Government Regulation
Brooks Newmark questions how many new jobs claimed to have been created by the Government are jobs for bureaucrats and regulators.
Mr. Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con): Will the Minister enlighten us? We keep hearing about how many jobs have been created. I would be interested to know how many of the 1.5 million to 2 million jobs that have been created by the Government are jobs for bureaucrats and how many of those individuals are regulators?
Mr. Hutton: I think that about two thirds of those jobs are in the private sector. As for the additional jobs in the public sector, I do not know what the hon. Gentleman's definition of "bureaucrats" is, but I remember that, when I was in the Department of Health, he and his hon. Friends who sit on the Front Bench used to describe porters, cleaners and other staff who play a very important role in the national health service as "bureaucrats" and "pen-pushers". That is simply not the case. Perhaps he wants to make such a point in his own speech. My job is to enlighten him, as he rightly said, and if he will bear with me, I intend to try to do so.
