§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the numbers employed by local government in Scotland, distinguishing between the main categories of employment, together with total wages and salaries costs at constant prices and compared with the indices of retail prices and average earnings in 1960, 1970, each year since 1975, and including estimates for 1980–81.
§ Mr. RifkindI regret that this information is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate staff effort and cost; the following limited information may be of help for the period since March 1976, when Joint Manpower Watch records began:
359W
Year Full-time Equivalent Manpower Financial Year Wages and Salaries Outturn Expenditure £million March 1976 256,750 1975–76 740.6 March 1977 *250,651 1976–77 933.6 March 1978 †245,593 1977–78 1,027.6 March 1979 ‡253,839 1978–79 1,160.8 March 1980 ||258,706 1979–80 1,392.7 *Excludes 3,966 personnel employed under the Government job creation programme. †Excludes 5,722 personnel employed under the Government job creation programme and special temporary employment programme (STEP). ‡Excludes 3.263 personnel employed under STEP. ||ExcIudes 5,704 personnel employed under STEP.