| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Nicholls : There are no hon. Members included on the boards of prospective training and enterprise councils, nor are any included in proposals for training and enterprise councils.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the detailed arrangements for provision of employment training and YTS under training and enterprise councils.
Mr. Nicholls : The detailed arrangements for provision of employment training and YTS under training and enterprise councils will be published shortly.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total amount of public money that the TECs have received for development funding ; and if he will provide an itemised breakdown.
Mr. Nicholls : To date a total of some £2,500,000 for funding has been agreed with 22 prospective TECs. These are itemised in the table.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Contracted levels of development funding
|1989-90 |1990-91 |Total fund
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East
Essex |75,000 |35,000 |110,000
Hampshire |127,765 |21,235 |149,000
Hertfordshire |100,000 |10,000 |110,000
Isle of Wight |57,000 |28,000 |85,000
Milton Keynes |54,250 |20,500 |74,750
Thames Valley |125,000 |- |125,000
London
Kingston/Merton |87,000 |24,000 |111,000
South West
Dorset |95,000 |- |95,000
Devon/Cornwall |189,750 |-189,750
East Midlands and Eastern
North Notts |120,000 |- |120,000
Yorkshire and Humberside
Calderdale/Kirklees 106,125 |- |106,125
Sheffield |137,500 |- |137,500
North Yorkshire |124,725 |- |124,725
Rotherham |80,000 |10,000 |90,000
North West
Cumbria |115,000 |- |115,000
East Lancashire |118,000 |- |118,000
Oldham |80,588 |- |80,588
Rochdale |75,000 |- |75,000
South & East Cheshire 106,000 - 106,000
Wigan |65,390 |28,610 |94,000
Northern
Teesside |127,000 |127,000
Tyneside |135,650 |135,650
|------- |------- |-------
Totals |2,301,743 |177,345 |2,479,088
Young People (Remuneration)
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how the Government intend to comply with the requirement of article 24 of the draft social charter that young people of more than 16 years of age who are in gainful employment should receive equitable remuneration.
Mr. Eggar : The European Commission's draft social charter is still under discussion by member states.
Wages
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the underpayment figures, regionally, for underpayment of wages in 1987 and 1988, and the percentage of establishments visited by the inspectorate in the regions which were underpaying in 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Nicholls : The information for 1987 is contained in the reply given on 4 March 1988 in the Official Report at columns 731-36. The information for 1988 is in the reply given on 1 March 1989 in the Official Report at columns 201-6.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if there is a level of wages which the Government treats as excessively low.
Mr. Nicholls : Pay generally is a matter for employers and their employees to decide for themselves in the light of all the relevant circumstances.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in the light of the increase in illegal underpayment cases in 1988, what the Government intend to do to halt this trend.
Mr. Nicholls : The general level of compliance with wages orders remains consistently high. The percentage of workers found to be paid at least the statutory minimum due in checks conducted by the wages inspectorate in 1987 was 96.9 per cent. and 1988 was 96.6 per cent.
Wages Councils
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what evidence he has that abolition of the wages councils will result directly in employment growth ; and if he will publish it.
Column 279
Mr. Nicholls : Studies supporting the Government's view that the abolition of wages councils would have a favourable effect on employment have been listed in previous parliamentary answers in the Official Report on 21 February 1985 at column 516 and on 18 June 1985 at column 92.
Crown Immunity
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will now introduce legislation to remove Crown immunity from Crown bodies other than health authorities.
Mr. Luce : I have been asked to reply.
The Government's policy in respect of Crown immunity is that it should not lead to lower standards being accepted in Crown premises. This is reviewed in individual cases where there appears to be evidence of cause for concern.
Low Pay
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspectors were in charge of low pay cases for each year since 1974.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 18 October 1989] : The Department inspects pay levels only where statutory minimum rates set by wages councils are in force. The average number of inspectors in post for this purpose in each of the years in question was :
Year |Number --------------------- 1974 |135 1975 |128 1976 |125 1977 |132 1978 |143 1979 |158 1980 |155 1981 |117 1982 |116 1983 |116 1984 |115 1985 |120 1986 |116 1987 |73 1988 |70
The reduction in the number of inspectors in 1987 reflected the simpler and quicker task of checking compliance with wage orders and the rise in the general level of compliance following the reform of the wages council system in 1986.
Career Development Loans
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library details of the career development loans scheme, and any evaluation carried out by his Department of the scheme.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 17 October 1989] : The Government launched career development loans nationally in July 1988, and details were placed in the Library of the House at that time. External evaluation is planned for 1990-91. I will write to the hon. Member about the evaluation of the pilot carried out by my Department and place a copy in the Library of the House.
Column 280
ENERGY
European Community (Nuclear Generation)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make it his policy to introduce a paper to the European Council of Energy Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on 30 October to eliminate all state subsidies of the nuclear generating and nuclear fuel cycle industries in the European Community, as part of progress towards free competition in the energy markets in the European Community from 1 January 1993.
Mr. Michael Spicer : I have no plans to do so. However, the Commission is currently collecting information from member states about state aids and other Government assistance to the Community electricity and nuclear industries.
European Co-operation
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what plans he has to introduce new initiatives for European co-operation on (a) renewable energy technologies, (b) fast breeder nuclear technology and (c) fusion reactor technology at the next Council of European Energy Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on 30 October.
Mr. Michael Spicer : There is already an active programme of collaboration within the EEC on research and demonstration programmes in renewable energy technologies. During its Presidency the United Kingdom initiated a series of exchanges within the EEC on renewable energy. As a result senior scientific advisers from each member state now meet regularly to exchange information and to co-ordinate programmes within the Community.
The Council will be discussing a Commission proposal, for a further five- year programme to promote energy technology in Europe, which includes support for work on renewable energy sources. The Commission has also submitted proposals for a new framework programme on research and development which includes work on all the technologies mentioned. This will be discussed by the Community's research council.
Plutonium (Sellafield)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will provide published data in the Official Report giving (a) the total in kilogrammes of the amount of plutonium in all wastes on the Sellafield site resulting from the reprocessing of all Central Electricity Generating Board and South of Scotland Electricity Board Magnox spent fuel up to 31 December 1986, (b) the accuracy of the figure in (a), and (c) how much of the figure in (a) is included in the table giving the allocation of plutonium produced in Central Electricity Generating Board and South of Scotland Electricity Board Magnox reactors as of31 March 1987, Official Report, 24 July 1987, column 516.
Mr. Michael Spicer : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 18 July 1989 at columns 79-80.
National Power
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if National Power will retain the ownership of all nuclear waste in the categories of low, intermediate and high level
Column 281
solid and liquid radioactive wastes arising from their nuclear stations and after reprocessing, when the Central Electricity Generating Board is privatised.Mr. Michael Spicer : The Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate requires the licensee to make satisfactory arrangements for the treatment, storage and ultimate disposal of spent fuel and nuclear waste. This will not change after privatisation.
United Kingdom Nirex Ltd
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what will be the constitution of the board of United Kingdom Nirex Ltd, following the privatisation of the Central Electricity Generating Board.
Mr. Michael Spicer : No decisions have yet been taken on the CEGB's present shareholding in Nirex after privatisation.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
World Bank (Environmental Protection)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what initiatives have been taken by Her Majesty's Government's representatives at the World Bank to increase the activities of the bank in global environmental protection and environmental development ; and what policies on the environment the World Bank currently pursues.
Mrs. Chalker : United Kingdom representatives have been at the forefront in urging the Bank to increase its attention to environmental matters, most recently at last month's development committee meeting. The Bank has made admirable progress in assessing the environmental problems of developing countries and in devising appropriate policies. We shall continue to press for further progress.
On the question of global environmental protection, the development committee welcomed the Bank's increasing emphasis on energy conservation and efficiency, and encouraged the Bank to assist countries in introducing alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Animal Foodstuffs (Labelling)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that the regulations relating to mandatory labelling of ingredients on animal foodstuffs are adhered to.
Mr. Maclean : The European Council of Ministers is currently considering a proposal which will require suppliers of animal feeds to declare the materials of categories of materials used in them to supplement existing detailed labelling requirements. Any new measures will be enacted in United Kingdom legislation under the Agriculture Act 1970, which will continue to be enforced by local authorities.
Eggs
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the latest figures for the consumption and production of eggs in Great Britain ;
Column 282
what were the figures for production and consumption 12 months prior to that date ; and if he will make a statement on the future of egg production in Great Britain.Mr. Gummer : The latest available data are as follows : Consumption of eggs in Great Britain for the second quarter of 1989 was 2.41 eggs per person per week per household (source : National Food Survey). The egg packing survey shows throughput by packing stations in Great Britain for the four weeks ending 1 October totalling 2,149 thousand boxes. These figures compare with equivalent figures for 1988 of 2.74 eggs per person per week for household consumption of eggs and 2,384 thousand boxes for throughput at packing stations in Great Britain. Our comprehensive package of measures to combat the risk of salmonella in eggs should enable consumer confidence in eggs to be restored and our egg market to strengthen to the benefit of producers.
Crayfish Plague
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek the advice of the National Rivers Authority on possible methods of combating crayfish plague.
Mr. Gummer : I have asked the National Rivers Authority for any advice the authority has to offer. This fungal disease established itself in many of our main crayfish rivers some years ago. Our view remains that practical controls for containing or eradicating crayfish plague--which attacks wild fish in their natural environment--would be very difficult to achieve and would be of doubtful effectiveness.
Butter and Meat Distribution
Mr. Madden : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will name all organisations which have distributed butter, released from EEC stores, in Bradford in the last two years ; and what representations he has received concerning the fairness and efficiency of the distribution of butter.
Mr. MacLean : A list of the organisations originally designed to participate in the scheme was placed in the Library of the House on 21 April 1988. Of these the following are based in Bradford : Islamic Missionary College
Blenheim Mosque
Jamiyat Tabligh Ul Islam
Suffa Tul Islam
Bierley Community Centre
Over the two years during which the scheme has been operating, we have received a number of representations about it. Most of these have been about the uneven availability of produce, the exclusion of pensioners as a group from the scheme and the allocation of produce to ethnic minority groups.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps when butter or meat is next released from EEC stores for distribution free within the United Kingdom to ensure that wide publicity is given in advance of distribution giving information about entitlement to receive butter and meat ; and if he will also ensure that distribution arrangements are widely publicised to ensure maximum take-up by those entitled to receive butter and meat.
Column 283
Mr. MacLean : The arrangements for publicising local distributions of surplus produce is a matter for the participating organisations concerned to determine in the light of their knowledge of local needs. Given that the produce available is being fully utilised I have no reason to believe that the current arrangements are inadequate.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when butter and meat will next be released from EEC stores for distribution free within the United Kingdom ; who will be eligible to receive butter and meat ; and what arrangements he will make to ensure such distribution is conducted fairly and efficiently (a) in Bradford and (b) elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maclean : The release of produce from stores and its distribution to eligible recipients has been, and will continue to be, timed to accord with the arrangements made by the organisations operating the scheme. These arrangements will continue until the current scheme runs out. Beyond that, the Commission has made no proposals for a scheme in 1990, but intervention stocks have been much reduced, and the Commission is to review the arrangements next year.
Those eligible to receive produce under the current scheme will continue to be the most needy in our
Column 284
community, that is, those on income support or family credit and those living in welfare hostels or who have no fixed abode. When this scheme was set up, it was decided that the produce would be distributed by voluntary organisations who wished, and had the expertise and facilities, to do so. Designated organisations have clear instructions about eligibility and procedures for distribution. Staff of the agricultural department monitor distributions to ensure that they are conducted in accordance with the rules. The voluntary nature of the scheme makes it impossible to ensure an even geographical distribution of the produce.Nitrogen-based Fertilisers
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to conduct a study of the implications of the release of methane gas from the use of nitrogen-based fertilisers in the United Kingdom for the greenhouse effect global warming.
Mr. MacLean : Methane gas is a product of decomposition. Its agricultural source is ruminant digestion rather than the use of nitrogen- based fertilisers. The Ministry is investigating agricultural sources of greenhouse gases.
|
| Home Page |