asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the figures given in his Written reply to the hon. Member for Eastbourne on 20th February 1975 are directly comparable; and what are the equivalent figures for civil servants employed by his Department and based outside the United Kingdom.

:The figures given in my reply of 20th February are not directly comparable because of organisational changes which have taken place during the period. These involved transfers out of the MOD of 900 staff in 1972 and transfers into the MOD of 4,200 in 1973 and 150 in 1954.The equivalent figures for civil servants employed and based outside the United Kingdom are:

1st January 1975	…	…	50,104
1st January 1974	…	…	47,304
1st January 1973	…	…	47,339
1st January 1972	…	…	49,646

The 1st January 1975 figure includes some 2,800 locally engaged staff now paid directly from Defence Votes whose costs were previously met by Her Majesty's Government by way of contribution.