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EDUCATION
Pupil-teacher Ratio
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the current pupil-teacher ratio in (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special schools in each London borough.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested is shown in the table.
Pupil-teacher ratios in maintained primary, secondary and special schools in the London boroughs, January 1993 LEA |Primary |Secondary|Special --------------------------------------------------------------- Corporation of London |15.2 |- |- Camden |20.8 |15.6 |3.9 Greenwich |20.4 |16.7 |6.4 Hackney |19.9 |14.6 |5.7 Hammersmith |19.8 |15.1 |5.4 Islington |19.8 |15.0 |4.9 Kensington and Chelsea |17.6 |13.3 |4.0 Lambeth |19.4 |15.5 |4.7 Lewisham |21.1 |16.5 |5.6 Southwark |21.6 |16.9 |4.8 Tower Hamlets |17.8 |14.0 |5.4 Wandsworth |19.9 |14.7 |5.4 Westminster |17.2 |14.5 |4.9 Barking |22.1 |17.0 |5.1 Barnet |21.1 |15.0 |5.1 Bexley |23.4 |16.7 |6.9 Brent |21.6 |15.3 |4.8 Bromley |23.3 |16.3 |5.9 Croydon |21.5 |16.0 |5.4 Ealing |20.7 |15.3 |5.2 Enfield |21.3 |16.3 |5.5 Haringey |20.8 |14.5 |4.8 Harrow |21.3 |15.7 |5.7 Havering |22.8 |16.4 |6.0 Hillingdon |22.0 |15.8 |7.5 Hounslow |20.5 |16.4 |5.9 Kingston upon Thames |22.5 |15.8 |6.2 Merton |19.6 |15.5 |5.2 Newham |24.1 |16.6 |4.5 Redbridge |23.0 |17.2 |4.7 Richmond upon Thames |20.3 |16.5 |5.4 Sutton |23.4 |16.8 |6.7 Waltham Forest |22.2 |15.2 |3.6
Student Grants
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what were the principal conclusions of the Gulbenkian Foundation survey into discretionary grants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale (Sir F. Montgomery) on 13 April at column 196 .
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will place a copy of the report of the Gulbenkian Foundation on discretionary grants in the Library.
Mr. Boswell : A copy of the report is already available in the Library, placed there on publication by the Calouste Gulbenkian and Sir John Cass's Foundations.
Supply Teachers
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education for how many days supply teachers have been employed since April 1993 in (a) England and (b) each London borough.
Mr. Robin Squire : The detail requested is not available. An annual survey of teachers employed in the maintained sector gives a snapshot view of occasional supply teachers employed for the whole day in schools on the survey date. There were 12,446 such teachers in service on 21 January 1993 in England. Reliable figures at local education authority level are not available.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many supply teachers are registered with each local education authority in London.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested is not centrally collected.
Teachers (Illness)
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what analysis he has done of the numbers of teaching days lost due to stress-related illnesses since April 1993.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Department does not collect information on teacher absence due to illness.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 28 March, Official Report, column 522, what requests he received to meet Labour Members representing London constituencies to discuss problems facing their constituents ; what responses he gave ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Patten : I have received the following requests :
Z Member of Parliament |Date |Response ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nick Raynsford (Greenwich) |1 August 1993 |Request accepted Michael Neubert (Romford) |5 October 1993 |Request accepted Mike Gapes (Ilford South) |24 February 1994 |Request declined Notes: <1> The details cover all requests for meetings received by the Secretary of State or one of the Ministers in the Department since 1 March 1993, the time period for which the hon. Member asked his earlier question concerning meetings with hon. Members representing constituencies in London.
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 28 March, Official Report, column 522, which hon. Members representing London constituencies he or Ministers in his Department have met since April 1992.
Mr. Patten : The details requested are as follows :
Secretary of State
Hugh Dykes MP (Harrow, East)--4 March 1993
The right hon. Nicholas Scott MP (Chelsea)--20 December 1993 Minister of State--The Baroness Blatch
John Marshall (Hendon, South)--13 January 1994
Richard Tracey (Surbiton)--28 February 1994
Mr. Boswell
None
Mr. Forth
Hartley Booth (Finchley)--22 July 1993
Nigel Spearing (Newham)--5 October 1992
Matthew Carrington (Fulham)--7 January 1993
Tim Eggar (Enfield)--10 February 1993
Michael Neubert (Romford)--26 October 1993
John Bowis (Battersea)--17 January 1994
Nick Raynsford (Greenwich)--12 April 1994
Mr. Squire
Richard Tracey (Surbiton)--12 October 1993
Michael Shersby (Uxbridge)--2 December 1993
Piers Merchant (Beckenham)--15 March 1994
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to his answer of 28 March, Official Report, column 522 , how many Labour Members nationally he, or Ministers in his Department, have met in the last year ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Patten : The details requested are as follows :
Secretary of State
None.
Minister of State--The Baroness Blatch
None.
Mr. Boswell
None.
Mr. Forth
Jeff Rooker (Birmingham, Perry Barr)--13 July 1994
Wyn Griffiths (Bridgend)--27 July 1993
Nick Raynsford (Greenwich)--12 April 1994
Greg Pope (Hyndburn) and Peter Pike (Burnley)--23 February 1994 (this was part of an all-Party delegation from Lancashire county council)
Mr. Squire
text Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many requests he has received from the hon. Member for Ilford, South for a meeting to discuss the educational problems and overcrowding in the London borough of Redbridge ; on what dates he received the letters ; and what was the response.
Mr. Patten : I have received one request from the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Gapes) for a meeting. This was received on 24 February 1994. This request was declined by the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch (Mr. Squire) as Minister
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responsible for school organisation issues on my behalf. He advised the hon. Member that I have no powers of intervention in the matter.EMPLOYMENT
Unemployment, Lewisham
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in Lewisham, East have been unemployed for more than two years ; what percentage of the unemployed in Lewisham, East this represents ; how many are women ; and how many are aged under 25 years.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is given in the following table :
Claimant unemployment in Lewisham,
East-January 1994
|Number
-------------------------------------------
Claimants unemployed for
over 2 years: |<1>1,319
Of which:
Women |215
Under 25's |190
<1> 25 per cent. of all unemployed in the
area.
Note: Claimant unemployment statistics by
age and duration are available on the
unadjusted basis from the NOMIS database
in the Library for the months of January,
April, July and October.
Age Discrimination
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what current United Kingdom legislation makes provision against discrimination on grounds of age in employment matters ; how many United Kingdom employees have (a) won and (b) lost an appeal against unfair dismissal on the grounds of age discrimination ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : There is no United Kingdom legislation which makes provision against discrimination on grounds of age in employment. The Government firmly believe that the way forward is through education and persuasion.
The consideration of whether a dismissal is unfair may include consideration of how age has been taken into account in the decision to dismiss, but this depends on the particular circumstances of the case. Industrial tribunals' central office does not keep records of the factors involved in such cases and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Ionising Radiation
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what evaluation he has made of the proposals made by Mr. Paul Lannoye MEP in his report A3-0147/94 on the amended proposal for a council directive laying down the basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation (COM(93)0349-C3-0282/93, of 17 March.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : None ; the proposals are being made to a Committee of the European Parliament.
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JHP Training
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much public money has been paid to JHP Training by training and enterprise councils in each of the last five years.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is not collected centrally. Contracts between training and enterprise councils and their training providers are matters for local negotiation and the details are commercially confidential.
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Industrial Injuries
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) deaths, (b) major injuries and (c) minor injuries were reported to (i) the mines inspectorate, (ii) the railways inspectorate, (iii) the offshore safety inspectorate and (iv) the explosives inspectorate in each year since 1983.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The available information is provided in the following table. There was no overall requirement to notify "minor" injuries--that is, those causing incapacity for work for more than three days during the years 1983 to 1985.
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Occupational injuries<1> reported to enforcing authorities, 1983 to 1992-93p
Mines Railways Offshore Safety Explosives
Inspectorate<5> Inspectorate<6> Division<7> Inspectorate<8>
Year<2> |Fatal |Major |Over 3-day |Fatal |Major |Over 3-day |Fatal |Major |Over 3-day |Fatal |Major |Over 3-day
|injuries |injuries<3>|injuries<4>|injuries |injuries<3>|injuries<4>|injuries |injuries<3>|injuries<4>|injuries |injuries<3>|injuries<4>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |37 |947 |n/a |28 |161 |n/a |10 |47 |n/a |1 |3 |n/a
1984 |38 |427 |n/a |25 |127 |n/a |13 |59 |n/a |- |- |n/a
1985 |48 |775 |n/a |25 |166 |n/a |8 |103 |n/a |- |- |n/a
1986-87 |34 |1,179 |11,535 |10 |185 |2,561 |4 |87 |571 |1 |16 |123
1987-88 |26 |945 |8,855 |17 |225 |2,448 |8 |70 |573 |2 |10 |136
1988-89 |29 |937 |7,097 |16 |310 |3,345 |<9>172 |64 |688 |4 |17 |150
1989-90 |20 |652 |5,089 |10 |263 |2,697 |2 |74 |676 |- |15 |107
1990-91 |13 |536 |4,205 |23 |331 |3,091 |12 |91 |681 |1 |22 |124
1991-92 |13 |499 |3,157 |17 |278 |3,226 |13 |84 |585 |- |7 |112
1992-93p |6 |353 |1,799 |11 |325 |3,882 |4 |75 |509 |1 |1 |87
n/a not available.
p provisional.
<1>Injuries at work to employees and self employed people, and members of the public injured as a result of someone else's work activity.
<2>Figures for the calendar years 1983 to 1985 and financial years from 1 April 1986 onwards.
<3>Chiefly amputations, serious fractures and other injuries requiring hospitalisation for more than 24 hours. Note the definition was extended in April 1986 and
therefore figures for 1983 to 1985 should not be directly compared with those for later years.
<4>Injuries causing incapacity for normal work for more than three days.
<5>Based on reports made under the Notification of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1980 (NADOR) for the years 1983 to 1985 and the Reporting of
Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1985 (RIDDOR) for subsequent years. Figures for the years 1983 to 1988-89 also include reports made to the
Quarries Inspectorate.
<6>Based on reports made under NADOR and RIDDOR (as above) and associated railway legislation.
<7>Formerly the Petroleum Engineering Division of the Department of Energy. Figures based on reports made under offshore installations safety legislation.
<8>Based on reports made under NADOR and RIDDOR (as in <5> above) and explosives legislation.
<9>Includes the 167 fatalities arising from the Piper Alpha disaster.
Training Programmes
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the figures for operating surplus accumulated from Government-funded training programmes for (a) 1990-91, (b) 1991-92 and (c) 1992-93.
Miss Widdecombe : Government-funded training programmes in England and Wales are delivered through training and enterprise councils. TECs may generate operating surpluses by sub-contracting training programmes at lower unit prices than those negotiated with the Department, by keeping administrative costs below the management fee paid by the Department, by earning other income or by carrying out other business in accordance with their articles and memorandum of association.
The surplus generated from all these activities is shown in the TECs published accounts. The operating surplus accumulated specifically from Government-funded training programmes is not published separately.
A full set of accounts for each TEC, for the financial years 1990-91, 1991- 92 and 1992-93 has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total budget for training for work, including the participants' allowance, for England and Wales in 1994-95.
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Miss Widdecombe : The total budget for the training for work scheme for England and Wales in 1994-95, including training allowances, is £749 million.
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much of the 1993-94 budgets for training for work and youth training was unspent.
Miss Widdecombe : The information is not yet available. It will be published in the Department's appropriation accounts later in the year.
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total accumulated surplus held in TEC reserves that is now available to TECs.
Miss Widdecombe : The total accumulated surplus held in training and enterprise council reserves is shown in the TECs' published accounts. A full set of accounts for each TEC, for the year ending 31 March 1993, has been placed in the Library.
Private Security Firms
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years ; what has been the annual value of the contracts ; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is available only at disproportionate cost.
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Workplace Deaths
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 30 March, Official Report, columns 813-14, what was the result of each prosecution listed in the table supplied.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested is given in the following table :
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Outcome of the Prosecutions which followed
Fatalities in 1992-93
Case |Action
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wales and South West Region
Six fatalities led to prosecution action:
Case 1: |3 informations laid, all convicted with fines of
|£350 (x3)
Case 2: |3 informations laid, each convicted with fines of
| £12,000, £6,000 and £2,000.
Case 3: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £15,000.
Case 4: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £100,000.
Case 5: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £160.
Case 6: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £5,000.
Home Counties Region
Seven fatalities led to prosecution action:
Case 1: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £480.
Case 2: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £300.
Case 3: |8 informations laid, all convicted. Fines imposed of
|£20,000, £10,000 (x2) and £1,000 (x}2). Three
|remaining results recorded as 'guilty other' eg
|community service.
Case 4: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £15,000.
Case 5: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £2,000.
Case 6: |2 informations laid, both convicted with fines of £1,000
|and £200.
Case 7: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £10,000.
London and South East Region
Five fatalities led to prosecution action
Case 1: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £7,000.
Case 2: |4 informations laid, all convicted with fines of £40,000.
Case 3: |2 informations laid, both convicted with fines of
|£15,000.
Case 4: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £13,000.
Case 5: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £10,000.
Midlands Region
Nine fatalities led to prosecution action
Case 1: |8 informations laid, 7 convictions and 1 withdrawn.
|Fines imposed of £20,000, £2,500 (x2) and £400 (x4).
Case 2: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £12,000.
Case 3: |1 information laid, withdrawn.
Case 4: |2 informations laid, convicted with a fine of £30,000
|and 1 where result not yet recorded.
Case 5: |3 informations laid, 2 convicted with fines of £5,000
|and £2,500, and 1 withdrawn.
Case 6: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £17,500.
Case 7: |3 informations laid, all convicted with fines of £1,750
|(x2) and £1,000.
Case 8: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £2,000.
Case 9: |2 informations laid, both convicted with fines of £750.
Yorkshire and North East Region
Ten fatalities led to prosecution action
Case 1: |2 informations laid, 1 convicted with a fine of £1,500
|and 1 withdrawn.
Case 2: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £1,000.
Case 3: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £1,500.
Case 4: |2 informations laid, both later withdrawn.
Case 5: |2 informations laid, both convicted with fines of £3,000
|and £520.
Case 6: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £675.
Case 7: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £250,000.
Case 8: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £1,000.
Case 9: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £12,000.
Case 10: |1 information laid, dismissed.
North West Region
Eight fatalities led to prosecution action
Case 1: |2 informations laid, 1 convicted with a fine of £1,200
|and 1 withdrawn.
Case 2: |2 informations laid, both convicted with fines of £1,500
|and £750.
Case 3: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £7,000.
Case 4: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £2,000.
Case 5: |2 informations laid, 1 convicted with a fine of £3,000
|and 1 withdrawn.
Case 6: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £3,500.
Case 7: |2 informations laid, 1 convicted with a fine of £750 and
|1 withdrawn.
Case 8: |3 informations laid, all dismissed.
Scotland Region
Ten fatalities led to prosecution action
Case 1: |1 information laid, withdrawn.
Case 2: |1 information laid, dismissed.
Case 3: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £6,000.
Case 4: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £1,000.
Case 5: |2 informations laid, 1 convicted (no fine recorded yet)
|and 1 withdrawn.
Case 6: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £1,000.
Case 7: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £2,000.
Case 8: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £400.
Case 9: |2 informations laid, 1 convicted with a fine of £10,000
|and 1 dismissed.
Case 10: |1 information laid, convicted with a fine of £7,500.
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Working Hours
Ms Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what research he has commissioned about any link between long working hours and the health and safety of employees ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Professor J. M. Harrington of the University of Birmingham institute of occupational health was commissioned last year to identify and evaluate pertinent medical and scientific literature relating to the effect, if any, of hours of work on employees' health.
The Health and Safety Executive has previously commissioned the studies "Shift Work and Health--a Critical Review of the Literature", Harrington, 1978 and "Shiftwork, Health and Safety--an overview of the scientific literature 1978-1990", Waterhouse, Folkard and Minors, 1992.
Unemployment (Merseyside)
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the level of unemployment for the Liverpool, Riverside constituency at the latest available date ; and where Liverpool, Riverside stands in the list of constituencies ranked by level of unemployment.
Miss Widdecombe : In February 1994, unadjusted claimant unemployment in the Liverpool, Riverside constituency was 7,019. Only unemployment rates provide meaningful rankings for areas, such as parliamentary constituencies, with different sized work forces. Official unemployment rates are not available below travel-to-work areas.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to reduce unemployment in (a) Merseyside and (b) Liverpool ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The overall policy of the Department is to promote a free and flexible labour market that is designed to help encourage employment in Merseyside and Liverpool, as in all areas.
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Social Affairs Council
Mr. Hendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Social Affairs Council held on 19 April.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I attended the meeting of the Labour and Social Affairs Council held on 19 April in Luxembourg and was accompanied by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security.
The Council considered a number of Commission proposals, but no final decisions were reached and no votes were taken.
The directive on the protection of young workers was discussed in the light of the Commission's proposed amendments to the common position reached at the Social Affairs Council on 23 November. No decision was reached. We were successful in our efforts at the meeting to resist European Parliament attempts to remove the United Kingdom's opt-out. Most member states indicated that they could accept a presidency proposal which included the whole of the United Kingdom opt-out and its renewability. There will be a further discussion of the directive at the Social Affairs Council in June. The Commission's draft programme on social exclusion was also discussed and will be considered further at the June Council. The Council reached agreement in principle on the composition of the administrative board of the proposed health and safety agency in Bilbao. A number of other outstanding issues were returned to Council working groups for further discussion.
The Council agreed that the Commission should consider how best to take forward the draft directives on parental leave, non-standard work and the reversal of the burden of proof in equal pay and equal treatment cases. The Commissioner acknowledged that the United Kingdom maintained its opposition to the proposed directives. The Council heard progress reports from Commissioner Flynn on follow-up to the Delors White Paper and on responses to his own Green Paper on European social policy. There will be a substantive discussion on the Green Paper at the June Social Affairs Council meeting. The United Kingdom Government's response to the Green Paper was submitted promptly, but responses from some other member states had yet to arrive.
The Council discussed the operation of the social protocol and the agreement of the Eleven in the light of a communication from the Commission. Commissioner Flynn provided a report on progress with the proposal on European Works Councils. Discussions between the social partners had broken down and the Commission had now agreed the text of a new proposal to be discussed under the agreement of the Eleven. The directive would not apply in the United Kingdom. Commissioner Flynn also made a preliminary presentation on a Commission communication on asylum and immigration policy.
Finally, the Council agreed that the Commission should look into Belgian concerns about the operation of EC social security regulations for posted workers.
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