HL Deb 14 April 1954 vol 186 cc1251-2

3.30 p.m.

LORD BROUGHSHANE

My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government—

  1. (1) What further progress may be expected in the reduction of the civil staffs employed in Government Departments, in view of the fact that the latest available figures indicate that the reduction which has taken place since Her Majesty's present Government took office amounts to little more than 4 per cent.;
  2. (2) What proportion of the reduction which has already taken place is attributable to the denationalisation of the iron and steel and transport industries.]

THE PAYMASTER GENERAL (THE EARL OF SELKIRK)

My Lords, there will be further reductions this year in the civil staffs employed in Government Departments, largely owing to the cessation of food rationing this summer. If the Post Office is excluded, since January 1, 1952, there has been a reduction of about 26,500 in the number of staff employed. This represents a reduction of over 6 per cent. For the Civil Departments, again excluding the Post Office, the reduction is nearly 10 per cent. The contribution made to this reduction by the denationalisation of the iron and steel industry is 17. The operation of the Transport Act, 1953, is not yet sufficiently far advanced for an accurate figure to be given in respect of the transport industry.

LORD BROUGHSHANE

My Lords, while thanking the noble Earl for his reply, may I ask whether it would be true to say that the figure of these staffs in the immediate pre-war period was something in the order of 250,000 smaller than the present figure?

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

My Lords, I regret very much that I have not checked that figure, but I dare say the noble Lord is correct.