§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will indicate the volume of work at the business statistics office, Newport, Gwent since the Civil Service dispute began; and how this compares with a similar period in 1980.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe main activities of the Business Statistics Office have been affected only marginally by Civil Service strikes, although the flow of information required for the maintenance of business registers has been interrupted. The work of the office is being restructured in accordance with Government policy described in the White Paper "Government Statistical Services" (Cmnd. 8236). The number of staff in post—including some dispersed from London during the past 12 months—was 938 in June compared with 969 in June 1980.