§ Mr. Beaumont-Darkasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures are being taken to improve control of the running costs of Government Departments; and what are the latest figures available broken clown by Department, wages and salaries, personnel overheads, accommodation costs, office services and other services.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe following table shows that, if allowance is made for additional expenditure caused by the Falklands conflict, the trend is towards a lower rate of increase in the running costs of Government Departments.
Percentage increase 1979–8O to 1980–81 1980–81 to 1981–82 1981–82 to 1982–83 Running costs 19.2 11.5 9.4 (7.6 excluding MOD) Inflation (GDP deflator) 17.7 10.3 7.1 Comparison between 1981–82 and 1982–83 is complicated by factors outside Departments' control: the decrease in the national insurance surcharge, an increased notional allowance for pensions, and changes in the basis of accommodation costs. Correcting for these factors reduces the figure of 7.6 per cent. to about 7.3 per cent.
Running costs tend to increase steadily unless a determined effort is made to check them. Ministers are therefore taking a personal interest in the costs of their Departments and this is supplemented by an annual service-wide scrutiny carried out by the Treasury. This scrutiny has revealed a wide range of many individually small but useful improvements which have helped to contain the growth of expenditure.
The following tables show outturn for 1981–82 and forecast outturn for 1982–83 for each Department. The figures for the Ministry of Defence cover military and civilian running costs which cannot be separated with precision and for 1982–83 include additional expenditure due to the Falklands conflict.
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Department Wages and Salaries Personnel Overheads Accommodation Costs Office Services Other Services Total Running Costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Overseas Development Administration 22.9 58.2 2.2 5.5 6.0 15.2 3.3 8.3 5.0 12.7 39.3 Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 127.9 71.6 11.5 6.4 26.7 14.9 11.3 6.3 1.2 0.7 178.6 Department of Industry 89.4 68.3 4.0 3.1 21.2 16.2 10.8 8.2 5.4 4.1 130.9 Department of Energy 14.8 56.2 1.1 4.1 3.8 14.5 2.1 7.9 4.5 17.2 26.3 Department of Trade 74.4 47.8 3.0 2.1 35.7 22.9 12.9 8.3 29.2 18.8 155.5 Department of Employment 207.2 77.2 6.4 2.4 32.7 12.2 17.5 6.5 4.8 1.8 268.5 Manpower Services Commission 195.3 65.8 9.2 3.1 54.8 18.5 31.3 10.5 6.1 2.0 296.7 Department of Transport 114.4 52.4 5.5 2.5 23.9 10.9 17.4 8.0 57.1 26.2 218.3 Department of the Environment 104.8 68.0 5.2 3.4 22.4 14.5 14.9 9.7 6.8 4.4 154.2 Property Services Agency 302.8 70.0 13.8 3.2 43.7 10.1 11.0 2.6 61.2 14.1 432.5 Home Office 445.8 85.4 19.1 3.7 23.8 4.6 21.1 4.0 12.5 2.4 522.3 Lord Chancellor's Department 97.1 65.7 5.4 3.6 29.0 19.6 12.6 8.5 3.7 2.5 147.8 Department of Education and Science 30.6 69.4 2.4 5.3 7.7 17.6 3.0 6.9 0.3 0.7 44.0 Department of Health and Social Security 742.4 59.4 21.8 1.7 114.4 9.2 97.8 7.8 272.5 21.8 1,248.9 Her Majesty's Treasury 43.4 69.6 1.6 2.6 7.3 11.6 3.6 5.8 6.5 10.4 62.3 Customs and Excise 259.7 77.1 16.9 5.0 38.2 11.3 16.8 5.0 5.3 1.6 336.8 Inland Revenue 595.5 75.2 15.2 1.9 111.5 14.1 55.9 7.1 13.6 1.7 791.7 Department of National Savings 60.5 38.4 0.7 0.5 8.5 5.4 20.6 13.1 67.1 42.6 157.5 Management and Personnel Office 14.7 48.3 2.0 6.4 5.7 18.6 3.8 12.5 4.3 14.2 30.5 Paymaster General's Office 6.4 57.2 0.0 0.4 1.0 9.0 2.1 19.0 1.6 14.5 11.2 Scottish Office 110.3 72.6 5.0 3.3 23.7 15.6 8.1 5.3 4.8 3.2 151.9 Welsh Office 23.3 54.1 1.2 2.8 3.3 7.6 3.4 7.9 11.8 27.5 43.0 Northern Ireland Departments and Northern 281.1 78.7 14.5 4.1 24.0 6.7 18.4 5.1 19.3 5.4 357.4 Ireland Office Total Main Departments 9,577.1 70.9 622.3 4.6 1,972.9 14.6 575.6 4.3 756.3 5.6 13,504.3 Total Other Departments 255.5 65.8 13.9 3.6 54.9 14.1 26.2 6.7 37.9 9.8 388.4 Total ALL DEPARTMENTS 9,832.6 70.8 636.2 4.6 2,027.8 14.6 601.8 4.3 794.2 5.7 13,892.7 NB Calculations are based on actual not rounded figures.
Gross Running Costs—1982–83 Forecast Outturn Department Wages and Salaries Personnel Overheads Accommodation costs Office Services Other Services Total Running Costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Percentage of total running costs £ million Ministry of Defence (including Armed Forces) 5,759.9 70.1 593.0 7.2 1,517.9 18.5 185.6 2.3 158.8 1.9 8,215.1 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 178.8 54.4 25.0 7.6 74.9 22.8 26.3 8.0 23.4 7.1 328.5 Overseas Development Administration 23.8 58.8 2.0 4.9 6.8 6.8 3.3 8.1 4.7 11.6 40.5 Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 133.2 69.9 12.5 6.6 29.7 15.6 13.4 7.0 1.7 0.9 190.6 Department of Industry 92.5 66.2 4.6 3.3 23.3 16.7 12.0 8.6 7.3 5.2 139.8 Department of Energy 14.7 56.1 1.2 4.6 5.5 21.0 2.4 9.2 2.6 9.9 26.2 Department of Trade 78.7 48.6 4.0 2.5 39.7 24.5 13.1 8.1 26.3 16.3 161.8 Department of Employment 230.6 76.1 8.1 2.7 35.9 11.9 23.3 7.7 5.0 1.7 302.9 Manpower Services Commission 208.5 64.4 11.5 3.5 59.4 18.3 37.1 11.5 7.5 2.3 324.0 Department of Transport 119.0 54.1 6.5 3.0 25.9 11.8 24.1 10.9 44.5 20.2 220.0 Department of the Environment 100.2 64.9 5.4 3.5 24.7 16.0 15.6 10.1 8.2 5.3 154.2 Property Services Agency 314.1 67.7 14.4 3.1 48.8 10.5 14.2 3.1 72.6 15.6 464.2 Home Office 492.0 84.6 22.1 3.8 29.4 5.1 24.7 4.2 13.5 2.3 581.7 Lord Chancellor's Department 106.0 65.6 6.2 3.8 32.0 19.8 13.8 8.5 3.5 2.2 161.6 Department of Education and Science 31.9 66.6 2.8 5.8 9.2 19.2 3.6 7.5 0.4 0.8 47.9 Department of Health and Social Security 791.0 57.9 23.5 1.7 127.3 9.3 116.2 8.5 308.0 22.5 1,366.1 Her Majesty's Treasury 45.5 67.5 1.7 2.5 8.7 12.9 3.7 5.5 7.9 11.7 67.4 Customs and Excise 271.5 75.7 18.2 5.1 42.9 12.0 20.4 5.7 5.7 1.6 358.7 Inland Revenue 640.4 74.4 19.1 2.2 123.5 14.4 61.2 7.1 16.3 1.9 860.5 Department of National Savings 62.2 40.9 0.9 0.6 10.1 6.4 21.8 14.3 57.2 37.6 152.1 Management and Personnel Office 15.5 45.2 2.2 6.4 6.7 19.5 4.7 13.7 5.2 15.2 34.3 Paymaster General's Office 6.8 56.2 0.1 0.8 1.1 9.1 2.3 19.0 1.8 14.9 12.1 Scottish Office 116.6 72.2 5.8 3.6 25.3 15.7 8.4 5.2 5.4 3.3 161.6 Welsh Office 24.0 53.6 1.2 2.7 3.6 8.0 3.6 8.0 12.4 27.7 44.8 Northern Ireland Departments and Northern 300.1 78.0 14.7 3.8 29.1 7.6 20.1 5.2 20.9 5.4 384.9 Ireland Office Total Main Departments 10,156.5 68.6 806.7 5.4 2,341.4 15.8 674.9 4.6 820.8 5.5 14,810.5 Total Other Departments 271.3 68.6 14.0 3.5 62.5 15.8 28.1 7.1 19.4 4.9 395.4 TOTAL ALL DEPARTMENTS 10,427.8 68.6 820.7 5.4 2,403.9 15.8 703.0 4.6 840.2 5.5 15,196.9 NB Calculations are based on actual not rounded figures. Notes:
Wages and salaries=wages, salaries, overtime payments, employers' national insurance contributions, and notional cost of accruing liability for pensions of serving staff.
Personnel overheads = travel, subsistance, removals, entertainment, catering support, protective clothing and training;
Accommodation costs=rates, heating, lighting, utilities, furniture and fittings, and notional market rental values for Crown and leased property;
Office services=postage, telecommunications, stationery, printing, binding, publications, library services, current expenditure on computers, office machinery and vehicles, and publicity and advertising.
Other costs=services provided by the Post Office, other agencies, and other Departments.
The coverage of the tables above differs from the table relating to provison for 1981.82 which was published in the Official Report c. 112 on 2 March 1982. These tables include more staff in Northern Ireland Departments and some additional payments to other Government Departments. The coverage of accommodation costs in the Home Office has also been changed.
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