§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the ratio of civil servants and civilian workers in his Department to members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces; and how this compares with the ratios of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member States.
§ Dr. GilbertThe number of civilians employed in the Ministry of Defence on 1st December 1977 was 296,200, including some 23,100 in the Royal ordnance factories. The number of Service personnel at that date was 333,700.
A straight comparison with figures for other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member States would not be meaningful because practices vary for a number of reasons, including the existence of compulsory military service.