HC Deb 13 December 1979 vol 975 cc726-7W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what improvements in efficiency he plans to make to reduce manpower; and if he will list the miscellaneous savings he intends to make, and in which areas.

Mr. Whitelaw

Improved efficiency—for example, through changes in working methods, and through mechanisation and the use of computers—is a continuing process applicable to the whole of my Department, from which I expect further useful savings over the next two years. I have not yet reached firm conclusions on the miscellaneous savings to be made as part of the longer-term reductions in the size of the Civil Service.