§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Prime Minister if she will list all those public bodies which in 1979 were included in the public sector and have now been privatised, denationalised or in some other way removed from the public sector; and how many persons each such body employed at the time of transfer from the public sector.
§ The Prime MinisterThe information for the major non-civil service privatisations since 1979 is as follows:
Persons employed at time of privatisation* Amersham International 2,049 Associated British Ports 9,242 British Aerospace 79,300 British Rail Hotels 2,300 Britoil 2,527 Cable and Wireless 10,750 International Aeradio 3,841 National Freight Company 24,500 * Figures are not available for the numbers employed on the day of privatisation. The figures quoted are from the relevant sale prospectus or are best estimates from information relating to dates close to the time of sale. Civil Service manpower reductions attributable to privatisation, including contracting out, in respect of 1980–81 and 1981–82 are detailed in the seventh and first special reports from the Treasury and Civil Service Committee sessions 1980–81 and 1981–82 respectively—notes 5 and 6, and annex A to note 5. The corresponding figures for 1982–83, together with a detailed departmental breakdown, are set out in the recent Treasury report to the TCSC, on manpower reductions in 1982–83, a copy of which I am sending to my hon. Friend.