§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the(a) cost of the Civil Service and (b) average cost for each civil servant for 1970, 1979, 1984 and 1988, breaking down the average cost for each civil servant into pay, national insurance, superannuation, and other costs such as office space, heating, lighting, car allowance, travel allowance and telephone.
§ Mr. MajorCivil Service administrative costs have not been recorded in the manner described for all the years mentioned, and the current running costs control mechanism was only introduced in 1986–87. I am not therefore able to provide the detailed information in the form requested. Due to coverage changes, comparable figures prior to 1980–81 are not available, and those for that year have had to be estimated to the nearest £50 million.
Table 1 sets out total running costs on current coverage, the number of full-time staff covered and the cost per head for the year indicated.
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Table 1 1980–81 1984–85 1987–88 Departmental running costs in £m1 7,300 10,998 12,997 Average full-time staff included in running costs2 of which 739,800 666,100 647,500 Civil Service 653,200 583,100 565,200 Armed Forces 58,000 58,000 57,000 Northern Ireland Civil Service 28,600 25,000 25,300 Running costs £ per head 9,867 16,511 20,072 Notes:
1 Departmental running costs comprise pay and national insurance costs, personnel overheads (including travel allowances), accommodation costs, office and other services. They do not include notional accruing pensions liability, pensions in payment or capital expenditure.
2 Figures for average levels of full-time staff in post across the year. They exclude staff in trading funds (e.g. HMSO) and other areas now exempted from gross running costs control (e.g. the Land Registry). Although most of Armed Forces are also outside running costs, those personnel engaged in headquarters and support activities are included.
Table 2 shows the average man-year cost in 1987–88 when casual staff and overtime are added, and then breaks this down by components:
Table 2 1987–88 £ Running costs per man year 17,378 Comprising: Pay costs 10,688 Personnel overheads 1,322 Accommodation costs 2,632 Office services (e.g. telecommunications) 1,341 Other services (e.g. contract services) 1,395