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Mr. Nicholls : There are no plans to revise the level of supplementary grants payable for employment training (ET). The Government believe that the level and number of supplementary grants currently payable is sufficient to provide training of good quality.
In future training and enterprise councils will be able to vary both the structure and level of payments to ET training managers.
Training Credits
43. Mr. Boswell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will introduce a pilot scheme to provide young people with training credits ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : There are many issues to be considered before any decision is reached on the recommendation in
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CBI's task force report in favour of training credits. The Government are examining the report's recommendations with interest.Enterprise Allowance Scheme
44. Mr. Grylls : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have now participated in the enterprise allowance scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
86. Mr. Carttiss : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have participated in the enterprise allowance scheme since its inception ; and if he will make a statement.
87. Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs have been created by the enterprise allowance scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : Since its inception in 1982, over 480,000 people have started up in business through the enterprise allowance scheme. Survey evidence shows that in addition to those receiving the allowance, for every 100 businesses still operating at the three-year stage 114 additional jobs have been generated.
Machine Tool Manufacture
45. Dr. Michael Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are employed in machine tool manufacture ; what was the figure five years and 10 years ago ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is as follows :
Employees in employment
Unadjusted, Great Britain
Metal-working machine tools
and engineers tools (Group
322)<1>
|Number
-------------------------------
September 1979 |110,764
September 1984 |76,299
September 1989 |74,796
<1> Standard Industrial
Classification 1980.
Youth Unemployment
46. Mr. Bevan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current youth unemployment rate (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in other European Community Countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In September 1989, the latest comparable date, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom amongst under 25-year-olds was under half that of the EEC average. The following table shows a full comparison.
Unemployment rates for
comparison between EEC
countries
Seasonally adjusted
Under 25 years-September 1989
|Rates
-------------------------------
Luxembourg |4.1
West Germany |5.0
United Kingdom |8.2
Denmark |10.7
Portugal |10.8
Netherlands |15.8
Belgium |17.7
France |20.8
Ireland |23.5
Greece |<1>24.4
Spain |32.5
Italy |33.3
EEC average |17.4
<1>April 1987.
EC Institutions
48. Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the implications of the social charter with regard to the extension of the power of European Community institutions to initiate and carry through legislation.
Mr. Eggar : The social charter would not itself extend the powers of the European Community institutions to initiate and carry through legislation. It might however be seen by those institutions, including the European Court of Justice, as a commitment to the principles embodied in it.
Minimum Wages
49. Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to increase minimum wage levels.
89. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is undertaking to increase minimum wage levels.
93. Mr. Eastham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is undertaking to increase minimum wage levels.
Mr. Nicholls : Pay generally is a matter for employers and their employees to decide for themselves in the light of all the relevant circumstances. A national minimum wage would destroy jobs.
Benefit Fraud (Construction Sites)
53. Mr. Couchman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will report on progress in tackling benefit fraud on construction sites ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : Construction sites are regularly included in benefit fraud investigations by this Department. Exercises on these sites often prove successful in identifying fraudulent claimants. For example, a recent exercise in the Kent area investigated 592 construction site workers, resulting in 177 claims to benefit being withdrawn with a net benefit saving of £167,000. We will continue to investigate benefit fraud within the industry.
Private Employment Agencies
59. Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any proposals for laying down basic standards for private employment agencies.
Mr. Eggar : Basic standards are already laid down in the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Associated Conduct Regulations (S.I. 1976, No. 715).
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Maternity Rights
61. Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans his Department has to improve maternity rights.
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Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no such plans. The Employment protection legislation already gives substantial rights in respect of maternity.
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Employment Rights
62. Mr. Clelland : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how he intends to extend employment rights to all those in work.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no current plans to extend the employment protection legislation.
Small Businesses
63. Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement on the effective liaison and subsequent achievements of his Department, in helping small businesses over the last 12 months.
Mr. Eggar : My Department has close ties with the small business sector and since I was appointed Minister for Small Firms last July, I have made it my business to meet a wide range of organisations representing and providing services to small firms.
To assist with small firms development, my Department operates a number of programmes which includes the small firms service which provides a comprehensive information and advice service, as well as particular measures to help ease access to finance. An indication of how these measures have fared over the past 12 months is as follows :
In 1988-89, the small firms service answered over 281,000 inquiries (an increase of 6 per cent. on 1987-88), handled over 30,000 new counselling cases (an increase of 12 per cent. on 1987-88), and conducted over 43,000 counselling sessions (an increase of 10 per cent. on 1987-88) ;
This year, the number of small businesses to benefit from the loan guarantee scheme which underwrites unsecured loans for small businesses, was 2,292, an increase of 1,058 over the previous year ; In addition, the number of entrants to the Training Agency's enterprise programmes, the business enterprise programme and the enterprise training element of employment training, increased by 22 per cent. from 43,489 in 1987-88 to 53,003 in 1988-89, The number of entrants to the graduate enterprise programme, which helps graduates take the first steps to setting up businesses on their own, rose from 155 in 1987-88 to 1,150 in 1988-89 ;
My Department also provides financial assistance through the enterprise allowance scheme, and makes substantial grants to Business in the Community, local enterprise agencies and the Prince's Youth Business trust, amongst others.
Self-employed Statistics
64. Mr. Gerald Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently self-employed in each region of the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The number of self-employed in the United Kingdom is estimated to be higher than ever before. The following table shows self- employment in each region for June 1989 :
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Self-employed in the United Kingdom
Unadjusted
June 1989
|Thousands
--------------------------------------------------
South East (including London) |1,106
East Anglia |142
South West |307
West Midlands |254
East Midlands |209
Yorkshire and Humberside |242
North West |298
North |117
Wales |151
Scotland |224
Northern Ireland |60
|-------
United Kingdom |3,110
Industry Training Boards
68. Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the successor bodies to the industry training boards will be eligible for funds from the European social fund ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State told the House during the debate on the Employment Bill on 8 November, we are discussing this matter with the European Commission with a view to allowing the successor bodies to industry training boards the same access to the European social fund as the existing boards. I shall keep the hon. Member informed of the outcome of these discussions.
Employment Service Staff (Assaults)
71. Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of notified incidents of assault on members of employment service staff during 1989.
Mr. Eggar : Between 1 January and 17 November 1989 there were 126 notified incidents of actual physical assault on members of staff in the employment service. In the same period there were 821 reported cases of threatening behaviour and verbal abuse.
Construction Industry Training Board
74. Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he next plans to meet the chairman of the construction industry training board.
Mr. Nicholls : On 9 November I wrote to the chairman of CITB informing him of our plans for future training arrangements for the construction industry and detailing the priorities for the new board. I have no current plans to meet the chairman at this time, but Training Agency officials have already met CITB officials to discuss how priority work can be taken forward.
97. Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to make the payment of the construction industry training board levy voluntary for small builders and construction firms.
Mr. Nicholls : The Government have asked the board to devise new levy-grant arrangements which exclude more small firms from the levy and have the effect of extinguishing the levy liability of the better training employers.
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Employment Training Agencies (Abuse)
76. Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about abuses by employment training agencies in the west of Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The operations of training agents and training managers in the west of Scotland, as in the country overall, are regularly monitored. I have no evidence of abuse and robust control is exercised to ensure contractual obligations are met.
Vocational Training
83. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to encourage those in work to have an opportunity to continue vocational training throughout their working lives.
Mr. Nicholls : This must be primarily the responsibility of individuals and their employers. The training and enterprise councils will help employers to undertake investment in people. They will be closely involved in an action programme on investing in people that I have asked the national training task force to join with the CBI and other business and training organisations in developing.
Industrial Relations
84. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to improve industrial relations in 1990 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My Department's aims include promoting a positive environment for work, in which industrial relations continue to improve. We shall continue to promote good practices, such as those connected with employee involvement described in the recently published booklet "People and Companies", and to review and reform industrial relations and trade union legislation as necessary to establish a fair balance under the law. We shall also continue to support the independent Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, which is charged with the general duty of promoting the improvement of industrial relations.
Business Growth Training Scheme
92. Mr. Hayes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the response to the business growth training scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : Business growth training was launched in April, to help small businesses improve their competitiveness and profits through training. So far the response to business growth training has been encouraging with over 30,000 firms taking advantage of the options available under the initiative.
Trade Unions
94. Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proposals he has to encourage workers to join trade unions.
Mr. Nicholls : None. As stated in our White Paper "Employment for the 1990's" (Cm 540), the Government believe that people should be free to choose for themselves whether or not they belong to a trade union.
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Annual Leave
99. Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to introduce annual leave for working people as a statutory right.
Mr. Nicholls : None. Terms and conditions of employment are a matter for employers and employees to determine.
Part-time Workers
101. Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to extend the protection of part-time workers.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Equal Opportunities
102. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how his Department intends to encourage equal opportunities in the workplace.
Mr. Nicholls : Employment Department Ministers take every opportunity to emphasise to employers the importance of equal opportunities in the workplace and the need to treat people on their merits regardless of their race, colour, sex, age, disability, etc. My Department's jobcentres and the Training Agency make equal opportunities a priority. Jobcentres have an important role both in advising people who feel they have suffered discrimination of their right to complain to an industrial tribunal and in challenging employers who notify potentially discriminatory vacancies to jobcentres.
The Training Agency's recent publication "Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb" which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State launched on 24 October will help to promote the need to develop all the work force.
The Training Agency also provides special training for ethnic minorities and for women to encourage them to enter industries and occupations in which they are under-represented, and part-time and flexible training courses which can be particularly helpful to women returning to work after time at home looking after their families, lone parents and disabled people.
My Department's race relations employment advisory service provides a free advisory, consultancy and training service to help employers implement effective equal opportunity policies within a multi-racial work force. Priority is advising on the CRE 1984 code of practice's recommendations to employers on the implementation of equal opportunity policies and promoting the use of the positive action provisions of the Race Relations Act.
Low Pay
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what he is doing to tackle the problem of low pay in the east midlands.
Mr. Nicholls : Pay in the east midlands, as elsewhere, is generally a matter for employers and employees to decide for themselves in the light of all the relevant circumstances. Any unnecessary intervention by Government could only be harmful to business and to prospects for jobs.
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Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what response he has received from the business community about the establishment of training and enterprise councils ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : I have been very encouraged by the excellent response from employers throughout the country to our invitation to form training and enterprise councils (TECs).
More than 50 groups of senior employers in England and Wales have applied for development funding ; the table lists the areas from which we have had applications and indicates their status.
List of training and enterprise councils that have applied for
development funding
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East
Milton Keynes |Approved
Hertfordshire |Approved
Essex |Approved
Hampshire |Approved
Isle of Wight |Approved
Thames Valley |Approved
Oxfordshire |Approved
Kent |Under consideration
London
Kingston/Merton |Approved
London East |Under consideration
South London |Under consideration
South West
Devon/Cornwall |Approved
Dorset |Approved
Somerset |Approved
Avon |Under consideration
West Midlands
Birmingham |Approved
Walsall |Approved
Staffordshire |Approved
Coventry/Warwickshire |Under consideration
Dudley |Approved
Wolverhampton |Approved
East Midlands and Eastern
North Nottinghamshire |Approved
Norfolk/Waveney |Approved
Suffolk |Approved
Greater Peterborough |Approved
Bedfordshire |Under consideration
Central and South Cambridgeshire |Under consideration
Yorkshire and Humberside
Sheffield |Approved
Calderdale/Kirklees |Approved
North Yorkshire |Approved
Rotherham |Approved
Leeds |Under consideration
Barnsley/Doncaster |Under consideration
North West
Cumbria |Approved
East Lancashire |Approved
Rochdale |Approved
Oldham |Approved
South and East Cheshire |Approved
Wigan |Approved
Manchester |Under consideration
Stockport/High Peak |Approved
Bolton/Bury |Under consideration
St. Helens |Under consideration
Northern
Teesside |Approved
Tyneside |Approved
Wearside |Approved
County Durham |Approved
Northumberland |Approved
Wales
Mid Glamorgan |Approved
North East Wales |Approved
West Wales |Approved
North West Wales |Approved
South Glamorgan |Approved
Gwent |Under consideration
Claimants
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average length of the permitted period given to unemployed claimants making a fresh claim for unemployment related benefits ; and how many claimants are not given a permitted period, by region.
Mr. Eggar : The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Job Interview Guarantee Scheme
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which areas of Newcastle have been targeted for the job interview guarantee scheme ; how many agreements with employers have been made ; and how many unemployed people have been assisted.
Mr. Eggar : The job interview guarantee pilot in Newcastle is being targeted on long term unemployed residents of the Cruddas Park and Loadman Street estates. Employers who participate can be drawn from any area within reach of jobseekers from these estates. The pilot was formally launched at the start of November. No agreements with employers have yet been signed, although many employers have already indicated their interest in participating.
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