asked the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total cost of recruiting to the Armed Forces and other employment in his Department in the last 12 months to the latest available date, stating separately the cost of Press and television advertising, recruiting staff and offices and other elements; what were the corresponding costs in the previous year: and if he will now reduce this expenditure by a stated amount.

As regards recruitment to the Armed Forces, the information requested is as follows:

	1974–5	1973–4
	£000	£000
Staff at Ministry of Defence headquarters and in out-stations, including certain miscellaneous overheads.	12,030	10,410
Advertising and other publicity costs borne on Defence Votes.	1,090	970
Premises for careers information offices.	360	380
Miscellaneous costs borne on Defence Votes.	190	180
Publicity costs borne on Central Office of Information and HMSO Votes, including Press and television advertising.	4,980	5,020
	18,650	16,960

In addition certain relatively minor expenditure is incurred on works services; figures for this are not readily available.As regards recruitment of civilian staff, expenditure on publicity and advertising incurred by the Ministry of Defence is as set out below. This excludes all recruitment activities for which the Civil Service Department is responsible.

1974–75	1973–74
£000	£000
410	410

Provision in COI and HMSO Estimates for recruitment of Service personnel will be less in 1975–76 than in 1974–75 at constant prices, but substantial expenditure will remain necessary for the foreseeable future to attract recruits in the numbers of the quality we require.