§ Mr. Onslowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the total number of Customs and Excise staff employed on preventive work at (a) Heathrow airport and (b) other United Kingdom airports on a representative date in each of the past five years;
(2) what was the ratio of prevention officers to incoming airline passengers at (a) Heathrow and (b) other United Kingdom airports on a representative date in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Peter ReesBecause Customs and Excise staff in many locations perform a range of duties, the Department compiles information on its deployment of manpower not in numbers of staff employed on particular work but in man-years of effort spent. The information is 871W obtained by a census at 1 April each year. The following table shows the staff effort in relation to preventive control of air passengers and their baggage. To
Preventive work (man years) Ratio of man years to passengers ('000) Date Heathrow Other airports Heathrow Other airports 1 April 1975 … … … 368 425 1: 24.2 1: 15.6 1 April 1976 … … … 366 446 1: 25.5 1: 16.5 1 April 1977 … … … 378 425 1: 27.1 1: 18.4 1 April 1978 … … … 365 447 1: 28.8 1: 18.2 1 April 1979 … … … 372 (467)* 1: 30.6 1: 20.1 * Because of a simplification in the compilation of these figures for 1 April 1979, a figure for preventive work on passengers and their baggage is not available in respect of certain small airports. This figure has therefore been estimated from available data.