§ Sir R. Glynasked the Home Secretary how many departments and how many persons in each department are employed in each of the Civil Defence Regional Commissioners' offices; what is the cost to the public; and whether the regional organisation has resulted in a reduction of staff in London?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonThe total Home Office and Ministry of Home Security staff employed in the Civil Defence Regional Commissioners' offices was 4,548 on the 1st September 1942, the latest date for which figures are readily available. This figure was divided between the various Regions as follows:
Northern Region … … 267 North Eastern Region … … 224 North Midland Region … … 225 Eastern Region … … 219 London Region … … 1,067 Southern Region … … 300 South Western Region … … 288 Welsh Region … … 205 Midland Region … … 510 North Western Region … … 351 Scottish Region … … 658 South Eastern Region … … 234 4,548 These figures include 218 part-time and 262 unpaid staff.
In addition to the above, the following officers of the War Office and the Air Ministry are attached to Regional Commissioners' offices:
War Office. Air Ministry. Northern Region … 7 — North Eastern Region … 2 — North Midland Region … 7 1 Eastern Region … 19 2 London Region … 5 — Southern Region … 16 3 South Western Region … 4 1 Welsh Region … 16 3 Midland Region … 6 2 North Western Region … 13 2 Scottish Region … 23 2 South Eastern Region … 9 2 Officers of other Departments also act as liaison officers with Regional Commissioners, but are not usually employed in the Regional offices. Any figures of such staff actually employed in those offices would therefore be misleading.
Information as to the cost of Regional staffs borne on the Ministry of Home 2145W Security and Home Office Votes will take some time to extract and I will communicate this information to my hon. Friend as soon as possible. Since the headquarters and regional organisations have grown up together any estimate of reductions in headquarters staffs consequent upon the regional organisations would necessarily be hypothetical; but I am satisfied that the regional organisation is the most effective and economical means of carrying out the greatly increased duties falling upon the Departments concerned with Civil Defence, and that without it the headquarters staffs of those Departments would now be considerably larger than in fact they are. They would have to travel extensively and could not carry out the valuable and essential work which the regional organisation has performed.