§ Sir David Priceasked the Solicitor-General for Scotland how many civil servants were employed by his Department in May 1979; how many are employed in February 1982; and what has been the percentage change; in each case how many were first division civil servants; and what has been the percentage change in their numbers.
The Solicitor-General for Scotland: Staff numbers for the dates requested are not readily available, but the number of civil servants employed by my Department on 327W 1 April 1979 was 789 and on 1 January 1982 the number was 952—an increase of 21 per cent. Although the term "first division civil servants" is not a recognised civil service terminology, the number of staff employed in my Department at Principal and equivalent professional grade and above on those dates was 140 and 160 respectively—an increase of 14 per cent.