§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures for each year since 1970 showing (a) the number of employment offices or Jobcentres in existence and distinguishing between the two, (b) the number of staff employed, and (c) the total cost.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[Pursuant to his reply, 30 November 1979, c. 807]: I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission, which is responsible for the public employment service, that information in the form requested is only available for part of this period.
(a) The following table shows, cumulatively, the number of Jobcentres in 358W existence at the end if each financial year since 1973–74 and at 28 November 1979:
In each of these years the remainder of approximately 1,000 local offices were employment offices.
Cumulative total Jobcentres 31 March 1974 36 31 March 1975 76 31 March 1976 184 31 March 1977 297 31 March 1978 434 31 March 1979 555 28 November 1979 615 The earliest accurate figure of the number of local offices is for February 1975, when there were 986. Between 1 May 1973 and 27 November 1979 the number of local offices increased by 31 to 1,017, 615 of which are Jobcentres.
(b) Information on the total numbers of staff employed in employment offices and Jobcentres is not available prior to 1 October 1974. The following table shows the numbers employed at 1 October 1974 and at the beginning of each financial year since. Where figures are available, the number of staff employed in Jobcentres is also shown.
(1) (2) (3) Date Total number of staff employed in local offices Number employed in Jobcentres (included in (2)) 1 October 1974 10,030 * 1 Aril 1975 10,040 * 1 April 1976 10,938 * 1 April 1977 10,979 4,381 1 April 1978 11,134 5,938 1 April 1979 11,379 6,925 *Not available.