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Mr. Horam: (i) The Department and agencies for which I am responsible did not exist in any comparable form before the 1992 election, so figures for earlier years are therefore not available. The figures for my Department since 1992 are:
Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- 51 weeks 1992 |4 |0.30 1993 |4 |0.30 1994 |4 |0.30 1995 |4 |0.30 Less than 51 weeks 1992 |17 |1.25 1993 |43 |3.33 1994 |54 |4.10 1995 |7 |0.50
(iii) The figures for the agencies since 1992 are as follows:
4 Civil Service College<1> Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- Less than 51 weeks 1992 |6.0 |2.60 1993 |7.0 |2.90 1994 |7.0 |2.75 1995 |14.5 |5.65 <1> There were no employees on temporary contracts of 51 weeks.
4 OHS<1> Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- Less than 51 weeks 1992 |2 |1.60 1993 |4 |3.40 1994 |0 |0 1995 |1 |0.93 <1> There were no employees on temporary contracts of 51 weeks.
RAS<1> Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- Less than 51 weeks 1992 |19 |10 1993 |15 |10 1994 |11 |8 1995 |5 |4 <1> In 1994 there was one person employed on a temporary contract of 51 weeks (0.1 per cent.) and there were none for the remaining years.
Chessington Computer Centre Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- 51 weeks 1992 |2 |0.4 1993 |0 |0 1994 |2 |0.5 1995 |0 |0 Less than 51 weeks 1992 |5 |1.0 1993 |2 |0.4 1994 |1 |0.2 1995 |2 |0.5
4 CO1<1> Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- Less than 51 weeks 1992 |71 |10.3 1993 |49 |8.3 1994 |35 |6.6 1995 |0 |0 <1> There were no employees on temporary contracts of 51 weeks.
HMSO Year |Total |Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- 51 weeks 1992 |1 |0.06 1993 |1 |0.06 1994 |1 |0.05 1995 |0 |0 Less than 51 weeks 1992 |38 |0.58 1993 |27 |0.40 1994 |70 |2.0 1995 |0 |0
Ms Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what evidence he has that Government Departments or executive agencies supervised by Government Departments are abusing the extension of temporary contracts of 51 weeks or less in duration in the recruitment and appointment of non-permanent employees.
Mr. Horam: In the course of their 1993 94 programme of monitoring of a sample of departmental and agency recruitment, the civil service commissioners found a number of instances where temporary staff appointed without fair and open competition were retained beyond 12 months without there being any demonstrable exceptional circumstance as required by the Civil Service Order in Council 1991. These instances were not widespread and, following a reminder of the rules from the commissioners, the pattern has not been repeated in 1994 95.
Ms Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish the full terms of employment as specified to employees in his Department and all executive agencies for which he is responsible who are employed on a temporary contract of (a) 51 weeks' or (b) less than 51 weeks' duration.
Mr. Horam: The majority of staff on temporary contracts are issued with a standard letter of appointment. It is too long to be reproduced here and I shall be writing to the hon. Member separately enclosing a copy.
Ms Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance has been issued in respect of the recruitment and appointment of non-permanent
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employees in (i) his Department and (ii) all executive agencies supervised by his Department.Mr. Horam: My Department and the executive agencies follow the rules set out in the civil service management code for the recruitment and appointment of non-permanent employees. A copy of the code can be found in the Library of the House.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessement his Department intends to make of the impact of special contracts arrangements upon sheltered employment workshops.
Miss Widdecombe: The Employment Service will consider the operation of the scheme annually.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what body will be responsbile for the inspection of, and standards set in, workplaces which apply to become extended sheltered employers; and how such a body will be constituted and resourced.
Miss Widdecombe: The Employment Service's supported employment programme provides jobs for around 21,000 severely disabled people through contracts held with Remploy, local authorities and voluntary bodies.
The ES's supported employment procurement and consultancy service is responsbile for all contracts for supported employment apart from Remploy which is directly answerable to the chief executive of the ES. The contracts specify standards and SEPACS monitors contractors' compliance with these.
The proposal in the Disability Discrimination Bill to extend the Government's powers to allow direct funding of supported employment in dividend distributing bodies will only be used after consultation with relevant organisations.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been his contribution to Remploy in cash and constant price terms in each of the past 10 years; and what is the projected budget for Remploy for 1995 96.
Miss Widdecombe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's contributions to Remploy since 1984 85 are set out in the follwing table in cash and in 1993 94 constant prices:
Year |Cash prices |£000s ------------------------------------ 1984-85 |56,570 1985-86 |59,290 1986-87 |57,144 1987-88 |57,996 1988-89 |62,714 1989-90 |67,013 1990-91 |72,167 1991-92 |75,346 1992-93 |83,995 1993-94 |89,199 1994-95 |92,082 1995-96 |94,161
Year |1993-94 constant |prices --------------------------------------------------- 1984-85 |88,568 1985-86 |87,640 1986-87 |81,845 1987-88 |79,888 1988-89 |81,499 1989-90 |80,777 1990-91 |79,309 1991-92 |79,052 1992-93 |85,429 1993-94 |89,199 1994-95 |- 1995-96 |-
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the net cost of each Remploy employee to the state after allowing for benefits unclaimed and taxes and insurance contributions unpaid.
Miss Widdecombe: This information is not available. In the 1993 94 financial year, Remploy employed an average of 8,654 people with severe disabilities at an operating deficit of £9,727 per severely disabled worker.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from Remploy about the consequences of Government policies for it employees.
Miss Widdecombe: The chairman and chief executive of Remploy meet Employment Department Ministers and the chief executive of the Employment Service at regular intervals to discuss Remploy's performance. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics, including relevant Government policies.
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new businesses have been established and supported by training and enterprise councils in Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland, County Durham and Teesside since 1988; and what is the total number of jobs created.
Mr. Paice: The numbers of new businesses helped under the enterprise allowance scheme and business start-up scheme since the start of the 1990 91 financial year to the end of January 1995 are shown in the following table.
TEC |Total number of |starts ------------------------------------------------ County Durham |2,801 Northumberland |1,207 Sunderland City |1,100 Teesside |2,886 Tyneside |3,017
The first training and enterprise councils were set up in April 1990 and so figures for earlier years are not available.
National participant survey exercises conducted in the TEC era, found that, on average, approximately 0.3 additional jobs were created per business start-up scheme entrant. Local figures are not available.
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated value in turnover added to local economies in respect of new businesses and the
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impact on economic generation of new businesses established and supported by TECs in each year since 1989.Mr. Paice: Start-ups in England under the enterprise allowance scheme--known as the business start-up scheme from 1991 92--since the introduction of training and enterprise councils are shown in the following table:
1990 91:--59,300
1991 92:--41,800
1992 93:--33,600
1993 94:--34,500
Business start-up scheme participant surveys provide some information on the average investment in, and income from, these businesses but it is not possible to quantify the value in turnover added or the overall impact on the various local economies. This scheme has been the main, but not the only, source of TEC support to new businesses. TECs also provide assistance under contract to the Department of Trade and Industry and from their own resources.
Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the cost of his Department's expenditure on water and sewerage in (a) the current year and (b) each of the three previous years.
Miss Widdecombe: It is not possible to separate the costs of water from sewerage because the cost of water and sewerage for some buildings are part of service charges paid to landlords, which do not show these items separately. However, the following table shows the overall expenditure on water utilities for each financial year since 1991 92:
Expenditure on Water Includes Sewerage and "Metered" Water Supplies Year |£ ----------------------------------------------- 1994-95 (spend to date)<1> |1,224,950 1993-94 |1,895,103 1992-93 |1,789,079 1991-92 |2,078,444 <1> End February 1995.
Mr. Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobs are reserved in his Department for people with disabilities; and what checks exist to ensure that such quotas are adhered to.
Miss Widdecombe: No jobs in the Employment Department group are reserved for disabled people but across the group as a whole, people with disabilities comprise 3.9 per cent. of the work force.
Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of Employment what is the total cost of Workstart and the total saving from Workstart to date (a) in east Kent and (b) in South London; how many people have been involved to date; and what overall saving per person has been achieved.
Miss Widdecombe: Savings to the Exchequer from any employment programme arise from long-term improvements in the functioning of the labour market, and cannot be calculated in the terms requested.
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Under the Workstart pilots, which ran from July 1993 to December 1994, employers who recruited long-term unemployed people were paid £60 a week for the first six months, and £30 a week for the next six. It is not possible to provide costs for each of the pilot areas. The total expenditure for the east Kent, London and Devon and Cornwall pilot areas until the end of February 1995 was £1,586,519. A total of 468 people have participated in the east Kent pilot and 238 people in London.Evaluation of Workstart suggested that it has had a positive effect on employers' willingness to recruit long-term unemployed people, and this approach will be explored further using the 5,000 pilot places announced in the Budget.
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what guidance has been issued in respect of the recruitment and appointment of non-permanent employees in (i) his Department and (ii) the Employment Service.
Miss Widdecombe: Guidance throughout the Employment Department group gives effect to the rules in the civil service management code which are governed by the Civil Service Order in Council 1991.
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Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, how many people he expects to employ in (i) his Department and (ii) the Employment Service on temporary contracts of (a) 51 weeks or (b) less than 51 weeks duration in the next three years, in each case specifying the number of employees who had previously been employed in a similar position on the same contract.
Miss Widdecombe: The available information relates to plans for the number of casual staff years. The plans are shown in the following table:
|1995-96|1996-97|1997-98 ------------------------------------------------------ Employment Service |1,652 |1,317 |1,202 Rest of Employment Department Group<1> |297 |285 |285 <1> Employment Department, Health and Safety Executive and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employees in (i) his Department and (ii) the Employment Service have been employed on temporary contracts of (a) 51 weeks or (b) less than 51 weeks' duration for the current year and each of the past five years, in each case specifying what percentage of the respective total workforce these employees constitute.
Miss Widdecombe: The available information about casual staff, with the percentage of the respective workforce in brackets is shown in the following table.
Staff Years-Outturn |1990-91 |1992-93 |1993-94 |1994-95 |1995-96<2> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Employment Service |1,762 (4.9)|3,750 (8.8)|3,394 (7.1)|3,382 (8.0)|2,428 (5.0) Rest of Employment Department Group<1> |715 (4.3) |378 (2.5) |592 (4.0) |621 (4.9) |661 (6.0) <1> Employment Department, Health and Safety Executive and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. <2> Estimated Outturn.
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for the current year and each of the past five years, how many employees in (i) his Department and (ii) the Employment Service who have been employed on temporary contracts of (a) 51 weeks or (b) less than 51 weeks duration are re-employed in the same or similar position at a later date.
Miss Widdecombe: The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each Employment Service office (i) the number of employees employed on temporary (ii) 51 week contracts, (iii) the number of employees employed on temporary contracts of less than 51 weeks duration and (iv) the total number of employees for the current year and each of the past five years, in each case specifying how many employees in (i) have been
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previously employed on a temporary 51 week contract by the Employment Service.Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Ms Harriet Harman, dated 15 March 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of employees employed on temporary contracts by the Employment Service (ES).
All ES temporary employees are currently given contracts for a specific number of weeks of employment up to a maximum of 51 weeks. Detailed information about the length of each individual contract, or personal records on individual employees who have been previously employed on temporary contracts, is not recorded. It is not therefore possible to provide the numbers of employees in the different categories requested for each ES office except at disproportionate cost.
I can however provide staff usage figures (including those on temporary contracts) for the past five years.
All employees (including temporary employees) |Estimated for |April 1990 to |April 1991 to |April 1992 to |April 1993 to |12 months to April 1989 to April |April 1991 |April 1992 |April 1993 |April 1994 |April 1995 1990 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36,445 |35,639 |42,564 |47,763 |48,282 |44,923
Temporary employees |Estimated for |April 1990 to |April 1991 to |April 1992 to |April 1993 to |12 months to April 1989 to April |April 1991 |April 1992 |April 1993 |April 1994 |April 1995 1990 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,803 |1,762 |3,750 |3,394 |3,882 |2,428
I hope this information is helpful.
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what positions in (i) his Department and(ii) the Employment Service are filled by employees who are employed on temporary contracts of (a) 51 weeks or (b) less than 51 weeks duration.
Miss Widdecombe: The great majority are in the administrative officer and administrative assistant grades.
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the full terms of employment as specified to employees in his Department and all executive agencies for which he is responsible who are employed on a temporary contract of (a) 51 weeks or (b) less than 51 weeks duration.
Miss Widdecombe: Terms of employment vary according to grade and location. Appointment letters throughout the Employment Department group are based on Treasury guidance.
Mr. Olner: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place in the Library a copy of the legal opinion he has received in respect of the legality of a unilateral ban on the export of calves.
Mrs. Browning: My right hon. Friend has published a summary of the conclusions that emerged from the legal advice available to him. This was made available to all Members in my right hon. Friend's letter of 1 February copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many veal calves French authorities have refused to allow into France on (a) health and (b) welfare grounds in each month since December 1994; and how many British calves have arrived in France dead in each month since December 1994;
(2) how many livestock lorries French authorities have banned from entering France due to them not fulfilling animal welfare criteria in each month since December 1994.
Mrs. Browning: The French authorities are, of course, responsible for enforcing Community welfare provisions on their territory. From our exchanges with them, we are not aware that they have refused admission to France of any calves of British origin since December 1994 on either health or welfare grounds. The French authorities are not required to give us information on the number of animals dead on arrival. The information available to us indicates that deaths are rare. The French authorities tell us that they have not banned any British livestock vehicles.
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Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the cost of his Department's expenditure on water and sewerage in (a) the current year and (b) each of the three previous years.
Mr. Jack: Complete information on water and sewerage charges is not currently held centrally. There would be disproportionate cost in collecting it from the 260 properties occupied by the Ministry, but improvements to our database will enable us to make this information available from 1994 95.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to conserve wild salmon.
Mr. Jack: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member of Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) on 2 February 1995, Official Report, column 848.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy in respect of the year in which veal crates will be banned throughout Europe.
Mrs. Browning [holding answer 14 March 1995]: We shall continue to press for an early end to the use of close confinement systems for rearing calves. Although some member states can be expected to seek a transitional period before any such ban comes into force, we shall seek to ensure that this is kept to a minimum.
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the future of milk quotas.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 13 March 1995]: The current EC legislation on milk quotas does not expire until 31 March 2000. The future of the quota system will be reviewed before that date and the Government will be pressing for the replacement of quotas and price supports in the dairy sector by a free market for milk and milk products in which production is based on supply and demand. Meantime, we will continue to resist any further arbitrary cuts in the UK's inadequate quota, press for reductions in support prices and seek a change in the EC rules to permit the transfer of milk quota between producers in different member states.
Sir Cranley Onslow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what guidance he has issued to fishery proprietors and others on recommended methods of scaring cormorants and saw-bill ducks away
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from fisheries where they are causing or are likely to cause serious damage.Mrs. Browning [holding answer 14 March 1995]: Advice on predation of fisheries is given by ADAS, the Ministry's wildlife advisers, to those applying for licences to kill or take piscivorous birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, for the purposes of preventing serious damage to fisheries. This covers advice on the use of deterrents--for example, scaring with rockets or bird scaring cartridges and human presence; proofing and exclusion; habitat modification and adjusting the stocking regime.
The research programme on piscivorous birds currently being commissioned by the Ministry and the Department of the Environment aims to help establish appropriate management techniques in different situations for reducing the impact of these birds on inland fisheries.
Sir Cranley Onslow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds about the disturbance caused to other bird species by activity undertaken by fishery proprietors and others to scare away cormorants and saw-bill ducks which threaten to damage inland fisheries.
Mrs. Browning [holding answer 14 March 1995]: I am not aware of any such representations having been received by this Ministry.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of cases of food poisoning that have been reported from (a) salmonella and (b) campylobacter in each of the last ten years.
Mr. Sackville: I have been asked to reply.
Data for 1981 to 1993 are published in the steering group on the microbiological safety of food, annual report 1993, copies of which are available in the Library.
The confirmed total for 1993 for all salmonellas is 30,654 and the provisional figure for 1994 is 30,427.
The provisional figure for 1994 for campylobacter is 44,315. The 1993 figure is still provisional at 39,383.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many cases of anthrax were reported in each year since 1985.
Sir Hector Monro: The number of confirmed cases of anthrax reported in Scotland for the years in question is:
1985: 1
1986: 2
1987: 2
1988: 0
1989: 0
1990: 1
1991: 1
1992: 0
1993: 1
1994: 0
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Mr. Galbraith: (1) To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of circulating Scottish Homes' tenants in Strathkelvin with the Gemini housing association leaflet;
(2) who made the decision to circulate Scottish Homes' tenants in Strathkelvin with the Gemini housing association leaflet.
Lord James-Douglas Hamilton: The information requested is a matter for Scottish Homes. I have asked its chairman, Sir James Mellon, to write to the hon. Member.
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