§ Mr. Hicksasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for the years 1961, 1966 and 1971, or the most recent year for which statistics are available, the total population of England and Wales; and what proportion of these figures for each year lived in cities or conurbations exceeding 1 million people, cities and towns with a population between 100.000 and 1 million and between 50,000 and 99,000, and towns and villages with a population between 10,000 and 49,000, and less than 10,000.
§ Sir K. JosephThe only information readily available is that published in the 1971 Preliminary Report on the Census. classifying the population of Local Authorities in England and Wales as follows. Fully comparable figures are not available for 1966.
CENSUS ENUMERATED POPULATION OF ENGLAND AND WALES 1961 million 1971 million All areas 46.1 48.7* Per cent. distribution Conurbationst† 36.3 32.8 Local Authority Areas outside conurbations Urban areas 100,000 population or more but under 1 million 14.4 13.9 50,000 but under 100,000 10.9 11.1 Under 50,000 19.0 20.5 Rural districts 19.4 21.7 * Including the preliminary estimate for under-enumeration. † The six conurbations are Tyneside, West Yorkshire, South-East Lancashire, Merseyside, West Midlands, Greater London. Of these the Tyneside conurbation has a population of under 1 million.