§ Mr. Lathamasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will set out in tabular form for each Government Department the number of civil servants in post on (a) 1 December 1978, (b) 1 December 1979 and (c) 1 December 1980.
§ Mr. ChannonInformation in this form is collected quarterly on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October and published in the Summary Quarterly Staff Return, copies of which are available in the Library. I am sending a summary to my hon. Friend.
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§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the current number of civil servants; what was the total in May 1979; and what is his latest estimate of the likely number of civil servants at the end of 1981.
§ Mr. ChannonFigures for May 1979 are not held centrally. At 1 April 1979, the nearest date for which this information is available, there were 732,300 staff in post. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 13 May the Government's intention to reduce the size of the Civil Service to about 630,000 by April 1984. In the light of changing circumstances it is not possible at this stage to make a forecast of the number of civil servants at the end of 1981.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Minister for the Civil Service what estimate he has made of the saving to public funds and expenditure of the reductions in the number of civil servants achieved since May 1979.
§ Mr. ChannonBetween April 1979 and October 1980, there has been a reduction of over 35,000 civil servants. The estimated savings in pay costs are about £225 million a year.