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Sandeels
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of any scientific evidence he has relating to the depletion of North Sea sandeel stocks by seals and by small herring ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 16 July 1990] : Sandeels are preyed on by many predators in the North sea including, seals, seabirds and numerous other species of fish.
Published estimates for the total North sea indicate that the annual consumption of sandeels by grey seals was in the order of 35, 000 to 40,000 tonnes in 1984 and 1985. An unpublished estimate for 1989 is 27,500 tonnes. There are no comparable estimates for common seals.
A rough estimate of the annual consumption of sandeels by both species of seals in the Shetland area of the North sea is in the order of 8,000 to 9,000 tonnes, which is over twice as much as the quantity taken in the fishery in 1989 and more than three times the 1990 catch.
Herring are known to prey on small sandeels at times. Research is currently being carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland on the possible role of predation and other factors in controlling sandeel recruitment. At present, however, any link between the decrease in sandeel recruitment at Shetland and herring predation is purely speculative.
EMPLOYMENT
Equestrianism
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment to what extent the United Kingdom has been involved in the European Year of Tourism to date ; and what plans he has to promote the United Kingdom's equestrianism during the European Equestrian Month in November.
Mr. Nicholls : The British Tourist Authority has taken the lead in co-ordinating the United Kingdom's participation in the European Year of Tourism. It has launched a number of campaigns to promote the interest and active involvement of the United Kingdom tourism industry and many events are taking place across the country throughout 1990. Thirty-nine United Kingdom projects have been accepted for co-funding by the European Commission.
A number of suggestions has been made for equestrian events during European equestrian month in November. The British Tourist Authority would be delighted to hear from the hon. Member if he has any specific ideas he wishes to put forward.
Union Assets (Sequestration)
Mr. Butterfill : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the importance of the sequestration of union assets as a means to enforce employment legislation.
Mr. Nicholls : Sequestration is a penalty that may be imposed by the courts, where appropriate, for any
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contempt of court. As such, it is necessary to ensure that trade unions are not able to flout the law, including employment law, with impunity.Child Care
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of whether the new single unit cost per training place system encourages training managers to discriminate against trainees with child care requirements ; and what options have been considered as to how such trainees should be funded under the new contract.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. and learned Friend has no evidence that lone parents are being denied access to employment training. Arrangements for funding child care are for negotiation between individual training managers and the training and enterprise council or Training Agency area office concerned.
Training Managers
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what transitional funding he proposes to offer to training managers to cover the shortfall between their contractual cost commitments to existing trainees and the unit cost per trainee they are receiving under the new contract.
Mr. Nicholls : Funding arrangements for employment training, including any transitional arrangements, are for negotiation between training managers and the local training and enterprise council or area office concerned.
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of contracted training places awarded to training managers in each of the (a) private, (b) local authority and (c) voluntary sectors ; and what were the comparable figures under the old contract.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Clothing Industry
Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for employment how many jobs have been lost in the clothing industry over the past two years.
Mr. Nicholls : The number of employees in employment in the clothing industry including hats, gloves and fur goods, in Great Britain fell by 6,000, or 2.9 per cent. between December 1987 and December 1989.
Construction Industry
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what new steps he intends to take to reduce accidents in the construction industry.
Mr. Nicholls : The prime legal responsibility to bring about improvements rests with the industry itself. As part
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of a continuing process to promote longlasting change in the industry, the Health and Safety Commission is to take forward proposals for new legislation to strengthen the legal requirements relating to the management of health and safety on construction sites.The Health and Safety Executive is continuing to target inspection activity where it will be most effective. That is on the more hazardous activities such as roof work and demolition, and on the quality of site management and its ability to manage health and safety. Inspectors continue to pursue inquiries and enforcement action to the highest levels in companies which do not measure up to the standards expected to them and are also vigorously enforcing the Construction (Head Protection) Regulations which came into force on 30 March 1990.
Labour Statistics
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on trends in employment since 1981.
Mr. Nicholls : In December 1989, the latest date for which information is available, the work force in employment in the United Kingdom was 27,082,000, the highest level ever. This represents an increase of 2,759,000, or 11 per cent., since June 1981.
Sunday Trading
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what he estimates the effect of the present Sunday trading laws is on employment.
Mr. Nicholls : No such estimates are available.
Disabled People
79. Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish details for Great Britain of the number and percentage of people with disabilities of working age who are unemployed.
Mr. Eggar : The most recent estimate is that there are about 285, 000 people with disabilities who are economically active and want but are not in work. This is 22 per cent. of the total. This information was obtained in summer 1989 during a survey commissioned by my Department into the numbers and characteristics of people with disabilities in the labour market. The figure is compiled on a basis different from that used to produce the monthly claimant-based statistics, so is not exactly comparable with general unemployment figures.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish details for Great Britain and for the west midlands region, for each year from April 1986 to the most recent date, of the number and percentage of YTS leavers who on leaving YTS were unemployed (a) in total and (b) with disabilities.
Mr. Nicholls : The information is as follows :
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Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to what percentage of the work force employed by British Coal registered as disabled.
Mr. Eggar : As at 1 June 1989, 0.4 per cent. of the work force of British Coal were registered disabled, as published in the Employment Gazette in February 1990.
Political Funds
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those unions which have voted on the establishment of a new political fund since 1984 with the full result in each case.
Mr. Nicholls : Information on the establishment of political funds is contained in the annual reports of the independent certification officer for trade unions and employers' associations. Copies of the reports are available from the Library. The table lists those unions which were qualified to operate political funds for the first time between January 1984 and the end of December 1989--the latest date for which that information is available. The full results of relevant ballots are provided in confidence to the certification officer by the unions concerned.
Union having political fund rules approved.
1984
Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and KindredTrades. 1986
Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance.
Communication Managers Association.
Inland Revenue Staff Federation.
Clerical Group of National Communications Union(Engineering and Clerical Groups).
National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers.
1987
Association of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Taxes .
Civil and Public Services Association.
Civil Service Union.
National Union of Lock and Metalworkers.
Society of Civil and Public Servants.
1988
Educational Institute of Scotland.
Health Visitors Association.
Institution of Professional Civil Servants.
National and Local Government Officers Association.
National Association of Teachers in Further and HigherEducation. National Union of Insurance Workers.
Retained Firefighters Union.
Union of Democratic Mineworkers.
1989
Association of Agricultural Education Staffs.
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National Association of Schoolmasters and Union ofWomen Teachers. Association of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Taxes .The National Communications Union (Engineering and Clerical Groups), which already had approved political fund rules in relation to its Engineering group, had further rules approved in 1986 for its Clerical group.
The Association of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Taxes, which had political fund rules approved in 1987, ceased to exist with effect from 1 January 1989 when it transferred its engagements to the Association of First Division Civil Servants.
In 1989, a body was created within the Association of First Division Civil Servants called the Association of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Taxes which became listed in its own right as a trade union and which voted to adopt a political fund.
Note. --The information set out above is obtained from the Annual Reports of the certification officer for trade unions and employers' associations.
Natural History Museum
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when the Health and Safety Executive last inspected the natural history museum.
Mr. Nicholls : The Health and Safety Executive last inspected the natural history museum on 14 February 1990.
Data Protection
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many subject access requests under the terms of the Data Protection Act his Department has received ; what was his estimate of the number of requests that would be received ; what consideration he is giving to the subject access fee charged by his Department as a result ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The Department of Employment Group, comprising the Employment Department, the Employment Service, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, the Health and Safety Executive, and the Training Agency has received a total of 383 subject access requests under the Data Protection Act. Before the subject access date of 11 November 1987, it was not possible to make any firm estimate of the number of requests which would be received. We are currently reviewing subject access fee charging policy in the Department of Employment Group.
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EC-Gulf Trade
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if his Department has any plans to make an assessment of the effect on employment in the United Kingdom of a free trade agreement between the European Community and the Gulf Co-operation Council states.
Mr. Eggar : My Department has no current plans for such an assessment. However, the Government have consulted widely industries interested in the forthcoming negotiations and remain ready to consider any further views.
Adjudication Officers
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what steps he is taking to introduce effective adjudication training for adjudication officers ; and what progress has been made in incorporating an indicator for adjudication in his Department's quality control system ;
(2) how many (a) adjudication officers, (b) sector adjudication managers and (c) regional adjudication officers there are in each employment service region ; and if he will make a statement on their functions, particularly with respect to the changes brought in with the Social Security Act 1989 ;
(3) how many regional co-ordinators have been appointed and in which regional adjudication office sections, to develop expertise in the Social Security Act 1989 ; and if he will make a statement on the problems which they have identified ;
(4) what arrangements exist for regional adjudication officers to assist adjudication officers regarding guidance on individual cases of particular difficulty.
Mr. Eggar : The Employment Service became an executive agency on 2 April 1990. Mr. Mike Fogden, the Employment Service Agency's chief executive, will be replying in writing to the hon. Gentleman.
Young Travellers
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to encourage the provision of low-price accommodation for short- term travellers.
Mr. Nicholls : The English tourist board, which receives funds from my Department, actively encourages the provision of all forms of accommodation, including budget accommodation, to meet the needs of the market. The ETB's forthcoming "Guide to Good Practice In Rural Accommodation" will further encourage the development and upgrading of accommodation suitable for young people.
Employment Service
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take steps to ascertain whether the present arrangements regarding answers to questions relating to the employment service are acceptable to hon. Members on both sides of the House.
Mr. Eggar : I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the assurances I gave to the House during the Adjournment debate on
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executive agencies on 21 May, Official Report, columns 145-152, and to my written replies to questions from the hon. Members for Liverpool, Broadgreen (Mr. Fields) and Bristol, South (Ms. Primarolo) on 9 and 10 July respectively, Official Report 9 July, column 102 and 10 July, column 144.Uniform Business Rate
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans his Department has to reduce the impact of the uniform business rate on the hotel trade.
Mr. Nicholls : I have no such plans. The transitional arrangements introduced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will ensure that no existing business will face an annual increase of more than 20 per cent. in real terms. This phasing-in will last until 1995, and there is scope for it to be continued thereafter, should that prove to be necessary. My noble Friend Lord Strathclyde will continue to keep in touch with the hotel sector on this issue.
Tourism
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to provide grants towards improving the appearance of major tourist attractions.
Mr. Nicholls : There are no such plans.
Employment Training
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment why there are variations in regional targets for output-related funding under the employment training scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : There are variations in regional targets for achievement of positive outcomes on employment training because of differences in regional labour markets.
Training Credits
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much of the funding of training credits will come from the Training Agency budget and how much from local authorities for 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1993- 94.
Mr. Eggar : Funding for training credits will come from three sources : planned resources for youth training ; additional funding from Government of £12 million in 1991-92 and £25 million in 1992-93 ; and thereafter and transfer of the relevant portion of rate support grant provision for part-time courses for 16 to 18-year-olds. The rate support grant provision is estimated at approximately £5 million in 1991-92 and £15 million in 1992-93. Figures have not been produced for 1993- 94.
TEC Director"
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the annual cost of producing the publication "TEC Director".
Mr. Eggar : The estimated production costs for "TEC Director" during the financial year April 1990 to March 1991 are £99,440.88.
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DEFENCE
Soviet Disarmament
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the defence implications for the United Kingdom of Soviet disarmament measures in Europe.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the defence implications for the United Kingdom of Soviet disarmament measures in Europe.
Mr. James Lamond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the defence implications for the United Kingdom of Soviet disarmament measures in Europe.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We are examining options for change in the structure and deployment of our armed forces in the light of changing international circumstances, including the withdrawals of Soviet forces from eastern Europe and Soviet unilateral force reductions. We continue to attach high importance to reaching agreement in the conventional forces in Europe negotiations in Vienna to eliminate the continuing significant Warsaw pact superiority over NATO in conventional arms.
Expenditure Reductions (Scotland)
15. Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reductions in his Department's expenditure in Scotland he proposes arising out of the reduction in tension between NATO and the Warsaw pact countries.
47. Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reductions in his Department's expenditure in Scotland he proposes arising out of the reduction in tension between NATO and the Warsaw pact countries.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is too early to say what financial savings for the defence budget as a whole might be consistent with the outcome of the first stages of CFE and changes in eastern Europe. Defence expenditure is not accounted for on a regional basis.
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