§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many(a) males and (b) females were in full-time employment in May 1979 in Wales; how many people are in full-time employment in Wales in the current year; how many part-time (i) males and (ii) females were employed in May 1979 and are in full-time employment in the current year; and how many apprentices there were in May 1979 and how many apprentices there are in the current year.
§ Mr. Peter Walker[holding answer 10 April 1989]: The only figures available are those derived from quarterly returns to the Department of Employment and from the annual labour force survey of a sample of households in Great Britain, 3,000 of which are in Wales, carried out on behalf of the Department of Employment.
The hon. Gentleman will find estimates of the number of male and female employees in employment, the self-employed and the civilian work force in employment in June 1979 (the closest date to May 1979 for which information is available) in table 9 of the supplement to Welsh Economic Trends, Volume 11.
The breakdown of the estimated number of male and female self-employed in June 1979 is published on page 22 of the Employment Gazette, October 1987, historical supplement No. 2. The latest comparable figures for June 1988 of male and female employees in employment, self-employed, those engaged in work-related Government training schemes and in the civilian work force are published in the Employment Gazette April 1989 page 205.
No information for June 1979 and June 1988 is available on the breakdown between full-time and part-time male employees in employment, but table 9 of the supplement to Welsh Economic Trends volume 11 provides estimates of full and part-time female employees in employment for June 1979. Comparable figures for June 1988 may be obtained from table 1.5 of the Employment Gazette, February 1989—but revised figures are available from the Department of Employment and will be published in table 1.5 of the May 1989 Employment Gazette.
Information from the labour force surveys during the spring of 1979 and 1988 show the number of apprentices in Wales to be 17,000 and 16,000 respectively.
Copies of all the above publications are in the House of Commons Library.