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Rural Areas
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any proposals to allow district councils to use more of their capital receipts to combat problems facing rural areas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : No. The rules on capital receipts in the new capital finance system enable us to target resources more effectively on the needs facing all local authorities.
Uniform Business Rate
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 20 December, Official Report, column 330, what is his assessment of the effect on rate bills of the uniform business rate and the non-domestic revaluation, based on the local rating lists which came into force on 1 April.
Mr. Nicholls : I am placing in the Library an analysis of the combined effects of the revaluation and the introduction of the uniform business rate in England and Wales.
Between December and April there was a net addition to the rating lists representing an increase of about 2 to 3 per cent. in rateable values and rate bills. Overall the average by which rateable values have increased for properties occupied by private businesses and the nationalised industries has risen slightly to 8.1 times in England and to 8.5 times in Wales. The changes to the rating lists reflect the correction of errors, revisions based on later information or new regulations and the addition of new properties completed after the December lists were published
County Hall, London
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will make an announcement about the future development of county hall, London.
Mr. Chris Patten : Last autumn a public inquiry was held into proposals for the redevelopment of the county hall complex. Following consideration of my inspector's report, my Department has today written to the appellants indicating my willingness to defer decisions on their appeals so as to allow them the opportunity to amend the proposals to overcome objections related to a relatively small part of the overall scheme. The letter and inspector's report have been copied to all parties who made representations to the inspector at the inquiry.
Air Pollution Control
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to issue advice to local authorities on the exercise of their new air pollution control functions under part I of the Environmental Protection Bill.
Mr. Trippier : The new system of air pollution control being established under part I of the Bill represents a major strengthening of local authorities' powers over polluting industry.
It is important that local authorities work to a common set of standards and I intend that no process should be
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scheduled for local authority control until relevant guidance has been published. More than 70 guidance notes will be needed, and we are well on target to produce them. The final drafts of the first seven notes, produced with the assistance of the local authorities and industry, have today been circulated to interested parties for comment and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. Through the guidance notes, not only local authorities, but industry and the public will be aware of the standards of air pollution control we expect to be achieved.Pollution Regulatory Authorities
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on proposals for cost-recovery charging for pollution regulatory authorities' costs.
Mr. Trippier : On 30 January this year I announced that, subject to enactment of the Environmental Protection Bill, cost-recovery charges to meet the costs of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution (HMIP) and the National Rivers Authority in administering integrated pollution control (IPC) would be introduced as from April 1991 ; and that the scheme would be based on an application fee payable when a process is submitted for IPC authorisation and an annual charge payable for holding each authorisation to cover the on-going costs of compliance monitoring. The level of charges for a particular plant would be linked to the number of specified "components" which it comprised, thus relating the amount payable to the size and complexity of the plant concerned.
My Department has now published a consultation paper on proposals for the detailed operation of this scheme, inviting comment from industry, environmental groups and others with an interest. The paper also sets out proposals for charging schemes for local authority air pollution control of the "part B" process, and for the regulation of premises under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. I have placed a copy of the paper in the Library.
Integrated Pollution Control
Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning the timing of the implementation of integrated pollution control.
Mr. Trippier : I have received a number of representations from a variety of sources which have suggested that an implementation date of 2 January 1991 means that there would be an inadequate period for consultation with interested parties and the public on guidance notes and regulations to be issued under part I of the Environmental Protection Bill. I have considered these representations most carefully. Royal Assent to the Bill is now expected later than had previously been anticipated. A delay will also enable Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to broaden its training procedures for the implementation of IPC and associated work. I have decided therefore that IPC will now be implemented on 1 April 1991 for all new prescribed processes ; prescribed processes undergoing a substantial change and large combustion plant. Other prescribed processes will be phased in over four years from 1 April 1992.
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Telford Development Corporation
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the wind-up date of Telford development corporation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : Following statutory consultations under section 41 of the New Towns Act 1981, I have decided that Telford development corporation will be wound up on target on 30 September 1991. The necessary order will be made in due course.
Pollution, Port Talbot
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has received in respect of pollution by BP Chemicals at Baglen bay, Port Talbot ; and what action it is proposed to take about it.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 20 July 1990] : I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Wales on 20 July, Official Report, Vol. 176, columns 758-59.
Radon Gas
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set a limit on the fee which may be charged for carrying out tests for radon gas in domestic buildings.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory [holding answer 23 July 1990] : No. The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) will carry out a free test for radon at the householder's request in all cases where the board judges that the nature of the area and the house warrant such testing. In other cases, the fee is a matter of negotiation with the organisation requested to carry out the test. The NRPB currently charges a fee of £26.40 plus VAT in those cases which do not justify a free test.
Direct Labour Organisation, Brent
Sir Rhodes Boyson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what use he intends to make of his sanction powers under part III of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 against the direct labour organisation of the London borough of Brent.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : On 20 December 1989, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State served a notice under section 19A of the 1980 Act on the London borough of Brent, setting out his view that the authority appeared to have failed to prepare the revenue account and statement of rate of return for the direct labour organisation's (DLO) activities in the financial year 1988-89 ; that it had failed to submit to him a report containing this information ; and that it had failed to achieve the required rate of return on major new construction work.
My right hon. Friend has now considered the response which the authority has made to the section 19A notice, and accepts that the authority has now prepared the revenue account and statement of rate of return and has submitted the relevant report to him. He has noted, however, that the report shows that Brent's DLO made a loss of over £1 million on major new construction work in
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1988-89, following a loss of slightly less than £1 million on this work in 1987-88. He has further noted that the authority decided in July 1989 that the DLO should withdraw from major new construction work, but that the authority has not precluded the possibility that the DLO might return to this area of work in the future.My right hon. Friend has concluded that the record of financial failure by the DLO is such as to provide no confidence that it could achieve the required rate of return on major new construction work in the future. He has therefore today given a direction under section 19B of the 1980 Act prohibiting Brent's DLO from carrying out major new construction work.
EMPLOYMENT
Labour Statistics
13. Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by how much the total number of jobs in the United Kingdom has increased since 1979.
Mr. Howard : The number of jobs in the United Kingdom increased by 1.8 million between June 1979 and March 1990, the latest date for which information is available. It now stands at 27,198,000--the highest level ever.
17. Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of unemployed people in the Gloucester constituency for the last month for which figures are available ; and what percentage of that figure are long-term unemployed.
Mr. Jackson : There were 2,149 unemployed claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Gloucester in June
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1990. For April 1990, the latest available date, about 27 per cent. of all claimants had been unemployed for more than a year.20. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in London.
Mr. Forth : In June 1990 unemployment in the London travel-to-work area was 186,168, 4.7 per cent. of the work force.
23. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures ; and what were the most nearly comparable figures for June 1979.
Mr. Forth : In June 1990 the level of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, in the United Kingdom, was 1,617,100 compared with 1,069, 000 in June 1979 on the consistent basis.
39. Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the current unemployment figures ; and what was the most nearly comparable figure in June 1989.
Mr. Forth : In June 1990 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the United Kingdom was 1,617,100, compared with 1,811,300 in June 1989.
44. Mr. Viggers : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on changes in the age profile of unemployed men and women in recent years.
Mr. Forth : As shown by the table, all age groups have seen sharp falls in the numbers unemployed over the past four years.
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Unemployed claimants by age in the United Kingdom Thousands -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1986 |624 |(27.3)|373 |(36.1)|1,087 |(47.5)|443 |(42.8)|471 |(20.6)|139 |(13.5) 1987 |567 |(26.3)|331 |(34.9)|1,053 |(48.8)|422 |(44.5)|466 |(21.6)|140 |(14.8) 1988 |444 |(25.1)|253 |(32.9)|872 |(49.4)|346 |(45.0)|390 |(22.1)|124 |(16.1) 1989 |352 |(26.0)|179 |(33.5)|691 |(51.1)|256 |(48.0)|307 |(22.7)|98 |(18.4) 1990 |318 |(26.6)|147 |(34.3)|641 |(53.5)|203 |(47.5)|238 |(19.9)|77 |(18.0) <1> Figures shown in brackets give the proportion of total unemployment in the given age group. Note: The percentages do not add to 100 due to the exclusion from the table of those claimants aged under 18.
47. Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the latest unemployment figures for Sheffield expressed as a percentage ; and what is the national average.
Mr. Forth : In June 1990, the unemployment rate for the Sheffield travel-to-work area was 7.9 per cent. The comparable figure for the United Kingdom was 5.5 per cent. These figures are on the unadjusted basis.
48. Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for unfilled vacancies in the Basildon constituency.
Mr. Forth : Vacancy data for parliamentary constituencies are not available. However, the number of vacancies in the Basildon jobcentre area in June was 326.
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57. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the total number of employees who are counted twice in the employment totals.
Mr. Forth : The exact number of employees with two or more jobs included in the published employees in employment estimates is not known, since the estimates are based on figures collected from employers, who will not generally know if an employee is filling the post as an additional job.
However, evidence on the number of people with two jobs can be derived from the labour force survey (LFS). It is estimated from the preliminary results of the 1989 LFS that 623,000 employees (2.8 per cent. of the total) in Great Britain had a second job as an employee in spring 1989.
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58. Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the level of unemployment in the west midlands (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which figures are available.Mr. Forth : In June 1990 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the west midlands was 149,200, compared with 99,400 in June 1979.
68. Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of unemployed claimants in (a) Birkenhead and (b) the urban programme area, on 1 June 1983 and 1 January 1990 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The table shows the number of unemployed claimants, in (a) Birkenhead parliamentary constituency and (b) Wirral local authority area, in which the Government target inner-city programme aid, for June 1983 and January 1990.
Total unemployed claimants -------------------------------- Birkenhead |8,726 |6,479 Wirral |23,554|16,025
Direct comparisons over the time are affected by various changes to the count and by seasonal influences.
69. Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people in work in Scotland in 1979 ; and what is the number today.
Mr. Forth : In June 1979, the civilian work force in employment for Scotland was 2,262,000. In March 1990, the latest date for which information is available, it stood at 2,281,000, an increase of 19, 000.
71. Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for people in full-time employment ; and what was the comparable figure in 1979.
Mr. Forth : There were 20,232,000 people in full-time employment in Great Britain in March 1990, the latest date for which information is available. The earliest comparable information available is for March 1983 when there were 18,154,000 people in full-time employment. This represents an increase of 2,077,000 or 11 per cent.
Child Care
18. Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will commission a study of the child care needs of working mothers.
Mr. Howard : My Department is contributing to the funding of the British social attitudes survey which includes questions on women's views of their child care needs. The need for any further research will be considered when the results of the survey are available.
Long-term Unemployed
19. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he intends to introduce to enable the long-term unemployed to receive training.
Mr. Howard : Employment training currently provides long-term unemployed people with a full range of
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opportunities to help them acquire the skills and experience they need to compete for jobs. Under training and enterprise councils training provision will become even more responsive to local needs.21. Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measure he intends to introduce to enable the long-term unemployed to participate fully in the work force.
Mr. Howard : Long-term unemployment has halved in the past two years. The wide range of employment and training measures which the Government have put in place have helped to achieve that objective.
36. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what further measures he proposes to take to help the long-term unemployed.
Mr. Jackson : The number of people unemployed for one year or more has fallen by almost half a million in the last two years and in that period long-term unemployment has fallen faster than total unemployment. Our success has been based on policies which have led to a large number of new jobs, and on an extensive range of employment and training measures which are kept under regular review to ensure that they continue successfully and cost-effectively to help long-term unemployed people get back into work.
Job Clubs
22. Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how he intends to improve the work of job clubs.
Mr. Jackson : The job club programme is working well and continues to be very popular.
Current initiatives to improve the programme further include a new guide for external contractors ; improvements to job club leader training ; and pilots of special help for people with severe literacy or language difficulties.
Part-time and Temporary Work
24. Mr. Bright : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has made to the European Commission concerning its proposed directives on part-time and temporary work.
Mr. Howard : I have made it clear that the Government oppose the draft directives on the grounds that they would reduce job opportunities and damage competitiveness.
40. Mr. Donald Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of jobs in the United Kingdom are part-time.
Mr. Forth : Part-time employment in Great Britain constituted 24 per cent. (6,369,000) of the work force in employment in March 1990, the latest date for which information is available. Figures for part-time workers in Northern Ireland are not available.
Dock Labour Scheme
25. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the effects of the abolition of the dock labour scheme.
Mr. Howard : The industrial relations in the former scheme ports have been transformed ; labour productivity
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has increased ; and new business opportunities in and around the ports are booming as a direct result of the abolition of the dock labour scheme in July 1989.51. Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment has been made so far by his Department of the effect on business at British seaports of the abolition in 1989 of the dock labour scheme.
Mr. Howard : The July edition of the Employment Gazette contained an article, based on assessments carried out in 15 former national dock labour scheme ports, which reviewed developments which had occurred in the first year after the abolition of the scheme. It found that there had been substantial changes in the composition of the labour force ; industrial relations in the docks had been transformed ; labour was now being utilised much more flexibly ; labour productivity had increased markedly ; investment in the docks was beginning to increase and new business opportunities in and around the ports were developing ; training was being approached more systematically and health and safety standards were being maintained.
Employment Training
26. Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many students have completed training under the employment training scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Since its launch over 700,000 people have benefited from the opportunities provided by employment training. It is currently helping about 200,000 unemployed people to obtain the skills and experience they need to get and keep jobs. Under training and enterprise councils it will become even more responsive to local needs.
29. Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the recontracting process for employment training.
Mr. Jackson : The recontracting exercise for employment training has been successful and 99 per cent. of providers have agreed new contracts.
66. Mr. Barry Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many students are currently undertaking training under the employment training scheme.
Mr. Jackson : An estimated 200,000 people are currently undertaking employment training.
Disabled People
27. Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his Department's review of employment services for disabled people.
Mr. Jackson : The results of the review were published on 29 June in a consultative document "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities". The document sets out our intentions for the development of services in the 1990s taking forward themes, established in the 1980s, of integration into the work force and the active commitment of employers to good practices in creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The document has been widely distributed and the period of consultation lasts to 31 December.
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37. Mr. Eastham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is taking to improve employment services to people with disabilities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : A consultative document, "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities", was published by this Department on 29 June. The document sets out our intentions for the development of services in the 1990s taking forward themes, established in the 1980s, of integration into the work force and the active commitment of employers to good practices in creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The document has been widely distributed and the period of consultation runs to 31 December.
62. Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he intends to introduce to preserve and enforce the quota system for employment of people with disabilities.
Mr. Jackson : This Department's consultative document, "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities", invites comments on the merits and demerits of the quota system for employment of people with disabilities. Decisions on its future operation will be taken when we have considered the comments that we receive.
65. Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to improve the legislative framework for the employment of people with disabilities.
Mr. Jackson : This Department's consultative document, "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities", invites comments on the merits and demerits of various legislative approaches to promoting the employment of people with disabilities. Decisions on the best way forward will be taken when we have considered the comments that we receive.
Training
28. Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the total British work force attended formal training courses in 1989.
Mr. Forth : The information is not available in the form requested.
42. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any proposals to oblige every company to set up a training body with guaranteed trade union representation at every workplace.
Mr. Forth : There are no such plans. The most effective incentive for companies to train is a knowledge and understanding of their skill needs, not centralised regulation.
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