HC Deb 22 July 1983 vol 46 cc260-1W
Mr. Ralph Howell

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were working in the National Health Service, local government, the Civil Service and nationalised industries in the years 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980 and 1983; what was the total public expenditure on these services for each of those years; and if he will publish these numbers and costs both as a total and broken down between the four sectors mentioned.

Mr. Hayhoe

The information is set out in the following table.

In some cases the information requested is not readily available. Where figures for 1983 are not yet available, either an estimate or the latest available information has been given, as indicated.

Figures for public expenditure on nationalised industries are not shown. Public expenditure on nationalised industries and employment in these industries should not be compared. There is no direct relationship between them, since the industries derive the majority of their revenue from their business operations. In any case, no comparable information is available over the period,

1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1983
National Health Service*
Numbers employed (thousands, autumn of year indicated) n/a 543 n/a 648 869 952 (1982 provisional) 997
Expenditure (£ million, for financial year beginning 1 April of year indicated, rounded to nearest £10 million) n/a 820 n/a 1,910 5,280 11,640 n/a (1982–83, 14,190)
Local Government†
Numbers employed (thousands, June of year indicated) 1,515 1,821 2,154 2,559 2,993 3,027 n/a (1982, 2,931)
Expenditure (£ million, calendar years, local authority current expenditure) 1,123 1,718 2,830 4,905 12,904 25,294 26,754
Civil Service‡
Numbers employed (thousands, 1 July of year indicated) 716 640 655 702 708 700 n/a (April 1983, 649)
Expenditure (£ million, pay costs for financial year beginning 1 April of year indicated) n/a n/a 787 1,184 2,170 4,083 5,279
Nationalised Industries
Numbers employed (thousands, June of year indicated) 2,573 1,819 1,894 1,879 1,751 1,744 n/a (1982, 1,487)
Expenditure n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Total
Numbers employed (thousands, rounded to nearest 5,000) n/a 4,825 n/a 5,790 6,320 6,425 n/a
Expenditure n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
* Source: DHSS, Scottish Office, Welsh Office. Numbers employed include only directly employed staff of NHS. Expenditure is net of Health Service charges.
† Sources: Economic Trends. British Labour Statistics (Department of Employment, 1971), CSO, Cmnd. 8789. Figure for 1955 is not on a basis wholly consistent with later years.
‡ Sources: Financial Secretary's and Chief Secretary's memoranda on the Estimates.
║ Sources: Economic Trends. British Labour Statistics (Department of Employment, 1971). Figures for 1955 and 1960 are estimated on the basis of data for numbers employed in public corporations.