HC Deb 17 May 1976 vol 911 cc338-9W
Mr. Ralph Howell

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the total wage and salary bill in the public sector in 1975–76, distinguishing between the Civil Service, Armed Forces, local government, teachers, National Health Service, water authorities, police and fire services, and the nationalised industries; and if he will give comparative figures for 1960–61, 1965–66 and 1970–71.

Mr. Denzil Davies

The information readily available relates to calendar years and to income from employment, including

1960 1965 1970 1974 1975*
Her Majesty's Forces 471 554 799 1,314 1,582
National Health Service 402 612 926 2,021 2,831
Other Central Government 900 864 1,254 2,244 2,957
Teachers 384 624 962 1,873 8,500
Police and fire services 121 191 334 680
Other local government 628 976 1,568 3,097
Water authorities 114 217
Other public corporations 1,435 2,138 3,067 5,356
Total 4,341 5,959 8,910 16,699
* Provisional.
† From 1st April 1974.
‡ Not available.

Comparisons between the years shown are affected by changes in coverage, including in particular (a) the transfer of the Post Office from central government to public corporation between 1960 and 1961 (b) the nationalisation of steel in 1967 (c) local government reorganisation on 1st April 1974, under which local authority health services were transferred to the central Government and local authority water and sewerage services in England and Wales were transferred to the water authorities.