§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants of the following grades were in post in his Department on 1 April and how many he expects to be in post in his Department on 1 April 1981. 1 April 1982 and 1 April 1983: permanent secretary, deputy secretary, under-secretary and assistant secretary.
§ Mr. SpeedThe number of permanent secretaries, deputy secretaries, under-secretaries and assistant secretaries in post on 1 April 1980, were as follows:
Permanent secretaries 4 Deputy secretaries 20 Under-secretaries 84 Assistant secretaries 149 The figure for deputy secretary includes those paid at rates between permanent secretary and deputy secretary and the figure for under-secretary includes those paid at rates between deputy secretary and under-secretary. The under-secretary grades and above, which have reduced by 18 since 1 April 1974—including four in the last year—form part of the open structure and thus those figures include both specialists and administrators 424W whereas the assistant secretary figure refers to the latter only. I cannot say at this stage what the numbers in each grade are likely to be in future years, but reductions in the size of the Civil Service will include a proportionate saving in senior posts.