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Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the total expenditure on Government training schemes since 1972 at current and at 1989 prices ; and what assessment he has made of the cost- effectiveness of the expenditure.
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Mr. Nicholls : Records are kept on the basis of the standard financial year for Government expenditure, which runs from 1 April to 31 March.The Manpower Services Commission was established in 1974. The total spent on training schemes since 1974 by the Employment Department Group Training Agency (and its predecessors, the Training Commission and the Manpower Services Commission) is as follows :
£ millions
|cash value |constant
|1988-89 prices
------------------------------------------------------------
1974-75 |96.4 |376.1
1975-76 |171.7 |525.2
1976-77 |256.0 |682.9
1977-78 |292.0 |693.4
1978-79 |373.6 |793.6
1979-80 |451.4 |848.8
1980-81 |560.4 |889.0
1981-82 |749.1 |1,080.8
1982-83 |868.5 |1,169.2
1983-84 |1,049.5 |1,337.5
1984-85 |1,144.1 |1,382.8
1985-86 |1,256.9 |1,441.7
1986-87 |1,441.4 |1,609.8
1987-88 |1,613.1 |1,716.4
1988-89 |2,062.3 |2,062.3
The figures shown at constant 1988-89 prices were
calculated by use of the GDP deflator index.
Figures are inclusive of expenditure on the following programmes :
Training for the Needs of Industry.
Training for the Needs of Individuals.
Improving Training Effectiveness and Efficiency.
Training Opportunities Scheme.
Skillcentre Training.
Youth Opportunities Programme.
Occupational Training.
Adult Training.
Industrial Training Organisations.
Technical and Vocational Education Initiative.
Non Advanced Further Education.
Youth Training Scheme.
Scientific and Technical Equipment in Schools (STEPS).
Employment Training and all related administration costs net of receipts.
Figures are taken from the appropriation accounts for all years except 1985 -86, 1986-87 and 1987-88 for which appropriation accounts do not provide the necessary detail. For those three years the Training Commission annual report has been used.
This growth in expenditure has been taking place at a time of rising unemployment as the economy adjusts to the demands of international competitiveness. Training schemes have provided unemployed school leavers and adults with the skills necessary to assist them back to work and help the economy.
The value for money of training schemes is monitored carefully. Cost- effectiveness will be a key aspect in the development of training and enterprise councils, when payments will be increasingly geared to the achievement of specific results.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report those travel-to-work areas which have an unemployment rate of 4 per cent. and less.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is available from the Library and is contained in the following table.
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Unemployed claimants as a percentage of the total workforce
December 1989
(Not seasonally adjusted)
Travel-to-work areas |Percentage
| rate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crawley |1.2
Winchester and Eastleigh |1.4
Tunbridge Wells |1.4
Newbury |1.6
Andover |1.6
Aylesbury and Wycombe |1.6
Guildford and Aldershot |1.6
Blandford |1.7
Cirencester |1.7
Basingstoke and Alton |1.7
Bury St. Edmonds |1.7
Reading |1.8
Cambridge |1.8
Bicester |1.9
Kendal |1.9
Clitheroe |2.0
Evesham |2.0
Woodbridge and Leiston |2.0
Oxford |2.0
Chichester |2.0
Windermere |2.0
Slough |2.1
Settle |2.1
Penrith |2.2
Devizes |2.3
Welshpool |2.3
Skipton |2.3
Harrogate |2.3
Chippenham |2.4
Chelmsford and Braintree |2.4
Kettering and Market Harborough |2.4
Hertford and Harlow |2.4
Worthing |2.4
Milton Keynes |2.5
Heathrow |2.5
Warwick |2.5
Malton |2.6
Watford and Luton |2.6
Bedford |2.6
Ripon |2.6
Leek |2.6
Northallerton |2.6
Pickering and Helmsley |2.6
Haverhill |2.6
Northampton |2.7
Shaftesbury |2.7
Hitchin and Letchworth |2.7
Cheltenham |2.7
Newtown |2.8
Wellingborough and Rushden |2.8
Salisbury |2.8
Macclesfield |2.8
Newmarket |2.8
Diss |2.8
Wareham and Swanage |2.8
Eastbourne |2.8
Chard |2.8
Stamford |2.8
Stafford |2.9
Trowbridge and Frome |2.9
Swindon |2.9
Ipswich |2.9
Huntingdon and St. Neots |2.9
Banbury |2.9
Melton Mowbray |3.0
Brecon |3.0
Matlock |3.0
South Molton |3.0
Stroud |3.0
Uttoxeter and Ashbourne |3.0
Rugby and Daventry |3.1
Ludlow |3.1
Pools |3.1
Honiton and Axminster |3.1
Yeovil |3.1
Spalding and Holbeach |3.1
Wells |3.2
Taunton |3.2
Colchester |3.2
Aberdeen |3.2
Shetland Islands |3.2
Bath |3.3
Shrewsbury |3.3
Warminster |3.3
Ashford |3.3
Malvern and Ledbury |3.3
Exeter |3.3
Beccles and Halesworth |3.4
Sudbury |3.4
Gloucester |3.4
Loughborough and Coalville |3.4
Worcester |3.4
Carmarthen |3.5
Buxton |3.5
Sleaford |3.5
Bridport |3.5
Kidderminster |3.5
Grantham |3.5
Okehampton |3.6
Tiverton |3.6
Hexham |3.6
Whitchurch and Market Drayton |3.6
Galashiels |3.6
Fakenham |3.6
Hereford and Leominster |3.7
Torrington |3.7
Norwich |3.7
Medway and Maidstone |3.8
Thirsk |3.8
Llandrindod Wells |3.8
Llandeilo |3.8
Thetford |3.9
Gosport and Fareham |3.9
Richmondshire |3.9
Stoke |4.0
Bournemouth |4.0
Newton Abbot |4.0
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many travel-to-work areas in (a) England and (b) south-east England has an unemployment rate of (i) over 10 per cent., (ii) between 5 and 10 per cent. and (iii) below 5 per cent. in October, November and December 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is available from the Library, and is contained in the following table.
Numbers of travel-to-work areas, categorised by unemployment rate<1>
South-East |below |5-10 per cent.|over
|5 per cent. |10 per cent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
October |33 |6 |0
November |33 |6 |0
December |33 |6 |0
England
October |147 |73 |8
November |146 |74 |8
December |140 |79 |9
<1> Work force rates, not seasonally adjusted
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Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has concerning the impact on people's earnings of not receiving statutory sick pay or sick benefit for the first three days of any absence from work due to illness.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is not available.
Private Mines
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras on 15 January, Official Report, column 67, which of the prosecutions listed followed (a) an accident and (b) routine inspections by the mines inspectorate.
Mr. Nicholls : Prosecutions at Ystrad, Lassodie, Saline, Darran, Hall of Auchincross, Wrytree Drift and Robin Rock mines followed accidents. Prosecutions at Dan-y-Graig and Nantmelyn were the result of inspections.
Research Projects
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what research projects are currently being carried out under total or partial sponsorship of his Department ; by whom they are being carried out ; and when they will be completed and published.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 19 January 1990] : Because of the amount of information sought, I will be writing to the hon. Member.
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 [pursuant to his reply, 12 January, c. 783] : I regret that the information given in my reply of 12 January was incorrect due to problems caused by a mistake in operating the computer system from which the data were extracted. The correct information is contained in the following table. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Percentage change in the number of unemployed over the year to November 1989 Constituency name |per cent. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Montgomery |-48.7 Westmorland and Lonsdale |-45.0 South Derbyshire |-40.3 Harrow West |-40.2 Amber Valley |-39.8 Newcastle-under-Lyme |-39.3 North Wiltshire |-39.2 Stoke-on-Trent North |-39.2 Stratford-on-Avon |-38.7 Harrow East |-38.5 Old Bexley and Sidcup |-38.5 Devizes |-38.3 Ceredigion and Pembroke North |-38.1 Kincardine and Deeside |-37.9 South Worcestershire |-37.5 West Hertfordshire |-37.5 Hornchurch |-37.5 Grantham |-37.5 Wyre Forest |-37.3 Mid-Staffordshire |-37.2
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Chemical Weapons
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has received any recent representations from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions concerning the development of verification techniques for a chemical weapons ban.
Mr. Waldegrave : Not directly. A report of chemical weapons prepared jointly by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers' Unions and the International Confederation of Trade Unions was forwarded last October by the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.
Romania
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during the visit of the right hon. Member for Bristol, West (Mr. Waldegrave) to Romania, he raised the issues of (a) the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and nuclear technology aid available under article IV of the treaty and (b) acid rain abatement technology available from United Kingdom suppliers for retro-fitting to fossil fuel power plants.
Mr. Waldegrave : Neither of these matters were raised though doubtless both will be as our relations develop. I did discuss Romania's acute environmental problems, in particular with members of the new Romanian Ecology party.
Hong Kong
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, Official Report, 11 January, column 697, who gave the authorisation for force to be used against the boat people in Hong Kong.
Mr. Maude : Authority to use the minimum degree of force necessary during the operation to search for weapons in the Chi Ma Wan detention centre on Lantau island on 29 December 1989 was given by Police General Orders 29-01, made by the Commissioner of Police under section 46 of the Police Force Ordinance.
112. Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Hong Kong.
Mr. Maude : I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs made in the House on 17 January at col. 291.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what level of secondary immigration he would anticipate to arise from primary immigration of 225,000 on the basis of past experience.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 12 January 1990]. I have been asked to reply.Experience in other contexts cannot be a basis for assessing the implications of the scheme to grant British citizenship to people in Hong Kong in a unique arrangement intended to give beneficiaries the confidence to remain there.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at what time, on what day and by what means the Swiss Government were informed of the British Government's decision to enter an exemption to the ivory ban on behalf of Hong Kong ; and when the CITES Secretariat learnt of the decision.
Mr. Waldegrave : The reservation was deposited with the Government of the Swiss Confederation at 10 am on Wednesday 17 January by the delivery of diplomatic notes to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Berne and to the embassy of Switzerland in London. Notification of our decision was faxed to the CITES Secretariat by the Department of the Environment at 4.50 pm on 17 January.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with representatives of the ivory trade during his recent visit to Hong Kong.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation he has received during the last three months regarding the fate of the Hong Kong ivory stocks.
Mr. Waldegrave : We received a number of representations over the past three months, both in favour and against the entering of a reservation on behalf of Hong Kong. We took all these into consideration. We received no formal representations from other countries.
Eastern Europe
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the proposal by the Hansard Society to establish, through moneys made available in the know-how funds, a course for politicians from Poland and Hungary to learn about the British parliamentary system.
Mr. Waldegrave : We have received various proposals for training courses for politicians from Poland and Hungary to be financed by the know- how funds. We are evaluating all such proposals with a view to tailoring them to Polish and Hungarian requirements. We have recently received more specific requests from the Polish Senate for training on several aspects of the United Kingdom system : parliamentary, legal, political and administrative and educational.
The Hansard Society will be involved in organising seminars to meet these requests along with the IPU, the Great Britain Eastern European Centre, the British Council, and other appropriate bodies.
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Yugoslavia
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance and other advice he is considering offering to the Government of Yugoslavia to aid their efforts to broaden democracy and achieve economic stability.
Mr. Waldegrave : We have been helping the Yugoslavian economy by participating in the rescheduling of the principal and interest due on debts in the Paris Club. We believe that a new agreement with the IMF will be of central importance for the future of Yugoslavia's programme of economic adjustment and liberalisation. We have agreed with our partners within the European Community that, once an IMF agreement is reached, we will be ready to examine further aid measures and increased cooperation.
Immigration
Mr. Bidwell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will instruct the chief immigration officer at the British High Commission, New Delhi to issue immediate entry clearance to the close relatives of the late Mr. Sekhon, a constituent of the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall.
Mr. Sainsbury : I wrote to the hon. Member on 19 January advising him of the action which Mr. Sekhon's relatives should take if they wish their applications to be considered further.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons the spouse of a British subject can be refused a visa to settle in Britain ; which of these reasons was used in rejecting the visa application by Mrs. Pianov, who is a Polish national married to a British citizen, Oleg Pianov ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : The spouse of a British citizen applying for an entry clearance to settle in this country must satisfy the relevant requirements of the immigration rules ; these are set out in paragraph 50 of HC 388.
Mrs. Pianov has not been refused a settlement visa. She applied for a visit visa which has been granted.
EEC Overseas Territories
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the names and populations of overseas territories of members of the EEC ; if he will further indicate what plans there are to allow persons from such territories the right of abode within the EEC ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : The list of member states' overseas territories and their populations (estimates for the year in brackets) is :
|Numbers and year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom:
Anguilla |7,000 (1985)
Bermuda |56,000 (1985)
British Antarctic Territory |<1>Nil
British Indian Ocean Territory |Uninhabited
British Virgin Islands |13,000 (1985)
Cayman Islands |23,400 (1987)
Falkland Islands |1,916 (1986)
Gibraltar |29,692 (1987)
Hong Kong |5,736,100 (1988)
Montserrat |11,900 (1988)
St. Helena |5,564 (1987)
Tristan Da Cunha |311 (1988)
South Georgia |<2>-
South Sandwich Islands |Uninhabited
Turks and Caicos Islands |14,000 (1988)
France:
Overseas Departments
Martinique |336,952 (1988)
French Guiana |11,0000 (1989)
Guadeloupe |334,000 (1988)
Reunion |578,500 (1988)
Territorial Collectives
St. Pierre et Miquelon |6,500 (1987)
Mayotte |67,000 (1985)
Overseas Territories
French Polynesia |188,814 (1988)
French Southern Antarctic Territories |<3>Nil
New Caledonia and Dependencies |164,173 (1988)
Wallis and Futuna Islands |13,100 (1985)
Netherlands:
Aruba |60,312 (1981)
Netherlands Antilles |175,395 (1981)
Portugal:
Macao |500,000
<1> Populated by scientists and technicians.
<2> Army unit and staff at British Antarctic Survey, Bird Island.
<3> Population only 200 scientists and staff.
The Overseas Departments and the Territorial Collectives are part of metropolitan France and their citizens are therefore EC nationals. Gibraltar forms part of the EC and its citizens are therefore EC nationals. Citizens of the other territories listed in the table do not have rights of entry into the Community unless they hold a passport of a member state which specifically entitles them to entry.
We are not aware of any plans by other EC member states to amend the existing rights of entry to the Community for their overseas territories.
On Hong Kong, I refer my hon. Friend to the statement my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs made in the House on 20 December.
Ballistic Missiles
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's assessment as to the number of countries in the middle east that are capable of delivering (a) chemical and (b) nuclear warheads on ballistic missile vehicles ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 15 January 1990] : The following middle east countries are believed to possess or to be developing ballistic missiles which would be technically capable of delivering either a chemical or nuclear warhead.
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Libya
Saudi Arabia
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SyriaYemen Arab Republic
Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's latest assessment as to the number of countries that have deployed ballistic missiles ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 15 January 1990] : The following countries are known or believed to have deployed ballistic missiles :
Afghanistan
Belgium
Bulgaria
China
Czcechoslovakia
Egypt
France
German Democratic Republic
Germany, Federal Republic of
Hungary
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Korea, Republic of
Libya
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Soviet Union
Syria
United States of America
Yemen Arab Republic
In addition, North Korea, which is not recognised as a state by Her Majesty's Government, is believed to have deployed ballistic missiles.
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