HC Deb 18 July 1990 vol 176 cc639-40W
98. Mr. Bell

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to reduce the number of staff in his Department.

133. Mr. Corbett

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to reduce the number of staff in his Department.

Mr. Forth

Manpower projection for my Department to 1992–93 were set out in chapter 4 of the public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1004) published in January 1990. These envisaged a fall in total manpower from 11,933 in 1990–91 to 11,876 in 1992–93. The then Secretary of State subsequently announced, in his written reply of 21 February, a reduction of some 100–150 posts as a result of the reorganisation of the Department's "market" divisions. Final figures for 1991–92 and projections for future years will be settled later this year following the conclusion of the current Public Expenditure Survey round.