§ Mr. John Pageasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what increase there has been since 1st April, 1963, in the construction work for which 64W his Department is responsible; and what increase there has been in the non-industrial staff requirements of his Department to take account of this additional work.
§ Mr. RipponThe construction work for which my Department is responsible increased by over £17 million between 1963–64 and 1964–65 without any increase in the non-industrial staff requirements for this work. This excludes a further £1 million of construction work for the Royal Ordnance factories transferred to my Department on 1st April, 1964, together with the associated staff.
The estimated non-industrial staff requirements for my Department on 1st April, 1964, as shown in the Appendix to the 1964–65 Estimate for Class IX Vote 1, represented an increase of 201 posts over the comparable figure given in the Estimate for 1963–64. This increase is, however, more than accounted for by the expansion of the Directorate General of Research and Development to cope with the Ministry's new activities in this field, and by the transfer to the Ministry on 1st April, 1964, of the staff engaged on the work for the Royal Ordnance Factories, which together accounted for 309 extra posts.
These 309 extra posts were partially offset by savings of 108 posts elsewhere in the Ministry. Furthermore, I did not take advantage of an increase in complement of 218 posts allowed for in the 1963–64 Estimates and, as shown in the current year's Estimate, I intend to achieve a further reduction of 50 posts by March, 1965.
Total planned staff economies since 1st April, 1963, therefore, amount to 376 posts despite an increase in the load of work of over £17 million.