HC Deb 25 February 2002 vol 380 cc858-9W
Pete Wishart

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many oil and gas directorate posts there were in(a) Aberdeen, (b) London and (c) elsewhere in each of the last 15 years; and what the running costs for the oil and gas directorate were in total and by location in the most recent years for which figures are available. [36447]

Mr. Wilson

The number of oil and gas directorate posts located in Aberdeen, London and elsewhere since the establishment of the Aberdeen office in 1994, together with associated running costs was as follows:

£000
Aberdeen London Elsewhere Running costs
1994 4.1 118.5 0 6,560
1995 44.2 120.8 0 7,582
1996 45.5 118.9 0 7,425
1997 53.6 105 0 6,709
1998 56.3 102.3 0 7,060
1999 60.3 99.3 0 7,158
2000 72.3 103.8 0 8,409
2001 84.5 96.6 0 9,961

Notes:

  1. 1. Running costs expenditure is not recorded on the basis of the location of the office. A breakdown of the costs between Aberdeen and London is not therefore available.
  2. 2. There have been some changes in the functions of Oil and Gas Directorate over this period. For example, responsibility for the collection of oil and gas royalties was transferred to the Inland Revenue in 2000, leading to 14 posts transferring from Oil and Gas Directorate's Aberdeen office to the Inland Revenue's Aberdeen office.