§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many accountants who are qualified members of United Kingdom professional bodies were employed within the Civil Service in financial and accounting roles in 1974, 1979 and 1988.
§ Mr. BrookeAt 31 December 1987 there were in the Government accountancy service approximately 740 members of one of the professional bodies forming the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) — that is, the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, of Scotland and in Ireland, the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. About 90 per cent. were in financial or accounting roles. At the same time there were another 60 staff who had passed the final examination, but were not yet members and 500 staff studying for the examinations of one of these professional bodies.
In July 1982, when the Government accountancy service was set up on its present basis, there were on a comparable basis a little over 600 members and 250 trainees. Figures for earlier years are not available on a consistent basis but the indications are of a rise in numbers in the mid to late 1970s.
The figures exclude qualified accountants in certain departmental grades. There are currently about 80 professional accountants in the Inland Revenue tax inspectorate and the DTI insolvency service. The figures 648W also exclude members of accountancy bodies outside the CCAB, or of specialised bodies such as the Institute of Internal Auditors.