§ Q1. Mr. Donnellyasked the Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the increased expenditure arising in a full year from the appointment of new Ministers, the upgrading of certain Ministers and the employment of their additional staff.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)If the hon. Member will let me know which particular appointments he has in mind, I will gladly try to give him the information he wants.
§ Mr. DonnellyIs the Prime Minister aware that the appointments I have in mind are the new Departmental Ministers, the creation of a new Department, and so on, and the double-banking of Ministers of the Treasury and the Foreign Office? Is he aware that there are two points at issue? One is whether we are getting any modest value for the money expended; and secondly, whether it is a question of administrative efficiency. Can the Prime Minister point to any period in history in which the double-banking of Cabinet Ministers has ever been a success? Is he justifying this on the ground of efficiency or is he claiming that it sustains his Government and gives them stiffening by clamping his colleagues together two at a time?
§ The Prime MinisterThe second half of that supplementary question has gone rather further than the original Question If the hon. Member will write to me or let me know what figures he wants as regards Ministers or any consequential staffs, I will try to have them worked out and sent to him.