§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many community workers are currently employed by local authorities;
(2) how many community workers are currently known to be employed by non-statutory agencies.
§ Mr. DeakinsLocal authority returns for 30th September 1975, the latest date for which information is available show that the whole-time equivalent of 257 staff were then employed in social services departments in England as community workers. Community workers are also employed in other local authority departments, but information about their number is not available centrally. I regret that information about the number of community workers employed by non-statutory agencies is not held centrally.