asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total number of employees in all sections of Government service, excluding the Armed Forces, but including all local authority, water board, Post Office and area health authority employees, for 1973, being the last year available; and what percentage of the total working population this represents.

At June 1973 the total number employed by central Government—excluding the Armed Forces—and local authorities, plus the Post Office, which since 1961 has been a public corporation, was 4,741,000, or 19 per cent. of the total working population in employment.