asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is satisfied with the control of expenditure on the running costs of Government Departments; and whether he will make a statement.

Successive scrutinies of the running costs of Government Departments have shown that in aggregate these costs have been rising more quickly than costs in the economy generally. The Government intend to improve the arrangements for controlling running costs. Targets will therefore be set in the forthcoming public expenditure survey, to cover the running costs, including manpower costs, of each Department. These targets will be published in the 1986 public expenditure White Paper.