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South Glamorgan Training and Enterprise Council
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the full membership of office holders on the board of the South Glamorgan training and enterprise council; if he will show in which way they met his criteria for TEC board membership; and on what date he approved their (a) membership and (b) any offices held.
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Mr. Redwood: The following are members of the board of directors of South Glamorgan training and enterprise council;
P Rich (Chair): Managing Director, Allied Steel and Wire Holdings, plc.
J P Sainsbury (V Chair): Partner, Pannell Kerr Forster
R Helliwell: Group Director, William Cowlin and Son
R W Peterson: Chairman, Peterson Partnership
M Davies: Managing Director, VIP Advertising Photography J Mclean: General Manager, Marks and Spencer
R Forster: Managing Director, Biomet Ltd
P Sheldon: Chief Executive, South Glamorgan TEC
M Goodyear: General Manager, Marriott hotel
Councillor R B Goodway: Leader, South Glamorgan county council
I Spence: Wales General Secretary, GMB Union
T Wilmore: Chief Executive, Barry College
Eligibility requirements for TEC board membership are that at least two thirds of the directors--exclusive of the chief executive of the TEC who is the sole executive director--must hold the office of chairman or chief executive of a company or top-level operational manager at local level of a company or senior partner of a professional partnership within, in each case, the private sector. The remaining directors are required to be chief executives or equivalent from education, economic development, trade unions, voluntary organisations or the public sector.
The directors of South Glamorgan TEC meet the above requirements and the chairman, Mr. Paul Rich, meets the additional requirement for chairing a TEC in that he is managing director of a large company of more than three years' standing.
As private companies, limited by guarantee, I do not approve appointments to the boards of TECs.
EMPLOYMENT
South Thames Training and Enterprise Council
Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now list the contractors to the South Thames TEC to whom letters of comfort have not been sent.
Mr. Paice: As the information is contained in a large list, I will write to the hon. Member with employer investment in people contractors who have been sent a letter of comfort and place a copy in the Library.
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how the Health and Safety Executive determined what part of the work of the field consultant groups was suitable for contracting out; and what factors made it possible to undertake this work separately from other duties at no extra cost to the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Oppenheim: The Health and Safety Executive reviewed the range of work carried out by the field consultant groups to determine what part of the work was suitable for contracting out. An important factor was to identify what functions required the powers and discretion
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of an inspector. The process of tendering for the remaining functions will determine what level of savings can be achieved.Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans exist for the Health and Safety Executive to cut clerical and administrative posts in the field operations division following the introduction of laptop computers for inspectorial staff.
Mr. Oppenheim: The Health and Safety Executive is now beginning the development of a project to equip field staff with portable computers and, as part of that development, will assess the scale of extra efficiencies which will be achieved.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost of the Health and Safety Executive's staffing budget between 1 September 1993 and 1 September 1994.
Mr. Oppenheim: The amount spent on Health and Safety Executive staffing between 1 September 1993 and
1 September 1994 was £117.6 million.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work is currently done by the scientists who work within the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups; and if he will make a statement on the place of this work in the investigation of workplace ill health, accidents and incidents.
Mr. Oppenheim: Scientists in the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups are mainly concerned with chemical substance sampling and analysis, scientific measurements and surveys as a service to inspectors in HSE's field operations division who undertake the investigation of workplace ill health, accidents and incidents.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the Health and Safety Executive's professional and specialist staff have less than three years' service with the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Oppenheim: There are 1,857 professional and specialist staff in the Health and Safety Executive of whom 408 have less than three years service with HSE.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment why the Health and Safety Executive has found the need to consider an early retirement scheme for its specialists grades; how many posts it intends to lose by 1 April 1995; and how much money it expects to save on the payroll budget.
Mr. Oppenheim: The voluntary early retirement scheme for the Health and Safety Executive managed grades and scientists was introduced to help restructure HSE management. Eighty-five management posts will be lost by 1 April 1995 through this scheme.
The money from these posts will be used for a range of purposes including the recruitment of front-line inspectors. At this stage, it is impossible to predict what the net effect on payroll spend will be.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the total net savings in (a) costs and (b) staff years resulting from market-testing exercises in the Health and Safety Executive since April 1992.
Mr. Oppenheim: The Health and Safety Executive completed five market tests since April 1992. These have resulted in a net saving of 92 posts and a net cash saving of £560,000. The answer gives the number of posts saved rather than staff years as market tests are completed at
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various times in the year and the HSE does not record fractions of staff years.Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what reviews of the Health and Safety Executive's national interest groups are currently under way; when these reviews expect to report; and when recommendations are likely to be implemented.
Mr. Oppenheim: A review of national interest groups in the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division began in autumn 1994. The review is examining the purpose and function of NIGs; their staffing and location and the allocation of industry or topic responsibilities between them. A report is due to be submitted to HSE senior management in July 1995. Any recommendations are likely to be implemented during the following two years.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what workload formulae are being used by the Health and Safety Executive and for what purposes; and if he will provide full details of how they were calculated.
Mr. Oppenheim: Workload formulae are used within the Health and Safety Executive as an aid to management judgments especially in deploying inspectors as between geographical areas, industrial sectors and types of risks.
Such formulae are used, for example, to take account of real and perceived risks in different sectors and to assess the relative priorities in inspections, technical and policy work. They are managerial tools to be employed with discretion and not fixed indicators, and I see no advantage in their publication.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff the Health and Safety Executive has lost, and expects to lose, as a result of public expenditure survey settlements in (a) 1993 94, (b) 1994 95 and (c) 1996 97.
Mr. Oppenheim: I am informed that the Health and Safety Executive made no changes to its staffing in1993 94 because of the PES 1992 settlement, in which the Health and Safety Commission's bid for resources was met in full. The PES 1992 settlement provided for 4,661 staff in 1993 94. The PES 1993 settlement provided for 4,599 staff in 1994 95. Staffing levels for 1996 97 are currently being considered in the context of the forthcoming PES 1995 round.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what amounts of money the Health and Safety Executive has spent in employing consultants in relation to market-testing exercises since 1 April 1992.
Mr. Oppenheim: Since 1 April 1992, the Health and Safety Executive has spent a total of £199,000 on consultancy in relation to market- testing exercises.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current annual cost of employing scientists to work within the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups.
Mr. Oppenheim: The estimated current annual cost at 1994 95 prices to the Health and Safety Executive of employing scientists in its field consultant groups is £891,000.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what response he has given to the Health and Safety Executive's director general on the subject of agency status for the Health and Safety Executive's health and safety laboratory.
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Mr. Oppenhiem: I have written to the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, on whose behalf the Health and Safety Executive acts, asking that work to make the health and safety laboratory an agency of the executive should be undertaken swiftly. The necessary work is in hand for the health and safety laboratory to become an agency from April 1995.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspectors employed in the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division have less than (a) three years' service and (b) five years' service for the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Oppenhiem: There are 914 inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive's field operation division. Of these inspectors, 153 have less than three years service and 336 less than five years' service in working for HSE.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work is undertaken by the specialist inspectors who work within the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups.
Mr. Oppenhiem: Specialist inspector work is regulatory in character and involves applying expert health and safety knowledge of engineering and occupational hygiene to inspection, accident and incident investigation, standard setting and enforcement.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the Health and Safety Executive's salary budget for each year since 1988 89; and what is the proposed figure for (a) 1995 96 and (b) 1996 97.
Mr. Oppenheim: The available information which relates to the civil service pay bill of the Health and Safety Executive is given in the table:
6
|Civil Service pay
|bill outturn £s
Year |millions
------------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |70
1989-90 |77
1990-91 |86
1991-92 |98
1992-93 |112
1993-94 |117
The final pay bill for 1994 95, and the pay bill for subsequent years, will depend among other things on the outcome of pay negotiations which have yet to be concluded.
Employment Medical Advisory Service
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many doctors the Health and Safety Executive plans to employ within the employment medical advisory service in 1995 and 1996.
Mr. Oppenheim: Plans for the staffing of the employment medical advisory service at 1 April 1995 were published in the Health and Safety Commission "Plan of Work 1994 95", which is available in the Library. Annexe 1, table 2 of the plan gives the figure of 90 staff for EMAS, of which 45 were doctors. The figure for 1 April 1996 will be set out in the Health and Safety Commission "Plan of Work 1995 96", due to be published in the early summer.
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Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many nurses the Health and Safety Executive plans to employ within the employment medical advisory service in the years 1995 and 1996.
Mr. Oppenheim: Plans for the staffing of the employment medical advisory service at 1 April 1995 were published in the Health and Safety Commission "Plan of Work 1994 95", which is available in the Library. Annexe 1, table 2 of the plan gives the figure of 90 staff for EMAS, of which 45 were nurses. The figure for 1 April 1996 will be set out in the Health and Safety "Commission Plan of Work 1995 96", due to be published in the early summer.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proposal he has to ensure that the training and enterprise councils swiftly conclude their contracts for the next financial year with AST training.
Mr. Paice: None. It is for individual training and enterprise councils to determine with whom they contract.
Health and Safety (Prosecutions)
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average fine imposed by magistrates courts as a consequence of prosecutions taken by the Health and Safety Executive under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Oppenheim: The provisional figure for average fines imposed in 1993 94 by magistrates courts following prosecutions taken by the field operations division inspectorates of the Health and Safety Executive is £1,874.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much money was gathered in fines and costs, between 1 September 1993 and 1 September 1994 from cases taken by the Health and Safety Executive, as a result of the enforcement of health and safety law, in (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts.
Mr. Oppenheim: Between 1 September 1993 and 31 August 1994, the Health and Safety Executive received a total of £818,162 in costs following prosecutions by HSE inspectorates. Of this £319,464 resulted from prosecutions taken in the Crown courts and £498,698 from magistrates courts. Information is not available on fines gathered as a result of prosecutions taken by HSE.
Work-related Illnesses
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what initiatives the Health and Safety Executive is currently taking to reduce the levels of occupational ill health.
Mr. Oppenheim: Much of the Health and Safety Executive's everyday activity, such as modernising the framework of health and safety law, inspection of workplaces, provision of advice and formal enforcement action is aimed at reducing occupational ill health. HSE is giving priority in 1994 95 to implementing a coherent programme of action based on the conclusions of its recent strategic review of the 10 main occupational health risks--toxic substances, biohazards, noise, vibration, ionising and non-ionising radiation, manual handling, upper limb disorders, sick building syndrome and stress.
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Action includes: obtaining better information on the scale and pattern of ill health; commissioning further research, for example on prevention techniques; and provision of practical guidance and publicity campaigns.HSE is also now planning a major new campaign, "Good Health is Good Business", which will start in May and aims to encourage and help employers to act to manage health risks more effectively.
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the Health and Safety Executive's current estimate of the number of people whose health is affected by work activity.
Mr. Oppenheim: From the responses to a special set of questions in the 1990 labour force survey of 60,000 households, it can be estimated that in the 12 months prior to the survey 2.2 million people in England and Wales suffered from an illness which they believe had been caused or made worse by their work.
Construction Design and Management Regulations
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when the Health and Safety Commission first sent a draft of the Construction Design and Management Regulations to him; and what has been the reason for delay in their introduction.
Mr. Oppenheim: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 24 January 1995, Official Report , column 184 .
Focus Project
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current cost of the Health and Safety Executive's Focus project; what are the expected final costs; what was the original estimate for the cost of the project; and when it is expected to be fully implemented.
Mr. Oppenheim: The cost of the Focus project at 30 December 1994 was £6.221 million. The projected life cost is £9.758 million, compared with the original estimates of £10.026 million. The major part of the project is expected to be completed in late summer 1995. Further enhancements will be incorporated in the development of a project to equip staff with portable computers.
Staff Safety
Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received regarding the safety of his Department's staff dealing with unemployment benefit claims, income support and the proposed jobseeker's allowance; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 27 January 1995]:
Representations on this issue have been made to the Employment Service central health committee, by its trade union members. Their views are being taken into account in a generic risk assessment of the effect of the proposed introduction of a jobseeker's allowance on the safety of people working in Employment Service local offices.
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DEFENCE
UN Peacekeeping Force (Somalia)
Mr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to contribute to the operation to withdraw the UN peacekeeping force from Somalia.
Mr. Soames: The United Kingdom is contributing a Royal Navy ship to the UN operation to withdraw peacekeeping forces from Somalia. HMS Exeter will arrive in the area later this week and will operate as part of a task group led by the United States navy. A RN presence will continue to be available to the United Nations for this purpose until mid-March.
Bullying
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents involving allegations of bullying or brutality have been investigated in each of the armed forces in the last five years; how incidents were drawn to the attention of the authorities; and what was the result of the investigations.
Mr. Soames: Details of allegations of bullying or brutality which have been investigated in each of the armed forces in the last five years are not held in a readily available form. To obtain this information would require a search of records held by each ship and service establishment.
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the representations he has received in the last two years regarding incidents of bullying in the armed forces.
Mr. Soames: No central record is maintained of representations regarding incidents of bullying in the armed forces and the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what level in the armed forces investigations into complaints about bullying are held; what is the number of units at this level; and if his Department collates the information.
Mr. Soames: The level at which complaints of bullying are investigated by the services depends on the circumstances and seriousness of each case. Investigations may be undertaken at unit level or, in most cases, and always where a criminal offence is alleged, by the service police. Records are held centrally by the service police of all investigations undertaken by them.
Air Show (Bratislava)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 1 December 1994, Official Report , column 907 , what was the total number of RAF personnel present at the Bratislava airport display on 20 and 21 August 1994; and what payment was made by the organisers of the air show towards the costs of the outward and return transit flights by the aircraft from their bases to Slovakia.
Mr. Soames: Seventy-six RAF personnel were deployed to Bratislava for the whole or part of the display.
The costs of the outward flights were borne by my Department as the hours flown formed part of normal tasking. Fuel for the return flights was issued by the organisers without charge.
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Mines, Firth of Clyde
Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if all of the mines laid during recent mine-laying exercises in and nearby the Firth of Clyde have been recovered; if local fishermen have been made aware of the recovery programme; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Soames: Bad weather has delayed the recovery of exercise mines recently laid in and nearby the Firth of Clyde. Weather permitting, the mines will be recovered by mid-February. In accordance with normal procedures, local fishermen have been informed of planned recovery dates by means of a number of notices to fishermen.
Competing for Quality"
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 10 January, Official Report, column 109, if he will list those activities under the "Competing for Quality" programme for the period 1 April 1992 to 30 September 1994 which have been secured by (a) in-house bids and (b) private contractors; and if he will name the successful contractors.
Mr. Freeman: Listed are the activities which have been secured by (a) in-house bids and (b) private contractors, together with the names of the winning contractors, in the period April 1992 to September 1994.
a. Activities secured by in-house bids
Gardening at RM Units Poole, CTCRM Lympstone and
COMMACHIO Group
RAOC Print Section--Northern Ireland
Air Weapon Range, RAF Cowden
Support Services--Gateway House, RAF Brize Norton
Aircraft Support Services, A and AEE Boscombe Down
Experimental Flying, Bedford/Boscombe Down
Mechanical Handling Equipment, repair and maintenance, Devonport
18 Base Workshops, Army Base Repair Organisation, Bovington b. Activities secured by private contractors
Royal Navy Helicopters Maintenance and Engineering Support, HMS OSPREY, HMS HERON and HMS SEAHAWK
--Hunting A/C Ltd.
Aircraft Maintenance, HMS HERON
--Hunting A/C Ltd.
Works Services, HMS SEAHAWK
--PSA Building Management
Helicopter Simulator, HMS OSPREY
--Hunting A/C Ltd.
Works Services, HMS DOLPHIN
--PSA Building Management
Gardening at Royal Marine School of Music, Deal
--Oaklands plc
Central Engineer Reserve Plant Hire, Long Marston
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