HC Deb 31 January 1985 vol 72 cc323-5W
Mr. Ralph Howell

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people were working in the National Health Service, local government, the Civil Service and nationalised industries in 1984; what was the total public expenditure on these services for the year; and if he will publish these numbers and costs both as a total and broken down between the four sectors mentioned;

(2) what is (a) the total number of civil servants employed in the United Kingdom in central Government Departments, and staff employed in local government in 1984, (b) the percentage of total population and total work force these figures represent, (c) the value of the total salaries paid to these two groups for the year and (d) the percentage of gross domestic product these salaries

Mr. Moore

The information requested, for selected levels of employment income and family responsibilities, is as follows:

represent; and if he will give any information he may have as to equivalent figures in France, West Germany, the United States of America and Japan.

Mr. Peter Rees

Numbers employed (thousands) in the public sector at mid-1984 were as follows:

Number
Central Government:
HM Forces 326
NHS 1,242
Civil Service (Great Britain) 630
Other 132
Local authorities 2,884
Public corporations:
Nationalised industries 1,416
Other 195
Total 6,825

Figures of population, working population, and gross domestic product are published in the Monthly Digest of Statistics. Public expenditure figures for 1984–85 are published in detail in Cmnd. 9428— "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1985–86 to 1987–88". Estimates of the 1984–85 salary bill for the Civil Service was published in the 1983–84 memorandum by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on he Estimates. These documents are all available in House of Commons Library.

The qualifications attached to the use of employment data was explained in a written answer to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North (Mr. Howell) on 13 February 1984, at columns 64–66. That answer also indicated the difficulties in making international comparisons.