§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total number of civilians in the United Kingdom employed on defence work (a) directly and indirectly by Government Departments and (b) by private contractors and sub-contractors wholly and mainly dependent on defence contracts.
§ Mr. PattieThe number of United Kingdom-based civil servants in the United Kingdom directly employed on defence work is 242,000. This total consists of 224,000 Ministry of Defence staff and 18,000 of the Property Services Agency who are engaged on defence work. No central records are maintained of the numbers indirectly employed by Government Departments, or of the numbers employed by private contractors and sub-contractors. It is, however, estimated that in 1980 some 414,000 job opportunities were created directly and indirectly by the defence equipment programme.