§ 73. Sir A. HOLBROOKasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, having regard to the increase in Civil Service expenditure since 1914, he will consider the desirability of issuing instructons that all civil staffs in the de partments of the Navy and Army shall be reduced in the same proportion as reductions have been effected in the various ranks of those fighting Services?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Ronald McNeill)The number of officers and men serving in the Navy and the Army is no doubt one of the factors which affect the size of the civil establishments of the Admiralty and the War Office; but it is certainly not the only factor to be taken into account. The composition of these establishments cannot be directly proportioned to the strength of the fighting forces. If my hon. and gallant Friend desires more detailed information as to the reasons which have led to an increase of staff in these two Departments, I would refer him to the detailed answer given by my right hon. Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty on the 18th November, 1925, and to the Memorandum regarding the staff of the War Office which appears as an Appendix to the Report of the Select Committee of Public Accounts in the Army Accounts for 1924–25.