HC Deb 21 July 2004 vol 424 c311W
Mr. Dorrell

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent employees of the Inland Revenue in the east midlands there were in each year since 1997. [185493]

Dawn Primarolo

The numbers of full-time equivalent employees of the Inland Revenue in the Government East Midlands region on 1 April each year since 1997 were:

Number
1997 3,714
1998 3,807
1999 3,951
2000 4,010
2001 4,060
2002 4,080
2003 4,385
2004 4,368

The reasons for changes in staff numbers in a single Government region are difficult to accurately measure as they do not reflect organisational divisions within IR or changes in organisational design over the period. Nationally, Inland Revenue growth, since 1997, of which a proportion will be reflected within East Midlands, can be attributed to workload growth, spend to save initiatives, programmes such as the Grabiner review of the informal economy, mergers with the contribution and benefit agencies and the introduction of new tax credits work.