§ Mrs. Winifred Ewingasked the Minister for the Civil Service why an increase of 1,700 civil servants was made in 1973; and what additional work required such an increase to be made.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisOn 1st January 1974 there were 694,384 civil servants in post, compared with 692,656 on 1st January 1973, an increase of 1,728 or 0.2 per cent. This figure represents the sum of an increase of 4,063 in civil Departments and a reduction of 2,335 in the Ministry of Defence. The increase in civil Departments was due to requirements for additional staff in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to deal with Value Added Tax and the Department of Health and Social Security to deal with increased and more complex work on social security benefits. The reduction in the Ministry of Defence was due to rationalisation and reduction of task, offset by the transfer of staff from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.