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Germany and Spain compared with the United Kingdom. The conclusions were published in 1991 in "Workplace Health and Safety in Europe", a copy of which is in the Library.During the United Kingdom presidency, we gave prominence to the need for a more consistent approach to the implementation and enforcement of EC legislation, including directives on health and safety. A comparison of sanction arrangements in member states would be useful in this context. We would hope that the Commission could include such a study in its future work programme.
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Noise at Work
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many prohibition notices were issued against employers in 1990-91 and 1991- 92 relating to the control of noise at work for each of the geographical areas of (a) the factory inspectorate, (b) the agricultural inspectorate and (c) the quarries inspectorate ; and what were the penalties in each case.
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Mr. McLoughlin : Prohibition notices do not impose explicit penalties. They are issued when there is a risk of serious personal injury. They require specified remedial action to be taken, usually immediately, to comply with the relevant statutory provisions. The following requirements were made on prohibition notices issued during the periods 1990-91 and 1991 -92.
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Requirements made under the Noise at Work Regulations on Prohibition Notices<1> issued against employers by
the Health and Safety
HSE area Factory Agricultural Quarries
inspectorate inspectorate inspectorate
|1990-91 |1991-92<3>|1990-91 |1991-92<3>|1990-91 |1991-92<3>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South West |- |- |- |- |- |-
South |- |- |- |- |- |-
South East |- |- |- |- |- |-
Greater London |- |- |- |- |- |-
East Anglia |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Northern Home Counties |- |- |- |- |- |-
East Midlands |6 |15 |- |- |- |-
West Midlands |- |- |- |- |- |-
Wales |3 |- |1 |- |- |-
Marches |- |- |- |- |- |-
North Midlands |1 |- |- |- |- |-
South Yorkshire and Humberside |1 |- |- |- |- |-
West and North Yorkshire |- |- |- |- |- |-
Greater Manchester |- |- |- |- |- |-
Merseyside |4 |1 |- |- |- |-
North West |- |- |- |- |- |-
North East |2 |- |- |- |- |-
Scotland East |- |- |- |- |- |-
Scotland West |18 |10 |- |- |- |-
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |35 |26 |1 |- |1 |-
<1> Includes deferred and immediate prohibition notices.
<2> Years commencing 1 April.
<3> Provisional.
Safety and Hygiene
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will give the full title of the projects and the amount of funding asked for in the applications for EC funding for the European Year of Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection from March 1992 to February 1993.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The United Kingdom received 330 applications, which asked in total for nearly 9.8 mecu. I shall place a list of the project titles in the Library.
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which projects related to the European Year of Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection, have received an EC grant of 1 million ecu or more.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : None in the Uyees at work during the European Year of Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection 1992-93 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The United Kingdom is currently contributing to the European Commission's final assessment of the year, which will include information about EC-supported projects. It will be published in October 1993 and I shall place a copy in the Library. In
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making recommendations for EC funding, the United Kingdom sought to support practical initiatives to improve health and safety in the workplace.Employment, Greater London
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what her Department forecasts to be the size of the Greater London labour force in 2000 ; and what it forecasts to be the total number of jobs available in the capital in the same year.
Mr. McLoughlin : In the year 2000, the civilian labour force in Greater London is projected to be 3,485,000. The Department does not make forecasts of employment or unemployment.
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list the number of employees in employment in the Greater London area in each main sector for each year since 1979.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information is available from September 1981 from the NOMIS database in the Library.
Gas Boilers
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to improve safety inspection arrangements for domestic gas boilers and flues in holiday homes available for commercial rent.
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Mr. McLoughlin : The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1984 cover the installation, maintenance and use of most domestic gas appliances. However, they do not require landlords to service such appliances in their properties. The regulations are currently under review and the Health and Safety Commission is expected to publish a consultative document later in the year.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Private Finance Initiatives
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps his Department has taken to implement the private finance initiative announced in the autumn statement on 12 November 1992 and in the "Treasury Private Finance Guidance" published on 9 December 1992.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Our early examination of how the Government's private finance initiative might be pursued within the Lord Chancellor's Department has not identified any immediate possibilities for joint ventures, and our present leasing of equipment from the private sector falls outside the scope of the initiative. We will continue to seek the most efficient means of financing procurement and capital projects, including the possibility of private sector investment.
Recorders
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many women recorders and assistant recorders there are.
Mr. John M. Taylor : As at 1 March 1993, there were 41 female recorders out of a total of 828 and 50 female assistant recorders out of a total of 428.
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many ethnic minority recorders and assistant recorders there are.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The ethnic origin of applicants for judicial appointment was not recorded prior to the autumn of 1991 so the available information may not be complete. As at 1 March 1993 there were, however, 10 recorders out of a total of 828 and seven assistant recorders out of a total of 428 who are believed to be of ethnic minority origin.
Lease Assignments
Mr. Stephen : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will introduce legislation to abolish the liability of original losses, by virtue of privity of contract, for the defaults of assignees of their lease.
Mr. John M. Taylor : I refer to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Mr. Hendry) on 31 March 1993, Official Report, column 197.
Circuit Judges
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many circuit judges are aged over 65 years.
Mr. John M. Taylor : As at 1 March 1993, there were 490 circuit judges in post. Of these, 101 had passed their 65th birthday.
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Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many circuit judges have already completed 15 years' service.
Mr. John M. Taylor : As at 1 March 1993, 61 out of the 490 circuit judges in post had completed 15 years' service as circuit judges.
Land Ownership
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of land acreage in England and Wales is currently owned by trusts located outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Land Registry does not maintain statistics relating to registered land acreage or to the purpose or nature of business of registered proprietors. To obtain the information requested would involve an inspection of each specific registration and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Attorney-General when the Law Officers Departments last conducted surveys of (a) ethnic origins and (b) the number of women among their employees ; when they next plan to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The position in the Departments for which I am responsible is as follows :
(a) survey of ethnic origins --the Crown prosecution service conducted a survey in January 1990, which was followed up in June 1990 and December 1991. In the next few months, the service will be resurveying those who have not yet submitted a questionnaire. All new entrants to the service are required to complete a questionnaire on application. The Treasury Solicitor's Department last conducted a survey in January 1993 and the next survey will be in January 1994. The Serious Fraud Office has not conducted a specific survey, and has no plans to do so, as the information is available from staff records.
(b) Survey of the number of women --neither the Crown prosecution service nor the SFO undertakes, or plans to undertake, particular surveys of the sex of staff, as the information is available from staff records. The Treasury Solicitor's Department last conducted a survey in January 1993 and the next survey will be in January 1994. Neither survey has been conducted, or is planned to be conducted, in respect of members of the legal secretariat, as they are on secondment from other Government Departments.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Attorney-General what steps he has taken to recruit women, members of ethnic minorities and disabled people, respectively, in top grades of employment at the Law Officers' Departments.
The Attorney-General : Recruits to the senior grades--as to any grade in the civil service--are selected on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, unless one of the exceptions permitted under the Civil Service Order in Council 1991 applies. Various steps have been taken by the Civil Service Commissioners to aid recruitment from all sectors of the community including extending links with institutions of higher education ; equal opportunities training for those involved in selection ; and using validated selection procedures.
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Both the Crown prosecution service and the Serious Fraud Office have joined Opportunity 2000. The Crown prosecution service published a "Programme for Action on Race" in October 1991 and will release shortly a similar "Programme for Action on Disability".Mr. Janner : To ask the Attorney-General how many and what percentage of officers in each grade from 1 to
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7 and overall in the Law Officers' Departments are (a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people.The Attorney-General : The position in the Departments for which I am responsible is as follows :
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Grade Women Ethnic Registered
disabled
|Number |Per cent.|Number |Per cent.|Number |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crown Prosecution Service
1 |1 |(100) |- |- |- |-
2 |- |- |- |- |- |-
3 |- |- |- |- |- |-
4 |- |- |- |- |- |-
5 |2 |(3.4) |1 |(1.9) |- |-
6 |26 |(12.9) |2 |(1.3) |- |-
7 |922 |(45.3) |67 |(5.6) |10 |(0.5)
Overall
(All) |4,002 |(61.2) |272 |(6.2) |46 |(0.7)
Treasury Solicitor's Department
1 |- |- |- |- |- |-
2 |1 |(50) |- |- |- |-
3 |- |- |- |- |- |-
4 |1 |(25) |- |- |- |-
5 |10 |(23) |1 |(2) |- |-
6 |12 |(19) |1 |(2) |- |-
7 |28 |(35) |7 |(9) |- |-
Overall
(All) |190 |(37) |57 |(11) |8 |(2)
Serious Fraud Office
1 |- |- |- |- |- |-
2 |- |- |- |- |- |-
3 |- |- |- |- |- |-
4 |- |- |- |- |- |-
5 |2 |(16.6) |- |- |- |-
6 |5 |(35.7) |1 |(7.1) |- |-
7 |3 |(30) |- |- |- |-
Overall
(All) |65 |(45.5) |14 |(9.8) |- |-
Members of the legal secretariat will be reflected, as appropriate, in the records of the Government Departments from which they are seconded.
ENVIRONMENT
Council Housing
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities have sold off all of their council housing stock.
Mr. Baldry : To date, a total of 21 local authorities have disposed of all, or the vast majority, of their housing stock through large-scale voluntary transfers. The councils concerned are listed in the table. Those marked with an asterisk no longer have any council housing stock other than hostels or part shares in dwellings sold under shared ownership schemes.
Breckland DC*
Broadland DC*
Bromley LBC*
Chiltern DC*
Christchurch DC*
East Cambridgeshire DC*
East Dorset DC
Medina DC
Mid Sussex DC
Newbury DC
North Bedfordshire DC
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Rochester DC*Ryedale DC
Sevenoaks DC
South Buckinghamshire DC
South Wight DC
Suffolk Coastal DC
Surrey Heath DC*
Swale DC
Tonbridge and Malling DC
Tunbridge Wells DC
Council Tax
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average band C council tax in Conservative-controlled, Labour- controlled and Liberal-controlled local authorities.
Mr. Robin Squire : The average headline band C council tax in areas under Conservative control is £456. This is £107 lower than the corresponding figure for Labour areas and £19 lower than the corresponding figure for Liberal areas.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for each of the last five years, the duration, value and nature of contracts awarded
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by his Department to Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting, KPMG Peat Marwick McLintock, Touche Ross, Ernst and Young and Price Waterhouse.Mr. Howard : The information requested is not held centrally by my Department and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Solihull Unitary Development Plan
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he now proposes to review the housing figure of 7,500 in the Solihull unitary development plan originally recommended in the west midlands strategic guidance of February 1988 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The strategic guidance for the west midlands, published in February 1988, establishes the level of new housing completions to be provided in individual unitary development plans between April 1988 and March 2001. The Secretary of State considers that it is not the role of those individual plans to review the strategic guidance figures. Such a review will be carried out in the context of regional guidance for the west midlands, which the Secretary of State intends to publish during 1994.
The inspector into the Solihull unitary development plan endorsed this approach. However, in examining the level of housing supply needed to meet the figure of 7,500, he concluded that further sites should be identified, and he also indicated that the authority should identify a reasonable amount of further land to meet longer-term development needs. The borough council is considering his recommendations and will publish its response in the form of proposed modifications, which will themselves be open to objection.
Urban Regeneration Agency
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications have been received for the post of chief executive of the Urban Regeneration Agency ; when interviews will be held ; and who will decide who is to be appointed.
Mr. Robin Squire : A total of 178 applications have been received. The date for interviews has yet to be set. Lord Walker, as the Urban Regeneration Agency's chairman-designate, will play a leading role in the selection process, and the appointment will be made by the agency when established.
India
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on matters discussed and decisions taken during his recent visit to India.
Mr. Howard : I visited India from 17 to 21 March in order to underline United Kingdom support for environment conservation measures in India and to emphasise our interest in further co-operation as well as to continue the dialogue with India on international environmental issues.
I toured the Western Ghats forestry project in Karnataka state where our Overseas Development Administration is funding the joint management by local
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people and the authorities of a large forest area. In Delhi, I had constructive and practical discussions with members of the Indian Government on environmental issues, including the important role our two countries are playing in the follow-up to Rio, on possible further joint initiatives in that context, on international co-operation and on the ways in which British industry can collaborate with and work in India, particularly in the context of the Indo-British partnership initiative. I also met environmental scientists and held discussions with leading industrialists.Energy Efficiency
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 11 December 1992, Official Report, columns 835- 36, what have been the sources of the representations made to the Energy Efficiency Office recommending the abolition of the client contribution.
Mr. Maclean : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has received a number of representations from Neighbourhood Energy Action on the abolition of the client contribution. In addition, letters in support of Neighbourhood Energy Action's request have been received from one hon. Member and the chairman of British Gas.
Woodgate Valley Site
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received regarding the future use of Woodgate Valley site A in Birmingham.
Mr. Baldry : The Secretary of State has received three letters objecting to the recommendation to allocate the site for industrial use made by the inspector, who held a public inquiry into Birmingham's unitary development plan between November 1991 and February 1992.
Local Authorities (Complaints System)
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have a formal complaints system for service users ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Robin Squire : This information is not held centrally. The position of individual local authorities will be published in local newspapers next year as part of the Audit Commission's work on local government performance indicators. National information will be published by the commission in 1995.
Opencast Mining
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's policy with regard to planning appeals in respect of existing opencast mining applications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. and learned Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Mrs. Knight), on 25 March, Official Report, columns 714-15.
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Housing Partnership Scheme
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, by local authority, the total bid for funding under the housing partnership scheme and indicate the allocation made in cash terms and as a percentage of the bid.
Mr. Baldry : I will write to the hon. Gentleman.
National Parks
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his current plans in relation to legislation for the creation of a new board structure for the administration of national park authorities in England and Wales.
Mr. Maclean : Our policy statement on the national parks, published in January 1992, promised legislation to create independent authorities for the eight national parks in England and Wales currently run as county council committees. I fully recognise the importance of introducing national park legislation at the earliest opportunity and I have repeatedly said that we will do so.
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will be receiving a reply to his letter of 1 March on behalf of a constituent and which had been originally sent to the Department of Social Security.
Mr. Robin Squire : I replied to the hon. Member on 31 March 1993.
Olympic Games
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans his Department has to enable London to be considered in the future as a suitable city to host the Olympic games.
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