§ 31. Sir Ian Orr-Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the ratio of uniformed personnel in the three armed forces to the total number of uniformed civilian personnel in the head-quarters organisation in October, 1964, and October, 1969, respectively.
§ Mr. Hattersley18.8 to 1 in 1964 and 24.8 to 1 in 1969.
§ Sir Ian Orr-EwingIs the hon. Gentleman aware that these figures are being adjusted by people being posted officially to strengths of units outside London while continuing to work at headquarters? This—I am afraid I have to use the same word again—is cheating. Can we have the actual numbers, including those posted to other establishments, who still work at headquarters?
§ Mr. HattersleyThe trouble with the hon. Gentleman is that he does not ask the right questions. But now that he has asked a different question in the form of a supplementary, I will be happy to answer it. I can tell him now that, allowing for the transfers, the figure of 18.8 to 1 in 1964 would have been 27.0 to 1.