§ 24. Mr. John Mackayasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the most recent figures for local authority employment in Scotland; and what were the comparable figures at the same time in 1978.
§ Mr. RifkindAt September 1979 the total number of local authority employees in Scotland, in terms of full-time equivalents, was 258,850 and at September 1978 the comparable figure was 251,531. When I met convention representatives on 3 December I expressed concern at the continuing rising trend, and the convention representatives indicated that they expected that in the light of the Government's policies the figures for the fourth quarter of 1979 would begin to reverse that trend.