asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list for each year since 1978–79 the establishment and total staff in post in the gas standards branch of his Department.

The complement and staff in post in the gas standards branch on 1 April each year since 1978 were as follows:

	Complement	Staff in post
1978	142	134
1979	144	131
1980	124	124
1981	98½	118
1982	88½	94

In 1978 the GSB had three gas engineers employed full time on safety matters. The number rose to five this year and an additional post has recently been approved bringing the total to six. These gas engineers work closely with the gas examiners in the GSB, particularly with regard to gathering technical information. A significant amount of administrative effort at the GSB is also devoted to gas safety work.