HC Deb 05 March 1946 vol 420 cc182-3
66. Mr. De la Bère

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the total number employed by the Government as civil servants at the end of the financial years of 1938, 1942 and 1945.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

Whole-time non-industrial civil servants on these dates numbered 374,301, 686,342 and 647,592 respectively.

Mr. De la B ère

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the last figure he gave is almost equal to the number engaged in agriculture? Is it not more important to have men doing a job producing goods we can eat than doing a great deal of work which does not produce anything useful?

Mr. Stokes

Might I ask my hon. Friend what he means by a non-industrial civil servant and what those figures would become if they were included?

Mr. Glenvil Hall

If my hon. Friend wants the industrial as well as the non-industrial, I will be very happy to get them for him.