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|Number
---------------------
1984 |8,648
1985 |7,615
1986 |7,892
1987 |7,201
1988 |7,390
Data for 1989 for England and Wales are expected to be available in April. Because the form from which adoption statistics are derived does not record the residential address of either the child or his/her parents, the numbers of adoptions in particular areas are not available.
Children in Care
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has of the number of children in the care of local authorities in (a) England and Wales and (b) the Basildon area, for each of the last five years.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information is collected centrally on children in the care of local authorities with social services responsibilities. This is published in "Children in the Care of Local Authorities" and is available in the Library. Information is not available centrally for the Basildon area, but data on children in the care of Essex local authority are available ; the most recent data relate to 31 March 1987. These figures and data for each of the last five years are given in the table.
Children in care at 31 March in Essex and
England and Wales
|Essex |England and
|Wales
------------------------------------------------
1983 |1,594 |86,552
1984 |1,438 |78,889
1985 |1,224 |73,302
1986 |1,189 |70,919
1987 |1,234 |69,249
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average time for which a child is kept in the care of a local authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information is available centrally about episodes of care, that is, the continuous length of time a child is in care without a change in legal status. The length of care episodes for children leaving care is shown by time bands in the publication "Children in the Care of Local Authorities", which is available in the Library. This information is also shown by the legal status of the child, the reason the episode ceased and the age of the child.
Genito-urinary Medicine
Mr. Key : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for the last financial year the special sums to each regional health authority for genito-urinary medicine ; which authorities took up all or part of those allocations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 10 January 1990] : We have not provided any specific funding for genito-urinary
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medicine. We have, however, made it clear to health authorities that we expect them to make full use of the opportunity provided by the extra resources made available for AIDS to improve these services given their role in preventing the spread of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases.A total of £130 million was made available for AIDS in 1989-90.
WALES
Jobs
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many major job announcements have been made in the past six months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : Investment in Wales has continued at a high level over the past six months with a new investment on average every eight working days. Major announcements include Toyota's £140 million investment at Shotton, the Gooding-Sanken joint venture at Aberaman promising 520 jobs, and an expansion of RF Brookes, Rogerstone promising 220 full-time and 50 part-time jobs.
Forests
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to develop forests as a tourist resource in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : Welsh forests already provide a substantial tourist resource. Most of those managed by the Forestry Commission are open to the public and attract millions of visits a year. They offer a variety of recreational facilities such as visitor centres, forest walks and picnic places, as well as opportunities for specialist pursuits ranging from horse riding to orienteering. The commission also promotes camping and caravanning holidays to both home and overseas markets and co-operates with tourist boards on a range of initiatives.
A growing number of private forests are open to the public, and applicants under the commission's woodland grant scheme are required to take into account the recreational potential of new woodlands.
Rally Driving School (Powys)
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will call in the planning application to Montgomeryshire district council concerning the proposed expansion of the rally driving school at Gribyn Forest, Powys.
Mr. Grist : On the information available to him, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State sees no reason why an application of this nature, which does not appear to raise issues of more than local importance, should not be decided by the local planning authority.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received concerning the possible expansion of the rally driving school in the Gribyn Forest, Powys.
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Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has issued any guidance to the Forestry Commission concerning the possible expansion of the rally driving school at Gribyn Forest, Powys.
Mr. Peter Walker : No. Gribyn Forest is not managed by the Forestry Commission ; it is privately owned.
Earnings
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing the proportion of part-time employees earning less than (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums, in Wales and each county in Wales.
Mr. Peter Walker : Information is not readily available for all part -time employees, nor for hourly earnings excluding shift and PBR premiums as well as overtime. Statistics could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Standard Spending Assessments
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales why the information on standard spending assessments, referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Durham, North-West (Ms. Armstrong) of 13 November 1989, Official Report, column 34, is not yet available.
Mr. Peter Walker : The 1990-91 standard spending assessments, and the formulae underlying their calculation, are given in the Welsh revenue support grant distribution report, which was laid before the House of Commons on 20 December 1989.
Margam
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will investigate the level of releases of natural gas to the atmosphere from normal operations at the British Steel plant at Margam.
Mr. Grist : No. I have no reason to believe that there are any significant releases of natural gas from the works.
DEFENCE
Hong Kong
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if any members of Her Majesty's armed forces stationed in Hong Kong were involved in armed confrontation with Vietnamese emigrants on Lantau Island during the Christmas period.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Her Majesty's armed forces had no involvement in the quelling of the disturbances at Chi Ma Wan camp on 29 December ; this was carried out by the Hong Kong correctional services department and police.
One RAF helicopter was, however, deployed to evacuate six injured Vietnamese boat people for medical treatment.
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Fissile Material
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies his Department has conducted concerning arrangements for safeguarding fissile material from nuclear weapons dismantled as part of arms reduction agreements.
Aircraft Collision, Northumberland
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the collision of two RAF fighters in Northumberland on Tuesday 9 January.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the two RAF aircraft involved in the mid-air collision over the Hexham constituency on Tuesday 9 January were both engaged on low-flying exercises ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will make a statement on the mid-air collision between the RAF jets over the Hexham constituency on Tuesday 9 January.
Mr. Neubert : On Tuesday 9 January 1990 an RAF Tornado and an RAF Jaguar aircraft engaged on routine low-flying training missions were involved in a mid-air collision over Northumberland. The Tornado aircraft crashed about five miles east of Hexham and some wreckage fell on the A68 and A69. There were no civilian casualties. The Jaguar remained airborne and was able to land at RAF Leeming. The crew of the Tornado sustained major injuires and are in hospital in Newcastle. The pilot of the Jaguar was uninjured.
A board of inquiry has been convened in the normal way and a summary of its findings will be published in due course. It would be inappropriate to speculate about the causes of the accident until the inquiry is complete.
Army Scholarships
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the schools in respect of which tuition fees were paid and from whose head teachers endorsements of
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candidature were received and the numbers of (a) boys and (b) girls from each school who have received awards under the Army scholarship scheme for pupils aged 15 and 16 years for the latest year in which information is available ;(2) what has been the total cost in grants and tuition paid in respect of (a) boys and (b) girls receiving both grants and tuition in the latest year for which information is available in respect of the Army scholarship scheme for children aged 15 and 16 years.
Mr. Neubert : The information is not available in the format requested. In financial year 1988-89, a total of £92,000 was spent on the Army scholarship scheme. Each scholar received £750 per academic year at that time. The award was increased to £1,050 with effect from 1 April 1989.
There are currently 96 scholars, including nine females. The award of an Army scholarship does not rest on the head teacher's endorsement alone. Applicants are required to meet the necessary academic standards as well as passing a test, a medical examination and an interview.
Educational Allowances
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the approxiamte cost of holiday visit passages paid in respect of children of defence service personnel in receipt of educational allowances, for the latest year available.
Mr. Neubert : The information available does not allow the costs of school children's visits to be identified separately from the costs of other types of travel.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total sum paid to (a) officers and (b) other ranks in educational allowances in the years 1987-88 and 1988-89 ; what were the numbers of individuals receiving allowances in categories (a) and (b) above ; and what is the average grossed-up value of an allowance in each category.
Mr. Neubert : The information requested is as follows :
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Total sum paid in Numbers of individuals iAverage allowance
educational allowances receipt of apaid per child<1>
|1987-88 |1988-89 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1987-88 |1988-89
|(£ million)|(£ million) |(£) |(£)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officers |67.955 |65.524 |7,951 |7,599 |5,431 |5,423
Other ranks |38.626 |41.196 |6,559 |6,533 |4,144 |4,378
<1> This is the average allowance paid per child and is inclusive of grossing-up for income
tax.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Salmon
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he now expects to be in a position to publish the departmental report on the effect in the salmon fishery of draft netting at sea ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Work on the review required by section 39 of the Salmon Act 1986 is in progress. My colleagues and I will submit a report to Parliament as soon as possible.
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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the institutions where the research work into bovine spongiform encephalopathy as recommended by the Tyrrell report will be carried out.
Mr. Gummer : The MAFF-funded research work into bovine spongiform encephalopathy will be carried out mainly at the MAFF central veterinary laboratory, Weybridge, and at the Institute of Animal Health at the AFRC/MRC neuropathogenesis unit in Edinburgh, although some work may be conducted at other research establishments.
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Antibiotic Hormone Drugs
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the antibiotic hormone drugs given a product licence without reference to the veterinary products committee ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The only product of this kind licensed without specific reference to the veterinary products committee is Synulox Lactating Cow intrammary suspension (PL 0030/4000), which contains two antibiotics and a glucocorticoid anti-inflammatory agent. Between 1978 and 1984 the VPC reviewed fully the data relating to all intrammary products then on the market and recommended the renewal of licences for a number of them. When the Ministry's expert assessors examined the product licence application for Synulox in 1986 they considered that it raised no new issues not already addressed by the VPC and a licence was therefore granted.
Several members of the VPC subsequently asked for details of the assessment. They accepted officials' conclusions that no new safety or other issue was involved and it was agreed that any future applications for similar products would be referred to the VPC. No further applications have been received.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Fund
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish the social fund allocation for each local office, both in respect of grants and loans, for the year 1990-91.
Mr. Scott : Individual local office allocations for 1990-91 are now being considered and will be announced in due course.
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security to which offices he is allocating the extra £3 million for the social fund which he announced on 19 December 1989, Official Report, column 174 ; and, for each office, whether this is for loans or grants.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is in the Library.
Mobility Allowance (Deaf-blind People)
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by what date he intends to announce eligibility criteria for mobility allowance in the case of people who are deaf-blind.
Mr. Scott : We intend to bring forward proposed amendments to the relevant regulations as soon as possible.
Mobility Allowance
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what consultation has been undertaken in drawing up the criteria of deaf- blind people for the purpose of entitlement to mobility allowance ;
(2) if he will consult the mobility allowance campaign on suitable eligibility criteria for deaf-blind people.
Mr. Scott : We are aware of the representations that have been made on behalf of deaf-blind people for extending mobility allowance to them.
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Single Payments
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish (a) the annual amounts paid in single payments in the last year in which these payments were available for each of the area offices in Dundee (b) the budgets for (i) grants and (ii) loans and (c) the actual amounts paid under these headings in the Dundee offices for each year for which figures are available.
Mr. Scott : Details of single payment expenditure for 1987-88, and annual social fund allocations for loans and grants for 1988-89 and 1989- 90, listed by local office, are available in the Library, together with details of the amounts of loans and grants paid since 11 April 1988.
Pensions
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps have been taken to ensure that people contracting out by means of personal pension schemes have been advised of the approximate age at which, assuming a rate of return of 0.5 or 2.5 per cent. above the annual increase in earnings, it is likely to be in their interest to return to the state scheme.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : It is for an individual wishing to take out a personal pension to seek advice appropriate to his or her needs. In the case of personal pension schemes which are investments as defined in the Financial Services Act, persons regulated by bodies under that Act have a duty to provide best advice on such products. It is for the individual to make arrangements for obtaining any further advice which may be necessary in the light of changing circumstances.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether anyone contracting out by means of a personal pension scheme will be allowed to return to the state scheme at any age.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish in the Official Report, for each uprating from 1973 to 1990, the percentage above inflation by which the basic state pension has, and is to be, uprated.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 13 December 1989] : The information requested is set out in the table.
Uprating |Increase of
|retirement
|pension above
|RPI
|(percentage)
------------------------------------------
October 1973 |4.9
July 1974 |15.6
April 1975 |-1.7
November 1975 |3
November 1976 |0
November 1977 |1.4
November 1978 |3.3
November 1979 |2.1
November 1980 |1.2
November 1981 |-3
November 1982 |4.7
November 1983 |0
November 1984 |0
November 1985 |0
July 1986 |0
April 1987 |0
April 1988 |0
April 1989 |0
April 1990 |0
In November 1983 the method of uprating changed from being partly based on forecasts of future inflation to being based on known movements in the retail prices index.
EMPLOYMENT
Apprentices
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people are currently participating in apprenticeship training.
Mr. Nicholls : Comprehensive statistics on all types of apprenticeship are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in which 20 parliamentary constituencies the largest percentage fall in unemployment occurred in the last 12 months.
Mr. Nicholls : The following information is in the Library. The table shows the 20 parliamentary constituencies which have experienced the largest percentage falls in unemployment over the last 12 months.
The figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Percentage change in the number of unemployed over the year to November 1989 Constituency name |Per cent. -------------------------------------------------------------- South West Surrey |-27.1 Chesham and Amersham |-25.8 East Surrey |-25.4 Henley |-24.1 Wantage |-20.6 Surbiton |-20.2 Tunbridge Wells |-20.1 Wokingham |-19.9 Wealden |-18.5 Reigate |-18.0 North West Surrey |-17.9 Guildford |-17.6 North West Hampshire |-17.4 Wycombe |-13.0 Rochford |-12.6 Chelmsford |-11.6 Southend West |-10.9 Basingstoke |-8.1 Roxburgh and Berwickshire |-5.5 Sutton and Cheam |-4.4
Labour Statistics, Cleveland
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest figure for people in employment in Cleveland.
Mr. Nicholls : The latest available employment estimates for the county are from the September 1987 census of employment. There were then 184,700 employees in employment, excluding self-employed people and members of Her Majesty's forces, in Cleveland.
Labour Statistics, Doncaster
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the largest 15 categories of employment in the Doncaster area (a) to date, (b) five years ago and (c) 10 years ago ; how many were employed in each category ; and what percentage of the total work force these represent.
Mr. Nicholls : Information about employment in local areas is available only for dates when censuses of employment are taken. The table gives the available information for the Doncaster travel-to-work area from censuses of employment taken in September 1981, September 1984, and September 1987 (latest available).
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Numbers and percentage of employees in employment<1> in the fifteen industry classes with the largest numbers of employees in the Doncaster
travel to work area
Classes of the Standard Industrial September 1981 September 1984 September 1987
Classification 1980 |Number |Per cent.<2> |Number |Per cent<2> |Number |Per cent<2>
|(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
11 |Coal extraction and manufacture of |16.8 |18.2 |13.0 |14.8 |7.4 |8.9
solid fuels
22 |Metal manufacturing |- |- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>-
24 |Manufacture of non-metallic mineral |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |1.9 |2.2
products
31 |Manufacture of metal goods (other) |<3>- |<3>- |- |- |- |-
32 |Mechanical engineering |5.2 |5.7 |3.6 |4.2 |4.0 |4.8
35/36 |Manufacture of motor vehicles and |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |<3>- |- |-
other transport equipment
41/42 |Food, drink and tobacco |2.3 |2.5 |- |- |- |-
manufacturing industries
50 |Construction |3.5 |3.8 |3.0 |3.4 |4.6 |5.6
61 |Wholesale distribution |1.9 |2.1 |2.5 |2.8 |2.1 |2.6
64/65 |Retail distribution |9.0 |9.8 |9.2 |10.5 |8.4 |10.1
66 |Hotels and catering |3.7 |4.0 |2.7 |3.1 |3.8 |4.6
71/72 |Railways and other inland transport |5.0 |5.4 |4.9 |5.5 |3.4 |4.1
81 |Banking and finance |- |- |1.6 |1.9 |- |-
83 |Business services |- |- |- |- |2.1 |2.5
91 |Public administration and national |5.2 |5.6 |3.5 |4.0 |6.2 |7.5
defence
93 |Education |5.0 |5.4 |6.7 |7.7 |7.4 |8.9
95 |Medical, other health and veterinary|4.6 |5.0 |5.1 |5.8 |6.0 |7.2
services
96 |Other services to the general public|1.6 |1.8 |2.2 |2.5 |2.2 |2.6
97 |Recreational services and other |- |- |- |- |2.1 |2.5
cultural services
<1> Excludes the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's Forces.
<2> Percentage of all industries and services total.
<3> Indicates in top fifteen but figures cannot be given without disclosing confidential information relating to individual firms.
Key Training
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment pursuant to his answer of 12 December, Official Report, column 589, how many employees of his Department and of what grades it is intended to second to Key Training of 10 Eaton place, Reading, in the fiscal year 1990- 91.
Mr. Nicholls : There are no plans at present to second any employees of this Department to Key Training in the fiscal year 1990-91.
Earnings
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will estimate the proportion of wages council employees earning below (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums ;
(2) if he will estimate the proportion of wages council employees, broken down by region, earning below (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums ;
(3) if he will estimate the proportion of wages council employees, broken down by industry earning below (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) 2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums ;
(4) if he will estimate the proportion of wages council employees, broken down by collective agreement, earning below (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums.
Mr. Nicholls : No information is readily available for hourly earnings excluding shift and PBR premiums as well as overtime, nor for wages council employees broken down by region or by industry, and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing the proportion of part- time employees earning less than (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums, for each London borough ;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing the proportion of part-time employees earning less than (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums, in Great Britain and in each standard economic region ;
(3) if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing the proportion of part-time employees earning less than (a) £4.16, (b) £4.32, (c) £3.12 and (d) £2.80 per hour, excluding overtime, shift and PBR premiums, in Great Britain and in each county.
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Mr. Nicholls : No information is readily available for all part-time employees regionally, nor for hourly earnings excluding shift and PBR premiums as well as overtime, and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Strikes
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many unofficial strikes took place in Great Britain in 1989 ; and what were the comparable figures for each of the five previous years ;
(2) what was the total number of days lost through unofficial strikes in Great Britain in 1989 ; and what were the comparable figures for the five previous years.
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