§ Mr. David Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was (a) the cost of running the Professional and Executive Register in the year ended 5th April 1977, including estimated overhead and accommodation costs, (b) the number of job placings in the year and (c) the cost per job replacement.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, on the basis of the provisional PER statement of accounts for the 1976–77 finan-450W cial year, the total cost of running PER was £5.25 million. This was made up of £2.47 million to cover PER's social costs, and £2.78 million to cover the cost of its commercial recruitment service. Of this latter sum, £2.45 million was recovered in fee income, leaving a deficit on the commercial trading account of £0.33 million.
The number of placings in the year totalled 8,921. The all-in unit cost, including the cost of PER's social services, was £589. Excluding the social costs the figure is £312, and £37 when account is taken of fee income.