asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each of the years 1974 to 1984 (a) the salary in real terms of (i) principals and (ii) assistant secretaries in his Department, expressed as a percentage of the 1974 base salary level and (b) the number of voluntary resignations.
[pursuant to his reply, 11 March 1985, c. 60]: For the principal and assistant secretary grades, salaries in real terms expressed as percentages of 1974 salaries for each of the years 1974 to 1984 are shown in the following table. The salaries used correspond to the maxima of the respective pay scales and in 1984 these were, in actual terms, £17,489 for the principal grade and £24,317 for the assistant secretary grade. The final two columns of the table list the numbers of resignations from these grades in Her Majesty's Treasury since 1975.
| Salary in real terms (1974 = 100) | Number of resignations | |||
| Year | Assistant Secretary | Principal | Assistant Secretary | Principal |
| 1974 | 100 | 100 | .. | .. |
| 1975 | 111 | 104 | 2 | — |
| 1976 | 95 | 93 | — | 3 |
| 1977 | 84 | 82 | 1 | 1 |
| 1978 | 85 | 83 | — | — |
| 1979 | 81 | 80 | — | 3 |
| 1980 | 100 | 100 | 3 | — |
| 1981 | 96 | 96 | 1 | 4 |
| 1982 | 94 | 94 | 1 | 4 |
| 1983 | 94 | 93 | 1 | 8 |
| 1984 | 94 | 93 | .. | 7 |