| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Goose Bay, Canada
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list all past, current and planned deployments of Royal Air Force Jaguar aircraft to Goose bay, Canada, in 1989, giving the title and purpose of each deployment and the number of aircraft involved ; (2) if he will list all past, current and planned deployments of Royal Air Force Hercules aircraft to Goose bay, Canada, in 1989, giving the title and purpose of each deployment and the number of aircraft involved.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
RAF Germany (Hours Flown)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average annual utilisation rate of Royal Air Force Germany fast jet aircraft, in terms of number of hours flown per aircraft.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Tail Fins (Painting)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the purpose of painting the tail fins of Royal Air Force aircraft in bright colours ; what proportion of the front-line fast jet fleet has had these colours applied ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Bilateral Military Links
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the proposals made and agreements reached since 30 January in the Anglo-German study group on bilateral military links.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In addition to the measures announced on 30 January, the British-German study group has continued to look for opportunities to increase bilateral co-operation. In February it was announced that consideration would be given to the formation of a joint air defence unit in the Federal Republic, and the feasibility of this is being examined. The study group will report to Ministers on its further work in the autumn.
British Defence Policy"
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department last published a copy of the pamphlet "British Defence Policy" ; which external design
Column 1034
consultants were contracted ; how many copies were printed ; how many were distributed ; through which outlets ; and what was the total cost of design, printing and publication.Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Cryer) on 11 May 1989 at column 523. "British Defence Policy 1989-90" was published on 4 May 1989. The contract for the design and printing of the booklet was let, by competitive tender, to Mason Clark McKenna Ltd. About 2,500 copies remain with the Ministry of Defence public relations staff for distribution. The total final cost of design, printing and publication, including staff costs, was £115,599.
Uranium
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many tonnes of depleted uranium is currently held by his Department in the form of (a) uranium hexafluoride tails or (b) uranium metal ; at what locations these materials are stored ; and under what conditions these materials are being stored ;
(2) if he will make a statement on the proposed depleted uranium machining facility to be built at AWE Aldermaston ;
(3) what plans his Department has for using depleted uranium ; (4) what proportions of the depleted uranium metal acquired by his Department came from sources (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in the United States and (c) in other countries.
Mr. Alan Clark : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Greenham Common
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has yet decided on the future use of (a) RAF Greenham Common and (b) RAF Molesworth following the removal of missiles and associated equipment under the intermediate nuclear forces treaty.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The future of RAF Molesworth is still under consideration, although we envisage continuing to make it available to the United States authorities for military purposes. No decision has been taken about the future of RAF Greenham Common but we expect that it will continue to be designated as a standby operating base.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the timetable for removal of missiles from RAF Greenham Common under the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty ; and when the first of these missiles is to be removed.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Under the terms of the Washington treaty, all of the 96 operational ground-launched cruise missiles currently based at RAF Greenham Common will have been removed and eliminated by 31 May 1991. For operational reasons, it is our policy not to reveal in advance precise dates concerning the removal programme.
Column 1035
AWE Aldermaston
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the proposed tritium research and development facility to be built at AWE Aldermaston.
Mr. Alan Clark : I shall write to the hon. Member.
RAF Upper Heyford
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make sure that there are no obstructions along the route of the public highway known as the Portway at RAF Upper Heyford ; (2) if, in the light of the recent cases regarding the highway known as the Portway at RAF Upper Heyford and the challenges over his Department's use of land at RAF Greenham Common, he will review his Department's policies regarding acquisition and use of military lands ;
(3) in which year the land, over which the highway known as the Portway at RAF Upper Heyford runs, was acquired by his Department ; and in which year this land was closed off by fencing ;
(4) what steps he will take to ensure public right of access to the highway known as the Portway at RAF Upper Heyford.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
El Salvador
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether training facilities are offered to representatives of the armed forces of El Salvador ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No training assistance is provided to the armed forces of El Salvador at present.
Ulster Defence Regiment (Resignations)
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give details of the number of persons who have been asked to resign from the Ulster Defence Regiment, and its Reserve since 1985 as a result of having been charged with crimes, giving separately details of persons who resigned as a result of being charged with scheduled offences.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Army (Northern Ireland)
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the manpower strength of the British Army in Northern Ireland ; and if he will give details of the number of operatives for the categories (a) UDR, Regular British Army, and (b) British Territorial Army on 31 December 1988 and 30 June 1989.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The figures for 31 December 1988 and for 31 March 1989 (the latest available) are as follows :
|31 December 1988|31 March 1989
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulster Defence Regiment |6,312 |6,342
Regular Army |9,695 |9,658
Territorial Army |3,755 |3,812
The figures for the Ulster Defence Regiment include both full time and part -time soldiers. Soldiers of the Territorial Army are not used in support of the RUC in counter-terrorist operations.
Retired Officer Posts
Mr. Thorne : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the basis of comparability between those employed in his Department's retired officer posts and the administrative class of the Civil Service will be re- established.
Mr. Alan Clark : I shall write to my hon. Friend.
Military Facilities
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which military facilities Soviet Defence Minister Yazov inspected on his recent visit to the United Kingdom ; which of these facilities is open for visits by United Kingdom citizens ; and if he will make a statement on the benefit to the United Kingdom-Soviet Union relations of the visit.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : General Yazov visited RAF Leuchars, HMS Invincible, the Parachute Regiment depot and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. All of these are open to the general public from time to time. General Yazov's successful visit is an important milestone in bilateral relations and has contributed significantly to improved mutual understanding in the defence and security field.
Gruinard Island
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if agricultural production is now permitted on Gruinard Island ; (2) when restrictions on visits to the Gruinard Island were (a) first put in place and (b) ended or removed.
Mr. Alan Clark : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Animals (Experiments)
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give details of the different animals used by his Department in experiments.
Mr. Alan Clark : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Defence Expenditure
Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by how much spending on defence has increased in real terms over the past 10 years.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Defence expenditure in 1988-89 was some 16 per cent. higher in real terms than in 1978-79, excluding the effect of general inflation measured by the GDP deflator.
Nuclear Forces (Deployment)
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the thresholds of aggression at which nuclear forces will be deployed by NATO ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The possible use of nuclear weapons in response to an attack is central to NATO's
Column 1037
policy of flexible response. However, it would undermine deterrence to spell out in advance the precise circumstances in which nuclear weapons would or might be used.Armed Forces (Personnel)
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, following the findings of the MARILYN report regarding the difficulty and cost of maintaining current personnel levels in the armed forces, he proposes to conduct a defence review ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The "Statement on the defence Estimates" explained (volume I, paragraphs 513-518) the changing factors affecting the recruitment and retention of service personnel, and some of the measures we are taking to deal with the problems. There is no question of a defence review.
Hunting
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the dates and locations of all occasions when Ministry of Defence land has been used for hunting with hounds in the last 12 months ;
(2) what are the costs of transporting riders and horses from the Household Cavalry to (a) meets of the New Forest buckhounds and (b) meets of the Vale of the White Horse hunt, Gloucestershire ; (3) what information he has on the number of Army personnel who have been involved in hunting and in other duties associated with hunting in the past 12 months ; whether paid leave of absence is granted for these duties ; and how many duty hours were involved ; (4) whether, when Ministry of Defence land is used for hunting, adjoining landowners are contacted in the case of the hounds or riders entering on to their land.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Government Property (Hire)
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Ministry of Defence personnel are permitted to hire Government property for personal use.
Mr. Neubert : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Environmental Pollution
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has assessed the United States Department of Energy's report on radioactive and toxic contamination at its military production facilities, released in January, in order to ascertain whether the details have relevance for the United Kingdom's environmental management practice at his Department's nuclear facilities.
Mr. Alan Clark [holding answer 13 July 1989] : I shall write to the hon. Member.
EMPLOYMENT
Wages Councils
Mr. Bright : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received on the future of wages councils ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 1038
Mr. Eggar : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the former Minister of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) on 21 March, Official Report, columns 555-56. Reconsideration of the responses has shown that the second sentence in the narrative paragraph following the table in that reply should have read : "Replies by employer bodies represented on the six largest councils, which embrace 94 per cent. of the workers covered by the system, show that a majority of respondents want the councils abolished". Of the 138 seats held by employer bodies on these councils 83 are held by bodies wanting abolition, 30 by those wanting retention and 25 by non-respondents.
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, West Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States of America the income of employees and the self-employed respectively as a percentage of national income in 1959, 1969, 1979 and the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Ryder : I have been asked to reply.
I shall answer when resources permit.
YTS
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many YTS starts and how many leavers were recorded by each payment type, by male and female, and by one or two-year training entitlement by standard Training Agency region for Great Britain as a whole, and for each of the last three months.
Mr. Nicholls : As the information is contained in several tables I shall write to the hon. Member with the information requested and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of YTS trainees leave before the completion of their two-year programme.
Mr. Eggar : The latest information from the YTS leavers survey shows that, excluding re-entrants, 72 per cent. of trainees left YTS four weeks or more before completing their two-year entitlement to training, in the period between March 1987 and February 1989. The proportion of early leavers in this period is not typical of YTS as a whole, since a two-year entitlement could not be completed before April 1989. The percentage of early leavers is falling as more months with a representative mixture of completers and early leavers are included in the estimate.
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the numbers or proportions of trainees who leave YTS within 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks, respectively, by Training Agency region.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 27 July 1989] : The information requested is given in the table.
Column 1039
Table to show the percentage of all leavers who leave YTS in the
time bands shown by region
|13 per cent.|26 per cent.|39 per cent.|52 per cent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |21 |14 |11 |19
London |25 |15 |11 |20
South West |21 |13 |11 |19
West Midlands |25 |15 |12 |16
East Midlands & Eastern |23 |14 |11 |17
Yorks and Humberside |25 |14 |11 |17
North West |27 |14 |11 |14
Northern |23 |13 |11 |15
Wales |24 |14 |11 |18
Scotland |28 |15 |11 |17
Tourism
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out his present responsibilities in relation to tourism.
Mr. Nicholls : The Secretary of State for Employment is responsible for tourism policy in England and for overall tourism in Great Britain. The Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales are responsible for tourism policy in their countries.
Travel-to-interview Scheme
Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will increase the basic eligibility wage level to applicants for the travel -to-interview scheme.
Mr. Eggar : Following a recent review of the eligibility criteria for the travel-to-interview scheme, it has been decided to increase the upper salary limit to £16,500 with effect from 11 September 1989.
Dock Labour
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he now has for the maintenance of current standards of enforcement of health and safety arrangements in scheme ports in the United Kingdom in the event of the termination of the current scheme for employment of dock labour.
Mr. Nicholls : Primary responsibility for health and safety at work lies with employers and others in the workplace. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive have enforcement powers to ensure that
Column 1040
employers comply with their duties under health and safety legislation, which applied in scheme and non-scheme ports alike. The abolition of the dock labour scheme has not affected these arrangements.Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he now intends to take to ensure that current arrangements for determining remuneration and conditions of service in non-scheme ports shall be continued in the event of the termination of the present dock labour scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : The dock labour scheme was abolished by the Dock Work Act 1989 which came into effect on 3 July. Arrangements for settling the terms and conditions of employment in all British ports are a matter for the employers directly concerned and their employees.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the numbers employed in manufacturing in the United Kingdom, United States of America, West Germany, France, Italy and Japan in 1959, 1968, 1979 and at the latest available date.
Mr. Eggar : The earliest year for which information is available for all the countries except Italy, is 1963. The information is shown in the table.
Manufacturing employment
(thousands)
|1963 |1968 |1979 |1987
--------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |8,423 |8,353 |7,935 |5,415
Germany |9,912 |9,639 |8,793 |8,122
France |5,341 |5,294 |5,556 |4,629
Italy |- |- |5,371 |4,639
Japan |11,080|13,050|13,330|14,250
United States |18,025|20,856|22,458|20,935
Source: ED for United Kingdom and OECD for other
countries.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the increase in civil employment in (a) 1959 to 1973, (b) 1973 to 1979, and (c) 1979 to date in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) West Germany, (iii) France, (iv) Italy, (v) Japan, and (vi) the United States of America.
Mr. Eggar : The figures are shown in the table.
Column 1039
Change in civilian employment
1959 to 1973 1973 to 1979 1979 to 1988
|Thousands|Per cent.|Thousands|Per cent.|Thousands|Per cent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |936 |3.9 |364 |1.5 |817 |3.3
Germany |842 |3.3 |-896 |-3.4 |1,248 |4.9
France |2,192 |11.7 |442 |2.1 |-161 |-0.8
Italy |-981 |-4.9 |1,051 |5.5 |775 |3.9
Japan |9,240 |21.3 |2,200 |4.2 |5,320 |9.7
United States |20,434 |31.6 |13,760 |16.2 |16,144 |16.3
Sources: ED for UK and OECD for other countries.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report (a) the number of unemployed who have not worked for at least a year and (b) the number who last worked in manufacturing industry by full-time, part-time, sex and adult status.
Column 1040
Mr. Nicholls : Data for each of the groups requested, on a comparable basis, is available only from the labour force survey (LFS). A preliminary estimate from the spring 1988 LFS of the number of unemployed (ILO/OECD definition) aged 16 or over in Great Britain, who left their last job 12 months or more prior to interview, is 1, 191,000.
Column 1041
Other preliminary estimates, as requested, are shown in the following table :
Unemployed<1> whose last job was in the manufacturing
industries<2>-Great Britain
Spring 1988, Thousands
|Age |All persons |Males |Females
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) |16 or over |351 |218 |133
| full-time<3>|309 |207 |102
| part-time<3>|42 |11 |31
(ii) |18 or over |335 |207 |128
| full-time<3>|294 |197 |97
| part-time<3>|41 |10 |31
<1>ILO/OECD definition.
<2>SIC 1980, Industry Divisions 2-4. Persons who left their last job three or more years
prior to interview are not asked about their previous industry.
<3>Based on respondent's own assessment, not on the number of hours usually worked.
Source: 1988 LFS, preliminary estimates.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide full details of the number of people who are receiving unemployment benefit for part of a week who are also working part-time (a) at the latest available date, (b) over the last 12 months and (c) in the preceding two years.
Mr. Eggar : This information is not available.
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people employed in (a) the textile industry and (b) the clothing industry for each year since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The available information is as follows :
Employees in Employment (unadjusted for seasonal variation)
Great Britain
June each year<1> |<2>Textile industry |<2>Footwear and clothing
|(class 43) |industry (class 45)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |371,000 |395,000
1980 |325,000 |361,000
1981 |273,000 |314,000
1982 |256,000 |295,000
1983 |239,000 |286,000
1984 |234,000 |292,000
1985 |233,000 |295,000
1986 |234,000 |296,000
1987 |223,000 |293,000
1988 |223,000 |295,000
1989 (May) |204,000 |280,000
<1>Except 1989 where May figures have been given as June figures are not yet available.
<2>Standard Industrial Classification 1980.
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people employed in the machine tool manufacturing industry for each year since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The available information is as follows :
Employees in employment (unadjusted for seasonal variation) Great Britain Metal-working machine tools and engineers tools ( Group 322)<2> June each year<1> |Numbers ------------------------------------------------------ 1979 |111,000 1980 |110,000 1981 |96,000 1982 |90,000 1983 |75,000 1984 |75,000 1985 |78,000 1986 |78,000 1987 |75,000 1988 |77,000 May 1989 |78,000 <1>Except 1989 where May figures have been given as June figures are not yet available. <2>Standard Industrial Classification 1980.
Health and Safety
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many companies have been subjected to legal proceedings by the Health and Safety Executive due to their breach of regulation 7 of the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1984.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many health and safety prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive were carried out in (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. Nicholls : Available information is set out in the table :
<1>All courts <2>Crown courts
Year |Information Laid |Counts on which convicted|Counts on which convicted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983<3> |2,238 |1,941 |-
1984 |2,209 |1,944 |-
1985 |2,321 |1,915 |-
1986-87 |2,199 |1,771 |35
1987-88 |2,337 |2,053 |14
1988-89 |n/a<4> |n/a<4> |38
n/a=Not yet available.
<1>Data relate to prosecutions brought in all Magistrates, Crown and Sheriff's Courts by factory and agricultural inspectorates,
mines and quarries inspectorate, nuclear installations inspectorate, railway inspectorate and petroleum engineering division (
Department of Energy). The vast majority of prosecutions are brought by HM factory and agricultural inspectorates.
<2>Data relates to prosecutions in England and Wales brought by factory inspectorate, and is derived from a special HSE survey.
Information prior to April 1986 is not available.
<3>1983-85 calendar years: 1986-87 onwards year commencing 1 April. Data for January-March 1986 have to be omitted.
<4>Data currently being processed.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average financial penalty imposed in successful health and safety prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years for which figures are available (a) in magistrates courts and (b) in Crown courts.
Mr. Nicholls : Available information is set out in the table :
Column 1043
Average penalty per count on which convicted<1>
|All courts<2> |Crown courts<3>
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------
1983<4><3> |252 |-
1984 |313 |-
1985 |436 |n/a
1986-87 |410 |2,086
1987-88 |792 |2,696
1988-89 |<5>n/a |3,017
<1> Defendants may be convicted on several counts.
<2> Data relates to prosecutions brought in all magistrates,
Crown and sheriff's courts by factory and agricultural
inspectorates, mines and quarries inspectorate, nuclear
installations inspectorate, railway inspectorate, and petroleum
engineering division (Department of Energy).
<3> Data relates to prosecutions brought by factory
inspectorate in England and Wales and is derived from a special
survey by the HSE. Information prior to April 1986 is not
available.
<4> 1983-85 calendar years: 1986-87 onwards year commencing 1
April. Data for January to March 1986 have been omitted.
<5> Data currently being processed.
| Next Section
| Home Page |