§ Sir Michael Shawasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of staff in post in central Government Departments on 1 October 1983.
§ Mr. HayhoeAt 1 October 1983 there were 636,300 staff in post — 510,800 non-industrial and 125,500 industrial; that is a reduction of 6,500 since 1 July 1983. The number of civil servants has fallen by 96,000 or 13.1 per cent. since the beginning of the last Parliament. This means that we now have the smallest Civil Service since the second world war.