Utilities

Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in the utilities which depend on current investment by those companies; and of these how many are (a) temporary and (b) permanent. [30615]

Mr. Battle
[holding answer 24 February 1998]: I have been asked to reply.Figures published by the Office for National Statistics in the monthly publication "Labour Market Trends" show that for the utilities sectors the number of employees in employment in Great Britain for September 1997 were as follows:
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|                                                  |
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|Electricity, gas, steam and hot water supply      |
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|Collection, purification and distribution of water|
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|Telecommunications                                |
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|Total                                             |
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Source:

Office for National Statistics.

No information is available on whether these jobs are temporary or permanent, or how they will be affected by utilities' investment plans.