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In Vitro Fertilisation
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received about the effects of IVF treatment on the health of mothers and children; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville: Since 1994, Ministers have received four letters on the subject.
The summary of "The Report of the Medical Research Council Working Party on Children Conceived by IVF" by Pat Doyle and Valerie Beral, was published in the British Medical Journal, BMJ 1990, 300: 1229 33. The study showed that the numbers of malformations found were consistent with the range of expected values in national data on congenital malformations.
From 1988 the interim licensing authority for human in-vitro fertilisation and embryology, and from 1 August
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1991 the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have kept registers of IVF treatment, including records of developmental defects in babies conceived as a result of treatment. These have not shown untoward rates of abnormality.Benzodiazepines
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what quantity of benzodiazepines was prescribed via community pharmacists in England and Wales in each year since 1987; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Malone: The available data for England are contained in the table. Information relating to Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Benzodiazepines dispensing by community
pharmacists.
England 1987 to 1993
Year |Prescriptions
|(thousands)
------------------------------------------
1987 |20,565
1988 |18,682
1989 |17,274
1990 |16,507
1991 |15,662
1992 |14,775
1993 |14,143
Notes:
1. The data are from the Prescription
Costs Analysis system and cover all
prescriptions dispensed by community
pharmacists and appliance contractors.
2. 1987 to 1990 data are based on fees.
Data from 1991 are based on items.
3. The data on the Prescribing Analyses
and Cost PCA system are for England only
and cover all prescriptions dispensed by
community pharmacists and appliance
contractors.
Cots and Mattresses
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when her Department first became aware of the possible link between chemicals in cot and baby mattresses and sudden infant death syndrome; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville: The Department first became aware of the hypothesis that certain chemicals in cot and baby mattresses may be connected with sudden infant death syndrome in January 1989.
At that time a working group, chaired by Professor Turner, was asked to consider this hypothesis in detail, data from the scientific literature, and submissions and evidence from interested parties. It concluded that the hypothesis relating SIDS with microbial infestation and gas generation from antimony of phosphorus based additives present in cot furnishings was unfounded.
Dr. Kenneth Calman, the Chief Medical Officer, has set up an expert group to steer further work by the Department on cot deaths.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Energy Expenditure
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total expenditure on
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energy for each property owned or leased by his Department for the use of Ministers in each of the last three years for which figures are available.Sir John Wheeler: It is not possible to allocate the precise share of energy costs between the offices and the accommodation provided for official use by Ministers from the energy costs for these buildings.
Sight Tests
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the estimated savings made in 1992 93 as a result of the introduction of a charge for sight tests.
Mr. Moss: A total of £2.3 million.
Hospices
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of hospice expenditure in Northern Ireland is publicly funded.
Mr. Moss: Approximately 37 per cent. of the expenditure of voluntary hospices in Northern Ireland was met by funding from statutory sources in the financial year 1993 94.
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Northern Ireland hospice may expect to receive an increased level of support from public funds.
Mr. Moss: This is a matter for negotiation between the Northern Ireland hospice and the health and social services boards in Northern Ireland as part of the contracting arrangements for the purchase and provision of palliative care services.
Blind and Partially Sighted People
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were registered (a) blind and (b) partially sighted at (i) 31 March 1986 and (ii) 31 March 1991.
Mr. Moss: Information is not collected centrally in the format requested. On 31 December 1985, 3,437 blind and 1,285 partially sighted people were known to health and social service boards while 2,974 blind and 1,087 partially sighted people were in contact with the boards during the year ended 31 March 1991.
Water Disconnections
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many water disconnections have taken place in each of the last three years.
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Mr. Moss: The table shows the number of disconnections for non- payment of accounts in each of the last three financial years. The figures relate to commercial, industrial and agricultural premises.
Year |Number ---------------------- 1991-92 |385 1992-93 |211 1993-94 |146
Disconnections to domestic properties occur only in circumstances such as dereliction and reconstruction.
Water Meters
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on the installation of water meters in each of the last three years; and how many homes have been metered in those years.
Mr. Moss: The table shows the amount spent on the installation of water meters in each of the last three financial years.
Year |Amount £ --------------------------- 1991-92 |150,685 1992-93 |174,503 1993-94 |103,471
Water supplied to a property used solely for domestic purposes is not metered.
Overhead Cables
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the policy of the Department of the Environment planning service in relation to overhead electricity and telephone cables; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moss: The Department's policy is set out in policy PSU11 of the planning strategy for rural Northern Ireland, which was published in September 1993. Copies are available in the Library.
Respiratory Illnesses
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hospital admissions there were for each month in 1991, 1992 and 1993 for (a) acute respiratory complaints and (b) bronchitis by local health authority and trust.
Mr. Moss: The information is set out in the tables attached, which take into account that there were no fully established trusts in Northern Ireland prior to April 1993.
Hospital admissions for acute respiratory infections by board:
1991
Board of
treatment
Month |Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
January |433 |261 |234 |189 |1,117
February |383 |233 |226 |175 |1,017
March |392 |247 |264 |187 |1,090
April |403 |227 |227 |156 |1,013
May |432 |206 |201 |165 |1,004
June |382 |213 |175 |146 |916
July |340 |170 |150 |116 |776
August |353 |160 |127 |120 |760
September |433 |190 |198 |193 |1,014
October |476 |236 |242 |223 |1,177
November |441 |213 |219 |190 |1,063
December |557 |279 |284 |249 |1,369
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------
Total |5,025 |2,635 |2,547 |2,109 |12,316
Hospital admissions for acute respiratory infections by board:
1992
Board of
treatment
Month |Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
January |533 |317 |235 |232 |1,317
February |501 |285 |197 |206 |1,189
March |428 |200 |45 |189 |862
April |418 |184 |37 |124 |763
May |375 |208 |48 |127 |758
June |382 |196 |82 |160 |820
July |288 |166 |135 |133 |722
August |279 |148 |143 |90 |660
September |339 |196 |207 |131 |873
October |304 |199 |188 |141 |832
November |328 |213 |225 |126 |892
December |342 |212 |182 |80 |816
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------
Total |4,517 |2,524 |1,724 |1,739 |10,504
Hospital admissions for acute respiratory infections by board:
1993
Board of
treatment
Month |Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
January |413 |227 |192 |190 |1,022
February |375 |278 |152 |251 |1,056
March |467 |310 |128 |251 |1,156
April |495 |246 |162 |192 |1,095
May |423 |245 |156 |211 |1,035
June |470 |236 |203 |187 |1,096
July |393 |186 |193 |163 |935
August |399 |189 |147 |168 |903
September |524 |248 |140 |224 |1,136
October |692 |314 |170 |233 |1,409
November |816 |381 |301 |344 |1,842
December |621 |329 |289 |258 |1,497
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------
Total |6,088 |3,189 |2,233 |2,672 |14,182
Hospital admissions for acute respiratory infections by trust: 1993
Trust
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Month |Royal Group |Belfast City |Green Park |Ulster North Down and Ards|Craigavon area |Total
April |82 |134 |21 |173 |80 |490
May |54 |109 |35 |158 |86 |442
June |88 |106 |37 |148 |98 |477
July |79 |93 |29 |121 |89 |411
August |95 |83 |26 |109 |75 |388
September |192 |77 |25 |155 |54 |503
October |196 |169 |35 |177 |82 |659
November |274 |186 |42 |170 |132 |804
December |184 |135 |34 |145 |145 |643
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Total |1,244 |1,092 |284 |1,356 |841 |4,817
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Hospital admissions for bronchitis: 1991
Board of Northern Ireland
treatment
Month |Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
January |72 |32 |48 |40 |192
February |149 |39 |98 |88 |374
March |136 |23 |86 |76 |321
April |55 |7 |30 |28 |120
May |25 |8 |20 |11 |64
June |31 |2 |14 |6 |53
July |17 |1 |9 |5 |32
August |15 |4 |0 |7 |26
September |30 |12 |13 |26 |81
October |32 |3 |16 |23 |74
November |65 |6 |11 |28 |110
December |125 |34 |70 |56 |285
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------
Total |752 |171 |415 |394 |1,732
Hospital admissions for bronchitis 1992
Board of Northern Ireland
Treatment
Month |Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
January |86 |48 |73 |51 |258
February |53 |26 |30 |32 |141
March |30 |14 |5 |16 |65
April |28 |4 |0 |16 |48
May |14 |5 |1 |24 |44
June |19 |7 |1 |13 |40
July |9 |5 |3 |8 |25
August |9 |4 |9 |4 |26
September |10 |2 |7 |8 |27
October |14 |0 |3 |7 |24
November |17 |2 |6 |10 |35
December |21 |9 |14 |15 |59
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------
Total |310 |126 |152 |204 |792
Hospital admissions for bronchitis 1993
Board of Northern Ireland
treatment
Month |Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------
January |58 |11 |24 |24 |117
February |138 |49 |35 |64 |286
March |71 |42 |34 |97 |244
April |35 |7 |12 |25 |79
May |14 |5 |5 |23 |47
June |21 |4 |4 |28 |57
July |6 |3 |1 |10 |20
August |9 |4 |0 |9 |22
September |12 |2 |7 |19 |40
October |25 |3 |5 |9 |42
November |42 |12 |7 |26 |87
December |101 |23 |47 |32 |203
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------
Total |532 |165 |181 |366 |1244
Column 691
Hospital admissions for bronchitis 1993
Trust
Month |Royal Group |Belfast City |Green Park |Ulster North Down|Craigavon area
|and Ards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April |7 |3 |2 |16 |5
May |1 |5 |1 |4 |0
June |3 |4 |0 |3 |0
July |1 |4 |0 |1 |0
August |3 |1 |0 |3 |0
September |2 |6 |0 |0 |0
October |8 |8 |1 |2 |2
November |9 |6 |0 |10 |0
December |60 |4 |14 |18 |19
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Total |94 |41 |18 |57 |26
Special Advisers
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which of the special advisers serving in his Department during the last five years were subject to positive security vetting.
Sir Patrick Mayhew [holding answer 13 December 1994]: All special advisers are currently required to have positive vetting. My special adviser was positively vetted for security purposes prior to his appointment. The level of security clearance is regularly reviewed in accordance with standing instructions.
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Regional Development
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list those public projects which received European regional development funding and were subsequently privatised over the last 10 years, indicating (a) the level of funding and (b) the dates when it was received.
Sir John Wheeler [holding answer 24 November 1994]: The following amounts have been paid from the European Regional Development Fund in the last 10 years to the public projects listed which were subject to privatisation.
Level of ERDF funding for each body from 1984-95 financial year to date (Northern Ireland)
|British Telecom|NI Electricity |NI Airports |Short Brothers |Totals
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |1,941,686 |742,725 |- |2,684,411
1985-86 |2,005,928 |- |377,511 |- |2,383,439
1986-87 |- |1,257,328 |3,125,733 |- |4,383,061
1987-88 |- |- |528,000 |- |528,000
1988-89 |858,929 |10,043,700 |1,929,480 |- |12,832,109
1989-90 |2,021,395 |1,754,420 |199,720 |- |3,975,535
1990-91 |2,370,997 |5,299,114 |6,216,000 |- |13,886,111
1991-92 |2,254,944 |400,183 |1,280,916 |- |3,936,043
1992-93 |- |2,211,388 |76,960 |362,335 |2,650,683
1993-94 |- |2,828,095 |2,257,451 |176,200 |5,261,746
1994-95 to date |150 |348,184 |822,344 |35,347 |1,206,025
|-------- |-------- |-------- |-------- |--------
Totals |11,454,029 |24,885,137 |16,814,115 |573,882 |53,727,163
TRANSPORT
Bulgarian Ships
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrival in Glasgow of replacement crews for the Bulgarian ships currently in Lerwick harbour, the Afala, Aktinia, Kaprela, Ofelia and Rotalia.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: I have been asked to reply.
Under the immigration rules, people seeking entry to join a vessel as members of its crew are eligible for admission if they are under contract to join a ship due to leave British waters. If the immigration officer is so satisfied, he will give leave to enter. I see no need for any further investigation in this case.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he will take to ensure that Bulgarian ship owners observe immigration rules in respect of seafarers currently employed on board the Aktinia, Kaprela, Ofelia and Rotalia in Lerwick harbour.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: I have been asked to reply.
Under the Immigration Act 1971, where a person arrives at a place in the United Kingdom as a member of the crew of a ship under an engagement requiring him to leave on that ship as a member of the crew, he may normally enter the United Kingdom without leave and remain until the departure of the ship. Checks will be made to ensure that crew members leave with their vessels, if they fail to do so action will be taken, as appropriate, to trace and remove them from the United Kingdom under powers in the 1971 Act.
Gospel Oak to Barking Line
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Gospel Oak to Barking line will be fully resignalled between South Tottenham and Woodgrange Park; when the works will be completed; and whether this will take place before or after the proposed flotation of Railtrack.
Mr. Norris: No plan currently exists for full re-signalling between South Tottenham and Woodgrange Park. The timing of works undertaken after its flotation will remain a matter for Railtrack.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the revised signalling arrangements between South Tottenham and Woodgrange Park on the Gospel
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Oak to Barking line will operate to satisfy the requirements of the railway inspectorate division of the Health and Safety Executive, if the Gospel Oak to Barking line is not resignalled between South Tottenham and Woodgrange Park as part of the Liverpool Street resignalling project; and what is the minimum safe interval required between trains operating under the proposed arrangements.Mr. Norris: All signalling arrangements employed have to satisfy the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive. I am advised that the required interval between trains is the time it takes for a train to pass along the line between the signal boxes at South Tottenham and Woodgrange Park. This is normally 17 minutes for a stopping passenger train and a little less for a non-stop train. These signalling arrangements are wholly in line with signalling regulations.
Rail Businesses
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 5 December, Official Report, column 38, if he will list the rail businesses, apart from Railtrack, which the Government intend to sell in 1995 96 and 1996 97.
Mr. Watts: The answer is as follows:
Trainload Freight Companies (TLFs)
Freightliner (containerised freight carrier)
Rail express systems (Res)
Rolling Stock Leasing Companies (ROSCOs)
BR Infrastructure Services (BRIS)
-- Track Renewal Units
-- Infrastructure Maintenance Units
BR Telecommunications (BRT)
various businesses in BR Central Services
Highways Agency
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what extra costs or savings on the capital or revenue account have been generated by the withdrawal of the original Highways Agency proposal to concentrate on a single site; and if he will explain how these changes have arisen.
Mr. Watts: This is an operational matter for the Highways Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Column 695
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 14 December 1994:I have been asked to write to you in response to your Parliamentary Question about the Highways Agency restructuring proposals and in particular the extra costs or savings generated by the withdrawal of the proposal to concentrate on a single site. My Board's decision on the restructuring of the Highways Agency were announced on 23 November following consultation on the original proposals put forward last July. The changes confirmed following the consultation process have resulted in a decision which provides better utilisation of our existing expertise without sacrificing the advantages of a reduced number of offices in terms of lower management and overhead costs and lower accommodation costs. The overall saving in staff redundancy and relocation costs due to the changes is estimated at £8.8 million. The changes also involve greater utilisation of existing offices, which it is estimated will reduce refurbishment costs by £1.2 million and property disposal costs by £2.7 million.
There has never been a proposal to concentrate the entire Highways Agency on a single site. One of the options estimated earlier in the planning process would have centralised most of our operations on a single site but with two other offices. This option was rejected at an early stage because the associated loss of staff expertise would have been too great.
Grant Office of the North East
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff he currently has in the grant office of the north east on road transport policy.
Goods Vehicle Operator Centres
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance is given to traffic area offices regarding (a) advertising in the press and (b) consultation with the public regarding applications to use premises for goods vehicle operator centres; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris: Traffic area office staff dealing with licence applications are made aware of the statutory requirements for advertising applications for a goods vehicle operator's licence within a statutory period in an appropriate local newspaper, and the statutory provisions for making objections and representations; they are also provided with guidance on how to deal with any non-statutory matters that might arise. Inquiry procedure rules must be followed for those applications which are to be determined by the licensing authority at public inquiry.
London Underground
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the nature of the points problem in the Aldgate area of London Underground on the morning of 9 December; and how many times there have been points or signalling problems in the Aldgate area leading to train delays in the past 12 months.
Mr. Norris: These are operational matters for London Underground. I understand that the points at Aldgate failed to return to their normal position after being switched to reverse. The failure was rectified within 11 minutes and the service restored. Over the past 12 months, there have been 29 points or signal failures in the Aldgate area.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the duration of the trips referred
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to in his answer of 26 October, Official Report, column 616, which were undertaken by Ministers in his Department and on which they were accompanied by their spouses and paid for at public expense.Dr. Mawhinney: The duration of the trip referred to in my answer of 26 October, Official Report, column 616, was two days.
EMPLOYMENT
Workstart
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to publish the findings from his Department's evaluation of the current Workstart pilot schemes.
Miss Widdecombe: The reports of the evaluation of the Workstart pilots have been published today and I have arranged for a copy of each to be placed in the Library.
North Norfolk Employment Schemes
Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he intends to publish the findings of his Department's evaluation of the North Norfolk Action and Workstart pilots.
Miss Widdecombe: The evaluation of North Norfolk Action and Workstart are now complete. The reports showed that there was much of value in both pilots. The Budget speech of my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor contained two new measures of relevance to the pilots: the 1-2-1 pilot, based on an element of the North Norfolk Action pilot will be extended nationally from April 1995; and a further 5,000 Workstart places will be available from that date. Copies of the reports are available in the Library.
Industrial Tribunals
Mr. Aspinwall: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what progress has been made on the internal review of the operation of the industrial tribunals announced by the then Under-Secretary of State on 29 April 1994, Official Report, columns 379 80.
Mr. Oppenheim: Following the completion of the internal review of industrial tribunals, the Government are today publishing a Green Paper, "Resolving Employment Rights Disputes: Options for Reform". Since their inception in 1964, the role of industrial tribunals has steadily developed as their jurisdiction has expanded. The Government believe that industrial tribunals have proved to be a fair and effective means for adjudicating employment rights disputes. They are firmly committed to ensuring that they continue to provide an "easily accessible, informal, speedy and inexpensive"
means of redress in accordance with the criteria laid down in 1968 and accepted by all Governments since then.
The industrial tribunal system has been subjected to growing pressures in recent years. Employment legislation has grown both in extent and complexity, the numbers of tribunal applications have doubled since 1989 and are expected to continue rising and hearing delays have increased unacceptably. The Department's internal review
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was commissioned to find ways of helping the tribunals to cope and to achieve greater efficiency and reduced delays.The Green Paper sets out a range of proposals designed to increase the proportion of disputes settled voluntarily by the parties themselves or with third party assistance, to simplify and improve tribunal procedures and to improve the organisation and management of the administrative support.
The Government invite views on those proposals. Improvements which can be achieved through administrative action by the Department are already going ahead; decisions on whether and how to proceed with those requiring legislation will be taken in the light of the consultations. However, the Government have decided that tribunals should have discretion whether to obtain a view from an independent expert when deciding claims for equal pay for work of equal value. It is the Government's intention that any efficiency savings should be applied to improving standards of service to the public.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many parliamentary questions tabled in the last session of Parliament were not answered on the grounds that the information sought was not held centrally by the Department.
Miss Widdecombe: Six. This represents less than 1 per cent. of all questions answered in the same period.
Jobcentres
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide figures for the use of jobcentres by employer organisations for each month in the financial year 1993 94.
Miss Widdecombe: Monthly information on the numbers of vacancies notified to jobcentres by employers and the number of people placed with employers by jobcentres is available from the NOMIS database in the Library.
Advertising
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the final cost of each advertising campaign listed in his answer to the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Taylor) of 3 March, Official Report , column 861 .
Miss Widdecombe: The final cost of each advertising campaign listed in the answer to the hon. Member for Truro of 3 March, Official Report , column 861 , is shown in the following table:
1993-94
|Budgeted spend|Final cost
Campaign |£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Make It Your Business |2,000,000 |2,012,000
1993 NTA |564,000 |662,000
Career Development Loans |1,870,000 |1,826,000
Careers Service |150,000 |42,000
New Horizons for Women |300,000 |47,000
Just the Job/New Measures |1,800,000 |1,777,000
Employer Campaign |1,300,000 |1,150,000
Disability |1,300,000 |1,238,000
Sir Andrew Bowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what contribution his Department has made in 1994 to follow up the European Year of Older People and Solidarity between Generations in 1993.
Miss Widdecombe: In 1994, the Employment Department has supported the initiatives stemming from the European year of older people and solidarity between generations through the continuation of the campaign to promote the interests of older workers.
In March a booklet was released, aimed at employers, to reinforce the message that age has no bearing on the ability to do a good job. It was distributed to 16,500 employers whose work force exceeded 75 employees. The press coverage was widespread and continues to generate interest from employers, researchers and individuals. Over 5,000 requests have been received to date.
The Department has been involved with workshops and seminars run by bodies involve with, and who campaign for older workers. I attended seminars at the Policy Studies Institute, the Department's regional office in Bristol and a Carnegie Third Age symposium, the theme of all three being to persuade to employers to take a positive attitude towards older workers.
Recently, I visited People of Previous Experience, a European conference held in Bradford, and the Mature Workers Register in Bournemouth, two initiatives engaged in finding jobs for older workers in their local areas.
This year, research commissioned by the Department was published, which consisted of a comprehensive review of employment policies and practices toward older workers in 22 countries. These comprise all EU member states, plus 11 other countries worldwide. Further research has been commissioned, comprising a more detailed overview of policies and practices in France, Germany, Spain and Sweden. It is planned to release a booklet for individuals which will contain advice and information about job seeking specifically aimed at older workers.
Plans are also under way to hold a series of regional seminars which will disseminate good practice in the employment of older workers among locally invited employers.
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