asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many vacancies exist in the Inland Revenue by region and by grade at present and for each month over the past two years.

[pursuant to his reply, 28 March 1985]: There are nearly 1,200 Inland Revenue offices throughout the United Kingdom. Vacancies occur in these offices for a variety of reasons as people retire, resign, are promoted or are transferred. Most of these vacancies are filled on a local or regional basis and so detailed information about individual vacancies is not collated centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost. Staff in post as at 1 March 1985 totalled 69,589 out of an overall complement of 69,724.