§ 75. Mr. Langford-Holtasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty by what percentage the numbers of officers and ratings will be reduced during the next five years; and by what percentage civil servants serving his Department will be reduced during the same period.
§ Mr. SoamesReductions will be taking place during the next five years on the basis that was outlined in the House by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Defence, on 16th April.
My hon. Friend will appreciate that it is quite impossible to talk in terms of precise figures, either of uniformed or of civilian personnel, for so long as five years ahead. But we intend, as I said in the 59W debate on the Navy Estimates, to bring the numbers of civilian staffs into proper relation to the size of the Fleet.