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EMPLOYMENT
Offshore Oil and Gas Industry
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many officially recorded warnings have been issued by Health and Safety Executive officials to those employers and/or managers deemed to have transgressed either national or European Community legislation and regulations which relate to the safety and safe-working practices of persons employed in the offshore oil and gas industries ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Since assuming responsibility for enforcement of offshore safety on 1 April 1991, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has served 17 improvement notices and seven prohibition notices on owners and operators of offshore installations operating in United Kingdom waters under existing offshore health and safety legislation. In addition it is usual practice for HSE to write following an inspection confirming any remedial action agreed to by employers during the visit ; the number of such letters sent is not routinely recorded, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to alter or modify the offshore survival course and qualifications required of those seeking to obtain employment in the offshore oil and gas fields ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : None. Employers have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 to provide adequate training to ensure the health and safety of their employees. I understand that the guidelines issued by the United Kingdom Offshore Operators' Association (UKOOA) recommending minimum standards for survival courses are currently being reviewed by it. The Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO) develops and monitors course standards within these guidelines.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons successfully completed the offshore survival course required of all those seeking
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employment in the offshore oil and gas fields in each of the last seven years ; and which educational and training institutions are officially approved in this regard.Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO) maintains a database providing details of survival and other training courses attended by all personnel seeking employment in the United Kingdom offshore oil and gas industry. OPITO's records indicate that since 1 July 1989, 58,711 persons successfully completed offshore survival courses and 40,979 completed survival refresher courses. Information prior to July 1989 is not readily obtainable and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
OPITO is responsible for approving training establishments providing survival and other offshore training courses. The following establishments have been approved by OPITO to provide offshore survival courses :
Blackpool and the Fylde College Fleetwood Offshore Survival Centre
Humberside Offshore Training Association
PETANS Ltd.
RGIT Survival Centre Ltd.
Southampton Institute of Higher Education
South Tyneside College
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what recent discussions have been held with her counterparts in other member states of the European Community and with the representatives of the Norwegian Government concerning the implementation of EC legislation relating to the safety and safe working practices of those employed in the offshore oil and gas industries ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State attended the Social Affairs Council on 30 April 1992 when the directive concerning the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in the mineral-extracting industries through drilling (the Extractive Industries Directive) reached common position. My noble Friend, the Baroness Denton of Wakefield was present at the Council of Consumer Protection and Information when this directive was adopted on 3 November 1992. I have had no other discussions on these matters with colleagues in other member states in the European Community, or with members of the Norwegian Government.
Officials of the Health and Safety Executive however, regularly meet with their counterparts in other EC member states and in Norway to discuss relevant offshore health and safety issues, including the implementation of EC health and safety legislation offshore.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions have been sought in each of the past four years by the Health and Safety Executive in (a) the Scottish courts and (b) the English courts in respect of breaches of national and European Community legislation and regulations which relate to the safety of those employed in the offshore oil and gas fields ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Since assuming responsibility for enforcement of offshore safety on 1 April 1991, the Health and Safety Executive has recommended prosecution action for breaches of offshore safety legislation in respect of 14 cases in the Scottish courts and five cases in the English courts.
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In addition, three convictions in the Scottish courts after 1 April 1991 resulted from recommendations made prior to that date. The then Secretary of State for Energy was responsible for offshore safety matters prior to 1 April 1991.Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list the European Community legislation which relates to the safety and working practices of (a) production platform and rig personnel, (b) officers and crews of emergency/standby vessels and (c) helicopter crews and passengers in the offshore oil and gas fields ; and what means of monitoring this legislation are employed by her officials.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The following regulations were made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in response to EC health and safety directives. They apply to offshore installations and activities in connection with them as defined in the Application Outside Great Britain Order 1989 :
Control of Lead at Work Regulations 1980
Ionising Radiation Regulations 1985
Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987
Control of Asbestos at Work (Amendment) Regulations 1992 Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations 1992
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 1992 It is the responsibility of dutyholders under the regulations to comply with them. Health and Safety Executive inspectors will monitor compliance as part of their planned programme of inspections.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to modify or change the training and qualifications of the officers and crews of emergency/standby vessels operating in the offshore oil and gas industries ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The joint Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Department of Transport code on the assessment of the suitability of standby vessels attending offshore installations outlines the training required by standby vessel crew to ensure compliance with the code. At the request of HSE, the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation has been developing standards for this training. This process is now almost complete and work is in hand to validate the courses offered by training establishments. There are no plans to modify or change the training requirements in the code, which reflect Lord Cullen's concerns that the crew of standby vessels must be fully trained to undertake their emergency duties.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether all emergency/standby vessels operating in the off-shore oil and gas fields now conform to the revised code of suitability of emergency/standby vessels ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : All standby vessels attending offshore installations are fully certificated as complying with the code. This has been the case since 1 January 1993 when the code came fully into effect.
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Self-employment
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were registered as self-employed in Suffolk and Norfolk for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. McLoughlin : Estimates of self-employed people by county are available only from the census of population for April 1991 which shows 39,915 self-employed people in Suffolk and 51,331 in Norfolk. Quarterly estimates from spring 1992 and annual estimates from spring 1983 are available from the "Labour Force Survey" for the East Anglia region as a whole which covers Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire.
Self-employed people in
East Anglia
|Number
----------------------------
Spring 1983 |98,000
Spring 1984 |116,000
Spring 1985 |118,000
Spring 1986 |109,000
Spring 1987 |130,000
Spring 1988 |147,000
Spring 1989 |158,000
Spring 1990 |151,000
Spring 1991 |138,000
Spring 1992 |143,000
Summer 1992 |134,000
Source: Labour Force Survey
(not seasonally adjusted).
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement about what steps she is taking further to increase the numbers of the self-employed.
Mr. McLoughlin : The purpose of the Department's business start-up (formerly enterprise allowance) scheme is specifically to help unemployed people to set up their own business. Over 600,000 people had entered the scheme by April 1992. Over 40,000 entrants are expected this year (1992- 93).
The Department also contributes funds to support the work of the Prince's youth business trust and the Prince's Scottish youth business trust in making loans available to disadvantaged 18-25 year olds who have not been able to raise funds for their business ideas from other sources. Some 15,000 businesses have been supported by the two trusts since 1986.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what labour market-related statistics are available for individual training and enterprise council areas ; and if she will provide such information as is available on a quarterly basis for the claimant unemployment figures for 1990 to 1992 for the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Waveney, Greater Peterborough and Suffolk training and enterprise council areas.
Mr. McLoughlin : Wherever possible, labour market statistics are available for training and enterprise council areas : for example, employment data from the census of employment, population data, vacancy data and data on the levels of claimant unemployment. All these data are available from the NOMIS database in the Library and
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more information on the coverage of the statistics available can be obtained from the NOMIS reference manuals.Earnings
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will provide a table showing the average gross weekly earnings of full-time workers in (a) each region and (b) each county in each year since 1979 as a percentage of the Great Britain averages.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information requested can be found in tables 110 and 113 of Part E of the "New Earnings Survey" for each of the years concerned. Copies of the survey are available in the Library.
Youth Training
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many youth training places were available through the Leeds training and enterprise council in (a) 1991-92, (b) 1992-93 and (c) 1993-94.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information is not available in the form requested.
At present there are 2,813 young people on youth training in Leeds. The figure at March 1992 and April 1991 was 2,885 and 3,400 respectively. These figures reflect the demographic downturn in school leavers.
The Leeds TEC is confident that the Government's guarantee of a training place to eligible young people will be met.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people are waiting for a place on a youth training scheme ; and what proportion of those waiting (a) have special needs and (b) are from ethnic minorities.
Mr. McLoughlin : There are currently fewer than 6,750 young people in England covered by the YT guarantee who have been waiting for a YT place for eight or more weeks. Information is not available on how many of these are young people with special needs or from ethnic minorities.
Underpayment
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on how many occasions illegal underpayment was detected in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and Humberside and (c) West Yorkshire, in the last five years for which figures are available ; and how many prosecutions were undertaken in these areas.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : In 1992, the wages inspectorate found 5,165 establishments in England paying one or more of their workers less than statutory minimum remuneration. The comparable figure for Yorkshire and Humberside was 875. I regret that there are no separate statistics for West Yorkshire. The inspectorate carried out a total of 27,193 checks on establishments in England and 3,173 in Yorkshire and Humberside. In England, some 97 per cent. of the workers covered were paid at least the statutory minimum remuneration.
The policy of the inspectorate under all Governments has been to seek compliance with wages council orders by persuasion and advice. Prosecution is usually considered
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only where an offence is deliberate or repeated. In 1992 there were eight prosecutions for underpayment in England, five of which were in Yorkshire and Humberside.Anglesey Mining
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on what date the regional selective assistance offer by the Welsh Office to Anglesey Mining was published in the "Employment Gazette" ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : No information on payments to this company has been published in "Employment Gazette".
Leaflet Storage, West Yorkshire
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will arrange for the tender for leaflet storage and distribution in West Yorkshire to be reconsidered ; if she will instruct officials to enter discussions with the consortium of local authorities concerned to find ways of safeguarding employment within ISCO5 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Max Madden, dated 15 March 1993.
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question about the tender for leaflet storage and distribution in West Yorkshire. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
Several companies including another Sheltered Workshop were invited to tender for the warehousing and distribution contract. As a Sheltered Workshop ISCO5 was given consideration under the Priority Suppliers Scheme for Government contracts. This included the "offer back" facility, allowing them an opportunity to submit a revised bid. In the end, however, the contract has been awarded elsewhere on the basis of quality, value for money and fair and open competition. The Employment Service through the Sheltered Employment Procurement and Consultancy Service (SEPACS) will give every support to ISCO5 in mitigating the effects of the loss of this contract and will continue to do all it can to assist in the development of future business. Should any redundancies occur among the disabled workers, we will offer help in finding alternative opportunities through our local offices and special advisory services.
As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
Skill Centres
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to her answers of 19 November 1992, Official Report, column 337, and 4 March 1993, Official Report, columns 272-73, what happened to the skill centres in Cardiff, Deptford, Edinburgh RO, Enfield (annex), Ipswich, Manchester RO and Swindon.
Mr. McLoughlin : The skill centres at Cardiff, Deptford, Swindon and Enfield were taken over by Astra Training
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Services Limited (Astra) in May 1990. The Department's freehold interest in Enfield was transferred to Astra. Astra occupied the Cardiff, Deptford and Swindon sites on short term lease arrangements, whilst the Department put the sites on the open market. Astra relocated its training business at Swindon in July 1992.The skill centre at Ipswich was initially taken over by the Training for Industry and Commerce Company (TICC) Ltd. and subsequently by Portals Engineering Limited under short term lease arrangements. The Department put the site on the open market when the training business was relocated in September 1992.
The Manchester RO and Edinburgh RO were Skills Training Agency (STA) regional offices (ROs), not training centres. Both sites were disposed of by the Department following the privatisation of the STA in May 1990.
Executive Agencies
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has for the creation of further executive agencies.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : None. However, in line with other Government Departments, the Employment Department continues to review its activities to identify possible agency candidates.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Legal Aid
42. Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has to amend his plans for reforms to the legal aid regime.
Mr. John M. Taylor : I will shortly be laying statutory instruments before the House to implement the changes to legal aid eligibility and to make other changes in relation to fees and payments made to lawyers in criminal legal aid cases.
Magistrates Courts
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will publish a list of the magistrates courts in Greater London in order of the proportion of debtors gaoled in the last available year ; and what was the number and percentage of debtors gaoled in each case.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The information requested is not recorded centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. I understand, however, that, in 1990, 2,791 debtors of all kinds were received into prison establishments in England and Wales. Imprisonment will occur only when there has been wilful refusal to pay or culpable neglect to do so.
Community Charge
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what monitoring he undertakes of magistrates's decisions to ensure consistency in the conduct of committal proceedings for non-payment of community charge ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. John M. Taylor : None ; it is not for the Government to seek to intervene in the judicial discretion of the courts.
Witnesses
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many applications there have been for witnesses in criminal cases to remain anonymous in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. John M. Taylor : No figures are kept for such applications.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many applications there have been under section 23(3)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
Mr. John M. Taylor : No figures are kept for such applications.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many applications there have been for the use of screens during trials, excluding sexual offences and juvenile cases, during each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. John M. Taylor : No figures for the use of screens during trials are kept ; however, my Department has very recently started to collect information on the ways in which child witnesses under 17 years of age give evidence in the Crown court. This survey will include the use of screens for all types of offences, including non-sexual offences, and will supplement the information already collated on the use of the live TV link equipment.
Domestic Violence
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases relating to domestic violence have been referred to the legal services ombudsman since the position was formed.
Mr. John M. Taylor : These statistics are not available in the form requested.
Benzodiazepines
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list (a) the total sum of moneys paid out by the Legal Aid Board in connection with the pursuit of compensation cases for addiction to benzodiazepines and (b) the way in which the money has been spent.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The final cost to the Legal Aid Fund in respect of litigation relating to benzodiazepine drugs cannot be quantified until work done under the legal aid certificates has been concluded and all solicitors' bills have been paid. The generic expenditure on all the benzodiazepine drugs cases in litigation is estimated so far to amount to approximately £3 million, though further, as yet unquantified, costs have also been incurred. The money has been spent to enable the individual claims to be progressed in accord with directions laid down by the court.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many applications for
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legal aid are outstanding in cases involving the pursuit of compensation against Roche Products ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. John M. Taylor : No applications for legal aid are outstanding in cases involving the pursuit of compensation for addiction to benzodiazepine drugs manufactured by Roche. A total of 6,270 legal aid certificates have been issued in recent years relating to benzodiazepine drugs manufactured by Roche. In the light of the statutory criteria under the Legal Aid Act 1988, legally aided Roche claimants have been sent letters informing them that their legal aid certificates may be discharged and inviting them to show cause why they should not be. There is a right of appeal against discharge.
DEFENCE
Aldermaston
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 900, what is the estimated cost of decommissioning the Herald reactor at AWE Aldermaston ; and what is the current timetable for this decommissioning.
Mr Aitken : The current timetable for decommissioning the Herald reactor at AWE Aldermaston in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Authority's guidelines is (a) stage 1--storage with surveillance, which is expected to be completed in January 1995 ; (b) stage 2--restricted site release, which is expected to take place during 1997-98 ; and (c) stage 3--unrestricted site release. There will be a gap of at least 50 years before stage 3 can begin, during which time the remaining structure will be kept under periodic surveillance and maintenace. The estimated cost of this decommissioning is some £8 million.
Vanguard Submarines
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Vanguard class submarines will be capable of receiving extremely low frequency radio signals.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We do not currently plan that the Vanguard class will have such a capability.
Princess Mary Hospital, Halton
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for each of the last five years (a) the number of patients treated at Princess Mary hospital, Halton, (b) the number of patients treated each year in each specialty and (c) the number of patients each year who were (i) service personnel, (ii) retired RAF personnel and (iii) local residents ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Information is not held centrally in the form requested. Available figures are :
(a) Total service and NHS<1>
patients<2> treated at the Princess
Mary's RAF hospital, Halton, 1987-88 to
1991-92
|Service|NHS |Total
----------------------------------------
1987-88 |12,584 |24,842 |37,426
1988-89 |11,455 |24,310 |35,765
1989-90 |10,933 |24,027 |34,960
1990-91 |10,590 |21,412 |32,002
1991-92 |10,898 |22,289 |33,187
(b) Number of patients<2> for
examination and treatment by specialty
at the Princess Mary's RAF hospital,
Halton 1991 and 1992
|1991 |1992
---------------------------------------
Casualty |194 |51
Dermatology |236 |586
Ear, nose and throat |2,931|4,722
Medical boards |166 |296
Surgical |2,660|3,690
Gynaecology |2,148|3,066
Medicine |2,669|3,410
Neurology |117 |237
Obstetrics |2,381|2,392
Oncology |2,487|2,436
Ophthalmic |4,019|4,122
Orthopaedic |4,033|4,884
Orthoptist |959 |880
Plastics |966 |1,065
Renal |1,993|2,925
Rheumatology |301 |540
Urology |268 |370
Oral surgery |2,255|3,568
<1> NHS patients include retired
service personnel.
<2> Patient numbers are inclusive of
day cases.
Vulcan Bomber
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Upminster (Sir N. Bonsor) of 26 October 1992, Official Report , column 507 , if he will make a statement on the position with respect to preserving the last flying Vulcan bomber XH 558.
Mr. Aitken : I hope to make an announcement about the future of the Vulcan shortly.
Nuclear Weapons (Transport)
Ms Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to comply with EC directive 89/618/Euratom by initiating a public information campaign on matters of nuclear safety connected with the movement of military convoys carrying nuclear weapons around the country, in case of accident.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : None. The EC directive 89/618/EURATOM has been enacted in Great Britain by means of the Public Information for Radiation Emergency Regulations 1992, which came into force on 1 January 1993. These regulations require prior information to be given to the public only when it is reasonably foreseeable that a radiation emergency would affect the public in an identifiable area. Given the stringent safety standards we apply, we do not believe that military convoys carrying nuclear weapons can give rise to such a radiation emergency.
Submarine Sales
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department and the Defence Export Sales Organisation are taking to promote the sale of United Kingdom submarines to Taiwan.
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