asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many vacancies there were for district valuers and valuation officers in September, 1971.

I have been asked to reply.The title "District Valuer and Valuation Officer" denotes the head of a local office of the Chief Valuer's Branch of the Inland Revenue (in Scotland the title is District Valuer). There were no vacancies in these posts in September, 1971. There is however, a continuing shortage of valuers in the Valuation Service as a whole and at the end of September, 1971, there were some 50 fewer valuers in posts than had been forecast.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many valuation officers were employed in September, 1971, in the work of inspecting properties and assessing gross and rateable values.

I have been asked to reply.In September, 1971, the 200 Valuation Offices in England and Wales, each headed by a Valuation Officer, employed about 2,800 valuers, most of whom were engaged in part in inspecting properties and assessing annual values for rating purposes. The inspection of domestic and the smaller commercial property is largely undertaken by the non-professional supporting staff who number over 6,000.