§ Mr. Hannamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what decisions the Government have taken about Civil Service manpower numbers after 1 April 1984.
§ Mr. Peter ReesIn 1980 the Government announced their plans to reduce the Civil Service by 14 per cent. from 732,000 to 630,000 by 1 April 1984. That target should be achieved. The continued efficiency in the use of resources, including manpower, makes an important contribution to the control of public expenditure. Therefore, the Government have reviewed their manpower requirements for the years up to 1988, and have decided on new plans which are set out in the following table. The aim has been to improve the efficiency of the Civil Service and to match staff numbers closely to the necessary
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1 April 1984 1 April 1985 1 April 1986 1 April 1987 1 April 1988 Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 11,493 11,450 11,400 11,340 11,260 Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce 623 610 590 566 560 Chancellor of the Exchequer Inland Revenue 69,850 70,200 69,300 66,300 62,900 Customs and Excise 25,150 25,350 25,100 24,900 24,700 Department for National Savings 8,050 8,025 7,900 7,875 7,590 Her Majesty's Stationery Office 4,000 3,700 3,500 3,460 3,440 Treasury 3,820 3,570 3,535 3,500 3,455 Royal Mint 977 965 981 970 960 Central Office of Information 949 952 955 945 935 Registry of Friendly Societies 129 129 129 127 120 Government Actuary 64½ 64½ 64½ 64½ 64½ National Investment and Loans Office 52 52 52 52 52 Education and Science Department of Education and Science 2,402 2,472 2,437 2,417 2,239 Employment Department of Employment 31,048 30,238 29,995 29,211 28,505 Health and Safety Commission/Executive 3,742 3,662 3,652 3,644 3,644 Manpower Services Commission 22,229 21,677 21,297 21,297 21,297 Advisory, Concilliation and Arbitration Service 645 639 632 629 629 Energy Department of Energy 1,110 1,106 1,085 1,062 1,033 Environment Department of the Environment 6,695 6,615 6,515 6,435 6,370 Property Services Agency 27,502 26,986 26,347 25,693 25,296 Ordnance Survey 2,815 2,948 2,934 2,920 2,906 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Foreign and Commonwealth Office 9,437 9,373 9,214 9,109 9,026 Overseas Development Administration 1,793½ 1,565 1,545 1,525 1,500 Home Office Home Office 35,755 36,633 38,193 40,123 41,132 Lord Chancellor Lord Chancellor's Department* 10,125 10,195 10,195 10,170 10,000 Land Registry 6,725 6,845 6,910 6,910 6,950 Public Record Office 406 406 413 419 425 Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Office 200 196 191 188 186 Scotland Scottish Office 9,800 9,909 9,791 9,622 9,542 Scottish Courts Administration 879 879 879 879 879 General Register Office Scotland 283 266 268 278 274 functions of Departments. The figures show a continuing steady reduction in the size of the Civil Service to about 593,000 by 1988, a further fall of 6 per cent.
These manpower plans rest on the same assumptions about future policy and work load as the expenditure plans in my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's autumn statement and the forthcoming public expenditure White Paper. They make allowance for productivity gains during the period, including those from computerisation. They also reflect plans for privatisation and hiving-off, and for contracting out services where this gives good value for money. The figures will be reviewed each year as part of the regular expenditure survey to take account of changing work load and other developments. A small contingency margin is included to give a measure of flexibility in planning. Subject to that, the presumption will be that the figures will be adhered to, or reduced further if changing circumstances make this possible.
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1 April 1984 1 April 1985 1 April 1986 1 April 1987 1 April 1988 Registers of Scotland 754 800 832 854 889 Scottish Record Office 132 128 125 122 118 Social Services Department of Health and Social Security 90,709 90,000 89,500 88,850 87,850 Office of Population Censuses and Surveys 2,162 2,152 2,132 2,102 2,155 Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry 12,759 12,754 12,754 12,754 12,754 Export Credits Guarantee Department 1,840 1,840 1,835 1,835 1,830 Office of Fair Trading 302 313 313 313 313 Transport Department of Transport 14,206 14,514 14,699 14,497 14,160 Welsh Office Welsh Office 2,195 2,206 2,206 2,206 2,206 Small Departments Cabinet Office 518 518 518 518 518 Charity Commission 329 329 320 320 320 Crown Estate Office 114 116 117 118 119 Director of Public Prosecutions 237 242 241 240 240 Law Officers' Department 22 22 22 22 22 Lord Advocate's Department 22 22 22 22 22 Management and Personnel Office 1,198 1,188 1,178 1,168 1,158 Office of Arts and Libraries 45 45 45 45 45 Paymaster General's Office 870 873 912 938 967 Privy Council Office 33 33 33 33 33 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service 966 980 1,000 1,020 1,040 Treasury Solicitor's Department 460 456 452 447 442 Defence Ministry of Defence 200,000 179,000 176,000 173,000 170,000 Contingency margin 1,360 2,000 4,000 6,500 7,500 Total 630,000 608,208 605,255 600,554 592,723