§ Mr. Nichollsasked the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to implement the abolition of the Ministry of Defence (book writing) section based at Ensleigh; what benefits he anticipates will flow fom the disbandment; what is his estimate of the number of people presently employed directly by the section and how many of these will lose their jobs; what is his estimate of the numbers employed indirectly by the section by way of subcontracting; how many of these will lose their jobs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PattieIn order to secure the best value for money for the taxpayer we are considering contracting out to the private sector the responsibility for the procurement of technical publications for marine engineering equipment and systems which is currently undertaken by 24 civil servants in the Ministry's bookwriting section at Ensleigh, Bath. We anticipate that there will be some savings in Civil Service numbers, although it is too early to say what the precise effects will be. We are currently preparing to invite a wide range of potential contractors to bid for this work, following which we will need to carry out a detailed examination of the tenders. It will therefore be some months before we will be ready to take a final decision on the contracting out of this task.