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Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the minimum rate of unemployed required to sustain the Government's policy of labour flexibility.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : There is no minimum rate required to sustain labour market flexibility. The aim of labour market flexibility is to support economic growth, create jobs and reduce unemployment.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's policy of labour flexibility on the distribution of income ; and whether it was intended to have that effect.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The distribution of income is determined by a variety of factors including the extent of unemployment. A flexible labour market should reduce unemployment and therefore help those at the lower end of the income distribution.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what account the Government have taken of the extra cost to the social services in assessing the results of their policy on labour flexibility ;
(2) what account the Government have taken in judging, the results of their policy of labour flexibility, of the extra cost, to law and order ;
(3) what account the Government have taken of the extra cost to the health service in assessing the results of their policy on labour flexibility.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Labour market flexibility supports economic growth, creates jobs and reduces unemployment. It does not involve extra costs to the social services, law and order or the health service.
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Productivity (Rewards)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 11 March, Official Report, column 433, concerning rewards for productivity, what effect the increase in part-time working in the service sector has had on output per person employed ; and if he will restate the published figures to show the estimated increase.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Statistics on the component of output attributable to part-time workers in the service sector are not compiled. As a result it is not possible to estimate reliably the effect on productivity of an increase in part-time working in the service sector.
Productivity
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 11 March, Official Report, column 433, concerning rewards for productivity, if he will give the data per person-hour in the sectors requested.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The data on output per person-hour in the sectors requested are not available.
Working Hours
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 3 March, Official Report, column 861, on the number of hours worked, if he will provide comparable information for the whole economy less manufacturing.
Miss Widdecombe : The figures given in my reply to the hon. Member on 3 March 1994, Official Report, column 861 were based upon the index of total weekly hours worked by all operatives in manufacturing. There are no comparable figures for the rest of the economy.
However, the labour force survey provides estimates of the total number of hours worked in each industry sector on the basis of information provided by individuals responding to the survey. These estimates are not seasonally adjusted and so comparable figures must relate to the same time period for each year. Thus, most recent comparable estimates from the LFS between spring 1989 and spring 1993, show that the total number of hours worked by employees and self-employed in Great Britain fell by 19 per cent. for those in manufacturing industries, and by 13 per cent. for those in other sectors of the economy.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Chisholm : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for those in full-time training and also included in the count of the work force in employment.
Miss Widdecombe : In Great Britain, in December 1993, there were 428,000 participants on Government training programmes who were included in the count of the work force in employment. This figure comprises those people whose training has an element of work experience, including those with a contract of employment.
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Manufacturing Industry
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the correlation between the rate of economic growth since 1964 and the numbers employed in manufacturing in the United Kingdom and other industrial countries.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Industrial employment has fallen in a majority of the G7 countries since 1964. Output, on the other hand, has risen--in most cases substantially.
Ministerial Duties
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish a list of his duties and the amount of his working week allocated to each activity.
Mr. David Hunt : A list of my duties and those of my Ministers is set out in the Departmental Report (Cm 2505), a copy of which is available in the Library. The amount of time spent on any one aspect will vary from week to week.
Proton Cars
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many Proton cars were purchased by his Department in each of the last 10 years for which information is available ; and at what cost.
Allerton Road Jobcentre
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the future of the Allerton Road jobcentre, Liverpool.
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. Fogden to Mr. David Alton, dated 29 March 1994 : The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question in which you ask about the future of Allerton Road Jobcentre (JC), Liverpool.
Allerton JC will be closed on or about 10 June 1994 as part of the Employment Service (ES) programme to integrate its services and rationalise its estate. The Allerton premises are located in a small three storey shop unit which cannot be converted to provide the full range of ES services ; the lease expires in February 1995. We are therefore bringing together all our job seeking and benefit payment services at our nearby newly refurbished office at Wavertree. We hope this will provide an improved standard of service to our clients locally as everything will now be available under one roof. Wavertree ES JC is approximately two miles from Allerton and there is a regular bus service between them.
I hope this is helpful.
Thorne Jobcentre
Mr. Kevin Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what wards in the Doncaster, North constituency are covered by the Thorne jobcentre.
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.
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Letter from M. Fogden to Mr. Kevin Hughes, dated 29 March 1994 : The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking which wards in the Doncaster North Constituency are covered by Thorne Jobcentre.It may be helpful if I explain that Jobcentre boundaries are not defined in ward terms. However, it is possible to match frozen April 1991 Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) wards to Jobcentre areas on a best- fit basis.
There are four wards in the Doncaster North Constituency. On a best-fit basis, two wards, Thorne and Hatfield, are fully within the Thorne Jobcentre catchment area as is the northern half of the Stainforth ward. The fourth ward in the constituency, Askern, falls in the neighbouring Doncaster Jobcentre area.
I hope you find this helpful.
Earnings
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on comparisons between pay increases in the public and private sectors in Britain in 1993-94 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information on the earnings of employees in the public and private sectors is published, each year, in table 1 of part A of the new earnings survey. The latest available information, published in September 1993, relates to April 1993. Copies of the latest report are available in the Library. The monthly average earnings index, published by the Department, does not distinguish between private sector and public sector earnings.
Apprenticeships
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement concerning his plans to create new-style apprenticeships ; in what industries he expects the new apprenticeships to be created ; and what estimates he has of the number of new apprenticeships he expects to be created.
Miss Widdecombe : A wide range of modern apprenticeships will be offered to 16 and 17-year-old school leavers from September 1995, with some prototypes starting later this year. Fourteen sectors are involved in prototype arrangements and these are linked to 42 training and enterprise councils. These are :
Agriculture
Somerset, South and East Cheshire, Northumberland, Humberside Business Administration
Gloucestershire, Norfolk and Waveney, Northamptonshire
Chemicals
Wakefield, CEWTEC/NorMidTEC
Childcare
North West London, Stockport/High Peak
Electrical Installation
Essex, Suffolk, South Derbyshire, MetroTEC
Engineering Manufacturing
Devon and Cornwall, Milton Keynes and North Buckinghamshire, London East TEC, Walsall, Barnsley and Doncaster, Merseyside, Hertfordshire, Birmingham (in conjunction with Coventry and CENTEC)
Engineering Construction
Bolton/Bury, Durham
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Information TechnologyLeeds, West London, Teesside
Marine Engineering
Cumbria
Merchant Navy
Tyneside
Polymers
Shropshire
Retail
AZTEC, Lincoln, HAWTEC
Steel
Sandwell, Sheffield (Steel Training)
Travel Services
North London, Dorset, Surrey
Up to 2,000 young people will be catered for this year, with up to 150,000 in training at any one time when the initiative is fully developed.
European Structural Funds
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the Government will apply for objective 4 grants under the European structural funds ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, North (Mr. Heald) on 25 January 1994, at column 233.
Part-time Work
Mrs. Clywd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what action the Government will take to implement the ruling given by the House of Lords on part-time workers ;
(2) to what extent retrospective compensation claims from part-time workers will be possible following the House of Lords ruling.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what changes to current employment legislation he is considering following the recent House of Lords ruling that part-time employees have the same rights as full-time employees with regard to unfair dismissal and redundancy ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The Government are carefully considering this judgment to ascertain its full implications and will make an announcement as soon as possible.
Child Care
Ms Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much his Department spends on child care provision for the under-fives and out- of-school provision for children aged over five either directly, excluding provision for departmental staff, or indirectly through resources made available to local authorities or other organisations ; what form of provision is thereby provided ; how many places are thereby provided ; and if he will make a statement on child care.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 14 March 1994] : We have committed £45 million to the out-of-school child care grant initiative, with the aim of creating up to 50,000
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new after-school and holiday places for the over-fives throughout Great Britain. Training and enterprise councils and local enterprise companies also have the flexibility to use their budgets to provide child care assistance for trainees.In addition, over 90 per cent. of three to four-year-olds attend either education or group day care. It is not, however, possible to say what proportion of these places will have benefited from Government support--for example, through TECs and LECs.
Unemployment Benefit
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current average cost of administration of an unemployment benefit payment.
Mr. Hague : I have been asked to reply.
The latest expenditure figures are contained in the DSS departmental report, Cm 2513. The total administration cost of unemployment benefit in 1992-93 was £269 million. The total number of payments was 23,847,000 giving an average of £11.28. This includes allowance for the cost of administering national insurance credits for
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clients who do not receive any social security benefit and part of the cost of Employment Service advisers who check benefit eligibility.SCOTLAND
Development Corporation Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many tenancies controlled by the (a) Cumbernauld, (b) East Kilbride, (c) Glenrothes, (d) Irvine and (e) Livingston development corporations occupying (i) less than 10, 000 sq ft, (ii) between 10,000 and 20,000 sq ft, (iii) between 20,000 and 30,000 sq ft, (iv) between 30,000 and 40,000 sq ft, (v) between 40,000 and 50,000 sq ft, (vi) between 50,000 and 100,000 sq ft, (vii) between 100,000 and 200,000 sq ft and (viii) over 200,000 sq ft are (1) currently vacant and (2) occupied.
Mr. Stewart : The tables show the numbers of industrial and commercial units currently owned by the development corporations and whether tenanted or vacant :
Scottish New Town development corporations-numbers of industrial units (a) tenanted and (b) vacant as at
23 March 1994
|Cumbernauld |East Kilbride|Glenrothes |Irvine |Livingston
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 10,000 ft<2>
Occupied |54 |117 |46 |78 |138
Vacant |41 |54 |49 |24 |42
10,001-20,000 ft<2>
Occupied |13 |17 |14 |0 |35
Vacant |9 |8 |9 |0 |0
20,001-30,000 ft<2>
Occupied |8 |3 |6 |0 |16
Vacant |3 |0 |1 |0 |0
30,001-40,000 ft<2>
Occupied |2 |2 |1 |0 |5
Vacant |0 |1 |0 |0 |1
40,001-50,000 ft<2>
Occupied |3 |0 |0 |0 |3
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
50,001-100,000 ft<2>
Occupied |3 |2 |0 |0 |7
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
100,001-200,000 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |0 |0 |0 |6
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Above 200,001 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |0 |1 |0 |0
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
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Scottish new town development corporations numbers of commercial properties (a) tenanted and (b) vacant at
23 March 1994
|Cumbernauld |East Kilbride|Glenrothes |Irvine |Livingston
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 10,000 ft<2>
Occupied |51 |258 |87 |135 |140
Vacant |5 |14 |1 |34 |14
10,001-20,000 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |2 |1 |12 |5
Vacant |0 |1 |0 |8 |0
20,001-30,000 ft<2>
Occupied |1 |1 |0 |4 |2
Vacant |0 |0 |1 |1 |1
30,001-40,000 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |1 |0 |3 |4
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |2 |0
40,001-50,000 ft<2>
Occupied |1 |0 |0 |3 |3
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
50,001-100,000 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |0 |0 |4 |4
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
100,001-200,000 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |0 |0 |0 |1
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Above 200,001 ft<2>
Occupied |0 |0 |1 |0 |0
Vacant |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much each of Scotland's development corporations has spent during each of the last five years on advertising.
Mr. Stewart : Information on advertising costs is not available centrally. Expenditure on publicity and marketing is set out in schedule 2 of the annual accounts of each new town development corporation. The annual reports, including the accounts, are available in the Library of the House.
National Health Service Helpline
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 7 March, Official Report, column 54, what action has been taken by each of Scotland's health boards to publicise the operation of the NHS helpline ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stewart : Since the NHS helpline came into operation in October 1992 expenditure on administration of the service totals £227,566 and expenditure on publicity totals £98,748.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 7 March, Official Report, column 54, what assessment he has made of the calls to the NHS helpline ; what procedure was adopted by his office in establishing its helpline ; how many people are employed to deal with the calls ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stewart : The NHS in Scotland management executive receives monthly monitoring reports and quarterly customer satisfaction survey reports from Network Scotland which operates the NHS helpline on a contractual basis. These give details of the number and subjects of the calls received and an indication of customer satisfaction with the service.
Tenders were invited for the setting up and running of the service from a number of organisations and the contract was awarded to Network Scotland. A project supervisor and up to four part-time operators are employed by Network Scotland in work relating to the NHS helpline.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 7 March, Official
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Report, column 54, how much his office has spent (a) administering and (b) publicising the operation of its NHS helpline ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Stewart : All health boards in Scotland, and their provider units, publicise the NHS helpline telephone number and information about the service provided in a variety of ways. These include the provision of information in health board literature, local health charters, patient information leaflets, notice board information in public areas of health board premises and distribution of the NHS helpline poster.
Redundant Hospitals
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many redundant NHS hospitals have been disposed of since 1987 without the benefit of planning permission.
Mr. Stewart : The information requested is not collected centrally. Advice on the planning aspects of disposals is contained in current guidance on the handling of NHS property transactions.
National Continence Week
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what projects his Department instigated in respect of National Continence Week.
Mr. Stewart : The Scottish Office provided funding for the expansion of a telephone helpline facility at the continence resource centre, Southern General Hospital NHS Trust, Glasgow to secure additional staff and equipment, for a four-week period including National Continence Week. Leaflets, posters and stickers advertising the helpline and encouraging sufferers to seek help were distributed widely, advertisements were placed in public transport buses throughout Scotland and in national newspapers, and a briefing note was circulated to all media outlets. In addition a number of events were organised across the country by local health service professionals, including continence advisers.
Dairy Farmers
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dairy farmers there were in Scotland in each year since 1985.
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Sir Hector Monro : No information on the number of dairy farmers is collected. The Scottish agricultural census identifies specialist dairy and general dairy farm types.
The number of such farms was :
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