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Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has of the number of accidents involving men employed by contractors in mines in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Nicholls : The table below lists actual recorded accidents to men employed by contractors :
|Fatal |Major Injury |Plus three day<1>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |1 |44 |162
1987 |1 |58 |183
1988 |2 |85 |319
Source: British Coal.
<1> The introduction of the RIDDOR regulations on 1 April 1986 broadened the categories
of reportable accidents. Figures for other mines are not readily available.
Radiation Overdoses
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what records are kept of incidents of radiation over/dosage within the National Health Service ; and how many such incidents have been recorded in each of the last five years.
Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive keeps a record of all over/exposures of employees and other
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persons, and also of medical exposures of patients that are much greater than intended because of malfunction of or defect in the radiation equipment used, that are required to be notified under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985.Since 1 December 1986, the earliest date for which such records are centrally available, the number of overdose incidents within the National Health Service which have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive in each year are as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1986 |5
1987 |8
1988 |4
Workers' Charter
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will be seeking in the context of the single European market to introduce a workers' charter with particular reference to mergers and closures of companies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on Tuesday 17 January 1989 Official Report, column 186.
Tourism
Mr. Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to encourage the tourist industry in Suffolk and Norfolk to take advantage of the Channel tunnel and the European single market.
Mr. Lee : The British Tourist Authority (BTA), which is sponsored by my Department, is doing a great deal both to identify and publicise the measures the tourist industry, including that in Norfolk and Suffolk, need to take. The BTA is co-sponsoring a major conference on 1 and 2 February on the impact on tourism of the completion of the single European market at which my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and I will speak.
Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the progress of the tourism review that he announced on 18 July 1988.
Mr. Fowler : As the public expenditure White Paper makes clear, the Government's expenditure plans provide for my Department's total spending on tourism to be maintained at the current level, pending decisions following the review of tourism policy I announced in July.
A scheme of financial assistance has been operated for nearly 20 years now by the English tourist board under section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Commitments have already been made to provide over £10 million in assistance through the scheme in 1989-90, and some £3 million in 1990-91 and 1991-92. The scheme offers grants, and other assistance, and was introduced and maintained against a background of difficulty in attracting investment for tourism projects. Tourism is now one of Britain's largest and fastest growing industries. The confidence of the industry has been reflected in continuing high levels of investment. In England, almost £2 billion
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was invested in major tourism and leisure projects completed or under way during the first six months of 1988. In these circumstances, I have decided to suspend the scheme to fresh applications until decisions can be taken on the fully range of matters covered by the review.I have asked the chairman of the English tourist board to close the scheme to further applications and to make no more offers of assistance subsequent to those approved at the meeting of the board already arranged for 14 February until I have had the opportunity to consider the future of Government support for the tourism industry.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many men and women over 50 years of age have been without work for one year or more within the following occupational groupings ; and what percentages these represent of the total number of unemployed people over 50 years (a) managerial and professional, (b) clerical and related, (c) other non- manual, (d) craft and similar, (e) general labourers and (f) other manual. Mr. Lee : Estimates are available from the labour force survey for unemployed people who left their last jobs less than three years ago, as follows :
Unemployed people<1> aged 50 or over who left their last job
less than
three years ago<2>
Occupational grouping All in groThose who left their
last job a year or more
ago
|Thousands|Thousands|Per cent.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Men and women
Managerial and
professional |67 |31 |46
Clerical and related |30 |14 |45
Other non-manual |14 |<3>- |<3>-
Craft and similar |61 |27 |45
General labourers |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
Other manual |104 |52 |50
All occupational
groupings |280 |131 |47
Men
Managerial and
professional |51 |24 |47
Clerical and related |10 |<3>- |<3>-
Other non-manual |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
Craft and similar |57 |26 |45
General labours |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
Other manual |73 |38 |52
All occupational
groupings |201 |95 |47
Women
Managerial and
professional |16 |<3>- |<3>-
Clerical and related |20 |<3>- |<3>-
Other non-manual |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
Craft and similar |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
General labourers |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
Other manual |31 |15 |47
All occupational
groupings |79 |36 |45
<1> Based on ILO/OECD measure of unemployment.
<2> Information about last occupational grouping was not
sought from unemployed people who had not been employed
within the last three years.
<3> Less than 10,000 in cell: estimate not shown.
School Leavers
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the level of achievement of the Christmas guarantee for school leavers ; and what is the average period of payment of bridging allowance for those awaiting YTS.
Mr. Cope : The previous "Christmas guarantee" of an offer of a YTS place for the previous summer's school leavers has been extended to a general guarantee of an offer of a YTS place to all 16 and 17-year-olds not in full-time education or employment whenever they apply. This guarantee is being fulfilled ; there are more than sufficient YTS places available in all areas of the country for any young person who applies.
Information on the average period of payment of bridging allowance is not available.
Discrimination
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take steps to ratify ILO convention No. 111 on discrimination in employment and occupation (1958).
Mr. Nicholls : No. The Government have no plans to introduce legislation to effect the changes that ratification of this convention would entail.
Cost of Living
Mr. Boswell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the increase in (a) the general index of retail prices and (b) the indices for one and two-person pensioner households during the last five calendar years ; and what proportion of the difference is accounted for by differing treatment of housing costs.
Mr Lee : The percentage increases are given in the following table. Housing costs are not covered by the pensioner indices and data is not available to estimate what their effect would be if they were. However, a like-with-like comparison can be made between the pensioner indices and the general index excluding housing, and the percentage increases for this are also given in the table.
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|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General index |5.0 |6.1 |3.4 |4.2 |4.9
General index excluding housing |4.3 |4.9 |3.0 |3.3 |4.0
One-person pensioner index |5.0 |4.9 |3.2 |2.3 |3.7
Two-person pensioner index |5.1 |4.9 |3.2 |2.6 |3.8
Advertising
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the subjects of his Department's
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advertising campaigns in each of the last three years ; how much was spent on each ; what subjects are projected for advertising in the year 1988-89 ; and how much expenditure is planned for each.Mr. Cope : The amount spent by the Department of Employment on advertising campaigns in each of the last three financial years, together with the subjects, is contained in the tables :
|£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86
Action for Jobs |0.04
Career Development Loans |0.03
Part Time Job Release and Job Splitting Scheme |0.03
|-------
Total |0.10
1986-87
Action for Jobs |12.2
Career Develoment Loans |0.2
New Workers Scheme |0.3
|-------
Total |12.7
1987-88
Action for Jobs |5.4
Job Share |0.1
Job Release/New Workers Scheme |0.1
Small Firms Service |0.3
Other |0.1
|-------
Total |6.1
The amount committed to advertising campaigns in the financial year 1988- 89, together with the subjects, is contained in the following table :
|£ million
--------------------------------------------------
1988-89
Action for Jobs |0.6
Career Development Loans |0.3
Fit for Work/Disabled Persons |0.1
Jobclub |1.1
Enterprise Allowance Scheme |0.6
Better off in Work |3.0
Small Firms Service |0.5
|----
Total |6.2
This total includes expenditure by the employment service in its first full financial year within the Department.
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Other publicity activities to promote Departmental objectives are under consideration, within published expenditure limits. All the figures in the tables include production costs and VAT.Opencast Mining
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will name the sites referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Elmet on 25 January, and specify the modifications to existing methods of work which have been agreed in each case.
Mr. Nicholls : The sites and action taken are as follows : (
(a) Godkin Opencast Coal Quarry, Derbyshire--owned by Northern Strip Mining plc--Mineral : Coal.
Immediate prohibition notice issued preventing planned development in the area of a dam wall within the site. Subsequent investigation has produced a method of safe working which complies with the requirements of the notice.
(b) Station Road Opencast Coal Quarry, Derbyshire--owned by Northern Strip Mining plc--Mineral : Coal, and
(c) Dixon Opencast Coal Quarry, Derbyshire--owned by Coal Contractors Ltd.- -Mineral : Coal.
At both the above sites, action was taken to redirect the river Rother into purpose-built main river courses, which included flood plains and banks.
(d) Blindwell Opencast Coal Quarry, East Lothian--owned by Fairclough Parkingson of Wakefield--Mineral : Coal.
The proposed stand-off distance between the highwall and the main Edinburgh -London railway line was increased and the slope of the highwall redesigned to increase the safety margin.
Youth Training
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many fatalities, major injuries, and minor injuries occurred to those in training on YTS programmes during (a) 1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986, (b) 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987 and (c) 1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988 ; and what was the incidence rate for fatal and major accidents per 100,000 at risk during each of these years.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 27 January 1989] : The following table sets out the YTS accident figures and incidence rates per 100,000 trainees on YTS for fatal and major accidents.
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Accidents<1> Annual incidence rate
per 100,000 trainees
Period |Average number in|Fatalities |Major injuries |Minor injuries |Fatalities |Major injuries
|training
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986 |263,748 |<4>2 |<2>220 |1,891 |0.8 |<2>83.4
1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987 |296,298 |<5>9 |<2>315 |1,728 |3.0 |<2>106.3
1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988 |<3>375,844 |<6>7 |<2>505 |2,604 |1.9 |<2>134.3
<1> Training Agency accident figures for YTS are compiled on a similar basis to those prepared by the Health and Safety Executive on employed persons.
However, Training agency figures will include a number of accidents, in particular road traffic accidents during scheme time and accidents to trainees in
educational establishments, which may not have been reportable to the Executive had the individuals been employed.
<2> The figures on major accidents and the incidence rates on major accidents in 1985-86 are not comparable to those in 1986-87 and in subsequent years due
to a reclassification of major injuries effective from 1 April 1986. The reclassification means that some injuries, in particular broken wrists and ankles,
which were classified as minor injuries before that date, are now classified as major injuries.
<3> These figures are provisional.
<4> This figure includes 1 road traffic accident.
<5> This figure includes 4 road traffic accidents.
<6> This figure includes 2 road traffic accidents.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish details, as soon as they
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become available, of (a) compensation paid to YTS trainees because of accidents in 1988, (b) the amount paid to families whose daughter or son died whilst on a YTS during 1988 and (c) the lowest and highest payment made in relation to (a) and (b) above.Mr. Cope [holding answer 25 January 1989] : Payments made to YTS trainees or their families in these circumstances are not intended as compensation.
Managing agents and training managers are contractually obliged to obtain insurance cover for any claims for compensation or damages. Until 11 April 1988 the Training Commission paid industrial death grants under its analogous industrial injuries scheme to ensure that trainees' families received the same amount of benefit as families of employees would have received under the (then) Department of Health and Social Security scheme. Death grants were payable at the standard rates of £52 for single parent and £78 for two parents. During the period 1 January 1988 to 10 April 1988 there was one death for which a death grant was claimed and a payment of £52 was made. The Training Commission grant was discontinued from 11 April 1988 when the equivalent grant in respect of employees was abolished by social security regulations.
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The Training Agency continues to pay industrial injuries benefit to trainees on the same basis as that paid to employees. The total amount paid out in 1988 was £534,092. Details of the highest and lowest amounts paid could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report, the (a) date, (b) cause of fatality, (c) parliamentary constituency and (d) amount of compensation received for each death on youth opportunities programme and YTS since the schemes' inceptions, to the latest available date.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 25 January 1989] : The available information for fatalities on the youth opportunities programme and YTS is provided in the table. Information on the location is available only by Training Agency area. The Training Agency and its predecessors do not pay compensation, but under YTS managing agents and training managers are contractually obliged to obtain insurance to cover any claims to compensation or damages. Until 11 April 1988 the Training Agency paid an industrial death grant equivalent to the payments received from DHSS had the young people been employees.
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Date of death |Circumstances of death |Training Agency area
|office
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Youth opportunities programme
24 October 1980 |Road traffic accident |Wrexham
1 December 1980 |Clothing caught fire |Grampian and Tayside
27 January 1981 |Electrocuted |Wrexham
13 March 1981 |Struck by gas cylinder |Birmingham
16 June 1981 |Trapped between vehicles |Swansea
1 October 1981 |Road traffic accident |Lancashire
2 October 1981 |Struck by load which fell off fork lift truck |Nottingham
24 November 1981 |Road traffic accident |Highlands and Islands
11 December 1981 |Collapsed while clearing snow |London
8 January 1982 |Fell from rope hoist |Humberside
14 May 1982 |Drowned while swimming during lunch break |High Wycombe
16 July 1982 |Tractor overturned |Devon and Cornwall
20 July 1982 |Drowned while swimming during lunch break |Glasgow
14 October 1982 |Clothing caught fire |Lanarkshire
2 December 1982 |Trapped in machinery |Cardiff
20 December 1982 |Hit by moving machinery |Sheffield
1 April 1983 |Road traffic accident |Beds and Cambs
16 April 1983 |Tractor accident |Coventry
12 July 1983 |Drowned while swimming during lunch break |Lanarkshire
Youth training scheme
27 June 1983 |Road traffic accident |Leicester
7 September 1983 |Fell down mine shaft |Newcastle
12 October 1983 |Fork lift truck accident |Lanarkshire
1 March 1984 |Tractor accident |Gloucester
27 July 1984 |Road traffic accident |Lothian and Borders
22 August 1984 |Road traffic accident |Horsham
24 September 1984 |Dumper truck overturned |Avon
12 February 1985 |Clothing caught fire |Cheshire
26 February 1985 |Trapped under vehicle when jack collapsed |Ayrshire, Dumfries Galloway
29 July 1985 |Electrocuted |Lancashire
20 August 1985 |Road traffic accident |Greater Manchester Central
7 May 1986 |Road traffic accident |Wrexham
14 May 1986 |Fall from ladder |Avon
30 June 1986 |Road traffic accident |Chatham
3 October 1986 |Loading materials-trapped neck |Grampian and Tayside
11 November 1986 |Trapped between trailer roof and workshop roof beam|Wrexham
26 November 1986 |Electrocuted |Gloucester
23 December 1986 |Road traffic accident |Wakefield
4 March 1987 |Fell into grain silo on farm |Wrexham
18 March 1987 |Road traffic accident |Ipswich
14 April 1987 |Road traffic accident |Dudley/Sandwell (b)
17 August 1987 |Trapped under tractor wheels |Derby
23 October 1987 |Struck by material falling off fork lift truck |Leeds/North Yorks
16 November 1987 |Tractor accident |Devon/Cornwall
14 December 1987 |Trapped in silage machine |Gwent
12 January 1988 |Road traffic accident |Renfrew, Dumbarton and Argyll
13-15 January 1988 (exact date not known) |Lost at sea |Devon/Cornwall
5 August 1988 (c) |Explosion in garage |Cardiff
17 August 1988 (c) |Fall from ladder |Marches
18 August 1988 (c) |Struck by arm and bucket of mechanical digger |Grampian and Tayside
14 September 1988 (c) |Road traffic accident |Staffs
6 October 1988 (c) |Road traffic accident |Central and Fife
2 November 1988 (c) |Road traffic accident |Merseyside
2 November 1988 (c) |Flash during fire at paint manufacturers |Humberside
ENERGY
Electricity Interconnector
13. Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the latest estimate available to him from the South of Scotland electricity board and the Central Electricity Generating Board of the cost of (a) doubling and (b) trebling the carrying capacity of the interconnector between Scotland and England.
47. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what meetings or representations he has recently had on the potential transmission of spare electricity generating capacity from Scotland into England and Wales.
Mr. Michael Spicer : I understand that the industry announced today that it will, in the near future, proceed with preparatory work which will involve a full environmental study and discussions with local authorities and other interested bodies with a view to upgrading the interconnector to 1.6 GW by 1994. The cost of upgrading the interconnector and the decision to proceed beyond preparatory work will be a matter for commercial negotiation.
Berkeley Power Station
17. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has received any representations from the Central Electricity Generating Board on the financial implications for privatisation of its most recent estimate of the cost of decommissioning Berkeley nuclear power station.
British Gas
19. Mr. Ernie Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met the chairman of the British Gas Corporation ; and what matters he discussed.
Mr. Peter Morrison : My right hon. Friend last met the chairman of British Gas plc in November, when a range of issues of mutual interest were discussed.
Energy Efficiency
20. Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has received from housing authorities and associations concerning the insulation of domestic properties as part of the energy efficiency programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Morrison : Housing authorities and associations deal mainly with the Department of the Environment, with which my Department has regular contact.
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Energy Efficiency Office
21. Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has plans to restore the budget of his Energy Efficiency Office to the level allocated in 1985-86.
Mr. Parkinson : The budget of my Energy Efficiency Office for 1989- 90 is £15 million.
European Fast Reactor
22. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had about the European fast reactor programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what progress has been made in the European collaborative programme on the development of fast reactor technology ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is now discussing with our partners in the European collaboration the details of an integrated programme of research on fast reactors. The implementing agreements, which provide the framework for this work, should be signed shortly.
North Sea Oil
23. Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give (a) the estimates and (b) the actual amounts of recoverable oil resources obtained from the North sea for each of the last five years.
Mr. Peter Morrison : I refer my hon. Friend to the forecasts and actual levels of oil production published annually in the Brown Book, my Department's report to Parliament on the development of United Kingdom oil and gas resources ; following is a summary.
1983 |95-125 |95-125 |85-120 |- |-
1984 |110-130|110-130|100-125|85-115 |80-115
1985 |- |120-135|110-130|95-125 |85-120
1986 |- |- |120-135|110-130|100-125
1987 |- |- |- |115-130|105-125
1988 |- |- |- |- |105-125
Actual |126 |127 |127 |123 |-
Note: Forecasts may vary from year to year, as new information
on resources becomes available and as companies' plans develop.
Actual production for 1988 is not yet available. Non-North Sea
production accounts for about 0.5 mt of production a year.
41. Mr. Key : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the costs of abandoning oil installations in the North sea.
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Mr. Peter Morrison : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Mr. Favell) on 12 December 1988 at column 482.
Energy Demand
24. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his assessment of the impact of the introduction of the European Commission directive on energy information in buildings on the level of energy demand in the United Kingdom by the year 2000.
Mr. Peter Morrison : No such assessment has been made. In its present form, the draft directive would require energy audits to be carried out on a mandatory basis ; as I told my hon. Friend the Member for Devon, North (Mr. Speller) on 9 November 1988, I consider that, while the Government encourage consumers to take energy efficiency into account, it is entirely a matter for the seller and the buyer and one in which it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene.
Electricity Privatisation
25. Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the total cost to public funds of the consultancy fees for advice on the sale to the private sector of the electricity supply industry in each of the years 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Estimate provision for 1988-89 for expenditure associated with the sale of shares in the electricity supply industry in England and Wales is for £6 million, mainly for advisers. Latest forecasts of requirement for 1989-90 will be published as part of the Supply Estimates in March.
37. Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what proportion of the United Kingdom's total national energy needs he estimates will be met by the private sector following privatisation of the electricity industry.
Mr. Parkinson : If the market shares held by the various fuel producers stay unchanged, some 87 per cent. of final energy consumption will be met by the private sector after electricity privatisation, compared to 73 per cent. in 1987.
44. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the total cost of advertising the proposed sale to the private sector of the 17 parts of the electricity supply industry in each of the years 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-91
Mr. Michael Spicer : The total costs of advertising, public relations and publicity will not be determined until much closer to the date at which the successor companies to the electricity supply industry are offered for sale.
Independent Electricity Producers
26. Mr. Rost : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of electrical capacity likely to be provided by new independent producers who have so far indicated proposals.
Mr. Parkinson : We know of nearly 20 proposed independent generation projects with a total capacity of some 7 GW.
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Neighbourhood Energy Action
27. Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on progress with the neighbourhood energy action community insulation programme.
Mr. Peter Morrison : In the current financial year to end December an estimated 105,000 homes have been insulated by community insulation projects, bringing the total number of homes insulated under this programme to more than 580,000. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy informed the House on 13 January at column 772, uptake of places for unemployed people has been slow under employment training. My Department is therefore in discussion with the Training Agency on initiatives to increase the number of filled places.
Offshore Trade Unions
28. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he next intends to meet the representatives of the offshore trade unions.
Mr. Parkinson : I will be meeting the EETPU on 27 February and the TUC on 28 February. On 5 April, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State will be chairing a meeting of the offshore industry liaison committee which includes representatives of the oil industry, suppliers, and trades unions.
Energy Conservation
29. Mr. Eadie : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what are his responsibilities in relation to energy conservation.
Mr. Parkinson : Under the Ministry of Fuel and Power Act 1945, the Secretary of State for Energy is charged with promoting economy and efficiency in the supply, distribution, use and consumption of fuel and power. Under the Gas Act 1986, the Secretary of State has a duty to promote efficiency and economy on the part of persons authorised to supply gas through pipes and the efficient use of gas supplied through pipes.
18. Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on his target for energy conservation in the Government estate and the progress of interdepartmental co-ordination.
Mr. Parkinson : Plans are being drawn up for a fresh campaign to improve energy efficiency in the public sector.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will state the number of jobs that would be created in a programme of domestic energy conservation, namely draught proofing and the insulation of homes, to displace the equivalent energy supplied by one large power station.
Mr. Peter Morrison : There is no straightforward relationship between energy efficiency programmes and displaced electrical energy.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what expenditure is going into research into energy conservation and implementation of an energy conservation strategy ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Peter Morrison : The 1988-89 estimate provision available to the Energy Efficiency Office of my Department is £20.8 million, of which £5.4 million is for research and development, including the monitoring and targeting programme, and £7.1 million for the demonstration programme.
Burgoyne Committee
30. Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he intends to implement the recommendations of the Burgoyne committee on safety in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Mr. Peter Morrison : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 12 December 1988, at columns 477-78.
British Coal
31. Mr. Buckley : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the level of employment in British Coal in 1990 and 1995.
Mr. Michael Spicer : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. McKelvey) on 12 December 1988 at column 477.
Electricity Council
32. Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met the chairman of the Electricity Council. and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Parkinson : I meet the chairman of the Electricity Council regularly to discuss a variety of issues of mutual interest.
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