Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Miller of Hendon (Conservative). It was answered by Lord Myners (Labour) on Monday, 7 December 2009.

Employment: Public Sector

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the report by the Office for National Statistics that the number in public employment in the second quarter of 2009 (including employees of the partly nationalised banks) had increased to 6.04 million, representing 10 per cent of the United Kingdom’s population.

Answer: The main factor influencing the recent public sector employment growth reported by the ONS has been the temporary reclassification of certain banking employees to the public sector. Growth other than this has largely been a result of the Government’s decision to invest in front-line services, including vital recruitment activity at Jobcentre Plus to maintain provision of targeted support to help people to find work and move out of unemployment.

Secondary information