HC Deb 19 January 1988 vol 125 cc608-10W
Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are at present employed in the coal industry in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Mr. Peter Walker

Available data are National Coal Board/British Coal estimates of the average numbers on colliery books in Wales.

(thousands)
1958 108
1968 52
1978–1979 29
1986–1987 13

Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are at present employed as farm labourers in each county in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Mr. Peter Walker

Figures for family and hired workers in each county in Wales are shown in the following table. Fully consistent data are not available for each of the years requested.

Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan South Glamorgan West Glamorgan All Glamorgan Powys Wales
1958
Regular Workers 5,835 10,495 2,765 5,303 n.a. n.a. n.a. 3,074 5,876 33,348
Seasonal and Casual Workers 764 2,266 612 787 n.a. n.a. n.a. 659 887 5,975
Total 6,599 12,761 3,377 6,190 n.a. n.a. n.a. 3,733 6,663 39,323
1968
Regular Workers 3,167 6,068 1,544 2,522 n.a. n.a. n.a. 1,658 3,461 18,420
Seasonal and Casual Workers 540 1,971 441 475 n.a. n.a. n.a. 626 651 4,704
Total 3,707 8,039 1,985 2,997 n.a. n.a. n.a. 2,284 4,112 23,124
1978
Regular Family Workers 960 2,277 494 896 219 115 160 494 1,264 6,385
Regular Hired Workers 1,637 2,134 588 957 178 288 161 627 1,101 7,044
Total
Regular Workers 2,597 4,411 1,082 1,853 397 403 321 1,121 2,365 13,429
Seasonal and Casual Workers 1,257 3,829 614 1,018 434 285 352 1,071 1,276 9,065
Total 3,854 8,240 1,696 2,871 831 688 673 2,192 3,641 22,494
1986 (Latest Available)
Regular Family Workers 763 1,966 460 791 171 108 163 442 1,095 5,517
Regular Hired Workers 1,061 1,760 512 773 152 287 124 563 1,030 5,699
Total
Regular Workers 1,824 3,726 972 1,564 323 395 287 1,005 2,125 11,216
Seasonal and Casual Workers 1,100 3,301 649 1,093 409 212 391 1,012 1,514 8,669
Total 2,924 7,027 1,621 2,657 732 607 678 2,017 3,639 19,885

Notes:

1. Figures are for June each year and relate to main holdings only. However, from time to time, particularly between 1958 and 1968, the definition of a main holding has changed slightly.

2. Regular workers includes those working full-time and part-time.

3. Figures are not available prior to 1970 showing family and hired workers separately.

Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are employed in the iron and steel industries in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Mr. Peter Walker

Figures for 1978 and 1987 are given in the following table. Comparable figures for earlier dates are not available.

Date British Steel Corporation Manpower Private Sector Manpower
September 1978 51,840 16,567
September 1987 18,550 2,379
1 At the end of December. All other figures relate to September.

Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are employed in transport in Wales at present; and what are the corresponding figures for 1978, 1968 and 1958.

Mr. Peter Walker

The data available are shown in the following table. "Transport" has been defined for 1978 as minimum list headings 701–707 and 709 in the 1968 standard industrial classification (SIC), and for 1984 as classes 71–77 in the 1980 SIC (full details of SICs can be obtained from CSO publications). An indication of the effect of these differences of definition is given by figures from the 1981 census of employment.

1968 SIC 1980 SIC (thousands)
June 1978 42.1
(September 1981 37.6 36.8)
September 1984 — 31.2