§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Prime Minister how many persons are employed in (a) the Civil Service, (b) local government, (c) nationalised industries, (d) the police service, (e) non-governmental public bodies and (f) the armed forces at the most recent available date; and what were the corresponding figures in 1979.
§ The Prime MinisterThe United Kingdom figures for public sector employment on a full-time equivalent basis are as follows:
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Thousands Mid-year 1979 1985 Civil Service 724 596 Her Majesty's Forces 314 326 National Health Service 975 1,026 Other central government 200 198 Police* 172 182 Other local authorities 2,196 2,090 Nationalised industries actual 1,818 1,124 excluding corporations subsequently privatised (1,455) (1,124) Other public corporations† actual 190 117 excluding corporations subsequently privatised (171) (117) * Including civilians.
† Excluding trading funds.
Sources: Her Majesty's Treasury and Economic Trends December 1985.
The number of staff in non-departmental public bodies (excluding English and Welsh water authorities) were 147,000 in 1979 and 138,000 in 1985. These are included in the above figures for public sector employment.