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Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Cardiff Bay development corporation concerning the feasibility study of the opera house ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The chairman of Cardiff Bay development corporation and I have discussed the proposed Cardiff Bay opera house and I look forward to receiving further advice on this matter from the corporation in due course.
St. Lawrence Hospital, Chepstow
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions the regional burns unit for Wales at St. Lawrence hospital, Chepstow, has been closed to admissions from (a) 1 April 1991 to 1 April 1992 and (b) since 1 April 1992.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The operational responsibility for the burns unit at St. Lawrence hospital is a matter for the unit's management. However, I understand that the burns unit has not been closed in the period 1 April 1991 to present, although on one occasion the dependency of patients on the burns unit was such that for a 24-hour period--2 November--arrangements were made for resuscitation cases to be taken to the Frenchay burns unit at Bristol.
General Practitioner Fund Holders
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidelines he has issued on the parity of access to hospital treatment for non- emergency surgery and procedures between fund holding general practitioners and non-fund holding general practitioners ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The National Health Service Management Executive for England and the joint consultants committee of the British Medical Association has issued guidance on general practitioner fund holding on EL(91)84. This sets out the criteria for acceptable contracts to be agreed between general practitioner fund
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holders and all national health service hospitals. It clearly states that hospitals should not offer contracts to fund holders which would disadvantage patients of other purchasers. This guidance has been issued to general practitioner fund holders in Wales.Severn Bridge
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will undertake a study into the side effects on the Welsh economy of the Severn bridge toll increases over the period 1992 to the year 2000 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : Evidence produced for inquiries into toll increases on the existing bridge, and research undertaken by the Planning, Industrial and Economic Development Advisers on the economic impact of the second Severn crossing, does not indicate a detrimental effect on the Welsh economy.
Cash Limits
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for changes to the cash limits for his Department in the current financial year.
Mr. David Hunt : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limit on class XVI, vote 5 will be increased by £4,690,000 from £496,482,000 to £501,172,000 ; the cash limit on class XVI, vote 8 will be increased by £6,389,000 from £1, 270,525,000 to £1,276,914,000 ; the cash limit on class XVI, vote 9 will be reduced by £1,174,000 from £60,297,000 to £59,123,000 ; and the cash limit for class XVI, vote 10 will be reduced by £2,960,000 from £2,172,936,000 to £2,169,976,000. In addition, a new cash limited vote has been introduced, class XVI, vote 12--provision for which has been set at £1,832,000. The urban block cash
limit--WO/UA--will be increased by £3,694,000 from £78,315,000 to £82, 009,000, the local authority capital cash limit--WO/LACAP--will be reduced by £5,900,000 from £457,234,000 to £451,334,000, the running costs limit for the Department will be reduced by £1,273,000 from £74,361,000 to £73,088,000 and a new running costs limit of £1,819,000 has been introduced in respect of the office of Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, in Wales.
The increase in the cash limit for vote 5 represents the net effect of : (a) increases in respect of (i) the take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement of £60,000 for running costs expenditure ; (ii) a transfer of £9,000 from class VIII vote 7 to cover additional maintenance costs ; (iii) an increase of £70,000 to cover the residual costs of water privatisation ; (iv) a transfer of £4,220,000 from class XVI, vote 10 in respect of the annual maintenance grants of grant maintained schools ; (v) a transfer of £223,000 from class XVI, vote 8 to cover the costs of medical course organisers ; (vi) a transfer of £150,000 from class XI, vote 3 in respect of secure accommodation ; and (vii) additional provision of £59,000 following the 1992 report of the review bodies for nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine ; and (b) reductions in respect of (i) a transfer of £59,000 to class XVI, vote 12 to cover publicity and other costs to be incurred by the new office of Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools in Wales (OHMCI) ; and (ii) a transfer of £42,000 to class XI, vote 2 in respect of social work funds.
The increase in the cash limit for vote 8 comprises the take-up of both capital, £6,352,000, and current £200,000,
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end-year flexibility entitlement, and a transfer from class XVI, vote 7, £60,000, for the safe disposal of medicines ; partly offset by a transfer, £223,000, to class XVI, vote 5 to cover the costs of medical course organisers.The reduction in the cash limit for vote 9 represents the net effect of : (a) increases in respect of (i) the take-up of both running costs, £234,000, and capital £181,000, end-year flexibility entitlement ; and (ii) a transfer of £184,000 from class VIII, vote 7 to cover additional accommodation costs ;
and (b) a transfer to class XVI, vote 12 to cover (i) the running costs expenditure, £1,760,000, and (ii) the capital expenditure, £13, 000, of OHMCI.
The net reduction in the cash limit for vote 10 takes account of the transfer of £4,220,000 to class XVI, vote 5 in respect of grant maintained schools, partly offset by an increase of £1,260,000 in respect of rating work services.
The cash limit for vote 12 comprises transfers from class XVI, vote 5 of £59,000 and vote 9 of £1,773,000 in respect of the administration and associated costs of OHMCI.
The increase in the WO/UA cash limit represents the take-up of capital end- year flexibility entitlement from 1991-92 of £3,694,000. The WO/LACAP cash limit will be reduced by £5,900,000 because provision which was made for prior-year capital grant adjustments is no longer required.
The entitlements to end-year flexibility for WO/UA and votes 8 and 9 were announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 15 July, Official Report, columns 698-702. So also was the increase in the Department's running costs limit which features in both vote 5, £60, 000, and vote 9, £234,000.
Welsh Development Agency
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his current estimate of the date of publication of the Welsh Development Agency's annual report and accounts for 1991-92 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : Arrangements are being made for the agency's annual report to be laid before the House on 20 November together with the statement of accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General's report thereon. The annual report and accounts will be published the same day.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his proposals are for local government revenue spending in 1993-94.
Mr. David Hunt : I propose to set a level of £2,598 million for total standard spending (TSS) in Wales in 1993-94. This figure comprises an increase of 3.1 per cent. on the TSS for 1992-93, adjusted for functional transfers, and £35.9 million in additional resources for county authorities' new responsibilities for care in the community from 1 April 1993, as announced to the House by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State on 2 October. I propose to set central Government support for TSS through aggregate external finance (AEF) at £2,343 million. This comprises a 1.7 per cent. increase on the comparable level of AEF for 1992- 93 and 100 per cent. funding for the £35.9 million community care spending.
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I am still considering whether there is need for transitional arrangements to accompany the introduction of the council tax. I will announce my decision in due course. Any transitional arrangements would be funded from within AEF.The levels of TSS and AEF I propose take account of other changes in local government functions which take effect on 1 April 1993. Responsibility for the majority of further education services will transfer to the Further Education Funding Council and similarly residual higher education services will transfer to the Higher Education Funding Council. The phased transfer of responsibility for school inspection to the office of Her Majesty's chief inspector for Wales also begins in 1993-94. I consider that £126 million is an appropriate level of funding to transfer from local authorities to these bodies in 1993-94. I have adjusted the levels of TSS and AEF accordingly.
I consider my proposals to be realistic in the current economic climate. They give a level of settlement increase above projected inflation.
I recognise that local government in Wales will have to make hard choices about spending priorities if authorities are to stay within my plans. They are not alone in this. The Government have had to take very tough public expenditure decisions for 1993-94. It is essential to economic recovery that we continue to keep inflation and public expenditure down. Local government must play its full part in this and Welsh local authorities will need rigorously to examine their budgetary priorities and pursue efficiency savings.
I shall be announcing provisional standard spending assessments and council tax-capping criteria for 1993-94 in due course to help local authorities with their budgeting.
I intend to consult the Welsh local authority associations on my settlement proposals later this month and I will announce final settlement details to the House early in the new year.
Finally, I propose to raise the non-domestic rate poundage for 1993-94 to 44p from its 1992-93 level of 42.5p. This is an increase of 3.5 per cent. in line with the change in the retail prices index over the 12 months to September 1992. It is consistent with the statutory requirement to limit increases to the rate of inflation.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Cash Limits
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what changes will be made to his Department's cash limit or running costs limit for 1992-93.
Mr. Brooke : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made : (
(i) The cash limit for class VIII, vote 6 (Royal Palaces, Royal Parks, historic buildings, etc) will be increased by £28,000 from £190,596,000 to £190,624,000. The increase is required to cover the cost of new charges by Property Holdings for services provided to the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments for England. This increase is offset by equivalent transfers of provision from class VIII, vote 7 (Department of the Environment (Property Holdings and Central Support Services)).
(ii) The cash limit for class XII, vote 2 (Arts) will be increased by £458,000 from £252,903,000 to £253,361,000. The increase is to meet the balance of
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Government support for the European Arts Festival in 1992. A corresponding saving is being made on class XII vote 1.(iii) The cash limit for class XII, vote 4 (Administration) will be increased by £9,218,000 from £2,446,000 to £11,664,000 and the running costs limit increased by £4,878,000 from £5,574,000 to £10, 452,000. The increase is to provide additional provision for the administration costs associated with the creation of the Department of National Heritage. A combined offsetting saving of £9,218,000 is being made on class XII, vote 1 and vote 3.
(iv) The departmental running cost limit will be increased from £13,930,000 to £18,731,000 as a result of the reallocation of resources to meet the needs of the new department (£4,878,000 on class XII, vote 4). This increase is offset by savings of £77,000 made in the programme of consultancies which provides specialist advice to the Royal Parks division (class VIII, vote 6). There is no change to the net running cost control of the Historic Royal Palaces Agency. All the changes are within the forecast outturn for the planning total included in the Chancellor's autumn statement today.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many (a) public libraries, (b) galleries and (c) museums he has visited in an official capacity since taking up his appointment.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 10 November 1992] : The information is as follows :
(a) I have not visited any public libraries since taking up my appointment as Secretary of State.
(b) The Yorkshire sculpture park. I am due to visit the Tate gallery shortly.
(c) The Royal Pavilion, Brighton, the natural history museum and the opening of the Joseph E Hotung gallery of oriental antiquities by Her Majesty the Queen at the British museum. I have also met representatives from the science museum to discuss their future plans and I have incidentally visited the pathology museum at St. Bartholomew's hospital.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage on what dates he met the chairman of (a) the Arts Council, (b) the Library Association, (c) the Publishers Association, (d) the Museums and Galleries Commission, (e) English Heritage, (f) the Royal Fine Art Commission, (g) the Radio Authority and (h) the Independent Television Commission, in an official capacity since taking up his appointment.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 10 November 1992] : So far, I have met the chairmen of the Arts Council (on several occasions), the Radio Authority and English Heritage, and I shall shortly be meeting a delegation from the Library Association which will include its president and its chief executive. I have met informally the chairmen of the Museums and Galleries Commission and the Independent Television Commission. I look forward to meeting the chairman of the other bodies referred to by the hon. Member as soon as my diary allows.
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EDUCATION
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many formal complaints he has received from parents alleging misconduct by a local education authority during the holding of a parental ballot on grant- maintained status ;
(2) how many formal complaints he has received alleging misconduct by a headteacher or governing body during the holding of a parental ballot on grant-maintained status.
Mr. Forth : This information is not available centrally. Complaints about misconduct during GM ballots are received in various quarters. Some are made to the local authority, some to the school, some to us at the Department and some to the grant-maintained schools centre. My right hon. Friend has made clear that any complaints made to the Department will receive full consideration and, where necessary, he will call for a report from the local authority concerned.
Cash Limits
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals there are for changes to the cash limits on votes within his responsibility for 1992-93.
Mr. Patten : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the cash limits for class XI, vote 1, schools, research and miscellaneous services, vote 2, higher and further education and vote 4, administration, will be increased. The cash limit changes are as follows :
Class and vote |Current cash limit £|Change £ |Revised cash limit £ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XI.1 |766,535,000 |+1,831,000 |768,366,000 XI.2 |3,034,485,000 |+2,505,000 |3,036,990,000 XI.4 |108,427,000 |+1,566,000 |109,993,000
The increase on class XI, vote 1 includes the take-up of £1,977,000 capital end-year flexibility entitlement announced by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 15 July 1992 at columns 698-702. It also takes account of a reduction of £146,000 to offset in full an increase to the cash limit on the higher and further education vote, class XI, vote 2.
The increase on class XI, vote 2 includes the take up of £839,000 capital end-year flexibility entitlement. It also takes account of an increase of £1,392,000 in provision for the costs of extended and upgraded courses in social work, offset in full by transfers of funding from the Home Office, the Department of Health and the Welsh Office ; an increase of £146,000 to the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council following the transfer of responsibility for the funding of the YMCA National College, offset in full by a reduction to provision for youth services on Class XI, Vote 1 ; and an increase of £128,000 in provision for grant-in-aid for the running costs of the Further Education Funding Council, offset in full by a reduction on the administration vote, class XI, vote 4.
The increase on class XI, vote 4 includes the take-up of £1,543,000 capital and running costs end year flexibility
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entitlement and a transfer of £151,000 from Property Holdings. It is net of the transfer of £128,000 to class XI, vote 2. The Department's running costs limit has been reduced by £7,933,000 to £95,597,000 principally as a result of transfers to the new vote for the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector (class XI, vote 7) and to the Office of Public Services and Science (class XIX, vote 4). All the increases are within the forecast outturn for the planning total included in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's autumn statement today.Advertising Expenditure
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the actual expenditure in the financial year 1991-92 by his Department on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material ; and what is his latest estimate for 1992-93.
Mr. Forman : The actual expenditure figures for advertising and other promotional materials by this Department for the financial year 1991- 92 and the latest estimate for 1992-93 are given in the table.
|£000s |£000s
|1991-92 |1992-93 (estimate)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Television advertising |800.0 |-
Radio advertising |- |-
Newspaper advertising |2,237.9 |718.0
Other promotional material |5,842.7 |5,822.0
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about his Department's expenditure plans for the financial years 1993-94 to 1995-96.
Mr. Patten : The information is as follows :
1. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his statement today, the Department for Education's spending programme in 1993- 94 will total £9,523 million. That total is £523 million or 5.8 per cent. higher than equivalent expenditure in 1992-93.
2. Total expenditure in 1994-95 is planned to be £10,115 million and in 1995-96 £10,497 million.
3. Within these totals the Government have given high priority to the launch of the new further education sector so as to build up the supply of those with technical and other skills, where this country still falls short of its main competitors such as Germany and Japan. The staying-on rate at age 16 and 17 has increased sharply in the last few years. With the co- operation of the colleges, the Government's plans should over the next three years lift us towards the top of the international league table for participation in education among 16-19 year olds. The Government have also given priority to the funding of the rapidly expanding grant-maintained schools programe, and to enabling higher education participation to continue at its present record level. Against the background of the exceptionally demanding Public Expenditure Survey the Government are planning for continuing growth in their expenditure on education.
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Grant-maintained schools4. There are currently 342 grant-maintained schools open or approved. That number is projected on present trends to rise to some 500 by next April. The Government's spending plans provide for the number of GM schools to grow to 1,500 in April 1994.
5. The great bulk of recurrent funding for GM schools is found from within the totals for local authority expenditure. Central Government expenditure on recurrent and capital grants to GM schools is planned to rise substantially over the next three years as the number of GM schools grows. Total central Government expenditure on GM schools is planned to total £61 million in 1992-93 and £157 million, £294 million and £446 million in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96. Capital expenditure alone will total £501 million over the next three years. The funding plans include provision for the running costs of the proposed funding agency for schools.
Further education
6. From 1 April 1993 further education and sixth form colleges will be funded direct by the new Further Education Funding Council, set up under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The plans provide for the launch of the newly independent sector. Total recurrent spending is planned at £2,549 million, £2,734 million and £2,943 million in 1993- 94, 1994-95 and 1995-96. That increase in funding will allow for an assumed 25 per cent. increase in student numbers between 1992-93 and 1995-96 :
Financial year |FT student numbers
|(thousand)
---------------------------------------------------------
1992-93 |899
1993-94 |970
1994-95 |1,038
1995-96 |1,121
7. The priority being given to this expansion in numbers will be a direct contribution to enhancing the skills of the nation : those skills will be increasingly in demand to sustain and improve our competitiveness.
8. In order to encourage efficiency in the achievement of these increased student numbers, part of the provision to be made available to the Further Education Funding Council will be directly related to actual student numbers. This funding approach will encourage institutions to compete for students and will enable the sector as a whole to improve its efficiency.
9. Capital expenditure on FE is planned to be £152 million, £157 million and £159 million in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96. The current level of capital spending on colleges will be sustained and the new sector will be able to begin to improve the state of its accommodation and stock of its equipment.
Higher Education
10. The number of students on full-time and sandwich courses in higher education has expanded even faster than the rapid rate of growth envisaged as recently as in the Government's Higher Education White Paper (Cm 1541) of May 1991, on which the Government's previous expenditure plans were based. The numbers of young people entering higher education in 1992 are already between one in four and one in three.
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11. The Government have provided substantial additional funding for further education to enable the country's needs for skills to be met. Given the need to strike a balance with the rate of expansion of further education, the government envisages a period of consolidation in higher education after its recent very rapid growth beyond the levels projected as recently as May 1991. The figures underlying the expenditure plans announced today accordingly assume that the proportion of young people entering higher education will remain broadly steady in the next three years, and increase to the level of one in three at the end of the decade which has long been assumed in our forward projections.12. The expenditure plans provide for total FTE student numbers in higher education to rise by 13 per cent between 1992-93 and 1995-96 :
Financial year |FTE student numbers
|(thousand)
------------------------------------------------------------
1992-93 |776
1993-94 |842
1995-96 |880
13. Total recurrent funding for teaching and research in universities and colleges in England--including grant paid by the HE Funding Council for England and related tuition fees--is planned at £3,824 million, £3,995 million and £4,024 million in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995- 96. I shall be inviting the Funding Council to consider its approach to funding in the light of these revised assumptions about growth.
14. Provision for capital spending through the Funding Council will be £319 million, £322 million and £329 million in 1993-94, 1994 -95 and 1995-96. In addition the Government are ending the prohibition of borrowing by HE institutions against the security of Exchequer funded assets : this will be widely welcomed in the university world. 15. Some of the increase above projected numbers of total students flows from the increasing proportion of students on longer courses. I have already asked the Funding Council to develop funding incentives for two year diploma vocational courses. In order to enable universities and colleges to admit as many young people as possible within the total numbers assumed, I am also asking the Funding Council to advise me on what action it can take to deter any trend towards longer courses.
16. Many of the new vocational diploma courses will be in engineering and technology. In addition, I am encouraging the Funding Council to promote continuing expansion at all levels in engineering and technology, where recruitment in recent years has continued to be disappointing. The Government's commitment to high quality research in the humanities is reflected in an increase of 11 per cent. in the grant to the British Academy.
Pay
17. The Department's spending plans assume that pay settlements in 1993-94 will fall within the range 0 to 1 per cent. in line with the terms of the Chancellor's statement. I shall direct the School Teachers' Review Body to have regard to this policy. I shall hold back £50 million of the planned provision for the Further Education Funding Council and £50 million from the Higher Education
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Funding Council for England against the delivery of pay settlements within this range for all of the staff of the institutions within their sectors.Student Support
18. The spending plans allow for total expenditure on student maintenance in England and Wales of £1,206 million, £1,311 million and £1,360 million in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96. The level of student loans will be increased in the academic year 1993-94 so that the average value of student support in grants and loans rises by 2.75 per cent. in line with the assumed increase in the GDP deflator. Spending on the access funds will be sustained in 1993-94. Capital Expenditure on Schools
19. Total central Government provision for capital expenditure on grant- maintained and LEA-maintained schools is £598 million, £613 million and £624 million in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96. Local education authorities will in addition be able to take advantage of the change which the Chancellor has announced on the permitted use of capital receipts. Taking account of that and other flexibilities, gross capital spending on schools in real terms should be at least equal to the total in 1992-93, which will reflect the 15 per cent. increase in central Government provision announced last year by my predecessor. Further details of annual capital guidelines and allocations to voluntary aided and grant-maintained schools will be announced later.
Students (Funding)
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what changes he intends to make to the arrangements through which validation fees for higher education courses are met from student awards.
Mr. Forman : Following consultation with the higher education sector, I have decided that, for publicly-funded institutions, the costs of external validation by institutions with degree awarding powers for colleges without degree-awarding powers should be met by those colleges from funds made available to them, rather than through fees paid with the student award. This arrangement will enable the charge for validation and related services to be negotiated, within the public funds available, in a way which more closely reflects the range and cost of the services provided. The change will come into effect for the 1993-94 academic year. Appropriate transfers will be made
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for this purpose from the planned public expenditure provision for mandatory awards to that for the Higher Education Funding Councils for England and for Wales. These will be reflected in the relevant supply estimates for 1993-94 to be laid before Parliament in due course. The Mandatory Award Regulations will be amended for 1993-94 on account of the change.The arrangements for meeting the costs of validation fees for mandatory award holders at privately funded institutions will remain unchanged for the time being.
EMPLOYMENT
Wages Councils
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many checks were carried out by wages councils in London which found workers underpaid in each year since 1979.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information for the wages inspectorate's London division is as follows :
Year |Number of checks |Percentage of total
|which found workers|checks
|underpaid
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |680 |18.9
1980 |754 |25.2
1981 |710 |25.9
1982 |685 |30.0
1983 |780 |35.8
1984 |678 |23.9
1985 |655 |30.3
1986 |608 |21.3
1987 |270 |7.2
1988 |317 |8.5
1989 |229 |9.0
1990 |172 |7.3
1991 |294 |5.5
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many establishments in London were(i) found failing to post wages council notices, (ii) found failing to keep adequate records of wages paid, (iii) found failing to keep adequate records of hours worked and(iv) the subject of criminal prosecutions against employers under the Wages Acts, for each year since 1979.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information for the wages inspectorate's London division is as follows :
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Failed to post |Percentage of total|Failed to keep |Percentage of total|Failed to keep |Percentage of total|Were the subject of|Percentage of total
notices |checks |adequate records of|checks |adequate records of|checks |criminal |checks
|wages paid |hours worked |prosecution under
|the wages act
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |955 |26.5 |589 |16.4 |2,229 |61.9 |3 | 0.08
1980 |977 |32.7 |499 |16.7 |1,954 |65.4 |0 |0
1981 |690 |25.2 |308 |11.3 |1,397 |51.04 |1 | 0.04
1982 |758 |33.2 |216 |9.5 |1,278 |56.0 |0 |0
1983 |609 |27.9 |276 |12.7 |1,367 |62.7 |0 |0
1984 |804 |28.3 |204 |7.2 |1,311 |46.1 |0 |0
1985 |726 |33.6 |174 |8.0 |1,178 |54.5 |0 |0
1986 |700 |24.5 |128 |4.5 |899 |31.5 |0 |0
1987 |480 |12.7 |47 |1.3 |430 |11.4 |0 |0
1988 |540 |14.5 |32 |0.9 |269 |7.2 |0 |0
1989 |304 |11.9 |18 |0.7 |111 |4.4 |0 |0
1990 |371 |15.6 |20 |0.8 |151 |6.4 |0 |0
1991 |672 |12.7 |73 |1.4 |310 |5.9 |1 | 0.02
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment she has made of the level of bureaucracy added to the labour market or to burdens on business by the wages councils.
Mr. McLoughlin : Employers are required to maintain records, keep them for three years, make sure they are available for inspection on request, display notices of proposals made by wages councils, display notices of orders made by wages councils and provide any other information to do with the enforcement of a wages order requested by a wages inspector. When negotiating pay employers are constrained by existing minimum rates and the likely timing and magnitude of wages council increases for the different councils which may affect their businesses. Administration and wages inspection cost taxpayers some £2,500,000 per year and occupies about 130 civil servants.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will estimate the employment elasticity for (a) each main wages council industry and (b) all employees in the public sector.
Mr. McLoughlin : The margins for error in estimating employing elasticities are far greater for individual industries than for the economy as a whole, and it is not possible to provide reliable estimates for particular industries. However, it is clear that the repeal of legislation, which prevents employers from offering jobs below specified minimum rates, should lead to additional opportunities for employment.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been (a) nominal and (b) real change in (i) wages council rates and (ii) rates agreed by Government for their own employees, since 1979.
Mr. McLoughlin : Since 1979, the responsibilities of wages councils have changed and a number of councils have merged. It is not possible to calculate changes in rates on a comprehensive basis but the following figures are based on the average minimum rates set by six of the largest councils.
Changes in rates of pay : 1979-92
Minimum rates set by Wages Councils
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