HC Deb 22 May 1950 vol 475 cc210-1W
Mr. Robson-Brown

asked the Minister of Works if he will state the number and proportions of building workers, excluding self-employed men, engaged on the construction of new houses, the repair and maintenance of houses and on non-housing work respectively in Great Britain in 1938, 1948, 1949 and the latest available date in 1950.

Mr. Stokes

The numbers and proportions of building workers, excluding

BUILDING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING INDUSTRY
NUMBER OF MALE OPERATIVES AGED 16 AND OVER
(Thousands)
1948 Average 1949 Average March, 1950
Total Per cent. Total Per cent. Total Per cent.
New Housing 268 25.3 247 23.5 258 24.5
Repair and Maintenance of Houses 335 31.6 313 29.7 288 27.3
Non-Housing Work 457 43.1 493 46.8 508 48.2
Total 1,060 100.0 1,053 100.0 1,054 100.0

Statistics of the employment of labour on various types of work were not collected before the war and corresponding figures for 1938 are not directly available. However, it has been estimated from other sources that the distribution of building workers between types of work in that year was roughly as follows:

Per cent.
New housing 330,000 32
Other new work 375,000 36
All repair and maintenance 325,000 32
1,030,000