§ 12. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what was the total of staff, industrial and non-industrial, which his Department took over from the Forces Works Services; and what is the total now employed in work undertaken for the Armed Forces.
§ Mr. BoydenMy right hon. Friend's Department took over 12,879 non-industrial 866 and 49,858 industrial staff from the Service Departments. Owing to the integration that has taken place since the merger, the number of staff now engaged on work for the Armed Forces cannot be separately identified.
§ Mr. DigbyCan the Parliamentary Secretary confirm that, now that this work has been centralised, there will be some resulting economy as well as, we hope, an increase in efficiency through the use of industrial methods?
§ Mr. BoydenYes, Sir. I think that the most striking feature of the work is that the actual amount of works services has gone up from £197 million in 1963–64 to the provision for the coming year of £244 million—an increase of about 25 per cent.—and the expectation is that the number of industrial staff will be reduced by something over 2,000. Therefore, although the non-industrial staff has increased, the work alone indicates that this is an economy. In addition, of course, the Department is undertaking a great deal of pioneering and new work in connection with research and development.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesIs my hon. Friend aware that there is a long list of plumbers wanting married quarters, and what does he intend to do about it?