§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for Energy if any of the 145 staff savings in his Department announced on 6 December 1979 have yet been made; and, if not, when he expects them to be achieved and in what divisions, at what grades, and in which geographical regions.
§ Mr. David HowellStaff in post on 1 April 1979 numbered 1,267 compared with a current figure of about 1,255. This represents a saving of some 30 or so staff across the Department as a whole offset by an increase of about 20 to meet the Department's expanding work load in connection with the development and monitoring of the United Kingdom's offshore oil and gas reserves. The detailed disposition of the 145 staff savings announced on 6 December 1979, a proportion of which is reflected in the foregoing figures, has not yet been finally determined, but all the reductions are planned to be implemented by or before 1 April 1982. The reductions will be partially offset by the provision of up to 35 extra staff in the Department's petroleum engineering division, and, in particular, by an increase in the division's784W complement of petroleum specialists grades.