§ Mr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been employed by the Scottish Development Department's central excavations unit and its successor body on short-term contracts for periods of more than two years; and why such people have not been offered full-time employment.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 21 June 1989]: In the four years 1985–86 to 1988–89 there have been no contracts of more than two years. No individual contract has been for more than 156 working days, and only five contracts have been for more than 100 working days.
Information on contracts before 1985 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.