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Column 341
Written Answers to Questions
Friday 5th February 1993
EDUCATION
Primary Schools
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidelines the Government issue on the optimum size of primary schools.
Mr. Forth : The Government have issued no guidelines on the optimum size of primary schools.
Universities, Wales
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what formula will be used in determining the proportion granted to the Wales higher education funding council of the Department for Education budget for universities.
Mr. Boswell : The expenditure programmes of the Department and the Welsh Office were adjusted at the time of the 1992 autumn statement to take account of the changed responsibilities for the funding of universities.
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Adjustments of this kind are only one component of the public expenditure survey process leading to a decision by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales about the funds available for the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.Schools Inspectors
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools is making towards maintaining a register of those competent to lead inspection teams.
Mr. Forth : This is a matter for Ofsted ; I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to my hon. Friend.
Key Stage 1
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children aged seven years in each local education authority area are allowed to proceed beyond key stage 1, level 3.
Mr. Forth : Every child at the end of key stage 1 who has demonstrated through the statutory assessments that he or she has reached the targets for level 3 should be taken on by his or her teachers to the targets appropriate for the next level. The following table indicates by LEA the percentage of pupils at the end of key stage 1 in 1992 who reached level 4.
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Key stage 1: Testing 7 year olds in 1992 England
Percentages of pupils who have reached level 4
|English Level 4 |Mathematics Level 4|Science Level 4 |Technology Level 4
|Per cent. |Per cent. |Per cent. |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Camden |0.7 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0
Greenwich |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Hackney |0.8 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Hammersmith |0.6 |0.2 |0.0 |0.0
Islington |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.1
Kensington and Chelsea |0.4 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
Lambeth |1.1 |0.1 |0.3 |0.4
Lewisham |0.5 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Southwark |0.6 |0.0 |0.2 |0.0
Tower Hamlets |0.7 |0.0 |0.1 |0.5
Wandsworth |0.1 |0.0 |0.3 |0.0
Westminster |0.1 |0.1 |0.1 |0.1
Barking |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Barnet |0.6 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0
Bexley |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Brent |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Bromley |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Croydon |0.5 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Ealing |1.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Enfield |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Haringey |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Harrow |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Havering |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Hillingdon |0.3 |0.0 |0.2 |0.0
Hounslow |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Kingston upon Thames |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
Merton |1.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Newham |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Redbridge |0.3 |0.0 |0.1 |0.1
Richmond upon Thames |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Sutton |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Waltham Forest |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Birmingham |0.1 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Coventry |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Dudley |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Sandwell |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.1
Solihull |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Walsall |0.1 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
Wolverhampton |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Knowsley |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Liverpool |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
St. Helens |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Sefton |0.2 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0
Wirral |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Bolton |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Bury |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Manchester |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Oldham |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Rochdale |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Salford |0.0 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Stockport |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Tameside |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Trafford |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Wigan |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Barnsley |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Doncaster |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Rotherham |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Sheffield |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Bradford |0.5 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0
Calderdale |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Kirklees |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.1
Leeds |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Wakefield |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Gateshead |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Newcastle Upon Tyne |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
North Tyneside |0.1 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
South Tyneside |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Sunderland |0.1 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
Avon |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Bedfordshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Berkshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Buckinghamshire |0.4 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0
Cambridgeshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Cheshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Cleveland |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Cornwall and Isles Scilly |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Cumbria |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Derbyshire |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Devon |0.5 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Dorset |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Durham |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
East Sussex |0.5 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Essex |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Gloucestershire |0.2 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
Hampshire |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Hereford and Worcester |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Hertfordshire |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Humberside |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Isle of Wight |0.5 |0.3 |0.5 |2.5
Kent |0.3 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Lancashire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Leicestershire |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Lincolnshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Norfolk |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
North Yorkshire |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Northamptonshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Northumberland |0.0 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Nottinghamshire |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Oxfordshire |0.4 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0
Shropshire |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Somerset |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Staffordshire |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Suffolk |0.3 |0.0 |0.2 |0.0
Surrey |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
Warwickshire |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0
West Sussex |0.5 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0
Wiltshire |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.2
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Special Educational Needs
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring in legislation to give parents of children with special needs the right to state a preference for their child's school from amongst local education authority special or ordinary schools, grant-maintained schools and schools run by a recognised charity ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The Education Bill, currently before Parliament, significantly extends the rights of parents of children with special educational needs over the school their child should attend. It enables parents of children with special educational needs to express a preference for the maintained school which should be named in a statement or to make representations in favour of a non-maintained or independent school. In all cases, if the local education authority does not comply with the parents' wishes, parents may appeal to the special educational needs tribunal, whose rulings will be binding.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish for each local education authority the number of appeals made against statements of special educational need ; and what is the estimated cost of running the appeals system in each local education authority in each of the last three years.
Mr. Forth : The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will provide information on the staffing and other costs which go to making up his estimate of setting up the tribunal system for hearing appeals about statements of special educational needs.
Mr. Forth : We shall be consulting on the details of the tribunal's establishment and procedures. Initial estimates are based on the Department's own experience of staffing and administrative costs in handling appeals and reflect consultation with other Departments which sponsor tribunals.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Smoking
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if consideration will be given to reviewing the policy on smoking within the Palace of Westminster, following the recent case involving Stockport council ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Michael J. Martin : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stoke on Trent, North (Ms. Walley) on 1 February at column 64.
Abbreviated Automatic Dialling
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee on what date abbreviated automatic dialling to the European Commission ceased ; and when it will be restored.
Mr. Michael J. Martin : The only disruption of the abbreviated dialling system for the European Commission occurred recently when its telephone number was changed without notice. The new number was encoded as soon as it was known. Extra numbers have now been added ; and a revised list of European institution exchanges accessible by abbreviated dialling will be circulated as soon as possible.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Radiation Emergencies
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken in his Department to implement the Public Information for Radiation Emergencies Regulations 1993.
Mr. Atkins : None. The enactment cited is not extant in Northern Ireland.
Population
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the latest estimates by the Registrar General of Populations of those aged 17 years and over, plus 63 per cent. of those aged 16 years, for each district council area and parliamentary constituency, together in each case with the equivalent year's electoral registration figures expressed in numbers and as a percentage of relevant population.
Mr. Hanley : The information is set out in the tables. It is the same as that which I provided to the hon. Gentleman in my letter of 18 November 1992, a copy of which was placed in the Library. Electoral registration figures for 1993-94 will not be available until the new register is published on 15 February. Mid-year population estimates for 1992 will not be available until the summer.
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Table A: Parliamentary Constituences
Constituency |Column 1: estimated |Column 2: registered|Column 2 as a
|population aged 17 |electors (1992-93 |percentage of
|and over plus 63 |Register, |Column 1
|per cent of 16 year |qualifying date 15
|olds (as at 30 June |September 1991)
|1991)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast East |54,655 |53,375 |97.7
Belfast North |54,931 |55,587 |101.2
Belfast South |55,368 |52,556 |94.9
Belfast West |54,960 |55,280 |100.6
East Antrim |64,621 |63,739 |98.6
East Londonderry |78,930 |76,912 |97.4
Fermanagh and South Tyrone |70,489 |71,472 |101.4
Foyle |77,264 |75,970 |98.8
Lagan Valley |76,053 |73,688 |96.9
Mid Ulster |71,186 |70,410 |98.9
Newry and Armagh |68,837 |68,716 |99.8
North Antrim |71,096 |70,217 |98.8
North Down |70,201 |69,604 |99.1
Strangford |71,468 |69,855 |97.7
South Antrim |71,334 |68,292 |95.7
South Down |78,592 |77,371 |98.4
Upper Bann |68,675 |68,422 |99.6
|------- |------- |-------
Total |1,158,660 |1,141,466 |98.5
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Table B: District Council Areas
District Council |Column 1: estimated |Column 2: registered|Column 2 as a
|population aged 17 |electors (1992-93 |percentage of
|and over plus 63 |Register, |Column 1
|per cent of 16 year |qualifying date 15
|olds (as at 30 June |September 1991)
|1991)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim |32,678 |30,227 |92.5
Ards |49,086 |49,089 |100.0
Armagh |37,019 |36,222 |97.8
Ballymena |42,671 |42,091 |98.6
Ballymoney |17,725 |17,610 |99.4
Banbridge |24,704 |24,891 |100.8
Belfast |212,332 |209,126 |98.5
Carrickfergus |24,683 |24,527 |99.4
Castlereagh |48,405 |47,505 |98.1
Coleraine |38,000 |37,138 |97.7
Cookstown |21,581 |21,637 |100.3
Craigavon |54,855 |54,520 |99.4
Derry |64,643 |63,309 |97.9
Down |41,656 |40,656 |97.6
Dungannon |31,854 |32,354 |101.6
Fermanagh |38,636 |39,112 |101.2
Larne |22,536 |22,318 |99.0
Limavady |20,608 |19,282 |93.6
Lisburn |72,538 |69,472 |95.8
Magherafelt |25,391 |25,611 |100.9
Moyle |10,700 |10,509 |98.2
Newry and Mourne |57,870 |58,207 |100.6
Newtownabbey |56,057 |55,155 |98.4
North Down |55,272 |54,464 |98.5
Omagh |31,889 |30,973 |97.1
Strabane |25,271 |25,319 |100.2
|------- |------- |-------
Total |1,158,660 |1,141,324 |98.5
HOME DEPARTMENT
Satellite Television
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints he has received from those members of the public who have paid for de-coders which enable them to receive a satellite programme called "Red Hot Dutch."
Mr. Jack : None have so far been addressed to the Home Office.
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Obscene Publications Act
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with groups representing women, parents, children, the police, the legal profession, the churches and the retail trade about reform of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : We receive frequent representations both from groups and from individuals on the subject of obscenity and are aware of the concern which is felt in many quarters. The application of the Obscene Publications Act is kept under constant review and we are currently considering, in consultation with the police, the Crown prosecution service and other Government Departments, whether any changes in practice might be made to improve the enforcement of the law.
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Sri Lankan Refugees
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of Sri Lankan refugees seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom on 25 January.
Mr. Charles Wardle : On 31 December 1992, around 4,450 applications by Sri Lankan citizens, excluding dependants, for asylum in the United Kingdom were awaiting a decision. Specific information for 25 January 1993 is not available.
Police, Greenwich
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis indicating the change in the number of police officers available for service in the London borough of Greenwich in each of the last two years.
Mr. Charles Wardle : On 29 December 1992 the policing strength within the London borough of Greenwich was recorded as 261 and for the same date in 1991 it was 281. Between these dates the method of manpower recording changed. There has, in fact, been no reduction in the number of police officers available for operational duty.
Customs Barriers
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take action to ensure that the removal of customs barriers between Great Britain and continental EC countries does not lead to a flood of automatic weapons being brought into the United Kingdom.
Mr. Charles Wardle : All European Community states are bound by the EC weapons directive, which came into effect on 1 January 1993. Under the directive the possession of automatic firearms is prohibited throughout the Community.
Also under the directive, movements of other firearms are subject to a new licensing system. As before, anyone purchasing a firearm in another EC state must have prior permission from the police to bring it into the United Kingdom. But in addition to this, notice of each transfer of a firearm to this country will now be sent to my Department via a new Community-wide information system. The information will be passed to police and customs officers who will investigate any apparent irregularities.
Mr. Salman Rushdie
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is Her Majesty's Government's current policy on the protection of Mr. Salman Rushdie from terrorism ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : It remains the policy that protection should be provided where it appears appropriate in the operational judgment of the chief officer of police. In Mr. Rushdie's case decisions on the level of police protection to be provided are a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
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Female Prison Officers
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many female prison officers are employed in prisons in the United Kingdom ; and how they are deployed throughout the service.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At the end of December 1992, there were 1,967 female prison officers employed in prison service establishments in England and Wales--41 principal officers, 126 senior officers and 1, 800 officers. A total of 682 were employed in female establishments, 1,124 in male establishments and 161 in dual-sex establishments.
Beckard Pollitzer Ltd.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his decision to contract out the warehouse and distribution function of the supply and transport branch of his Department to Beck and Pollitzer Ltd.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. and learned Friend to her question on 4 February.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision has been made for compensation to be payable to Beck and Pollitzer should his Department withdraw from the contracting out of supply and transport functions of the Home Office.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No provision has been made for compensation to be paid to Beck and Pollitzer.
Prison Service Dog Section
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to market-test the prison service dog section ; what consideration he has given to the applicability of the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 1981 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The prison dog service is one of the candidates in my Department's current market testing programme. Work on this project is due to commence on 8 March. As part of it we will be considering the applicability of the TUPE regulations.
Mr. Bashir Uddin
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider compensation to Mr. Bashir Uddin following his acquittal of assault at the Inner London Crown court ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : If Mr. Bashir Uddin applies to the Home Office, his application will be carefully considered in accordance with the current relevant arrangements for the payment of ex-gratia compensation which were described by my right hon. Friend, the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) on 29 November 1985 at column 691-92.
Safer Cities Programme
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grant aid budget those safer cities projects due to close in March 1994 have for the financial
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year 1993-94 ; how much of this each project has already committed ; and what money is available within each project for new initiatives.Mr. Jack [holding answer 4 February 1993] : Each of the 16 projects due to close in March 1994 has £100,000 available in grant funding in 1993-94 to support local crime prevention schemes. The records of approved schemes held at the Home Office show the following amounts already committed and still available for initiatives. Plans to use uncommitted expenditure may already be at a fairly advanced stage locally.
Project |Amount committed|Amount available
|from £100,000
|(£ thousand) |(£ thousand)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Birmingham |42.1 |57.9
Bradford |32.1 |67.9
Bristol |0.0 |100.0
Coventry |92.9 |7.1
Hartlepool |108.6 |0.0
Hull |96.9 |3.1
Islington |0.0 |100.0
Lewisham |54.6 |45.4
Nottingham |76.4 |23.6
Rochdale |21.4 |78.6
Salford |80.7 |19.3
Sunderland |12.5 |87.5
Tower Hamlets |35.0 |65.0
Wandsworth |31.5 |68.5
Wirral |56.0 |44.0
Wolverhampton |50.3 |49.7
In addition, each of these projects has access to further funds in 1993-94 from a central pool of £500,000 which has been set aside to assist the development locally of continuing structures for the maintenance of multi- agency crime prevention work.
Immigration
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of individuals who are given work permits are eventually given leave to remain indefinitely.
Mr. Charles Wardle [holding answer 2 February 1993] : In recent years, the number of acceptances for settlement after four years employment with a work permit has represented around 12 to 14 per cent. of the total number of non-trainee work permits (both for long and short-term employment), issued four years previously.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Income Support
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the Benefits Agency's decision not to pay income support to the Woolwich constituent national insurance No. PW130335D following the decision by the social security appeal tribunal on 28 October 1992.
Mr. Burt : I understand that Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency has already replied directly to the hon. Member, advising that the independent adjudication officer intends to appeal to the commissioner about his constituent's case.
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Retirement Pensions
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures estimating, on the same basis as estimates made in "Options for Equality in State Pension Age", the cost of a split retirement scheme in which the basic pension is payable at age 60 years and SERPS at age 65 years assuming an alignment of contracting-out terms with the new pension ages, giving figures for (a) 2015, (b) 20205, (c) 2035 and (d) 2045.
Miss Widdecombe : The information is in the table.
Year |Cost
|(£ million)
------------------------------------
2015 |600
2025 |600
2035 |400
Notes:
1. Figures given at 1990-91 prices.
2. Information for 2045 not
available.
3. Figures refer to net public
sector borrowing requirement cost.
National Insurance Contributions
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost in (a) 1993-94, (b) 2015, (c) 2025, (d) 2035 and (e) 2045 of abolishing national insurance contributions for men aged 60 to 65 years.
Miss Widdecombe : The cost in income foregone to the national insurance fund of abolishing the employee national insurance contributions for men aged 60 to 65 would be as follows :
- Year |Cost £ million --------------------------------------------- 1993-94 |600 2015 |800 2025 |900 2045 |800 Notes: 1. Figures given in 1993-94 prices. 2. 1.5 per cent real earnings growth assumed.
Disability Allowances
Mr. Paul Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide details of the training provided to (a) benefits inquiry line staff and (b) adjudication officers working on disability living allowances and attendance allowance, including the dates and duration of training courses provided on these benefits ; what percentage of the annual training budget for these benefits has already been spent ; and what plans he has to increae this budget in real terms in the financial year 1993-94 and in subsequent years.
Mr. Scott [pursuant to his reply, 18 January, col. 218-19] : The chief executive has written further to the hon. Member.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 4 February 1993.
I wrote to you on 18 January in reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social
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Security concerning the training provided to Benefits Enquiry Line (BEL) staff and adjudication officers working on Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. In that letter I said that I would write to you again with details of the dates of the training for BEL staff.Training courses for the BEL operators were held for the whole of April 1991 to June 1991, when BEL was initially set up. Courses were subsequently held on the following dates :
1 October 1991 to 31 October 1991 (condensed course)
11 November 1991 to 31 December 1991
1 July 1992 to 31 July 1992 (condensed course)
10 August 1992 to 18 September 1992
12 October 1992 to 20 November 1992
7 December 1992 to 8 January 1993 (condensed course)
Courses will continue to be held as new operators are taken on. I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy of this will appear in the Official Report. A copy is also being placed in the Library.
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EMPLOYMENT
Health and Safety
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list the successful prosecutions undertaken at the Crown court for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 during 1992 and in 1993 to the most recent practicable date together with the sentences imposed.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information requested is presently only available for the period 1 January 1992 to 31 March 1992 and this is given in the following table. I will arrange for the information covering the period 1 April 1992 to 31 January 1993 to be made available once it has been checked for accuracy.
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Successful prosecution action taken by HSE Inspectorates in the Crown Court, 1 January
1992 to 31 March 1992
Company |Crown Court |Date of hearing|Sentence
|£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashby Demolition |Knightsbridge |2 January 1992 |7,500
Sansoms (Newport) Ltd. |Newport |6 February 1992|2,500
Caird Environmental Ltd. |Birmingham |23 March 1992 |50,000
Fletchers Bakeries Ltd. |Sheffield |25 March 1992 |10,000
Pit Closures
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is her estimate of the costs of redundancy payments to those who are likely to lose their jobs in related industries as a result of the intended pit closures announced on 13 October 1992.
Mr. McLoughlin : It has not yet been determined which pits are to close, and it is therefore quite impossible to attribute consequential job losses to particular closures. It cannot be estimated what redundancy entitlements, if any, affected employees might have.
Overseas Qualifications
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will publish the conclusions of her Department's investigation into the recognition of overseas qualifications held by adults ; when the conclusion will be implemented ; and how they will be funded.
Mr. McLoughlin : The first diploma directive, 89/48/EEC, was implemented in the United Kingdom in April 1991, covers degree qualifications and is the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry. The second diploma directive, 92/51/EEC will cover those qualifications awarded on completion of higher education courses of up to three years duration and equivalents including national and Scottish vocational qualifications. Both directives will allow individuals to have their qualifications recognised when seeking employment in another member state, in an occupation regulated according to the directives.
The Employment Department has responsibility for the second diploma directive and represented the United Kingdom interest in negotiations towards its adoption by the European Council in June 1992. The directive is due to be implemented in member states' law by June 1994.
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Work Permits
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if she will list for the last five years the number of applications for work permits that are (a) categorised as tier 1 applications and (b) categorised as tier 2 applications ;
(2) if she will list for the last five years (a) the number of tier 1 applicants for work permits and (b) the number of tier 2 applicants for work permits and the outcomes of these applications ;
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 2 February 1993] : The information is not available in the form requested. The two-tier procedure for making work permit applications was introduced in October 1991, together with changes in the way applications are recorded. The following table shows for the last five years the number of applications received for categories of permit now dealt with under the two-tier procedure.
|Number
----------------------
1988 |28,295
1989 |34,784
1990 |40,065
1991<1> |37,086
1992 |32,789
<1> Changes made to
the arrangements for
recording
applications.
Note: Over this
period on-average
approximately 50 per
cent. of these
applications were
approved.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Right to Silence
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Attorney-General what representations he has received about the law on the right to silence and the implications in child cruelty cases ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 355
The Attorney-General : I have received three letters from Members of Parliament and one from a member of the public regarding the right to silence and its implications in child cruelty cases.
As regards my views on the general issue, I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett) on 18 January 1993, Official Report, column 4. I do not advocate creating special arrangements for specific categories of offences.
R. v. Uddin
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Attorney-General if he will set up a full inquiry into the accuracy of information that the Crown prosecution service gave to defence lawyers in the recent case of R. v. Uddin in the Inner London crown court.
The Solicitor-General : I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on the 27 January 1993 at column 708. A full explanation has been provided by the branch Crown prosecutor in a letter to solicitors acting on behalf of Mr. Uddin and I do not consider that any further inquiry is necessary. As I stated in my answer to the hon. Member for Leyton, a copy of the letter containing this explanation has been placed in the Library.
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