HC Deb 30 November 1989 vol 162 cc429-30W
Mr. Rooker

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Civil Service Staff are currently based outside London and what were the figures five, 10 and 15 years ago.

Mr. Ryder

The servicewide information available on numbers and proportions of civil servants working outside London is given in the table.

Staff numbers (thousands)
1 April 1989 1 January 1984 1 January 1979
Non-Industrial
London 112.9 119.8 138.6
Outside London 386.9 389.1 427.5
Proportion outside London (per cent.) 77.4 76.5 75.5
Industrial
London 6.1 11.7 10.7
Outside London 63.3 112.1 156.4
Proportion outside London (per cent.) 91.2 90.6 93.6
Total
London 119.0 131.5 149.3
Outside London 450.2 501.1 583.9
Proportion outside London (per cent.) 79.1 79.2 79.6

Figures for non-industrial staff are extracted from a computer system which came into being in 1975. Before that date figures were collected by means of manual returns which gave no separate information about London-based staff numbers.