills available from those who possess an accountancy qualification.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThis is partly a matter of training, and the Civil Service College, in consultation with the head of the Government Accountancy Service, is extending its provision of training in financial management for Administration Group staff, with the aim of increasing their awareness of the importance of accountancy and its implications for public policy. But more generally a wider appreciation of the value of accountancy advice will flow from the measures being taken to put the talents of qualified accountants in the Civil Service to better use.
§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he is satisfied with: (a) the rôle played by qualified accountants in the Civil Service, and (b) the career opportunities available to accountants in the Civil Service compared with other spheres of employment.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisFirst, in co-operation with the head of the Government Accountancy Service, my Department is seeking to expand the part played by qualified accountants in the work of Government—without necessarily any marked increase in their number.
Secondly, there is no satisfactory means of comparing the career opportunities within and outside the Civil Service open to a profession whose members are employed in many different walks of life. However, career prospects in the Professional Accountant Class have improved since the time of the Fulton Report, and a career officer for accountants has just been appointed to the staff of the head of the Government Accountancy Service.
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§ Mr. John Wakehamasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many extra qualified accountants have been employed in the Civil Service since the Fulton and Melville/Burney Reports were made.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisIn April 1967, the date used for the statistics in the Fulton Report, there were 309 accountants in the Professional Accountant Class. In April 1972, the date used for the statistics in the Melville/Burney Report, there were 354. In April 1976 there were 385. There are also qualified accountants in the Civil Service outside the Professional Accountant Class: at a special count in January 1976 there were 529 in this category, and the number is rising steadily.