asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what decisions he has taken about: Northern Ireland Civil Service manpower after April 1985.

I have reviewed manpower requirements of Northern Ireland Departments up to 1988 and decided on the following targets:

• 1 April 1986–25,150
• 1 April 1987–24,800
• 1 April 1988–24,550

The aim has been and continues to be the improvement of the Civil Service and to match staff numbers closely to the necessary function of Departments. A small contingency margin has been included to give a measure of flexibility in planning; the figures will be revised each year as part of the regular expenditure survey to take account of changing work load and other developments.