HC Deb 30 November 1965 vol 721 cc1218-20
16. Sir R. Russell

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what is the estimated administrative cost of her Department in 1965–66; and what percentage increase this represents over the administrative cost of the Department of Technical Co-operation in the latest convenient year.

Mrs. Castle

The estimated administrative cost for 1965–66 is £2,347,000. This is an 81 per cent. increase over the corresponding actual cost of the Department of Technical Co-operation for 1963–64, the last full financial year of its existence; the Ministry, of course, has a much wider field of activity than the Department.

Sir R. Russell

Does this increase, which presumably is largely due to an increase in staff which the right hon. Lady justified when answering my hon. Friend the Member for Woking (Mr. Onslow) by saying that there have been increases in efficiency in disbursement of aid, mean that she can give some examples of those increases?

Mrs. Castle

I am afraid that I would need more time than Mr. Speaker would allow to me to answer that question in detail. The White Paper presented to the House last summer gives a full range of the examples which the hon. Member wants. Part of the increase is, of course, due to increases in salaries and costs generally.

Mr. Chataway

While accepting that this 81 per cent. increase is in part justified by the wider responsibilities which the right hon. Lady's Ministry has, may I ask if it is not the case that her staff has increased by 500 and the staff of Departments from which functions have been transferred has been reduced by only 50?

Mrs. Castle

No. The number of reductions of staff of other Departments, which has already been given to the House, is much higher. If the hon. Member cares to approach the Ministers concerned he will find that the latest figures are much higher than that. I would point out to him that the Third Report of the Estimates Committee for 1964–65 contained the comment that the size of the Department was not large compared with that of the Department of Technical Co-operation with its smaller responsibilities.