§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were employed on 1 January in each year since 1979 in (a) the postal service and (b) the telephone and other telecommunications services in the public sector.
§ Mr. ButcherThe following is the information requested, at 31 March each year, according to information published by the Post Office and British Telecom in annual reports available in the Library of the House:
Postal business* Telecommunications business† 1979 173,981 233,447 1980 178,406 240,056 1981 181,310 246,725 1982 177,778 245,882 1983 176,158 245,976 1984 175,287 241,124 1985 177,381 ‡nil * Part-time staff counted as half. † Part-time staff counted as half until 1982, thereafter as one. ‡ British Telecom no longer in the public sector but on 31 March 1985 employed 235,178 people.