§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has any plans to reduce manning in the public sector; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MellorFuture plans for manpower in the civil service and the armed forces were published in table 21.3.11 of chapter 21 of the 1990 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1021). The Government do not plan manpower in local authorities or public corporations, but outturn data for the whole of the public sector for the period 1978–79 to 1988–89 were provided in appendix D of 175W the same chapter. Over that period, public sector manpower fell from 6,565,000 to 5,361,000, a reduction of 18.3 per cent.