§ Sir C. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for Defence, in view of the fact that the total number of vessels today is 114 against 542 in 1914, and the number of Admiralty officials and clerical staff today is 33,547 as compared with only 4,366 in 1914, plus 8,013 dockyard officials and clerical staff today against 3,249 in 1914, whether he will reduce the number of non-fighting men in his employment.
§ Mr. FoleyIt is unrealistic to make any assumptions on a stark comparison of the number of ships and the number of non-industrials. Ships and their weapon systems today are of a completely different order of complexity from those in 1914. This is of direct relevance since the bulk of the Navy's civilian supporting staff are engaged in the fields of research, design, production and maintenance.
Control of civilian numbers is a major preoccupation of the Ministry of Defence. The number of civilian supporting staff in the Navy now stands at its lowest point since the end of the Second World War and is still reducing.