§ 1983. Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff were employed in the inspectorate of armaments, the inspectorate of fighting vehicles and the chief inspectorate of naval ordnance in (a) 1970 and (b)
§ Mr. LeeThe answer is complicated by changes in organisation which do not permit easy comparisons to be made.
The inspectorate of armaments and the inspectorate of fighting vehicles and mechanical equipment were renamed the quality assurance directorate (weapons) and the quality assurance directorate (fighting vehicles and engineer equipment) respectively at the beginning of 1970; and amalgamated to form the quality assurance directorate (ordnance) at the beginning of 1979. The strengths of QAD(W) and QAD (FVE) on 1 April 1972 (the earliest date for which figures are readily available) were 3,546 and 1,651 respectively. The strength of QAD(Ord) on 1 April 1983 was 1,880½. The strength of the chief inspectorate of naval ordnance on 1 April 1974 (the first readily available figure) was 1,725. On 4 February 1980 the chief inspectorate was amalgamated with the directorate of weapons production naval, of which the total strength on 1 April 1983 was 1,348½.