HC Deb 12 February 1981 vol 998 cc418-9W
Mr. Rippon

asked the Secretary of State for the environment whether he will provide a breakdown of the numbers employed by local councils in the manual and non-manual worker categories.

Mr. King

At September 1980 local authorites in England and Wales employed 1,341,179 non-manual and 714,834 manual workers. Figures for these categories by individual authorities are not available for central publication. Under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 arrangements are being made for authorities to publish locally full manpower information, including a manual/non-manual breakdown, at quarterly intervals.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many civil servants and public employees are currently employed to deal with rent rebates; how this compares with each of the past five years; and what are the estimated numbers for 1981–82.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

Following is the number of civil servants in England dealing exclusively or mainly with rent rebates and rent allowances in recent years:

Year No.
1976–77 6
1977–78 5
1978–79 5
1979–80 4
1980–81 4
1981–82 (estimated)4

In 1978–79 about 1500–1600 local authority staff in England dealt with rent rebates. Numbers for other years or estimates for 1981–82 are not available.