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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 16 December 1991
EMPLOYMENT
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the normal retirement age for the post of director of the field operations division of the Health and Safety Executive ; what is the age of the current occupant ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The normal retirement age for the post of director of field operations is 60. The present postholder is being retained in the post for a year beyond his normal retirement date, to June 1992, to assist in the implementation and consolidation of the major reform of the field organisation.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish copies of (a) the spring 1991 review of the Health and Safety Executive and (b) the field operations division impact study 1991.
Mr. Forth : (a) The 1991 spring review was a series of meetings at which the Health and Safety Executive's senior management reviewed the performance of its divisions against plan in the 1990-91 financial year. A full account of HSE's performance is given in the Health and Safety Commission Executive annual report 1990-91, which was laid before the House on 12 December.
(b) the impact study is an internal review of the ways in which the HSE's field force could improve the impact of its work. The question of publication will be considered when the HSE and the Health and Safety Commission has considered its recommendations.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many premises are registered with the field operations division of the Health and Safety Executive ; how many were inspected thoroughly in 1990-91 ; what is the current backlog of inspections ; and what proposals he has to clear the backlog.
Mr. Forth : On 28 September 1991 there were 653,397 fixed premises registered with the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division --FOD. Between 1 April 1990 and 31 March 1991, FOD inspectors made a total of 100,232 planned inspection visits to fixed premises. At 31 March 1991, a total of 107,486 fixed premises in the field for inspection in the period 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1991 had not received a planned inspection visit in that year. The figure includes premises which have a low inspection rating based on inspectors' judgment of risks, site standards and management control, those which have been visited for purposes other than planned inspection and those for which records are held but may no longer exist. A reduction in the number of premises in the field for inspection and not visited continues to be an aim of the Health and Safety Commission and Executive. As part of
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this, FOD has carried forward and developed special inspection initiatives on a local or regional basis across a range of industries.Between 1 July and 31 December 1991, FOD is carrying out a pilot exercise to assess the feasibility of employing visiting officers to identify establishments for inspection. Two of the objectives of the exercise are to eliminate redundant records from the factory inspectorate establishment database and to provide data on establishments that make up the backlog.
Additionally, a recent study carried out by FOD has addressed the question of improving the impact of the work of the field force, including the backlog of inspections. Recommendations from the survey are currently being considered by HSE.
Factory Inspectors
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the factory inspectors responsible for the inspecting chemical works do not have degrees in chemistry or chemical engineering.
Mr. Forth : There are currently 56 factory inspectors responsible for the inspection of chemical plants who do not have degrees in chemistry or chemical engineering. Inspection assignments for factory inspectors are not made solely on specialist technical qualifications ; detailed technical support is available to field inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive's technical specialists.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the factory inspectors in the field operations division of the Health and Safety Executive are trainees.
Mr. Forth : On 1 December 1991, a total of 182 factory inspectors in the field operations division of the Health and Safety Executive were trainee inspectors.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many factories registered with the factories inspectorate have not received a basic inspection for three, five, seven, nine and 11 years ; and what were the figures two years ago.
Mr. Forth : I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 29 January 1991, Official Report, columns 782-83. To update this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Baynards House
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost in the financial year 1990-91 and what it is so far for the financial year 1991-92 for fees paid by the Health and Safety Executive for private employment agencies for the recruitment of staff at Baynards house ; and if he will end such expenditure henceforth.
Mr. Forth : No fees have been paid to private employment agencies in either financial year by the Health and Safety Executive for the recruitment of staff in Baynards house.
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Construction Sites
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what recent initiatives have been taken by the Health and Safety Commission's construction industry advisory committee in establishing new improved standards for site health and safety.
Mr. Forth : The HSC's construction industry advisory committee has taken a number of recent initiatives to promote improved standards of health and safety in the construction industry. The main initiatives are :
undertaking a comprehensive revision of guidance on the management of health and safety in construction projects. This will support forthcoming new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations which will place clear duties on clients, their professional advisers, designers, and contractors to bring about a coherent structure for managing health and safety ;
meeting professional institutions to encourage their greater involvement in health and safety matters, including improved training for the professions. A major conference is also planned for senior representatives of construction companies on the role of the professions under the proposed new legislation ;
a review of the use of heavy building blocks to produce guidance and consideration of a weight limit for manual handling above which mechanical assistance would be required ;
revising guidance on the safe use of site dumpers ; and publishing a long- term strategy to give its effort clear direction while remaining sufficiently flexible to respond to important immediate issues.
EC Social Action
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment has been made by his Department of British industry managers' views of the current proposals by the European Commission for action in the social area.
Mr. Forth : The United Kingdom is unique in the European Community for its wide consultation of industry on the proposals in the social area. The significant majority of responses from industry to the Department's consultation documents support the Government's view that a number of the proposed directives under the Commission's social action programme would impose damaging costs on employers, destroy flexibility and limit our international competitiveness. These views have been endorsed in many representations received from individual employers and from employer organisations.
Youth Training
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from TECs over the lack of funds to meet the responsibilities to provide youth training in line with targets set by the Government ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The Department has regular contact with all training and enterprise councils on a variety of matters. The Government remain firmly committed to their youth training guarantee.
Disability Symbol
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a list of companies which have given firm commitments to the Employment Service's
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disability symbol for employers ; and how long a company can express a firm commitment without actually using the symbol, and still remain on the list.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.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Moss : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has for the staffing of training and enterprise councils in the longer term.
Mr. Howard : On 26 July 1991 I wrote to the chairmen of all TECs proposing that discussions should begin with TECs, with the relevant trade unions and with seconded staff about arrangements to secure the objective of freeing TECs to be the direct employers of their staff on terms and conditions decided by TECs.
I am writing today to TEC chairmen setting out the broad arrangements for phasing out secondments to TECs from the civil service by October 1996. These will give TECs the freedom to offer secondees employment in their TEC. Secondees in turn will be free to accept TEC employment or return to the Department when their secondment period ends. TECs will be provided with the funding to offer former secondees pension provisions broadly comparable with the principal civil service pension scheme. Subject to normal parliamentary procedures for notifying the giving of non-statutory guarantees and indemnities, I also propose to meet the costs of redundancy entitlements for past civil service employment in the event of a redundancy arising as a direct result of Government action within the first five years of the start of former secondee's employment in a TEC.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Mirror Group Newspapers (Pension Fund)
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement in response to the representations made to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe on behalf of employees of Mirror Group Newspapers about the losses incurred by their pension fund.
Mr. Norman Lamont : I have written to the right hon. Gentleman.
EC Contributions
Mr. Shore : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his answer of 2 December, Official Report, column 39, what was the level of the United Kingdom's liability for contribution to EC funds in each year since 1973 (a) gross and (b) net, in cash terms and after adjusting for inflation, before refunds or abatement.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The information requested is set out in the table :
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Gross (before refunds Net (before refunds and
and abatements) abatements)
Year |Current |Constant<1>|Current |Constant<1>
|prices |prices |prices |prices
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1973 |181 |987 |102 |556
1974 |179 |850 |29 |138
1975 |342 |1,276 |-56 |-209
1976 |463 |1,500 |167 |541
1977 |737 |2,096 |369 |1,050
1978 |1,348 |3,444 |822 |2,100
1979 |1,606 |3,587 |947 |2,115
1980 |1,767 |3,303 |804 |1,503
1981 |2,174 |3,647 |1,090 |1,829
1982 |2,863 |4,464 |1,625 |2,534
1983 |2,976 |4,408 |1,454 |2,154
1984 |3,204 |4,538 |1,184 |1,677
1985 |3,940 |5,277 |2,035 |2,726
1986 |4,493 |5,815 |2,273 |2,942
1987 |5,202 |6,414 |2,874 |3,544
1988 |5,138 |5,946 |2,956 |3,421
1989 |5,585 |6,043 |3,469 |3,754
1990 |6,355 |6,355 |4,172 |4,172
<1>Constant prices have been constructed using the GDP deflator
at market prices.
Mr. Shore : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the contribution to EC funds in each year since 1986 made by each of the 12 members of the EC (a) gross and (b) net, in constant prices.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The gross contribution to the EC budget by each member state in constant prices for the years 1986-1990 is in the table. Details of member states' gross contributions for 1991 will be published in the "Statement on the 1992 Community Budget" early next year. Details of member states' net contributions are not published by the European Commission.
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Mecu
Constant prices<1><2>
|1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990
---------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |1,631 |1,875 |1,987 |1,869 |1,764
Denmark |927 |946 |1,024 |895 |775
Germany |9,598 |10,115|12,237|11,488|10,358
Greece |1,139 |539 |589 |680 |564
Spain |2,980 |2,072 |3,584 |3,370 |3,671
France |7,787 |8,057 |9,678 |8,856 |8,090
Ireland |396 |380 |357 |384 |368
Italy |6,063 |6,301 |7,572 |6,887 |6,098
Luxembourg |73 |82 |89 |75 |74
Netherlands |2,366 |2,518 |2,926 |2,785 |2,615
Portugal |446 |492 |515 |523 |502
United Kingdom |6,245 |7,062 |6,161 |7,107 |6,534
<1>Constant prices for the United Kingdom have been
constructed using the GDP deflator at market prices.
<2>Constant prices for other Member States have been
constructed using the GDP implicit price index. Source:
OECC.
Note: Gross contribution are given net of the United
Kingdom's abatement and other Member States'
contribution to it.
Unitary Tax
Mr. Grylls : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is yet in a position to announce the outcome of the Government's review of unitary tax with the United States Treasury.
Mr. Maude : The review of unitary tax conducted jointly by the Inland Revenue and the United States Treasury has now been completed and the Government have endorsed the conclusions reached in the report. A copy of the review report, which has been published today, is being placed in the Library.
The report highlights the main points in a complicated issue. It identifies not only where progress has been made to date but also assesses the best practical means of taking matters forward. In accordance with the report's conclusions, both Governments take this opportunity to restate their commitment to work together to secure the elimination of the worldwide combined reporting method of unitary taxation.
At present we believe that the best means of achieving this goal is to support companies litigating in United States courts against worldwide unitary tax. Both Governments will continue to give such support.
In the meantime the British Government intend to retain the legislation contained in section 812 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. No further guarantee is contemplated as to the effective date of the
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legislation were it to be triggered, beyond the guarantee, previously given, that it would not apply to dividends paid on or before 31 December 1989.Sunday Trading
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action the Central Statistical Office will be taking in its assessment of the trend in retail sales and related indicators of activity to take account of the Sunday opening of many shops this December.
Mr. Maples : No action is necessary. The usual procedures for the compilation of the monthly retail sales index will ensure that Sunday sales are properly reflected.
Taxpayers
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate for 1991-92 the number of (a) corporate taxpayers and (b) income taxpayers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Mr. Maude : About 350,000 companies pay corporation tax and 25.1 million individuals pay income tax in the United Kingdom. Information for Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not separately available for 1991-92.
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Allowances
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people receive (a) the married couple's allowance, (b) the additional person's allowance and (c) the widow's bereavement allowance.
Mr. Maude : In 1991-92 the numbers of individuals benefiting from the specified allowances are estimated to be about (a) 11.1 million, (b) 600,000 and (c) 140,000.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the revenue yield from freezing the married couple's allowance, additional personal allowance and widow's bereavement allowance--but not the married couple's allowance for pensioners-- (a) in the first year, (b) in a full year, assuming this is introduced at the beginning of 1991-92, (c) in the first year and (d) in a full year, assuming this is introduced at the beginning of 1992-93, with (i) the current system of tax allowances and (ii) restricting all tax allowances and reliefs except the single person's allowance to the basic rate.
Mr. Maude : It is estimated that, at 1992-93 levels of income, freezing the married couple's allowance for taxpayers aged under 65, the additional personal allowance, and the widow's bereavement allowance in 1992-93 would yield about £140 million in the first year and £180 million in a full year with the current system of tax allowances compared with the illustrative 4 per cent. indexation shown in table 4.2 of the autumn statement 1991. If all tax allowances and reliefs except the basic personal allowance were restricted to the basic rate, the yield from freezing the specified allowances would be about £130 million in the first year and £170 million in a full year. These allowances were not increased in the 1991 Budget.
Enterprise Zones
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the availability of special enterprise zone capital allowances --100 per cent. initial allowances or 25 per cent. writing down allowances- -where a purchaser buys an unused building in an enterprise zone.
Mr. Maude : The intention underlying the enterprise zone capital allowances legislation is that the purchaser of an unused building should be entitled to initial allowances provided that the actual construction expenditure was incurred either within 10 years of designation of the zone or under a contract entered into during that period. Contrary to the Revenue's previous view and practice recent legal advice has indicated that the purchaser is not entitled to initial allowances, where an unused building is purchased after expiry of the 10-year life of the zone. The Government therefore intend to bring forward amending provisions in the 1992 Finance Bill to ensure that allowances remain available in these circumstances. The legislation would have effect from today. In the meantime, with my approval, the Inland Revenue has today issued an extra- statutory concession under which it will continue to apply its existing practice to past and current transactions. The impact of this measure on tax receipts will be nil. It simply gives effect to the tax treatment originally intended.
The Government also intend to amend the regulations defining an enterprise zone property trust to ensure that
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the measures I have described feed through to the investors in these trusts. Under the existing regulations investors in EZPTs only have the benefit of enterprise zone allowances where an unused building is acquired during the lifetime of the zone. The cost to the Exchequer of aligning with other purchasers the entitlement of these investors to initial allowances is estimated at £5 million in 1992-93 and £35 million in 1993-94.The Government intend to bring forward two further amendments to the enterprise zone legislation in the 1992 Bill, also with effect from today. The existing rule that a purchaser may only receive initial allowances where a building is sold unused, adversely affects developers who face a delay in securing a purchaser and who may want to let the building in the interim. This rule may act as a disincentive to the occupation of buildings and to business activity in enterprise zones. To mitigate that effect we intend to bring forward legislation providing that initial allowances will be available to a purchaser buying the building within two years of its first being used. The proposed provision would apply to buildings first brought into use after today. The basis for making any quantitative estimate of the effects of this extension on the yield of corporation tax in 1992-93 and 1993-94 would depend on many factors and be highly speculative. Any estimate of the total revenue effects and the impact on receipts as between individual financial years would therefore be very uncertain.
Finally, the Government propose to curtail the existing open-ended nature of relief for expenditure incurred under a contract entered into during the life of the zone. In future, it is proposed that such expenditure would only be eligible for initial allowances if it is incurred within 10 years of expiry of the zone.
These changes do not alter the Government's general policy towards enterprise zones announced by the Secretary of State for the Environment in his written answer of 17 December 1987, that there would not be a general extension of the enterprise zone experiment.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Liquidations
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms in the building trade and the furniture trade have gone into liquidation in each year since 1979 inclusive ; and, in each year, how many of those firms in each category were based in Tottenham or Edmonton prior to going into liquidation.
Mr. Redwood : The information on company liquidations resulting from insolvency in timber and furniture manufacturing and in construction for England and Wales is as follows. Information is not collected by location ; nor is furniture collected separately from timber. No sectoral breakdown is available for voluntary liquidations.
Year |Timber and |Construction
|furniture
|manufacturing
--------------------------------------------------------
1979 |116 |789
1980 |211 |949
1981 |203 |990
1982 |350 |1,422
1983 |294 |1,776
1984 |382 |1,831
1985 |495 |1,975
1986 |427 |1,914
1987 |378 |1,490
1988 |242 |1,471
1989 |302 |1,638
1990 |391 |2,445
Car Imports
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the decision of the European Commission to clarify the role and activities of car intermediaries ; and how his Department plans to monitor the activities of intermediaries to ensure that the Commission's regulations are enforced.
Mr. Redwood : The Government take the view that intermediaries should be free to operate within the EC car market. Intermediaries have a role to play in helping car buyers to obtain cars at the lowest price within the Community. Enforcement of European Commission regulations is a matter for the Commission. The EC Commission found that Peugeot had breached competition rules by upholding supply from Ecosystem. This case is now a subject of an appeal to the European Court of Justice.
Christmas Paper (Recycling)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will issue guidance on the recycling of Christmas packaging paper before Christmas.
Mr. Leigh : I have no plans to issue guidance specifically related to the recycling of Christmas packaging paper. My Department continues to encourage recycling of materials for which there is a market. No material should be collected unless an outlet has been identified.
Leg Irons
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information his Department has about the manufacture of leg irons in Britain, and the export from Britain of these products.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 12 December 1991] : The Department has no information on the manufacture of leg irons. I refer the hon. Lady to the reply I gave on this subject on 22 October 1991, Official Report, column 608.
ECGD Insurance Services Group
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 6 December, Official Report, columns 260-61, what policy considerations will govern the allocation of export credit cover for high-risk projects in vested countries to (a) the continuing Export Credits Guarantee Department or (b) NCM Credit Insurance with assistance from the Export Credits Guarantee Department under the national interest reinsurance facility ; what the anticipated budget for each category of cover is for (a) the remaining months of this year and (b) the next two financial years ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 13 December 1991] : Export credit cover for project business in the vested markets will be given only by the continuing ECGD.
NCM will provide cover in the vested markets for non-project business only. It will do this without any assistance from ECGD under the national interest reinsurance facility.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Mentally Disordered Prisoners
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he received on his recent visit to Wandsworth prison on the level of post-release supervision of discharged mentally disordered prisoners.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has made no recent visits to Wandsworth prison.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners at present serving sentences in Her Majesty's prisons suffer from some kind of mental disorder ; what percentage of these are receiving psychiatric treatment during their sentence ; and what percentage receive specialist care upon release.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information is not available in the form requested. However, Prison Service medical officers carry out medical monitoring at regular intervals within their establishments. The most up-to-date information held centrally is for September. At that time, approximately 3.5 per cent. of prisoners were receiving some form of mental health care.
Where appropriate, arrangements are made for specialist care to continue after release. Short of an order under the Mental Health Act 1983, there are no powers to make medical treatment, or attendance for treatment, compulsory.
Evening Betting
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to permit the opening of off-course bookmakers shops during the evening hours.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We issued a consultation document in October inviting the views of all interested parties on whether licensed betting offices should be open in the evenings and, if so, at what times. The Government will give careful consideration to the views received in response to that document before deciding whether to allow evening opening.
Sunday Trading
Mr. David Young : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he gives to magistrates adjudicating cases of shoplifting carried out in stores during Sunday trading.
Mr. John Patten : It would not be appropriate for my right hon. Friend to give guidance to magistrates about the way in which they exercise their judicial discretion in cases before them.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to bring
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forward the necessary statutory instrument to include the offence of illegal Sunday trading within the list of offences for which a confiscation order may be made under the terms of section 71 and schedule 4 to the Criminal Justice Act 1988.Wandsworth Prison
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current certified accommodation for Wandsworth prison while the two wings are closed for refurbishment.
Mrs. Rumbold : The current certified normal accommodation for Wandsworth prison is 965. This compares with a certified normal accommodation of 1,275 prior to the closure of D and K wings for refurbishment.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the reduction on a like-for-like basis, of prisoner overcrowding at Wandsworth prison based on the figures for 1980 to 1990 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The overcrowding at Wandsworth Prison over this period is shown in the table. The average percentage occupancy is based on the relationship between the certified normal accommodation figure--that is, the capacity of the prison without overcrowding--at the end of the year and the average population throughout the year.
Year |Average
|percentage
|occupancy
---------------------------------
1980 |114
1981 |115
1982 |109
1983 |109
1984-85 |115
1985-86 |120
1986-87 |121
1987-88 |118
1988-89 |128
1989-90 |119
1990-91 |109
Bail Hostels
Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the variations between bail hostels as to regimes, curfews and emphasis on enforcement of rules, including the distinction between open and closed hostels.
Mr. John Patten : Bail hostels are not divided into "open" or "closed". All bail hostels have 24-hour staff cover and operate a night- time curfew which may in individual cases be amended by bail conditions attached by the court. Hostel rules set out what conduct is acceptable and residents are required to comply with these rules as well as the conditions attached to their bail. Residents who fail to observe the curfew or comply with the rules are liable to be brought back to the courts to determine their disposal.
The regimes of individual hostels and their policy on enforcement of curfews and hostel rules are matters for local hostel management and such information is not held centrally.
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National standards for the management of approved hostels will be introduced next year to ensure that good and consistent practice is applied in all hostels throughout England and Wales.Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of locating bail hostels on the crime rate in the local area ;
(2) what publicly available research evidence has been produced either by, or at the instigation of, his Department on the social and economic effects of bail hostels upon the communities where they are located.
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