§ Mr. COMPTONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty what was the number and cost of the staff at Admiralty headquarters, and the number of ships and personnel of the Navy, in July, 1914, and in December, 1925, respectively, apart from the War bonus payable to the 2778W civilian staff at the Admiralty in the latter year?
Mr. DAVIDSONThe Admiralty headquarters' staff in July, 1924, numbered 2,072. The cost of this staff (for the month of July, 1914) was £42,863. The Admiralty headquarters' staff on 1st January, 1926, numbered 3,289. The cost of this staff during the preceding three months was £318,581. The monthly cost was therefore £106,194. This figure includes Civil Service bonus, and I am afraid that it is not practicable to subdivide it without the expenditure of time and labour, which would not be justified. The personnel of the Navy numbered 146,047 officers and men in July, 1914, and 100,581 in December, 1925. The number of ships on the effective list of the Royal Navy on the 31st March, 1914—the nearest date for which figures are available—was 545. The number on 31st October, 1925, was 468.