asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed in service sector industries in the Northern region; and if he will list the employment trends in the Northern region by category of service sector industries since May 1979.

At June 1982, the latest date for which the information is available, the provisional number of employees in employment in service industries in the North region was 622,000. The following table gives a breakdown of this figure by category of service sector and also gives corresponding figures at June each year from 1979. Figures are not available for May.