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Mr. Grist : My right hon. Friend expects to reach a decision shortly on the expression of interest. In the longer term, any final conclusion on national health service trust status will be made following a three-month consultation period in the event that a formal application is submitted.
Legislative Powers
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on Government policy on the devolution of powers of legislation to Wales.
Mr. David Hunt : The Government have no plans to devolve powers of legislation to Wales.
Departmental Office, Brussels
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans for establishing an office of his Department in Brussels ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : No. The Welsh Office is already in close and sustained contact with the European Commission and with the office of the United Kingdom permanent representation in Brussels, which represents the interests of all Government Departments.
Statisticians
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many statisticians are employed in his Department ; and how many are responsible for local authority statistics.
Mr. David Hunt : There are 25 statisticians currently employed in a professional capacity in the Welsh Office, of whom 15 are responsible in some degree for local authority statistics.
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Sewage Sludge (Bristol Channel)
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will request Welsh Water to dump its sewage sludge further west in the Bristol channel ; and when he expects it to cease this method of disposal.
Mr. Grist : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to do so, but as my hon. Friend will know, the Government decided earlier this year that all sewage sludge dumping at sea would cease at the latest by December 1998.
Tai Cymru
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the amount of public funding for Tai Cymru for 1990-91.
Mr. Grist : Excluding transfers from local authorities (for which final figures are not yet available), Tai Cymru has gross resources amounting to £102.183 million.
Social Workers
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of field social workers in Wales at the present time ; and how many there were in 1979.
Mr. Grist : The number of field social workers in Wales is as follows :
Social Workeat 30 September
|1979 |1989
-----------------------------------
Whole-time |748.0 |1,033.0
Part-time
Number |70.0 |135.0
wte<1> |36.1 |67.2
Total wte |784.1 |1,100.2
<1> Whole-time equivalent
Home Helps
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of home helps in Wales at the present time ; and how many there were in 1979.
Mr. Grist : The number of home helps in Wales is shown in the table :
,
|At 30
|September
Home helps |1979 |1989
--------------------------------------------
Whole-time |153.0 |401.0
Part-time:
Number |6,234.0 |7,877.0
wte<1> |2,671.8 |3,576.8
Total wte |2,824.8 |3,977.8
<1>Whole-time equivalents.
Mentally Ill People
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of residential places for mentally ill people in Wales at the present time ; and what was the comparable figure in 1979.
Mr. Grist : The number of residential places for mentally ill people in Wales is shown in the table :
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|As at 31
|March
|1979 |1990
------------------------------------------------------
Accommodation provided by
Social services<1> |<2>329 |349
Private registered homes |145 |277
Voluntary registered homes |18 |53
Other<3> |n.a. |100
|------- |-------
Total |492 |779
<1>Includes staffed and unstaffed accommodation
provided by local authority social services
departments.
<2>Excluding 129 mixed places which could accommodate
either mentally ill or mentally handicapped people.
<3>Other providers include local authority housing
authorities, housing associations, health authorities
(excluding hospitals), unregistered private and
voluntary homes (i.e. those catering for fewer than
four people and which may be staffed or unstaffed).
Roads (Expenditure)
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the latest figure for capital expenditure on roads in Wales ; and what was the comparable figure in 1979.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Net capital expenditure on new construction and improvement of motorways and trunk roads in Wales was £118 million in 1989-90 compared with £69 million in 1979-80. Provisional outturn for local authority capital expenditure on transport was £75 million in 1989-90 compared with £49 million in 1979-80.
Council House Sales
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total number of council houses sold in Wales since the introduction of the right to buy.
Mr. Grist : The number of local authority and new town dwellings sold in Wales under right to buy and voluntary terms since the introduction of right to buy in October 1980 is 85,552.
EMPLOYMENT
HSE (Complaints)
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans the Health and Safety Executive has to change its policy on investigating anonymous complaints.
Mr. Forth : The Health and Safety Executive has no current plans to change its policy on investigating anonymous complaints.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will indicate how far complaints to the Health and Safety Executive have increased over the last five years ; and how much money the field operations division has received in each of the last five years.
Mr. Forth : Information about the number of complaints received by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is available only for the last four years. A comparison of the number of complaints received in the period 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987 and 1 April 1989 to 31 March 1990 indicates an increase of over 80 per cent. HSE's field operations division was established only on 2 April 1990 with a budget of £50.5 million for 1990-91.
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Accident Claims
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to allow the Health and Safety Executive to charge for providing factual statements about matters relating to accident claims.
Mr. Forth : The Health and Safety Executive has charged for factual statements requested in connection with civil claims since November 1987. Charges are reviewed annually to ensure full recovery of the HSE's costs.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to ensure that training and enterprise councils encourage all young people leaving full-time education with vocationally relevant qualifications to participate in this training.
Mr. Jackson : I have set out in the recent publication "1990s : the Skills Decade" the strategic objectives which I expect TECs to address next year. A key objective is that young people should achieve their full potential and develop the skills that the economy needs.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to ensure that training and enterprise councils engage a variety of training providers to ensure flexibility in meeting the needs of individual trainees and individual employers.
Mr. Jackson : It is for each training and enterprise council to decide with which training providers to contract to meet the needs of their local community.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to ensure that training and enterprise councils construct a simple and stable scheme to devote resources to training and facilitate the development of that training.
Mr. Jackson : Training and enterprise councils (TECs) have been given the freedom and flexibility to adapt training schemes to meet the needs of their local area. I am confident that TECs will put these flexibilities to great use.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to ensure that training and enterprise councils make available, with appropriate funds, a choice of training for each individual of working age in Leicestershire up to the maximum of the individual's capability in economic terms.
Mr. Jackson : I am confident that the Leicestershire training and enterprise council will provide imaginative and comprehensive plans which will cater for the needs of its local community.
ET Tutors
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for what reasons employment training tutors are requested to fill in forms about trainees in their charge assessing their (a) dependency on drugs or alcohol, (b) verbal aggressiveness or anti-authority, (c) race, (d) debts, (e) family trap, (f) hygiene, (g) benefit problems and (h) single parenthood.
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Mr. Jackson : It is not Government policy to require training and enterprise councils to ensure that this information is obtained from ET trainees. However, details of ethnic origin may be provided voluntarily by trainees on their trainee record form.Age Discrimination
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his policy towards discrimination on the grounds of age within the labour market.
Mr. Jackson : Our policy is to persuade employers to consider all applicants on merit, without imposing arbitrary age limits on recruitment.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of age within the workplace.
Mr. Jackson : We have no plans to introduce legislation on age discrimination, since we believe that it would be difficult to apply and uncertain in its effect.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information is available to his Department on legislation in other countries that outlaws age discrimination ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : I understand that Canada and the United States of America have legislation on age discrimination in employment. I have not seen any evidence as to its effectiveness.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what (a) information and (b) research he has commissioned into discrimination on the grounds of age in the workplace.
Mr. Jackson : In 1989 my Department commissioned research from the Institute of Manpower Studies into the employment and utilisation of older workers. However, this exercise was mainly concerned with employers' recruitment practices, rather than whether discrimination occurred within the workplace itself.
Training
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his intention to provide all youth trainees, by negotiation, with personal training plans specifying the intended level of achievement, not necessarily in national vocational qualification terms but related to their own ability and aspirations and the needs of their actual or possible employment, and capable of change if the trainee, managing agent and employer agree it is necessary.
Mr. Jackson : I am currently reviewing the approach to ET and YT personal training plans with a view to introducing common procedure and terminology. We shall retain the principle of variation by agreement between trainee and training provider, and we shall as a minimum require a national vocational qualification or equivalent objective to be clearly stated. Training providers will be free, as now, to include other aspirations. All training plans will be based on assessment of individual needs.
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Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the extent to which youth training builds on existing strengths of managing agents acquired over years of adaptation.
Mr. Jackson : Youth training (YT) builds on the success of YTS in helping young people achieve qualifications and jobs. Training and enterprise councils have the responsibility for developing their networks of YT training providers in order to continue improving on the work already achieved through YTS.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment to what extent youth training offers a service to all up to and including the age of 18 years not in full-time education, to start and complete work-related training.
Mr. Jackson : All young people under 18 who are not in full-time education or a job are guaranteed the offer of a suitable youth training (YT) place if they want one. YT helps eligible young people to acquire the broad-based skills necessary for a flexible and self-reliant work force and provides participants with training leading to national vocational qualifications at or above level II. Young people with special training needs receive appropriate training so that they can progress as far as possible towards general and vocational competences.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange for high levels of payment for any trainees showing evidence of under-achievement in literacy and numeracy, in lieu of paying on achieving NVQ 2.
Mr. Jackson : Levels and methods of payment for training are entirely matters for local negotiation between training and enterprise councils and their training providers.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he will take to ensure that training and enterprise councils will be committed to securing excellence and quality of methods and outcomes of training.
Mr. Jackson : Training and enterprise councils (TECs) are required to draw up a strategy for securing quality training as part of their plans. The quality of training provided will be monitored by inspectors from my training standards advisory service.
Advertising
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much of the expenditure on (a) press advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) outdoor advertising, (d) regional campaigns, (e) exhibition material, (f) research and (g) presentations for action for jobs in 1987-88 was spent through the Central Office of Information.
Mr. Jackson : All the expenditure on press advertising, radio advertising, outdoor advertising and research for action for jobs in 1987- 88 was spent through the Central Office of Information. Expenditure on action for jobs regional campaigns, presentations and exhibition material in 1987-88 was not placed through the Central Office of Information.
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SCOTLAND
Steel
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the remit given to A. D. Little by the Scottish Development Agency extends to an examination of options for steel production at Hunterston.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the A. D. Little study includes conducting an examination of possible retrenchment of tube finishing within British Steel's diversified activities division ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the A. D. Little study into Scottish steel is to include an examination of seamless tube production and steelmaking at Clydesdale and the finishing process at the Imperial Works ; and if he will make a statement. Mr. Allan Stewart : The remit given to A. D. Little by the Scottish Development Agency was broadly drawn. It requires it to carry out a wide-ranging analysis of the prospects and opportunities which may arise for the steel industry in any part of Scotland, taking into account Scotland's locational, resource and asset base ; and to assess the commercial viability of any opportunities identified. The remit does not exclude consideration of any location within Scotland, nor does it include a requirement to examine operational decisions by British Steel.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to publish the A. D. Little preliminary report of December 1990 and its final report in 1991.
Mr. Allan Stewart : I cannot give a categorical assurance at this stage that all parts of the consultants' report will be published as some of these are likely to be commercially confidential. But I hope that it will be possible to publish the greater part of the study.
Statisticians
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many statisticians are employed in his Department ; and how many are responsible for local authority statistics.
Mr. Lang : Of the 28 statisticians employed in the Scottish Office, 23 have some involvement with local authority statistics.
Consultancy Fees
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each health board the amount spent on consultancy fees for the year 1989-90.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 21 November 1990] : Information available from the annual accounts of health boards relates to the total fees paid to management consultants, to legal firms (other than for legal expenses connected with compensation claims) and to work study consultants. The amounts for each health board for 1989-90 are shown in the table.
Column 44
Health board |1989-90
|£
------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |87,915
Ayrshire and Arran |108,581
Borders |12,745
Dumfries and Galloway |119,382
Fife |51,065
Forth Valley |88,951
Grampian |125,599
Greater Glasgow |1,638,006
Highland |221,947
Lanarkshire |161,286
Lothian |473,223
Orkney |2,260
Shetland |3,368
Tayside |118,802
Western Isles |827
|-------
Total |3,213,957
Salmon
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met representatives of the Scottish Salmon Farmers Association ; and if he will make a statement on the current situation in the salmon farming industry.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 23 November 1990] : Lord Sanderson of Bowden met representatives of the salmon farming industry (but not necessarily of the association) from time to time. My noble Friend Lord Strathclyde hopes to meet the Scottish Salmon Growers Association soon. This will provide a full opportunity to discuss current developments in the industry.
PRIME MINISTER
Security Services
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will bring forward proposals to make the security services accountable to Committees of the House.
Press Conferences
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to discontinue the practice of confidential daily briefings for journalists at No. 10 Downing street in favour of open, on-the-record press conferences.
Council of Ministers
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister is he will put to the intergovernmental conference proposals to end majority voting in the Council of Ministers.
European Central Bank
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the establishment of a European central bank ; and what proposals Her Majesty's Government have to ensure that such a bank would be politically accountable.
Column 45
The Prime Minister : The Government remain opposed to the imposition of a single monetary policy managed by a European Central Bank as prescribed in stage 3 of the Delors report.The Government have instead put forward proposals for a hard ecu managed by a European monetary fund. We will negotiate constructively at the forthcoming intergovernmental conference on the basis of these proposals in the hope and expectation that we can agree an outcome which satisfies the House of Commons and our European partners.
European Parliament
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what facilities are currently available to Members of the European Parliament within the United Kingdom Parliament and to United Kingdom Members of Parliament in the European Parliament ; and what proposals exist for improving these arrangements.
The Prime Minister : At Strasbourg Members have access to all areas adjacent to the main debating chamber and, by invitation, can attend specialist committees of the European Parliament. At Westminster, United Kingdom MEPs have access to the Peers Galleries and Lobby and offices of the European Communities Office in the House of Lords. In this House they have access by photo-identity pass to the Central Lobby, the Lower and Upper Waiting Halls and the Committee Corridor.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on strengthening the powers of the European Parliament.
The Prime Minister : As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said during the debate on the Address on 8 November, we would like to strengthen the European Parliament's role in monitoring Community expenditure.
Community Legislation
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will bring forward proposals to strengthen the scrutiny of Community legislation by national Parliaments.
The Prime Minister : It is for each national Parliament to decide its own procedures for the scrutiny of Community legislative proposals. The growing interest in the need for effective arrangements is encouraging.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will seek to spread the best practices of national Parliaments to enhance national scrutiny of, and commitment to, proposals emanating from the European Community.
The Prime Minister : We have repeatedly made clear the need for national Parliaments to become more closely involved in Community affairs, and for effective national scrutiny procedures. Our own procedures are widely regarded as among the most thorough in the Community.
Intergovernmental Conferences
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will place copies of the agenda of the intergovernmental conferences in the Vote Office.
The Prime Minister : No agendas have been set for the intergovernmental conferences ; the IGCs themselves will decide how to organise their work.
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Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to consult the House by means of debate before going to the intergovernmental conferences in December.
The Prime Minister : There will be a debate in the House on 6 December on developments in the EC prior to the Rome European Council. This will, among other subjects, look forward to the intergovernmental conferences which start on 15 December.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what items have been tabled for discussion at each of the intergovernmental conferences in December.
The Prime Minister : The intergovernmental conferences will set their own agenda. They will consider the various proposals made by member states, as well as the opinions delivered by the European Parliament and the Commission on the calling of the IGCs.
European Community (Accountability)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister what action the Government are proposing to strengthen the democratic accountability of the European Community.
The Prime Minister : The Government have suggested ways to increase the Community's financial accountability to the European Parliament and involve national parliaments more closely in Community affairs. Improved scrutiny procedures have recently been introduced in this House.
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