§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the numbers of full-time employees of (a) local government, (b)
Gross weekly earnings (including overtime) of £ Annual equivalent (b) £ Number of full-time adult employees (a) Millions Local government Central government Public sector Less than 77 4000 0.8 0.9 2.1 96 5000 1.2 1.1 3.3 115 6000 1.5 1.2 4.1 135 7000 1.7 1.3 4.7 Source: New Earnings Survey NOTES: (a) Males aged 21 and over and females aged 18 and over (b) This corresponds to gross weekly earnings in April 1979 at an annual rate and will not be identical with earnings during the twelve months preceding the survey. Estimates of weekly earnings for April this year will be available later in the year. Because of the substantial rise in average earnings since the 1979 survey the numbers shown in the reply will now be considerably reduced.