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Food--a Fact of Life"
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department gave to the British Nutrition Foundation in developing the material for "Food--a Fact of Life" ; and what steps she took to ensure the content was consistent with the advice of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy and "Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients" for the United Kingdom.
Mr. Sackville : The Department participates in the group monitoring the progress of the project and seeks to ensure consistency with departmental policy where relevant.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total cost to her Department of the British Nutrition Foundation's "Food--a Fact of Life".
Mr. Sackville : The costs to the Department for the two years 1991- 92 and 1992-93 was £170,000 and for the current year £50,000.
Selected List
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will make a final decision about the selected list.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Advisory Committee on National Health Service Drugs maintains a continual review of the drugs in the categories covered by the selected list scheme. It will produce recommendations about drugs in these categories within the next few months for Ministers to consider.
NHS Trust Federation
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 21 January, Official Report , column 898 , what action has been taken to correct the answer given on 26 July 1993, Official Report , column 546 , concerning money received by the NHS Trust Federation from her Department ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : No correction is necessary. The National Health Service Trust Federation does not receive funding from the Department to meet its running costs. The payment without statutory authority was made in the financial year 1991-92 and has since been recovered. The Department has also provided funds to the federation to meet the costs incurred in organising conferences on information on behalf of the Department. These conferences were open to all NHS trusts, whether or not they were members of the federation.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the known party-political affiliations of trust chairs and non- executive directors.
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Dr. Mawhinney : We do not seek information on political affiliation. Some appointees' political affiliation may be a matter of public record, but it would be inappropriate for us to maintain our own records on the basis of political allegiance.
Nuts
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has about the number of people suffering from an allergy to nuts and the number of deaths that have resulted in recent years.
Mr. Sackville [pursuant to his reply, 17 January 1994, c. 391] : I regret that my previous reply could give rise to a misunderstanding on the extent of information held centrally on cause of death. While there is no information centrally available on the number of people suffering from an allergy to nuts, the information held centrally on number of deaths is that for the latest 10 years, 1983-1992, for which data are available, there were no deaths registered where allergy to nuts was the assigned underlying cause.
EMPLOYMENT
Sex Discrimination
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average award of industrial tribunals for sex discrimination cases.
Miss Widdecombe : The latest available information relates to 1992- 93, when the average award made by industrial tribunals in cases where sex discrimination was the main complaint was £1,416.
Administration Costs
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of the teacher placement service, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of the teacher placement scheme rests with training and enterprise councils. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs involved.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of TEC challenge, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of TEC challenge rests with training and enterprise councils. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs involved.
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Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of the programme development fund, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : 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. Keith Vaz, dated 31 January 1994 :
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the expenditure on the administration of the Programme Development Fund (PDF).
We do not collect the information that you have requested. It may help if I explain a little about the background to PDF and the way it is administered.
The Programme Development Fund is a fund held by all ES Regional Directors and by Directors for Scotland and Wales. It is there to support local initiatives for assisting people who need special help to get back to work.
These initiatives run alongside the mainstream work of ES offices and are a small, but important part of an overall total. Since, in the main, staff who administer PDF are also involved in a range of other activities it is impossible to separate out costs.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of the business start-up scheme, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of the business start-up scheme rests with training and enterprise councils. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs involved.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of the local initiative fund, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of the local initiative fund rests with training and enterprise councils. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs involved.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of compacts and inner-city compacts, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of compacts and inner-city compacts rests with training and enterprise councils. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs involved.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will itemise the expenditure on the administration of the
education-business partnerships, including printing, advertising and stationery costs as well as worker expenses (a) over the last year and (b) since the scheme was developed.
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Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of the education business partnerships rests with training and enterprise councils. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs involved.
Industrial Tribunals
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many cases have been brought before industrial tribunals since 1983 ; how many and what percentage of cases have been successful ; and how many and what percentage of cases were about race discrimination.
Miss Widdecombe : The details are as follows :
All Jurisdictions Racial
Discrimination
(where this is
the main
complaint)
|Cases |Number/ |Number/
|heard |per cent. |per cent.
|successful |of cases
|heard
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |10,381 |3,229 (31.1)|166 (1.6)
1984 to March 1985 |9,690 |2,921 (30.1)|195 (2.0)
1985-86 |13,357 |5,405 (40.5)|265 (2.0)
1986-87 |13,124 |5,342 (40.7)|296 (2.3)
1987-88 |10,464 |4,185 (40.0)|265 (2.5)
1988-89 | 9,023 |3,829 (42.4)|324 (3.6)
1989-90 |10,229 |4,598 (45.0)|336 (3.3)
1990-91 |11,430 |5,503 (48.1)|316 (2.8)
1991-92 |13,778 |7,022 (51.0)|323 (2.3)
1992-93 |17,836 |9,351 (52.4)|345 (1.9)
Programme Funding
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total amount of funding made available over the last year by (a) the programme development fund, (b) education business partnerships, (c) the teacher placement service, (d) compacts and inner-city compacts, (e) the business start-up scheme, (f) the local initiative fund and (g) TEC challenge.
Miss Widdecombe : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 30 November 1993, Official Report, column 512. This lists the funding made available for 1993-94 by (a) the programme development fund, (b) education business partnerships, (c) the teacher placement service, (d) compacts and inner-city compacts, (e) the business start-up scheme, (f) the local initiative fund.
In addition, £16.9 million has been made available for training and enterprise councils for TEC challenge in the current year.
Race Discrimination
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average award of industrial tribunals for race discrimination cases.
Miss Widdecombe : The latest available information relates to 1992- 93, when the average award made by industrial tribunals in cases where race discrimination was the main complaint was £3,333.
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what recruitment of staff is planned by the Health and Safety Executive before April 1994.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Health and Safety Executive is considering plans to announce recruitment competitions for certain groups of specialist inspectors such as railways inspectors. The timing of any such recruitments has not been decided.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many people in receipt of unemployment benefit within the Cunninghame, South parliamentary constituency have been unemployed for (a) more than six months, (b) more than 12 months and (c) more than two years ; and if he will give these figures for (i) men and (ii) women for each month since April 1992 ;
(2) how many people in receipt of unemployment benefit within the Irvine travel-to-work area have been unemployed for (a) more than six months, (b) more than 12 months and (c) more than two years ; and if he will give these figures for (i) men and (ii) women for each month since April 1992.
Miss Widdecombe : Figures on the numbers of people claiming unemployment and related benefits, by duration, are available on the unadjusted basis only, for the months of January, April, July and October and can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those companies giving statutory notice of redundancies to his Department within the Irvine travel-to-work area from April 1992 to date ; how many job losses were notified by each of the companies ; and when statutory notice was given.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information given to the Department under the redundancy handling provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 is provided in confidence.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many vacancies were listed in (a) Irvine jobcentre and (b) Kilwinning jobcentre during December ; and what was the nature of these vacancies.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : 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. Brian Donohoe, dated 31 January 1994 :
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of vacancies listed in Irvine and Kilwinning Jobcentres in December.
I attach a table showing the notified vacancies for both offices. Vacancies notified to Jobcentres are displayed in the self-service area of the office for selection by job seekers. This display will also include suitable vacancies from Jobcentres in the surrounding area. I have therefore included in the table the average number of vacancies on display in Irvine and Kilwinning Jobcentres in December 1993.
You asked for information about the nature of the vacancies which were notified and the table gives a breakdown according to whether they were permanent or temporary, full-time or part-time. Because this was the Christmas period the number of temporary vacancies notified was high.
You may also be interested to know that during December Irvine Jobcentre found jobs for 219 people and Kilwinning Jobcentre for 44 people.
I hope this is helpful.
Column 547
p
Notified Average Number
vacancies December
1993
|of vacancies
|displayed
|Permanent |Permanent |Temporary |Temporary |Total
|Full Time |Part Time |Full Time |Part Time
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irvine Jobcentre |77 |51 |99 |1 |228 |260
Kilwinning Jobcentre |13 |9 |10 |0 |32 |165
Amosite Asbestos
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list previous changes in Health and Safety Executive guidelines on the level of brown amosite asbestos considered to be safe.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Health and Safety Executive has not issued specific guidelines on the level of amosite which is considered safe ; a safe level of exposure to any type of asbestos has yet to be identified. However, there is a practical level of exposure below which an increased risk of contracting an asbestos-related disease cannot be detected.
The guidelines which have applied to workplace exposure to amosite are listed in the table. These standards were used by Her Majesty's inspectors of factories to establish whether satisfacory control had been achieved under the Asbestos Regulations 1969. The exposure standards are expressed as fibres per millilitre of air averaged over a continuous period of four hours and were :
(a) 2 fibres per millilitre with effect from May 1970,
(b) 0.5 fibres per millilitre with effect from 1 January 1983, (
(c) 0.2 fibres per millilitre with effect from 1 August 1984.
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The value of 0.2 fibres per millilitre of air became the statutory control limit for amosite, on the advice of the Health and Safety Commission, when the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987 came into effect on 1 March 1988.Women's Earnings
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the number of women who have earnings below (a) the tax threshold and (b) the national insurance threshold, broken down into married women, lone parents and single women at the latest date.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Broad estimates, based on the new earnings survey and estimates of the number of employees in employment, are as follows : in April 1993 there were 2.6 million women employees earning less than the PAYE threshold, of whom 2.3 million earned less than the national insurance lower earnings limit. Using the results of the family expenditure survey it is estimated that approximately 75 per cent. of each of these categories were married women, 5 per cent. lone parents and 20 per cent. single women.
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Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide a figure for the number of staff in his Department covered by statutory sick pay.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The total number of staff in the Department of Employment eligible for statutory sick pay is 53,082.
Youth Unemployment
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of youth unemployment in the city of Sunderland.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 28 January 1994] : Claimant unemployment data by age are available quarterly for the months of January, April, July and October and are on the unadjusted basis. On 14 October 1993, the latest date for which figures are available, the number of unemployed claimants under 25 years of age in the Sunderland local authority district was 5,463, 4 per cent. lower than in the same month a year earlier.
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Redundant Churches
31. Mr. Dickens : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, how many redundant churches are being preserved by use of the redundant churches fund ; and if he will make a statement on the flexibility exercised by the Church Commissioners regarding the sale of redundant churches for alternative use.
Mr. Alison : At the end of 1993, 289 redundant churches were vested in the redundant churches fund.
When a Church of England church is closed for regular public worship, the Pastoral Measure requires that a suitable alternative use be sought for it. The Commissioners make the final decision and regard as suitable a use which is consonant with the former use of the building as a place of worship, and with its historic and architectural qualities and which has planning permission.
Housing Investment
34. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what is the Church Commissioners' policy on investing in providing low-cost family homes to rent.
Mr. Alison : The Commissioners' primary responsibility is to produce a proper return on their assets for the support of the clergy, so financial considerations must take priority in investments decisions. Furthermore, they are not a housing charity. However, the Commissioners are sensitive to the needs in this area and are, therefore, alert to opportunities to dispose of land for the provision of affordable housing where this does not conflict with their duty as trustees. Furthermore, their Octavia Hill residential estates in central London provide about 1,500 homes for people on modest incomes.
Clergy (Pay)
32. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, how many (a) incumbents and (b)
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assistant clergy are currently in the pay of the Church Commissioners ; how much money is involved during the current year ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Alison : There are about 10,500 stipendary clergy ; I will write to my hon. Friend with the precise breakdown. The total annual cost of paying clergy stipends last year, including senior clergy, was approximately £155 million, of which the Commissioners met £63 million. An increasing proportion of this cost will fall on parishes as the Commissioners reduce their support to a more sustainable level. The active ministry will therefore depend far more on the giving of Church members.
Ethical Investment
Ms Lynne : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what efforts are made to ensure that investments made conform to the ideals of ethical investment.
Mr. Alison : The Commissioners' primary responsibility is to produce a proper return on their assets for the support of the clergy, so financial considerations must take priority in investment decisions. However, the Commissioners have always operated, and regularly reviewed, a strong ethical policy which takes account of social, ethical and environmental issues and which is sensitive to the views of Church people. They do not, for example, invest directly in companies whose main business is armaments, gambling, alcohol or tobacco. I have arranged for the hon. Member to receive a copy of the Commissioners' leaflet "A Question of Ethics".
SCOTLAND
NHS Staff Costs
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total cost of employing managers, advisers, administrators and clerical staff in the NHS in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Mr. Stewart : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his previous question on this subject on 27 January, Official Report, column 345.
Development Corporations
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what contacts his Department plans to have with Ayrshire and Scottish Enterprise, Irvine development corporation and Cunninghame district council concerning the transition of the development corporation's economic powers.
Mr. Stewart : The guidance issued by the Scottish Office Industry Department places the responsibility on the development corporation to prepare successor arrangements for economic development. Corporations are to consult fully the local enterprise company and local authorities about the preparation of proposals appropriate to their area. I understand that local discussions are going on at present between the development corporation and Enterprise Ayrshire. The development corporation is required to submit proposals for consideration by my right hon. Friend.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the additional
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costs involved in winding up Irvine development corporation and Livingston development corporation before their original wind-up dates ; and if the costs of winding up Irvine and Livingston new towns were accounted for in the Touche Ross report "Structure of Local Government in Scotland : Advice on Financial and Qualitative Appraisal of Options for Change' ".Mr. Stewart : I am satisfied that there are no additional costs in bringing forward the winding p dates of Irvine and Livingston development corporations. There will be transfers of resources between new town and local government programmes to reflect the transfer of functions and these will be effective from the dates on which the transfers are made. The Touche Ross report did not examine the costs of winding up the new town development corporations.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff currently employed by Irvine development corporation will be transferred to the bodies taking over the development corporation's economic and housing functions.
Mr. Stewart : Discussions towards establishing successor arrangements for economic development are taking place between Irvine development corporation and Enterprise Ayrshire. I hope that it will be possible to retain the expertise of appropriate staff, but it is for those bodies to make recommendations on this matter as part of the proposals the development corporation is required to submit to my right hon. Friend. In respect of the corporation's housing function, the successor bodies will not be determined until the outcome of the ballots are known. Again, it is too early to say how many staff may transfer.
Forestry Commission
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what contact there has been between his Department and Scottish companies concerning the current review of the Forestry Commission's status.
Sir Hector Monro : Officials have, from time to time, had useful discussions with wood processors and companies which have interests relevant to the work of the Forestry Review Group.
Private Nursing Homes
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many persons in each health board area, admitted to private residential or nursing homes since 1 April 1993 (a) are paying the full cost and (b) have had charges recovered from their estate following their death ;
(2) if he will conduct a survey of how many residents of private residential or nursing homes have sold their homes to meet the charges for their residential care.
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