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Mr. Wyn Roberts : The number of students undergoing training in Wales is shown as follows :
|Number
--------------------------------------
Speech therapists |54
Occupational therapists |76
Physiotherapists |95
Speech therapy training is provided at the South Glamorgan institute of higher education. The occupational therapist and physiotherapist students are receiving their training at the combined training institute in Cardiff. A further 43 people are attending an in-service occupational therapy course administered by the Mid Glamorgan district health authority on behalf of the Health Service in Wales.
No information is held centrally about students training as sign language interpreters.
Community Care
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to provide training for social workers and other local authority staff who may be responsible for the community care programme.
Mr. Grist : The primary responsibility for training local authority staff in community care rests with local authorities. The Department has provided additional help through its service initiatives for particular client groups and is, for example, spending £436,000 this year on training within the all-Wales mental handicap strategy. Further steps to enhance training in the community care
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field, in particular in relation to management and to services for elderly people, are currently under consideration.GP Budgets
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has received any notification from any doctor's practice in Wales to apply for its own budget pursuant to the proposal contained in the White Paper, "Working for Patients."
Hospitals
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has received any notification from any hospital in Wales that it would seek to apply for a national health hospital trust.
EMPLOYMENT
Textiles and Clothing Industries
122. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on job losses in the United Kingdom textile and clothing industries.
123. Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on job losses in the United Kingdom textile and clothing industries.
123. Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statment on job losses in the United Kingdom textile and clothing industries.
Mr. Nicholls : Estimates of employees in employment in the textile and clothing industries in Great Britain from June 1984 to June 1989 are set out in the table which follows. Estimates for the United Kingdom are not available.
Employees in
employment in
textile and
clothing industries
(SIC 80)
Great Britain
(Thousands)
--------------------
June 1984
June 1985
June 1986
June 1987
June 1988
June 1989
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs have been lost in the textile and clothing industries in the United Kingdom over the last five years.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 5 December 1989] : Estimates of employees in employment in the textile and
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clothing industries in Great Britain from June 1984 to June 1989 are set out in the table which follows. Estimates for the United Kingdom are not available.
Employees in employment in textile and clothing industries (SIC 80)
Great Britain (Thousands)
|Textiles SIC 43 |Clothing
|(including fur
|goods) SIC 453
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
June 1984 |233.5 |212.2
June 1985 |234.5 |213.0
June 1986 |238.2 |210.7
June 1987 |229.0 |205.0
June 1988 |231.0 |204.3
June 1989 |217.8 |192.8
Changes
June 1984-June 1989 |-15.8 |-19.4
|(-6.7 per cent.)|(-9.1 per cent.)
Training Credits
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the proposals for training credits for young people.
Mr. Nicholls : There are many issues to be considered before any decision is reached on the recommendation in the CBI's task force report in favour of training credits. The Government are examining the report's recommendations with interest.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training and enterprise councils in Wales have received development funding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend has approved applications for development funding from five groups of employers in Wales.
Employment Training
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which London boroughs participate in employment training ; and how many places each of them has.
Mr. Nicholls : The London boroughs which are employment training training managers and the number of places each has contracted for are given in the following table. Boroughs may also participate through providing practical training placements or directed training (at their colleges) to other training managers. Information is not kept centrally on such involvement.
Employment Training London boroughs: contracted places September 1989 Borough ------------------------------------- Enfield |300 Brent |250 Harrow |150 Kingston upon Thames |150 Hounslow |400 Hillingdon |100
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons in the Barnsley, East constituency are currently registered on the employment training scheme.
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Mr. Nicholls : Information on the numbers on employment training is not available for the Barnsley, East constituency. On 24 November 1989, the latest date for which information is available, there were 1,752 trainees on employment training in Barnsley, which includes the Barnsley, East constituency.
British Coal (Disabled Employees)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to what percentage of the work force employed by British Coal are registered as disabled.
Mr. Eggar : As at 1 June 1988, 0.4 per cent. of the work force of British Coal were registered disabled, as published in the Employment Gazette in May 1989. Figures for 1989 will be published early in the new year.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to designate employment training as an approved training scheme in 1990-91.
Mr. Nicholls : My Department has no plans to designate employment training as an approved training scheme.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to make refusal of a place on employment training evidence that a claimant is not actively seeking work.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend has no such plans. Employment training offers a valuable route back into work which all long-term unemployed people would do well to consider. Well over 500,000 people have already benefited from training on the programme.
Restart
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to make restart courses compulsory.
Mr. Eggar : There are no such plans, but conditions attached to restart courses are kept continuously under review.
Football Grounds (Safety)
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on what dates (a) Rochdale football club, (b) Manchester United football club, (c) Manchester City football club, (d) Stockport County football club, (e) Oldham Athletic football club, (f) Bury football club and (g) Bolton Wanderers football club were last inspected by the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is given in the table.
Club |Date of last
|inspection
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Rochdale Football Club |14 February 1977
(b) Manchester United Football Club |9 May 1984
(c) Manchester City Football Club |No inspection
|visits made
(d) Stockport County Football Club |No inspection
|visits made
(e) Oldham Athletic Football Club |23 November 1977
(f) Bury Football Club |No inspection
|visits made
(g) Bolton Wanderers Football Club |8 June 1988
Inspections of football clubs by the Health and Safety Executive are restricted to the health, safety and welfare of employees. Enforcement of the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975, which covers spectator safety, is the responsibility of local authorities.
Relocation
Mr. Jim Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all office relocations of his Department's staff since May 1979, stating in each case the location of origin and the location of transfer, together with the numbers of staff transferred.
Mr. Eggar : On 2 August 1989, my right hon. Friend announced that 1,100 jobs from my Department's headquarters in London, Watford and Reading will be moved to Runcorn (800) and Sheffield (300) over the next two to three years.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what relocations of his Department's staff, or agencies relating thereto, are currently being considered ; and what are the number of staff affected.
Mr. Eggar : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 6 November 1989 at columns 471-72 to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood).
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BAT Factory (Liverpool)
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the overall effect on unemployment in Liverpool of the proposed closure of the British American Tobacco factory.
Mr. Nicholls : It is not possible to estimate the overall effect that the proposed closure will have on unemployment in Liverpool. The company has announced that 476 jobs will be lost at the Liverpool site.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if his Department was informed of the proposed closure of the British American Tobacco factory in Liverpool ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The company sent my right hon. Friend an advance copy of the press release which it issued on 24 November.
Industrial Tribunals
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of applications to industrial tribunals under section 58 of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 in the period of 1984 to 1988 and indicate how many were complaints under section 58(1)(a) and (b) compared with the number under section 58(1)(c) ; and if he will give the outcome of these cases under the two separate categories and indicate (a) the number of Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service conciliated settlements, (b) withdrawal, not via Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, (c) successful at tribunal hearing, (d) dismissed at tribunal out of scope, (e) dismissed at tribunal hearing, other reasons and (f) disposed of otherwise.
Mr. Nicholls : The information, which is available in the form requested only from 1985 onwards, is set out in the tables :
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Table 2-Outcome of applications to industrial tribunals
1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89
|581 |582 |581 |582 |581 |582 |581 |582
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACAS-Settlement |<1>291 |6 |<2>907 |3 |<3>3,776|3 |88 |2
Other-Withdrawal |150 |4 |151 |4 |186 |2 |143 |2
Successful |56 |7 |51 |2 |35 |- |15 |2
Dismissed-Out of scope |115 |1 |31 |1 |48 |- |12 |-
Dismissed-Other reasons |110 |6 |145 |3 |72 |2 |73 |1
Disposed of-Otherwise |8 |- |138 |- |42 |- |5 |-
|------ |------ |------ |------ |------ |------ |----- |------
Total |730 |24 |1,423 |13 |4,159 |7 |336 |7
<1> Including multiple application of c. 125.
<2> Including multiple application of c. 780.
<3> Including multiple application of c. 3400.
Notes on tables:
581 = Complaints under Section 58 (1)(a) and (b).
582 = Complaints under Section 58 (1)(c).
Table 2-Outcome of applications to industrial tribunals
1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89
|581 |582 |581 |582 |581 |582 |581 |582
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACAS-Settlement |<1>291 |6 |<2>907 |3 |<3>3,776|3 |88 |2
Other-Withdrawal |150 |4 |151 |4 |186 |2 |143 |2
Successful |56 |7 |51 |2 |35 |- |15 |2
Dismissed-Out of scope |115 |1 |31 |1 |48 |- |12 |-
Dismissed-Other reasons |110 |6 |145 |3 |72 |2 |73 |1
Disposed of-Otherwise |8 |- |138 |- |42 |- |5 |-
|------ |------ |------ |------ |------ |------ |----- |------
Total |730 |24 |1,423 |13 |4,159 |7 |336 |7
<1> Including multiple application of c. 125.
<2> Including multiple application of c. 780.
<3> Including multiple application of c. 3400.
Notes on tables:
581 = Complaints under Section 58 (1)(a) and (b).
582 = Complaints under Section 58 (1)(c).
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of applications to industrial tribunals under section 27 of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 recorded in the period 1979-88 and indicate of those (a) the number of Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service conciliated
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settlements, (b) withdrawal not via the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, (c) successful at tribunal hearing, (d) dismissed at tribunal out of scope, (e) dismissed at tribunal hearing, other reasons and (f) disposed of otherwise, respectively.Column 247
Mr. Nicholls : Most of the information is not available in the form requested, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Such information as is available is set out in the tables :
Table 2-Outcomes of cases falling under section
27:
|1987-88|1988-89
------------------------------------------------
ACAS-settlement |2 |2
Other-withdrawal |14 |<1>47
Successful |2 |2
Dismissed-out of scope |3 |-
Dismissed-other reasons |4 |3
Disposed of otherwise |- |-
|------ |------
Total |25 |54
<1> Includes multiple application of 28.
Table 2-Outcomes of cases falling under section
27:
|1987-88|1988-89
------------------------------------------------
ACAS-settlement |2 |2
Other-withdrawal |14 |<1>47
Successful |2 |2
Dismissed-out of scope |3 |-
Dismissed-other reasons |4 |3
Disposed of otherwise |- |-
|------ |------
Total |25 |54
<1> Includes multiple application of 28.
CBI Skills Report
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the Confederation of British Industry report "Towards a Skills Revolution--A Youth Charter"; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 4 December 1989] : There are many issues to be considered before any decision is reached on the recommendation in the CBI's task force report in favour of training credits. The Government are examining the report's recommendations with interest.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Cholecystokinin
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the veterinary products committee has considered an application for an animal test certificate in respect of cholecystokinin.
Spanish Fishing Vessels
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the number of Spanish fishing vessels registered as British in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and the latest available month of 1989, the number of such vessels prosecuted for fishing offences in each year and the present location of Spanish vessels whose British registration was withdrawn under the Merchant Shipping Act.
Mr. Curry : Definitive annual figures are not available, but our current estimate is that the number of fishing vessels on the British register which were beneficially owned abroad (mostly in Spain) rose from about 43 in 1985 to about 140 at the time the new registration provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act came into effect on 1 April 1989. At present no vessel can be registered as
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a British fishing vessel unless its owners are resident and domiciled in the United Kingdom and the vessel's operations are directed and controlled from this country. The information on prosecutions of vessels believed to be beneficially owned in Spain is as follows :Year |Number ---------------------------------- 1985 |2 1986 |0 1987 |14 1988 |7 1989 (to end March) |26
No comprehensive information is available on the location of vessels which ceased to be registered as British fishing vessels on 1 April. A number are laid up in this country ; others are understood to be in Spain.
Liriomyza Trifollii
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will ban the importation of plants from Holland in order to control the spread of Liriomyza trifollii among plants ;
(2) what compensation is proposed for those growers compelled to destroy crops inflicted with Liriomyza trifollii ;
(3) what has been the incidence of Liriomyza trifollii in plants over the last 10 years : and what steps are being taken by his Department to counter this problem.
Mr. Curry : Between 1979 and 1988 there were about 350 confirmed Ministry findings of the North American leafminer, Liriomyza trifollii, on plants. The Ministry has maintained a policy of eradication of this pest and has so far succeeded in ensuring that it has not become established in this country. No compensation is given by the Government to growers who are compelled to destroy crops infested with the pest. However, we are operating eradication measures which are designed to limit the loss suffered by producers to the minimum necessary to secure eradication and in practice this often now means the destruction of plants can be avoided. We have recently reached agreement with the Dutch authorities on a wide range of measures necessary to combat the threat from the South American leafminer, Liriomyza huidobrensis. We are watching the situation very carefully and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.
Porcine Somatotropin
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions the veterinary products committee has considered the issue of porcine somatotropin ; and whether they have reached any conclusion.
Mr. Maclean : The VPC twice considered an application for an animal test certificate for porcine somatotropin product in 1987 and recommended that it should not be granted.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether any current animal test certificates exists in respect of porcine somatotropin.
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Sulphadimidine
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will review the clearance given to sulphadimidine ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : Licensed veterinary medicines containing the active ingredient sulphadimidine are in the process of being reviewed as part of a general exercise to ensure that licensed products meet current standards of safety, quality and efficacy. Decisions on the granting or revocation of licences are being taken on a product-by-product basis.
Intervention Stocks
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish details of all those commodities for which an intervention regime exists, held in store, giving in respect of each, by volume and value, the current stocks and the level at the appropriate time in 1988.
Mr. Curry : Stocks levels in 1988 and 1989 of commodities for which an intervention regime exists are held in the Library of the House. Valuation figures may vary according to the age of the stock and are shown in the table for the United Kingdom (comparable figures for the European Community are not available).
Commodity |1988 |1989 |Reference/month
|(£/tonne) |(£/tonne) |(end of)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Butter |1,536.95 |1,422.35 |September
SMP |1,046.69 |<1>- |September
Beef |1,807.64 |1,309.63 |August
Feed Wheat |63.86 |35.77 |October
Bread Wheat |68.83 |<1>- |October
Barley |61.50 |35.77 |October
Rye |57.96 |<1>- |October
<1>=No Stocks
Sheep Dips
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department is conducting into alternatives to organophosphorous sheep dips ; and if he plans to alter the regulations relating to such chemicals.
Mr. Maclean : The Department is currently funding research at Bristol university into fly control on sheep, with preference given to the use of non-organaphosphorous compounds. I have no plans to change the controls which apply to sheep dips under the Medicines Act.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the use of organophosphorous sheep dips.
Mr. Maclean : Sheep must be dipped to an approved standard under the terms of the Sheep Scab Order 1976, and the sheep dips authorised for this purpose under the Medicines Act have all been subject to a stringent review of their safety, quality and efficacy. Instructions and conditions of use are required to be specified on the product labels.
Relocation
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all office relocations of his Department's staff since May 1979, stating in each case the location of origin and the location of transfer, together with the numbers of staff transferred.
Mr. Curry : Full details of all office relocations over the period in question are not readily available. The following blocks of work have been or are being relocated away from the London area since May 1979 :
Column 249
Date |Work Unit |Number of posts |Location of origin |Location of transfer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |Finance (travel claims section) |32 |Inner London |Alnwick
|Office Services (publications section) |20 |Pinner |Alnwick
1987 |Office Services (stationery section) |4 |Pinner and Inner London |Alnwick
April 1988 |Statistics (census and prices) |20 |Inner London |Guildford
April 1988 |Information Technology Directorate |5 |Inner London |Guildford
August 1988 |ADAS Cartographic Unit |11 |Inner London |Gloucester
May-October 1989 |Establishments (General) (Superannuation
Section) |28 |Inner London |Exeter
|Food Science Laboratory |20 |Inner London |Norwich
About 70 per cent. of the Ministry's staff are currently located outside London.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what relocations of his Department's staff, or agencies relating thereto, are currently being considered ; and what are the numbers of staff affected.
Mr. Curry : Officials of my Ministry are currently considering the potential for further relocation of headquarters' work away from the south- east, and a relocation concerning work of the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce is also under consideration. It is too early to say what numbers of posts may be affected. A decision has already been taken to relocate the Ministry's central science laboratory, involving about 400 posts, to a site in the midlands. A decision has also been taken to
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relocate the Ministry's records review work, currently being undertaken at Chessington, to Alnwick during the first half of next year. This work will replace that now being done by staff at Alnwick, but its transfer will not result in any redundancies in either location.Aplastic Anaemia
Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has of the link between the development of aplastic anaemia and lindane and pentachlorophenol.
Mr. Maclean : The Health and Safety Executive is currently reviewing lindane and is looking at the available evidence for a link between lindane and the development of aplastic anaemia. The Advisory Committee on
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Pesticides will be advising Ministers of the results of this review. I know of no evidence of a link between aplastic anaemia and pentachlorophenol.Genetically Engineered Organisms
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any proposals for the regulation of the use of genetically engineered organisms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : I have been asked to reply.
Yes. As envisaged in the Queen's Speech, my Department intends to introduce an environmental protection Bill this parliamentary Session, which will include appropriate provisions. These will augment existing legislative controls over the use of genetically engineered or modified organisms to provide additional protection against any risks to the environment arising from the import, containment or release to the environment of such organisms.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Transport
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to ensure that subsection (6)(a) of the Road Traffic, Transport and
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Roads (N.I.) Order has been fully complied with when making the Road and Railway Transport 1989 Statutory Rule No. 400 in respect of the Level Crossing (Coleraine Bushmills Road) Revocation Order (Northern Ireland) 1989.Mr. Peter Bottomley : The provisions of that subsection did not apply to the making of the order.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Benefits Take-up
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the number of (a) elderly people, (b) sick and disabled people, (c) unemployed people, (d) one-parent families, (e) others and (f) total who are not claiming benefit to which they are entitled, giving the date to which his estimates apply.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Our latest estimates show that 90 per cent. of income-related benefit to which people are entitled is claimed. The detailed information requested is as follows :
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Numbers of eligible non-recipients for income related benefits
Thousands
|Supplementary |Housing benefit 1985|Family income
|benefit 1985 | (1)(2) |supplement
|1985-86 (2)(3)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pensioners |380 |760 |<1>(4)
Sick and disabled |50 |<2>- |<1>(4)
Unemployed |330 |<2>- |<1>(4)
One-parent families |20 |<2>- |<2>(5)
Others |60 |<2>- |<2>(5)
|----- |----- |-----
Total |840 |1,610 |190(6)
<1>-not applicable.
<2>-not available.
Notes:
1. Figures refer to those eligible for standard HB only as non recipients of certificated Housing
benefit will already be included as non recipients of supplementary benefit. In total, approximately 1.8
million households are eligible and not receiving standard or certificated HB.
2. Figures exclude families where the head or spouse is in full-time self-employment.
3. Based on pooled FES data for reasons of sample size.
4. FIS was paid to working families with children whose gross weekly income was less than a prescribed
amount' determined by the number of children.
5. Although two years' survey data are pooled the number of sample cases are still small and
insufficient to provide reliable estimates of these figures.
6. This figure will include some families who are also shown in column two as non recipients of HB.
7. Estimates are based on the Family Expenditure Survey.
Source: Technical notes on take-up of benefits. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library or
on request from DSS.
Family Credit
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will review the working of the family credit regulations to ensure that low -income self-employed families do not lose their entitlement to assistance because of the interpretation of the authorities that they must abide by cash movement rules, rather than normal accountancy treatment of overhead costs and stock fluctuations.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We believe that a trading profit arrived at by normal accountancy practices is not an appropriate basis for arriving at the income to be taken into account in calculating family credit. The cash- flow basis was introduced when family credit replaced family
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income supplement in 1988 as being more appropriate for this purpose, and we have no plans to review it at this stage.Income Support
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to reform the income support transitional provisions as they relate to families with children in care who return on home leave ; and if he will make a statement.
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