§ Mr. Armstrongasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many employees there are in local authority public works departments in the Northern region; and what is his estimate of the number of redundancies likely to occur as a result of Government proposals.
§ Mr. StanleyThis information is not fully available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, local authorities in the Northern region employ some 14,500 people in their direct labour organisations, supported by approximately 5,500 administrative, professional, technical and clerical grades. Their responsibilities include the construction and maintenance of local authority properties, roads and highways.
It is for each local authority to determine its future manpower requirements.