§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make a statement on the activities of the Common Services Departments Division in saving 86W public money; and to what extent its proposals for reducing 1,041 telephone lines and 1,645 telephones used by civil servants has or will save public funds.
§ Mr. SpeedThe supporting service activities which the common services division provides for the Ministry of Defence have been examined intensively over the past few years and as a result significant savings to public funds have been achieved. Examples are the change, in several establishments, to contract cleaning at a saving of some £76,000 per annum, and reductions in postal costs of some £800,000 per annum; also, in 1980–81, overall expenditure on stationery, reprographics and office supplies was running at some 10 per cent. lower in real terms than five years previously, even after excluding the special effects of the moratorium introduced in the second half of the year.
The division is also taking every possible opportunity to translate the reductions in MOD headquarters civilian manpower into savings in accommodation. 133,000 square feet in Central London alone have been vacated since 1978 and a further 85,000 square feet will follow this year. At the same time, the division's own staff has been reduced from some 3,600 in April 1977 to 2,700 in April 1981.
The reduction of 1,041 telephone lines and 1,645 instruments in London headquarters buildings, some 11 per cent. of the total installed, will result in a saving of some £55,000 per annum in telephone rental charges; a further £114,000 per annum has been saved in headquarters telephone equipment charges by reductions in existing facilities.