§ 9. Mr. Liptonasked the Minister of State for Defence if he will list the reasons why 348,400 civilians in the Services cost more than the 385,700 Service men.
§ Lord BalnielCivilians supporting the Services cost less than Service personnel. The costs given in Annex B of the 1970 Statement on Defence Estimates, which the hon. Member presumably has in mind, are not comparable. That for Service personnel excluded issues in kind such as food, the value of which is now provided for in the military salary and for which they pay. That for civilians included the cost of Ministry of Public Building and Works staff employed on defence work whose numbers were not included in the total of 348,400. The comparable figures are £454 million for civilians and £663 million for Service personnel.
§ Mr. LiptonDespite all that conglomeration of statistics, have we not reached a stage at which we are having more and more tail and less and less teeth in our Services?
§ Lord BalnielNo, Sir. In fact, the reduction in civilian manpower is at a faster rate than the reduction in military manpower, contrary to the general belief, and we shall continue to reduce the numbers of civilian manpower substantially in the Ministry of Defence in the immediate future.