§ 14. Mr. Patrick Maitlandasked the Secretary of State for Scotland why, when the number of persons employed in the local government service in Scotland has declined from 68,000 in June, 1951, to 67,000 in June, 1952, the number of persons employed by the national government service shows an opposite trend; and whether he will take steps to reduce the number of civil servants employed.
§ Mr. J. StuartThe figures to which my hon. Friend refers relate to national government service—excluding Her Majesty's Forces and Women's Services—and local government service as defined in the standard industrial classification and exclude large numbers of employees of both central and local authorities which appear in other tables. They do not therefore provide a true measure of the trend of total employment in either case. The total number of non-industrial civil servants in Scotland was practically the same in July, 1951 and July, 1952: in my own Department there was a decrease of 100 between these two dates. The number of civil servants is under constant review.
§ Mr. MaitlandIs the Secretary of State for Scotland aware that while what he has said will give some satisfaction, it would give still greater satisfaction if he could assure us that the number of civil servants is being drastically diminished, and that while Scottish devolution is welcome to people in Scotland, centralisation in Edinburgh is not?