HC Deb 29 July 1975 vol 896 cc478-80W
Mr. Arnold Shaw

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now publish in the Official Report the results of the first quarterly joint staff watch survey of local authorities in England and Wales.

Mr. Crosland

The table below shows the numbers employed full-time and part-time by all local authorities in England and Wales at 31st March 1975.

These are the first figures available from the new survey which will continue on a quarterly basis under arrangements made jointly by the Government and the local authority associations. They should be read in conjunction with the follow-in notes:

1. The staff watch survey is a comprehensive survey of employees engaged in a number of separate departments or services which together cover the whole range of local authority activities. It is a new system starting from 31st March 1975, which will continue on a regular quarterly basis, and in time it

JOINT STAFF WATCH SURVEY OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES
ENGLAND AND WALES
Numbers employed at 31st March 1975
Department or Service Full-time Part-time Totals (full-time and part-time)
Education—Lecturers and teachers 518,768 203,440 722,208
Others 220,862 481,968 702,830
Construction 136,458 808 137,266
Transport 22,494 391 22,885
Social Services 127,300 146,551 273,851
Public libraries and museums 24,696 13,847 38,543
Recreation, parks and baths 64,995 11,762 76,757
Environmental health 19,991 2,202 22,193
Refuse collection and disposal 51,699 574 52,273
Housing 43,477 8,865 52,342
Town and Country planning 19,502 485 19,987
Fire Service—Regular 30,934 30,934
Others 5,273 1,654 6,927
Miscellaneous services* 254,224 39,734 293,958
1,540,673‡ 912,281‡ 2,452.954‡
Police—All Ranks 102,738 102,738
Cadets 4,856 4,856
Civilians 30,092 7,096 37,188
Traffic Wardens 6,162 6,162
143,848 7,096 150,944
Agency staff 603 196 799
Magistrates' Courts† 5,687 1,105 6,792
Probation staff†—Officers 4,375 117 4,492
Others 2,421 865 3,286
13,086 2,283 15,369
* Covers central support staff and other staff, not included in other departments or services, also school crossing patrols, staff on special functions, trading services and agriculture and fisheries.
† Excludes figures for outer London which are not yet available.
‡ Includes 505,061 full-time and 603.673 part-time manual employees

should be possible to discern seasonal fluctuations, particularly in part-time and temporary employment, in addition to longer-term trends.

2. Figures are shown separately for full-time and part-time employees; the total column is merely an arithmetical total. Consideration is being given to means of converting part-time numbers to full-time equivalents.

3. The figures are not directly comparable with the annual figures published by the Department of Employment which show the numbers employed by local authorities at June each year. Differences exist between the two series, but an assessment of them cannot be made until data can be compared for the same quarter. The following notes relate to some of the differences.

4. The Department of Employment figures are collected for a different purpose previously on an annual, but now a quarterly, basis. The mid-June 1974 annual survey was taken immediately after local government reorganisation while authorities were still adjusting to new conditions.

5. The staff watch survey includes civilian employees of police authorities, cadets, traffic wardens, and staff of magistrates' courts' committees and probation and after-care committees who are excluded from the Department of Employment figures.