STAFF HALVED

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1932, Page 5

STAFF HALVED

PUBLIC WORKS ECONOMY COSTS REDUCED BY £200,000 EFFECT OF HALVING GRANT REVIEW BY THE MINISTER FURTHER RETRENCHMENTS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. . Wellington, Last Night. Details of the economies and. the reorganisation effected in the Public Works Department were announced by the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Public Works, to-night Considerable reductions had been made already, but further retrenchment was necessary, Mr. Coates said. Since April 1, 1931, the staff had been reduced by 41 per cent. Certain internal reorganisations in various branches would enable additional economies to be effected, and a total reduction in the staff of 50 per cent, was in sight. ~ ~ _ , "It has been apparent,” said Mr. Coates, “on account of the necessary reduction in the funds available for public works, that heavy curtailment of this department’s activities are unavoidable, and, indeed, that changed conditions . have made imperative a general recasting of the whole public works organisation. The money voted by Parliament for public works for the year ended March 31, 1930, was £8,216,717, for 1931 £8,007,779, for 1932 £ 6,405,405, and for the current year ending March- 31, 1933, £3,539,027.. These figures indicate the extent to which reductions have had to be made, and, of course, corresponding reductions in the personnel of the department have been unavoidable. “In September, 1931, 761 permanent and 881 temporary officers were employed. On November 1, 1932, these numbers had been reduced to 656 permanent and 339 temporary, a reduction of 105 permanent and 542 temporary, making a total of 647 officers dismissed. This leaves a total remaining staff in the department of 995, and further retrenchment now in process of arrangement will reduce the number to 973. The position that must be recognised is that the lessened amount of work consequent on the restriction of loan money for public works does not warrant their retention. We must retrench; no other course is open. “The saving already made in the gross administrative costs is considerable,” Mr. Coates continued. “For 1930-31 this charge was £507,000; for 1932-33 it will be £307,000, a reduction of £200,000. A comparison with 1919-20, when the public works expenditure was the lowest for the past 12 years, is illuminating. Then the departments’ staff numered 732 and the gross expenditure was £1,612,000. At that time the department had not taken over the maintenance and operation of hydro-electric and irrigation schemes which have since been completed.”