§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people were employed in river, water and land drainage authorities in England in the years 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1973–74, respectively; and what were the total salaries and wages bills for those personnel in the same years.
§ Mr. Denis HowellEstimates based on incomplete information are set out in the table below. They are derived from several sources, none wholly reliable, and need to be treated as such. It has not proved practicable to separate the employee costs of river authorities from those of other land drainage authorities nor to ascertain the number of employees of these authorities by years. It is estimated, however, that immediately before reorganisation the river authorities employed about 8,000 people:
Water undertakers (excluding water companies) Numbers of employees Employee costs River and Land Drainage Authorities Employee costs (£ thousand) (£ thousand) 1970–71 26,716 37,794 10,253 1971–72 26,943 42,668 13,740 1972–73 25,472 49,787 14,367 1973–74 27,708 52,278 16,686