§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-uniformed staff worked at Ministry of Defence establishments in 1950, 1960, 1970 and in each year since that date; and what were the strengths of the Armed Services in the same years.
§ Mr. PattieCentral records of the strength of both Service personnel and civilians were not kept until 1964, when the unified Ministry of Defence was formed. Figures for the earlier years have been assembled from a variety of sources—Central Statistical Office, Civil Service Department and departmental records of the old Ministry of Defence, Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry. With the qualification that these figures are not comprehensive, and the coverage has changed over the period since 1950 so that direct comparisons would be of questionable validity, the details are as follows:
Civilian Personnel* (including Royal Ordnance Factories and locally-engaged civilians overseas) Armed Services† (including locally entered personnel) 1 April 1950 ‡296,700 785,000 1 April 1960 458,300 559,000 1 April 1970 326,600 392,600 1 April 1971 317,300 383,300 1 April 1972 323,600 380,900 1 April 1973 319,800 375,600 1 April 1974 314,600 358,500 1 April 1975 316,700 347,700 1 April 1976 310,800 345,800 1 April 1977 300,900 339,000 1 April 1978 290,400 329,100 1 April 1979 285,900 323,400 1 April 1980 276,200 328,800 1 March 1981 (latest available) 266,700 **343,500 * Prior to 1964 staff of the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries were not included in the manpower count. Changes in departmental responsibilities will also have affected the figures. † Troops of Colonial territories have been progressively excluded from the count as these have become independent. With the end of National Service many tasks previously undertaken by conscripts were transferred to civilians, which resulted in extra recruitment. ‡ No figures are available for locally engaged civilians in 1950 and they are thus excluded from the total. ** 1 March 1981-United Kingdom personnel 1 February 1981-Non-United Kingdom personnel.