§ Lord Harris of Greenwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total uniformed strength of Customs and Excise on 1st November 1984, and what were the comparable figures for 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Arts (The Earl of Gowrie)I regret that figures for 1st November each year are not available, but the total uniformed strength of H.M.
563WACustoms and Excise at 1st April in each of the last seven years is as follows:
1978 .. .. .. .. 4,595 1979 .. .. .. .. 4,665 1980 .. .. .. .. 4,382 1981 .. .. .. .. 4,162 1982 .. .. .. .. 3,959 1983 .. .. .. .. 3,746 1984 .. .. .. .. 3,497 The reduction in the number of uniformed staff during 1983–84 is largely attributable to a substantial decrease in the number of Revenue assistants employed on excise warehousing work.
§ Lord Harris of Greenwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total strength of the investigation branch of H.M. Customs and Excise on 1st November 1984, and what were the comparable figures for 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.
The Earl of GowrieThe strength of the Investigation Division of H.M. Customs and Excise at 1st November in each year is given below:
1978 .. .. .. .. .. .. 430 1979 .. .. .. .. .. .. 425 1980 .. .. .. .. .. .. 440 1981 .. .. .. .. .. .. 531 1982 .. .. .. .. .. .. 547 1983 .. .. .. .. .. .. 580 1984 .. .. .. .. .. .. 578 About two-thirds are specialist investigation officers.