HC Deb 08 June 1984 vol 61 cc300-1W
Mr. Deakins

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of industrial units, by number of employees, in each of the following categories: (a) up to 100, (b) 101 to 500, (c) 501 to 1,000 and (d) over 1,000; and what were the comparable figures 10 years previously.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information can only be supplied in terms of census units (units for which separate information is obtained in the census of employment). These units do not always correspond to complete establishments and their numbers and sizes can vary from one census to another because of changes in the way the census information is supplied. The following table gives the most recent analysis from the 1981 census of employment and the earliest available on a comparable basis from the census taken in 1973.

Census of employment units: size analysis for 1973 and 1981 Great Britain
(Thousands)
June 1973 September 1981
Size bands according to numbers of employees Numbers of census units Numbers of employees Numbers of census units Numbers of employees
1 to99 946.8 8,997.2 954.3 10,092.5
100 to 499 27.6 5,615.6 27.6 5,419.2
500 to 999 3.4 2,378.3 2.8 1,921.0
1,000 and over 2.2 4,770.6 1.6 3,301.4
TOTAL 980.1 21,761.6 986.3 20,734.1

The figures relate only to employees. The census does not cover the self-employed. Also excluded are numbers in agriculture and horticulture (employee estimates for agriculture, included in the published census of employment results, are taken from the agricultural censuses).