§ 64. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Defence why the administrative costs of running his Department have increased from £10,325,000 in 1965–66 to £11,768,000 in 1966–67; why he has 23,000 administrative staff; and, as this is the equivalent to one Ministry 62W administrator to every 18 servicemen, what action he has taken, or proposes to take, to reduce these numbers and the costs of administering his department.
§ Mr. HealeyThe costs quoted by my hon. Friend relate to the Central staffs of the Ministry of Defence. They cover, in addition to staff salaries, general administrative expenses, the purchase of equipment and certain special services. Of the 23,000 at present classified as Headquarters staff, some 16,000 are in fact engaged on supply, research, development and production in support of the Services, contracts and accounts work, and the provision of common services. Such staffs should properly be regarded as part of the general backing to support the Armed Forces, and I intend to make a start with reclassifying some of them as such in the coming year. We shall, of course, continue with the rigorous inspection and review of staff which has reduced numbers by about 1,000 in the last two or three years. In the short term, the effort of reshaping the Defence programme has meant more, not less work at Headquarters.