| Previous Section | Home Page |
Prisoners (Education)
Mr. Ashdown : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what provisions are made for prisoners wishing to continue their studies while in prison at all levels of education ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ian Stewart [holding answer 28 February 1989] : There is an education service in every prison and young offenders' centre in Northern Ireland, and, except for those who are in custody for very short periods, all prisoners--including those on remand--are offered continuing education on a voluntary basis throughout the period of their imprisonment. This enables the majority of prisoners to continue with studies that may have been interrupted by their arrest and subsequent imprisonment. It also allows adult prisoners, not previously involved in any educational activities, a second chance to further their education. The service is orientated towards the needs of the individual and all programmes and courses reflect those needs.
The range of subjects taught runs from adult basic education through to Open university level and prisoners are prepared for the various public examinations--for example, GCSE ; A-levels ; Royal Society Arts ; City and Guilds of London Institute. Statistics available for the 1987-88 academic year show that about 47 per cent. of the total prison population were involved in some form of education. Of this, 28 per cent. were enrolled in basic education, 55 per cent. were enrolled in examination classes and the remaining 17 per cent. were enrolled in social-leisure classes.
In addition, 86 were involved in Open University degree courses, five of whom completed their degrees in this academic year.
Column 195
A comprehensive library service is available to all prisoners, with 35,000 books on loan from the various education and library boards. About 60 per cent. of the prison population use this facility.Mr. Ashdown : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the ratio of teachers to prisoners in Northern Ireland over the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ian Stewart [holding answer 28 February 1989] : A total of 12 full-time and approximately 70 part-time teachers are employed in providing the education service to prisoners. This number has remained fairly constant over the past five years and works out at a student-teacher ratio of between 1:5 and 1:6. Problems of security, control and layout of Northern Ireland prisons militate against a more economical ratio such as might be expected in mainstream education.
WALES
Welsh Language
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he intends to make provision for the use of Welsh in forms relating to the community charge.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The introduction of the community charge provides an excellent opportunity to enhance the use of the Welsh language in local government administration. Under existing legislation district councils are not obliged to provide rate demands in Welsh and, while many choose to do so, others do not.
We propose that, as a minimum, all those liable for the community charge will have a right to receive their community charge demand in Welsh if they require it. District councils who choose to send out demands in English will have to state clearly on that demand that a version in Welsh will be available on request. We will be prescribing the content of both the English and Welsh demands by regulation so there will be no translation burden for local authorities. We will also be prescribing a bilingual version of the demand which local authorities will be encouraged to adopt. I hope that eventually all authorities will issue bilingual demands as a matter of course. But if they wish, they will be able by resolution of the council to use the English or Welsh versions instead. Even if some councils choose to use the English version of the demand, Welsh speakers in those areas will be able to request a community charge demand in Welsh.
I propose that similar arrangements should apply for the issue of non- domestic rate demands from April 1990.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Scottish Universities (Funding)
71. Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received seeking the establishment of a Scottish university funding committee.
Mr. Jackson : None since debates on various amendments during the passage of the Education Reform Act 1988.
Column 196
Class Sizes
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the percentage change in average class size and the total number of pupils in nursery, primary and secondary education since 1979.
Mr. Butcher : The information requested is given for maintained schools in England in the table. Class sizes relate to those taught by one teacher during a selected period on the day of the census count in January. They do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole. The average class size in maintained nursery schools is not available centrally.
Percentage
January each year |1979 |1988 |Change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average size of class
taught by one teacher
Primary<1> |25.9 |25.4 |-1.9
Secondary<1> |21.0 |19.9 |-5.2
Total pupils on roll in
maintained nursery, primary
and secondary schools
(Thousands)<1> |8,438.9 |6,965.0 |-17.5
<1>Includes middle schools as deemed.
Logica Report
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects the management consultants Logica, commissioned by his Department to carry out a study of information requirements relating to teachers, to report ; and if he will publish that report.
Mr. Butcher : The final report from Logica Consultancy Ltd. was considered by the Department's information systems steering committee on 24 February 1989. Work is now in hand to enable the Department to make proposals to local education authorities and others. Meanwhile I have arranged for a copy of the report to be placed in the Library of the House.
University Salaries
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to set up a review of university salaries ; and what terms of reference he intends for such a review.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will take steps to intervene in order to assist a settlement in the current dispute regarding the remuneration of university teachers ; and what proposals he has for bringing about a meeting of committee A, or asking the chairman of committee A to exercise his powers as an arbitrator.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend is in correspondence with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and the Association of University Teachers, about their dispute.
Under the existing arrangements committee A brings together representatives of the vice-chancellors and of the university teachers on a voluntary basis. My right hon. Friend is not represented on committee A and is not involved in decisions whether to convene it.
Column 197
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science why university teachers have so far received no pay award for 1988 ; and what sum of money he has allocated to the University Grants Committee for salaries in (a) 1988 and (b) 1989.
Mr. Jackson : University lecturers received a pay increase of 7.4 per cent. from 1 March 1988 following one of 16.6 per cent. with effect from December 1986. Salary levels are currently under discussion. Grants to the UGC are based on an assessment of universities' needs as a whole and do not, as a rule, treat salaries separately. The Government exceptionally provided conditional additional funding amounting to £40 million in 1987-88, £56 million in 1988-89 and £71 million in 1989-90 in respect of the 1987 academic pay restructuring settlement. The Government have also allocated sums of £3.1 million in 1988 and £2.8 million in 1989 to enable the universities to meet the extra costs of paying salaries to clinical academics in line with settlements following the reports of the review body for doctors and dentists.
Column 198
Teachers (Salaries)
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress he is making in setting up new permanent machinery for the negotiation of the salaries of teachers.
Mrs. Rumbold : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend to my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key) on 31 January at column 159.
Departmental Publicity and Press Work
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total number of officials engaged upon information publicity and press work in his Department ; at what grades ; and at what estimated cost, for the years 1979, 1983, 1986 and 1989.
Mr. Kenneth Baker [holding answer 16 February 1989] : Information in the precise form requested is not available. The total number of officials engaged in information, publicity and press work on the dates shown below was as follows :
Column 197
Grade |<1>1 January 1980|1 April 1983 |1 January 1986 |1 February 1989
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade 5 (Chief Information Officer) |1 |1 |1 |-
Grade 5 (Assistant Secretary) |- |- |- |1
Personal Secretary |1 |1 |1 |1
Grade 7 (Principal Information Officer) |3 |1 |2 |2
Senior Information Officer |5 |5 |5 |6
Information Officer |7 |8 |8 |11
Assistant Information Officer |1 |1 |1 |1
Graphics Officer (Higher) |1 |1 |1 |1
Graphics Officer (Lower) |4 |6 |5 |5
Senior Executive Officer |- |- |- |1
Executive Officer |2 |1 |1 |2
Administrative Officer |11 |8 |9 |5
Administrative Assistant |2 |4 |3 |3
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total numbers |38 |37 |37 |39
<2>Total estimated salary costs |£557,550 |£539,765 |£546,935 |£611,952
<1>Figures for 1979 are not available.
<2>Calculated at current average salary rates for each grade.
EMPLOYMENT
Labour Statistics
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the size of the total labour force each year since 1970, calculated from the labour force survey data ; what was the percentage change each year ; and if he will estimate the size of the total labour force for the current year and for each year up to 1995.
Mr. Lee : Consistent estimates of the size of the labour force in past years and projections for the future, based on a number of sources including the labour force survey, are available only for the civilian labour force, and back to 1971. They are given in the table :
|c|Civilian labour force in Great Britain|c|
|Level (thousand) |Annual/Change (per cent.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimates
1971 |24,895 |-
1972 |24,953 |0.2
1973 |25,125 |0.7
1974 |25,269 |0.6
1975 |25,305 |0.1
1976 |25,702 |1.6
1977 |25,901 |0.8
1978 |25,949 |0.2
1979 |26,021 |0.3
1980 |26,198 |0.7
1981 |26,242 |0.2
1982 |26,045 |-0.8
1983 |25,907 |-0.5
1984 |26,428 |2.0
1985 |26,639 |0.8
1986 |26,735 |0.4
1987 |27,161 |1.6
Projections
1988 |27,538 |1.4
1989 |27,690 |0.6
1990 |27,790 |0.4
1991 |27,872 |0.3
1992 |27,928 |0.2
1993 |27,959 |0.1
1994 |28,001 |0.2
1995 |28,073 |0.3
Source: "Employment Gazette", May 1987 and March 1988.
Column 199
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate for 1979 and the most recently available date for the number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time employees with a length of service of (i) up to six months, (ii) from six months to one year, (iii) from one year to two years and (iv) over two years, giving the figures separately for men and women.
Column 200
Mr. Lee [holding answer 28 February 1989] : Estimates from the 1987 labour force survey (LFS) of the number of full and part-time employees in Great Britain, by the length of time continuously employed by their current employer, are shown in the following table :
Column 199
|c|Employees-length of time continuously employed by current employer-Great Britain, Spring 1987 estimates|c|
thousands
Men
Length of employment |Full-time<1> |Part-time<2> |All<3> |Full-time<1> |Part-time<1> |All<3>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 6 months |857 |146 |1,005 |512 |686 |1,200
6 months less than 1 year |745 |103 |852 |487 |513 |1,003
1 year but less than 2 years |968 |93 |1,064 |604 |592 |1,198
2 years or more |8,063 |370 |8,458 |3,212 |2,717 |5,938
All employees<4> |10,674 |714 |11,399 |4,822 |4,515 |9,356
<1> basic usual hours (i.e. excluding paid and unpaid overtime and meal-breaks) of 31 hours or more per week.
<2> basic usual hours of 30 hours or less per week.
<3> includes those employees who did not state hours worked.
<4> includes those employees who did not state length of time continuously employed by current employer.
Comparable estimates are not available from the 1979 LFS.
Wages Councils
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide a breakdown by wages inspectorate division of the information given in his
Column 200
answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 182, regarding the establishments underpaying and prosecutions for underpayment of wages council rates.Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is given in the tables :
Column 199
|c|Table A: Prosecutions for underpayment|c|
Division |1979 |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London |3 |- |1 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |-
South East |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |1 |2 |1
Eastern |- |1 |1 |2 |1 |1 |- |1 |- |2
South West |4 |2 |3 |- |1 |1 |- |- |- |2
Midlands |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |- |1 |1
North West |- |1 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |1 |2
Yorkshire and
Humberside |1 |1 |1 |- |- |- |1 |- |- |2
Northern |1 |3 |1 |1 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Scotland |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Totals |9 |8 |8 |4 |2 |2 |2 |2 |4 |10
|c|Table B: Establishments found to be underpaying 1979-85|c|
Division |1979 |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London (East) |431 |495 |440 |391 |441 |324 |298
London (West) |249 |259 |270 |294 |339 |354 |357
South East |521 |769 |749 |764 |871 |703 |670
Southern |585 |576 |450 |441 |494 |475 |556
Eastern |685 |941 |848 |726 |727 |914 |688
South West |1,010 |1,201 |1,070 |954 |1,078 |1,033 |929
Midlands (East) |634 |771 |623 |532 |573 |534 |430
Midlands (West) |605 |674 |598 |666 |543 |552 |712
North West (East) |946 |879 |613 |648 |704 |560 |529
North West (West) |1,115 |1,060 |688 |652 |865 |886 |804
Yorkshire and Humberside |1,156 |1,119 |871 |964 |941 |1,026 |818
Northern |893 |902 |736 |552 |630 |721 |815
Scotland (East) |710 |687 |529 |515 |525 |480 |488
Scotland (West) |597 |750 |556 |349 |389 |365 |361
Wales |832 |1,071 |1,033 |821 |722 |534 |609
|-- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Totals |10,969 |12,154 |10,074 |9,269 |9,842 |9,461 |9,064
|c|Table C: Establishments found to be underpaying
1986-88|c|
Division |1986 |1987 |1988
-------------------------------------------------------------
London |608 |270 |317
South East |646 |503 |537
Eastern |974 |405 |462
South West |832 |961 |1,156
Midlands |943 |525 |747
North East |1,397 |541 |869
Yorkshire and Humberside |805 |511 |631
Northern |844 |404 |369
Scotland |656 |323 |509
Wales |500 |- |-
|--- |--- |---
Totals |8,205 |4,443 |5,597
Note: The statistics of underpayments have been separated
into two tables because the divisional boundaries were
changed in 1986.
Column 200
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the levels of employment and changes in employment levels for each wages council for each year from 1979 to 1988.
Column 202
Mr. Nicholls : Statistical returns of the number of workers in Great Britain employed in establishments within scope of wages councils are not collected, but periodic estimates are made. The results of exercises conducted in 1979, 1982 and 1987 are shown in the table. The figures in the third column exclude young people under 21 who are in scope of the legislation but for whom the councils are not empowered to fix minimum rates.
Column 201
|c|Comparison of the 1979, 1982 and 1987 estimates of coverage by wages councils|c|
Number of workers
covered
|1979 |1982 |1987
Wages council All workers Excluding under-21s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retail trades (non-food) |563,700 |512,800 |745,000
Licensed non-residential establishment |470,000 |508,700 |492,000
Retail food and allied trades |522,800 |519,300 |465,000
Licensed residential establishment
and licensed restaurant |530,000 |555,300 |379,000
Clothing<1> |294,500 |252,800 |147,000
Unlicensed place of refreshment |121,900 |116,400 |96,000
Hairdressing undertakings |128,600 |135,600 |64,000
Laundry |39,200 |33,700 |26,000
General waste materials reclamation |20,200 |19,300 |13,000
Toy manufacturing |23,300 |18,900 |11,000
Aerated waters |14,900 |15,000 |5,500
Boot and shoe repairing |7,900 |7,100 |5,000
Hat cap and millinery |7,800 |6,800 |4,000
Retail bespoke tailoring |5,000 |5,200 |4,000
Made-up textiles |6,500 |4,800 |3,000
Linen and cotton handkerchief and
household goods and linen piece goods |5,600 |5,200 |2,500
Rope twine and net |4,000 |4,000 |2,500
Perambulator and invalid carriage |2,100 |1,500 |2,000
Fur |5,100 |4,500 |1,500
Button manufacturing |3,300 |2,100 |1,000
Sack and bag |1,800 |1,400 |1,000
Lace finishing |700 |800 |900
Flax and hemp |2,300 |1,400 |500
Ostrich and fancy feather and artificial flower |1,500 |1,400 |500
Cotton waste reclamation |400 |500 |300
Coffin furniture and cerement-making |500 |300 |200
|------- |------- |-------
Total |2,783,600|2,734,800|2,472,400
<1>In 1979 there were seven councils covering the clothing manufacturing trade.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the statistics on wages council employment and compliance
Column 202
with wages council rates in 1988, in the same format as in the reply given on 4 March 1988, Official Report, columns 731-36.Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is given in the following tables :
Column 201
|c|Table 1|c|
|c|Establishments Covered by Wages Councils on Register-as at January 1988|c|
Divisions |London |S. East |Eastern |S. West |Midlands |N. West |Yorks & H'side|North |Scotland |Great Britain
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wages Councils
Aerated Waters |7 |14 |57 |16 |111 |25 |24 |22 |66 |342
Clothing Manufacture |3,006 |159 |306 |301 |1,282 |937 |452 |214 |307 |6,964
Boot and Shoe Repairing |764 |255 |258 |345 |373 |406 |277 |70 |130 |2,878
Button Manufacturing |18 |4 |4 |4 |18 |4 |3 |1 |1 |57
Coffin Furniture and Cerement
Making |1 |- |- |2 |8 |2 |5 |0 |2 |20
Cotton Waste Reclamation |- |- |- |- |1 |28 |8 |3 |2 |42
Flax and Hemp |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |1 |6 |8
Fur |147 |8 |3 |7 |14 |28 |11 |3 |36 |262
General Waste Materials
Reclamation |124 |74 |107 |151 |291 |308 |240 |99 |137 |1,531
Hairdressing Undertakings |4,482 |3,181 |3,302 |4,106 |5,362 |5,171 |3,029 |1,968 |2,840 |33,441
Hat Cap and Millinery |25 |2 |44 |5 |12 |14 |8 |11 |2 |123
Lace Finishing |- |- |- |1 |73 |- |- |- |- |74
Laundry |215 |281 |79 |114 |105 |68 |67 |35 |122 |1,086
Linen and Cotton Handkerchief |2 |1 |3 |3 |10 |80 |9 |1 |5 |114
Made-up Textile |34 |13 |36 |31 |51 |34 |42 |18 |33 |292
Ostrich and Fancy Feather |12 |1 |6 |4 |- |- |- |4 |3 |30
Perambulator and Invalid
Carriage |3 |2 |5 |3 |11 |4 |6 |1 |1 |36
Retail Bespoke Tailoring |180 |55 |52 |38 |42 |52 |39 |14 |37 |509
Rope Twine and Net |- |1 |5 |12 |5 |20 |18 |5 |19 |85
Sack and Bag |20 |- |7 |5 |14 |20 |12 |2 |6 |86
Toy Manufacturing |17 |16 |45 |30 |35 |40 |32 |15 |9 |239
Retail Non-Food Trades |20,069 |11,990 |9,840 |12,085 |19,457 |13,350 |8,712 |4,495 |8,840 |108,838
Retail Food and Allied Trades |11,770 |13,100 |10,066 |12,853 |13,339 |15,891 |10,018 |7,199 |10,881 |105,117
Licensed Non-Residential |6,263 |5,962 |6,363 |9,323 |12,406 |9,540 |6,452 |4,001 |5,429 |65,739
Licensed Residential and
Restaurant |5,023 |3,901 |3,595 |6,842 |3,591 |3,355 |2,013 |1,418 |3,890 |33,628
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment |4,143 |2,049 |1,540 |2,585 |1,746 |1,977 |1,324 |851 |1,497 |17,712
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |----
Total |56,325 |41,069 |35,728 |48,867 |58,357 |51,354 |32,801 |20,451 |34,301 |379,253
|c|Table 2|c|
|c|Establishments checked and underpayments found in wages council trades-1|c|
Wages councils |Establishments checked by|Percentage of register |Establishments checked by|Percentage of register |Establishments found |Percentage of all |Percentage of
|all methods |checked |visit |checked by visit |underpaying |establishments checked |establishments visited
|underpaying |underpaying
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aerated waters |31 |9.0 |21 |6.1 |2 |6.4 |9.5
Clothing manufacture |603 |8.6 |559 |8.0 |128 |21.2 |22.8
Boot and shoe repairing |245 |8.5 |166 |5.7 |18 |7.3 |10.8
Button manufacturing |7 |12.2 |6 |10.5 |- |- |-
Coffin furniture and
cerement making |3 |15.0 |2 |10.0 |- |- |-
Cotton waste reclamation |4 |9.5 |4 |9.5 |- |- |-
Flax and hemp |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Fur |18 |6.8 |18 |6.8 |2 |11.1 |11.1
General waste materials
reclamation |150 |9.7 |111 |7.2 |11 |7.3 |9.9
Hairdressing undertakings |2,392 |7.1 |1,654 |4.9 |330 |13.7 |19.9
Hat, cap and millinery |26 |21.1 |23 |18.6 |- |- |-
Lace finishing |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Laundry |125 |11.5 |97 |8.9 |20 |16.0 |20.6
Linen and cotton
handkerchief |12 |10.5 |11 |9.6 |4 |33.3 |36.3
Made-up textile |32 |10.9 |25 |8.5 |2 |6.2 |8.0
Ostrich and fancy feather |3 |10.0 |2 |6.6 |- |- |-
Perambulator and
invalid carriage |2 |5.5 |- |- |- |- |-
Retail bespoke tailoring |43 |8.4 |37 |7.2 |6 |13.9 |16.2
Rope, twine and net |8 |9.4 |6 |7.0 |- |- |-
Sack and bag |12 |13.9 |11 |12.7 |- |- |-
Toy manufacturing |24 |10.0 |23 |9.6 |2 |8.3 |8.6
Retail non-food trades |9,649 |8.8 |4,219 |3.8 |1,130 |11.7 |26.7
Retail food and allied
trades |9,860 |9.3 |5,713 |5.4 |2,143 |21.7 |37.5
Licensed non-residential |5,063 |7.7 |3,503 |5.3 |1,016 |20.0 |29.0
Licensed residential and
restaurant |2,631 |7.8 |2,143 |6.3 |405 |15.3 |18.8
Unlicensed place of
refreshment |1,530 |8.6 |1,218 |6.8 |378 |24.7 |31.0
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |32,474 |8.6 |19,573 |5.2 |5,597 |17.2 |28.6
|c|Table 3|c|
|c|Workers covered by wages councils and results of checks-1988|c|
Wages councils |Number of workers covered|Workers whose pay was |Workers whose pay was |Workers found underpaid |Percentage underpaid of |Percentage underpaid of |Arrears paid |Arrears not pursued at |Arrears not pursued for |Total arrears assessed as
|by Wages Order (Est. |checked by all methods |checked by visit |all workers checked |all workers checked by |workers request |other reasons |due
|1988) |visit
|£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aerated waters |5,500 |2,798 |390 |13 |0.4 |3.3 |336 |- |- |336
Clothing manufacture |147,000 |12,662 |11,083 |453 |3.5 |4.0 |31,015 |10,469 |7,546 |49,030
Boot and shoe repairing |5,000 |759 |548 |20 |2.6 |3.6 |1,623 |652 |- |2,275
Button manufacturing |1,000 |163 |150 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Coffin furniture and cerement
making |200 |42 |32 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Cotton waste reclamation |300 |54 |54 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Flex and hemp |500 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Fur |1,500 |220 |220 |2 |0.9 |0.9 |150 |120 |1,654 |1,924
General waste materials
reclamation |13,000 |1,425 |1,163 |12 |0.8 |1.0 |2,204 |- |167 |2,371
Hairdressing undertakings |64,000 |8,063 |5,515 |418 |5.1 |7.5 |41,742 |6,822 |6,397 |54,961
Hat cap and millinery |4,000 |651 |599 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Lace finishing |900 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Laundry |26,000 |4,044 |2,696 |42 |1.0 |1.5 |3,685 |347 |2,730 |6,762
Linen and cotton handkerchief |2,500 |404 |396 |49 |12.1 |12.3 |2,766 |2,771 |- |5,537
Made-up textile |3,000 |540 |440 |8 |1.4 |1.8 |125 |- |- |125
Ostrich and fancy feather |500 |33 |15 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Perambulator and invalid
carriage |2,000 |139 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Retail bespoke tailoring |4,000 |161 |147 |8 |4.9 |5.4 |474 |107 |- |581
Rope twine and net |2,500 |300 |234 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Sack and bag |1,000 |154 |124 |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Toy manufacturing |11,000 |583 |571 |4 |0.6 |0.7 |23 |- |259 |282
Retail non-food trades |745,000 |95,502 |17,849 |1,731 |1.8 |9.6 |156,327 |69,883 |24,049 |250,259
Retail food and allied trades |465,000 |121,718 |21,598 |4,052 |3.3 |18.7 |321,851 |158,094 |74,568 |554,513
Licensed non-residential |492,000 |33,200 |22,541 |2,532 |7.6 |11.2 |160,502 |23,012 |22,590 |206,104
Licensed residential and
restaurant |379,000 |30,898 |26,524 |753 |2.4 |2.8 |67,220 |5,304 |13,685 |86,209
Unlicensed Place of refreshment |96,000 |8,526 |6,182 |763 |8.9 |12.3 |52,149 |18,165 |11,934 |82,248
|---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |----
Total |2,472,400 |323,091 |119,123 |10,860 |3.3 |9.1 |842,192 |295,746 |165,579 |1,303,517
|c|Table 4|c|
|c|Checks carried out and underpayments found in wages inspectorate divisions-1988|c|
Division |Establishments checked by|Percentage of register |Establishments checked by|Percentage of register |Establishments found |Percentage of all |Percentage of
|all methods |checked |visit |checked by visit |under-paying |establishments checked |establishments visited
|underpaying |underpaying
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London |3,732 |6.6 |1,893 |3.4 |317 |8.5 |16.7
South East |2,539 |6.2 |1,654 |4.0 |537 |21.2 |32.5
Eastern |5,415 |15.1 |2,509 |7.0 |462 |8.5 |18.4
South West |3,586 |7.3 |2,512 |5.1 |1,156 |32.2 |46.0
Midlands |4,999 |8.6 |2,609 |4.5 |747 |14.9 |28.6
North West |4,085 |7.9 |3,198 |6.2 |869 |21.3 |27.2
Yorkshire and Humberside |3,123 |9.5 |1,931 |5.9 |631 |20.2 |32.7
Northern |1,686 |8.2 |1,004 |4.9 |369 |21.9 |36.8
Scotland |3,309 |9.6 |2,263 |6.6 |509 |15.4 |22.5
Great Britain |32,474 |8.6 |19,573 |5.2 |5,597 |17.2 |28.6
All branches of mulitiple firms are recorded under the division in which the Head Office is located. Account has to be taken of this when comparing divisional figures.
|c|Table 5|c|
|c|Workers whose pay was checked in wages inspectorate divisions-1988|c|
Division |Workers whose pay was |Workers whose pay was |Workers found underpaid |Per cent. underpaid of |Per cent. underpaid of |Arrears paid |Arrears not pursued at |Arrears not pursued for |Total arrears assessed as
|checked by all methods |checked by visit |all workers checked |all workers checked by |workers request |other reasons |due
|visit
|£ |£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London |54,501 |13,365 |513 |0.9 |3.8 |65,756 |5,588 |7,186 |78,530
South East |13,089 |8,635 |975 |7.4 |11.3 |87,439 |27,315 |7,810 |122,564
Eastern |50,221 |14,996 |895 |1.8 |5.7 |79,713 |21,590 |47,460 |148,763
South West |20,855 |14,015 |2,204 |10.6 |15.7 |133,376 |58,255 |30,952 |222,583
Midlands |36,503 |18,222 |1,425 |3.9 |7.8 |113,335 |50,908 |26,455 |190,698
North West |94,318 |19,369 |1,697 |1.8 |8.7 |144,990 |52,505 |14,531 |212,026
Yorkshire and Humberside |22,405 |10,741 |1,270 |5.7 |11.8 |72,947 |44,466 |6,088 |123,501
Northern |8,827 |5,553 |784 |8.9 |14.1 |60,465 |6,734 |9,139 |76,338
Scotland |22,372 |14,228 |1,097 |4.9 |7.7 |84,171 |28,385 |15,958 |128,514
Great Britain |323,091 |119,123 |10,860 |3.4 |9.1 |842,192 |295,746 |165,579 |1,303,517
The numbers of workers in branches of multiple firms are recorded under the division in which the Head Office is located. Account has to be taken of this when comparing divisional figures.
Column 207
How to be Better off in Work"
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many copies of his Department's booklet "How to be Better off in Work" were printed, and at what cost ; how many copies were distributed to his Department's offices ; and, of these, how many were issued to the public and how many remain in stock.
Mr. Lee : The production and distribution of the booklet were as follows :
Number of booklets printed 3,000,000
Cost £98,395
Number of booklets distributed to Employment Service Offices 1,768, 000
The balance is in stock.
A publicity campaign to explain in-work benefits ran from 15 August to 24 October 1988. It is recorded that some 550,000 copies were issued to the public during that period.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will revise his Department's booklet "How to be Better off in Work", to include (a) an example of an income support claimant with a mortgage, (b) mention of the taper affecting withdrawal of benefits as wages rise and (c) a warning that claimants who take low-paid employment who then leave because they are financially worse off risk a 26-week period of reduced income support.
Mr. Lee : The purpose of the booklet "How to be Better off in Work" is to show unemployed people that finding a job need not mean losing out on benefits. The booklet is intended to be a simple illustrative guide. It would not be possible to cover within this format every circumstance which might affect an individual's entitlement. That is why unemployed people are advised in the booklet to contact their local unemployment benefit office or jobcentre for further information.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will revise his Department's booklet "How to be Better off in Work", to take account in the family examples given of costs of travelling to work, and the loss of free school meals and free milk for the under-five-year- olds abolished by the Social Security Act 1988 ; what rates were used, and why different rent and rates figures were used for each example in the current edition of the booklet.
Mr. Lee : Travel-to-work costs are not included in the examples in the booklet "How to be Better off in Work", as they vary widely and many people do not have to pay them. The examples clearly state that only the out-of-work families are entitled to free school meals and milk tokens. The rent and rates figures were based on the 1987 average of all local authority rent and rates in Great Britain uprated by the retail prices index which gives a figure of £27.14 ; the booklet gives examples both above and below this figure.
Disabled People (Factories Act 1961)
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations he has had with disability organisations on the proposal to repeal section 119A of the Factories Act 1961 ; which organisations were consulted ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 208
Mr. Cope : My Department issued a consultation paper last November setting out proposals for alternative arrangements to replace section 119A of the Factories Act 1961 ; copies have been placed in the Library. Comments were invited by 28 February 1989. Annex 4 of the paper lists the organisations representing disabled people who were sent the document when it was first issued. A copy was subsequently supplied to the Scottish Society for the Mentally Handicapped.
Employment Training
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employment training places in each Training Agency area have been filled with starts with training managers, and what percentage that is in each case of total employment training places contracted in each Training Agency area.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is given in the following table :
|c|Employment training places|c|
Area office |Filled places at 17 |Filled places as a
|February |percentage of total
|contracted places in
|December
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East Region
Berkshire and Oxfordshire |995 |54.3
shire |1,357 |53.2
Essex |1,380 |38.4
Hampshire and Isle of Wight |1,900 |59.0
Kent |1,987 |52.4
Surrey |370 |32.0
Sussex |1,290 |42.7
London Region
Inner London North |4,951 |67.7
Inner London South |2,480 |52.3
London East |2,001 |69.2
London North |2,881 |70.0
London South |1,259 |73.0
London West |1,051 |72.0
South West Region
Avon |1,858 |48.0
Devon and Cornwall |5,035 |71.0
Dorset and Somerset |1,612 |54.0
Gloucester and Wiltshire |1,172 |40.0
West Midlands Region
Birmingham and Solihull |5,406 |50.1
Coventry and Warwickshire |1,972 |42.4
Dudley and Sandwell |2,248 |46.0
Staffordshire |2,945 |60.0
The Marches, Hereford/Worcester |2,181 |52.1
Wolverhampton and Walsall |2,532 |47.0
East Midlands and Eastern Region
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire |1,438 |70.0
Derbyshire |2,247 |51.1
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire |2,287 |52.0
Lincolnshire |1,114 |55.0
Norfolk and Suffolk |2,456 |59.5
Nottinghamshire |2,619 |48.0
Yorkshire and Humberside
Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees |3,825 |61.0
Humberside |4,576 |79.1
North Yorkshire and Leeds |3,558 |53.5
Sheffield and Rotherham |4,768 |59.0
Wakefield, Doncaster and Barnsley |4,789 |70.0
North West Region
Cheshire |2,570 |51.0
Cumbria |1,173 |54.1
Lancashire |3,872 |54.0
Central Manchester |3,260 |35.2
Greater Manchester North |2,236 |34.5
Greater Manchester East |2,105 |54.0
Merseyside |6,182 |37.4
Northern Region
Cleveland |4,900 |51.1
County Durham |3,955 |56.0
Northumberland, North Tyneside
and Newcastle |3,229 |43.0
Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead |4,867 |49.4
Wales
Dyfed and West Glamorgan |3,300 |52.1
Gwent |1,676 |43.0
Gwynedd, Clywd and Powys |2,420 |45.0
Mid and South Glamorgan |3,845 |47.0
Scotland
Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway |2,183 |47.0
Central and Fife |2,278 |47.0
Glasgow City |3,279 |33.3
Grampian and Tayside |2,006 |46.0
Highlands and Islands |597 |35.1
Lanarkshire |1,847 |39.1
Lothian and Borders |2,686 |51.1
Renfrew, Dumbarton and Argyll |1,988 |33.1
Retail Trades (Working Conditions)
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has made any survey of working hours and conditions in the retail trades with reference to (a) the extent of reduction of working hours to levels which put them outside statutory employment rights, and (b) the extent of unpaid working time imposed on check-out operators and sales staff by any requirements to work beyond closing hours but counting their paid hours only up to closing time.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 17 February 1989] : My right hon. Friend has not made any such survey, but information on working hours is available from the labour force survey. In general, pay is a matter for employers and employees, provided that in wages council trades the total amount paid to workers for all time worked is not less than the minimum due.
ENERGY
Employment Potential
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what work his Department has undertaken on the employment potential which would accrue in the course of achieving his target of £8 billion annual savings in the national energy bill.
Mr. Peter Morrison : It is very difficult to assess the precise employment potential of energy efficiency measures. However, projects under the community insulation programme have provided work experience and
Column 210
training for the long-term unemployed, and improved energy efficiency enables industry to become more competitive which facilitates economic growth and creates new job opportunities.Gas Prices
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has any information as to the manner by which gas supply industries in (a) Holland, (b) France, (c) West Germany, (d) Italy, (e) Belgium, (f) Spain and (g) Luxembourg calculate the price to be charged for the supply of firm gas to large industrial users ; and how British Gas calculates such a price.
Mr. Peter Morrison : Yes. I refer my hon. Friend to the chapter on pricing principles in the report "The EEC Industrial Gas Market" published by the Office of Gas Supply in January 1989. I shall arrange for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what controls he has over the prices of gas charged by British Gas to large industrial consumers.
Mr. Peter Morrison : None. Under the proposed modification to British Gas's authorisation published on 30 January, the Director General of Gas Supply would have control over the structure of British Gas's price schedule for large industrial customers. The actual level of prices however would remain a matter for British Gas.
Gas
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make it his policy to estimate when British Gas will have less than a 90 per cent. share in the supply of piped gas in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Peter Morrison : It is a matter for the Director General of Gas Supply to monitor the gas market as he sees fit. However I will, of course, take a close interest in such work.
Grimethorpe Power Station
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what are his future plans in respect of Grimethorpe power station ; if he has any plans to provide Government funding to assist research at this plant to continue ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Spicer : My Department is at present considering carefully a request from British Coal for financial support for additional trials to be carried out at the Grimethorpe experimental facility. I am not yet able to make a statement.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Oman (British Base)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the agreement made in 1958 with the Sultan of Oman in which the air base in that country was handed over to British control for 99 years still applies in its original form or has been updated ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 211
Mrs. Chalker : The RAF maintained an air base on Masirah island until the late 1960s.
South Africa (Sanctions)
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the light of Nelson Mandela's continued imprisonment, he will reconsider his opposition to economic sanctions against South Africa.
Short-range Nuclear Missiles
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made towards a NATO agreement on short-range nuclear missiles.
Mrs. Chalker : Short-range nuclear missiles play an important role in NATO's strategy of flexible response : the Alliance is united in its resolve to keep its weapons up to date as necessary. Discussions on how this is to be done are under way in the Alliance.
EC Central American Meeting
Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the last European Community central American meeting which he attended in Honduras ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the last European Community central American meeting which he attended in Honduras ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : We will make available to the House the economic and political communique s which we expect the conference to adopt when it concludes on 1 March.
Islamic Fundamentalism
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the consequences for international stability of Islamic fundamentalism in (a) Iran and (b) Afghanistan.
Mrs. Chalker : We fully support the right of the Iranian and Afghan peoples to choose freely their own representative Governments and to run their own affairs. If they choose Islamic fundamentalist Governments that is their right.
Central America (Visit)
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what subjects he discussed during his recent visit to central America.
Mrs. Chalker : My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State does not return from his trip to Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala until 6 March.
Iran
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the state of diplomatic relations with Iran.
Column 212
Mrs. Chalker : I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. and learned Friend's statement in the House on 21 February.
| Next Section
| Home Page |