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Telecommunications-- 25 April 1990 Directive on terminal equipment Resolution on video-communicationsDirective on Radio-paging
(Possible) Digital European Cordless Telecommunications Postal matters
HDTV--agreed position for CCIR
P.M. Reports from the Commission to be noted :
Second Report on ISDN
Report on Broadband Integrated Telecommunicationsin Europe.
THE ARTS
Disabled People
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister for the Arts how he intends to improve access to arts venues for disabled people ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Luce : My aim is for the arts to be accessible to everyone. In December 1988 I gave £150,000 to the Carnegie Trust's Adapt Fund for the improvement of facilities for disabled people in arts venues. I acknowledge the important role which my hon. Friend is playing as chairman of this fund.
Both the Museums and Galleries Commission and the Arts Council employ a disability officer. The Arts Council recently published an arts and disability action plan to produce practical measures to increase disabled people's involvement in the arts, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
CIVIL SERVICE
Agencies
Mr. Watts : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service whether he can report any further developments in the agency system ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Luce : Work continues to progress well in preparing activities for agency status and in identifying further candidates. The Treasury minute (Cm. 964), replying to the PAC's 38th report and published on 31 January, confirmed the Government's view that the pace at which Departments launch agencies would speed up, with a total of at least 20 agencies launched by the summer, and with more to come.
Management Skills
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what training is given in management skills within the Civil Service.
Mr. Luce : Civil servants are trained in the full range of management skills they need to exercise in their work, including the management of people, finance and other resources. In 1988-89, some 82,600 civil servants undertook management training. Of this, 81 per cent. was provided directly by Departments, 7 per cent. was undertaken at the Civil Service college, and the remainder was provided externally.
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Outside Posts
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what rules govern the acceptance by any senior civil servant of a post outside the Civil Service (a) during and (b) subsequent to his Civil Service career.
Mr. Luce [holding answer 2 February 1990] : The rules governing acceptance by senior civil servants of outside appointments during and after their Civil Service careers are set out in chapters 5 and 11, respectively, of the personnel management handbook, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
EMPLOYMENT
State-supported Training
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons were involved in state-supported training at the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Eggar : The table shows the numbers of people who were on state- supported training schemes, funded through the Training Agency, at the end of November 1989 :
Earnings
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his letter of 11 January to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby replying further to his holding answer of 19 December, Official Report, 20 December, column 235, whether he will publish in the Official Report a table providing the same information for 1972-79 together with his best estimate of the numbers employed in 1979 in (i) each of the specified categories, (ii) manufacturing in the public sector and (iii) the private sector other than manufacturing ; and if he will add an estimate of the increase in average earnings each year of manuals and non-manuals in the private sector less manufacturing based on the weighted average employment figures in the respective sectors.
Mr. Nicholls : Estimates of the increases in earnings for each year are provided in the table. Estimates of the numbers in employment for the categories requested are not available except for non-manual male employees in manufacturing, of which there were 1,377,000 employees in October 1979. The calculation requested in the final part of the question would not be meaningful for the reasons stated in my letter to the hon. Member.
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Percentage increase in weekly and hourly earnings of full-time adult male employees<1> <1> Average gross weekly and hourly earnings, not affected by absence, for those aged 21 and over. <2> Not available.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the Government will publish guidelines showing increases in productivity to assist employers faced with pay claims to discount settlements in other industries which take into account increases in productivity ; and if he will publish a table showing the percentage increase in median earnings of (a) full-time adult male manual workers in the motor vehicle industry and (b) the whole economy less manufacturing since 1972 and 1979, together with increases in output per head.
Mr. Nicholls : Productivity is clearly a vital influence on costs and competitiveness but it is for employers to regulate their own internal affairs. Only they can judge the level of pay settlements appropriate to all the relevant circumstances ; and it is they who must bear the consequences of their decisions for competitiveness, investment and jobs.
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The increase to April 1989 in the median level of gross weekly earnings of full-time adult manual male employees in the manufacture of motor vehicles and parts (SIC 35) was 511 per cent. from April 1972 and 148 per cent. from April 1979. Information on the median level of earnings for all full-time adult employees in the whole economy less manufacturing is not available.The increase in output per head for SIC 35 between the second quarter of 1979 and the third quarter of 1989 was 49 per cent. Data on output per head for SIC 35 prior to 1978 are not available. The increase in output per head for the whole economy less manufacturing between 1972 and the third quarter of 1989 cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. The increase between the second quarter of 1979 and the third quarter of 1989 was 12 per cent.
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Factory Inspectors
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many factory inspectors were appointed in the past 10 years with the minimum qualifications of (a) higher national diploma, (b) polytechnic degree and (c) university degree.
Mr. Nicholls : The 276 factory inspectors recruited in the past 10 years were qualified to at least the levels specified, as follows : a) higher national diploma--2
b) polytechnic degree--89
c) university degree--185
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the Health and Safety Executive factory inspectorate division budget for the year 1989-90.
Mr. Nicholls : The gross budget for 1989-90 allocated to the factories and agriculture inspectorate division was £37.6 million. The Health and Safety Commission's planned use of resources in 1989-90 was described in its "Plan of Work for 1989-90 and beyond", published on 3 May 1989.
Self-employment
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of self-employed people in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nicholls : In September 1989, the latest date for which estimates are available, the number of self-employed people in the United Kingdom was 3,141,000.
Economic League
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to meet the Economic League to discuss the lists it gives to employers concerning prospective employees.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. and learned Friend has no such plans.
Careers Service
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria he uses to judge the success of the careers service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : The standards expected of the local education authority-delivered careers service in England are set out in the "Guidance for Local Education Authorities in England and Wales" issued jointly in 1988 by my predecessor and the Secretary of State for Wales. Annual objectives and numerical targets are a condition for receipt of direct grant under the careers service strengthening scheme.
The careers service inspectorate monitors annual performance against objectives and targets and carries out a full inspection of each service at about five-yearly intervals. Reports from the inspectorate provide the information on which I judge the effectiveness of individual services.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir N. Fowler) announced last year that reports on
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inspections started after September 1989 will be published. Copies of previous reports, including a recent report on the excellent service in Bolton, are available in the Library.Footwear and Textiles
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs have been lost in (a) the footwear industry and (b) the textile industry since October 1989, by month ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : There are no figures for job losses or job gains. Latest estimates of the number of employees in employment relate to November 1989. These show falls of 300 (0.6 per cent.) and 200 (0.1 per cent.) respectively for the footwear and textile industries since October 1989.
Women Workers
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how his Department intends to encourage employers to address the needs of women returning to work.
Mr. Nicholls : My Department will continue the action that it has taken over many months to encourage employers to make recruitment and retention policies attractive to women. It is doing this primarily through :
(1) alerting employers to the need to recruit women at all occupational levels to help make up for the decline in the numbers of young people. The Training Agency/NEDO report "Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb" has been widely publicised.
(2) encouraging employers to consider introducing--career breaks--part-time work at all levels--flexible working hours--childcare.
(3) its example as an employer
(4) helping women get appropriate training thus enhancing their value to employers.
(5) supporting and publishing research into the female labour market, for example, on employers' recruitment and retention strategies.
Environmental Protection
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if his Department has any figures for the number of people employed in the United Kingdom on environmental protection and environmental improvement activities for each of the past five years.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many men were in employment in each standard planning region in the United Kingdom ; and how many women were in full and part-time employment in June 1979 at the latest date for which information is available.
Mr. Nicholls : Table 1 shows the male civilian work force in employment for each region in September 1989. Table 2 shows the total female civilian work force in employment in June 1979 and September 1989.
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Table 1 Civilian Workforce in Employment Males, Unadjusted, Thousands
Table 2
Civilian workforce in Great Britain
Females, seasonally adjusted
Thousands
June 1979 |5,801 |3,982 |9,783
September 1989 |6,343 |4,908 |11,251
Change |542 |926 |1,468
Percentage change |9.3 per cent. |23.3 per cent. |15.0 per cent.
Liquidation (Costs)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what contribution his Department makes to the administration costs of settling redundancy claims, holiday pay, pension schemes, etc., when his Department pays the redundancy liabilities of the workers of a liquidated company ; and how these costs rate against the claims of unsecured trade creditors in settling the liquidation.
Mr. Nicholls : My Department makes various statutory redundancy and insolvency payments to employees through the employer's representative, usually the receiver or liquidator dealing with the insolvency, who acts as the Department's agent. The Department pays a fee for this work. The general administration costs of the insolvency are recovered by the employer's representative from the proceeds of the insolvency in priority to claims by creditors. Statutory claims by employees are settled as soon as the employer's representative has processed them, normally within a few weeks of the closure of the company.
Under-sevens Project
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by which date the "Working with Under Sevens and their Families" project is required to complete its work.
Mr. Nicholls : By 31 July 1990.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much time will be available for consultation with the professionals and others involved in the implementation of the recommendations of the "Working with Under Sevens and their Families" project.
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Mr. Nicholls : Consultation with the professionals and others who will be involved in the implementation of project outputs is an integral part of the project and therefore ongoing.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the remit of the "Working with Under Sevens and their Families" project in which the Training Agency has had an input.
Mr. Nicholls : The purpose of this project is to develop nationally recognised standards of competence and associated assessment systems as the basis for national awards for care staff working with the under-sevens and their families.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether funding will be made available to implement the recommendations of the "Working with Under Sevens and their Families" project.
Mr. Nicholls : Government funding is available for all projects within the standards programme, to contribute to the cost of promoting the uptake of the standards and qualifications which emerge from them.
YTS Trainees
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, if he will make a statement on the use of YTS trainees on the MV Marine.
Mr. Nicholls : No. There were no YTS trainees on the MV Marine.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Taxation
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman) on 18 January, Official Report, column 341, if he will estimate the net revenue forgone by the Exchequer in (a) 1988-89 and (b) 1989-90 as a result of the reductions in personal income tax for higher rate payers to 40 pence in the pound introduced in the Finance Act 1988, in the light of the Government's receipts since then.
Mr. Lilley : My reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay on 18 January ( Official Report, column 341 ) referred to the estimate of the direct costs of abolishing the income tax rates above 40 per cent. given in the 1988 Financial Statement and Budget Report.
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the percentage of total general Government taxes, and social security contributions derived from (a) direct taxation and (b) indirect taxation in each country of the EEC for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Lilley : Statistics on the composition of tax revenue in EC member countries are published by the OECD in "Revenue Statistics of OECD Member Countries 1965-88".
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the level of tax revenues incurred from (a) individuals, (b) corporate bodies and (c) public organisations in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1989.
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Mr. Lilley : Taxes on income and capital gains, local authority rates and national insurance contributions can be allocated as follows :
|£ billion |£ billion
Persons |30.8 |75.8
Companies |18.4 |46.3
It is not possible to distinguish taxes paid by public corporations from those paid by companies as a whole. Nor is it possible to allocate other taxes (for example, VAT) to persons or companies.
Inflation and Interest Rates
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were (a) the rates of inflation and (b) the levels of interest rates in each country of the EEC, Japan, and the United States of America, for the most recent dates available.
Mr. Ryder : Following is the information requested :
estimates of home-owners' costs<1> |Short-term nominal interest rates<2>
United Kingdom<3> |6.1 |15.1
United States of America |4.7 |8.3
Japan |2.9 |7.0
Germany |3.1 |8.1
France |3.6 |11.1
Italy |6.5 |6.2
Belgium |3.6 |8.8
Denmark |4.8 |12.0
Greece |14.0 |21.0
Ireland |4.2 |12.1
Luxembourg |3.8 |10.5
Netherlands |0.9 |8.8
Portugal |11.7 |12.5
Spain |7.0 |15.5
<1> Inflation figures are for November 1989, except for United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark and Belgium (December) and Ireland (Q4).
<2> Interest rates refer to close 31 January, except Spain, Greece and Denmark (1 February), Ireland (January) and Portugal (October).
<3> United Kingdom figure is for RPI excluding mortgage interest payments; figures for other countries exclude estimates of owner occupiers' housing costs as appropriate.
Publicity
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total publicity and advertising expenditure, including for privatisation, by all Government Departments and public bodies in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.
Mr. Ryder : Information on publicity, including advertising, is not held centrally and is a matter for individual Departments.
Banks (Third World Debt)
Mr. Viggers : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the revised Bank of England guidelines to banks on their provisions for Third world debt.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 2 February 1990] : The revised matrix guidelines are a supervisory tool to assist
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banks in fixing provisioning levels against exposure to countries experiencing debt-servicing and repayment difficulties. Responsibility for formulating the matrix rests with the Bank of England.Mr. Viggers : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the Inland Revenue will take account of Third world debt provision by banks in allowing them tax relief.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 2 February 1990] : Provisions by banks against Third-world debts are allowable for tax only to the extent that such debts are shown to be irrecoverable.
Civil Service (Closed Shop)
Sir Norman Fowler : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what closed shop arrangements exist in the Civil Service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Major [holding answer 2 February 1990] : There are no closed shop arrangements in the Civil Service.
Civil servants are free to choose whether or not they wish to join or remain a member of a trade union.
European Community Budget
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in a separate tabulation for each of the last three years, including the estimate for 1989, the receipts and contributions to the EEC budget under each of the major headings value added tax, agricultural levies CE7, fourth resource, agricultural receipts, social fund receipts etc., setting out the net contribution/receipt, followed by the notional shape of the cost of central Community institutions allocated on a population basis leading to an amended net contribution/receipt as calculated by addition/subtraction of this notional value.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 31 January 1990] : Full information about the net contributions or receipts of each of the member states is not available. It is, therefore, not possible to show the notional impact on net positions of allocating the cost of central Community institutions in line with population shares.
WALES
Rural Schools (Closures)
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of rural schools closed in Dyfed, Powys, Clwyd and Gwynedd since 1979.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Separate figures relating only to schools in rural areas are not held. The following table shows the net change in the number of primary and secondary schools other than maintained special schools in the areas requested.
|Dyfed |Powys |Clwyd |Gwynedd
1979-80 |+1 |- |-2 |-1
1980-81 |-2 |-2 |-1 |-
1981-82 |-6 |-4 |-3 |-
1982-83 |-5 |-3 |-2 |-1
1983-84 |-5 |- |-6 |-
1984-85 |-3 |-2 |-1 |-
Local Government Finance
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of extra staff employed by Welsh district authorities to administer and collect the poll tax in each named district.
Mr. Grist : The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of local authority expenditure in 1990-91 he estimates will be met by community charge payers.
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Mr. Peter Walker : If local authorities budget in line with the settlement that I have announced for 1990-91, after allowing for community charge benefit and transitional relief, community charge payers should expect to contribute 14 per cent. of local authorities' expenditure for that year.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will give the average business rate to be paid by (i) commercial and (ii) industrial premises in each Welsh district in 1990-91 ;
(2) if he will set out the average rateable value for (a) commercial and (b) industrial premises in each Welsh district following revaluation together with the average figure for each category prior to revaluation and the percentage increase as a result of the 1989 revaluation.
Mr. Walker : The information requested is shown in the following table :
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