| Previous Section | Home Page |
Enterprise Zones
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table showing the cost to the Exchequer of enterprise zones in 1989-90 and the tax income forgone in 1989-90 for each enterprise zone.
Mr. Key [holding answer 22 January 1991] : Compensation for rate revenue forgone by local authorities is listed in the table. The latest available estimate for capital allowances is £70 million for 1987-88 ; this figure is only a broad indication based on several assumptions and cannot be split between individual enterprise zones.
Compensation for rates revenue forgone in 1989-90
Enterprise zone |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------
England
Allerdale |0.168
Corby |4.623
Dudley |5.329
Glanford |0.229
Hartlepool |1.263
Isle of Dogs |16.776
Middlesbrough |1.106
North East Lancashire |2.424
North West Kent |4.764
Rotherham |2.656
Salford/Trafford |9.194
Scunthorpe |4.683
Speke |2.581
Telford |4.141
Tyneside |14.099
Wakefield |1.745
Wellingborough |1.831
Wales
Delyn |0.763
Milford Haven |0.756
Swansea |3.038
Scotland
Clydebank |<1>2.747
Inverclyde
Invergordon |0.246
Tayside |1.902
Northern Ireland
Belfast |3.426
Londonderry |1.133
|-------
United Kingdom total |92.073
<1>Not available separately.
Planning Inquiries
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will institute procedures to ensure that in future in the event of any planning inquiry resulting from a call-in of a planning application where it is known or believed that both the applicant and the local planning authority are in support of the application, leading objectors to the application are given informal or formal notice of the date of the inquiry no later than the applicant and the local authority.
Sir George Young [holding answer 25 January 1991] : It is normal practice to give official written notification of the date for an inquiry into a called-in planning application to all interested parties at the same time. It is necessary, though, to contact the applicant and the local planning authority beforehand in order to agree a date and venue for the inquiry. My right hon. Friend has no plans to alter these arrangements.
Column 397
Reservists (Community Charge)
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the liability of reservists with regard to the poll tax during the period in which they are in the Gulf.
Mr. Key [holding answer 25 January 1991] : The advice issued to local authorities by my Department on 5 November 1990 about the community charge treatment of armed forces personnel serving in the Gulf indicated that it should also be applied to reservists. This would in general mean that their liability to the personal community charge should cease on the day that they are posted abroad and that no attempt to enforce payment of any sums outstanding in respect of their liability up to the date of posting should be made until their return. A copy of this advice has been placed in the Library of the House.
EC Funding
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of European regional development fund grant received by area in Britain has gone to (a) finance debt redemption and (b) establish projects ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh : I have been asked to reply.
I take it that the question relates to grants for local authority capital projects, which form the majority of ERDF grants in the United Kingdom,
Section 63(4) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 requires local authorities in England and Wales in effect to apply capital receipts from the ERDF to debt redemption. The immediate effect of receipt is therefore a cash benefit.
However, local authority capital programmes are, by virtue of ERDF grants, larger than they otherwise would be. Indirectly, therefore, ERDF grant finances additional capital expenditure.
The issue raised by the hon. Member's question, seeking to distinguish between debt redemption and investment, does not therefore arise.
TRANSPORT
Civil Defence
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of the delays to work on underground accommodation which resulted in an underspend on his Department's civil defence budget for 1989 -90 ; when he expects the work to be completed ; what is his current estimate of expected total overall expenditure on this work ; and what is the purpose of the accommodation and the nature of the work to be carried out on it.
Mr. McLoughlin : The funds granted were for building works and other services in existing underground accommodation which would be used, in crisis and war, by personnel concerned with supply and transport. The work was delayed pending a review of the use of the accommodation. A revised scheme is expected to be completed by 31 March 1991 at a total cost of £625,000.
Column 398
Petrol Tankers
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many people are killed or injured each year as a result of accidents involving petrol tankers ;
(2) how many accidents occur each year involving petrol tankers.
Mr. Chope : I regret that the information requested is not available because the standard report form, STATS19, completed by the police for accidents involving personal injury does not identify petrol tankers as a specific category of vehicle.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals there are to require the strengthening and protection of petrol tankers to prevent rupture in the event of a road traffic accident.
Mr. Chope : None of which I am aware ; all designs for petrol tankers must be approved by the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the safety of petrol tankers.
Mr. Chope : None in the last two years.
Hazardous Loads
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of accidents involving the rail transportation of hazardous and inflammable materials that have taken place within a 50-mile radius of Doncaster, for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. McLoughlin : Her Majesty's railway inspectorate does not have information readily available in the form requested. The following figures, for the period 1984-89, are for train accidents occurring in eastern region within 50 miles of Doncaster in which it is possible to identify that dangerous or inflammable goods were carried on the train. Figures for incidents before 1984 are not available.
0
|Dangerous |Inflammable
------------------------------------------------
1984 |2 |-
1985 |- |1
1986 |- |4
1987 |- |1
1988 |1 |1
1989 |- |-
1990 |<1> |<1>
<1> Details not yet available.
Light Rapid Transport Systems
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the local authorities which have consulted his Department about undertaking feasibility studies and planning light rapid transport or metro systems.
Mr. McLoughlin : Apart from the passenger transport executives in Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, whose light rail projects are already under way, passenger transport executives and local authorities have been in touch with the Department about light rapid transit projects in a number of areas including the West Midlands,
Column 399
Leeds, Avon, Cleveland, Chester, Croydon, Guildford, Leicester, Nottingham, South Hampshire, Southampton and Stoke-on -Trent.Mail Movements
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has carried out any environmental studies into the impact of the Post Office's recent decision to move short-distance mail by road instead of rail.
Mr. McLoughlin : No. This was a commercial matter for the Post Office and British Rail.
Black Country Spine Road
Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when an announcement is to be made on the results of the review of the black country spine road.
Mr. Chope : The report has not yet been received. When it is, it will be considered as quickly as possible.
Rail Investment
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make it his policy to evaluate the public service obligation grant to make it more specific in application, rail line by rail line ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The current system of paying a single national public service obligation grant reflects the requirement on BR to maintain a service which is comparable generally with that existing on 1 April 1988. The day-to-day management of services and the precise level of service to be provided on individual lines is a matter for BR. The Department regularly considers whether this system is appropriate. However, there are no current plans to change it.
Rail Deaths
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any inquiry will be conducted into the deaths of rail passengers who fell from InterCity trains when doors opened ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, West (Mr. McLoughlin) on 5 December last, Hansard, Vol. 182, column 118. British Rail thoroughly investigates all incidents of this nature and makes its reports available to Her Majesty's railway inspectorate.
West Coast Main Line
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans have been put to him for improvement of the west coast main line ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail is continuing to develop plans for the west coast main line and has not yet put specific investment proposals to the Department.
Trains (Overbooking)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received in the last year concerning the safety implications of overcrowding and double booking on British Rail trains ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 400
Mr. Freeman : The Department of Transport received around 4,000 letters about British Rail in the last year, some of which raised questions about various aspects of overcrowding. Precise figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
EMPLOYMENT
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how old the information is about local unemployment provided by the employment service to local TECs.
Mr. Jackson : Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service executive agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the relationship and co-ordination between the employment service and local TECs.
Mr. Jackson : The employment service and training and enterprise councils share a common purpose in helping local labour markets to run efficiently. It is vital that local employment service managers and individual TECs establish a relationship based on the closest possible co- operation to ensure that we maximise the contribution that each can make.
Most TECs have been operating for only a short time. However, there are already many excellent examples of collaboration to build on which will support a fully co-ordinated approach to the delivery of Government employment, training and enterprise programmes and services at the local level. I know that the employment service is committed to helping TECs succeed and I am encouraged by the response by individual TECs and the very constructive dialogue which has emerged.
The Government will continue to take a very keen interest in this important area.
Disability
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list recent measures to encourage blind people and the registered disabled to obtain skills or to find employment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : People with disabilities, including visual handicaps, can register as disabled if they want to work and have a reasonable prospect of being able to obtain and keep work. Registration is open to unemployed people and to those in employment. My Department provides a wide range of services and schemes specifically designed to help people with disabilities to obtain training and to find and keep employment and develop within it. In addition, the general employment and training schemes and services provided by the Department often make special provision for people with disabilities. Some provision is specifically aimed at people with visual handicaps.
My Department has recently undertaken a wide-ranging consultation exercise to obtain views on how to make the Department's services more effective for people with disabilities and we are presently considering responses. We are also consulting widely about the range
Column 401
of special schemes that we provide for people with disabilities, including special help for people who are visually handicapped and for people who are registered disabled.My right hon. and learned Friend announced in November that, from this April, unemployed people with disabilities will be given priority access to the Department's main employment and training programmes. These programmes include job clubs and the job interview guarantee scheme, both of which are to be expanded and have been shown to have considerable potential in helping people with disabilities.
In October we launched a new symbol which can be used by employers to show publicly that they are committed to good practices and to encourage people with disabilities in seeking and keeping employment.
Self-employed People
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the change, in numerical and percentage terms, in the number of self- employed people in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain between 1979 and the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Jackson : The information is as follows :
Self-employed
change between June 1979 and September 1990
|Actual |Percentage
|(000's)
-----------------------------------------------
Scotland |90 |56.3
Great Britain |1,515 |82.2
Earnings
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the average weekly earnings of full-time male employees in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested is published in table 12 of part A of the 1990 new earnings survey report. A copy of the report is in the Library.
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the hourly rates of pay for (a) part-time female manual employees and (b) part-time female non-manual employees, in (i) Scotland and (ii) Great Britain.
Mr. Jackson : Information on average gross hourly earnings for the groups specified is published in table 180 of part F of the 1990 new earnings survey report. A copy of the report is in the Library.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what support Her Majesty's Government are giving or planning to give to both sides of industry to enable them to take full advantage of a work force estimated to comprise 45 per cent. women by the year 2001.
Mr. Jackson : The Government are firmly committed to the principle of equal opportunities for women and men and will continue to encourage both sides of industry,
Column 402
through education and training, to do all they can to help women reach their full potential. Employers are being urged to adopt family-friendly policies to attract and retain the women they will need.Training
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list recent measures taken by him to encourage industry to reinvest in training ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Many of our policies on training are designed to encourage effective investment by employers in training. The establishment of training and enterprise councils in England and Wales, and local enterprise companies in Scotland, has put employers in the lead in transforming attitudes towards training and enterprise locally. TECs and LECs are developing new approaches to encouraging employers to invest more effectively in training. TECs have recently been given new freedoms to use their substantial public resources more flexibly to this end. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State has also launched "Investors in People", a new standard for effective investment in skills by employers. These and other measures will reinforce the increasing commitment by employers to training, demonstrated by the substantial growth in recent years in the number of employees receiving training shown by the labour force survey.
Job Interviews
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his policy to amend the rules for covering the cost of the unemployed travelling for job interviews to take account of seasonal jobs lasting less than 12 months.
Mr. Jackson : The travel-to-interview scheme aims to secure permanent jobs for unemployed people by improving the match, in the economy, between labour supply and demand, encouraging unemployed people to apply for jobs beyond daily travelling distance which they would not otherwise have considered. It is through focusing the scheme on permanent jobs that I believe the greatest impact can be obtained from the resources available and I do not therefore think it right to change the rules so as to bring seasonal jobs into scope.
Braille
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many braille terminals and printers for personal computers which can be operated on a stand-alone basis or linked as work stations to larger stations there are in his Department.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 22 January 1991] : My Department devolves much responsibility for purchasing equipment to individual managers. Comprehensive records are not kept centrally, so a definitive reply could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I can provide the following information.
There are three braille terminals and four braille printers for personal computers which can be operated on a stand-alone basis or linked to larger systems. In addition,
Column 403
there are at least 14 personal computers with attachments, such as speech synthesisers, which facilitate their use by visually handicapped staff.My Department also provides other specialised equipment for use by visually handicapped staff but which does not involve the use of personal computers. This equipment includes devices for producing braille print.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
EC Funding
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish in full the areas of Britain that are classified as (a) objective 1, (b) objective 2 and (c) objective 5b, as shown in the allocation of European regional development fund money ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh : The areas of the United Kingdom designated for objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) of the European Community structural funds are as follows :
Objective 1
Northern Ireland.
Objective 2
The Assisted Areas of Great Britain, except those designated for Objective 5(b) and the following travel-to-work areas
(TTWAs)--Birmingham (part), Bridgend (part), Cardiff (part) Cinderford and Ross-on-Wye, Corby, Coventry and Hinckley (part), Dudley and Sandwell (part), Kidderminster, Sheffield (part) and Whitby. The remainder of Greater Manchester ; Nottingham City (UPA) ; Midlothian Local Authority District (LAD) and part of East Lothian LAD ; and the following TTWAs : Alnwick and Amble, Alfreton and Ashfield (part), Burnley, Burton on Trent (part), Castleford and Pontefract, Chesterfield, Goole and Selby (part), Mansfield, Pendle, Retford, Stirling (part), Wakefield and Dewsbury, Whitehaven and Worksop.
Objective 5(b)
The Highlands and Islands Development Board area ;
The intermediate areas of Galloway, comprising Stranraer, Newton Stewart and Stewartry TTWAs ;
The counties of Dyfed, Powys and Gwynedd, excluding the assisted areas adjacent to West Glamorgan and Gwent--which are designated for Objective 2- -and the part of the Conwy and Colwyn TTWA in Gwynedd ; The assisted areas of Devon and Cornwall.
The Commission is understood to be considering whether to review the objective 2 list, pursuant to regulation (EEC) No. 2052/88, article 9(6). The Government believe that there should be no changes to the list at present.
Office Furniture
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) why his Department has awarded its new Buckinham Palace road offices' furniture contract to a manufacturer outside the United Kingdom ;
(2) what are his criteria for the awarding of office furniture contracts within his Department.
Mr. Leigh : My Department is concerned to buy goods and services which meet its specifications at the best price. In view of our treaty commitments to the EC and GATT, the country of origin could not be of primary concern in the assessment.
Column 404
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the present economic situation in the office furniture manufacturing and supply industry.
Mr. Leigh : In recent years the office furniture manufacturing industry has expanded strongly. The performance of the industry in future will be influenced both by developments in the economy generally and by the extent to which it meets the needs of its customers.
Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd.
Mr. Snape : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department collects any statistics regarding the number of claims made by local authorities on behalf of their residents against Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd., and the outcome of such claims.
Mr. Redwood : No. The return to my Department identifies the number of claims by class of business, but they are not analysed between types of policyholder.
Mr. Snape : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he collects statistics about premium payments from local authorities to Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd.
Mr. Redwood : No. The returns to my Department do not identify the source of premium payments.
Film Industry
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is Her Majesty's Government's policy for encouraging the film industry in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Leigh : The Government provide annual support including £2 million for British Screen Finance Ltd., £1.75 million for the national film and television school and £75,000 for the Scottish production fund and are setting up the European co-production fund, with £5 million over the next three financial years. We also support the British Film Institute, the Scottish Film Council, the Arts Council's film activities in Northern Ireland and training. The Government participate in the European Community's EDIA programme and the audio-visual EUREKA programme.
Home Accident Surveillance System
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the annual report on the home accident surveillance system.
Mr. Leigh : The annual report for 1988 has been published and I am placing copies in the Library of the House.
Engineering Steel Exports
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what figures he has available for the latest period for engineering steel exports ; and what were the comparable figures one year previously.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 25 January 1991] : "Engineering steel" has no precise definition within United Kingdom product classifications. It has been approximated in the table by the tariff codes 72.13-72.15, 72.28.30 and 72.28.60 :
Column 405
Engineering Steel Exports
|Tonnes |£ million
|'000s
-------------------------------------------------------
January to November 1989 |1,012 |302
January to November 1990 |1,231 |376
Increase (per cent.) |21.6 |24.6
| Next Section
| Home Page |