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Civil Servants

Volume 887: debated on Friday 28 February 1975

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asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether the figures for the numbers of industrial and non-industrial civil servants on 1st October 1970, 1st October 1971, 1st October 1972, 1st October 1973, and 1st October 1974 given in his Written Answer on 19th February 1975 to the hon. Member for Eastbourne are directly comparable with each other; and, if not, in what particular respects they are not comparable.

The figures are the number of staff in post in the Civil Service at all the given dates. The work of the Civil Service changes from time to time, however, including, mainly as a result of legislation, transfers both into and out of the service. The major movements in and out over this period were:

Transfers in

Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969—transferred responsibility for driving and vehicle licensing work from local authorities to the Department of the Environment (DOE); between October 1970 and October 1974 DOE increased its share of the work by some 3,500 posts.
Courts Act 1971—some 2,000 posts were transferred from local authorities to the Unified Courts Service.
Atomic Energy Authority (Weapons Group) Act 1973—some 5,000 posts in the Weapons Group of the Atomic Energy Authority were transferred to the Ministry of Defence.

Transfers out

Civil Aviation Act 1971—some 7,000 posts were transferred from the Department of Trade and Industry to the Civil Aviation Authority.
Superannuation Act 1972—removed the need for some 4,000 staff, mainly in the Trustee Museums and Galleries, to be deemed to be civil servants for superannuation purposes.
Employment and Training Act 1973—some 19,000 posts were transferred from the Department of Employment to the Manpower Services Commission and its Training Services and Employment Services Agencies.
In addition, as was announced at the time—[Vol. 825, c. 137–8]—about 800 staff, including some holding judicial posts and the staffs of the Exchequer and Audit Department and the then Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, were excluded from announcements of Civil Service manpower with effect from 1st July 1971.