§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the number of employees of all local authorities in England and Wales at the latest available date; and what were the figures 10 and 20 years ago, respectively.
§ Mr. OakesFigures published by the Department of Employment show a total of 2,443,000 employees, including police forces, in local government in England and Wales at mid-June 1974. The corresponding figures were 1,772,000 in 1964 and 1,326,000 in 1954.
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§ Mr. Biffenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment by what statutory authority he will be informed of the recruitment, staffing levels, and wage and salary settlements of individual local authorities to ensure compliance with the policy contained in Command Paper No. 6151.
§ Mr. John SilkinThere is no statutory requirement on local authorities to inform my right hon. Friend about the recruitment and staffing levels and wage and salary settlements. However, I am confident that local authorities will continue to co-operate with the Government by supplying essential information and that they will abide by the policy set out in the White Paper "The Attack on Inflation".
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the total number of staff employed by local authorities in the United Kingdom for each year since 1960; and if he will show how these figures were affected by NHS and water supply reorganisation in 1973.
§ Mr. OakesThe information is as follows:
000's 1960 … … … … 1,741 1961 … … … … 1,788 1962 … … … … 1,855 1963 … … … … 1,922 1964 … … … … 2,000 1965 … … … … 2,063 1966 … … … … 2,163 1967 … … … … 2,253 1968 … … … … 2,330 1969 … … … … 2,388 1970 … … … … 2,431 1971 … … … … 2,506 1972 … … … … 2,624 1973 … … … … 2,741 1974 … … … … 2,705 The figure for 1974 excludes a net total of about 48,000 staff transferred to the NHS, and about 29,000 transferred to water authorities on reorganisation in England and Wales on 1st April 1974. It also excludes 38,000 health staff and 2,000 employed on water services in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the latest official estimate of the net increase in local government staff which has taken place in England and Wales since April 158W 1973, after taking into account transfer of NHS and water supply personnel.
§ Mr. OakesNo figures are available at April 1973. On the basis of those published by the Department of Employment showing the number of employees in local government at mid-June each year, the total for England and Wales, including police forces, was 2,454,000 in 1973 and 2,443,000 in 1974.
It is estimated that over these 12 months there was a net increase in local authority staff, after allowing for transfers to and from the NHS, to water supply, school health services and passenger transport executives, of about 80,000.
§ Mr. Ripponasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the increase in local government staff, manual and non-manual, between 1964 and the latest date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. John SilkinFigures published by the Department of Employment show that at mid-June 1964, 1,772,000 manual and non-manual staff, including police forces, were employed in local government in England and Wales. The figure at mid-June 1974 was 2,443,000, showing an increase of 671,000 over the 10-year period although it should be noted that with effect from 1st April 1974 an estimated 90,000 employees were transferred from local government to NHS, water and passenger transport executives on reorganisation. All these figures include a substantial proportion of part-time workers. It is not possible to give separate totals for manual and non-manual staff.
§ Mr. Ripponasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will institute a special inquiry into local government manpower in the context of the current expenditure of local authorities on wages and salaries.
§ Mr. John SilkinNo. The Government and local authority associations have already jointly instituted a system for watching manpower trends in local government as part of the rate support grant settlement for 1975–76. The Department's Circular No. 30–75—a copy of which I am sending to the right hon. and learned Member—describes the 159W arrangements which will focus attention, at national level, upon changes in the total workforce and in the main components of that total.