HL Deb 10 December 1981 vol 425 cc1502-4WA
Lord Harris of High Cross

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What were total numbers of people employed by local authorities and their division between main categories of employment for each of the years: 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1981.

TABLE 1 LOCAL AUTHORITY MANPOWER—GREAT BRITAIN 1955, 1960, 1965 AND 1970
June 1955 June 1960 June 1965 June 1970
Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time
Education Department:
(a) Lecturers and Teachers 293,639 55,137 336,043 76,043 381,733 122,014 453,020 155,429
(b) Other staff (clerical, cleaners etc.) 73,459 75,093 88,540 99,554 158,437 274,640 201,824 394,572
Water supply 19,817 331 18,322 281 16,479 375 12,068 660
Building and Civil Engineering (Construction) 70,232 218 100,464 406 136,354 576 127,265 719
Transport Services 95,344 407 88,952 454 83,117 561 50,581 515
Health Services, Day Nurseries, Children's, Aged Persons', other Homes 99,293 36,779 108,353 54,917 126,322 82,905 151,696 112,807
Restaurants and Canteens (including school canteens) Orchestras, Entertainments, Amusement Parks, Race Courses, Golf Courses, etc. 53,414 92,505 57,819 109,142 14,015 5,877 11,923 6,287
All other Local Authority Departments 443,292 31,965 446,934 40,348 476,143 52,097 530,119 73,682
Police Forces (including Metropolitan Police) 74,170 82,076 93,081 103,166
Grand Total 1,222,660 292,435 1,327,503 381,145 1,485,681 539,045 1,641,662 744,671

Source: Department of Employment.

TABLE 2 LOCAL AUTHORITY MANPOWER—ENGLAND AND WALES 1975—GREAT BRITAIN 1980, 1981
(England and Wales) (Great Britain)
June 1975 June 1980 June 1981
Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time
Education:
Lectures and teachers 517,102 160,611 603,692 151,446 591,633 139,514
Others 222,055 490,353 226,174 521,093 212,976 509,922
Construction 141,124 726 151,074 747 142,703 634
Transport 23,618 444 31,420 473 30,301 505
Social Services 127,857 148,243 155,479 191,254 157,741 191,586
Public Libraries and museums 25,020 14,741 27,397 17,562 27,139 17,688
Recreation, parks and baths 70,550 15,631 83,655 24,274 82,192 24,003
Environmental health 21,296 2,414 23,583 2,498 23,227 2,413
Refuse collection and disposal 50,809 348 59,889 544 57,835 560
Housing 38,993 9,760 49,498 13,183 50,608 13,371
Town and Country Planning 20,612 635 23,193 698 22,790 636
Fire Service:
Regular 31,914 40,197 9 39,807 9
Others 4,910 1,704 4,881 2,120 4,850 2,141
Miscellaneous Services 260,537 50,297 274,729 51,023 269,024 49,810
TOTAL (General Services) 1,556,397 895,907 1,754,861 976,924 1,713,096 952,792
Police:
All Ranks 103,564 128,428 131,771
Others 41,385 8,419 43,055 9,359 44,011 9,497
Magistrates Courts (Administration of District Courts) 6,407 1,215 7,738 1,767 8,024 1,875
Probation Staff:
Officers 4,821 131 5,125 152 5,423 146
Others 2,862 1,065 3,364 2,193 3,613 2,591
TOTAL (Law and Order Service) 159,039 10,830 187,710 13,471 192,842 14,109
Agency Staff 481 213 435 303 310 261
GRAND TOTAL 1,715,917 906,950 1,943,006 990,698 1,906,248 967,162
Source: Joint Manpower Watch.
Notes—Tables 1 and 2
1. The information in Table 1 is derived from Department of Employment statistics and excludes police, civilians, cadets, traffic wardens, and agency, magistrates courts and probation service staff. Information for later years is available from the Joint Manpower Watch; these more detailed figures are in Table 2.
2. All figures exclude those employed under special employment and training measures.
3. About 20,000 employees were transferred to Passenger Transport Executives between 1969 and 1970 and an estimated 90,000 employees were transferred to Regional Water Authorities, the National Health Service and the Passenger Transport Executives at 1st April 1974.

Lord Bellwin

The available information for Great Britain is set out below in Table 1 for 1955, 1960, 1965 and 1970 and in Table 2 for 1980 and 1981. Table 2 also includes figures for England and Wales only in 1975, there being no figures available on a comparable basis for Scotland in that year.