§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what reductions have taken place in the statistical services available to his Department; what statistics previously available will either (a) no longer be available or (b) be available in a modified form; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BlakerAs my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Civil Service Department said in replies to questions from the hon. Members for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) on 27 October 1980—[Vol. 991, c.114–15]—and Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 3 November 1980—[Vol. 991, c. 476]—the statistics collected by the Ministry of Defence are almost entirely from within the Armed Services and are used for internal management purposes.
Adjustments in the management requirement and the resulting statistical base are made frequently. The changes resulting from the Rayner study of defence statistical services are set out in the decision statement published with the study which is available in the House of Commons Library. These will not eliminate any of the essential statistics required for the departmental management task.