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Secondary Picketing
18. Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about secondary picketing ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government receive representations on many aspects of industrial relations. In the nine years since employers were given the freedom to restrain secondary picketing by the 1980 Employment Act representations on this subject have dwindled to nothing.
Labour Statistics
19. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest youth unemployment figures for the Holloway travel-to-work area.
Mr. Cope : In the London travel-to-work area, of which Islington, North parliamentary constituency and Holloway are a part, there were about 54,500 unemployed claimants aged under 25 years.
21. Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest available unemployment figures for the United Kingdom and the comparable figures for 1979 ; and what they would have been without the changes in the method of counting unemployment.
Mr. Cope : In May 1989 the level of unemployment seasonally adjusted was 1,835,200, or 6.4 per cent. compared with 1,088,500 or 4.1 per cent in May 1979, on a consistent basis. It is not possible to estimate current unemployment on the basis prevailing in 1979.
106. Mr. Neil Hamilton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the reduction in long-term unemployment over the last 12 months.
109. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much long-term unemployment has fallen over the past year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In April 1989, the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom who had been
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unemployed for 12 months or more was 744,120 compared with 1,029, 206 in April 1988, a fall of 285,086 or 27.7 per cent.102. Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current number of persons unemployed in the Southend -on-Sea area ; and what was the comparable total in 1979.
Mr. Nicholls : In May 1989 there were 3,602 unemployed claimants in Southend-on-Sea local authority area. Comparable figures are not available for 1979 on the same administrative basis and because of changes in the coverage of the count.
91. Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the figure for unemployment in 1979 ; and what is the present figure.
Mr. Nicholls : In May 1989 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom was 1,835,200 or 6.4 per cent. compared with 1,088,500 or 4.1 per cent. in May 1979, on a consistent basis.
92. Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in which standard planning regions in the United Kingdom there have been (a) increases and (b) reductions in employment since June 1979.
Mr. Nicholls : Between June 1979 and June 1988 the civilian work force in employment (a) increased in the south-east (including London), East Anglia, south-west, west midlands, and east midlands, and (b) decreased in Yorkshire and Humberside, the north-west, north, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
89. Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the rate of fall of unemployment in the United Kingdom and in other comparable European countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The table shows the fall in the unemployment rates over the past two years for the countries of the European Community. Over the past two years the rate of unemployment has fallen faster in the United Kingdom than in any other EC country.
Unemployment, latest month compared with two years earlier Country |Latest month |Percentage rate change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United Kingdom<1> |May 1989 |-318 Belgium |March 1989 |-2.6 Ireland |May 1989 |-1.6 France |March 1989 |-1.5 Germany |May 1989 |-0.9 Portugal |March 1989 |-0.7 Netherlands |December 1988 |-0.4 Greece |April 1989 |-0.3 Luxembourg |March 1989 |-0.3 Denmark |January 1989 |0.7 Italy |February 1989 |1.7 <1> Seasonally adjusted series consistent with current coverage.
83. Mr. Dover : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people aged between 18 and 24 years were unemployed in April 1988 and April 1989, respectively ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In April 1989, the number of unemployed claimants aged 18 to 24 years in the United Kingdom, was 530,376 compared with 697,718 in April 1988, a fall of 167,342 or 24 per cent.
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78. Mr. Andy Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how many the total of persons out of work for five years or more has fallen during the past year ; and if he will make a statement.
84. Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much the total out of work for five years or more has fallen since April last year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In April 1989 the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom who had been unemployed for five years or more was 216,607 compared with 271,242 in April 1988, a fall of 54,635 or 20.1 per cent.
69. Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much the number of people in employment rose in 1988 in the United Kingdom and in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The table shows, for the United Kingdom and the major OECD countries, the increase in civilian employment in the year to the fourth quarter of 1988. The United Kingdom had the largest percentage rise.
Increases in civilian employment United Kingdom and major
OECD
countries
|Thousands |Percentage
------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |642 |2.5
Canada |288 |2.4
United States of America |2,386 |2.1
Japan |864 |1.5
Germany (Federal Republic) |159 |0.6
Italy |134 |0.6
France |n/a |n/a
n/a=not available.
Sources:
United Kingdom: Department of Employment.
Other countries: OECD Labour Force Statistics, 1989/1.
68. Mr. Quentin Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the fall in long-term unemployed in the three months to April.
Mr. Lee : In April 1989, the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom, who had been unemployed for 12 months or more, was 744,120 compared with 821,419 in January 1989, a fall of 77,299 or 9.4 per cent.
57. Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which major Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country has had the sharpest fall in the rate of unemployment over the past two years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : Over the past two years the unemployment rate has fallen faster in the United Kingdom than in any other major OECD country. The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is now lower than the European Community average.
58. Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people employed in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholls : Between March 1983 and December 1988 the work force in employment in the United Kingdom increased by 2,948,000 to 26,510, 000, the highest level on record. This rising trend has now continued for more than
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five years. The figures have been adjusted for the effects of seasonal variations. The work force in employment is the sum of employees in employment, the self-employed, Her Majesty's forces and participants in work-related Government training programmes.52. Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholls : In May 1989 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom was 1,835,200 or 6.4 per cent. the lowest for more than eight years, on a consistent basis.
54. Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much long-term unemployment has fallen among the 18 to 24 age group in the past year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lee : In April 1989, the number of unemployed claimants aged 18 to 24 years in the United Kingdom, who had been unemployed for 12 months or more, was 119,160 compared with 179,938 in April 1988, a fall of 60,778 or 33.8 per cent.
47. Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects unemployment in the west midlands to fall to the level it was in 1979.
Mr. Lee : The Department does not forecast future levels of unemployment.
48. Mr. Robert Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the increase in the number of self-employed people in the United Kingdom since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
53. Mr. Forman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the increase in the number of self-employed people in work since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : Between June 1979 and December 1988, the latest date for which estimates are available, there was an increase of 1,142,000, or 60 per cent., in the number of self-employed people in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that over 3 million people are now self-employed. Self- employed people now represent 11 per cent. of the work force in employment.
37. Mr. Kirkhope : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of males and females are in employment in each major Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country ; and if he will make a statement.
103. Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which major Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries have the highest proportion of women in employment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : The latest comparative information relates to 1986 (except for Germany) and is given in the table. It shows the United Kingdom's percentage in employment to be significantly higher than those of our major European competitors, though lower than those of Japan and the United States. This country's relative position may well have become still better since 1986 as employment has increased more rapidly here than elsewhere.
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Percentage of those aged 15 to 64 in employment
(including armed forces)
|Males |Females
-------------------------------------------------------
Japan |85 |56
United States of America |77 |60
United Kingdom |77 |56
Canada |76 |57
Federal Republic of Germany<1> |74 |46
Italy |74 |35
France |70 |48
<1> 1985 figures.
Sources:
United Kingdom: Department of Employment.
Other countries: OECD Labour Force Statistics 1966 to
1986.
34. Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much the unemployment rate has fallen in the past two years in the United Kingdom and other European countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The table shows falls in unemployment rates over the past two years for the United Kingdom and other European countries. Over the past two years unemployment has fallen faster in the United Kingdom than in any other major industrialised country.
Unemployment, latest month compared with two years earlier Country |Latest month |Percentage rate change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United Kingdom<1> |May 1989 |-3.8 Spain |March 1989 |-2.8 Belgium |March 1989 |-2.6 Austria |March 1989 |-1.7 Finland |February 1989 |-1.7 Ireland |May 1989 |-1.6 France |March 1989 |-1.5 Germany |May 1989 |-0.9 Sweden |March 1989 |-0.9 Portugal |March 1989 |-0.7 Netherlands |December 1988 |-0.4 Switzerland |March 1989 |-0.3 Greece |April 1989 |-0.3 Luxembourg |March 1989 |-0.3 Denmark |January 1989 |0.7 Italy |February 1989 |1.7 Norway |March 1989 |2.5 <1> Seasonally adjusted series consistent with current coverage.
30. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current youth unemployment rate in the United Kingdom and in other comparable European countries ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Nicholls : The table shows harmonised unemployment rates, seasonally adjusted, for those aged under 25 years, for March 1989 in the United Kingdom and other European Countries as published by the statistical office of the European Communities. The youth unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is about half the European Communities average.
Under 25 year olds seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
March 1989
European country |Total percentage rate
------------------------------------------------------------------
Spain |36.7
Italy |31.9
Greece |24.4
Ireland |22.8
France |21.4
Belgium |18.7
Netherlands |16.4
Portugal |12.2
Denmark |9.6
Germany |5.2
Luxembourg |4.1
United Kingdom |9.6
EC average |18.1
85. Mr. Tracey : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently self-employed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : In December 1988, the latest date for which estimates are available, there were, 3,048,000 self-employed in the United Kingdom. The numbers of self-employed have increased by 60 per cent. since June 1979 and currently represent 11 per cent. of the work force in employment.
100. Mr. Stevens : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people self-employed in April 1989 and April 1983, respectively.
Mr. Nicholls : In December 1988, the latest date for which figures are available there were 3,048,000 self-employed people in the United Kingdom and in March 1983 there were 1,906,000.
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Employment Training
20. Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employment training managers there are (a) nationally and (b) by standard region ; and how many have been accredited with providing training of high and sustainable quality.
Mr. Nicholls : Nationally there are 1,251 training managers within employment training. All of them are at present undergoing examination for approved status.
The regional breakdown by standard region is as follows :
|Number
----------------------------------------
Scotland |233
Northern |148
Yorkshire and Humberside |131
North-West |157
West Midlands |102
East Midlands and Eastern |106
Wales |131
South-West |69
South-East |76
London |98
|--
National total |1,251
76. Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to enhance payments to employment training trainees (a) nationally and (b) regionally.
Mr. Nicholls : At present my right hon. Friend has no plans to enhance payments to employment training trainees. However, training allowances are linked to individual benefit entitlement and so are enhanced whenever benefits are uprated. For this reason, training allowances were increased in April 1989. In addition, the levels of other payments to trainees are kept under continuous review and travel payments to trainees have been increased very recently.
74. Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are on employment training in each Training Agency area ; and what is the drop-out rate for each area.
Mr. Nicholls : Information on the number of people on employment training in each area office is given in the following table. Information on the number of leavers is not available at the area level.
Employment Training
In-Training Figures at 2 June 1989
|Numbers
--------------------------------------------------
Northern Region
Cleveland |6,141
Durham |5,063
North Tyne |4,259
South Tyne |6,357
|---
Total |21,820
East Midlands
Derby |2,861
Norfolk and Suffolk |3,141
Leicestershire and Northants |2,782
Lincolnshire |1,361
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire |1,699
Nottinghamshire |3,345
|---
Total |15,189
North West
Cheshire |2,899
Cumbria |1,387
Lancashire |4,220
Manchester Central |4,022
Manchester East |2,590
Manchester North |2,624
Merseyside |8,672
|---
Total |26,414
West Midlands
Birmingham |7,374
Coventry |2,682
Dudley |2,889
Staffordshire |3,629
Marches |2,654
Wolverhampton |3,144
|---
Total |22,372
South East Region
Berkshire and Oxfordshire |1,212
Essex |1,694
Hampshire and Isle of Wight |1,992
Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire |1,672
Kent |1,963
Surrey |445
Sussex |1,761
|---
Total |10,739
London
Inner South |3,309
North London |3,553
East London |2,195
South London |1,685
West London |1,197
Inner North |5,815
|---
Total |17,754
Yorkshire and Humberside
Humberside |5,253
Leeds |4,295
Bradford |4,540
Wakefield |5,332
Sheffield |5,342
|---
Total |24,762
South West
Avon |2,555
Gloucester |1,506
Plymouth |5,541
Taunton |1,868
|---
Total |11,470
Scotland
Glasgow City |4,525
Lanarkshire |2,534
Renfrew, Dumbarton and Argyll |2,682
Ayr, Dumfries and Galloway |2,991
Lothian and Borders |3,368
Central and Fife |2,852
Grampian and Tayside |2,583
Highlands and Islands |917
|---
Total |22,452
Wales
Cardiff |4,811
Gwent |2,235
Swansea |4,315
Wrexham |3,094
|---
Total |14,455
62. Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently in employment training in South Yorkshire.
Mr. Nicholls : On 2 June 1989, the latest date for which information is available, there were 9,083 people on employment training in South Yorkshire.
40. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many extra staff have been employed by the Health and Safety Executive to monitor health and safety on employment training schemes.
Mr. Nicholls : None. By virtue of the Health and Safety (Training for Employment) Regulations 1988, participants on employment training and similar training schemes at employers' premises are covered by the full range of statutory health, safety and welfare provisions applying to employed persons. Accordingly HSE inspectors do not, when examining conditions at workplaces, differentiate between trainees and employees.
33. Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many accidents have occurred on employment training schemes since their inception.
Mr. Nicholls : Since the inception of employment training on the 5 September 1988, 556 accidents to ET trainees have been reported to the Training Agency.
31. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what specific measures are taken to monitor health and safety on employment training schemes.
Mr. Nicholls : Health and safety arrangements for ET closely parallel those for YTS. Training managers have the prime responsibility for monitoring work placements, and they are obliged to ensure that premises are properly notified to the relevant enforcing authority, that proper insurance arrangements are available and that, in general, there is appropriate health and safety management and supervision. Training managers are also required to report and investigate accidents ; to provide relevant literature, including the new booklet "Safety First in Employment Training", and to arrange for proper induction and training in health and safety matters.
The Training Agency's own staff conduct monitoring of all these requirements, by sample visits to training managers to check records and documents. They also visit work experience premises on a sample basis.
Benefit Fraud
22. Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on investigations carried out by the west midlands employment fraud investigators at the Birmingham convention centre and on Operation Enterprise.
Mr. Nicholls : On 10 March 1989, investigators interviewed 450 building workers at the Birmingham convention site. As a result, 128 people withdrew their claims to benefit. The exercise yielded net benefit savings of approximately £98,000. Forty-four cases are being considered for prosecution.
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Operation Enterprise investigated people registered with employment agencies. It commenced in July 1988 and finished in March 1989. Of the 2,350 investigations, 1,100 people withdrew their claims to benefit. The net benefit saving was approximately £800,000. A total of 147 cases are being considered for prosecution.87. Mr. Fishburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on Operation Rag Trade carried out by employment service fraud operators in the east end of London.
Mr. Nicholls : Operation Rag Trade, which was carried out between October and November 1988, investigated possible benefit fraud among people engaged in the clothing industry in the east end of London. Over 1,150 investigations were undertaken with 173 people withdrawing their claims to benefit. This resulted in net benefit savings of £275,000 and five potential prosecution cases.
38. Mr. Charles Wardle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will report progress on tackling fraud among benefit claimants ; and if he will make a statement.
71. Mr. Brandon-Bravo : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will report on progress in tackling fraud among benefit claimants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : During the year April 1988 to March 1989, 435,969 investigations were carried out by investigators. This resulted in 86,895 claims to benefit being withdrawn with net benefit savings of £62.55 million. In addition, 4,045 people were prosecuted for social security offences.
Ports
23. Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he plans to meet the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union to discuss industrial relations in the ports ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Industrial relations in scheme, and non-scheme ports are a matter for employers and their employees. The Government's proposals for the abolition of the dock labour scheme provides an opportunity for ports which evolve new arrangements to secure better industrial relations and fewer strikes.
77. Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many registered dockers under the dock labour scheme are currently on the temporary unattached register ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : According to National Dock Labour Board registers for 30 May 1989 there were 130 registered dock workers then on the temporarily unattached register.
The temporarily unattached register is a product of the dock labour scheme. It maintains registered dock workers on basic pay even though they are not working and is funded by a levy on employers in scheme ports. No other industry bears the cost of such a requirement. The Government are abolishing the scheme so that scheme ports can compete on equal terms.
73. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what volume of Britain's overseas trade
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is currently handled by dockers working in ports (a) covered by the dock labour scheme and (b) those outside the scheme ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Nicholls : Department of Transport port statistics for 1987 show that 51 scheme ports handled 59.73 per cent. of the volume of overseas trade, while 35 non-scheme ports handled 40.26 per cent. Ports which bear the costs of the dock labour scheme have lost a substantial share of trade to ports outside the scheme over the past 25 years. They have also lost jobs while jobs in non-scheme ports have grown. The Government are abolishing the scheme to allow all ports to compete on equal terms and win the business needed to sustain jobs.
66. Mr. John Townend : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current industrial dispute in the ports covered by the dock labour scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : It is a matter for the port employers to decide how they wish to respond to unofficial strikes by a minority of registered dock workers. I hope that dock workers will look to their future, and respond to the port employers offer to negotiate locally about arrangements to be established after the dock labour scheme is abolished.
67. Mr. Barry Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to reintroduce casual labour into dock labour scheme ports after abolition of the statutory scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government believe that there is no evidence that there can be a return to widespread casual work. Modern ports have no need of it.
Without the scheme's restrictions, non-scheme ports employ few casual workers and employers of 93 per cent. of dock workers in scheme ports have given assurances not to return to a system of casual work. They have indicated a willingness to examine this and other issues on the same port- by-port basis as already applies to other workers in scheme ports and to the one in three dock workers in ports outside the scheme.
56. Mr. Brazier : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications for redundancy have been received from dock workers working in ports covered by the dock labour scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no means of knowing how many inquiries have been made to employers by registered dock workers about redundancy following the abolition of the dock labour scheme. The Dock Work Bill which abolishes the scheme provides for the Government to contribute 50 per cent. of payments of up to £35,000 for any registered dock worker who is made redundant in the 18 months following the abolition of the scheme, and 50 per cent. of payments of up to £20,000 in the 18 months thereafter. This will provide redundancy compensation of many times normal statutory requirements and will be in addition to entitlements to early retirement pensions available under the registered dock workers occupational pension scheme from the age of 50 onwards.
41. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received
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about negotiations between dock workers and their employers in scheme ports ; and if he will make a statement.61. Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about port-by-port negotiations between dock workers and their employers ; and if he will make a statement.
97. Mr. David Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the port-by-port negotiations between dock workers and the port employers ; and if he will make a statement.
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