HC Deb 19 December 1979 vol 976 cc242-50W
Mr. W. Benyon

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish figures for local authority manpower, broken down service by service, for the period 1975 to 1979; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Heseltine

The totals are set out below. These are aggregate figures based on individual returns by each authority to the local authorities Conditions of Service Advisory Board. These figures are available within each authority and presumably are available to individual councillors on request. I shall be taking powers to require the publication of manpower and other information by individual local authorities, but local authorities are free to publish such information in advance of legislation.

LOCAL AUTHORITY MANPOWER NUMBERS AS AT JUNE (TOTALS, FULL-TIME AND FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS)
Service June 1975 June 1976 June 1977 June 1978 June 1979* September 1979*
Education—
Lecturers and teachers … … … … 552,829 560,221 562,254 564,057 573,202 565,184
Others … … … … 432,561 435,387 430,834 427,008 430,401 423,721
Construction … … … … 141,434 142,177 136,874 137,080 134,962 134,510
Transport … … … … 23,806 23,060 22,478 22,526 22,464 22,614
Social services … … … … 189,820 194,197 196,895 202,111 207,216 206,710
Public libraries and museums … … … … 32,201 32,718 32,646 32,724 33,401 33,535
Recreation, parks and baths … … … … 77,152 79,157 78,871 81,092 81,429 82,654
Environmental health … … … … 22,315 22,429 22,202 22,004 22,470 22,631
Refuse collection and disposal … … … … 50,955 50,045 49,658 49,814 50,096 50,134
Housing … … … … 43,236 44,835 45,448 47,318 49,467 49,802
Town and country planning … … … … 20,939 22,266 22,327 22,678 22,547 22,734
Fire service—
Regular … … … … 311,914 32,56 32,498 32,100 35,286 35,647
Others … … … … 5,636 5,523 5,346 5,248 5,383 5,277
Miscellaneous services† … … … … 282,452 281,606 272,542 267,806 269,347 269,627
TOTAL … … … … 1,907,250 1,926,189 1,910,873 1,913,566 1,937,671 1,924,780

Service June 1975 June 1976 June 1977 June 1978 June 1979* September 1979*
Police—
All ranks … … 103,564 108,473 109,338 107,875 111,905 112,685
Cadets … … 4,459 3,978 2,822 2,040 2,893 2,925
Civilians … … 34,352 33,968 33,725 33,646 34,625 34,960
Traffic wardens … … 6,211 6,056 5,544 4,803 4,510 4,447
Agency staff … … 589 300 276 456 544 854
Magistrates courts … … 6,985 7,353 7,489 7,690 7,984 8,090
Probation staff—
Officers … … 4,890 5,010 4,950 4,964 5,016 5,134
Others … … 3,369 3,822 3,875 3,981 4,173 4,280
TOTAL (including JCP/STEP)‡ … … 2,071,669 2,095,149 2,078,892 2,079,021 2,109,321 2,098,155
Job creation programme (JCP/STEP) … … — 4,310 9,897 9,725 5,204 5,884
GRAND TOTAL (excluding JCP/STEP) … … 2,071,669 2,090,839 2,968,995 2,069,296 2,104,117 2,092,271
* Provisional figures only.
† Covers central services departments—e.g. engineers and treasures—and others not included in listed departments or services, and also schools-crossingPatrols and staff on special functions, trading services and agriculture and fisheries.
‡ Job creation and special temporary employment programme employees are included in the service totals but please note that these are temporary staff funded by central Government. To that extent the figures do not reflect permanent manpower levels.

LOCAL AUTHORITY MANPOWER DIFFERENCES JUNE TO JUNE (TOTALS, FULL-TIME AND FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT)
1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79*
Number Percentage change Number Percentage change Number Percentage change Number Percentage change
Education—
Lecturers and teachers … … … … +7,392 +1.3 +2,033 +0.4 +1,803 +0.3 +9,145 +1.6
Others … … … … +2,826 +0.7 -4,535 -1.1 -3,826 -0.9 +3,393 +0.8
Construction … … … … +743 +0.5 -5,305 -3.7 +206 +0.2 -2,118 -1.5
Transport … … … … -746 -3.1 -582 -2.5 +48 +0.2 -62 -0.3
Social services … … … … +4,377 +2.3 +2,698 +1.4 +5,216 +2.7 +5,105 +2.5
Public libraries and museums … … … … +517 +1.6 -72 -0.2 +78 +0.2 +677 +2.1
Recreation, parks and baths … … … … +2,005 +2.6 -286 -0.4 +2,221 +2.8 +337 +0.4
Environmental health … … … … +114 +0.5 -227 -1.0 -198 -0.9 +466 +2.1
Refuse collection and disposal … … … … -910 -1.8 -387 -0.8 +156 +0.3 +282 +0.6
Housing … … … … +1,599 +3.7 +613 +1.4 +1,870 +4.1 +2,149 +4.5
Town and country planning … … … … +1,327 +6.3 +61 +0.3 +351 +1.6 -131 -0.6
Fire service—
Regular … … … … +654 +2.1 -70 -0.2 -398 -1.2 +3,186 +9.9
Others … … … … -113 -2.0 -177 -3.2 -98 -1.8 +135 +2.6
Miscellaneous services … … … … -846 -0.3 -9,064 -3.2 -4,736 -1.7 +1,541 +0.6
TOTAL … … … … +18939 +1-0 -15,316 -0.8 +2,693 +0.1 +24,105 +1.3

1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79*
Number Percentage change Number Percentage change Number Percentage change Number Percentage change
Police—
All ranks … +4,909 +4.7 +865 +0.8 -1,463 -1.3 +4,030 +3.7
Cadets … -481 -10.8 -1,156 -29.1 -782 -27.7 +853 +41.8
Civilians … -384 -1.1 -243 -0.7 -79 -0.2 +979 +2.9
Traffic wardens … -155 -2.5 -512 -8.5 -741 -13.4 -293 -6.1
Agency staff … -289 -49.1 -24 -8.0 +180 +65.2 +88 +19.3
Magistrates' courts … +368 +5.3 +136 +1.8 +201 +2.7 +294 +3.8
Probation staff—
Officers … +120 +2.5 -60 -1.2 +14 +0.3 +52 +1.0
Others … +453 +13.5 +53 +1.4 +106 +2.7 +192 +4.8
TOTAL (including JCP/STEP) … +23,480 +1.1 -16,257 -0.8 +129 0 +30,300 +1.5
Job Creation Programme (JCP/STEP) … +4,310 +100 +5,587 -129.6 -172 -1.7 -4,521 -46.5
GRAND TOTAL (excluding JCP/STEP) … +19,170 +0.9 -21,844 -1.0 +301 0 +34,821 +1.7
* Provisional figures only.