§ 4. Mr. Blakerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that the Government's recent decision to hold the size of the Civil Service at its present level will mean that 11,000 people who were to be recruited into the Civil Service in order to carry out existing Government policies will not be so recruited, what steps are being taken to limit the workload of the Civil Service accordingly.
§ Mr. Harold LeverSome of the measures taken to cut Government expenditure, particularly on defence and civil defence, will reduce the workload on the Civil Service. In addition, Departments are examining other ways of saving work such as the elimination of less essential activities and spreading it over a longer period.
§ Mr. BlakerDoes not the Financial Secretary agree that the main cause of the increasing numbers in the Civil Service is Government policy? If the Government are to prune the numbers of civil servants how can they avoid a greater workload falling on the Civil Service if they will not abandon their policies both of the past and in the pipeline?
§ Mr. LeverI agree that in general the size of the Civil Service will relate to Government policies, and adjustments have been made in Government policies to achieve some stability in the level of Civil Service employment.
§ Mr. StraussCan my hon. Friend give an undertaking that he will not carry out the policy of keeping down the number of civil servants by dismissing groups of civil servants such as office cleaners in Whitehall and employing in their place contractors to do the same work with the same number of people?
§ Mr. LeverMy right hon. Friend is mistaken if he supposes that that is the sole consequence of the measures taken in relation to office cleaners. A very considerable saving in cost, amounting to something like one-third of the overall total cost of cleaning, results from the measures taken, although I have a great deal of sympathy with the poetic expressions of the ladies affected.