§ Mr. Mitchellasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what was the number of Ministry of Works staff and the number of staff in the works departments of the Services prior to amalgamation under his Department; and what is the present number.
§ Mr. BoydenIt was not possible to identify separately those staff in the Service Departments who, before the merger of works organisations, were engaged partly on works services and partly on other duties, and such staff were not transferred to the department. 12,544 non-industrial staff engaged full-time on works services were so transferred on 1st April, 1963, making a total of 22,757. On 1st November, 1965, there were 24,000 non-industrial staff in post in the Department.
The increase of 1,243 is attributable to:
- 335 staff transferred after 1st April 1963;
- 272 staff to deal with the increased work in connection with research and development and the construction industries;
273 - 104 (net) staff on caretaking, custody and messengerial duties (this includes changes arising from seasonal employment);
- 404 staff on supplies services;
- 8 staff for building licensing;
- 797 staff on administrative, establishments, accounting and contracts work, the staff for which were not transferred from the service departments;
offset by a fall of—
677 in staff engaged on works services.
The number of industrial staff in the department on 1st April, 1963, was about 62,000, including about 50,000 transferred from the service departments. The number employed currently is about 59,500, but the number tends to fluctuate and the difference is not significant.
The load of work falling on the Ministry in the same period has increased from a provision of £174 million—including the provision in defence estimates—in 1962–63 to a provision of £246 million in 1965–66 for works services, and front £26 million in 1962–63 to £35 million in 1965–66 for supplies services.