The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated January 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning, how many people were employed (a) in total and (b) in local government in the UK. at the latest date for which information is available. (309395)
Estimates of total employment for the UK are derived from the Labour Force Survey. Data for the survey is collected on a monthly basis; the latest date for which information is available is September 2009. It is important to acknowledge, as with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Estimates of employment for local government in the UK are collected as part of the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES). Data for the survey is collected on a quarterly basis; the latest date for which information is available is September 2009.
The requested estimates are attached at Annex A.
Thousand Local government1, 2, 3 Total employment4, 5 All in employment (September 2009) 2,923 28,926 1 Estimates derived from public sector organisations. 2 Estimates for Northern Ireland included in the UK total ate sourced from the Quarterly Employment Survey and are based on jobs rather than employees. 3 Police (England and Wales) based on projections. 4 LFS data for September refer to August to October. 5 Labour Force Survey employment; all aged 16 and over; seasonally adjusted. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey and returns from public sector organisations.