§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was (a) the total number of civil servants employed in the United Kingdom in central Government Departments, and staff employed in local government in 1985, (b) the percentage of total population and total work force these figures represent, (c) the value of the total salaries paid to these two groups for the year and (d) the percentage of gross domestic product these salaries represent; and if he will give any information he may have as to equivalent figures in France, West Germany, the United States of America and Japan, respectively.
§ Mr. MacGregorAt mid-1985, the Civil Service employed 585,000 full-time staff and 23,000 part-time staff, in total 1.1 per cent. of the home population and 2.5 per cent. of the employed labour force. Total pay excluding national insurance contributions in 1985–86 is estimated to be £5.25 billion, about 1.5 per cent. of gross domestic product.
Local authorities employed 1.88 million full-time staff and 1.01 million part-timers, in total 5.1 per cent. of the home population and 11.9 per cent. of the employed labour force. No estimate is yet available of the local authority pay bill.
No comparable information is available for other countries.