asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will publish quarterly statements showing the number of civil servants employed and the total cost of salaries and wages in each department.

Regular returns to Parliament of civil staffs employed in Government Departments, which had to be suspended during the war, will be resumed as soon as practicable. I am con- sidering the form in which this information can most conveniently be presented. Figures of the total cost of salaries and wages will be available to Parliament as from April, 1946, when Votes of Credit will be discontinued and ordinary Estiates will be required from all Departments.