§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will give the total number of staff employed in his Department on 1 May 1979 and the total staff costs, with similar details for 1 January; and what action he proposes to take to reduce the costs of administration of his Department during the current year.
§ Mr. NottOn 1 May 1979 there were 7,604 staff in post and payments of salaries, overtime and employers' national insurance contributions for May totalled £3.441 million. On 1 January 1980 there were 7,238 staff in post; the most recent month for which payment details are 703W available is November 1979 when the total was £3.950 million. In May no payment had yet been made in respect of the 1979–80 pay settlement; the November payments included a pay increase of14 per cent. agreed by the previous Administration and also took account of increased London weighting.
Efforts will continue to be made to reduce the cost of administration by the elimination of waste and by improved efficiency. As part of that effort Sir Derek Rayner has been invited to assist in projects to improve the efficiency of particular areas of my Department. The number of staff will also be reduced following the review of the size and cost of the Civil Service, the results of which were announced on 6 December 1979 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Civil Service Department.