HC Deb 03 August 1976 vol 916 c719W
Mr. Tim Renton

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the numerical ratio between civil servants concerned with defence and active Servicemen in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the United States of America, (c) West Germany and (d) France.

Mr. Mason

The numbers of civil servants employed by my Department compared with Service personnel is shown in Annex B to the 1976 Statement on the Defence Estimates. I am not responsible for figures in other countries, whose practices vary for a number of reasons, including the existence of compulsory military service, but recent Press reports have grossly underestimated by a factor of some 50 the number of industrial and non-industrial civil servants working in the defence field in West Germany.