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57. Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects to grant approved training organisation status to employment training agents and managers.
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Mr. Nicholls : Approved status will be granted to the first groups of employment training agents and managers during April and May 1990.
35. Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from individuals or organisations over participants in the Government's employment training scheme leaving the scheme before completing their training programme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My Department has received various representations about employment training. These all receive careful consideration. Many people leave employment training in order to take jobs, though it is possible to continue the training while being employed.
65. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employment training trainees have received the full or part of the training bonus.
Mr. Nicholls : Information is not yet available on the number of trainees receiving training bonuses.
73. Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the names of those employment training training agents that have been given approved status since the inception of employment training.
Mr. Nicholls : No employment training training agents have yet been granted approved status. All organisations that have applied to become training agents have until September 1990 to satisfy the rigorous criteria for gaining approved status.
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 four months for employment training showing (a) the number of referrals to employment training from Restart interviews, (b) the number of employment training action plans completed, (c) the number of starts with employment training training managers, (d) the number of employment training filled places and (e) the number of profiled or contracted employment training places.
Mr. Nicholls : Information on the numbers of referrals to employment training from restart interviews are given in table 1. The numbers of action plans agreed at training agents are given in table 2. The numbers of starts and filled places are given in tables 3 and 4. The numbers of contracted places as at 30 September, the only date for which information is available, are given in table 5.
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Table 1 Referrals to employment training from restart interviews: May 1989 to August 1989 Employment service region |May |June |July |August ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ London and South East |5,700 |7,200 |5,300 |5,900 South West |1,200 |1,100 |1,000 |1,000 West Midlands |3,800 |3,900 |3,300 |3,500 East Midlands and Eastern |2,400 |3,000 |2,200 |2,200 Yorkshire and Humberside |2,800 |3,200 |2,600 |2,800 North West |4,100 |5,000 |4,300 |4,100 Northern |2,600 |3,200 |2,300 |2,700 Wales |1,900 |2,100 |1,700 |1,500 Scotland |5,000 |6,500 |4,000 |4,600 Great Britain |29,500 |35,200 |26,900 |28,300
Table 2 Employment training action plans agreed at training agents: June 1988 to September 1989 Training agency region |June |July |August |September --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East |3,200 |3,500 |2,900 |3,600 London |4,700 |4,200 |4,400 |5,000 South West |2,200 |1,800 |1,800 |2,800 West Midlands |4,500 |4,300 |3,900 |5,200 East Midlands and Eastern |3,400 |3,100 |3,100 |3,000 Yorkshire and Humberside |4,800 |4,700 |4,600 |6,300 North West |6,400 |6,000 |5,600 |6,600 Northern |4,700 |4,000 |3,900 |5,100 Wales |2,700 |2,300 |2,200 |3,200 Scotland |6,200 |4,500 |5,500 |6,400 |------- |------- |------- |------- Great Britain |42,800 |38,200 |37,900 |47,700
Table 3 Employment training action plans agreed at training agents: June 1989 to September 1989 Training agency region |June |July |August |September --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East |2,400 |4,500 |1,900 |3,400 London |3,100 |3,100 |2,700 |4,800 South West |1,900 |1,500 |1,200 |2,300 West Midlands |3,800 |3,300 |3,200 |4,500 East Midlands and Eastern |2,800 |3,000 |2,500 |3,500 Yorkshire and Humberside |4,500 |3,800 |3,500 |5,500 North West |6,300 |5,300 |4,500 |6,200 Northern |4,100 |3,600 |3,000 |4,900 Wales |2,600 |3,400 |4,500 |5,600 Scotland |6,200 |4,500 |5,500 |6,400 |------- |------- |------- |------- Great Britain |36,400 |34,200 |29,300 |44,200
Table 4 Employment training filled places: June 1988 to September 1989 Training agency region |June |July |August |September --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East |11,500 |14,500 |14,200 |14,900 London |18,300 |19,000 |19,000 |20,200 South West |11,800 |11,800 |11,500 |12,000 West Midlands |22,800 |23,200 |23,600 |23,400 East Midlands and Eastern |15,500 |16,400 |16,800 |16,900 Yorkshire and Humberside |25,200 |25,200 |25,100 |25,200 North West |27,600 |29,000 |28,700 |29,100 Northern |23,000 |24,400 |24,700 |24,900 Wales |14,800 |15,800 |16,000 |16,500 Scotland |23,200 |23,700 |24,400 |25,100 Great Britain |193,700 |203,000 |204,000 |208,000
Table 5 Employment training contracted places: 30 September 1989 Training agency region |September ------------------------------------------------------------------------ South East |16,700 London |22,800 South West |13,500 West Midlands |28,500 East Midlands and Eastern |17,800 Yorkshire and Humberside |29,100 North West |36,800 Northern |27,000 Wales |20,900 Scotland |31,200 Great Britain |244,000
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Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the nature of the relationship between employment training training managers and local education authorities.
Mr. Nicholls : Local education authorities, like any other organisations, may apply to become either training agents or training managers within employment training. They may also choose to act as subcontractors to training managers.
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently undertaking employment training in the north-west of England.
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Mr. Nicholls : On 13 October, the latest date for which information is available, there were 28,800 people on employment training in the north- west of England.
32. Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about his proposals for statutory cooling-off periods in industrial disputes.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government are reviewing the law on industrial action.
34. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the average annual growth in manufacturing productivity since 1980 in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Mr. Eggar : The information requested is as follows :
Manufacturing output per person employed<1> 1980-1988 Country |Annual average percentage |change ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ireland |9.8 Luxembourg |6.1 Portugal |5.6 United Kingdom |5.3 Austria |4.4 Finland |4.4 Belgium |4.2 United States |4.1 Italy |3.8 Canada |3.6 Spain |3.3 France |3.1 Japan |3.1 Netherlands |3.0 Norway |2.8 Sweden |2.7 Switzerland |2.6 Germany |2.2 Australia |2.1 Denmark |0.6 Greece |0.5 <1>Exact coverage differs between countries. Source: OECD; IMF; CSO.
36. Mr. Tracey : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has received any representations about unofficial strikes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations on unofficial industrial action from a wide variety of sources. Proposals for reform of industrial relations law to limit the scope for such action have been made in the Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law" (Cm. 821).
50. Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to introduce legislation to enable employers to dismiss employees who have taken part in unofficial industrial action ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law" (Cm. 821) proposes changes to industrial
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relations and trade union law to discourage wildcat industrial action. It includes proposals which would allow greater freedom for employers to dismiss those who choose to take unofficial industrial action.42. Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he intends to introduce his proposals to reform the law covering unofficial strike action.
Mr. Nicholls : These proposals were published for public consultation in the Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law" (Cm. 821), which invites comments by 1 December.
71. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he plans to meet representatives of the Trades Union Congress to discuss forthcoming legislation on unofficial strikes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend regularly meets representatives of the Trades Union Congress to discuss a wide range of employment issues. He has no current plans for such a meeting.
Mr. Irving : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to make unofficial strikes illegal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : Unofficial, "wildcat" industrial action is a deep-rooted and long-standing industrial relations problem. It can cause disproportionate damage to businesses and to jobs because of its unpredictable and disruptive nature. It can also cause serious inconvenience to the general public, as in the industrial action affecting the London Underground and British Rail last summer. The Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law" proposes a number of changes in the law to discourage wildcat industrial action, by extending union responsibility and giving employers greater freedom to dismiss those taking unofficial action.
37. Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what further measures he is considering to upgrade the skills of young people.
47. Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what further measures he is considering to upgrade the skills of young persons.
49. Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what further measures he is considering to upgrade the skills of young persons.
92. Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what further measures he is considering to upgrade the skills of young persons.
Mr. Nicholls : The White Paper "Employment for the 1990s" (Cm. 540) announced the formation of local enterprise companies in Scotland and training and enterprise councils in England and Wales. These are being given the task of assessing the key skill needs, prospects for expanded job growth and the adequacy of existing training arrangements in their local labour market. It will be for the councils to develop strategies and measures that will meet the higher skill needs of the economy.
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The White Paper also stated that YTS would be reviewed in the light of the changing labour market. I shall announce shortly the results of this review.38. Mrs. Peacock : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of whether the enterprise allowance scheme provides value for money in creating new jobs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The efficiency unit and the National Audit Office have both endorsed the scheme as a value-for-money employment measure. Survey evidence shows that 65 per cent. of those people who complete their year in the scheme are still operating their business three years after start-up. These same surveys also show that for every 100 businesses still trading at this stage 114 additional jobs have been created.
76. Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have participated in the enterprise allowance scheme since its launch in 1983.
Mr. Eggar : Over 470,000 people have participated in the enterprise allowance scheme since it began in 1982.
39. Mr. Harris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have been found to be signing for benefit while working during each of the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The number of people who have withdrawn their claims to benefit as a result of investigations by this Department's fraud investigators over the last five years is as follows :
|Number ---------------------- 1984-85 |22,500 1985-86 |37,500 1986-87 |59,500 1987-88 |80,000 1988-89 |86,895
61. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his Department's exercise on the south coast of England to detect benefit fraud among seasonal workers in the tourism industry.
Mr. Eggar : The south coast exercise, which was carried out between May and September 1989 and covered the area from Worthing to the New Forest, investigated possible benefit fraud amongst seasonal workers in the tourism industry. A total of 2,380 investigations were undertaken with 634 people withdrawing their claims to benefit. This resulted in net benefit savings of £487,750 and 31 prosecution cases, two of which are collusive employers.
41. Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on skill shortages in electrical engineering.
Mr. Nicholls : The growth in the economy during recent years, along with new technological developments, has
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created a strong demand for staff in the electrical engineering industry, especially those at technician and professional levels. The Government's response to meeting skill needs is set out in the White Paper "Employment in the 1990's" (Cm. 540).43. Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of persons whose entitlement to unemployment benefit was disallowed because they were considered not to be available for work in the adjudication area covering Merseyside for each quarter since June 1988.
Mr. Eggar : The table shows the number of persons whose entitlement to unemployment benefit was disallowed because they were considered not to be available for work for the period and area requested.
Quarter ending |Number disallowed ------------------------------------------------------ 30 June 1988 |160 30 September 1988 |118 31 December 1988 |142 31 March 1989 |146 30 June 1989 |106 30 September 1989 |136
45. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will be commissioning any further surveys into long-term unemployment in certain areas of the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : Surveys of both longer-term unemployed people and employers in the Bristol area have been commissioned in partnership with the Bristol urban development corporation and interviews are currently taking place. There are no plans at present for further surveys in other areas.
55. Dr. Michael Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to legalise secondary action.
Mr. Nicholls : No. The March 1989 Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment" (Cm. 655) proposes changes to the present law to make it unlawful to induce industrial action by workers of an employer not party to a trade dispute except in the case of lawful picketing.
56. Mr. Orme : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement regarding the new test that unemployment benefit claimants have to satisfy proving they are actively seeking work.
Mr. Eggar : The "actively seeking employment" condition applies to all claimants and will normally be satisfied by a simple declaration when a person claims benefit--usually fortnightly. It is too early to provide any figures for the number of those interviewed about their job search by employment service counsellors. This change is a timely and appropriate modernisation of unemployment benefit law.
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Aberdeen Journals Limited59. Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has considered the implications for his legislative programme arising from the developments in the industrial dispute between Aberdeen Journals Ltd. and the National Union of Journalists ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : There are no such implications.
63. Mr. David Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to introduce specialist job clubs for specific industries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : I have no plans to introduce further job clubs for specific industries. In general job clubs work best by having members from different backgrounds working together to find jobs. There are currently three job clubs, in London, Birmingham and Manchester, which specialise in helping people seeking work in the hotel and catering industry. It is too early to assess the results they are achieving.
I am pleased with the continuing success of the job club programme, with over 54,000 people being helped so far this financial year ; 54 per cent. have gone into jobs and 14 per cent. into other positive outcomes, including training, further education and self-employment.
64. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what advice his Department is issuing to employers about employing those drawing retirement pension.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government believe that employers should see older workers as a valuable resource. Demographic trends mean it is more important than ever that employers use the talents which older workers can contribute to the economy. Although recruitment decisions must be left to employers, in making them they should not discriminate unfairly on age grounds. They should also be considering how best to use workers who want to continue beyond retirement pension age. We are putting these messages across to employers through various media, thus creating opportunities for workers over retirement pension age to remain in or return to employment if they so wish.
67. Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on those achieving vocational qualifications in retail business in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholls : The number achieving full retail vocational qualifications in the United Kingdom during the academic year 1988-89 was 11,536. In addition, the Scottish Vocational Education Council awarded 7,332 modules for retail distribution.
86. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how his Department intends to increase the numbers of those achieving vocational qualifications in clothing in Britain.
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Mr. Nicholls : Work on national vocational qualifications (NVQs) for the clothing industry is being co-ordinated by the clothing and allied products industry training board (CAPITB).
With encouragement from the then Manpower Services Commission, the CAPITB was among the first industry training boards to develop NVQs based on occupational standards. There are already considerable numbers of young people training towards NVQs as machinists, an occupation in which previously few employees were qualified. The Training Agency of the Employment Department has required that those on YTS for machining occupations within the clothing industry are given the opportunity of working towards the NVQ or credit towards it.
In addition, the CAPITB is receiving specialist advice and a substantial amount of money via the Training Agency's standards programme to assist it to develop high-quality NVQs which reflect the competences employees need to work in other areas of the industry such as cutting and pressing.
70. Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what progress his Department is making towards the privatisation of the Skills Training Agency.
Mr. Nicholls : An advertisement about the offer of the Skills Training Agency (STA) for sale appeared in the press in September. The response to the advertisement has been encouraging. My sale advisers, Deloitte Corporate Finance, have issued over 100 copies of an information memorandum about STA to potential bidders who have signed a confidentiality undertaking. The next stage of the sale process will be to draw up a shortlist of bidders whose intentions are to run a training business.
75. Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he is planning any new initiatives to increase employment opportunities for disabled people.
Mr. Eggar : The Department's general employment and training programmes are designed to help meet the needs of as many people with disabilities as possible. They are supplemented as necessary by a range of provision specifically for people with disabilities including sheltered employment for those with severe disabilities. These programmes are the subject of a review, the results of which will be made available as soon as possible.
78. Mr. Knowles : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what responses he has received on the draft statutory code of practice on industrial action balloting ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : Various representations were received on the draft code of practice on industrial action balloting during the public consultation period. A modified draft was laid before Parliament on 7 September, and approval for its issue will be sought.
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79. Mr. Andy Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received seeking repeal of the legislation on sequestration of union assets ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government receive representations on various aspects of industrial relations law from a variety of sources. Sequestration is a penalty that may be imposed by courts, where appropriate, for contempt of court. There is no specific employment law for the sequestration of union assets
80. Mr. Hague : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what progress his Department has made in relocating its staff from London to the regions.
Mr. Eggar : On 3 August 1989 I announced that 1,100 jobs from my Department's headquarters in London and Watford would be moved to Runcorn and Sheffield over the next two to three years. I can report to this House that good progress is being made and the first phase of the move will begin, on schedule, in spring 1990.
82. Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received seeking the transfer from the High Court to tribunals of consideration of industrial disputes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : Various representations about industrial relations law are received from a variety of sources. Industrial tribunals currently have jurisdiction to determine complaints about certain individual employment protection rights and other matters which may relate to industrial disputes.
84. Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many strikes there have been (a) in the public sector and (b) in the private sector on average over the last 10 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In the 10 years to 1988 the annual average of recorded stoppages of work due to industrial disputes in the public sector was 541 while in the private sector the average was 720. These statistics exclude stoppages of work involving fewer than 10 workers or lasting less than one day unless the total number of working days lost in the stoppage is greater than 100. This exclusion will have a smaller effect on the public sector figures where the negotiating groups tend to be larger.
87. Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are being considered to attract women back to work.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government are already taking many steps to help women who choose to work to do so while continuing to recognise that women who choose not to do so are doing an equally valuable job in looking after the family at home.
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All Government schemes to help the unemployed, to help the inner cities and to help people set up their own businesses are open equally to women and men. These include Restart courses, job clubs, employment training, inner cities, the enterprise allowance scheme and job share--which is particularly attractive to women returning to work after a career break.Job clubs are open to all who have been out of work for six months whether or not in receipt of benefit, and attendance times can be varied to suit domestic requirements.
My Department's employment service has also produced a special leaflet to tell women interested in returning to work about available opportunities and schemes.
We are also helping to develop to the full the skills of women by increasing the availability of training to them. All women aged 18 to 59 unemployed for six months or more are eligible to take advantage of employment training. In addition, women returning to the labour market and certain single parents on order books can also enter the programme, full or part-time, without fulfilling the six-month unemployment eligibility condition. All lone parents on employment training can qualify for a child care allowance.
In the period up to the year 2000, women are expected to account for over 90 per cent. of the new jobs. It is therefore important that employers do what they can to encourage women back to work. The Government are encouraging employers to adapt traditional working practices to accommodate the needs of women. This means more flexibility in hours of work and in holidays, job sharing, career breaks, part-time working and where possible help with child care costs.
91. Mr. Allen McKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of engineers qualifying in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholls : The continuing supply of engineers is important to the strength of the economy. The number of students graduating in engineering has increased in the last three years. Despite these increases in supply, some employers do find it difficult to meet some of their recruitment needs.
The Government, under the engineering science and technology initiative, have made more resources available to increase relevant higher education opportunities. My Department, through the Training Agency, is also committing resources to encourage retraining and conversion training for adults wishing to pursue engineering careers. In addition, the agency is providing specific support to institutions that promote increases in the number of women and other under-represented groups studying engineering, and to increase general access to engineering and other high-level training opportunities.
2. Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to limit the disruption of essential services by industrial action.
Mr. Eggar : The Government are reviewing the law as it affects industrial action in essential services. The proposals in the Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law" are
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