§ Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants are currently employed(a) full time and (b) part time by his Department on (i) home defence planning, (ii) emergency planning, (iii) liaison with the NATO central supplies agency and (iv) work connected with the NATO industrial planning committee.
§ Mr. LeighThis work is shared between a group of seven staff in my Department. Three of these are also engaged on other duties and one works part time, making a total equivalent of five full-time staff.
Much of the work of the NATO industrial planning committee concerns planning for the establishment and operation of the Central Supplies Agency, which would become operational only in times of crisis and war. The amount of staff time allocated to each subject varies with the work load, but currently it is approximately as follows:
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Percentage Home Defence Planning 25 Civil Emergency Planning 35 Work connected with the NATO Industrial Planning Committee and the establishment and operation of the Central Supplies Agency 40
§ Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the estimated cost in the current financial year and in 1991–92 of the programme of sectoral studies announced by his Department at the workshop on local authority essential needs in crisis and war, held on 4 September.
§ Mr. LeighIn this financial year we estimate spending £65,000 on the programme of sectoral studies. In view of the consistency of the findings of the studies completed so far, we concluded that doing further studies would not be worth while so we terminated the programme. Therefore, there will be no expenditure on the programme in 1991–92.