§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report figures for total numbers of officers employed in the prison service as compared with the complement for each of the most recent five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. WhitelawIn the prison service the complement is a hypothetical figure for the number of staff needed to carry out all the functions of the prison service with a minimum of overtime working. The more relevant figure for comparison with staff in post is the ceiling, which is the number of staff for which the Government have authorised expenditure in any given year. The ceiling and staff in post figures requested, relating to all members of the prison officer class employed in England and Vales, are as follows:
January Ceiling Staff in Post 1978 16,245 15,517 1979 16,965 15,716 1980 16,965 15,882 1981 16,965 17,070 1982 17,165 17,073