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Column 471
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 10 January 1989
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Members' Allowances
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many hon. Members employ (a) none, (b) one, (c) two, (d) three, (e) four and (f) more than four employees who are paid from the secretarial and office allowance.
Mr. Wakeham : As at 31 December 1988, the numbers of staff directly employed by Members and paid out of the office costs allowance are as follows :
|Number
---------------------------------
(a) none |25
(b) one |196
(c) two |265
(d) three |121
(e) four |29
(f) more than four |12
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many of the 1,267 employees paid from the office costs allowances are married or otherwise related to their employer.
Mr. Wakeham : No record is held of the relationship between Members and their employees and therefore I am unable to give the hon. Member the information requested.
Mr. Brandon-Bravo : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will estimate the cost to public funds in a full year of enabling each hon. and right hon. Member to call upon the services of (a) one full-time secretary and one assistant accommodated in London and (b) one full-time secretary and one assistant accommodated in each constituency, using average rental and other overhead costs ; and what is the current annual cost to public funds of the office allowances to hon. and right hon. Members.
Mr. Wakeham : The office costs allowance, currently £22,588, is available to right hon. and hon. Members to enable them to meet the cost of making arrangements which suit their own individual requirements. Consequently, the level of salaries paid by individual right hon. and hon. Members to their employees varies widely, reflecting the differences in working hours, duties and regional variations in pay. Additionally, there is no common pattern of use of information technology, which, together with the differences in local arrangements for constituency offices, leads to greater variations in costs.
In the circumstances, no meaningful estimate of the cost of the services listed can be given.
The total of the office costs allowance payable from the House of Commons Vote in 1988-89 is estimated at £14,683,000.
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Salmonella
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many cases of salmonella poisoning have been reported in the Palace of Westminster in each of the last 20 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Wakeham : During the past 20 years there has been no incident of salmonella poisoning identified as originating from any source in this House. However, one incident of food poisoning, which occurred in May 1988 and affected some 85 persons, was attributed to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning in the House of Lords. I understand that a subsequent investigation identified the probable cause, and action designed to avoid a recurrence has been taken.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Hearing Aid Council
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the registrar of the Hearing Aid Council was appointed ; and what is the duration of his appointment.
Mr. Forth : The appointment of the registrar of the Hearing Aid Council and all matters to do with his conditions and terms of service are the sole responsibility of the council. The present registrar was appointed in 1969.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Minister responsible for the Hearing Aid Council last consulted regarding his appointments to the council and the implementation of the code of practice in relation to audiological technicians.
Mr. Forth : The Department of Health was last consulted over appointments to the Hearing Aid Council in December 1987, the latest occasion on which a council position occupied by a member with specialised medical knowledge and--or audiological technical knowledge fell vacant.
The council's present code of practice was approved by the Secretary of State in 1984 following interdepartmental consultation, including with the then Department of Heath and Social Security. Implementation of the council's code of practice is a matter for the council itself.
Recycling
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he intends to introduce legislation to ensure the use of packaging materials designed for re-use and recycling.
Mr. Forth : The Department has no plans to introduce legislation to ensure the use of packaging materials designed for re-use and recycling.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what initiatives his Department is taking to encourage the production of recyclable materials and returnable packaging.
Mr. Forth : The DTI commissioned research in 1985 on design for recyclability. A report on the study which took
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two years to complete has recently been published and industry's response is awaited. Assistance on design and manufacturing is available under the Department's enterprise initiative.Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what initiatives his Department is taking to encourage industry to invest in recycling processes.
Mr. Forth : The Department has undertaken a campaign built around a specially prepared video to make industry aware of the potential benefits of investing in recycling. In conjunction with this, there is a programme involving officials talking to selected groups which have a direct interest in waste management, making presentations to chambers of commerce and addressing conferences.
North Peckham Task Force
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the names of those businesses sponsored through the north Peckham task force business development fund which (a) are located outside the north Peckham task force area and (b) whose employees are resident outside the north Peckham task force area.
Mr. Forth : The names of businesses supported by the north Peckham task force business development fund and located outside, but close to the task force area are :
(1) Danielle
(2) Beauty At Its Best
(3) Eleanor Williams
(4) Pennie Ray
(5) The Patchwork Kids
(6) Chris Johnson
(7) Femi Anthony Oye
(8) Tojak
(9) Radford's Interior Metalwork
(10) Wedding Cakes
(11) Ara Security Strap
(12) *Arts and Crafts
(13) Rip It Up
(14) Good As New
(15) *Govella
(16) Mode 7
(17) *Screaming Now
(18) Mr. Lams Restaurant
(19) *El Vergel
*These businesses are located outside the north Peckham task force area, but proprietors live within the area.
Information on those businesses whose employees are resident outside the north Peckham task force area is not available.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people trained on Brook Street Bureau courses sponsored by the north Peckham task force are residents of the north Peckham task force area.
Mr. Forth : To date, 11 north Peckham task force area residents have been trained in secretarial skills by Southwark college on behalf of the task force and Brook Street Bureau. In recognition of the difficulty of attracting task force residents, Brook Street has recruited extra staff to help with this work as well as counselling and job-hunting.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list, by project and by amount, the names of all groups funded by the north Peckham task force whose head office lies outside the north Peckham task force area.
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Mr. Forth : The information is listed in the table. Although the head offices of these organisations are located outside the task force area, many have a strong local base.
Sponsoring Organisation |Project |Task Force Funds
|Committed
|£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Bank Poly |Techno Bus |6,250.00
Women's New |Women's New |2,500.00
Technology Group | Technology Fair
Teenage Information |Teenage Information |2,500.00
Network | Network
South East Training |South East Adult |42,312.00
| Training I
Rusjon Ltd. |Rusjon Apprentice |40,000.00
| Scheme
Industrial Society |Headstart in Business |12,883.00
Industrial Society |Vietnamese Headstart |6,380.00
Southwark Institute of |Southwark Institute of |4,000.00
Adult Education | Adult Education
Peckham Industrial |Peckham Industrial |3,500.00
Association | Association
Community Roots |Ethnic Minority Data |16,000.00
Trust | Base
Committee Against |Committee Against |1,250.00
Drug Abuse | Drug Abuse
Southwark |Southwark Co-operative |2,500.00
Co-operative | Development Asso.
Development Asso. | (SCDA) Translations
Southwark |SCDA SC-DP Technology |20,000.00
Co-operative
Development Asso.
Southwark Co-operative |SCDA Exhibition |9,450.00
Development Asso.
Post YTS Group |Southwark Fair |7,130.00
Southwark Sports |Southwark Sports |36,454.00
Advisory Council
Prince's Youth |Prince's Youth |10,000.00
Business Trust | Business Trust
PATH |PATH |25,000.00
South London |Task Force Business |100,000.00
Business Initiative | Development Fund
Caribbean Teachers |Carribbean Teachers |7,718.00
Association | Association
LENTA |LENTA |27,000.00
Hotel & Catering |Hotel & Catering
Training Board | Industrial Training
| Board (HCITB) I
Apex Trust |Apex |26,500.00
Work and Schools |Work and Schools |24,771.00
Project | Project
Project Fullemploy |BBC/Fullemploy |14,900.00
Southwark |Summer Skill Workshop |3,225.00
Unemployed Youth
Centre
Church & Community |Church & Community |22,500.00
Projects Ltd. | Projects
Southwark Chamber of |Southwark Chamber |1,000.00
Commerce | of Commerce
London Wildlife Trust |London Wildlife Trust |12,000.00
South Bank |City Technology |13,000.00
Polytechnic | Centre
Southwark Careers |Careers Service |4,000.00
Service | Newsletter
Industrial Society |Industrial Society |1,079.00
| (Management
| Course)
Ideal Homes (London) |Ideal Homes |44,159.00
Ltd. | Apprenticeship
Communications |Brook Street Phase I |4,738.90
Group Ltd./Brook
Street
MARI |MARI |3,334.00
Industrial Society |Industrial Society |19,527.00
| Training for
| Voluntary
|Organisations
Fairbridge Drake |Fairbridge Drake |40,320.00
Society | Society
Southwark College |Southwark College |7,986.00
Sight & Sound |Sight & Sound |12,000.00
LCCA |London Community |13,046.00
| Cricket Association
URBED |URBED |27,370.00
Croydon Action |Home Safety Scheme |300,000.00
Group for
the Unemployed
URBED |URBED (Vietnamese |10,076.00
| BEPS Course)
Community Industry |North Peckham |5,500.00
| Sewing Workshop
Community Industry |Practical Action |8,350.00
ILEA |ILEA |8,811.00
South East Training |South East Adult |81,500.00
| Training II
Southwark |Brook Street Phase II |17,986.00
College/Brook Street
University College |Skills Survey |48,000.00
London
Newpin |Newpin |14,000.00
Industrial Society |Spotlight in Music |621.00
Southwark College |Southwark College |2,400.00
| Business Video
Warwick Park School |Warwick Park School |1,000.00
Post YTS Group |Jets Fair |7,850.00
Southwark Council for |Jobs in the City |11,869.00
Community
Relations
Afro Caribbean Radio |Afro Caribbean Radio |4,500.00
MARI |MARI II |217,400.00
Family Welfare |Family Welfare |6,146.00
Association | Association
Forest of London |Forest of London |4,500.00
South London |Peckham Enterprise |53,593.00
Business Initiative | Centre
Data Communications |Computer Literacy |37,395.00
Ltd./Caribbean |Centre Outreach
Teachers
Association/Pan
African Organisation
Essex University |Children of the Inner |3,500.00
| City
GLEB |GLEB |5,000.00
South East |Deptford Skills Centre |25,400.00
Training/Deptford
Skills Centre
Hotel and Catering |HCTB II |67,480.00
Training Board
Walworth School |Walworth School |24,700.00
| World of Work
Sight and Sound |Sight and Sound II |5,800.00
Data Communications |Computer Literacy |12,960.00
Ltd./Caribbean |Outreach II
Teachers Association
Peckham Trading |Peckham Trading |22,977.00
Association | Association I
NACRO |NACRO Print Workshop |60,160.00
The Bookplace |Peckham Book Place |4,800.00
J. Jarvis & Son Ltd. |Jarvis |215,000.00
Industrial Society |Industrial |31,349.00
|Society-Co-ordinator
|Post
Southwark |Brook Street Phase III |21,000.00
College/Brook Street
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Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people trained on South East Adult Training courses sponsored by the north Peckham task force are residents of the north Peckham task force area.
Mr. Forth : Task force funding has assisted South East Adult Training to expand provision of training places in the area and to develop its curriculum. The training courses themselves are run on behalf of the Training Agency. So far, 85 task force area residents have attended the courses. The remaining trainees come from the surrounding areas. The task force is working with South East Adult Training to increase the numbers of trainees from the task force area.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by what method a project is submitted for funding by the north Peckham task force ; if he will place a copy of the application form in the Library ; and what are the procedures through which applicants find the outcome of their applications.
Mr. Forth : There is no set method or application form for task force funding. Potential project sponsors discuss their proposals with task force personnel. If the outline proposals meet task force objectives in terms of aims, targeting and cost, the project is then developed until it is suitable for approval. Sponsors will be told of the outcome of their applications by the task force, usually by means of a telephone call followed up by a letter.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many applications for funding from the north Peckham task force have been (a) received, (b) approved and funded, (c) approved and pending and (d) rejected.
Mr. Forth : There is no set method or application form for task force funding. Potential project sponsors discuss their proposals with task force personnel. If the outline proposals meet task force objectives in terms of aims, targeting and cost, the project is then developed until it is suitable for approval. There are therefore no records kept of the numbers of requests for funding received or rejected.
To date, a total of 84 project proposals have been approved and funded and 13 have been approved but not yet funded.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will specify the expenditure by the north Peckham task force development fund on each of the projects funded.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 22 December 1988] : This information is confidential. However, the total expended from the north Peckham task force business development fund to date is £127,650, of which £79,950 is in loans and £47,700 in grants. A total of 41 local businesses have benefited from development fund support.
London Greek Radio
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many times his Department has confiscated equipment held by London Greek Radio ; where this equipment is now held ; and if it will be returned to London Greek Radio.
Mr. Atkins : My Department's radio investigation service has seized equipment being illegally used by
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London Greek Radio on 151 occasions. The equipment when seized is held in a secure store and disposed of in accordance with section 83 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.Footwear Imports
Mr. Pike : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish the percentage of the British footwear market of imports from Korea and Taiwan for each of the last three years for which figures are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : The figures are as follows :
United Kingdom Footwear Market (
SIC 4510)
Percentage (by value) taken by
Imports from South Korea and
Taiwan
|1985|1986|1987
--------------------------------
South Korea |1.9 |2.0 |3.0
Taiwan |3.3 |2.9 |4.0
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many oral parliamentary questions he has answered by written reply because the question was not reached at Question Time, for the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mr. Forth : A total of 443, for the period 1 January to 31 December 1988. This total includes 10 oral questions which were tabled for answer on days when the Department was not in the order of questions.
Coral Imports
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has regarding the importation of CITES-listed hard corals from the Philippines entering the United Kingdom during 1987 and 1988 ; whether any of the consignments were declared to be for scientific or educational purposes ; what proportion of these corals was destined for the curio trade ; and what proportion was imported live for the aquarium trade.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I have been asked to reply.
I will write to the hon. Member.
Task Force Expenditure
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will state the total Government expenditure by task forces required to safeguard the 4,000 jobs and facilitate the 20,000 training places specified in his answer to the hon. Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) of 26 October, Official Report, columns 289-90 ; and if he will specify how much of that expenditure and how many of the jobs and training places were in the north Peckham area.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 22 December 1988] : The outputs referred to related to task force expenditure of some £31 million on around 900 projects. A total of £2 million of that figure related to north Peckham. As indicated in earlier answers to the hon. Member, the north Peckham task force does not seek to create jobs, but up to September 1988 had helped to create 1,055 training places for local people.
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Task Force Initiative, Peckham
Ms. Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many new jobs have been created by the task force initiative in Peckham ;
(2) if he will list the new jobs created by the task force initiative in Peckham ;
(3) what is the cost per job created by the north Peckham task force initiative in Peckham ;
(4) how many further jobs he expects to be created as a direct result of the task force initiative in Peckham ;
(5) how many of the new jobs created by the north Peckham task force have been filled by people resident in Peckham.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 2 December 1988] : I refer to my reply given to the hon. Member on 19 December at columns 19-21. The prime objective of the north Peckham task force is not to create jobs but to give local people appropriate skills to enable them to compete effectively for existing jobs in the buoyant London labour market.
WALES
Tobacco Industry
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if, in the light of the publication by the Secretary of state for Scotland of tobacco manufacturing employment statistics, he will provide figures showing the decline in employment in the tobacco manufacturing industry in Wales for any period since 1979.
Mr. Peter Walker : The Statistics of Trade Act 1947 prohibits disclosure of statistical information that could be related to an individual concern or of statistics from which such information can be deduced.
CIVIL SERVICE
Foreign Office (Disbursements)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the £209,756 of disbursements made by his Department to the Foreign and Commonwealth office in 1987-88.
Mr. Richard Luce : Information additional to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 12 December 1988 at column 416 is not immediately available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Our Changing Schools"
Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether the statement on page 13 of the document entitled "Our Changing Schools" that, by 1990, a system for giving all school leavers a record of achievement will have been set up, means that those leaving school from 1995 onwards will receive a record of achievement document ;
(2) with reference to the Central Office of Information publication issued on behalf of his Department entitled "Our Changing Schools," whether the statement as given on page 15 that from September 1989, 11 to 16-year-olds
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will have to learn all national curriculum subjects, including a modern foreign language, is literally accurate ; and whether the statement on page 13 that, by 1990, a system for giving all school leavers a record of achievement will have been set up, is literally accurate.Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend is currently considering the final report of the records of achievement national steering committee which offers advice on the scope and timing of national arrangements. The report will be published for consultation shortly. Decisions on national arrangements will be taken in the light of those consultations. Hon. Members will be kept informed of developments.
I regret that there is a misprint on page 15 of "Our Changing Schools". The passage should have stated that, from September 1989, 11 to 14-year-olds will have to learn all the national curriculum subjects, including a modern foreign language. The error has been put right in subsequent reprints.
As the booklet makes clear elsewhere, the national curriculum is being introduced in stages from September 1989. The requirement to study all the core and foundation subjects for a reasonable time up to the age of 16 will be phased in over subsequent years.
Teachers (Training)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his policy on assessing the adequacy of proposals under section 62 of the Education Reform Act 1988 for the in-service training of teachers in a prospective grant-maintained school, with particular respect to the initial introduction of the national curriculum and the recent advice he has received fromthe National Curriculum Council and the School Examination and Assessment Council ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what is his policy on assessing the adequacy of proposals under section 62 of the Education Reform Act 1988 in the case of a secondary school with regard to arrangements for links with feeder schools, including links relating to the in-service training of teachers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Proposals will be considered on their merits, having regard to best practice generally.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether the underspend on in-service teacher training grants in 1987-88 shown in Class XII, Vote 1, subhead IZ, is or will be carried forward to another year ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will publish a table showing (a) the amount of grant in the Vote and (b) the amount of expenditure in each recent year on in-service teacher training grants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Vote provision for the local education authority training grants scheme, which was introduced on 1 April 1987, is for the payment of grant to local education authorities, in response to claims submitted by those authorities in respect of training which they have provided. Vote provision for this purpose in 1987-88 was £105 million ; the corresponding figure for 1988-89 is £130 million. The underspend of £25.6 million for 1987-88 appears mainly to reflect delays in submitting claims for training which took place in that year rather than a
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reduction in the anticipated volume of training. Late claims for 1987-88 continue to be paid as soon as possible after their submission from the Vote provision for the scheme.Education Support Grants
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is his policy on determining a ceiling for the amount of education support grants in 1990-91 as a percentage of any other amount or by any other formula ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) whether special purpose grants payable to grant-maintained schools for purposes equivalent to education support grants will be taken into account for the purpose of maintaining a ceiling to the total annual amount of education support grants ; and if he will make a statement.
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