§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the anticipated population of the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County Council area on its formation; and what will be the population of the proposed Manchester Metropolitan District Council.
§ Mr. Graham PageAt the time of the 1971 Census the population of the proposed Greater Manchester Metropolitan County was 2,771,000 and that of Metropolitan District (e) (Manchester) was 542,000. I do not expect these figures to have changed materially by the time the new areas are established.
§ Sir R. Caryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) by how much the population of Lancashire fell between 1961 and 1971;and what were the equivalent figures for the city of Manchester;
(2) what he estimates will be the population of Manchester in 1981; and what percentage decline that figure will represent over the population in 1961 and 1971.
§ Mr. Graham PageThe Registrar-General's provisional figures for the 1971 census indicate that between 1961 and 1971 the population of Lancashire increased by about 2,500, while that of 201W Manchester County Borough fell by about 114,000. The Registrar-General is reassessing population trends in the light of these results, and I regret that I cannot yet give my hon. Friend an up-to-date estimate of the population of Manchester in 1981.