§ Mr. MacVEAGHasked the Secretary of State for War the total annual cost of the Pay Department of the War Office; the total annual cost of the Finance Department; and whether the latter includes the former?
§ Colonel STANLEYThe Royal Army Pay Corps is a part of the Army, not a Department of the War Office; its estimated cost in the current financial year is shown on page 11 of Army Estimates at £499,000. The cost of the Corps of Military Accountants at home and abroad is £423,000; it is also a part of the Army and not a Department of the War Office. The estimated annual cost of the Finance Department of the War Office as at 1st April, 1921, including the Local Audit Staff, is shown on page 100 of the Estimates at £562,930, but this is to be reduced by a proportion of the £276,000 there deducted for reductions of staff in the War Office generally in the course of the year.