HC Deb 12 July 1984 vol 63 cc610-1W
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Prime Minister what are the numbers of those employed in the public and private sector, respectively, in the service industries in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales, giving figures for each of the last 10 years.

The Prime Minister

[pursuant to her reply, 2 July 1984, c. 5]: The following table shows the numbers of service industry employees working in the public and private sectors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as a whole. Independently estimated information for England is not available.

These estimates have been separately prepared by the Scottish Office, Welsh Office, Department of Economic Development (Northern Ireland) and the Central Statistical Office. There are some definitional inconsistencies between the figures for the various countries. Comparisons between them should therefore be treated with caution.

Northern Ireland‡ (headcounts) United Kingdom (headcounts)
Public sector Private sector Public sector Private sector■
At June Central Government Local Authorities Public corporations Total Central Government Local Authorities Public Corporations Total
1977 152 7 18 178 112 1,918 2,760 1,032 5,710 7,260
1978 156 8 19 183 119 1,931 2,771 1,009 5,711 7,469
1979 162 8 19 189 129 1,958 2,835 1,021 5,814 7,743
1980 168 8 20 196 128 1,967 2,798 1,024 5,789 7,905
1981 169 8 19 196 123 1,983 2,750 1,003 5,736 7,715
1982 169 9 18 196 124 1,981 2,729 939 5,649 7,782
1983 172 8 18 198 121 1,969 2,745 903 5,617 7,849
* Information on self employment in services is not available for Scotland and Wales.
† In the estimates for Wales, part timers are counted as fractions of a unit based on hours worked for National Health Service and local authority employees and as half units otherwise.
‡ Estimates for Northern Ireland are based on coding the total employees of each employer by sector as applicable in each year.
║ Central Government figures in Scotland and Wales include all non industrial civil servants, although some are not proper to service industries, as at 1 January and National Health Service staff as at 30 September. Industrial civil servants and staff of some "fringe bodies" are excluded.
¶ Local authority figures for Scotland include local authority staff in the water supply industry.
• The coverage of public corporations in Scotland and Wales is incomplete and includes estimates for some years. The reporting bases and dates vary between individual corporations.
■ Estimates for the private sector (except for Northern Ireland) are derived as the difference between estimates for numbers of employees (for Wales numbers of full-time equivalents) and totals for the public sector. In view of the partial coverage of public corporations the numbers of employees in the private sector in Wales and Scotland may be overstated.

Sources: Scottish Office

Welsh Office

Department of Economic Development (Northern Ireland)

Central Statistical Office

Department of Employment.

Forward to