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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have no recent information about abuses of human rights or of executions alleged to have been carried out by the presidential security guard in the Philippines.
Albania
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent talks with Albania on establishing diplomatic relations.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Officials from the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office held talks in Rome on 5 and 6 November. The talks were conducted in a positive atmosphere and covered bilateral issues, including the possible restoration of diplomatic relations.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Household Food
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the amount of consumer expenditure on household food in 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1989 in percentage terms in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States of America and Japan.
Mr. Curry : The available information is shown in the table.
Household expenditure on food as a percentage of
total consumer expenditure
|1960|1970|1980|1988
--------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |25.0|20.0|16.9|12.2
West Germany<1> |33.4|27.3|22.0|20.0
France |<2> |22.5|18.0|16.6
United States of America |17.8|15.2|12.8|10.8
Japan<3> |<2> |30.0|24.4|20.2
<1> Includes alcoholic beverages.
<2> Figure not available.
<3> Includes alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
Sources: National Accounts for OECD countries,
OECD United Kingdom National Accounts, CSO.
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the amount of consumer expenditure on household food in 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1989, in actual and percentage terms and at 1989 prices.
Mr. Curry : The information requested is shown in the table.
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Consumers' expenditure on household food in the United Kingdom
|Household |Expenditure |Household
|expenditure | on food as a |expenditure
|on food at |percentage of |on food in
|current prices |total |real terms<1>
|(£ million) |(per cent.) |(Index 1989=100)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1960 |4,228 |25.0 |99.5
1970 |6,369 |20.0 |101.2
1980 |23,655 |16.9 |104.1
1989 |39,181 |11.9 |100.0
<1> United Kingdom household expenditure on food at current prices deflated by the
retail price index (all items) and expressed as an index (1989=100).
Source: United Kingdom National Accounts, CSO.
Fish Processing and Marketing
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his Department's press release on the autumn statement explaining how ports may now take advantage of the extra funding to improve the processing and marketing of fish.
Mr. Curry : On 5 November the agriculture departments in the United Kingdom issued a joint press notice inviting applications for grant aid for projects related to the marketing and processing of fishery products. That notice gave a contact point for potential applicants wishing to learn more about the details of the scheme.
Less-favoured Areas
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the parishes and the counties in which they are located which have just been designated as less-favoured areas.
Mr. Gummer : The extension to our less-favoured area has cleared an important hurdle. That is acceptance by the committee on agricultural structures and rural development, but it has not yet been formally designated by the EC Commission. As soon as this designation has been notified to my Department I will inform the House.
Subsidy Reforms
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the subsidy reforms agreed by the Council of Agriculture Ministers ; and if he will explain what procedures are to be followed to repay to farmers any losses which they might sustain in consequence of the proposed reduction of subsidy support.
Mr. Curry : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Sherwood (Mr. Stewart) on 8 November at column 8. The European Commission will in due course make proposals for Community measures to accompany any agreement reached in the current GATT negotiations to reduce levels of agricultural support worldwide. The Council of Ministers will discuss the Commission's proposals under its normal procedures.
Fish Quotas
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food following the wrongful declarations of fish taken from area VII, what steps he is taking to redistribute fish to ensure the non-sector quota for this area is not disadvantaged.
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Mr. Curry : Following a full assessment of the up-to-date catch position, and the agreement of some producer organisations to release some of their allocations to the non-sector, we have now been able to reopen the non-sector Irish sea cod fishery.
It would only be possible to redistribute fish along the lines suggested by the hon. Member where fishermen had been successfully prosecuted for misdeclaration. In order to provide the non-sector with some protection against misdeclaration in the future, Fisheries Departments have consulted the industry on a proposal to require producer organisations which opt to manage a sectoral allocation for a species in one main sea area to take sectoral allocations for that species in all areas in the same year.
In addition, fisheries departments have consulted the industry on a proposal to omit 1990 from the reference period for the calculation of vessels' track records in respect of those area VII stocks for which the pattern of fishing in 1990 appears to be atypical of previous years. This would ensure that for any stock in area VII where misdeclaration had caused the pattern of fishing to change significantly in 1990, those who had misdeclared would not benefit by building up track records in these fisheries. Departments are considering the industry's response, with particular emphasis on the question of which stocks had unusual fishing patterns in 1990.
East Anglia
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his Department's press release on the autumn statement, explaining how (a) local authorities and (b) the National Rivers Authority will be able to draw on the extra funding additionally to protect the East Anglian coastline in its entirety.
Mr. Curry : An additional £7.1 million of grant and £9.9 million of supplementary credit approval are being made available over the next three years for coast protection work undertaken by maritime district councils. This means that support is now available for a programme of local authority coast protection work to nearly £88 million over this period. Funding is allocated to local authorities when schemes have been approved by the Department, and is provided according to need and priority.
For the National Rivers Authority, an extra £14.5 million of grant is being made available over the next three years for flood and sea defence work, which means that support will be available for an NRA programme over this period of nearly £245 million. The Anglian region of the NRA will benefit from funding within this total on a programme of about £95 million.
DEFENCE
The Gulf
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the current daily cost of the deployment of United Kingdom forces in the Gulf.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The current estimate of the full daily operating cost of our forces in the Gulf is £2 million.
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Alvis Stormer Vehclees
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when delivery will be taken of the first Alvis Stormer vehicles.
Mr. Alan Clark : It is planned that the Department will take delivery of the first Alvis Stormer vehicles by January 1991.
NATO Defence Market
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy towards the recommendation of the conference of national armaments directors that there should be an open defence market among the NATO countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Clark : The NATO conference of national armaments directors is considering ways in which the conditions for defence trade within the NATO nations can be improved. A group has been established to consider this issue and to make recommendations. This initiative is welcome and I hope that the report will give support for practical moves towards an open defence market within NATO as a whole.
Panavia and Euro Fighter
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy towards a merger of the consortia Panavia and Euro Fighter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Clark : This is a matter for the companies involved.
Filipino Security Guard
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether reported abuses of human rights and executions by the Filipino presidential security guard were taken into account in Her Majesty's Government's decision to provide military training to the guard in March and April.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In deciding whether or not to provide military training to overseas countries, Her Majesty's Government take all relevant factors into account, including the treatment of human rights in the country concerned.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether military training provided by the British Government to the Filipino presidential security guard in March and April of the current year included any consideration of, or training in, respect for human rights.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is not our practice to disclose the content of military training provided by Her Majesty's Government to other countries as such details are generally confidential between the Governments involved.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost to Britain of providing military training to the Filipino presidential security guard in March and April ; and from which budget this was paid.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The cost of providing military training to the Government of the Philippines was met from the United Kingdom military training assistance
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scheme which is part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's budget. It is not our practice to disclose the costs of training for individual countries.RAF Bases, Germany
Mr. Alexander : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of Royal Air Force bases in Germany.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Following my right hon. Friend's statement to the House on 25 July on "Options for Change", we have reviewed RAF basing requirements in Germany in the light of our commitments to NATO and of local, economic and environmental factors. After consultations with our allies, and in particular the German Government, we have decided to redeploy units from RAF Wildenrath during 1991-92 and from RAF Gutersloh subsequently. Flying activity will reduce progressively from 1991. We are now considering, in consultation with the German authorities, the future of these bases after RAF operations cease.
Trident
Mr. Lee : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to place the order for the third Vanguard class Trident missile submarine.
Mr. Alan Clark : I am pleased to be able to announce that an order has been placed today with Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. at Barrow-in-Furness for the construction of the Royal Navy's third Vanguard class Trident missile submarine. Negotiations have resulted in a keenly priced contract, and at a price lower on a comparable basis than those for the first two submarines. This reflects the improvements in productivity at VSEL and the considerable experience the company now has in building this class of submarine.
The order demonstrates the Government's commitment to the United Kingdom programme, and to the effective maintenance of Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent, while obtaining value for money for the taxpayer. Trident remains firmly on course for introduction into service in the mid-1990s.
Labour Statistics
6. Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest unemployment levels in Liverpool ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : In September 1990, the unadjusted level of unemployment in the Liverpool travel-to-work area was 62,324, a fall of 35 per cent. since the June 1987 election. The comparison is affected by the change in benefit regulations for under 18-year-olds in September 1988 as well as seasonal influences.
16. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the latest figures for unemployment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : In September 1990 seasonally adjusted unemployment in the United Kingdom was 1,666,700 or 5.8 per cent. of the work force. The United Kingdom has one of the very lowest rates of unemployment in the European Community.
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19. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the member states of the European Community with a higher rate of unemployment than the United Kingdom.Mr. Howard : Using the latest available internationally comparable figures, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain all have a higher rate of unemployment than the United Kingdom.
20. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the statistics for unemployment in Gravesham in June 1987 and in the most recent month for which statistics are available.
Mr. Jackson : In June 1987 the numbers of unemployed claimants, not seasonally adjusted, in the Gravesham parliamentary constituency were 4,159. This compares with 2,262 in September 1990, a fall of 84 per cent.
The comparison is affected by the change in benefit regulations for under 18-year-olds in September 1988 as well as seasonal influences.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing the unemployment rate by ethnic origin and age in inner and outer London in 1970, 1980 and the latest date available.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 12 November 1990] : The estimates below compare the unemployment rates amongst ethnic minority groups in Greater London in spring 1989 with those in spring 1984. The 1989 labour force survey (LFS) is the latest for which information is available and the earliest comparable data is from the 1984 LFS.
Unemployment rates by ethnic origin in Greater
London
Aged 16 and over
|Per cent.
|1984 |1989
-----------------------------------------------------
All persons |9.9 |6.7
White |8.7 |5.8
Non-white |17.5 |11.9
-West Indian/Guyanese |20.0 |13.5
-Indian |11.5 |8.9
-Pakistani/Bangladeshi |28.1 |27.3
-Other ethnic origins |19.3 |9.1
Source: Labour Force Survey.
The LFS is a sample survey of approximately 60,000 households in Great Britain conducted in the spring of each year. Because of this small sample size, the LFS does not provide reliable detailed estimates for small proportion groups within regions.
Enterprise Agencies
13. Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many local enterprise agencies are currently operating ; and if he will make a statement on their progress to date.
Mr. Forth : We know of 419 local enterprise agencies operating in the United Kingdom. Of these, 406 are approved by my Department under the statutory provisions which allow for tax relief on donations to them.
Many local enterprise agencies have now developed close working relationships with training and enterprise councils, bringing positive benefits to themselves, the TECs and to local small businesses.
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24. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many enterprise agencies have been established since 1979 ; how many were established in the period 1974 to 1979 ; how many jobs are estimated to have been generated in each case ; at what cost to public funds ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The first enterprise agencies were established in 1978. At present we know of 324 operating in England.
Information on the number of jobs estimated to have been created by these agencies is not collected centrally by my Department. Since April 1986, Government funding of local enterprise agencies in England has been primarily through my Department's local enterprise agency grant and project schemes. To date, more than £10 million has been paid to more than 200 agencies through these schemes.
Disabled People
14. Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received on the launch of the new logo and code of practice for the employment of disabled people ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : There has been a positive and encouraging response from a large number of employers and voluntary organisations to this initiative. The new symbol which we have introduced will play an important part in encouraging employers to adopt good policies and practices in employing people with disabilities, and will enable them to communicate their commitment to existing and potential employees.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his policy to introduce full anti-discrimination legislation for disabled people.
Mr. Jackson : The consultative document "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities", which was published on 29 June, sets out various options for encouraging the employment of people with disabilities. What action to take will be considered in the light of the comments we receive.
Low Pay
15. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to tackle the problem of low pay in Halifax and West Yorkshire.
Mr. Forth : Pay in Halifax and West Yorkshire, as elsewhere, is a matter for negotiators themselves to determine in the light of their particular financial, business and labour market circumstances.
Training
17. Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to review the remuneration of training agents and providers on YTS and employment training ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The remuneration of training agents and providers on youth training and employment training is for local negotiation.
26. Mrs. Currie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of young people under 18 years without a job can now be offered a suitable training place.
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Mr. Howard : The Government guarantee the offer of a suitable training place to all young people under 18 who are not in full-time education or a job.27. Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many approved training places are taken up by women returnees to work in the latest available 12 months.
Mr. Howard : It is estimated that about 3 per cent. of all entrants to employment training are women returners.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether results from the 100 per cent. follow-up survey of employment training leavers have been made available to operational training and enterprise councils and Training Agency regional officers ; and if similar information will be made available to hon. Members ; (2) whether he is yet in a position to publish the results of the employment training leavers' survey ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) whether he will place the results from the Training Agency's 100 per cent. follow-up survey of employment training leavers in the Library ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Results of the follow-up survey of employment training leavers have been provided on Training Agency regional offices and operational training and enterprise councils. Summaries of survey results are available for hon. Members and are also contained in the November Labour Market Quarterly Report which is published this week. The report will be available in the Library from 14 November.
Rural Employment
21. Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the Government's policy concerning alternative employment opportunities in rural areas.
Mr. Forth : We wish to encourage the development of alternative employment opportunities for rural communities. The flexible and locally focussed approach of the training and enterprise councils and, in Scotland, local enterprise companies, will be particularly helpful in responding to the needs of rural areas.
As we made clear in the Environment White Paper, the Government will also continue to work through agencies such as the Rural Development Commission to promote enterprise and economic diversity in a lively and prosperous countryside.
Parents
22. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is taking to assist the return of parents with dependants to the labour market.
Mr. Jackson : My colleagues and I take every opportunity to impress upon employers the need to adopt working practices which make it easier for employees to combine work and family responsibilities. This means more flexibility in hours of work and in holidays, job-sharing, career breaks, part-time working and, where appropriate, help with child care costs. In this time of demographic change, it will be the employers who develop family-friendly policies and practices who will be best placed to attract and retain scarce resources.
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Further Education
23. Sir Hal Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proposals he has to increase the effectiveness of the work-related further education programme.
Mr. Howard : From April 1991 responsibility for payment for work- related further education monies formerly handled by the Training Agency will be transferred to the training and enterprise councils.
I believe that the training and enterprise councils will use this new responsibility to foster a more flexible further education service which is responsive to the needs of employers and individuals.
Wages Councils
25. Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how his Department intends to improve the work of the wages councils.
Mr. Forth : The councils are empowered to set minimum rates of pay in certain industries. Checks by wages inspectors show that compliance with wages council orders is running at a very high level.
EC Employment
28. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of British citizens who will seek work in other European Community countries following the implementation of the Single European Act.
Mr. Forth : My Department has not estimated the number of United Kingdom citizens who will seek work in other EC countries following the Single European Act. However, the Act will remove barriers facing individuals who wish to work in other countries, and will also create many new jobs. We would therefore expect that movement both into and out of the United Kingdom, particularly by highly skilled workers, will increase after 1992.
Training and Enterprise Councils
29. Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the value of the present level of training and enterprise support given by his Department to companies in Lancashire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My Department is contributing some £39 million towards training and enterprise activities in Lancashire in 1990-91. Training and enterprise councils (TECs) are currently being established to play a major role at local level in stimulating the high skill, high productivity economy we need and to take over responsibility for training and enterprise activities in their locality. The TEC covering East Lancashire (ELTEC) has been operational since April 1990 and the TEC covering West Lancashire (LAWTEC) is due to become operational in April 1991.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make available the list of board members from any additional training and enterprise councils which have signed operational contracts.
Mr. Jackson : Fourty one TECs are now fully operational. I have arranged for an updated list of board members covering these TECs to be placed in the House of Commons Library.
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Mr. Beaumont-Dark : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the implications of the Chancellor's autumn statement for the Government's policies on training and enterprise.
Mr. Howard : I recently published "1990s : the Skills Decade" which sets out strategic guidance for all involved in promoting the acquisition of skills and the development of enterprise in this country. The Chancellor's autumn statement provides the framework for this strategic guidance to be put into effect.
My strategic guidance places particular emphasis on the major role that training and enterprise councils (TECs) have in stimulating the high skill, high productivity economy we need. I have been greatly encouraged by the response we have had from the country's top business leaders in joining and leading the TECs and at their request I am making a number of changes to funding arrangements for 1991-92 to allow TECs much greater discretion in tailoring programmes to meet local needs.
First, more payments to TECs will depend on helping people to get jobs and qualifications through training rather than simply the time that they spend on programmes. At least 25 per cent. of TECs' funding for youth training (YT) and employment training (ET) will be dependent on results in terms of jobs and qualifications that are achieved. This will mean that many of the remaining rules for YT and ET will be removed. For example there will no longer be any limit on the maximum duration of training on ET. But priority will still be given to those in the guarantee and aim groups.
Secondly, the budgets for business and enterprise training and for the enterprise allowance scheme (EAS) which were previously separate will be merged to become one budget and TECs will be free to decide their relative priorities, subject to ensuring that a reasonable level of provision for EAS is maintained and guarantees to unemployed people are met. TECs will also have considerable discretion over the way they organise and fund EAS in their local areas and how participation might be linked to related training or business assistance.
Thirdly, TECs are being given a major new responsibility in work-related further education (WRFE). They will assume responsibility from 1 April for the WRFE budget that is currently managed by the Employment Department, amounting to over £105 millions. These funds will still be spent within the local education authority further education system. This will complement TECs' existing role in youth training and help ensure that college provision is more responsive to employment needs at local level. I also plan to give TECs a wider role in education in other ways. TECs are being given a powerful voice in the continued development of the technical and vocational education initiative (TVEI) at local level and local education authorities will be required to consult TECs when they draw up their plans.
TECs will also be able to bid, as part of their business plans for 1991-92, for additional resources to launch or extend education business partnerships.
Finally, Her Majesty's senior chief inspector of schools has agreed that where HMI inspections largely or wholly focus on TEC-funded provision, HMI will jointly report back their findings to the relevant TEC and local education authority.
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