Mr. De la Bère:

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of civil servants employed by his Department in London and the provinces on 1st January, 1946, and 1947.

The number of non-industrial civil servants employed by the Board of Trade in London and the provinces was 8,121 on 1st January, 1946, and 15,197 on 1st January, 1947. The increase was mainly due to the transfer of staff during 1946 from the former Ministry of Production, Department of Overseas Trade, and the Raw Materials Department of the Ministry of Supply. In addition, the Board of Trade employed, on 1st January, 1947, 2,572 industrial civil servants who had been transferred during 1946 from the Ministry of Supply.

Mr. De la Bère:

In view of the great shortage of manpower, surely it is possible for the Board of Trade to pull themselves together in this matter?

The answer I have given indicates that the increase in the number of staff employed by the Board of Trade is due, in the main, to transfers from other Government Departments, including one which is no longer in being. If it will give the hon. Member any satisfaction, I can tell him that we are at present conducting an investigation into the establishment of the Board of Trade, with a view to reducing numbers.

Would the hon. Gentleman bear in mind, when making that investigation, that the transfers of which he speaks with so much pride are from wartime Government Departments, which should now be closed? Surely it is reasonable to hope that when wartime Departments are closed their staffs should be dispensed with, and not merely transferred.

It is true that they are wartime Government Departments, but it is also true that many of their functions remain.