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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 4 March 1991
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Mortgage Repossessions
Mr. Battle : To ask the Attorney-General how many court actions relating to mortgage repossessions there were in the Leeds county court in each year since 1982.
The Attorney-General : The number of mortgage actions for possession in Leeds county court were :
|Number
---------------------
1982 |803
1983 |508
1984 |558
1985 |800
1986 |773
1987 |492
1988 |807
1989 |903
1990 |1,068
Maintenance Enforcement
Miss Lestor : To ask the Attorney-General what consideration he is giving to the relationship between access and maintenance in the new legislation on maintenance enforcement to ensure that failure to pay does not result in the child being forbidden to see a parent.
The Attorney-General : The Child Support Bill and the Maintenance Enforcement Bill are concerned only with the assessment and payment of maintenance. The difficulties surrounding the denial of access to an absent parent are being considered as part of the Government's review of the family justice system. There is no proposal that failure to pay maintenance will result in the child's being forbidden to see the parent who has failed to pay.
Miss Lestor : To ask the Attorney-General whether there are any proposals when the private child support agency is established to track down and collect maintenance from errant fathers to ensure that shared access is enforced.
The Attorney-General : The Child Support Agency, which will be a "next steps" agency accountable to the
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Secretary of State for Social Security, will be concerned only with issues relating to the assessment and payment of maintenance for children. It will have no involvement with issues of access, which will remain with the courts. As the White Paper "Children Come First" made clear, although absent parents sometimes see the payment of maintenance as connected to the question of their access to the children concerned, the two are separate issues which are decided on the basis of different criteria. Nonetheless, the Government are aware that there are difficulties surrounding the enforcement of access where an order has been made. This is one of the areas which is being considered as part of the Government's review of the family justice system in England and Wales.EMPLOYMENT
Labour Statistics, Leeds
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the levels of redundancies, by industry, in Leeds West for the period 1981 to 1991, classified by men, women, young persons and ethnic minorities.
Mr. Jackson : The available information is given in the tables. The figures relate to the numbers of redundancies confirmed as having occurred following receipt of notification under the 1975 Employment Protection Act, in the years 1983 to 1990 in the jobcentre areas covering the Leeds metropolitan district, analysed by the 1968 and 1980 standard industrial classifications.
The comparisons are affected by the changes to the redundancy fund in 1986.
Confirmed redundancies-Leeds metropolitan district area
SIC 1968 group Year
|1981 |1982 |1983
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture, forestry, fishing |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Mining and quarrying |<1>- |100 |159
Food, drink and tobacco |83 |218 |219
Coal, petroleum and chemical products |161 |<1>- |88
Metal manufacture |750 |441 |542
Engineering and allied trades |2,450|1,905|1,358
Textiles, leather and clothing |2,252|1,410|695
Other manufacturing |823 |942 |656
Construction |346 |178 |99
Gas, electricity and water |<1>- |69 |129
Transport and communication |336 |66 |74
Distributive trades |612 |462 |474
Financial, professional and miscellaneous services |306 |582 |475
Public administration and defence |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
<1>- 50 or less.
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Confirmed redundancies-Leeds metropolitan district area
SIC 1980 division Year
|1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |<2>1990
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture, forestry, fishing |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Energy and water supply industries |206 |235 |<1>- |<1>- |150 |<1>- |<1>-
Extraction of minerals and ores other than fuels;
manufacture of metals, mineral products and chemicals |226 |224 |91 |69 |81 |<1>- |122
Metal goods, engineering and vehicle industries |1,531 |478 |1,031 |801 |518 |207 |612
Other manufacturing industries |940 |670 |467 |658 |623 |521 |950
Construction |120 |215 |95 |<1>- |<1>- |62 |69
Distribution, hotels and catering; repairs |374 |487 |400 |1,028 |362 |226 |135
Transport and communication |190 |149 |64 |<1>- |54 |245 |93
Banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing |<1>- |82 |68 |122 |<1>- |184 |76
Other services |96 |324 |122 |149 |129 |137 |94
<1>- 50 or less.
<2> Provisional.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the percentage of total employment by industry and what was the percentage change in employment by industry ; for the period 1981 to 1991, for Leeds, West, classified by men, women, young persons and ethnic minorities.
Mr. Jackson : Employment statistics for local areas are compiled only when censuses of employment are taken. They cover employees in employment only and exclude the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's forces.
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The available information for Leeds, West from censuses of employment taken in 1984 and 1987 is given in the table. Separate data for young persons and ethnic minorities are not available. Comparable data from the 1981 census of employment could be obtained only at disproportionate cost ; data from the 1987 census are the latest currently available.Column 3
Employees in employment: Leeds, West parliamentary constituency
Percentage
Proportion of all employees, by Change in employment by
industry
Industries and services (divisiSeptember 1984 September 1987 1984 to 1987
1980)
|males |females|males |females|males |females
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-5 production and construction
industries |31.9 |9.0 |31.3 |8.6 |+1.7 |-1.5
2-4 manufacturing industries |26.5 |8.4 |26.3 |8.1 |+2.7 |-0.7
6-7 distribution, hotels and catering;
repairs; transport and
communication |14.4 |15.6 |14.4 |13.3 |+3.5 |-11.8
8 banking, finance, business services and
leasing |2.6 |1.6 |3.1 |1.9 |+25.2 |+23.0
9 other services |9.7 |15.3 |10.6 |16.8 |+13.0 |+13.3
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons in the Leeds metropolitan district there were in (a) full-time employment, (b) part-time employment and (c) temporary employment for each year from 1979 (i) by gender and (ii) as a percentage of all employees in (x) manufacturing industry and (y) the service sector industry.
Mr. Jackson : Information for employees in employment by district is only available from the censuses of employment for 1981, 1984 and 1987. This can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library. It is not possible to identify how many were in temporary employment.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Department.
Mr. Jackson : Senior grades are recruited by the Civil Service Commission. The commission has taken various steps to aid recruitment of members of the ethnic minorities. The ED group will shortly be implementing equal opportunities action programmes focusing on the need to increase the represention of ethnic minorities and women and people with disabilities, in the higher grades. These programmes will reflect the programme of action on race issued by the office of the Minister for the Civil Service.
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Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many and what percentage of officers in each grade 1 to 7 and overall in the Department are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.
Mr. Jackson : The numbers and percentages of women and ethnic minority officers in grades 1 to 7 and overall in the Department at 1 January 1991 are set out in the tables.
Table 1 Women in the employment department group (grades 1-7) at 1 January 1991 Grade |Number |Percentage -------------------------------------------- 1 |0 |0.0 2 |0 |0.0 3 |3 |10.3 4 |0 |0.0 5 |27 |15.7 6 |35 |12.3 7 |139 |12.6
The Department employs 35,142 women who comprise 65.7 per cent. of the total staff.
Table 2 Ethnic minority staff in the employment department group (grades 1-7) at 1 January 1991 Grade |Number |Percentage -------------------------------------------- 1 |0 |0.0 2 |0 |0.0 3 |0 |0.0 4 |1 |7.1 5 |1 |0.6 6 |0 |0.0 7 |9 |0.8
The Department employes 2,556 staff from the ethnic minorities who comprise 4.8 per cent. of the total staff.
Redundancy Payments
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the reason for the delay by his Department's redundancy payments service at Birmingham in sending the sums owed to Mr. Peter Turner of 67 St. John's court, Warwick, following representations by the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington.
Mr. Forth : I refer my hon. Friend to my letter of 20 November 1990. A duplicate claim has now been processed and the money owed was sent to the Official Receiver on 7 February 1991. I understand the payment to Mr. Peter Turner was made on 27 February.
Homeworkers
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he intends to take to improve the pay and employment rights of homeworkers.
Mr. Forth : Employees who are homeworkers have the same employment rights as other employees. Pay is best determined by the parties concerned in the light of their particular circumstances. Homeworkers in wages council industries must be paid at least the statutory minimum wage rates set by the councils.
Training
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the average costs per (a) employment training place and (b) youth training trainee place negotiated in the past year between (i) TECs and providers and (ii) regional offices and TECs.
Mr. Jackson : Financial arrangements agreed between training and enterprise councils--TECs--and providers of training for the delivery of employment training--ET--and youth training--YT--are matters for the parties involved. The details of costs per trainee week and per output agreed between my Department and individual TECs are commercially confidential.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of underspending on youth training and employment training measuring anticipated actual expenditure on 31 March against planned expenditure for 1990-91.
Mr. Jackson : Forecast outturn expenditure on youth training and employment training in comparison to 1990-91 cash limits is shown in the table.
|Published |Forecast
|cash limit |outturn
|£ million|£ million
--------------------------------------------------------
Youth training |840 |833
Employment training |1,075 |1,062
Claimants
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many claimants in each of the years 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90 from Great Britain have changed their status from long-term unemployed to fresh claimant as a result of participating in programmes provided by the employment service ;
(2) if he will list each of the programmes provided by the employment service which result in the long-term unemployed returning to the unemployment register as new claimants.
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 these questions for reply.
Pay Rates
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the maximum and minimum basic rates of pay recorded in the Leeds office of the employment service from advertised posts in (a) the manufacturing sector and (b) the service sector for (i) full-time and (ii) part-time work and showing figures for (1) men and (2) women.
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.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many men (a) over the age of 60 years and (b) between the ages of 60 and 65 years, are in full employment ; and what proportion of the employment market (b) constitutes.
Mr. Jackson : It is estimated from the labour force survey that there were 695,000 men aged 60 and over and 604,000 men aged 60 to 64 in full-time employment in Great Britain in spring 1989. The latter group formed 4.4 per cent. of all men aged 16 and over then in full-time employment.
Training (Special Needs)
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average cost per employment training special needs place negotiated in (a) the year 1989-90 between regional offices and providers and (b) in the past year between regional office and TECs and (c) in the past year between TECs and providers.
Mr. Jackson : Information on costs of special needs places on the employment training programme is not available.
South Glamorgan TEC
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 26 February, Official Report, column 480, what part his Department will take in the re-tendering process for the construction of the new South Glamorgan TEC headquarters.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 1 March 1991] : This is a matter for the TEC.
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Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answers of 12 February, Official Report, column 461-62 and 26 February, what was the subject of discussion between his director of field operations and the chairman of South Glamorgan TEC on 7 and 9 December 1990.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 1 March 1991] : Various matters were discussed including the contract for the refurbishment of premises at Dumballs road for South Glamorgan TEC.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects to finalise the amount of his financial contribution towards the cost of constructing the new South Glamorgan TEC headquarters.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 1 March 1991] : This will depend on a number of factors, including the dates on which the TEC makes decisions about its premises.
HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Jobs Report
33. Mr. Wilson : To ask the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will make a statement of implementation of the Ibbs report.
Mr. Beith : Following the generally supportive debate in the House on Thursday 17 January, the Commission is now proceeding with the first phase of the implementation of the proposals in Sir Robin Ibbs's report on House of Commons services. The recruitment of a new Director of Finance and Administration is now well advanced, and an appointment is likely to be made by Mr. Speaker before Easter. It is hoped that the procedures for appointing the new Director of Works--who will be responsible to the authorities of both Houses--will be completed before the Whitsun recess. The implementation of the other main proposals in the report will proceed as expeditiously as possible thereafter. The House will wish to know that the Offices Committee in the other place has also welcomed the general thrust of the Ibbs report and is taking steps to apply the recommendations where appropriate to its own administration.
TRANSPORT
School Buses (Seat Belts)
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Mr. Conway) of 11 February, Official Report, column 309, if he will indicate the EC legislation which currently prevents Her Majesty's Government from introducing national proposals on the wearing of seat belts on school buses ; and if he will further indicate which part of which EC directorate he is pressing to enable such measures to be brought forward.
Mr. Chope : The relevant EC directives are 76/155/EEC and 77/541/EEC together with their subsequent amendments, including most recently 90/629/EEC and 90/628/EEC. Any seat belts and anchorages that are fitted to new vehicles must conform to the standards laid down
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in these directives. In the case of coaches, no manufacturer can be obliged to fit seat belts or anchorages other than to front or exposed seats, and member states are not free to override this. We have pressed directorate general III in the European Commission to bring forward proposals as soon as possible which would require seat belts to be fitted on all seats in coaches and minibuses. This concern has now been reflected in the recitals to directive 90/628/EEC, which state that everything should be done in order to prevent passenger ejection in accidents. We hope the Commission will respond to this by putting forward proposals within that time scale requiring the fitting of seat belts on each seat. In the meantime, we are considering what further steps can be taken to encourage the more widespread fitting of seat belts on passenger seats.British Rail Work (King's Cross)
Mr. Waller : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he has taken to safeguard the land required for British Rail's proposed works at King's Cross.
Mr. Freeman : Safeguarding directions under the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988 have been made. They came into force today 4 March. These are initial directions and can be amended if details of the works at King's Cross are altered at any stage.
Canning Town Flyover
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to open public consultation concerning the widening of the Canning Town flyover A13, and any associated changes in traffic circulation affecting pedestrians and local traffic.
Mr. Chope : We intend to hold full public consultations, which I hope will begin towards the end of this summer.
Central Line
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive the report of the investigation by London Underground Ltd. into the delays and hazards experienced by passengers on the Central line on Tuesday 19 February ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : I understand that London Underground Ltd. hopes to complete its report very shortly. This will be discussed with the Health and Safety Executive's railways inspectorate, and the Health and Safety Commission will consider and advise on whether further action may be necessary.
M20
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when the contract for the M20, junctions 5 to 8, improvement will be awarded ;
(2) when he expects the M20, junctions 5 to 8, improvement to be completed ;
(3) when tenders will be invited for the M20, junctions 5 to 8, improvement.
Mr. Chope : Tenders for the construction of the M20, junctions 5 to 8, improvement, were invited on 1 March. We aim to award the contract by mid-summer this year for completion of the work by mid-summer 1993.
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Road Signs
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to achieve the harmonisation of international road sign standards.
Mr. Chope : The United Kingdom plays a full and active part in promoting necessary international harmonisation of road sign standards. The Department of Transport is represented on United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and European conference of Ministers of Transport committees dealing with road sign harmonisation.
Work on constructional standards for traffic signs is being carried out under the auspices of Comite Europe en de Normalisation--CEN. The Department is represented at CEN and plays a full part in the development of the new European standards which are planned for publication by the end of 1993.
Road Building and Renewal
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to institute rolling programmes of road building and renewal.
Mr. Chope : These are already in place. Road construction schemes are kept under review, and schemes are added to the programme from time to time. A total of £400 million will be spent on major maintenance of motorways, trunk roads and bridges this financial year as part of a continuing programme.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the United Kingdom Government have ratified (a) the 1968 Vienna convention on road traffic, signs and signals and (b) the 1954 New York convention on the temporary importation of private road motor vehicles and for tourism.
Mr. Chope : The United Kingdom is a signatory to and hopes soon to ratify the 1968 Vienna conventions on road traffic and road signs and signals. The 1954 conventions on the temporary importation of private road vehicles and facilities for touring were both ratified by the United Kingdom in 1956.
Road Signals
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage the standardisation of the position and operation of controls, lights and indicators for roads and road vehicles.
Mr. Chope : The detailed requirements for and the legal significance of light signals for the control of vehicular traffic are prescribed in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981 and comply with the provisions of the European convention and agreement on road signs and signals. Detailed legal requirements for the fitting and control of lights on vehicles, including direction indicators are covered by the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989. These regulations follow closely agreed European standards for the installation and performance of lighting and light-signalling devices on motor vehicles and trailers.
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Carbon Monoxide Emissions
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a list of car manufacturers' specifications for carbon monoxide emissions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : This information is already available from vehicle manufacturers and published by other organisations such as tuning equipment manufacturers. Reputable service agents should also have the information.
Cars (Fuel-injection Systems)
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the proportion of new cars available for purchase in the United Kingdom with fuel-injection systems which are fitted with an inertial safety switch.
Mr. Chope : It is estimated that in excess of 90 per cent. of fuel- injected vehicles manufactured in the United Kingdom are fitted with a device, not necessarily inertial, that will automatically shut off the fuel delivery in the event of a substantial impact. Proportions of imported fuel injected vehicles fitted with such devices are not known, although most importers will have been issued with guidelines recommending their use.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Broadcasting
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the statutory provisions that relate to the accountability of broadcasting authorities.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The constitution and responsibilities of the Independent Television Commission, Radio Authority and S4C are set out in the Broadcasting Act 1990, while the BBC is governed by the terms of its charter and accompanying licence and agreement.
Asylum Requests
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average length of time spent in processing requests for asylum into the United Kingdom in each year since 1980.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information requested is given in the table.
Average length of time (in months)
between the receipt of an
application and the decision, 1983-90<1>
Year in which |Applications
decision made |for refugee
|status
|or asylum
------------------------------------------
1983 | 6
1984 | 8"
1985 | 12"
1986 | 14
1987 | 14
1988 | 17
1989 | 12
<2>1990 | 12
<1>Excludes south-east Asian refugees
given settlement on arrival.
<2>Provisional.
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Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals currently seeking asylum have had to wait for two years or more before a decision is made on their cases.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At 31 December 1990 some 4,000 asylum applicants, including associated dependants, are recorded as awaiting a decision in the United Kingdom for two years or more. However, this figure overstates the position because of under-recording of decisions made earlier.
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Women Offenders
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the most common category of crime for women offenders during the last 10 years ; and what is the average sentence for these crimes.
Mr. John Patten : The most common indictable offence committed by women is shoplifting. The table shows the number of women found guilty or cautioned for this offence over the past 10 years and the average sentence lengths imposed by the courts.
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Female offenders found guilty at all courts or cautioned for shoplifting offences 1980 to 1989 England and Wales
Number Percentage found Number Average sentence length
found guilty guilty or cautioned given custody for shoplifting
or cautioned of shoplifting over for shoplifting (months)
|for shoplifting |all indictable offences|offences
|offences
|Magistrates' court |Crown court
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |52,797 |55 |659 |3 |4
1981 |52,577 |56 |669 |3 |4
1982 |56,904 |58 |750 |2 |4
1983 |53,402 |56 |735 |2 |5
1984 |50,919 |55 |751 |2 |5
1985 |58,239 |58 |808 |2 |5
1986 |49,807 |56 |657 |2 |6
1987 |45,822 |53 |635 |2 |6
1988 |37,787 |47 |535 |3 |6
1989 |35,371 |46 |465 |2 |5
Charity Commission
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the Charity Commission's income is provided by Government grant.
Mr. John Patten : The Charity Commission is non-ministerial Government Department and, as such, its total expenditure, which is subject to a cash limit, is voted by Parliament.
Leicestershire Police Force
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will reimburse the Leicestershire police force in respect of unforeseeable expenditures which have led to budgetary overspending.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Home Office will continue to meet 51 per cent. of Leicestershire police authority's expenditure on revenue costs through specific grant, regardless of whether the expenditure was foreseen or not.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding the Leicestershire police force has received from central Government in each of the past five financial years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Specific police grant paid to Leicestershire county council in respect of the financial years 1985-86 to 1989-90 was as follows :
|£
---------------------------------
1985-86 |18,093,241
1986-87 |20,700,339
1987-88 |22,488,908
1988-89 |24,563,482
1989-90 |28,578,769
In addition, rate support grant paid to Leicestershire county council in each of these years included support for that part of police expenditure not covered by police grant.
Cautioning of Offenders"
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the provisions of Home Office circular 59/1990 "Cautioning of Offenders", as it relates to the discretion now being extended to the police.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The purpose of the circular is to establish national standards for cautioning based on consistent general principles in which the courts and public may have full confidence. It does not give the police any new discretion, but emphasises the principle that cautioning can be suitable for all age groups, not just juveniles. Generally, cautioning is recognised as an increasingly important way of keeping offenders out of the courts and, in many circumstances, reducing the risk that they will re- offend.
Crime Concern
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work of Crime Concern.
Mr. John Patten : In the two years for which it has been fully operational, Crime Concern has undertaken a wide range of valuable work, notably in establishing area crime reduction schemes, forging a fruitful relationship with the private sector and encouraging the development of youth crime prevention projects. I look forward to the organisation's continuing contribution to preventing crime.
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