| Previous Section | Home Page |
Year ending March |Number ------------------------------------------------------ 1983 |1,550 1984 |1,670 1985 |1,520 1986 |1,460 1987 |1,320
Information on the nature of these departures (available only for the last two years) is as follows :
Year ending March
|1986 |1987
-----------------------------------------------------------
Transfers to full-time service elsewhere |80 |80
in the maintained sector in England
and Wales
Transfers to part-time service in the |10 |10
maintained sector
Teaching employment outside the |10 |20
maintained sector
Retirements
at age 60 or over |520 |430
at ages under 60 |630 |550
Deaths |50 |40
Others |160 |190
|---- |----
Total |1,460|1,320
EMPLOYMENT
Additional Child Care Allowance
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he intends to introduce a £50 a week additional child care allowance for young mothers on YTS, equivalent to that which is paid under employment training.
Mr. Cope : No. My right hon. Friend does not consider such a provision to be in the best interests of the client group served by YTS.
Industrial Relations
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of public opinion regarding the Goverment's step-by- step reform of industrial relations legislation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : At each stage of the step-by-step reform of industrial relations and trade union legislation which the Government has pursued since 1979 we have submited our proposals for public consultation, and we have been able to frame legislation in the knowledge that the measures will be welcomed by employers, employees and the public generally. Our election manifestos, which contained many of our proposals in this area, have also clearly gained widespread public support.
Statutory Minimum Wage
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to how many countries in the EEC have a statutory minimum wage.
Mr. Nicholls : Five countries--France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg--have a statutory national minimum wage. In Ireland, as in the United Kingdom, a statutory minimum wage applies only in certain industries. Two countries--Belgium and Greece--have a general minimum wage laid down in national level collective agreements which are binding in law. Three countries--West Germany, Italy and Denmark--set minimum rates of pay by industry level, collective agreements applying in all sectors and binding in law.
Column 525
Remploy Factory, Rutherglen (Closure)
Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will ask the Remploy board to withdraw its proposal to close the Rutherglen factory.
Mr. Lee : No. I understand that discusions about the implications of the decision to close the Rutherglen factory are continuing between the company and the employees concerned.
Disabled Workers
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what guidelines are issued to Department of Employment staff regarding the distribution of quota exemption permits to employers failing to ensure that 3 per cent. of their work force are registered as disabled.
Mr. Lee : Instructions to disablement resettlement officers require them to consider the availability of suitable registered disabled people, and the degree of commitment shown by employers towards meeting their obligations under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944.
Small Businesses
Mr. Bright : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much his Department will be contributing to the Economic and Social Research Council's programme of research into small businesses, announced on 30 June, over the next four years.
Mr. Cope : My Department has agreed to pay ESRC a maximum of £120, 000 towards the total cost of the programme. Payment will be made over a period of four years, at £30,000 per year, beginning in 1989-90.
Industrial Accidents
Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he intends taking to reduce occupational accident rates to the 1981 levels.
Mr. Nicholls : Against a background of a substantial decline in fatal injury rates since 1981 and a more recent reversal in the rising trend of reported major injuries, the Government have reaffirmed their commitment to better health and safety at work by making financial provision allowing for real growth in HSE's activities over the next three years.
Tourism
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has had any representations about possible distortions to the United Kingdom's local economies resulting from the abolition of section 4 grants for tourist investment in England and their retention in Scotland and Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lee : I have received a number of representations about the future of the section 4 scheme, some of which refer to the possible effects of retaining the scheme in Scotland and Wales. However, after considering the wide variety of views expressed, I am convinced that the continued prosperity and growth of tourism in England is no longer dependent on this form of support.
Column 526
Labour Statistics
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure available for the number of people who have found jobs through using the service of job clubs in Durham City jobcentre.
Mr. Lee : The job club based in Durham jobcentre was the first job club to open in Britain, in November 1984. Since that time, 579 people have attended the job club. Of these 395 (68 per cent.) actually left for jobs with an employer. This result represents a considerable achievement in helping long-term unemployed people.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in the last 12 months for which figures are available have been through (a) job clubs and (b) Restart ; and how many have (i) secured full- time employment or (ii) further retraining or educational opportunities.
Mr. Lee : During the period 30 May 1988 to 26 May 1989, 2,220,611 Restart interviews were carried out. Of these, 1,949,570 resulted in an offer of positive help being made and 1,611,606 resulted in such an offer being accepted.
We do not know how many people ultimately end up in a job or other opportunity as a result of their Restart interview. However, many will be referred to job clubs.
During the 12 months from 1 June 1988 to 31 May 1989, 131,249 people went through the job club programme ; 91,665 (or 70 per cent.) left for a positive outcome ; 71,016 went into jobs and a further 20, 649 went into training, education or a place on the enterprise allowance scheme.
Taken together, these two programmes represent a considerable achievement in helping long-term unemployed people.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the level of unemployment in the parliamentary constituency of Greenock and Port Glasgow.
Mr. Lee : In May 1989 the number of unemployed claimants in Greenock and Port Glasgow parliamentary constituency was 5,798 compared with 7,581 in May 1988, a fall of 1,783 or 23.5 per cent.
Dock Workers (Pensions)
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange for a survey of the pensions advice available to former registered dock workers.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no plans to survey the pensions advice available to former registered dock workers. Employers are required to inform employees of main terms and conditions of employment, including the terms of any occupational pensions scheme which they offer. Employees may decide to make their own arrangements. Registered dock workers had their own occupational pensions scheme and this remains in existence following the abolition of the dock labour scheme.
Column 527
SCOTLAND
Rent Arrears
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to introduce into Scotland arrangements similar to those announced recently for England and Wales whereby local authorities will be obliged to charge accumulated arrears of rent to other rent payers, through increasing their rents to cover the deficit in housing revenue accounts.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Local authorities in Scotland are required by paragraph 3(e) of schedule 15 to the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 to debit to their housing revenue accounts for each year the arrears of rent which have been written off in that year as irrecoverable. My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to change this or other aspects of the financial management of local authority rent arrears.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the accumulated rent arrears owed to Scottish public housing authorities in March ; and what was the figure in March of each of the five previous years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on the accumulated rent arrears owed to Scottish public housing authorities is collected annually on the basis of arrears outstanding at 30 September. The amounts of arrears outstanding for each year from 1983 to 1988 are shown below :
|£ million
---------------------------------
1983 |<1>18.0
1984 |<1>18.9
1985 |<1>19.9
1986 |<1><2>24.3
1987 |<1>26.7
1988 |<1><3>32.9
<1>Includes rates arrears of two
local authorities.
<2>Includes unprocessed housing
benefit awards for one
authority.
<3>Excludes arrears of two local
authorities.
Prisoners (Vocational Training)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) adult and (b) young offender women prisoners received accredited vocational training during 1987 and 1988.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The question cannot be answered in precisely the terms stated. The position in relation to individuals receiving accredited vocational training during the past two years was :
1987
Nil
1988
Adults--Seven
Young offender women prisoners--Nil
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which of the vocational courses of the industrial training boards, currently available to (a) adult and (b) young offender male prisoners, are also available to the same categories of women prisoners.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : At present there is a catering accredited vocational training course available for women prisoners. Skill training is also provided in sewing,
Column 528
garment making, cookery and horticulture. A properly accredited course in hairdressing will be introduced later this year.Remand Times
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) women and (b) men were put in prison while waiting for trial and subsequently freed during 1987 and 1988.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I regret that the information is not available.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the latest figure for the average time spent on remand for (a) men and (b) women.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The estimated average periods spent in custody on remand in 1988 were as follows :
|Days
----------------
Men |20.7
Women |17.7
Hostels
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many places for (a) men and (b) women are offered by hostels grant-aided under section 9 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980.
Mr. Lang : Hostels grant-aided by my right hon. and learned Friend under section 79 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 presently offer a total of 95 places. Seventeen of these were specifically designated for women originally but the accommodation is now being allocated more flexibly in the light of demand.
Cornton Vale
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many body and strip searches in Cornton Vale in 1988 where carried out on prisoners who were pregnant.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is not available, since no distinction is made in the records between inmates who are not pregnant and those who are.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many women prisoners who gave birth while imprisoned in Cornton Vale in 1988 (a) kept their babies with them following the births and (b) did not keep their babies following birth ; and what was the length of service served by each such mother following the birth.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : One inmate, serving a three-month sentence, gave birth in Cornton Vale and kept her baby with her.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if any baby has remained with his or her mother in Cornton Vale prison beyond the age of 12 months during 1988.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average number of days of in-service training provided to staff at Cornton Vale prison in 1987 and 1988.
Column 529
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information is not immediately available but I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions the electronics link between the central office and each room in Cornton Vale women's prison malfunctioned in 1988 ; and what was the average time taken for repairs to be carried out.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The system malfunc-
tioned on 22 occasions in 1988. Each fault is recorded and rectified the same day or the next working day. When the period of malfunction was prolonged the inmate was moved temporarily to another cell. The average time required to complete repair work was one and a half hours.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) female and (b) male staff at Cornton Vale prison in 1987 were on sick leave for (i) less than one week, (ii) between one week and up to one month, (iii) between one month and up to six months, and (iv) for six months or more.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information sought by the hon. Member is as follows :
1987
|Female staff|Male Staff
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nil absence |19 |32
Less than one week |30.5 |23
Between one week and up to one
month |32 |27
Between one month and up to six
months |18 |18
For six months or more |0.5 |0
|------- |-------
Total staff involved |157 |22
Prisons (Physical Training and Recreation)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the types of physical training and recreation activities available to (a) male and (b) female prisoners.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The types of physical training and recreation activities available to (a) male and (b) female prisoners are listed below. Not all are available in every prison. Usage by individual inmates is influenced by considerations of security and control as well as the needs of prisoners.
Male prisoners
1. Aerobic Fitness
2. Badminton
3. Basketball
4. Board Games
5. Craft Hobbies
6. Darts
7. Hillwalking
8. Pool
9. Running
10. Snooker
11. Soccer
12. Swimming
13. Table Tennis
14. Volleyball
15. Weight Training
Female prisoners
1. Badminton
2. Board Games
Column 530
3. Craft Hobbies4. Exercise to Music
5. Modified Keep Fit
6. Netball
7. Relaxation Classes
8. Running
9. Swimming
10. Volleyball
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the vocational courses of the industrial training boards presently available to (a) adult and (b) young offender male prisoners.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The vocational courses of the industrial training boards presently available to (a) adult and (b) young offender male prisoners are listed. The full range of courses listed is not available at every establishment.
Vocational courses available to adult male prisoners
1. Bricklaying
2. Carpentry and Joinery
3. Catering
4. Domestic Appliance Repairs and Servicing
5. Electronic Wiring and Computer Appreciation
6. Hairdressing
7. Horticulture
8. Motor Vehicle Mechanics
9. Painting and Decorating
10. Upholstery
11. Welding/Fabrication
Vocational courses available to young offender male prisoners 1. Bricklaying
2. Carpentry and Joinery
3. Catering
4. Computer Appreciation
5. Domestic Appliance Repairs and Servicing
6. Horticulture
7. Mechanical/Electrical Engineering
8. Motor Vehicle Mechanics
9. Painting and Decorating
10. Vehicle Body Repair/Paint Spraying
11. Welding/Fabrication
| Next Section
| Home Page |