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East Anglia
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Prime Minister in the light of the all -day seminar on climatic change and global warning, what interdepartmental plans will be prepared to safeguard the coast of East Anglia.
The Prime Minister : Most coastal flood defence work in East Anglia is carried out by Anglian water authority. This authority is already taking account of the possibility of rises in sea level in the design of future flood and sea defence works, and has plans for a major programme of renewal and improvement work along the east coast. Increased Government funding for flood and coastal defences was announced in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, and a major part of this extra funding has been earmarked to assist the authority in carrying forward this vital work.
Engagements
Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 April.
Mr. French : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 April.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 April.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 April.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 April.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 27 April.
The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Manufacturing Industry
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will publish in the Official Report his best estimate showing the value of output of finished manufactures in the United Kingdom for home consumption and export for the years (a) 1970, (b) 1979 and (c) 1988, together with the percentage estimates of (i) imported service manufactures and intermediate finished manufactures and (ii) imported basic materials.
Mr. Alan Clark : It is not possible to estimate a split between production for export and for the home market with any confidence because of lack of data on the very substantial entrepot trade. The closest available figures are as follows :
Column 613
|c|Gross output of finished
manufactures|c|
1985 prices
|£ billion
------------------------------
1970 |129.5
1979 |144.5
1988 |156.6
Imports of:
|Semi-manufactures |Intermediate finished|Basic materials
|manufactures
|(SITC 5+6) |(part of SITC 7+8) |(SITC 2+4)
|£ billion 1985 prices|OTS basis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970 |9.9 |2.8 |6.1
1979 |17.8 |7.0 |6.0
1988 |28.0 |18.3 |6.5
Column 614
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1970 (a) the proportion of United Kingdom exports of finished manufactures sent to the United States of America and, (b) the ratio of United Kingdom to United States of America export unit values for manufactures, based on 1970 equals 100.
Mr. Alan Clark : The available information is in the table. The relationship between the export unit values has been derived both in common currency, the US dollar, and in national currency terms.
Column 613
ProportionRatio of United
Kingdom exKingdom to United States
finished<1of America export unit
values of
manufactures<2>
|Per cent.|Per cent.|Per cent.
--------------------------------------------------
1970 |11.3 |100 |100
1971 |11.4 |103 |105
1972 |12.7 |106 |111
1973 |12.8 |109 |112
1974 |11.6 |113 |110
1975 |9.9 |121 |111
1976 |10.5 |135 |102
1977 |9.4 |152 |111
1978 |10.7 |157 |126
1979 |10.7 |148 |131
1980 |10.9 |150 |145
1981 |11.4 |143 |120
1982 |11.3 |144 |105
1983 |12.8 |155 |98
1984 |16.1 |165 |92
1985 |18.2 |172 |93
1986 |17.7 |173 |106
1987 |17.4 |176 |120
1988 |15.2 |<5>176 |<5>130
<1> Standard International Trade Classification (
STIC), Rev 2 Sections 7 and 8
<2> SITC, Rev 2, Sections 5 to 8
<3> United Kingdom index in sterling compared
with United States of America index in United
States dollars
<4> United Kingdom and United States of America
indices both in United States dollars
<5> First three quarters only
Sources: United Nations, Department of Trade and
Industry.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will publish in the Official Report his best estimate of the number of cars assembled in the United Kingdom from imported components in 1970, 1979 and 1988 which would not qualify for free movement within the European Economic Community if the imported components were not of European Economic Community origin.
Mr. Alan Clark : None. Under European Community rules, cars are regarded as having EC origin notwithstanding the origin of imported components provided that the last substantial manufacturing process is undertaken within the Community. All cars assembled in the United Kingdom since our accession to the Community in 1973 have qualified for free circulation on that basis.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will publish in the Official Report his best estimate of the value and proportion of
Column 614
United Kingdom exports of manufactures which have been (a) assembled in the United Kingdom from imported components and (b) imported for re-export in the same state, in the years 1970, 1979 and 1988.Mr. Alan Clark : Information on which to base the required estimates is not available.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will publish in the Offical Report a table showing production, imports and exports of intermediate finished manufacturers, as defined in the monthly review of external trade statistics for the years 1970, 1979 and 1988 in terms of current prices, 1988 prices and as a percentage of United Kingdom production of finished manufactures in each year.
Mr. Alan Clark : Figures for production of intermediate finished manufactures comparable with the trade statistics
Column 615
as defined in the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics" are not available. The remainder of the figures requested are as follows :
Exports of Exports<1>
intermediate finished
manufactures (£ billion)
|Current prices|1988 prices
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970 |1.5 |8.5 |5.9
1979 |7.3 |13.0 |8.0
1988 |16.0 |16.0 |9.1
<1>Intermediate finished manufactures as per cent. of production of
finished manufactures.
Exports of Exports<1>
intermediate finished
manufactures (£ billion)
|Current prices|1988 prices
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970 |1.5 |8.5 |5.9
1979 |7.3 |13.0 |8.0
1988 |16.0 |16.0 |9.1
<1>Intermediate finished manufactures as per cent. of production of
finished manufactures.
Israel
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list in the Official Report a breakdown by type of the trade between the United Kingdom and (a) Israel and (b) the West Bank and Gaza Strip in each of the last five years.
Mr. Alan Clark : United Kingdom trade with Israel, broken down by standard international trade classification divisions, is published in the annual volumes of the Overseas Trade Statistics for 1984 to 1987 and the December volume for 1988 (tables II--imports, V--exports). Copies of these are available in the Library. United Kingdom trade with the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not separately identified.
Inter-Industry Agreements
Mr. Hind : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the inter-industry agreements on machining centres and numerically controlled lathes from Japan, referred to in his answer of 30 March 1988, Official Report, column 478, are still in operation.
Mr. Alan Clark : Following a second annual review of the inter- industry voluntary restraint arrangements with Japan on numerically controlled lathes and machining centres, I have told the Machine Tool Trades Association that the Government see no case for these arrangements to continue after 30 June 1989.
Gas
Mr. Maples : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Government will implement the recommendation of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on gas (Cm. 500) that British Gas should be required not to contract initially for more than 90 per cent. of deliveries from any new field within the United Kingdom continental shelf.
Mr. Maude : The Government accept the objective of the MMC recommendation, but believe that it can best be achieved in a modified way. They have therefore set as a target that 10 per cent. of the gas coming forward from
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new gas fields should be supplied to the market by suppliers other than British Gas. This target, which covers gas both on the United Kingdom continental shelf and imported, includes gas carried both by British Gas on a common carrier basis, and by any new dedicated pipelines that may be built by carriers other than British Gas. For the purposes of this target, all gas supplies contracted from producers after 31 May 1989 will be taken into account. However, a small number of large deals involving limited classes of customer will not of itself secure the early development of competition for the benefit of industrial and commercial contract customers for gas which is required. During the first two years in which the target operates the Government will monitor the position closely and will pay particular attention to the level of sales contracted into the general industrial and commercial gas market. The Department of Energy will publish the outcome against target for the years ending 31 May 1990 and 31 May 1991 and, within that, the level of sale to industrial and commercial contract customers achieved.I was attracted by the possibility of placing a ceiling of one or 2 per cent. on each contribution towards the target from a single customer's usage at a single site but decided against such a specific ceiling lest it distort the development of the market. However, when the arrangements are reviewed in July 1991, attention will be focused particularly on the size and diversity of gas users no longer solely dependent on British Gas. If progress towards the establishment of a competitive market is not satisfactory by that time, I may resort to order-making powers under the Fair Trading Act which flow from the adverse findings in the report by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
I am inviting the Director General of Fair Trading to seek an undertaking from British Gas under section 88 of the Fair Trading Act 1973 actively to facilitate the efforts of gas producers towards achievement of this target both in its contracting arrangements and, in particular, by agreeing as appropriate to carry the relevant quantities of gas as a common carrier.
In addition the Government will continue to explore all means of developing competition in supplying gas to business users.
Barlow Clowes
30. Mr. Michael : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made towards obtaining reimbursement for those affected by the British based and Gibraltar based elements of the Barlow Clowes organisation ; what initiatives have been taken by his Department in the last six months ; what initiatives he will now take to seek a speedier resolution of outstanding problems ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Newton [pursuant to his reply, 15 March 1989, c. 259] : The 19 FIMBRA members referred to as subject to disciplinary action include both the Investment and Pensions Advisory Service and the Investment and Pensions Advisory Service Ltd. These two firms had close connections but were separate entities. However, in referring to the number of firms which had been suspended they were inadvertently treated as one. The correct comparison therefore is that of the 19 members subject to disciplinary action, four, not three, have been suspended.
Column 617
Blue Arrow
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he intends to appoint inspectors under section 432 of the Companies Act to investigate Blue Arrow and the Peter de Savary deal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude [pursuant to his reply, 20 April 1989, c. 257] : On 26 April Blue Arrow announced that it intended by the middle of May to send to its shareholders a circular dealing with this transaction. The loan facility and its circumstances are principally a matter for Blue Arrow shareholders, but my Department is being kept fully informed and I trust that the company will meet the deadline it has set itself for briefing them. The International stock exchange is concerned with disclosure requirements and it has confirmed to me that it will require a circular which gives full details and a full explanation of the loan facility.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
The School Difference"
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make available in the library a copy of the report commissioned by his Department from the Policy Studies Institute entitled, "The School Difference" ; and if he will make a statement on its findings.
Mr. Butcher : The Policy Studies Institute is expected to publish its report on multi-racial secondary schools, entitled "The School Effect", in July. I shall then place a copy in the library. The major findings of this report are that there were striking differences between the schools surveyed in what they did and how they did it ; and that the level of achievement of pupils of similar abilities, regardless of their ethnic or social background, varied markedly according to the school they attended.
The findings will be of interest to all who share the Government's concern to improve standards and ensure that pupils of all ethnic groups have equal opportunity to benefit from what schools can offer.
Teachers
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Crosby of 13 April, Official Report, columns 630-32, he will publish a further table showing an analysis by age and sex of all such leavers below normal retirement age for each of the years ended March 1984, 1985 and 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher : Figures of full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools in England leaving full-time service in the maintained sector at ages under 60 are as follows :
Year ending March
|1984 |1985 |1986
--------------------------------------------------------
All leavers aged under 60 |13,350|14,620|15,150
Men leavers aged under 60 |4,590 |5,270 |5,810
of which, number aged:
less than 30 |870 |850 |960
30-34 |860 |930 |1,000
35-39 |670 |810 |900
40-44 |350 |470 |570
45-49 |320 |370 |370
50-54 |520 |620 |710
55-59 |1,010 |1,210 |1,300
Women leavers aged under 60 |8,760 |9,350 |9,340
of which, number aged:
less than 30 |2,510 |2,470 |2,140
30-34 |2,490 |2,500 |2,330
35-39 |1,150 |1,340 |1,470
40-44 |640 |750 |920
45-49 |470 |530 |610
50-54 |600 |720 |810
55-59 |910 |1,050 |1,050
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools in England left full-time service in the maintained sector at the normal retirement age in each of the years ended March 1984, 1985 and 1986.
Mr. Butcher : The numbers of full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools in England leaving full-time service in the maintained sector at age 60 or over in the years ending March 1984, 1985 and 1986 were 2,310, 2,250 and 2,090 respectively.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the statistical evidence on secondary teacher resignations, given at table 21 of Cm. 625, "Second Report of the Interim Advisory Committee" is reliable ; what comparable statistical evidence is available from his Department's database of teacher records ; if he will make a statement on the extent of the apparent trends in numbers of secondary resignations shown by the evidence of table 21 for 1987 and the evidence from his Department for 1984, 1985 and 1986 given in reply to the hon. Member for Crosby, Official Report, 13 April, columns 630-32 ; when he expects to have a report on secondary resignations for 1987 from the database of teacher records ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher : Table 21 of Cm. 625 is based on a survey carried out by the Local Authorities' Conditions of Service Advisory Board (LACSAB). It shows the number of secondary teacher resignations in the calendar year 1987 analysed by teaching subject and destination. The Department's database of teacher records (DTR) cannot readily yield data for this period, not does it contain information on either of these aspects. It is not possible therefore to derive from the DTR analyses that are comparable to (and so could test the reliability of) those in table 21, Cm. 625.
No inferences can be drawn from the difference between the DTR estimates for 1984 to 1986 in Official Report, 13 April, columns 630-32 and the LACSAB data for 1987 in table 21, Cm. 625. The DTR estimates relate to teachers leaving the maintained sector, the LACSAB data to those resigning from schools (many of whom may merely be moving to other schools within the maintained sector). Estimates from the DTR for the year ending March 1987 are expected to be available shortly.
Column 619
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a further statement on the implications for his policy on university finances of the Association of University Teachers pay dispute.
Mr. Jackson : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) on 23 March, at column 684. That is still the position.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish statistics for every local education authority in England showing the number of supply teachers registered for casual cover and showing what incremental point on the main professional grade for teachers salaries a well-qualified and experienced supply teacher may progress to.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information about the numbers of supply teachers registered with local education authorities is not held centrally. However, the numbers of teachers employed in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools for periods of less than one month on an occasional or short notice basis on 21 January 1988 are shown in the table. These figures exclude supply teachers with contracts of employment of one month or longer.
Local education authorities have discretion to pay supply teachers, subject to the requirements of the school teachers pay and conditions document 1988, up to the maximum of the main scale, and may also award them incentive allowances.
|c|Teachers in occasional service in
maintained nursery,|c|
|c|primary and secondary schools (
January 1988)|c|
LEA |Number
-------------------------------------
Barking |25
Barnet |70
Bexley |70
Brent |153
Bromley |53
Croydon |68
Ealing |88
Enfield |58
Haringey |63
Harrow |59
Havering |61
Hillingdon |49
Hounslow |69
Kinston |40
Merton |63
Newham |41
Redbridge |43
Richmond |44
Sutton |55
Waltham Forest |53
ILEA |1,043
Birmingham |281
Coventry |80
Dudley |100
Sandwell |55
Solihull |34
Walsall |49
Wolverhampton |42
Knowsley |13
Liverpool |59
St. Helens |67
Sefton |79
Wirral |151
Bolton |114
Bury |43
Manchester |106
Oldham |111
Rochdale |83
Salford |109
Stockport |115
Tameside |60
Trafford |77
Wigan |187
Barnsley |69
Doncaster |80
Rotherham |70
Sheffield |8
Bradford |217
Calderdale |63
Kirklees |98
Leeds |100
Wakefield |73
Gateshead |69
Newcastle |97
North Tyneside |55
South Tyneside |19
Sunderland |54
Avon |283
Bedfordshire |145
Berkshire |169
Buckinghamshire |108
Cambridgeshire |63
Cheshire |330
Cleveland |164
Cornwall |130
Cumbria |158
Derbyshire |288
Devon |278
Dorset |35
Durham |61
East Sussex |125
Essex |398
Gloucestershire |58
Hampshire |296
Hereford and Worcester |139
Hertfordshire |392
Humberside |201
Isle of Wight |19
Kent |324
Lancashire |523
Leicestershire |197
Lincolnshire |178
Norfolk |130
North Yorkshire |178
Northamptonshire |129
Northumberland |59
Nottinghamshire |0
Oxfordshire |92
Salop |149
Somerset |32
Staffordshire |167
Suffolk |45
Surrey |222
Warwickshire |117
West Sussex |110
Wiltshire |127
|----
England |11,974
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when the second report of the interim advisory committee on school teachers pay and conditions will be published.
Mr. Kenneth Baker [pursuant to his reply, 16 February 1989, c. 323- 26.] : After careful consideration of the representations I havreceived I have decided to accept the recommendations on pay rates and conditions of employment contained in the second report of the interim advisory committee on school teachers pay and conditions of employment contained in the second report of the interim advisory committee on school teachers pay and conditions. Drafts of the school teachers pay and conditions document 1989, an order which will give effect to this document, and a circular to local education authorities are being sent today to the relevant local
Column 621
authority associations, teacher unions and bodies representing the interests of the governors of voluntary schools inviting their comments by Thursday 18 May 1989.Schools
Mr. Buckley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schools he has visited since his appointment ; and how many of these are (a) state funded and (b) independent schools.
Mr. Butcher : Approximately 126, of which about 14 were independent.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the schools in England and Wales that have experienced major damage by fire in each of the last 24 months.
Mr. Butcher : This information is not collected by the Department of Education and Science or the Welsh Office education department. The Fire Protection Association maintains a record of the majoriy of major fires in Great Britain, and I have asked for details. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as the information is available.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much from each local authority's capital allocation has been spent on the improvement or replacement of existing school buildings in each of the last five years.
Mr. Butcher : The information requested was not collected centrally before 1988-89. In 1988-89 expenditure on new improvement and replacement projects for all local education authorities was £119 million. In addition, authorities will have spent substantial sums on improvement projects which they had already started in previous years.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about fire safety arrangements within schools.
Mr. Butcher : Under the terms of regulation 24 of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981, local education authorities have a duty to provide fire precautions and means of escape in the case of fire in maintained schools.
In the case of independent schools, registration under part III of the 1944 Education Act rests, amongst other things, on the provision and maintenance of adequate fire precautions.
Pupil Costs
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average cost of (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special needs pupils for 1987-88 (i) in England and (ii) in Nottinghamshire.
Mr. Butcher : The available information is given in the table.
|c|Net Institutional Expenditure<1> per pupil<2> 1987-88|c|
|Nursery and Primary|Secondary |Special
|(£) |(£) |(£)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nottinghamshire |1,020 |1,545 |4,145
England |1,010 |1,520 |4,925
<1> Net Institutional Expenditure includes the cost of salaries and wages, premises and certain
supplies and services. It does not include the cost of school meals, central administration and
inspection, debt charges or revenue contributions to capital outlay.
<2> The figures are based on LEA expenditure returns to DoE and pupil number returns to DES.
Secondary School Placements (Appeals)
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many appeals against placement in secondary schools are expected for September ; and what was the figure a year earlier.
Mr. Butcher : The results of an informal survey of local education authorities suggest there were some 6,850 appeals in respect of secondary school admissions in the calendar year 1987. No figures are available for 1988. The Department has not made any specific forecast of the likely number of such appeals in 1989 but we hope that more parents will be satisfied this year, as a result of preparations for the implementation of more open enrolment in secondary schools in September 1990.
Student Loans
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received on the adverse impact, and deterrent effect, of the proposed loans for students, upon the number of women entering higher education ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations concerning the potential effects of top-up loans on women. The Government's proposals mean that loan repayments can be deferred when the borrower's income is low.
Experience of student loan schemes abroad gives us no reason to expect that women will be deterred from entering higher education because of the operation of the loans scheme.
Pupil Statistics
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the average class sizes in primary and secondary education in state and private schools, respectively, in the years 1979, 1984 and 1988.
Mr. Butcher : Information on average class sizes in private schools is not collected centrally. The average class size in maintained primary and secondary schools in England in January of each year 1979, 1984 and 1988 is as follows :
Class sizes relate to those taught by one teacher during a selected period on the day of the census count in January and do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole.
|c|Average size of class|c|
January of each yea
|1979|1984|1988
------------------------------
Primary |25.9|24.7|25.4
Secondary |21.0|20.4|19.9
Languages
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is the best estimate available of the
Column 623
proportion of 14 and 15-year-olds in Britain, and in each of the other European Community countries, who are studying, as part of their school curriculum (a) French, (b) German, (c) Italian, (d) Spanish, (e) English and (f) other modern languages to a recognised standard ;(2) if he will list the number of pupils and the proportion of total pupils so represented in the fourth and
Column 624
fifth years of secondary school in (a) the maintained sector and (b) the private sector who are studying : (i) French, (ii) German, (iii) Italian, (iv) Spanish, (v) other modern European languages and (vi) other modern non-European languages.Mr. Kenneth Baker : The following information is readily available.
Column 623
|c|Percentage of secondary school pupils in certain EC countries|c|
|c|studying foreign languages|c|
EC countries <4>England
<1>France Per cent. <2>Germany Per cent. <3>Ireland Per cent. Maintained Schools Independent schools
|Per cent. of school |Numbers (000s) |Per cent. of all school|Numbers (000s) |Per cent. of all school
|leavers |leavers |leavers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
English |82 |91 |<5>- |<5>- |<5>- |<5>- |<5>- |<5>-
French |<5>- |21 |71 |41 |260 |39 |35 |78
German |22 |<5>- |6 |11 |69 |10 |8 |18
Italian |2 |- |- |- |1 |- |1 |1
Spanish |16 |- |3 |2 |14 |2 |3 |6
Other modern languages |1 |1 |- |n.a. |n.a. |n.a. |n.a. |n.a.
<1>Age 11-14 in 1982-83.
<2>Age 10-15 in 1982-83.
<3>Age 12-14 in 1982-83.
<4>School leavers attempting GCE O-level and CSE in 1986-87.
<5>-Not applicable.
n.a.-Not available.
Source:
Education and Training' 1985 Eurostat.
Secondary School Staffing Survey
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the conclusions of the secondary school staffing survey ; and if he will now publish the survey.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Key results from the 1988 secondary school staffing survey will be available within the next few days, and I will ensure that the hon. Member receives a copy. Copies will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, and sent to the Education Science and Arts Committee. More extensive analyses are expected to be available within the next month or so.
EMPLOYMENT
Policy Targets
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the policy areas in which his Department has failed to achieve its targets since 1979.
Mr. Cope : I am satisfied that my Department's programmes and policies have generally met their objectives, but we keep them under review and are always looking for ways to improve their effectiveness.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment with respect to the support grades in his Department (a) what is the number of staff employed, (b) how many vacancies there are and how many of these have existed for over one month and over three months, (c) how many temporary and casual appointments there are and (d) how much overtime was worked by them in London and elsewhere.
Column 624
Mr. Cope : My departmental staff records show a total of 1,256 staff in support grades in the Department of Employment group. The number of current vacancies is fewer than 20, of which about half have existed for more than three months. There are approximately 75 casual/temporary appointments. More precise figures and the amount of overtime worked can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Private Zoos
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what accident statistics are collected in relation to private zoos ; and what is the record of injury shown by the statistics.
Mr. Nicholls : The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985 require that accidents which arise out of or in connection with work activities covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 are reported to the relevant enforcing authority. The statistics collected include fatalities, injuries resulting from accidents and, for employees only, instances of disease and dangerous occurrences.
Figures for accidents in private zoos are included with those for certain other recreational and cultural activities, and are not separately identifiable.
Job Clubs (Birmingham)
Mr. Hattersley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what funds have been allocated to the Birmingham area of the employment service to finance job clubs during the year 1989-90.
Mr. Lee : Birmingham area office of the employment service has been allocated £547,000 to finance external job clubs in the year 1989-90. Funds to cover job clubs run directly by the employment service are not separately indentified, but form part of a wider allocation which covers all ES services in the area.
Column 625
Special Equipment
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list those items of special equipment which can be made available on free loan to enable persons on the disabled register to do a particular job.
Mr. Lee : Help available is not confined to items on a prescribed list. The special aids to employment scheme can provide a registered disabled person with whichever equipment is required to overcome the effects of his disability in his workplace in the most cost-effective way.
Member's Correspondence (Gower)
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Gower of 12 April, Official Report, column 588, he will write to the hon. Member as soon as the decision is taken.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 24 April 1989] : My Department has not yet received a reply from the European Commission in the case referred to, but as soon as we do, I will write to the hon. Member.
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