asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what have been (a) the average gross weekly pay and (b) the average level of redundancy payment for the main ancillary Health Service grades for each of the last four years.

The following estimates of average earnings exclude London allowances:

£ per week
Pay group	1978	1979	1980	1981
	Full-time men
1	61·16	67·66	79·52	85·72
2	64·17	70·95	87·04	93·83
3	66·59	73·58	93·22	100·49
	Full-time women
1	54·59	60·50	72·23	77·86
2	53·44	59·25	72·92	78·61
3	56·25	62·31	76·79	82·78

Half of all ancillary staff work part-time and so earn significantly less than these figures.Details about redundancy payments by staff group are not held centrally, but overall there has been an increase in the number of ancillary staff employed in England over this period.