| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Neubert : A total of 5,225 TA officers and 41,839 TA other ranks qualified for and received their annual bounty in respect of the period 1988-89.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of the Territorial Army in officers and other ranks.
Mr. Neubert : The strength of the TA as at 31 May 1989 is 7,864 officers and 65,747 other ranks, excluding the HSF.
Air Defence Weapons
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what air defence weapons are currently available for British land and amphibious forces earmarked for the defence of Norway.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The British land and amphibious force contribution to NATO reinforcements for the defence of the Northern Region, including Norway, has a balance of air defence weapons which includes Javelin missiles and machine guns in the air defence role.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what air defence weapons are currently available for British land and amphibious forces earmarked for the defence of Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein.
Column 229
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The British land and amphibious force contribution to NATO reinforcements for the defence of Denmark and Schleswig Holstein has a balance of air defence weapons which includes Rapier and Javelin missiles, and machine guns in the air defence role.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what air defence weapons are currently available to land forces serving with the British Army of the Rhine.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Land forces currently serving with the British Army of the Rhine have a balance of air defence weapons which includes tracked and towed Rapier missiles, Javelin missiles, and machine guns in the air defence role.
Intrepid and Fearless
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the cost of treating corrosion on the assault ships HMS Intrepid and HMS Fearless.
Mr. Sainsbury : Corrosion repair and preventative work are normal features of the refitting of warships. HMS Intrepid is currently operational ; whilst she will shortly undergo a hull survey, no major corrosion problems are expected. Some corrosion treatment, which is not unduly extensive, is in hand in the refit of HMS Fearless ; but the cost of this treatment could be separately identified only at disproportionate cost.
Home Service Force
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of the home service force in officers and other ranks.
Mr. Neubert : The strength of the HSF as at 31 May 1989 is 167 officers and 2,883 other ranks.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of HSF personnel have had previous armed forces experience prior to enlistment.
Mr. Neubert : All HSF personnel have had previous armed forces experience prior to enlistment.
Royal Army Education Corps
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of the Royal Army Education Corps.
Mr. Neubert : The strength of the Royal Army Education Corps as at 30 June 1989 was 518 Officers.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to privatise the work of the Royal Army Education Corps.
Mr. Neubert : There are currently no plans to privatise the work of the Royal Army Education Corps. However, all areas of the corps responsibility are regularly reviewed in the normal planning process and the potential for privatisation, civilianisation or contractorisation identified where appropriate.
Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in officers and other ranks.
Column 230
Mr. Neubert : The strength of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force as at 1 April 1989, is 143 officers and 1,429 other ranks.
Royal Marine Reserve
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of the Royal Marine Reserve in officers and other ranks.
Mr. Neubert : The answer is 81 officers and 1,145 other ranks, as at 31 March 1989.
Royal Naval Auxiliary Service
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service in officers and ratings.
Mr. Neubert : The answer is 114 volunteer staff officers and 2,817 auxiliary men and women as at 31 March 1989.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of RNAS personnel have had previous armed forces experience prior to enlistment.
Mr. Neubert : I regret that this information is not held centrally.
Volunteers (Payments)
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what payment and bounties are paid to RNAS and HSF volunteers for training and partaking in exercises.
Mr. Neubert : RNAS volunteers are not paid in peacetime and do not receive a bounty. They are, however, reimbursed approved travel and subsistence expenses and may qualify for a loss of earnings allowance and a course and exercise training allowance on a daily basis where eight hours or more training are involved. The HSF are paid in accordance with TA rates of pay and receive a bounty of £45 in the first year, £90 in the second year and £150 in the third year, on completion of six days' minimum annual training.
Fisheries Protection
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to privatise the Royal Navy's fisheries protection role.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Royal Navy provides a fishery protection service for both the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and, in the North Sea, for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS). At present there are no plans to change these arrangements. Additionally, DAFS owns vessels and aircraft and MAFF charters civilian aircraft which are employed on fishery protection duties. I understand that there are at present no plans to change these arrangements either.
Wintex 89
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Government Departments participated in Exercise Wintex 89.
Column 231
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The following Government Departments participated in WINTEX 89.
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Cabinet Office
HM Customs and Excise
Department of Employment
Department of Energy
Department of the Environment
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Department of Health
Home Office
Northern Ireland Office
Scottish Office
Department of Social Security
Department of Trade and Industry
Department of Transport
HM Treasury
Welsh Office
Portsmouth Naval Base
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessels are currently undergoing refits or major servicing at Portsmouth naval base.
Mr. Sainsbury : HMS Exeter is the only vessel currently undergoing a refit at Her Majesty's naval base, Portsmouth ; the following vessels are undergoing docking and essential defects (DEDs) : HMS Otter, Jupiter, Charybdis, Endurance and Bristol.
Anthrax
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give an indication of all work undertaken by Porton Down involving anthrax in the last five years ; what was the purpose of such activity and the locations involved ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : The United Kingdom is a signatory to the 1972 convention on biological warfare and does not undertake any work on the development of biological weapons. The chemical defence establishment at Porton Down is charged with the responsibility of research into the application of up-to-date technology leading to the provision of the best possible equipment to the armed services for the detection, decontamination and treatment of such agents as well as protective systems against them. CDE's work on anthrax conforms to these criteria. Some of the work has potential to benefit the civil population and therefore involves interaction with other agencies and publication in open literature. CDE's scientists carry out their studies at Porton Down and one of the useful consequences has been the recent successful clean-up operation on Gruinard island, which has been contaminated since being used for wartime tests.
Land Holdings
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the location of the areas referred to in footnote 2, page 50, cm. 675 -II, Statement on the Defence Estimates vol. 2.
Mr. Neubert : The two locations are 50,000 hectares of Forestry Commission land in Galloway and 11,679 hectares of British Aluminium Company land at Kinlochleven. In both cases, there are restrictions upon the nature and extent of the training that may take place.
Column 232
Military Exercises
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations he has had with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe or the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe concerning the possibility of reducing the size and number of military exercises.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Together with his subordinate commanders, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, is conducting a review of exercise activity within his command to ensure that, in nature, size, scope and number, exercises undertaken represent an effective and economical way of meeting Alliance requirements. Recommendations have yet to be put to NATO allies for decision.
Major Colin Wallace
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if, further to the reply of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, 8 June, Official Report, column 458, he intends to write to the hon. Member for Linlithgow in relation to the points he raised on Major Colin Wallace.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Environmental Pollution
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has as to which NATO member states have legislation to require (a) their own military bases and (b) bases allocated to United States military forces on their territory to provide (i) an environmental impact statement for military bases and (ii) environmental pollution data regarding military base operations, to their governments.
Mr. Neubert [holding answer 13 July 1989] : The Ministry of Defence follows the provisions of Department of Environment circular 15/88, Welsh Office circular 23/88 and Scottish Development Department circular 13/88 in respect of environmental impact assessments relating to projects carried out on behalf of both home forces and visiting forces. There is no general requirement to make statements or provide data in respect of existing operations. The legislative requirements of other NATO members are matters for the Governments of the countries concerned.
Aldermaston (Radiation Monitoring)
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additions have been made since May 1979 to the personnel radiation monitoring programme technology at atomic weapons establishment, Aldermaston.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 6 July 1989] : I understand that the hon. Lady is referring to the personnel radiation monitoring programme. In addition to making relevant adjustments for compliance with requirements of new legislative measures arising since May 1979, the atomic weapons establishment have made the following major changes since that date in monitoring low levels of personal radiation exposures that might arise at their Aldermaston and other premises :
Column 233
(a) the use of personnel-borne air samplers (PAS) has been extended to cover any personal occupational exposures to radioactive and toxic substances which might be of health and safety significance ;(b) thermoluminescent radiation dosimeters (TLD) have been brought into use in place of film-badges as a means of assessing any personal gamma radiation exposures that might occur ;
(c) two in vivo (whole body) monitors have been installed and are operating for assaying any levels of radioactive substances that might have been deposited in the bodies, and particularly the lungs, of workers ;
(d) newly developed instruments have been, and are continuing to be, installed to provide further facilities for monitoring radioactivity that might be dispersed in the air, on surfaces or on persons in occupational work-spaces.
EMPLOYMENT
Employment Schemes
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, for each of the Training Agency's areas within Greater London, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, what are the monthly statistics for the latest available three months for employment training showing (a) the number of referrals to ET from restart interviews, (b) the number of ET action plans completed, (c) the number of starts with ET training managers, (d) the number of ET filled places and (e) the number of unfilled ET places.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is not available in the precise form requested. Restart referrals are available only for employment service areas and are given in table 1. The figures for action plans, starts at training managers and filled places are given in tables 2, 3 and 4. Information about unfilled places is available only for May and these figures are given in table 5.
Table 1. Employment service restart referrals to ET training agents February to April 1989 Employment service area |February |March |April ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inner London South |598 |494 |435 Inner London Central |782 |595 |550 Inner London West |630 |295 |444 Inner London East |646 |694 |491 London South East |370 |303 |326 London South West |298 |273 |167 London North West |516 |428 |368 London West |345 |667 |314 London South |377 |349 |386 London East |464 |444 |458 London North |604 |490 |422 Merseyside North |713 |660 |599 Merseyside South |953 |1,033 |723 Liverpool Central and Wirral |600 |591 |343 Manchester City<1> |562 |726 |- Manchester North East<1> |285 |316 |- Manchester North West<1> |510 |455 |- Manchester South<1> |358 |392 |- Manchester West<1> |352 |444 |- Manchester Central<1> |- |- |758 Manchester East<1> |- |- |505 Manchester West<1> |- |- |610 Glasgow North |1,392 |1,466 |895 Glasgow South |833 |805 |538 Sheffield |870 |742 |769 Birmingham and Solihull |1,808 |1,776 |1,267 Coventry and Warwickshire |656 |735 |487 <1>Employment service areas re-organised from 1 April 1989.
Column 234
Table 2. Employment training Action plans completed by training agents March-May 1989 Training agency area |March |April |May -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- London North |1,000 |820 |730 London West |630 |380 |370 London East |1,090 |730 |740 London South |540 |420 |410 Inner London North |2,090 |1,630 |1,600 Inner London South |740 |500 |420 Merseyside |2,220 |2,060 |1,670 Manchester East |910 |710 |640 Manchester Central |840 |830 |640 Manchester North |890 |810 |690 Glasgow |1,920 |1,430 |1,190 Sheffield |1,040 |940 |990 Birmingham and Solihull |1,600 |1,470 |1,180 Coventry and Warwickshire |830 |660 |520
Table 3. Employment training Starts with training managers March-May 1989 Training agency area |March |April |May -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- London North |850 |570 |580 London West |280 |180 |190 London East |490 |380 |340 London South |300 |360 |220 Inner London North |1,120 |930 |770 Inner London South |760 |680 |460 Merseyside |2,030 |1,860 |1,640 Manchester East |800 |660 |550 Manchester Central |870 |920 |770 Manchester North |720 |620 |520 Glasgow |1,310 |970 |800 Sheffield |1,340 |1,140 |820 Birmingham and Solihull |1,580 |1,440 |960 Coventry and Warwickshire |570 |560 |410
Table 4. Employment Training Filled places March-May 1989
Training agency area |March |April |May
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London North |3,280 |3,320 |3,560
London West |1,180 |1,210 |1,180
London East |2,010 |2,160 |2,200
London South |1,440 |1,630 |1,610
Inner London North |5,580 |5,680 |5,790
Inner London South |3,020 |3,360 |3,350
Merseyside |7,680 |8,170 |8,700
Manchester East |2,400 |2,550 |2,630
Manchester Central |3,940 |4,170 |4,190
Manchester North |2,550 |2,660 |2,620
Glasgow |4,130 |4,410 |4,510
Sheffield |5,370 |5,550 |5,490
Birmingham and Solihull |6,700 |7,350 |7,350
Coventry and Warwickshire |2,330 |2,600 |2,660
Table 5. Employment Training Unfilled places May 1989
Training agency area |May
--------------------------------------------------------------------
London North |160
London West |360
London East |280
London South |280
Inner London North |740
Inner London South |850
Merseyside |4,670
Manchester East |610
Manchester Central |5,030
Manchester North |2,170
Glasgow |2,110
Sheffield |740
Birmingham and Solihull |2,140
Coventry and Warwickshire |1,220
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for Great Britain and each standard training agency region, what are the monthly statistics for the latest available three months for employment training showing (a) the number of referrals to ET from restart interviews, (b) the number of ET action plans completed, (c) the number of starts with ET training managers, (d) the number of ET filled places and (e) the number of unfilled ET places.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is not available in the precise form requested. Restart referrals are available only for employment service regions and are given in table 1. The figures for action plans, starts at training managers and filled places are given in tables 2, 3 and 4. Information about unfilled places is available only for May and these figures are given in table 5.
Table 1. Employment Service Restart referrals to ET training agents February to April 1989 Employment Service Region |February |March |April ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- London and South East |8,300 |7,600 |7,600 South West |1,600 |1,600 |1,200 West Midlands |5,000 |5,200 |4,000 East Midlands and Eastern |3,000 |2,800 |2,900 Yorkshire and Humberside |4,100 |4,100 |3,800 North West |5,700 |5,900 |4,800 Northern |3,400 |3,300 |3,300 Wales |2,800 |2,800 |2,400 Scotland |7,100 |7,600 |4,800 Great Britain |41,000 |41,000 |33,800
Table 2. Employment Training Action plans completed by training agents March to May 1989 Training Agency Region |March |April |May ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East |4,300 |3,600 |3,000 London |6,100 |4,500 |4,300 South West |2,800 |2,300 |2,000 West Midlands |5,900 |4,900 |8,900 East Midlands and Eastern |4,000 |3,600 |3,000 Yorkshire and Humberside |5,600 |5,100 |5,000 North West |7,200 |6,400 |5,300 Northern |5,300 |4,600 |4,300 Wales |3,400 |2,800 |2,800 Scotland |7,800 |5,700 |5,300 Great Britain |52,300 |43,700 |38,900
Table 3. Employment Training Starts at Training Managers March
to May 1989
Training Agency Region |March |April |May
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |2,100 |2.300 |1,600
London |3,800 |3,100 |2.600
South West |2,300 |2,000 |1,700
West Midlands |4,900 |4,100 |3,200
East Midlands and Eastern |3,200 |3,100 |2,400
Yorkshire and Humberside |5,400 |4,900 |4,100
North West |6,500 |5,800 |4,800
Northern |4,700 |3,800 |3,300
Wales |3,200 |2,900 |2,300
Scotland |6,000 |4,400 |4,000
Great Britain |42,200 |36,300 |30,000
Table 4. Employment Training Numbers in Training (Filled Places)
Training Agency Region |March |April |May
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |9,900 |10,200 |10,700
London |16,500 |17,400 |17,700
South West |10,900 |11,300 |11,500
West Midlands |20,600 |22,100 |22,400
East Midlands and Eastern |14,000 |14,900 |15,300
Yorkshire and Humberside |23,900 |24,600 |24,900
North West |24,800 |25,900 |26,400
Northern |20,000 |21,100 |21,800
Wales |13,400 |14,200 |14,500
Scotland |20,900 |22,000 |22,300
Great Britain |175,000 |184,000 |187,000
Table 5. Employment Training Unfilled Places May 1989
Training Agency Region |May
------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |5,900
London |2,600
South West |3,000
West Midlands |7,600
East Midlands and Eastern |3,600
Yorkshire and Humberside |4,300
North West |15,800
Northern |6,700
Wales |5,800
Scotland |12,600
Great Britain |68,000
Employment Training
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give a breakdown of the number of accidents that have occurred on employment training since its inception in the categories covered by "Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences, 1985" ; and if he will express this also as a percentage per 100,000 trainees.
Mr. Nicholls : The table gives the numbers of fatal, major and minor accidents reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985 which have occurred to trainees on employment training since the inception of the programme on 5 September 1988. Accident rates are expressed as an annual rate per 100,000 trainees.
|Number of Accidents |Accident Rate/100,000
|(provisional)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fatal |Nil |Nil
Major |83 |74
Minor |452 |403
Hotels and Catering
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people he estimates are employed in the hotel and catering industry throughout the United Kingdom ; and how many of these he estimates come from other European Community countries and from outside the European Community.
Mr. Lee : It is estimated that in March 1989 there were 1.2 million employees in employment in the hotel and catering industry in the United Kingdom. Preliminary results from the 1988 labour force survey show that in spring 1988 there were about a further 0.2 million self-employed people in the hotel and catering industry.
The labour force survey also suggests that, of those in employment in the hotel and catering industry in spring 1988, either as employees or as self- employed, about 5 per cent. were nationals of other European Community countries and a further 4 per cent. were nationals of countries outside the European Community.
Jobclubs (Nottingham)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the reasons for the closure of jobclubs in Bestwood park, Nottingham ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lee : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North (Mr. Burt) on 27 January 1989, Official Report, column 810, in which he announced that we would be able to increase numbers helped by jobclubs while streamlining the network.
There was substantial underused capacity in the Bestwood park jobclub and the closure decision was taken to make better use of resources. Long-term unemployed people in the Bestwood park area will continue to have full access to the jobclub programme. There are a number of jobclubs within easy travelling distance and travelling expenses to and from jobclubs are paid in full.
Training, Gloucester
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of employment training places currently available in the Gloucester travel-to-work area.
Mr. Nicholls : Programme information is not held on a travel-to-work area basis. Information about the number of contracted places will be available later in the year for the area covered by the Training Agency's Gloucester and Wiltshire area.
Column 238
Trade Union Rights
Mr. Patnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many requests for assistance have been received by the new commissioner for the rights of trade union members ; and if he plans to introduce measures to extend the commissioner's powers.
Mr. Nicholls : I understand that up to the beginning of this month, the commissioner for the rights of trade union members has received over 100 inquiries and 19 formal applications for assistance. Proposals to extend the commissioner's powers were made in the Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment". The Government are considering responses to these proposals and an announcement will be made in due course.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he intends to take to ensure that existing national training schemes will not be prejudiced by the proposed training and enterprise council system.
Mr. Cope : The introduction of training and enterprise councils will enhance training provision and ensure that skill needs are addressed in the light of national and local priorities. Proposals have been issued to national providers under which they will contract directly with training and enterprise councils ; but the Training Agency will continue to provide a service to national providers to facilitate their involvement under the new arrangements. Training and enterprise councils and national providers have much to offer each other.
Repetitive Strain Injury
Sir Bernard Braine : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action has been taken to publish guidelines to employers and managers on the need to identify the cause and to prevent repetitive strain injury in the workplace.
Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive has published a guidance note on this subject, entitled "Beat Conditions and Tenosynovitis" and is preparing new guidance which we expect to be published before the end of the year.
Collieries (Accidents)
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of reportable accidents and fatalities at the following collieries for the last three years (a) Murton, (b) Easington, (c) Dawdon, (d) Vane Tempest, (e) Wearmouth, (f) Westo, and (g) Ellington.
Mr. Nicholls : Reportable accidents and fatalities for the last three years are :
Column 237
P
Mine Reportable accidents Fatalities
|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Murton |249 |166 |204 |- |- |1
(b) Easington |153 |112 |161 |- |- |-
(c) Dawdon |200 |124 |260 |- |- |-
(d) Vane Tempest/Seaham |169 |87 |118 |- |- |-
(e) Wearmouth |308 |202 |253 |- |- |-
(f) Westoe |232 |142 |123 |- |- |-
(g) Ellington |230 |141 |229 |- |- |-
Column 239
Earnings
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy the latest figures, in terms of national currency, showing average earnings of adult male workers in the steel, motor car and mechanical engineering industries and of adult female workers in the textile and clothing industries.
Mr. Nicholls : The latest available figures are to be found in the Eurostat publication "Earnings in Industries and Services" No. 2 1988, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the number and percentage of employees earning less than £2.80 per hour giving (a) the total, (b) male, in total and full and part-time, (c) female, in total and full and part-time, (d) full-time, in total and male and female and (e) part-time, in total and male and female for each region and England, Scotland, Wales and Great Britain for the latest available year.
| Next Section
| Home Page |