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Mr. Snape : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what cash resources he plans to allocate to British Rail to invest in advanced train protection, resignalling, and other safety measures recommended by the Hidden report.
Mr. Portillo : I refer the hon. Member to the reply to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on 4 December 1989, at column 88. As my right hon. Friend has told the House, finance will not stand in the way of implementing the report.
Column 250
Cash Limits
Mr. Ground : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits on his votes.
Mr. Parkinson : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limits for my votes are to be changed as follows :
Class and |Current cash|Changes |£ thousands
Vote |limit |Revised cash
|limit
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 |1,370,744 |<1>-2,000 |1,368,744
2 |238,869 |<2>-3,115 |235,754
VIII 4 |131,398 |<3>4,744 |136,142
5 |218,707 |<4>621 |219,328
|-------
|Total |<5>250
<1>The cash limit has been reduced by £2 million to offset in
part increased expenditure required on the Department's other
cash limits. Authority for additional expenditure of £17,892,000
which will be met by increased appropriations in aid, will,
however, be sought in a spring supplementary estimate, to meet
faster than expected progress with schemes included in the roads
programme.
<2>Mainly in respect of running costs provision transferred to
class VIII, 4. The overall running costs limit of the Department
remains unchanged.
<3>Mainly increased requirement for running costs provision
transferred from class VIII, 2.
<4>Mainly increased requirement for demand-determined rural bus
grants.
<5>Transfer from the Department of the Environment cash limit
UA1 in respect of that Department's contribution towards the
£500,000 grant to Thamesline announced on 23 February 1989, at
column 729, and included in vote 2.
The changes do not add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Horne Report
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to bring forward legislation to implement the findings of the Horne report.
Mr. Atkins : It remains our intention to introduce legislation to reform the Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 along the lines of the proposals contained in the consultation paper issued in May, a copy of which is in the Library. A Bill will be introduced as soon as a suitable opportunity can be found.
Litter
Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are taken to ensure the removal of litter from motorway verges and central reservations.
Mr. Atkins : The Department's code of practice for routine maintenance prescribes the frequency with which its agents are required to clear litter from motorways. Frequencies vary according to local circumstances and are currently being reviewed with the aim of improving sections of road with the worst litter problems. The Government propose to amend the Environmental Protection Bill so as to place a specific duty on the Crown to keep its land, including motorways, clear of litter.
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CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Churches
Mr. Leigh : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby as representing the Church Commissioners, how many churches have become redundant, or ceased to hold religious services, over the last six months.
Mr. Alison : Ten churches were declared redundant, and therefore ceased to be available for public worship, during the six months to 31 December 1989. Over 16,000 churches remain open for public worship.
EMPLOYMENT
Income Statistics
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report, a table showing the percentage increase in real incomes since 1979 of (i) median full-time adult male hospital porters, (ii) male and female primary school teachers, (iii) male locomotive drivers and motormen, (iv) footplate staff, (v) NHS male ancillary staff, (vi) NHS male maintenance staff, (vii) female hospital ward orderlies, (viii) female welfare workers, and (ix) local authority male manual workers in England and Wales.
Mr. Nicholls : Estimates of the increases in real earnings since 1979 are provided in the table :
|Percentage
|increase
|1979-89
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Median of Gross Weekly Earnings by Occupation
Full-time males on adult rates
Primary teachers |38
Hospital porters |3
Locomotive drivers and motormen |24
Full-time females on adult rates
Primary teachers |42
Welfare workers |35
Hospital ward orderlies |-2
Median of Gross Weekly Earnings by Agreement
Full-time males on adult rates
Footplate staff |33
NHS ancillary staff |1
NHS maintenance staff |16
Local authority manual workers England and
Wales |8
Note:
New earnings survey data deflated by RPI (all items) April of each
year.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the percentage increase in real incomes since 1979 of median adult male manual employees in the (i) footwear, (ii) textile, clothing, (iii) mechanical engineering, (iv) motor vehicle industries, (v) study, etc. officers, (vi) accountants, (vii) journalists, (viii) estimators, etc. and (ix) finance, etc. specialists.
Mr. Nicholls : Estimates of the increases in real earnings since 1979 for manual males are provided in the table. Categories (v) to (ix) are non-manual occupations.
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Median of gross weekly earnings by industry
|Percentage
|increase
|1979-89
------------------------------------------------------------
Full-time manual males on adult rates
Footwear |13
Textiles |4
Clothing |2
Mechanical engineering |14
Motor vehicle industries |18
Note:
1. New earnings survey data deflated by RPI (all items)
April of each year.
Supplementary Grants
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what changes have occurred in supplementary grants to large contractors in 1989- 90.
Mr. Nicholls : In common with other contractors for employment training, each large contractor's supplementary grant levels were reviewed, and new levels agreed, in contracts for 1989-90.
Rochdale Borough
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement regarding the current level of unemployment in Rochdale borough ; and how many people in the borough of Rochdale have been unemployed for more than a year.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is available from the Library. Unemployment by duration is analysed on a quarterly basis. The latest figures show that in October 1989 there were 2,520 unemployed claimants in the local authority area of Rochdale who had been unemployed for more than one year. The corresponding total number of unemployed claimants was 7,117.
Long-term unemployment continues to fall at a faster rate than total unemployment.
In December 1989 the total level of unemployment in the local authority area of Rochdale was 6,945.
Employment Training
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those health authorities currently participating in ET as training agents, training managers or as placement providers ; for the latter two groups what is the number of contracted and filled places at the latest date ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : I am aware of 11 health authorities currently participating in ET as training managers. These are listed with details of contracted and filled places at 12 January 1990 :
Health authority (HA) |Contracted |Filled
|places |places
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Tees AHA |250 |206
Hartlepool |100 |84
South West Durham |80 |67
Mid Staffs |50 |9
North Staffs |100 |67
Hull |50 |27
West Glamorgan |200 |93
East Dyfed |70 |37
South Sefton |440 |398
Liverpool |166 |170
Southport and Formby |85 |88
I am not aware of any health authorities acting as training agents. Information is not available on health authorities acting as ET placement providers.
Home Workers
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employers have been prosecuted for not registering their home workers with the environmental health department ; whether he has any plans to introduce measures to strengthen the law ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost from individual local authorities.
The Government have no plans to extend the law which was originally part of the Factory and Workshop Act 1901--now section 133 of the Factories Act 1961--and was introduced to prevent the spread of infectious disease and infestations from the home. Home workers have the same legal protection for health and safety as other employees and self-employed workers under the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many home workers' projects are in existence in England and Wales ; what are their main tasks ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Department is aware of a number of groups which promote the interests of home workers but does not systematically collect information about their numbers and activities.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many home workers the wages inspectorate visited in the past year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : In 1989 the wages inspectorate checked the pay of 874 home workers by means of visits to establishments putting out work. These checks involved subsequent visits to a sample of home workers concerned, but records are not kept of the number so visited.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many industrial tribunal cases have been adjudicated in favour of home workers in the last year.
Mr. Nicholls : This information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many visits he or his predecessor made to home working projects in England and Wales in the past five years.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what industries in England and Wales employ the largest percentage of home workers ; what are their main tasks ; and what are the rates of pay in each of these industries.
Mr. Nicholls : Figures showing those industries which employ the largest percentage of home workers and their
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occupations are not available for England and Wales. National estimates and occupational distributions can be found in tables 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7 and 3.8 of Department of Employment research paper No. 60 by Dr. Catherine Hakim entitled "Home-based Work in Britain : A report on the 1981 National Homeworking Survey and the DE research programme on homework". Tables 6.4 to 6.8 in that report provide information on earnings of home workers at the time the research was carried out. A copy of the paper has been placed in the Library. General earnings data for these industries can be found in tables 8 and 9 of part A of the 1989 new earnings survey, a copy of which is in the Library, but these data do not distinguish home workers' earnings from the earnings of other workers.Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he intends to take to ensure that employers supplying work to home workers adhere to the Noise at Work Regulations 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Noise at Work Regulations apply to home workers in just the same way as to any other employee or self-employed person. When inspectors of health and safety visit employers, including those who employ home workers, they consider compliance with these regulations and take enforcement action where necessary.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of home workers the wages council found illegally underpaid for each of the past 10 years, by year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is shown as follows :
Year |Per Cent. ------------------------------ 1980 |6.23 1981 |5.46 1982 |8.32 1983 |2.98 1984 |6.47 1985 |1.30 1986 |0.58 1987 |1.63 1988 |1.03 1989 |0.91
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any plans to require employers to provide proper handling guidelines for any potentially dangerous glues and solvents that home workers may be required to use ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provides a framework of legislative controls to protect all those at work including home workers.
In addition, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 require all employers to assess risk, identify the precautions that employees have to take when handling hazardous substances and provide the employees with information about the risk and the precautions. These provisions extend to glues and solvents where these may be a hazard to health.
Where home workers are self-employed, those supplying them with substances are required under section 6 of HSWA to provide adequate information about any risks to health and safety.
Column 255
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether his Department has formulated any definition of home working with regard to its present policies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The Department regards home workers as those working at home rather than using home as a base. No more precise definition is currently in use.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Fontainebleau Agreement
Mr. Butterfill : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total rebate received by Britain under the terms of the Fontainebleau agreement for the last year for which figures are available ; what is the total amount received since the agreement was signed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : The United Kingdom's abatement was 1,780 million ecu-- £1,150 million--in 1989, bringing to 8,630 million ecu--£5,770 million--the cumulative total under the Fontainebleau mechanism. The 1990 EC budget, as adopted, provides for an abatement of 2,430 million ecu-- £1,800 million.
Mr. G. A. Johnson
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth will receive a reply to his letter dated 21 December 1989 referring to Mr. G. A. Johnson.
Mr. Lilley : I replied to my hon. Friend's letter on 30 January.
Council of Ministers
Mr. Robertson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who will represent the Treasury at the economic and finance meetings of the Council of Ministers on 12 February, 12 March, 23 April, 11 June and 31 March ; and what the agenda will be for each meeting.
Column 256
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 30 January 1990] : I or one of my fellow Treasury Ministers will be attending each of the meetings of the Economic and Finance Council. Agenda for these meetings are not fixed until shortly before they take place, but I would expect major topics of discussion over the coming months to include :
economic and monetary union ;
the European bank for reconstruction and development ;
abolition of fiscal frontiers ;
revision of the financial perspectives for 1991 and 1992 ; and issues of budget discipline and management.
Personal Allowances
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the Treasury would be if personal allowances were raised in line with the inflation rate.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 31 January 1990] : At 1990-91 levels of income, the cost of indexing personal allowances is estimated to be about £1,465 million in 1990-91 and £2,040 million in 1991-92. The additional cost of indexing the basic rate limit is £205 million in 1990-91 and £380 million in 1991-92.
Estimates are based on a projection of the 1987-88 survey of personal incomes and are provisional.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Mark Woodward
Mr. Speller : To ask the Attorney-General if he will instruct the coroner to reopen the inquest relating to the drowning of Mark Woodward on 16 August 1989 and instruct him to pay attention specifically to the tape recordings to and from Milford Haven recently released by Her Majesty's Coastguard.
The Attorney-General : If my hon. Friend will write to me with his reasons for believing that an application to the High Court is appropriate, I will consider the matter.
Column 257
PRIME MINISTER
Edmonton
Q16. Dr. Twinn : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to visit Edmonton.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Stevenage
Q22. Mr. Wood : To ask the Prime Minister if she has any plans to visit Stevenage.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Local Government Finance
Q69. Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the implementation of the Government's programme for reforming local government finance.
The Prime Minister : Good progress continues to be made on all aspects of the new arrangements. Comprehensive community charge registers have been compiled and charge payers notified of their entries. A £4 million information campaign has been launched to ensure maximum take-up of rebates and relief. The poundage for the uniform business rate has been set and new rating lists are available for public inspection. A circular has been issued with details of the new capital finance system and authorities have received their basic credit approvals. It is now for all local authorities to budget prudently in the light of the revenue support grant settlement approved by the House on 18 January, in the knowledge that they will be held to account by charge payers for excessive expenditure.
Shipbuilding
Q86. Dr. Godman : To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government have any proposals for changes in the European Community's sixth directive on aid to the shipbuilding industry ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is considering the revised levels of support that the Commission notified to member states on 18 January and will make a statement shortly.
Leith
Q99. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to the port of Leith.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Disabled People
Q132. Mr. Hannam : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the Government's latest proposals to help the disabled.
The Prime Minister : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security recently announced major proposals to improve social security help for people with disabilities. Our strategy is to improve the balance and structure of benefits for disabled people who are unable to work, and in particular to do more for those disabled from
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birth or early in life, and to improve the help given to those disabled people who can and want to work. The changes we propose to make include a new disability allowance for people of working age and below to extend help with the extra costs of being disabled ; a new disability employment credit to make it easier for disabled people to take up jobs, and an increase of up to £10 a week in severe disablement allowance. Our proposals will give extra help to some 850,000 people and their net effect will be to add by 1993-94 some £300 million to the total cost of the benefits we pay to long-term sick and disabled people and their carers.North-east England
Q145. Mr. Trotter : To ask the Prime Minister when she next plans to pay an official visit to the north-east.
The Prime Minister : I hope to visit the north-east during the course of the year.
Jobs
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the latest assessments prepared by the EEC Commission on the impact of 1992 on jobs.
The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on Tuesday 30 January.
Pay Review Bodies
Mr. Leigh : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the latest reports of the pay review bodies.
The Prime Minister : The 1990 reports of the review bodies on the pay of nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, the professions allied to medicine, the doctors and dentists, and the armed forces, and of the Top Salaries Review Body, have been published today. Copies are now available in the Vote Office. The Government are grateful to members of the review bodies for these reports and the time and care which they put into their preparation.
The table shows the overall increases recommended by the review bodies for each group, and their cost :
|Pay bill |Range of |<1>United
|increase in|increase |Kingdom
|1990-91 |public
|expenditure
|cost
|per cent |per cent |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armed forces |10.9 |4.1-23.0 |458
Doctors and dentists<2> |10.9 |9.5-15.2 |423
Professions allied to
medicine |10.1 |8.7-14.7 |61
Nursing staff, midwives
and health visitors |9.6 |<3>8.9-16.0|630
Top salaries<4> |11.0 |7.0-18.7 |10
<1>The figures for public expenditure cost differ from those in the
Review Bodies' reports. Their figures do not include some costs which
count as public expenditure.
<2>Payments to GPs for achieving higher targets for immunisation and
cervical screening are recommended by the Review Body as outside
intended average remuneration. The payments would add some 0.3 per
cent. to the total pay bill and are included in the £423 million.
<3>A very few young staff would receive higher increases of up to 19.7
per cent.
<4>These figures assume that the additional increase of 10 per cent.
recommended for Groups 5-7 of the judiciary is phased over two years,
with 5 per cent. paid on 1 April 1990.
Table file CW900201.010 not available
Column 259
The Government consider that the overall pay cost in the year 1990-91 implied by these recommendations if implemented in full immediately would be too high. They have therefore decided that the general approach should be to implement the recommendations in full during the year but to stage them so that most groups receive an increase of 7 per cent. from 1 April 1990 with the balance from 1 January 1991.In the case of the review body on armed forces the Government have decided to accept the recommendations but their implementation will be staged so that 7 per cent. is paid from 1 April 1990 and the remaining 1.7 to 2.5 per cent. of the basic increase together with additional payments is paid from 1 January 1991.
The Government have decided to accept with two exceptions the recommendations of the review body on doctors and dentists, but to stage their implementation so that 7 per cent. is payable in all cases from 1 April 1990 and the remainder of the increases of between 2.5 and 4.5 per cent. plus other payments, depending on the group, from 1 January 1991. The exceptions are the recommendations that the Government rejected last year for extra increases at the top of the consultants' scale and in the size of consultants' distinction awards. It is still the Government's view that the additional 100 permanent consultant posts which are now being created will best achieve the objective of improving the long-term career structure for hospital doctors.
The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the review body on nursing staff, midwives and health visitors but to stage their implementation so that from 1 April 1990, 7 per cent. is payable to all and in addition the recommendation for changes in London pay and some extra increases in the pay of student nurses take effect from that date. The remaining 2 per cent. of the basic increase and other additional payments will be paid from 1 January 1991.
The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the review body on professions allied to medicine but to stage their implementation so that from 1 April 1990, 7 per cent. is payable to all and in addition the recommendation for changes in London pay takes effect. The remaining increase of 2.75 per cent. and other additional payments will be paid from 1 January 1991.
The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the Top Salaries Review Body but to stage their implementation. The basic increase of 7 per cent. recommended for all groups will be payable as to 6 per cent. from 1 April 1990 and 1 per cent. from 1 January 1991. In addition, for senior civil servants the abolition of the fixed scale increments for grades 2 and 3 will take effect from 1 April 1990 ; the increases in the London allowance for grade 3, and the consequential increases for grade 2, will take effect from 1 January 1991 ; and the new performance pay scheme for grades 2 and 3 will be introduced from 1 April 1991. For two and three- star officers, the additional increases of 2.75 per cent. will take effect from 1 January 1991. For judges, the extra increase of 10 per cent. recommended for those in groups 5 to 7 will be staged with payments on 1 January 1991, 1 August 1991 and 1 April 1992.
The cost of implementing all the recommendations on this basis will be met from within the public expenditure planning totals published in the Autumn Statement. In the case of the health services, the Government recognise that the full costs could not be accommodated within present
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health provision without adversely affecting services to patients. The Government have therefore decided to provide an extra £205 million from the reserve for next year. This payment will bring the increase in the total resources available for the National Health Service in 1990-91 over 1989-90 to nearly £3 billion.The pay rates and scales resulting from the decisions will be promulgated as soon as possible for all the groups concerned. Pensions will follow the rates of salary in payment.
Engagements
Mr. McFall : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 February.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 1 February.
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