§ 11.10 a.m.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants are employed in the Ministry of Overseas Development and how many were employed in the Department in 1965; and what proportion the total cost of administering overseas aid in the last financial year bore to the total value of the aid provided in that year.]
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, staff in post in the Headquarters of the Ministry of Overseas Development were 1,522 as at July 1, 1968, compared with 1,325 as at July 1, 1965; expenditure on administration under the Ministry's Vote—Class II, 5—represented about 1.3 per cent. of total overseas aid in 1967/68.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that on pages 48 and 49 of the Estimates for 1968/69 the United Kingdom-based non-industrial staff are shown as 2,499, which represents an increase on the staff as compared with last year, whereas the actual Vote has shown a decrease from £123 million to £110 million?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the noble Lord will be well aware that when he was a Minister and I was on the other side we had considerable dispute about the validity of various figures in different Government papers. It depends 398 upon the basis on which they have been arrived at. The noble Lord has asked me a specific Question and I have given an accurate Answer.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, in that case can the noble Lord account for the disparity?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, at this late stage of the session I should like notice of that question.