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Training of Prisoners
20. Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what provision he has made for the training and employment of prisoners and ex-offenders.
Mr. Howard : Responsibility for training in prisons lies with the prison service. Time spent in prison counts as a period of unemployment for the purposes of qualifying within the priority groups eligible to enter employment training, which is delivered by training and enterprise councils. On employment matters, the employment service helps and advises ex-offenders through its extensive jobcentre network.
London East TEC
21. Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are being taken by London East training and enterprise council to improve awareness of its products and aims.
Mr. Jackson : I understand that London East training and enterprise council is improving awareness of its
Column 484
products and aims through a variety of marketing initiatives such as issuing regular newssheets and holding events for specific audiences including employers, educationalists and young people. All TECs are required to publish summaries of their corporate plan and business plan and an annual report. They are also required to hold a public meeting once a year to inform their local community about their work.Social Charter
22. Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he intends to implement any section of the EC social charter.
Mr. Howard : The social charter, signed by the eleven other member states, was a political declaration and as such does not require implementation. Where legislation is required to implement directives agreed under the social action programme, we intend to legislate within the timetable for implementation set out in each proposal.
Foreign Tourists
23. Sir Robert McCrindle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made of the number of foreign tourists who will visit the United Kingdom in 1992.
Mr. Forth : The British Tourist Authority's latest estimates show that it expects 18.2 million overseas visitors to the United Kingdom in 1992.
Trade Unions (Court Jurisdiction)
24. Mr. Viggers : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any proposals to transfer jurisdiction over trade unions to a new court.
Where trade unions act unlawfully, it should be open to bring proceedings against them before the normal courts.
Unlawful Strikes
25. Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce legislation to give members of the public the right to halt unlawful strikes affecting the public services.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by my right hon. and learned Friend, the Secretary of State for Employment, to the House on 28 January, Official Report, columns 813-15.
Wages Councils
26. Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has for the abolition of the wages councils.
Mr. Forth : The wages councils have no permanent place in the labour market and their operation remains under review.
RECHAR
27. Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received concerning the effect on employment in former coal mining areas of the hold up in payment of European RECHAR funds.
Column 485
Mr. Forth : Employment issues in so far as they might affect Pontefract and Castleford were raised during the Adjournment debate on unemployment (Pontefract and Castleford), Official Report, 28 January 1992, column 922-28.Unemployment (Plans)
28. Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to introduce new measures to alleviate unemployment.
Mr. Jackson : On top of the job placement advice and assistance to which all unemployed people are entitled, we are offering some 840, 000 places on our programmes this financial year and almost one million next year to help the unemployed back to work. This package of nationally available measures represents the most comprehensive range of practical help ever and fully meets the differing needs of all unemployed people.
Career Development Loans
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the numbers, average loan size, and costs to Government of career development loans in each standard region in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Mr. Jackson : Information on numbers of career development loans and average loan size by region for the two years in question is given in the following tables. Statistics on the cost of the loans to Government are not available by region. The cost to Government for all career development loans in 1989-90 was £1.2 million and the cost in 1990-91 was £3.7 million.
Career development loans
Table 1
Number of loans and value of average loan by region
1989-90
Region |Number |Average
|of loans|loan
|£
----------------------------------------------------
South East |1,467 |2,878
Greater London |1,244 |3,051
Scotland |839 |1,848
North West |780 |2,025
Yorkshire and Humberside |762 |2,348
West Midlands |712 |1,790
South West |658 |2,529
East Midlands |462 |1,983
Northern |435 |2,186
East Anglia |277 |2,255
Wales |268 |2,184
Region |Number |Average
|of loans|loan
|£
South East |2,907 |2,774
Greater London |2,625 |3,074
Scotland |1,644 |2,452
North West |1,634 |2,102
Yorkshire and Humberside |1,550 |2,029
West Midlands |1,471 |1,823
South West |1,287 |2,690
East Midlands | 953 |1,951
Northern | 849 |2,285
East Anglia |598 |2,205
Wales |508 |2,218
Medical Advisory Service
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to strengthen the employment medical advisory service.
Mr. Forth : Since HSE reorganised its field-based staff in April 1990 the Employment medical advisory service has been an integral part of HSE's field operations division. Further plans to increase and broaden the impact of HSE's field force will be set out in the Health and Safety Commission's plans of work for 1992-93 and beyond, which the Commission expects to submit shortly to the Secretary of State for his approval.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for each year since 1978 to the latest available date the budget allocation of staff, general administrative expenditure costs, both for each Health and Safety Executive doctorate and division, together with the number in post and the complemented figure for each inspectorate and the number of doctors and nurses in the employment medical advisory service and scientists within research and laboratory services division and medical division.
Mr. Forth : Available information is set out in the following tables. Changes in HSE's internal divisional structure and transfers of responsibilities within them mean that figures for budgets and staff are not directly comparable from year to year for divisions. Information is given from the earliest dates available.
Column 485
Table 1
Health and Safety Commission/Executive
Inspectorate and Divisional Budgets for Salaries and GAE
£(000s) cash prices
1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92
Inspectorate/Division |Salaries |GAE |Salaries |GAE |Salaries |GAE |Salaries |GAE |Salaries |GAE |Salaries |GAE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HSC/E Sec<1> |501 |76 |808 |118 |896 |135 |1,321 |225 |1,481 |244 |1,972 |336
Solicitor |316 |4 |354 |4 |363 |5 |396 |7 |519 |12 |627 |12
Railway<2> |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |422 |43 |1,465 |195
Special hazards |1,880 |103 |1,966 |126 |2,125 |129 |2,004 |183 |1,857 |183 |2,115 |230
Safety and general policy |1,397 |106 |1,431 |106 |1,817 |135 |1,690 |120 |1,951 |157 |2,892 |237
Resources and planning |7,154 |11,639 |7,224 |9,655 |7,747 |9,424 |8,115 |9,113 |9,236 |10,546 |11,577 |16,133
Offshore safety<3> |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |5,726 |1,009
Technology |5,767 |1,032 |6,236 |1,132 |6,875 |1,262 |7,004 |1,356 |5,500 |1,034 |8,631 |1,652
Hazardous installations policy |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |619 |51 |626 |80
Industrial air pollution<4> |1,235 |271 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Field operations |21,158 |9,.475 |22,019 |10,159 |24,414 |10,929 |25,673 |11,490 |37,308 |12,837 |41,368 |15,746
Her Majesty's Mines |3,783 |590 |3,836 |563 |3,722 |561 |3,373 |666 |3,085 |539 |3,218 |543
Her Majesty's Nuclear |3,745 |474 |4,821 |676 |5,815 |755 |7,377 |1,246 |9,394 |1,379 |10,446 |1,500
Health policy |4,900 |539 |5,100 |602 |5,504 |642 |6,357 |749 |4,094 |590 |2,400 |667
Research and laboratory services |6,767 |3,129 |7,004 |2,913 |7,557 |2,900 |7,350 |3,020 |7,349 |3,039 |8,396 |3,495
Electrical equipment certification<5> |- |- |- |- |- |- |854 |63 |1,031 |70 |1,219 |93
Nuclear safety research<3> |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |253 |34 |226 |54
<1>Includes HSE Secretariat, Commission expenses and Chairman's salary.
<2>Transferred from the Department of Transport.
<3>Transferred from the Department of Energy.
<4>Transferred to Department of Environment.
<5>Separated from the Research and Laboratory Services division.
Table 2: Staff in post in each Inspectorate since 1978 are shown below (1
April):
Year |FAC/AGR |TD |M and Q |NII |RI |OSD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978 |2087.0 |- |199.0 |166.5 |- |-
1979 |2142.5 |- |195.0 |126.0 |- |-
1980 |2168.0 |- |162.0 |125.0 |- |-
1981 |2097.5 |- |167.0 |133.0 |- |-
1982 |1908.5 |- |163.5 |142.0 |- |-
1983 |1809.5 |- |159.0 |152.0 |- |-
1984 |1796.5 |- |151.5 |159.0 |- |-
1985 |1802.0 |- |142.5 |156.5 |- |-
1986 |1472.5 |<2>349.0|133.5 |163.0 |- |-
1987 |1466.0 |305.0 |134.5 |168.5 |- |-
1988 |1420.0 |291.0 |116.5 |186.5 |- |-
1989 |1428.5 |289.5 |112.0 |211.5 |- |-
|MI
1990 |1490.5 |304.5 |<4>81.0 |249.5 |- |-
|<1>FOD
1991 |1797.0 |<1>215.5|77.0 |241.0 |<5>34 |<6>88
|<3>THSD
1992 (Feb) |1859.5 |314.0 |67.0 |264.5 |53 |192
<1> HSE field-based staff were reorganised with effect from 2 April 1990
to form the field operations division (FOD). From that date separate
figures are not longer available for factory, agricultural and quarries
inspectorates. Staff based at field consultant groups including
specialist inspectors and scientists were also transferred to FOD.
<2> In April 1986 specialist inspectors including explosives inspectors
who formerly worked within factory inspectorate, transferred to the
newly-created technology division.
<3> In November 1991 a new division: technology and health sciences was
formed incorporating the technology division.
<4> The quarries inspectorate transferred to the factory and agricultural
division in October 1989.
<5> The railway inspectorate transferred to HSE from the Department of
Transport in December 1990.
<6> Responsibility for offshore safety transferred to HSE from the
department of Energy in April 1991.
HSE inspectorates do not have formal complements. Budgets are issued to
meet staffing targets, but the actual number and grades of staff, and
balance between payroll and GAE, will vary according to changes in work
demands and other circumstances.
Table 3: The information requested about doctors,
nurses and
scientists is given below:
Year (Apr) Doctors Nurses Scientists
|Within
Within Medical Division including EMRLSD
---------------------------------------------------
1978 |86.5 |85.5 |2.0 |306.0
1979 |86.5 |91.0 |8.0 |307.5
1980 |83.0 |80.0 |7.0 |309.0
1981 |86.0 |72.0 |12.0 |282.0
1982 |74.0 |59.5 |19.0 |275.0
1983 |73.0 |60.5 |19.0 |298.0
1984 |70.0 |63.0 |19.0 |293.0
1985 |71.5 |50.5 |13.0 |290.0
1986 |68.5 |53.0 |17.0 |283.0
1987 |64.5 |49.0 |21.0 |280.0
1988 |56.5 |53.0 |22.0 |268.5
1989 |55.0 |50.5 |21.5 |273.5
1990 |56.0 |53.0 |42.5 |285.5
1991 |56.5 |53.5 |50.5 |245.5
(Feb) 1992 |54.5 |53.5 |<1>11.5|253.0
<1>Following its formation the majority of
scientists previously working in the health policy
division (previously medical division) transferred
to the technology and health sciences division.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the ways in which the employment medical advisory service intends to encourage development of occupational health services in industry.
Column 488
Mr. Forth : The medical and other professional staff in the Health and Safety Executive, will continue to provide advice on the use of occupational health services in industry, organise national and local campaigns, and liaise with relevant professional bodies to encourage the development and maintenance of appropriate standards of training and qualification for occupational health service practitioners. This work is supported by a wide range of HSE publications relevant to the development of occupational health services in industry.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria are used to assess the suitability of appointed doctors ; and how many doctors have had their status as appointed doctors withdrawn by employment medical advisory service ; what proportion of doctors appointed by EMAS have qualifications in occupational health ; how many appointed doctors are currently registered with EMAS ; and how many days training, on average, each received from EMAS staff.
Mr. Forth : Doctors applying for appointment by the Health and Safety Executive's employment medical advisory service need to demonstrate interest in occupational medicine and show that they are sufficiently qualified, experienced and competent to carry out their duties. Appointments are now for five years only and automatically terminate unless reviewed. Suitability is
Column 489
assessed by the local senior employment medical adviser concerned, both on appointment and regularly thereafter. In 1991, 174 doctors had their appointment revoked for reasons generally of retirement, or cessation of the particular process or substance requiring appointment.There are currently 1,340 appointed doctors registered with EMAS. Over 30 per cent. hold specialist qualifications in occupational medicine. Others have attended courses in occupational medicine which do not lead to formal qualifications, such as the Faculty of Occupational Medicine's introductory course. Each doctor is provided with induction training prior to appointment and the opportunity to attend an EMAS seminar held annually, as well as written guidance material relevant to his or her duties. Records of average training days are not maintained.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to increase the staff of the employment medical advisory service, within the health and safety executive.
Mr. Forth : Since HSE reorganised its field-based staff in April 1990 the employment medical advisory service has become an integral part of HSE's field operations division. HSE plans to increase the number of doctors and nurses working in the division by around 10 during 1992-93, from 98 in post at 1 February 1992.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the rate of doctors and nurses employed by the employment medical advisory service in relation to introduction of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations ; and what additional staff resources will be made available to effect this.
Mr. Forth : Responsibility for the enforcement of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations lies with the inspectorates in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) supported by their professional colleagues who include staff of HSE's employment medical advisory service (EMAS). EMAS has been active in helping to increase awareness of the regulations and advising on the use of occupational health expertise and services. No additional EMAS resources were required specifically for the introduction of these regulations but 56 doctors have been appointed under them to conduct statutory medical examinations.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the current amount of fees outstanding to the employment medical advisory service of the Health and Safety Executive for medical examinations.
Mr. Forth : On 31 January 1992, £10,339 was outstanding for medical examinations carried out by the employment medical advisory service.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will update the 1976 employment medical advisory service survey on the number of physicians and nurses employed in industry who have specialist qualifications in occupational health ; and what action has been taken by the Health and Safety Executive on proposals presented in the 1976 EMAS document "Occupational Health Services--The Way Ahead."
Mr. Forth : The Health and Safety Executive has recently commissioned a survey of occupational health
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provision in industry which will provide information on the number of physicians, nurses and other professional staff in industry with specialist qualifications in occupational health. The results of the survey should be available by the autumn.The 1976 EMAS document, "Occupational Health Services--The Way Ahead", made recommendations relating to epidemiological work, statutory medical examinations, and the provision and operation of occupational health services in relation to occupational medical and nursing input. Progress has been made in all these areas as a result of action taken by the Health and Safety Executive and by the professional bodies concerned.
The Health and Safety Commission followed up this work by issuing in 1986 a statement of its policy on the development of occupational health services and launching a programme of action to promote the use of occupational health services by employers commensurate with the health hazards and risks in their undertakings. Further impetus was provided by new statutory requirements on health surveillance, particularly the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988. In indicating the current extent of occupational health provision in industry, the survey now commissioned will help the Health and Safety Commission and Executive evaluate the impact of these developments and further develop their policy and programmes on occupational health.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff were employed by the Health and Safety Executive employment medical advisory service in each year since 1979 to the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by occupation and location ; and how many posts are currently vacant.
Mr. Forth : An analysis by occupation and location of staff working in the employment medical advisory service (EMAS) is given in the following tables for each year from 1988. EMAS was reorganised with effect from April 1988, from a regional, to an area structure. Comparable figures for earlier years are not available.
On 1 February 1992 there were 11.5 vacant posts in EMAS.
Fire Safety Certificates
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many premises subject to the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1984 had yet to be issued with a fire safety certificate on 1February in each Health and Safety Executive area.
Mr. Forth : Information about the number of premises subject to the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984 which have not yet been issued with a fire certificate under the Fire Certification (Special Premises) Regulations 1976 is not readily available centrally. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
HSE does not hold information about premises for which the responsibility for issuing a fire certificate rests with local fire authorities.
Column 491
Occupational Diseases
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people died from occupational diseases in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Forth : Figures for deaths due to asbestosis, mesothelioma and other industrial diseases, taken from the latest published statistics ("Health and Safety Statistics 1989-90"), are given in the table.
|Asbestosis |Mesothelioma|Other
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |102 |458 |697
1981 |137 |472 |633
1982 |128 |504 |624
1983 |121 |573 |655
1984 |129 |624 |531
1985 |140 |615 |587
1986 |166 |702 |524
1987 |144 |808 |484
1988 |152 |860 |-
1989 |145 |853 |-
For asbestosis and mesothelioma the numbers are taken from death certificates mentioning either of these conditions. An estimated 100 mesotheliomas annually are not asbestos-related. For other diseases the numbers are for individual awards of death benefit under the industrial injuries scheme (excluding those for asbestosis and mesothelioma) up to the discontinuation of this benefit in April 1988. These figures exclude asbestos-related lung cancers, which are estimated to be about twice as numerous as mesotheliomas.
EMAS Staff at 1 April 1988 by Occupational Group and Location Areas |Doctors |Nurses |Others<1>|Total --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South West |5.0 |3.0 |3.5 |11.5 South |1.0 |2.0 |1.5 |4.5 South East |1.0 |1.0 |1.5 |3.5 London North |2.0 |2.0 |3.0 |7.0 London South |1.5 |2.0 |2.5 |6.0 East Anglia |2.0 |1.0 |1.0 |4.0 Northern Home Counties |2.0 |1.0 |2.5 |5.5 East Midlands |1.5 |2.0 |1.5 |5.0 West Midlands |5.0 |3.0 |3.0 |11.0 Wales |3.5 |3.0 |3.0 |9.5 Marches |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |6.0 North Midlands |1.5 |2.0 |0.5 |4.0 South Yorkshire and Humberside |1.0 |3.0 |1.5 |5.5 West and North Yorkshire |1.5 |2.0 |2.0 |5.5 Greater Manchester |3.5 |2.0 |2.0 |7.5 Merseyside |1.5 |2.0 |1.5 |5.0 North West |2.0 |3.0 |1.0 |6.0 North East |3.5 |5.0 |3.5 |12.0 Scotland East |4.5 |3.0 |4.0 |11.5 Scotland West |1.0 |3.0 |2.0 |6.0 <1> Administrative and support staff.
EMAS Staff at 1 April 1989 by Occupational Group and Location Areas |Doctors |Nurses |Others<1>|Total --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South West |4.0 |3.0 |2.5 |9.5 South |2.0 |1.0 |1.5 |4.5 South East |1.0 |2.0 |1.5 |4.5 London North |2.5 |2.0 |3.5 |8.0 London South |1.0 |2.0 |2.0 |5.0 East Anglia |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |6.0 Northern Home Counties |2.0 |1.0 |2.0 |5.0 East Midlands |1.5 |2.0 |1.5 |5.0 West Midlands |3.0 |2.0 |2.0 |7.0 Wales |3.0 |3.0 |3.0 |9.0 Marches |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |6.0 North Midlands |1.5 |2.0 |1.0 |4.5 South Yorkshire and Humberside |1.0 |3.0 |1.5 |5.5 West and North Yorkshire |2.5 |2.0 |2.0 |6.5 Greater Manchester |3.5 |2.0 |2.0 |7.5 Merseyside |1.5 |2.0 |1.5 |5.0 North West |2.0 |3.0 |1.5 |6.5 North East |3.0 |5.0 |3.0 |11.0 Scotland East |3.5 |2.5 |3.0 |9.0 Scotland West |2.5 |2.0 |1.0 |5.5 <1> Administrative and support staff.
EMAS Staff at 1 April 1990 by Occupational Group and Location Areas |Doctors |Nurses |Others<1>|Total --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South West |4.0 |4.0 |3.0 |11.0 South |2.0 |2.0 |1.5 |5.5 South East |1.0 |2.0 |1.0 |4.0 London North |1.0 |2.0 |2.5 |5.5 London South |2.0 |1.0 |1.5 |4.5 East Anglia |2.5 |0.5 |2.0 |5.0 Northern Home Counties |2.0 |- |2.0 |4.0 East Midlands |2.5 |2.0 |1.5 |6.0 West Midlands |3.0 |3.0 |3.0 |9.0 Wales |3.0 |4.0 |3.0 |10.0 Marches |2.0 |2.0 |2.0 |6.0 North Midlands |1.5 |2.0 |1.0 |4.5 South Yorkshire and Humberside |1.0 |3.0 |1.5 |5.5 West and North Yorkshire |3.5 |1.0 |1.0 |5.5 Greater Manchester |1.5 |2.0 |2.5 |6.0 Merseyside |1.5 |2.0 |1.5 |5.0 North West |2.0 |2.0 |2.5 |6.5 North East |4.0 |5.0 |3.0 |12.0 Scotland East |3.5 |4.0 |3.0 |10.5 Scotland West |2.5 |4.0 |1.5 |8.0 <1> Administrative and support staff.
EMAS staff at 1 April 1991 by occupational group and
location
Areas |Doctors|Nurses |Total
---------------------------------------------------------
South West |4.0 |3.0 |7.0
South |3.0 |2.0 |5.0
South East |2.0 |2.0 |4.0
London North |1.5 |3.0 |4.5
London South |1.0 |1.0 |2.0
East Anglia |3.0 |0.5 |3.5
Northern Home Counties |2.0 |1.0 |3.0
East Midlands |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
West Midlands |2.0 |3.0 |5.0
Wales |2.0 |4.0 |6.0
Marches |2.0 |- |2.0
North Midlands |1.5 |2.0 |3.5
and Humberside |2.0 |2.0 |4.0
West and North Yorkshire |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
Greater Manchester |3.5 |2.0 |5.5
Merseyside |1.5 |2.0 |3.5
North West |2.0 |3.0 |5.0
North East |3.0 |5.0 |8.0
Scotland East |3.5 |4.0 |7.5
Scotland West |2.5 |3.0 |5.5
Note EMAS became an integral part of HSEs field
operations division (FOD) from 2 April 1990. From that
date administrative and other field-based support staff
were no longer specifically allocated to EMAS, but to
FOD itself.
EMAS staff at 1 February 1992 by occupational group and location
Areas |Doctors |Nurses |Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South West |3.0 |3.0 |6.0
South |3.0 |2.0 |5.0
South East |3.0 |2.0 |5.0
London North |2.5 |3.0 |5.5
London South |2.0 |2.0 |4.0
East Anglia |2.0 |1.5 |3.5
Northern Home Counties |2.0 |1.0 |3.0
East Midlands |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
West Midlands |2.0 |3.0 |5.0
Wales |2.0 |4.0 |6.0
Marches |2.0 |2.0 |4.0
North Midlands |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
South Yorkshire and Humberside |2.0 |1.0 |3.0
West and North Yorkshire |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
Greater Manchester |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
Merseyside |2.5 |2.0 |4.5
North West |2.0 |3.0 |5.0
North East |3.0 |5.0 |8.0
Scotland East |4.0 |3.0 |7.0
Scotland West |2.5 |3.0 |5.5
Skilled Building Operatives
Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has plans to discuss with the Construction Industry Training Board the numbers of skilled building operatives likely to be available in the medium and long term.
Mr. Jackson : Both my right hon. and learned Friend, the Secretary of State, and I meet the chairman of the Construction Industry Training Board from time to time to discuss matters relating to the industry, including manpower issues. The last such meeting took place in November. No date has yet been set for our next meeting.
Retirement Employment
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people above retirement age are estimated to be in (a) full-time and (b) part-time work ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The available estimates from the labour force survey show that in Great Britain in the spring of 1990, 208,000 people above state pension age were in full-time employment and 556,000 in part-time employment. Older people both above and below state pension age can bring valuable qualities of skill, experience and reliability to a job. The Government encourage people to continue working beyond pension age if they wish, and from October 1989 pensioners' earnings have had no effect on their state pension entitlement.
Income Statistics
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people, and on average by how much earn less than £3.40 per hour in each constituency of Merseyside and in the constituencies of Ellesmere Port and Neston ; Chester ; Warrington, South ; Halton ; and Lancashire, West.
Column 494
Mr. Forth : The information available from the 1991 new earnings survey closest to that requested is given in the table. Information is not available for individual constituencies.
Employees on adult rates whose pay was
unaffected by absence
Percentage whose gross hourly earnings (
excluding overtime)
were below the following specified amounts
April 1991
|£2.00 |£2.50 |£3.00 |£3.40
----------------------------------------------
Merseyside
Full-time
Men |0.2 |0.5 |3.0 |5.7
Women |0.7 |2.3 |7.4 |14.8
Part-time
Men |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Women |1.9 |5.7 |17.6 |43.2
Cheshire
Full-time
Men |0.2 |0.7 |2.4 |4.7
Women |<2>- |1.3 |7.2 |14.7
Part-time
Men |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Women |2.5 |5.6 |21.6 |44.9
Lancashire
Full-time
Men |<2>- |0.6 |2.6 |6.7
Women |0.3 |2.1 |10.0 |19.5
Part-time
Men |<1>- |<1>- |<1>- |<1>-
Women |1.8 |4.7 |19.7 |43.5
Source:
New Earnings Survey.
<1>-Denotes information not available.
<2>-Denotes sampling error too large or
sample size too small for reliable estimate.
Note:
It is estimated that around one fifth of
part-time women employees were not covered by
the survey because their gross weekly
earnings were below the PAYE threshold.
Woollen Textile Industry
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of redundancies notified to his Department from the woollen textile industry for 1991 in (a) Yorkshire and Humberside and (b) Bradford travel-to-work area.
Mr. Forth : In 1991, the Department received advance notification for 1,891 redundancies in the textile industry (SIC 43) in the Yorkshire and Humberside region. Information is not available for the woollen textile industry, nor for Bradford travel-to-work area.
Training Schemes
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employment action places are currently filled in Scotland.
Mr. Jackson : The latest available data is for 9 January 1992 and showed 381 people in Scotland receiving employment action allowances on that date.
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Training Credits
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the total number of young people in training under the training credits system by training and enterprise council or local enterprise company and by standard occupational classification at the most recent convenient date.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 6 February 192] : At 8 December 1991, the latest date for when information is available, it is estimated that there were over 14,000 young people in training in England and Wales using training credits. The following table shows the figures by pilot area. Figures by standard occupational classification are not yet available.
Training credits-England and Wales
In training: provisional estimates<1>-8 December 1991
TEC area |Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Birmingham |2,300
Bradford |1,600
Devon and Cornwall |4,100
Hertfordshire |1,000
Kent |300
North East Wales |400
Northumberland |1,300
South and East Cheshire |1,000
SOLOTEC |800
Suffolk |1,300
|-------
England and Wales |14,100
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Turkeys
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has concerning the extent of pododermatitis in turkeys ; and what advice his Department gives for the eradication of this ailment.
Mr. Maclean : As pododermatitis is not a notifiable disease, there is no comprehensive information on its prevalence in turkeys. Pododermatitis is the result of a complex interaction of factors such as water spillage, ventilation, insulation, diet, litter quality and depth and stocking density. Advice on these factors is available in the Government's welfare code on turkeys. Ministry sponsored research has made a substantial contribution to the understanding of the condition and technical advice to overcome the problem is available from the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service.
Poultry De-beaking
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has about the numbers or proportions of turkey poults which are subject to de-beaking ; what guidelines he has issued to the turkey rearing industry ; and what action his Department takes to ensure proper supervision of this practice.
Mr. Maclean : I understand that the proportion of turkeys which are beak trimmed in this country has fallen to under 20 per cent. Advice on beak trimming is contained in the Government's welfare code on turkeys, which states that beak trimming should be carried out only by a skilled operator or under his supervision.
Column 496
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he proposes to take to respond to the Farm Animal Welfare Council recommendation that legislation be introduced banning the routine non-therapeutic de-beaking of poultry.
Mr. Maclean : We shall be consulting interested organisations on the Farm Animal Welfare Council's report on the welfare of laying hens in colony systems. The Government will respond to the council's recommendations once all the comments received have been considered.
Data Information Systems
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what data information systems his Department has (a) agreed and (b) been consulted about with a view to taking part in ; what are the criteria for inclusion in such systems ; whether they will be linked to(i) the police national computer and (ii) other computer systems ; what data protection provisions apply to them ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The Department has a large number of information systems in use. A central record of the functions of these systems is being set up, but is still in its early stages and it is not possible to provide the required information on the data systems or on any links with other systems until this work is complete. All systems containing details of individuals are registered under the Data Protection Act. There are 37 such registrations covering approximately 850 sub-systems, all of which comply fully with the requirements of the Act. None is linked to the police national computer.
Dumped Mackerel
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received regarding large quantities of dumped mackerel being trawled in the south west mackerel box ; what action he is taking ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : I have received five letters.
A pelagic fishery for species other than mackerel is permitted in the mackerel box and only 15 per cent. of the total quantity of the catch retained may be mackerel taken as a by-catch. Our sea fisheries inspectorate vigorously monitors the activities inside the box. The situation is kept under close scrutiny.
Kingswear, South Devon (Moorings)
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will meet the hon. Member for South Hams and the Dart harbour and navigation authority before making a final decision on the scheme to provide piled pontoon moorings at Kingswear, south Devon, submitted by the authority in February 1989.
Mr. Curry : I do not believe that a meeting will be necessary. The application was not complete when formally submitted for approval on 2 December 1991, but the Department is now in the process of examining further information submitted by the Dart harbour and navigation authority and by its consultants, as well as the authority's request dated 4 February 1992 for increased costs to be taken into consideration. Our officials should shortly be in a position to let the authority have a decision on the application for approval.
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Departmental Achievements
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the expenditure and achievements of his Department in north Yorkshire during 1991 ; and what was the comparable position between June 1979 and May 1980.
Mr. Curry : In 1991, payments to farmers in north Yorkshire under the various agricultural and horticultural schemes amounted to over £19 million, of which over £14 million was paid under the hill livestock compensatory allowances scheme, the suckler cow and the sheep annual premium schemes. A United Kingdom national harbour improvement grant of £65,127 was made to Scarborough borough council for the construction of a new fish market at Scarborough. Since 1979, to enable farmers to diversify and to increase the level of care for the environment, the Department has introduced the farm and conservation grant scheme, the farm woodland scheme, the environmentally sensitive areas scheme, the five- year and one-year set-aside schemes and two pilot extensification schemes. In 1991 in north Yorkshire, over 54 hectares of new woodland planting was approved under the farm woodland scheme. The Pennine dales ESA has been successful in maintaining and enhancing the landscape and wildlife quality of the area. During 1991, the total area set aside under either the five- year or one-year set-aside schemes increased to 3,705 hectares.
In 1991, the Department spent £562,000 on building maintenance and on new facilities and specialised accommodation in north Yorkshire. It also decided to relocate the central science laboratory to Sand Hutton and to relocate 600 headquarters posts to York. It is expected that some 350 to 400 posts will be recruited locally as a result, and the moves can be expected to provide a boost to the local economy. Data for the period June 1979 to May 1980 cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.
Abattoirs
Sir Robin Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what (a) United Kingdom and (b) EEC grant aid is available in non-assisted areas of the United Kingdom to help bring abattoirs up to the standard required by the EEC regulation ; and what is the comparable position with regard to availability of such grants on (a) France, (b) Holland, (c) Belgium and (d) Germany.
Mr. Maclean : My Department does not give grants for this purpose. Grants are available to meet priorities which we have agreed with the European Commission under EC regulation 866/90. This scheme also operates in France, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and grants are available according to the investment priorities agreed between the European Commission and the national authorities in those member states. In France, Belgium and some parts of Germany grants are available under this scheme for slaughterhouse modernisation.
BSE
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the locations of refrigerated containers dedicated for the use of bovine
Column 498
spongiform encephalopathy carcases and controlled and monitored by his Ministry outside the south-west of England ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Gummer : In addition to those listed in my reply to the hon. Member on 23 January, Official Report, col. 289 , refrigerated containers are used at the incineration plants in Dyfed, Clywd and Hertfordshire.
Industrial Trawlers
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the annual catch of industrial trawlers in the North sea last year ; the main species concerned and the estimated by-catch.
Mr. Curry : The provisional catch figure for industrial landings by all countries from the North sea during 1990 is 1,003,000 tonnes of which the main species were sandeel and Norway pout with some herring, blue whiting and sprat. The by-catch of haddock, whiting and saithe was 57,000 tonnes.
Source : Report of the Advisory Committee on Fishery Management of the International Council for the Exploration of The Sea, May 1991.
Preliminary figures for 1991 indicate a catch of just over 300,000 tonnes by EC countries. Figures for non-member states are not yet available.
Compensatory Allowances
Mr. Jopling : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give details of how he intends to allot the extra £16.5 million in compensatory allowances payable on hill sheep and cattle in the 1992-93 scheme year.
Mr. Gummer [pursuant to the reply, 14 November 1991, c. 621] : I am pleased to be able to announce that United Kingdom Agriculture Ministers have completed the autumn review of economic conditions in the hills and uplands and our consideration of responses to the consultation document "Environmental Aspects of Support for Hill Farming" which was issued for comment on 13 November 1991. The review has shown that the average net farm income of livestock producers in the United Kingdom's hill and upland areas is forecast to rise in 1991-92 following significant falls in the previous two years. There will be a further increase following the exceptional additional payment of nearly £12 million in suckler cow premium, which I announced today, since over two thirds of this will go to hill farmers. After careful consideration we have concluded that, subject to parliamentary approval, the rates of HLCA per animal should be maintained at the 1991 level but the financial ceilings per hectare should be raised. This will particularly assist those producers--mainly of cattle- -who did not fully benefit from last year's substantial (14 per cent.) increase in headage rates. The headage rates and financial ceilings for the 1992 scheme will thus be :
|Severely dis-|Disadvan-
|advantaged |taged area
|area (SDA) |(DA)
|£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cows |63.30 |31.65
Hardy breed ewes |8.75 |n/a
Other ewes |4.90 |2.45
Financial ceiling (per hectare) |<1>81.13 |<2>60.85
<1>Previously 62.48 per hectare.
<2>Previously 46.86 per hectare.
The additional payment limits of 1.4 livestock units per hectare and of six ewes per hectare (SDA) or nine ewes per hectare (DA) remain unchanged.
The raising of the financial ceilings will add £2.5 million to the cost of the scheme bringing the estimated value of payments to hill farmers in a full scheme year to £148.5 million.
My right hon. Friends and I have considered carefully the many responses to our consultation documentation "Environmental Aspects of Support for Hill Farming". The responses demonstrated widespread support for our intention to tackle the problems that have been associated with increased livestock numbers in some parts of the less favoured areas (LFA). We have concluded that the measures proposed in the consultation document are well balanced and are recognised as making an important contribution to the upland environment. We propose therefore to introduce these measures as follows : the new environmentally sensitive areas announced on 20 November situated in hill areas in England and Wales will be introduced during 1992 and 1993. New ESAs within the LFA will also be designated in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They will help farmers to conserve and enhance the landscape and wildlife characteristics of these areas ; a voluntary code of good upland management will be published and sent to each HLCA claimant this spring ;
the HLCA regulations will be reinforced this year by a specific definition of overgrazing, designed to enable problems to be tackled more effectively on any vegetation type in any part of the LFA. This measure will be further strengthened by unused common land grazing rights in England and Wales no longer being re-allocated for HLCA purposes where overgrazing is found to be occurring ;
it remains our intention to scale SDA sheep headage rates if these are adjusted in the future. Many respondents to the consultation stressed the close links between this proposal and the negotiations on GATT and CAP reform, particularly as regards the ewe premium. Unfortunately, the outcome of these negotiations remains unclear and the impact of scaling HLCA rates is correspondingly uncertain. It would therefore be premature to introduce scaling in the 1992 scheme. Scaling will in future be considered in the context of the autumn review, the precise arrangements being dependent on the resources available at the time. We will of course continue in the negotiations on CAP reform to press for the closer integration of environmental considerations into the common agricultural policy where practical and cost effective.
We intend to lay regulations before Parliament very shortly which will implement in Great Britain the rates and scheme conditions I have outlined. We are also taking the opportunity to consolidate and refine the current regulations. The new regulations will in particular make the provisions governing the eligibility of cattle and sheep consistent with one another and will include an amendment to the power of entry for inspectors to align it with the powers provided in both the suckler cow and the sheep annual premium regulations. Parallel regulations will be introduced in Northern Ireland.
My colleagues and I recognise the importance of these payments to producers particularly in easing their winter cash flow problems. Top priority will be given in the next couple of months to processing the HLCA payments, although this may mean that it will take a little longer to pay other grants, at least in England. Payable orders for
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