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Solvent Abuse
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to combat the problems of solvent abuse among young people.
Mr. Mellor : We have taken a number of steps to make solvent-based products harder to obtain by young people for the purpose of misuse ; to educate young people about the dangers of misuse ; and to help parents and those who work with young people to respond to the problem. Recent initiatives taken by the Department include funding a series of training seminars for residential care workers ; contributing to the issue of advice to retailers, and the production of a video for parents ; and funding an information officer post at the National Children's bureau.
Hospital Buildings
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest information he has as to the average age of hospital buildings.
Mrs. Currie : We are now collecting information about the age of hospital buildings as a part of the Ko"rner requirement. This information should be available to health authorities from May 1989.
Teenage Pregnancies
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to introduce a campaign aimed at reducing unwanted teenage pregnancies.
Mrs. Currie : We are currently funding three local projects on family planning and pregnancy counselling specifically aimed at young people under 25 in three health districts. The projects began last year, are being centrally evaluated, and will continue until March next year. We hope to use the projects to identify principles of good practice which can be commended to the Health Service as a whole.
Nurses
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will give the latest estimates of the nurses who return to nursing each year ;
(2) what schemes his Department is currently operating to encourage nurses to return to nursing.
Mr. Mellor : We estimate that in the last year about 7,200 nurses and midwives returned to practice in the NHS in England.
Employing authorities locally are best placed to judge the opportunity and need for return to nursing campaigns.
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At national level we have helped by part- funding the Department of Health/ Nursing Times "Recruit and Retain" campaign which has covered good practice on return to nursing and by analysing the professional register to identify inactive nurses by place of residence so that properly targeted local campaigns can be run. Next year, we plan to produce publicity and other material for use locally and are currently conducting a survey to identify the most useful types of material.Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those district health authorities and Scottish health authorities which charge for a refresher course for those nurses wishing to return to nursing and those authorities which run free courses.
Mr. Mellor : We do not collect this information for England. This is a matter for individual health authorities.
Information for Scotland is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Eye Tests
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many eye tests were paid for by the National Health Service in England and Wales for each year since 1979.
Mr. Mellor : The number of sight tests has been as follows :
|Millions
---------------------------
1979 |8.6
1980 |8.8
1981 |8.9
1982 |9.2
1983 |9.6
1984 |10.3
1985 |10.8
1986 |11.1
1987 |11.7
Dental Checks
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental checks were paid for by the National Health Service in England and Wales for each year since 1979.
Mrs. Currie : The information requested is set out in the table, by calendar year up to 1985 and by financial year thereafter.
General dental services England and Wales Dental examinations Year |Number --------------------------------- 1979 |26,025,290 1980 |27,428,770 1981 |27,881,370 1982 |28,838,890 1983 |29,336,490 1984 |29,798,070 1985 |30,120,720 1986-87 |30,606,430 1987-88 |30,651,820
Hospital Beds
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when it was decided to stop collecting available bed figures broken down by specialty.
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Mrs. Currie : This decision was announced in April 1984 by health circular HC(84)10, which set out the agreement between Ministers and regional chairmen on the implementation of the first report of the steering group on Health Services information (Ko"rner).
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the available bed figures for 1987 will be published ;
(2) if he will make it his practice in future to publish available bed figures within six months of their collection.
Mrs. Currie : We publish information about beds in the National Health Service as soon as thorough validation on returns from all authorities has been completed. The available figures for 1987-88 will be published during January.
EMPLOYMENT
Self-employed People
13. Mr. Maples : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in the United Kingdom are currently self-employed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : In June 1988, the latest date for which estimates are available, there were 2,985,000 self-employed people in the United Kingdom.
VAT
14. Mr. Fishburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of new registrations for value added tax in 1987-88.
Mr. Cope : In 1987, the latest year for which figures have been published, the number of VAT-registered businesses in the United Kingdom increased by 45,000, or nearly 900 a week on average. The indications are that the rate of increase during 1988 has been faster.
Child Care Facilities
15. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to introduce child care facilities for participants in Government training schemes.
Mr. Nicholls : Assistance with child care costs of up to £50 per week per child is already available to help all lone parents participating in employment training, the new programme for unemployed adults.
Labour Statistics
16. Mr. Yeo : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the increase in the numbers of those employed in service industries in the last five years.
Mr. Lee : Between June 1983 and June 1988, there was a net increase of 2,205,000 in employment in the service industries in Great Britain.
17. Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in the south- west of England.
Mr. Nicholls : In October 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the south-west region was 123,100, a fall of 36,600 over the last 12 months.
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19. Mrs. Roe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current unemployment levels in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Fowler : In October 1988 the level of seasonally adjusted unemployment in the United Kingdom was 2,160,200, the lowest for more than seven years. Unemployment has now fallen by 973,000 since July 1986, the longest and largest sustained fall on record.
20. Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of employment.
Mr. Fowler : Between March 1983 and June 1988 the work force in employment in Great Britain increased by 2,177,000 to 25,174,000, the highest level on record. Employment has now been on a rising trend for more than five years.
21. Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current trend of unemployment in Yorkshire and Humberside.
Mr. Lee : In October 1988, seasonally adjusted unemployment in the Yorkshire and Humberside region was 214,800, a fall of 41,400 over the last 12 months.
22. Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the level of unemployment in the London region.
Mr. Lee : In October 1988, the level of seasonally adjusted unemployment in the London region was 267,100, a fall of 66,700 over the last 12 months. We know from the surveys carried out during the summer that there are also around 150,000 vacancies in London.
24. Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people under the age of 21 years are currently unemployed in Eccles.
Mr. Lee : Unemployment figures are not available for the requested age group. However, in October 1988 the number of unemployed claimants aged under 20 in the Eccles parliamentary constituency was 335.
41. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many local employment offices have unemployment under 4 per cent. ; and in which standard planning regions these offices are located.
Mr. Lee : The information is not available in the form requested. The smallest area for which unemployment rates are calculated are travel-to -work areas. In October 1988, 27 of these had rates of unemployment of less than 4 per cent., expressed as a percentage of employees in employment plus the unemployed (south-east 19 travel-to-work areas, East Anglia, four, north two, south-west one and east midlands one).
43. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of employment in the United Kingdom and other European Economic Community countries.
Mr. Lee : Increases in the level of employment in the United Kingdom compare most favourably with those in the European Community. Since 1983 our level of civilian employment has grown by well over 2 million. Between
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1983 and 1987 the increase in employment in the United Kingdom was greater than that for any other European Community member and was in fact approximately equal to that in the rest of the Community combined. Comparisons of the percentage of working age population in employment show that the United Kingdom is well ahead of our major European partners and second only to Denmark in the whole Community.52. Mr. Ashby : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in the east midlands.
Mr. Lee : In October 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the east midlands region was 134,800, a fall of 30,900 over the last 12 months.
54. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of long-term unemployed in June 1983 and September 1988.
Mr. Lee : Unemployment figures are analysed by duration quarterly. In October 1988 the number of unemployed claimants who had been unemployed for one year or more in the United Kingdom was 885,504, compared with 1,050,487 in July 1983, a fall of 64,983 over the period. This comparison is slightly affected by changes in the coverage of the count as well as seasonal influences.
55. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to revise the basis for collecting unemployment statistics.
61. Mr. Kenneth Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of unemployment in Lancashire.
Mr. Lee : In October 1988 the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Lancashire was 48,347, or 9 per cent. of employees in employment plus the unemployed.
73. Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current levels of unemployment in the north of England.
Mr. Lee : In October 1988 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the northern region was 165,700, a fall of 25,000 over the last 12 months.
77. Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people currently in employment in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Lee : Between March 1983 and June 1988 the work force in employment in the United Kingdom increased by 2,178,000 to 25,739,000, the highest level on record. This rising trend has now continued for more than five years. The figures have been adjusted for the effects of seasonal variations. The work force in employment is the sum of employees in employment, the self-employed, Her Majesty's forces, and participants in work-related Government training programmes.
93. Mr. Leigh : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how many, and as a percentage of those registered as unemployed, the unemployment figures have fallen for Lincolnshire over the past three years.
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Mr. Lee : In October 1988, the number of unemployed claimants in the county of Lincolnshire was 17,775 compared with 26,964 in October 1985, a fall of 9,189 or 34 per cent. over the three-year period. The figures are affected by the change in the compilation of the count in March 1986 to reduce over-recording and by the change in the coverage from September 1988 due to new benefit regulations for young people aged under 18.
95. Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of (a) men and (b) women, over the age of 50 years who are at present unemployed in the Greater London area.
Mr. Lee : On 13 October 1988, there were 39,695 male and 14,178 female unemployed claimants, aged 50 or over, in Greater London.
ACAS
18. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he plans to meet the chairman of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service before 31 December ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no such plans. Ministers of the Department meet the chairman of ACAS from time to time to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Training
23. Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the progress of the employment training scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : Employment training is making very good progress indeed and interest amongst long-term unemployed people remains high. By 25 November there were already 91,500 people training with training managers.
34. Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if any individual trade unions have expressed an interest in co-operating with employment training ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : A number of trade unions and many individual trade unionists are helping to make employment training successful. I welcome this positive co-operation in helping longer-term unemployed people back into work.
40. Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of places taken up on the employment training programme.
Mr. Nicholls : At 25 November there were 91,500 people training on employment training.
79. Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to meet the general secretary of the trades union council to discuss adult training ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given earlier to my hon. Friends the Members for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Patnick) and for Thurrock (Mr. Janman).
89. Mr. Harris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inquiries the Training
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Commission has received from the public about the employment training scheme ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Nicholls : The Training Agency has received a large number of inquiries about employment training. There has been considerable interest in the programme by unemployed people, and by 25 November 91,500 people were already training with training managers.
Loan Guarantee Scheme
26. Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the future of the loan guarantee scheme.
Mr. Cope : The loan guarantee scheme is currently due to run to 31 March 1989. An announcement about the future of the scheme will be made as soon as possible.
Industry (Productivity)
27. Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his Department's report on productivity in British industry up to July.
Mr. Cope : I will write to my hon. Friend.
Small Businesses
28. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to meet the chairman of the British Venture Capital Association to discuss investment in small businesses.
Mr. Cope : I met Mr. John Nash, chairman of the British Venture Capital Association, when I opened the British Venture Capital Association financial forum on 1 December.
32. Mr. Bright : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his proposals to improve the skills of entrepreneurs running small businesses.
Mr. Cope : The White Paper "Employment for the 1990s" published by my right hon. Friend describes new arrangements for delivering training, including that for entrepreneurs, and for the small firms service. This will lead to closer co-ordination of counselling and training for small firms. They are closely related activities and both will benefit.
38. Mr. Boswell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the new registrations for value added tax by small businesses in 1980 and 1987.
Mr. Cope : The figures for numbers of VAT-registered businesses, new registrations and deregistrations are as follows :
Business registrations, deregistrations and stocks in the United Kingdom: 1980-87 ----------------------------------- Stock at start of year |1,289 Registrations |158 Deregistrations |142 Net change |16 Stock at end of year |1,305 Note: The pattern of registrations and deregistrations may have been affected by disturbances in the regular processing of register amendments because of industrial action in 1979.
51. Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many small firms were registered for value added tax on 31 December 1987 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : It is estimated that approximately 1,513,000 businesses were registered for VAT on 31 December 1987, and that some 96 per cent. of these firms are small.
91. Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to meet the director-general of the Institute of Directors to discuss the development of small businesses.
Mr. Cope : Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I meet the director-general of the Institute of Directors frequently.
Older Workers
29. Mr. Couchman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to encourage employers to recruit older workers into jobs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend and I have emphasised through public media the need for employers to recognise fully the potential contribution of older workers, particularly in view of the declining numbers of young people, and we will continue to do so. Jobcentres, where appropriate, raise with employers the need for age restrictions in vacancies they notify. We will keep under review how best to put the message across.
Enterprise Agencies
30. Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many enterprise agencies are currently operating in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : We know of 427 local enterprise agencies operating in the United Kingdom. Of these, 387 are approved under provisions of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (previously under provisions of the Finance Act 1982), which allow business sector sponsors tax relief on their contributions to such bodies.
Long-term Unemployment (London)
31. Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations he has received following the publication of his Department's survey on long-term unemployed in London ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lee : I have not received any representations following the publication of the surveys of vacancies and longer-term unemployed people in London. The surveys reveal that although there are nearly 300,000 people unemployed in the capital there are also 150,000 vacancies and there is scope for a substantial reduction in unemployment.
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