§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the saving in wages and salaries of civil servants achieved through the staff reduction in the three years since 1 April 1979; and what is the current annual rate of these savings for 1982–83.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe savings on wages and salaries of non-industrial and industrial civil servants achieved through the staff reductions in the Department of the Environment, including the Property Services Agency, since 1 April 1979 are:
£ Million 1979–80 11.5 1980–81 32.6 1981–82 55.8 Total 99.9 The annual rate of saving based on the reductions achieved to 1 April 1982, is £87.6 million at 1982–83 prices.
This is not, of course, all saving in that much of the work will now be carried out by contract to the private sector.
§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the annual reduction by number and percentage in his Department and including the Property Services Agency since 1 April 1975.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe information requested is available only from April 1977 and is given in the following table. Prior to that date the figures cover those for the Department of Transport as well as my Department.
73W
Year Annual Reduction Per cent. 1977–78 2,843 5.2 1978–79 1,047 2.0 1979–80 4,156 8.2 1980–81 2,595 5.6 1981–82 4,705 10.8
§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the number of redundancies that have occurred in his Department since 1 April 1979; and what is this number as a percentage of (a) total reductions achieved and (b) of the strength at 1 April 1979.
§ Mr. Heseltine823 redundancies have occurred in my Department, including the Property Services Agency, between 1 April 1979 and 1 April 1982; this is only 7.2 per cent. of the total reductions achieved; and 1.6 per cent. of the staff in post at 1 April 1979.