§ Mr. PlaskittTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the recruitment statistics for GCHQ for 1997 in line with the requirements of the Civil Service Commissioners; and how they compare with the figures for 1996. [58477]
§ Mr. Robin CookGCHQ notified the Commissioners that, in 1997, 236 recruits had joined or were in the pipeline. This compares with 228 staff recruited in 1996. In addition, five reappointments were made in 1997 compared with two in 1996.