§ Mr. Cockeramasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the numbers of civil servants employed in the registers of Scotland in April 1979; and why it is proposed in the Government's "expenditure plans" 1984–85 and 1986–87, Cmnd. 9143, to increase the number of civil servants in this Department.
§ Mr. AncramFour hundred and forty civil servants were employed in the Department of the Registers for Scotland in April 1979. Staff numbers have increased primarily to meet increased workload arising largely from the sale of local authority houses under the Tenants Rights (Scotland) Act 1980 and to permit the progressive extension of the Land Register under the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 which will in due course simplify and reduce the costs of conveyancing.
The Department is self-financing from fee revenue in terms of section 25 of the Land Registers (Scotland) Act 1868