§ 14. Mr. Bill Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research work has been carried out by his Department over the past five years to determine the most cost-effective means of using the civil defence budget.
§ Mr. HurdWe keep expenditure under continuous review, but decisions on the size of the civil defence budget and its effective use are essentially policy decisions for Ministers.
§ Mr. WalkerI thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Are any Home Office staff employed exclusively to monitor the efficient use of the limited budget available?
§ Mr. HurdYes, we have a division in which this is included as a responsibility and we are considering whether and how it should be strengthened to deal with implementation of the regulations approved by Parliament in December.