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Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures are in place to evaluate the effectiveness and performance of training and enterprise councils.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department undertakes regular evaluation of the range of programmes delivered by the training and enterprise councils-- TECs--and assesses the contribution of the TEC movement to the performance of those programmes.
The performance of individual TECs against contract is monitored by the Department's regional offices. Information on the performance of individual TECs in delivering Employment Department programmes is used to construct inter-TEC comparison tables. A copy of these tables for 1992-93 has already been placed in the Library.
Health and Safety
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what view the Health and Safety Commission has expressed to the Minister in the interim report of its review of regulations regarding pre-1974 health and safety regulations.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 11 January 1994] : I have placed a copy of the report in the Library, along with a copy of my response to the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, and I have written to the hon. Member, enclosing a personal copy.
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the impact of the changes to statutory sick pay provision upon his departmental budget for the financial year 1994-95.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 17 January 1994] : The Department has calculated that the effect on its budget for 1994-95 of the abolition of the 80 per cent. statutory sick pay reimbursement rate will be more than offset by a reduction in employers' national insurance contributions.
Departmental Accommodation
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out the date and the terms upon which his Department took out a lease on the accommodation currently occupied at Dyson's chambers, Briggate, Leeds.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 18 January 1994] : 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. Derek Fatchett, dated 19 January 1994 :
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about the Employment Service premises at Dyson's Chambers, Briggate, Leeds.
It may be helpful if I explain that it is not Government Policy to disclose details of any of the leases it negotiates, as these are
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Commercial in Confidence. I can say, however, that the Department of the Environment, Property Holdings, acquired this property for the Government Common User Estate and was able to achieve a substantial rent free period. At the expiration of that period my agency will be paying Property Holdings £400,000 per annum by way of internal rent. The lease commenced on 1 January 1993.I hope this is helpful.
Unemployment
Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, columns 105-106, what is the formal International Labour Organisation definition of unemployed.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 18 January 1994] : The International Labour Organisation definition of unemployment as used, for example in compiling labour force estimates, counts as unemployed those people who at the time of interview were without work--that is, working less than one hour per week--were available to start work within the next two weeks, and had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.
Loans
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list, for each scheme operated by his Department under which loans are available, the objectives of the scheme, the number of unrecovered loans, the total value of unrecovered loans, the average number of unrecovered loans for each year since 1990, the average value of unrecovered loans for each year since 1990 and the annual cost of recovering loans.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The career development loan--CDL--scheme, run in partnership with three high street banks--Barclays, the Co-operative and the Clydesdale--is the only loan scheme operated by the Employment Department. The objective of the scheme is to provide assistance to people who wish to undertake vocational education or training of their own choice, but who are unable, on their own, to raise sufficient funds to pay for it. The programme helps to encourage individuals to take greater responsibility for their own education and training. Details of the number and value of unrecovered CDLs, where a default notice has been issued, are given in the table for each year since the start of the scheme. The cost associated with recovering defaulted loans are borne primarily by the lending banks. The Department incurs minimal cost--on average, less than £400 per year total costs over the last four years.
Unrecovered CDLs
(Loans where a default notice has been served)
Year |Number |Total Value |Average Value
|(£) |(£)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |3 |2,469 |823
1987-88 |14 |15,402 |1,100
1988-89 |40 |40,955 |1,024
1989-90 |115 |187,515 |1,631
1990-91 |419 |798,249 |1,905
1991-92 |1,113 |2,539,291 |2,281
1992-93 |1,501 |3,550,631 |2,366
1993-94 |1,233 |3,242,991 |2,630
Total |4,438 |10,377,503
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DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Burden : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made on the effect which the next steps programme will have on equal opportunities in public service employment ; and what steps he is taking to monitor the effect.
Mr. Davis : The Government are committed to a policy aimed at ensuring equality of opportunity in civil service employment. It is the responsibility of all agency chief executives to implement that policy effectively within their organisations. Progress on equal opportunities across the civil service, including the agencies where 60 per cent. of civil servants now work, is monitored by OPSS. The latest progress reports on women and ethnic minorities, which continue to show steady improvement including increasing representation in management grades, were published last month and copies placed in the Library of the House. The progress report on disabled civil servants will be published in the spring.
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish for each service that has been market tested in his Department in 1993 (a) the cost of the testing process, including consultancy costs, (b) the result of the test, (c) the name of the successful contractor, (d) the value and duration of the contract, (e) the number of staff involved, (f) estimated annual cost reductions and (g) whether the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were deemed to apply.
Mr. Waldegrave : My Department is currently analysing the outcome of the 1992-93 competing for quality programme. Much of the information requested in the question will, once it has been finalised, be published in aggregate form in the "Citizens Charter Second Report".
Christmas Cards
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many official Christmas cards were sent out in 1993 by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) staff of Government agencies working in or to his Department ; how much these cards cost (i) to buy, (ii) to post and (iii) in staff time to sign, address and place in envelopes.
Mr. Waldegrave : The information as requested is not held centrally and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Scanning Radiometer
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what support his Department is giving to back basic scientific development of the along-track scanning radiometer, which was announced by the Department of the Environment on 21 December 1993.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Government make funds available under the science budget to the research councils, which determine their priorities in accordance with the terms of their royal charters. The Natural Environment Research Council--NERC--will contribute £1.8 million towards the cost of building
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the advanced along-track scanning radiometer --AATSR. The remainder of the total cost will be provided by the Department of the Environment and the Australian space office.The AATSR has been developed from two previous instruments : the ATSR1 and ATSR2, towards which the Science and Engineering Research Council--SERC-- provided funds of £7.3 million and £12.3 million respectively.
Ministerial Cars
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will qualify the cost of the factors which led to an increase in his Department's cost for ministerial cars between 1990-91 and 1992-93 ; how many cars were involved in each year ; how many of these cars are for Government Whips and which Whips have cars personally allocated to them ; how many were for Government Whips in 1990-91 ; and how many were personally allocated at that date.
Mr. David Davis : The increase in the costs borne by the Office of Public Service and Science for ministerial cars between 1990-91 and 1992-93 was due mainly to increases in the prices charged by the Government car service--and restructuring of GCS tariffs--the addition in April 1992 of a vehicle for use of the holder of the second ministerial post established at the inception of the OPSS, and more intensive use of the GCS generally.
In 1990-91 three vehicles were allocated to ministerial use, of which two were allocated for the use of the Chief Whip (Commons) and the Leader of the House and Chief Whip (Lords) respectively. The total number of allocated vehicles was increased to four from April 1992.
Research
Dr. Spink : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the latest figures for Government spending on research ; and what proportions were spent on (i) applied research and (ii) fundamental research ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : Government research and development activity is analysed into the internationally agreed OECD Frascati categories of basic, applied and experimental development. The latest expenditure figures, for 1991-92, were published in the 1993 annual review of Government-funded research and development and are as follows:
|£ million|(i) |(ii)
|Applied |Basic
|Per cent.|Per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------
Civil R and D |2,780.9 |47.0 |48.4
Defence R and D |2,267.0 |17.8 |nil
Total R and D |5,047.9 |33.9 |26.7
The remaining R and D is classified as experimental development. A similar analysis for the outturn year 1992-93 will be published in the forward look of Government-funded science and technology in April 1994.
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Bypasses
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what provisions of the citizens charter assist private citizens wishing to ascertain the cost-benefit analysis provided by local authorities to the Ministry of Transport in respect of bypass schemes.
Mr. Waldegrave : The citizens charter aims to ensure that there is no secrecy about how public services are run, how much they cost, who is in charge, and whether or not they are meeting their standards. In line with this principle, there are no restrictions on private citizens looking at the results of cost-benefit analysis provided by local authorities to the Department of Transport in respect of bypass schemes.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Ethnic Minority Grants
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the actual spending by his Department on section 11 grant for 1992-93 for each local authority ;
(2) if he will estimate the number of posts which will be lost in 1994-95 as a result of cuts in section 11 funding ;
(3) if he will list the actual amount of section 11 grant allocated by his Department to each local authority for the first two quarters of 1993-94 ;
(4) what is the total allocation of spending by his Department on section 11 grant for 1994-95 ; and if he will list the individual allocations for each local authority.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I will write to the hon. Member.
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Correspondence
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time taken by him to reply to letters received from official spokespersons of Her Majesty's Opposition.
Mr. Howard : In the period from 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1993 the average time taken to reply to letters received from the hon. Member and his colleagues the hon. Members for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair), for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) and for Lewisham, Deptford (Ms Ruddock) was 25 working days.
Prisoners
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were sentenced to a prison term under each offence category for the latest year for which figures are available ; and what was the number and percentage who were fine defaulters.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. William Ross, dated 19 January 1994 :
RECEPTIONS UNDER SENTENCE The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many people were sentenced to a prison term under each offence category for the latest year for which figures are available ; and the number and percentage who were fine defaulters.
The information requested is shown in the attached table.
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Receptions into prison service establishments by offence, 1992<1>
Offence |Immediate |In default of |All |Percentage in
|imprisonment |payment of a fine |default of
|payment of a fine
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Offences |51,324 |19,977 |71,301 |28
Violence against the person |7,082 |1,313 |8,395 |16
Murder |234 |0 |234 |0
Manslaughter |142 |0 |142 |0
Other Homicide and attempted Homicide |435 |6 |441 |1
Wounding |4,461 |678 |5,139 |13
Assaults |1,219 |510 |1,729 |29
Cruelty to Children |30 |1 |31 |3
Other offences of violence against the person |561 |118 |679 |17
Sexual Offences |1,858 |28 |1,886 |2
Buggery and indecency between males |172 |4 |176 |2
Rape |527 |4 |531 |1
Gross indecency with children |161 |- |161 |-
Other sexual offences |998 |20 |1,018 |2
Burglary |9,479 |1,318 |10,797 |12
Robbery |2,988 |34 |3,022 |1
Theft and Handling |9,249 |3,561 |12,810 |28
Taking and driving away |1,310 |437 |1,747 |25
Other thefts |6,291 |2,725 |9,016 |30
Handling stolen goods |1,648 |399 |2,047 |19
Fraud and Forgery |1,807 |674 |2,481 |27
Frauds |1,677 |638 |2,315 |28
Forgery |130 |36 |166 |22
Drugs offences |3,168 |448 |3,616 |12
Other Offences |11,364 |11,042 |22,406 |49
Arson |480 |19 |499 |4
Criminal damage |1,027 |1,464 |2,491 |59
Immigration Act 1977 |17 |2 |19 |11
In charge or driving under the influence of drink or drugs |1,236 |546 |1,782 |31
Other motoring offences |3,846 |5,811 |9,657 |60
Offences relating to prostitution |26 |113 |139 |81
Drunkenness |41 |569 |610 |93
Vagrancy |42 |66 |108 |61
Other |4,649 |2,452 |7,101 |35
Offence not recorded |4,329 |1,559 |5,888 |26
<1> Provisional figures.
Prisons
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates in prison establishments within England and Wales were disciplined for the possession of an unlawful drug during 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 19 January 1994 :
POSSESSION OF AN UNLAWFUL DRUG The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many inmates in prison establishments within England and Wales were disciplined for the possession of an unlawful drug during 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. The numbers are 2,650, 2,798, 2,041 and 1,759 respectively. They include those found guilty of inciting or assisting other prisoners to possess controlled drugs. The 1990 figures is part-estimate and the 1993 one is provisional.
Probation
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what would be the extra costs involved in resourcing the probation service to work with people sentenced to less than 12 months' imprisonment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : Adult offenders sentenced to less than 12 months' imprisonment are not subject to statutory supervision on release, but the probation service already offers supervision on a voluntary basis. If all offenders in this category were supervised on the same statutory basis as offenders sentenced to longer terms, the annual additional cost would be of the order of £13 million.
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many probation orders were made with added conditions, as a proportion of all probation orders made in England and Wales for the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Maclean : The latest published information shows that some 26 per cent. of probation orders commenced in 1992 had additional requirements, but that in the first three months after the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 on 1 October 1992 this rose to 29 per cent.
Column 700
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of persons on (a) probation and (b) community service orders had a previous custodial sentence at the latest available date.
Mr. Maclean : The latest available figures were published in summary probation statistics England and Wales 1992 which is available in the House of Commons Library. The percentage of persons commencing supervision by the probation service with a previous custodial sentence in 1992 were (a) 38 for probation and (b) 32 for community service orders.
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to meet the National Association of Probation Officers, the Association of Chief Officers of Probation or the Central Probation Council to discuss changes in the probation budget.
Mr. Maclean : I plan to meet representatives of the Central Probation Council and the Association of Chief Officers of Probation to discuss issues of current concern. I have no immediate plans to meet the National Association of Probation Officers.
Horse Thefts
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many horse thefts have been reported to the police in each of the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, by county, the number of reported incidents of horses being stolen in each of the last three years.
Mr. Maclean : The information requested is not collected centrally.
Community Service
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reduce the minimum age for community service.
Mr. Maclean : I have no plans at present to bring forward legislation to lower the minimum age for community service of 16 ; but I want to consider, as part of the review of national standards for community sentences,
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increasing the scope for younger offenders to undertake tasks of a reparative nature for the benefit of local communities as part of effective supervision programmes.Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase or strengthen community penalties.
Mr. Maclean : I plan to strengthen community penalties through the review of national standards now in progress.
Firearms
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish a table showing the recommendations made by the firearms consultative committee in each year since it was set up ; which of them have been the subject of a circular issued by him indicating that the recommendations should be implemented ; what information he has as to whether those recommendations have been implemented ; and by which police forces they have been implemented.
Mr. Charles Wardle : A summary of the committee's recommendations is contained in each of its four annual reports, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Revised guidance on the definition of antique weapons and collecting of firearms was issued to chief officers of police following a recommendation made by the committee in its third annual report. In addition, Home Office circulars have been issued which include advice on implementing recommendations made by the committee on revised criteria for approved rifle and pistol clubs and the EC weapons directive.
Details of the other recommendations of the committee which have been implemented were given in my reply to the hon. Member on 15 December 1993-- column 657.
The administration of the firearms licensing system is the responsibility of individual chief officers of police. Detailed records of individual force practice are not kept centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all grant allocations made under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 for the year 1994-95.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I will write to the hon. Member.
Sheehy Inquiry
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the studies for which (a) Ernst and Young and (b) Towers Perrin were engaged in the two years prior to the establishment of the Sheehy inquiry; and what was the cost thereof.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Details of the contracts awarded by the Home Office during the period July 1990 to July 1992 to the specified companies are as follows :
July 1990-July 1992 |Total Value
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consultant
Towers Perrin |-
Ernst and Young
Court Escort Area Survey and associated research |-
Consultancy assistance in ensuring VFM from the
Court Escort Service. |-
Firearms licensing costs. |-
Validation of IT strategy. |-
PROMIS/SPITS Strategy Study |-
Feasibility of Artificial Intelligence. |-
|£433,930
Immigration
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to the immigration department concerning arresting alleged illegal immigrants during their wedding services.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Instructions to the immigration service stress that visits to register offices to detain offenders under the immigration laws are particularly sensitive and should normally be undertaken only where the individual's whereabouts before and after the wedding have been and will be unknown.
I am not aware of any recent case where an immigration offender has been arrested during a marriage service but know of two cases where illegal entrants were detained prior to their intended marriages.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the west midlands inquiry unit's use of early morning raids on the homes of suspected illegal immigrants.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I have not received any recent representations about early morning visits carried out by immigration service staff attached to the midlands inquiry unit.
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish for each service that has been market tested in his Department in 1993 (a) the cost of the testing process, including consultancy costs, (b) the result of the test, (c) the name of the successful contractor, (d) the value and duration of the contract, (e) the number of staff involved, (f) estimated annual cost reductions and (g) whether the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were deemed to apply.
Mr. Howard : The Home Office is currently analysing the outcome of the 1992-93 competing for quality programme with the efficiency unit in the Cabinet Office. Once it has been finalised, much of the information requested will be published in aggregate form in the "Citizens Charter Second Report". On an individual project basis, much of the information is commercially confidential.
Prison Population
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes are planned in prisoner numbers at HMP (a) Armley, (b) Brixton, (c) Ford, (d) Full Sutton, (e) Hull, (f) Lindholme, (g) Moorland, (h)
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Pentonville, (j) Wandsworth, (k) Wolds and (l) Wormwood Scrubs over the next five years ; and if he will make a statement.Mr Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 19 January 1994 :
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about prisoner numbers at 11 prison establishments.
The number of prisoners received by the Prison Service is not directly subject to planning but depends upon the decisions of the courts. In order to cater for expected growth in the population, the Prison Service is planning to build six new prisons and is preparing plans to build new places in existing establishments. Final decisions have not yet been taken on which prisons will have their capacity expanded. These are, therefore, no firm proposals to build new accommodation in any of the establishments you list.
Animal Welfare
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many communications he has received during the consultation on deregulation on (a) the Breeding of Dogs Acts 1973 and 1991, (b) the Pet Animals Act 1951, (c) the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963 and (d) the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 ; how many were in favour and how many against ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The number of responses which the Department has received to its consultation letter concerning the deregulation review of certain Acts is as follows :
|In favour of |In favour of
|retaining the |deregulation
|present controls
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Breeding of Dogs Act
1973 and 1991 |11 |1
The Pet Animals Act 1951 |13 |3
The Animal Boarding
Establishments Act 1963 |11 |2
The Performing Animals
(Regulations) Act 1925 |6 |0
Year of Older People
Mr. Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contribution his Department made to the European Year of Older People and Solidarity between Generations in terms of financial support, practical support for particular events, and the provision of information.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My Department continued its funding of the retired and senior volunteer programme, which was represented on the UK core advisory group for the year, and of the retired executives action clearing house. In 1993 the grant to the retired and senior volunteer programme was £50,000 and to the retired executives action clearing house £41,592. It also funds many other organisations such as the Women's Royal Voluntary Service, which though not aiming specifically at older people encourage volunteering by people of all ages. Ministerial colleagues and I made regular reference in our speeches to the importance of older volunteers.
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