§ Mr. Bishopasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost of redundancy payments and compensation arising from the reduced service and civilian manpower envisaged in the Defence White Paper.
§ Mr. ReynoldsPrecise estimates cannot yet be made. The cost will depend on such factors as the timing of withdrawals, the proportion of redundancy to normal wastage, and the rank, grade and length of service of those concerned.
§ Mr. Bishopasked the Secretary of State for Defence, with regard to the 80,000 Service and civilian manpower reduction envisaged in the Defence White Paper for the mid-1970s, what is the estimated cost of education, health, welfare 257W and other social service spending of Servicemen and their families which will henceforth be borne by other Departments.
§ Mr. ReynoldsWe shall be consulting other Government Departments and local authorities about the social implications of the reductions in Service and civilian manpower. As indicated in the Supplementary Statement on Defence Policy, 1967 (Cmnd. 3357), these reductions will be effected gradually and, as far as possible, by normal wastage. I do not expect that they will have any significant effect on the social services in any particular area.