§ Mr. Michael Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was (a) the total manpower employed in the local government service in Great Britain in each year since 1945, (b) the proportion of the employed population this 595W represented in each year, and (c) the proportion of total public sector emkployees this represented in each year.
§ Mr. GoldingInformation is available for Great Britain for the years 1949 to 1957 and for the United Kingdom for 1957 onwards and is shown in the following table:
EMPLOYEES IN LOCAL AUTHORITIES Number ('000s) Percentage of the employed labour force Percentage of total public sector employment Great Britain 1949 1,384 6.1 23.8 1950 1,419 6.2 24.8 1951 1,415 6.1 22.9 1952 1,431 6.2 22.7 1953 1,446 6.2 23.0 1954 1,464 6.2 23.6 1955 1,493 6.3 24.7 1956 1,531 6.4 25.5 1957 1,568 6.5 26.3 United Kingdom 1957 1,628 6.6 27.0 1958 1,656 6.8 27.9 1959 (A) 1,781 7.3 30.0 1959 (B) 1,781 7.5 30.0 1960 1,821 7.5 31.2 1961 1,870 7.6 32.0 1962 1,940 7.9 32.9 1963 2,008 8.1 34.0 1964 2,088 8.4 35.2 1965 2,154 8.5 36.1 1966 2,259 8.9 37.4 1967 2,364 9.5 38.3 1968 2,444 9.8 38.2 1969 2,505 10.1 39.1 1970 2,559 10.3 39.4 1971 2,651 10.9 40.2 1972 2,771 11.4 41.5 1973 2,890 11.6 42.6 1974 2,844 11.3 41.1 1975 2,993 12.0 41.2 1976 3,022 12.2 41.3 1977* 2,995 12.0 40.5 * Provisional. Notes:
1. Local authorities comprise all local government authorities, which have power to raise funds by means of rates or levies. All functions are covered including, for example, education services and construction departments. The coverage is, therefore, much wider than that of the activity "local government service" as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification (1968).
2. The employed labour force comprises employees in employment, self-employed persons (with and without employees) and H.M. Forces.
3. Because of changes in the methods of making estimates of the employed labour force there is a major discontinuity in 1959. Figures for 1949 to 1959 (A) are mainly based on counts of National Insurance Cards. Figures from 1959 (B) onwards are consistent with the annual census of employment. Further details are given in Department of Employment Gazettes for March 1975 (pp. 193–196), December 1976 (pp. 1344–1346) and June 1977 (pp. 604–605).