§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the size and establishment of the task force on Merseyside; and what have been its costs to central Government in each year since it was appointed.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe Merseyside task force was set up in October 1981. Between then and January 1984 the Department of the Environment assigned 10 of its existing permanent staff to the task force, supported by locally recruited temporary clerical staff. The costs to my Department of salaries and accommodation including telephone expenses, are as follows:
Financial Year £000s 1981–82 (part) 82.5 1982–83 181.9 1983–84 * 238.1 * Projected outturn These costs exclude the salaries and related costs of officers seconded by other Government Departments to the task force from time to time to provide shorter term assistance. The task force has included a number of secondees from the private sector. Their salaries are paid by the companies concerned.
I announced on 8 July 1983 a more permanent task force establishment on Merseyside. The new establishment became fully operative on 3 January 1984 when it took over formal responsibility for most matters in the task force area previously handled by the DOE regional office in Manchester. The current establishment of the new office is 39. The staff of the expanded office were either already employed at Liverpool or transferred from Manchester. The net increase in staff numbers has been marginal.