HC Deb 08 July 1981 vol 8 cc158-9W
22. Mr. Peter Lloyd

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the present level of local authority manpower.

Mr. Heseltine

No. As I made clear on 23 June in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, North (Mr. Durant), the latest figures published in the Joint Manpower Watch return for March 1981 show that the rate of reduction in numbers employed is not sufficient to meet the Government's expenditure targets for local government.—[Vol. 7, c. 86.]