Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many MOD civilian personnel have applied for voluntary redundancy; what are their grades; what plans 87W exist to make MOD civilian personnel compulsorily redundant; whether further offers of voluntary redundancy will be made; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkRedundancies have been confined mainly to industrial and non-mobile, non-industrial grades. Volunteers in these grades who apply for redundancy are considered locally by the establishment concerned; details are not held centrally.
We have announced publicly that civilian numbers in MOD will reduce by around 20,000 posts over the period 1991–92 to 1996–97. This figure represents total job losses rather than anticipated redundancies.
It is our policy to restrict the number of compulsory redundancies to a minimum. This will be achieved by a number of measures including redeployment to other MOD establishments or Government Departments, and extending the availability of early retirement schemes; about 700 non-industrial staff across all grades have recently applied to retire under the approved early retirement category. Where redundancy becomes inevitable, volunteers will be given priority.