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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 24 January 1991
EMPLOYMENT
Employment Training
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each training agency area the employment training training agents and training managers who have since the start of the programme (a) gone into liquidation, (b) not had contracts with the training agency renewed and (c) ceased to provide employment training for any other reason.
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Mr. Jackson : The information is not available in the form requested.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each region and for Great Britain as a whole, for the latest available period, the number and proportion of employment training trainees who three months after leaving were (a) in a full-time job, (b) in a part- time job, (c) in a full-time education or training course, (d) employed in their own business, (e) in a jobclub, (f) unemployed and claiming benefit and (g) unemployed and not claiming benefit.
Mr. Jackson : The following table gives the proportions of trainees leaving employment training in the last 12-month period for which information is available and their destinations. Detailed numbers as requested are unavailable.
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Employment Training
Destination of trainees leaving in period August 1989 to July 1990 (estimated)
Region |Full-time |Part-time |Full-time |Self- |Jobclub |Unemployed |Unemployed |Other
|job |job |Education/employed |claiming |not claiming
|Training |benefit |benefit
|per cent. |per cent. |per cent. |per cent. |per cent. |per cent. |per cent. |per cent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |27 |12 |2 |6 |3 |33 |8 |8
London |22 |6 |4 |7 |5 |41 |7 |5
South West |26 |8 |2 |10 |4 |35 |6 |8
West Midlands |26 |7 |3 |3 |4 |45 |5 |8
East Midlands and Eastern 25 8 2 5 5 41 5 8
Yorkshire and Humberside 27 7 2 6 4 43 4 6
North West |26 |7 |2 |7 |5 |43 |4 |6
Northern |27 |6 |2 |3 |5 |46 |5 |6
Wales |25 |7 |2 |8 |4 |40 |6 |7
Scotland |25 |5 |3 |4 |5 |47 |4 |7
Great Britain |25 |7 |2 |5 |5 |43 |5 |7
Source: Respondents to the Employment Training Follow-up Survey.
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each region and for Great Britain as a whole for each quarter since employment training was introduced the number of participants who (a) fell within the guarantee group and (b) fell within the aim group ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of places available on the employment training scheme for each year of operation ; and how many places were in urban programme and partnership areas.
Mr. Jackson : The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, information is available on the estimated number of ET starts, as shown in the table :
|ET starts |Percentage
|(GB) |in inner
|cities
-----------------------------------------------------------
September 1988-March 1989 |238,600 |42
April 1989-March 1990 |430,600 |39
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Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was Government spending on employment training at 1989 prices for each year of operation.
Mr. Jackson : The table shows expenditure on employment training for each year of its operation to date at 1989-90 constant prices.
£ million -------------------------------------------------- 1988-89 (from 5 September 1988) |452 1989-90 |1,097 1990-91 (to end December 1990) |675
Enterprise Allowance Scheme
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment who is now responsible for recovering any overpayments that are made to people in receipt of the enterprise allowance scheme in areas covered by training and enterprise councils ; in what circumstances recovery of overpayments will be sought ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Training and enterprise councils are responsible for recovering overpaid moneys to people who are in receipt of the enterprise allowance in the areas they cover. Each training and enterprise council assumes this responsibility from the date it becomes operational.
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The decision to take recovery action rests with the training and enterprise council.Part-time Workers
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the proportion of female part-time workers in Great Britain in April 1990 whose hourly earnings exclusive of overtime fell below (a) £3.10, (b) £3.40, (c) £4.00, (d) £4.60 and (e) £4.75.
Mr. Jackson : The estimated percentages of part-time adult female employees earning below specified amounts in the new earnings survey sample in April 1990 were :
Hourly earnings excluding |Percentage overtime less than: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ £3.00 |36 £3.20 |44 £3.40 |52 £4.00 |69 £4.50 |78 £5.00 |83
Estimates of the percentage earning below £3.10, £4.60 and £4.75 are not available ; the nearest available figures have been given. The figures relate to employees on adult rates whose earnings for the survey period were not affected by absence.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of male part-time
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workers in Great Britain in April 1990 ; and what was the proportion of those workers falling below the hourly earnings threshold of (a) £3.40, (b) £4.60 and (c) £4.75.Mr. Jackson : There were an estimated 906,000 part-time male employees in employment in March 1990. The estimated percentages of part- time adult male employees earning below specified amounts in the new earnings survey sample in April 1990 were :
Hourly earnings<1> |Per cent. --------------------------------------------------------- £3.40 |49 £4.60 |72 £4.80 |74 <1>Including overtime.
Estimates of the percentage earning below £4.75 are not available ; the nearest available figures have been given. The figures relate to employees on adult rates whose earnings for the survey period were not affected by absence.
Training Agency
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide a table of expenditure on the programmes run by the Training Agency in 1989-90, broken down by programme and cross-tabulated by standard regions, with Greater London shown as a separate region.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested is shown in the table :
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Training Agency Programme Expenditure 1989-90
Expenditure (£ million)
Region |ET |Residual|YTS |BGT |SFS |EAS |BEP |WRFE |TVEI |Total
|AT |(Outside
|ET)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |31.21 |1.65 |74.55 |1.56 |0.41 |12.55 |0.45 |19.22 |26.57 |168.17
London |46.11 |3.54 |38.78 |1.80 |0.20 |14.82 |1.06 |14.28 |12.27 |132.86
South West |25.60 |1.42 |59.39 |0.87 |0.27 |12.32 |0.34 |9.66 |8.19 |118.06
West Midlands |43.23 |1.86 |87.65 |1.32 |0.25 |12.52 |0.35 |11.49 |13.06 |171.73
East Midlands |33.08 |1.66 |91.14 |0.98 |0.36 |12.81 |0.33 |12.40 |12.17 |164.93
Yorks and Humberside |50.97 |2.20 |87.11 |1.03 |0.29 |12.69 |0.34 |9.68 |9.99 |174.30
North West |56.11 |3.65 |120.94 |1.70 |0.52 |19.75 |0.83 |15.38 |13.80 |232.68
Northern |42.10 |1.31 |69.44 |1.01 |0.21 |7.72 |0.24 |4.51 |9.07 |135.61
Wales |32.74 |1.75 |50.75 |0.47 |- |8.95 |0.20 |5.31 |7.50 |107.67
Scotland |60.70 |3.24 |102.69 |0.91 |- |10.97 |0.33 |- |11.54 |190.38
TNPU |109.30 |- |181.34 |- |- |- |- |- |- |290.64
RTC |7.37 |1.75 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |9.12
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
GB |538.52 |24.03 |963.78 |11.65 |2.51 |125.10 |4.47 |101.93 |124.16 |1,896.15
Notes:
1. Expenditure excludes training allowances and other costs administered centrally.
2. The TECs and National Provider's Unit (TNPU) is based centrally and holds contracts for major companies who provide
training throughout Great Britain.
3. Figures given for residual AT include Voluntary Projects Programme (VPP), Community Programme (CP) and New JTS.
4. Figures quoted are as at end March 1990 and some minor adjustments may have been made when the end year definite
statistics were produced.
5. London is Greater London.
Youth Training
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what account he has taken of the representations on youth training funding for special needs young people, made to him by the Arthur Rank centre in its letter of 19 December 1990, in determining levels of such funding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 23 January 1991] : Decisions on the appropriate levels of funding for youth
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training providers are for local negotiation between the providers themselves and their local training and enterprise council.Column 265
ENVIRONMENT
Council Housing
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the public expenditure on housing as a percentage of gross domestic product in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Yeo : The figures given are for Great Britain. They are based on gross expenditure on housing including spending from receipts and expenditure on housing benefits :
Year |Gross
|domestic
|product
|per cent.
------------------------------
1980-81 |2.7
1981-82 |2.2
1982-83 |2.3
1983-84 |2.8
1984-85 |2.8
1985-86 |2.5
1986-87 |2.4
1987-88 |2.3
1988-89 |2.1
1989-90 |2.2
Sewage Disposal
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment by what date the present method of dumping sewage into the sea will cease or be amended at Ilfracombe, Combe Martin and Lynmouth.
Mr. Baldry : The target date for completing improvement schemes for sewage discharges at Ilfracombe, Combe Martin and Lynmouth is end 1995.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish his timetable for his review of local government finance and structure.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is conducting a thorough and fundamental review of local government functions, structure and finance to identify a stable basis for the future development of local government. It is premature to say when it might be complete.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing for 1990-91 for each local authority (a) the total amount of national non-domestic rate income to be collected, (b) his best estimate of the amount collected thus far and (c) the amount of national non-domestic rate income being made available to each authority in 1990-91.
Mr. Portillo : I am arranging for copies of the information to be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the personal community charge payable in 1991- 92 by each couple eligible for the community charge reduction scheme where the personal charge for 1990-91 was £350, and that for 1991-92 was £390, and where the total domestic rates paid by the household in 1989 -90 was (a) £225, (b) £325, (c) £375 and (d) £275.
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Mr. Key : In general, assuming that the couple did not benefit from or contribute to the safety net in 1990-91, the amount payable by each partner in 1991-92 would be as follows : (a) £204.50, (b) £254.50, (c) £279.50 and (d) £229.50.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to use a de minimis rule on the operation of community charge capping in 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend will decide whether to adopt a de minimis proviso and the figure for any such proviso in making his designation decisions under section 100 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. As we have made clear local authorities should not assume that there will be such a proviso.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish his final criteria for the purposes of community charge-capping designation in 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend intends to take his designation decisions under section 100 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 as soon as reasonably practicable after authorities have set their budgets for 1991-92.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the qualifying date relating to residence in a property for eligibility for the community charge reduction scheme in 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : Broadly, as with the current transitional relief scheme, a person may be eligible if he or she was subject to a personal community charge by virtue of residence in the relevant property on 31 March 1990.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the maximum number of assumed poll tax charges that will be used per household for the purposes of calculating help under the community charge reduction scheme in 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : As with the current transitional relief scheme, two community charges will be used in the calculation of a reduction where there are two or more eligible charge payers in a property. However, special rules will apply to residents of sheltered housing schemes who will be able to qualify for a reduction in their own right.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assumption of population mobility for 1990-91 and 1991-92 he used for the purposes of calculating the numbers of poll tax payers likely to qualify for help under his proposed community charge reduction scheme.
Mr. Portillo : A depletion rate of 10 per cent. per annum has been assumed in arriving at the estimates for the community charge reduction scheme, to allow for cessation of entitlement for charge payers who have moved or have died.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table of expenditure on the urban programme 1989-90 showing expenditure broken down into economic, environmental and social categories and cross-tabulated by standards, region, with Greater London shown as a separate region.
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Mr. Key [holding answer 22 January 1991] : Approved urban programme expenditure levels for 1989-90 for economic, environmental and social categories are shown below. The urban programme regions are cross-referenced to standard regions.Column 267
Urban programme region (£ million)
|Economic |Environmental|Social
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |21.006 |5.656 |9.695
Northwest<1> |21.452 |5.577 |9.010
Merseyside<1> |14.163 |7.698 |6.466
West Midlands |19.828 |5.665 |10.925
East Midlands |4.994 |2.157 |3.405
Yorkshire and Humberside |13.521 |4.917 |4.671
Southwest |0.998 |0.499 |0.689
London |24.416 |13.270 |11.147
<1> These two urban programme regions form one standard Northwest region. All
other urban programme and standard regions are identical.
North Devon Coast
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the cause and the content of the layers of brown, greasy material that coat areas of the sea bed off the coast of north Devon.
Mr. Baldry : I have no information on any unnatural or unusual materials coating the sea bed off the coast of north Devon.
HM Inspectorate of Pollution
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the current staff complement of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution ; and how many staff will be in post by the end of the current financial year ;
(2) how many inspectors and how many administrative staff are employed by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution ; and what the numbers are expected to be for the next financial year ;
(3) how many staff will ultimately be required to enforce integrated pollution control.
Mr. Trippier : There are currently 220 staff in post in Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution (HMIP)--115 professional and 105 administrative staff.
The approved complement for the end of the current financial year has recently been increased from 223 to 248, and the approved complement for the end of 1991-92 to over 300. HMIP will therefore continue to recruit and expand during 1991-92.
Thereafter, complement may need to be increased further as IPC is progressively implemented and HMIP's workload increases further. Provisional assessments suggest that HMIP may ultimately require a total staff of up to around 400 when IPC is in full operation, but these assessments are subject to practical experience of operating IPC and are being kept under review.
When HMIP was formed in April 1987 from the merger of three previous inspectorates, there were 133 staff in post. The substantial increase in HMIP's strength demonstrates the Government's commitment to the highest standards of environmental protection.
Recruitment of further pollution inspectors is now in progress. Salary scales have been increased by 18 per cent., and this has overcome the recruitment difficulties previously experienced. The competition currently in progress has attracted nearly 600 good-quality applicants, showing a very encouraging level of interest among scientists in joining the inspectorate and being involved in its work of protecting the environment.
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The table shows the detailed complement and staff-in-post figures for HMIP since its formation in April 1987.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution staffing<1>
|1 April 1987<2>
1991 |1 April 1991 |1 April 1992
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Complement |199 |223 |248 |<3>300-310
Staff in post |133 |220 |- |-
<1> All figures exclude the former Radioactive Waste Policy and Administrative Division, (25
administrative, two professional staff) which transferred from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of
Pollution to the DOE Directorate of Pollution Control and Waste in November 1990.
<2> Date of formation of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution.
<3> Provisional figures.
Crown Suppliers
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he is satisfied that the price being agreed for the sale of the Crown Suppliers transport section fully reflects alternative uses of all five sites which form part of the sale ; (2) whether the sale of the five land sites belonging to the Crown Suppliers transport section provides for a valuation based on existing use value, planning hope value, or a valuation based on approved planning applications following the completion of any sale.
Mr. Yeo : The Government are concerned to ensure that they obtain a fair price for the business, having regard, among other things, to the market value of the assets, including the land. To this end independent professional valuations of the freehold sites have been obtained.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make it his policy not to permit control of the transport section of the Crown Suppliers to be varied prior to the payment of moneys by the management buy-out for the transport section of the Crown Suppliers.
Mr. Yeo : The Secretary of State will retain control of the transport business of the Crown Suppliers in the run-up to any sale.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date Mr. Bill Pinkney first approached the Crown Suppliers or his Department directly with an offer to purchase the Crown Suppliers transport section.
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Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what moneys have been allocated, paid or contracted for payment to the management buy-out for the Crown Suppliers transport section connected to Mr. Bill Pinkney and Mr. Bramall of Dewsbury.Mr. Yeo : A total of £36,000 has been paid in support of professional fees incurred by a team lead by Mr. Pinkney. Provisional agreement has been reached to provide additional support of up to a further £111,000, subject to certain conditions being met. No commmitment to this further amount has so far been given. If Mr. Pinkney's team were successful in acquiring the business, the new company would have to repay all Government support.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will make a statement as to the investigation carried out by the Property Services Agency audit section into the activities of Mr. Bill Pinkney ;
(2) whether he will list the actions taken by Mr. Bill Pinkney which led to an investigation being carried out by the Property Services Agency audit section.
Mr. Yeo : An audit of travel and subsistence, and certain other expenditure in the Crown Suppliers, including the transport business in which Mr. Pinkney is employed, has been undertaken by the Property Services Agency internal audit. The Crown Suppliers management have considered and are following up the matters arising from that audit.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the value of the orginal bid in cash terms submitted by the management buy-out led by Mr. Bill Pinkney for the transport section of the Crown Suppliers.
Mr. Yeo : It would not be in the interests of a successful sale to reveal at this stage the details of any bids for the business.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he took to satisfy himself that the offer to purchase the Crown Suppliers transport section by a group of persons led by Mr. Bill Pinkney is a valid management buy-out initiative.
Mr. Yeo : The members of the team, the sources of finance, control and structure of the proposed new company will be included in the factors to be taken into account in assessing their bid for the business.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what values have been placed on the five sites comprising the property portfolio which forms part of the assets of the Crown Suppliers transport section.
Mr. Yeo : The market values of the three freehold sites in 1989 were as follows :
|£ million
--------------------------------------
Nine Elms, London |1.5
Burnett, Bristol |0.7
Biggleswade |1.5
|-------
Total |3.7
The leasehold sites are not considered to have any realisable value.
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Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether any Minister in his Department or their officials have met Mr. Bramall of Dewsbury to discuss the privatisation of the Crown Suppliers transport section.
Housing, Hyndburn
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses in Hyndburn are classified as unfit.
Mr. Yeo : The latest available information on unfit dwellings relates to 1 April 1990 and was provided by Hyndburn borough council in their April 1990 housing investment programme return (HIP 1), a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the amount of housing investment programme allocation made to Hyndburn borough council for each year from 1978-79 up to the present time.
Mr. Yeo : Details of the allocations made to Hyndburn borough council since 1978-79 are listed in the table. Since 1981-82 authorities have been able to augment the borrowing power of their housing investment programme allocations by using the prescribed proportion of their capital receipts. For 1990-91 and 1991-92, under the new capital finance system, the housing investment programme allocation does not convey borrowing approval directly.
Housing investment programme
allocations for Hyndburn borough
council
|£ thousands
------------------------------------
1978-79 |2,210
1979-80 |2,388
1980-81 |2,358
1981-82 |3,600
1982-83 |4,350
1983-84 |3,390
1984-85 |3,675
1985-86 |3,315
1986-87 |3,375
1987-88 |3,870
1988-89 |3,599
1989-90 |5,401
1990-91 |<1>4,386
1991-92 |<2>3,525
<1>Provisional.
<2>Initial allocation only.
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review the housing investment programme for Hyndburn to take account of the number of unfit houses in Hyndburn.
Mr. Yeo : No. Account was taken of all relevant factors, including the likely demand for renovation grants arising from unfit housing, in determining Hyndburn's housing investment programme allocation for 1991-92.
Her Majesty's Prison, Belmarsh
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what delays there have been in the Property Services Agency paying sub- contractors for work carried out on the construction of Her Majesty's prison, Belmarsh ; and if he will take steps to ensure that the outstanding sums are now paid.
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Mr. Yeo : Payments to sub-contractors who have worked on the construction of Her Majesty's prison, Belmarsh are the responsibility of the management contractor.Enterprise Zones
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each enterprise zone, the number of (a) new businesess created, (b) jobs created, (c) business bankruptcies and (d) jobs lost in each year since the creation of each enterprise zone.
Mr. Portillo : The latest published information on new businesses and jobs is included in the Department's report "Enterprise Zone Information 1987-88", a copy of which is in the Library. Information for 1988-89 will be available shortly. Data on business bankruptcies and jobs lost in each year are not collected.
Building Regulations
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the extent to which the changes proposed in his Department's amendments to approved document B of the Building Regulations (England and Wales) will affect levels of life safety.
Mr. Yeo : The consultation proposals for amendments to part B, "Safety in Fire" of the Building Regulations 1985 incorporate a number of provisions to improve levels of life safety. These include the new requirements relating to access and facilities for the fire service, the extension of the means of escape requirements and the proposals relating to smoke alarms in dwellings. A number of those who have commented have suggested that other proposals, such as those relating to the reduction of fire resistance periods, reduce levels of life safety, and these comments are being carefully examined by the fire advisory panel and the building regulations advisory committee.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been made of the effect that the larger compartment sizes proposed in his Department's amendments to approved document B of the Building Regulations (England and Wales) will have on means of escape planning and the evacuation of a building in the event of fire with particular regard to maximum travel distances.
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