§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why information was not collected centrally regarding the number of people made redundant, excluding education and health employees, by local authorities in England in 1979 and 1980.
§ Mr. KingI refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to him on 1 April 1981. The responsibilities of my right hon. Friend in respect of employees in local government are different from those of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services in respect of the NHS. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science was able to supply figures relating to teachers because his Department is responsible for the operation of the teachers' pension scheme.—[Vol. 2, c.127.]