HC Deb 10 November 1980 vol 992 cc57-9W
Mr. Bruce-Gardyne

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the size of the Armed Services and the numbers of civilian employees of his Department and its predecessors in each of the last 30 years.

Mr. Hayhoe

Central records of the strengths of both Service personnel and civilians were not kept until 1964, when the unified Ministry of Defence was formed. Numbers at 1 April for each year since that date are set out below. The figures for civilians, which include staff in the Royal Ordnance factories, are not directly comparable because of changes in departmental functions which have occurred affecting Ministry of Defence responsibilities.

For example, the formation of the procurement executive in 1971 led to the absorption of some 28,000 staff who were formerly with the Ministry of Aviation Supply. After allowance has been made for such transactions the true reduction in Ministry of Defence civilian numbers over the period from April 1964 to April 1980 was over 155,000, and a further reduction of 5,000 has been made subsequently.

Strength as at 1 April Armed Forces (including locallyentered personnel) Civilian Personnel (including Royal Ordnance factories and locally-engaged civilians overseas)
1964 454,000 400,200
1965 455,600 378,500
1966 450,300 373,600
1967 450,300 369 400
1968 430,000 355,600
1969 405,400 338,100
1970 392,600 326,600
1971 383,300 317,300
1972 380,900 323,600
1973 376,600 319,800
1974 358,500 314,600
1975 347,700 316,700
1976 345,800 310,800
1977 339,00 300,900
1978 329,100 290,400
1979 323,400 285,900
1980 328,800 276,200

Figures for the earlier years are not comprehensive and do not provide a basis for comparison. They have been assembled from a variety of sources—Central Statistical Office, Civil Service Department and from Departmental records of the old Ministry of Defence, Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry.

For Service numbers, the coverage of non-United Kingdom personnel changes as troops of colonial territories have been progressively excluded as those colonies became independent, and with the ending of National Service many tasks formerly undertaken by conscripts resulted in the recruitment of extra civilians.

Before 1959 no figures are available for locally-engaged civilians, and prior to 1964 staff of the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries were not included in the manpower count; and changes in departmental responsibilities also affect the figures. With all these qualifications in mind on the validity of any comparison, the details are as follows:

Armed Forces including locally entered personnel Civilian personnel
1 April—
1950 785,000 296,700*
1951 884,000 304,500*
1952 940,000 321,300*
1953 954,000 323,600*
1954 929,000 329,700*
1955 903,000 328,600*
1956 833,000 326,900*
1957 770,000 319,800*
1958 668,000 302,900*
1959 613,000 426,100†
1960 559,000 458,300†
1961 521,000 463,600†
1962 481,000 461,600†
1963 468,000 406,400†
* Excluding locally engaged civilians.
† Including locally engaged civilians.