§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will undertake a survey of employment patterns in local authorities to ascertain how many men and how many women are currently employed in (a) administrative and clerical grades, (b) professional and technical grades, including teachers and social services staff and (c) manual grades.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Earl Ferrers)Data on local authority staffing analysed by service, including teachers and 107WA social services staff, and by manual and non-manual employment are available from the annual joint staffing watch survey completed by local authorities in England and Wales. Comparable information analysed by gender and service is collected quarterly and is used by the Office for National Statistics to augment data collected in their regular census of employment. Data on local authority staffing in Scotland analysed by service, including teachers and social services staff, by salary band and by gender by full-time/part-time are available from the quarterly Scottish joint staffing watch survey. Copies of the press releases for the June 1996 survey in England and Wales and the July 1996 survey in Scotland have been placed in the Library. Census of employment data are given in a number of publications, principally Labour Market Trends.
In England and Wales, the joint staffing watch group carried out a review of the coverage of both inquiries during 1993. A similar review of the Scottish joint staffing watch was conducted by the Scottish Office and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. The response to consultation on these reviews did not identify any further information requirements from central or local government.