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Teachers' Pay
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average cost to a local education authority of employing one teacher in London for one year. [9460]
Mr. Robin Squire: The estimated average annual cost to a local education authority of employing a full-time classroom teacher in London, as at 31 March 1994, was around £24,800. This is based on the average salary for classroom teachers in LEA-maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in the Greater London area on 31 March 1994 of around £21,500 and "on costs" at 15.55 per cent. in respect of employers' national insurance and superannuation contributions. Later figures are not yet available.
Employment Service Dispute
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the dispute within the Employment Service which began on 30 November 1995; and what action she plans to take to negotiate a settlement. [9911]
Mr. Forth: 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 Mr. Frank Field, dated 17 January 1996:
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The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the current trade dispute within the Employment Service; responsibility for pay bargaining was delegated to the Agency in January 1994.
The Agency is in dispute with the Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) over the 1995/96 pay award to those of our employees in grades represented by that union. These ES people have been paid increases, with effect from April 1995, of between 2.8% and 5.5%, depending upon their individual performance in the year ending March 1995. The majority of them received pay rises of more than 3.7%.
These pay awards were in addition to a 2.3% increase, also paid in April, for this group of employees as a consequence of CPSA agreement to a new pay structure for the grades in question.
Whilst we regret the decision taken by the CPSA to call for industrial action amongst some of its members working in the Agency, we have been clear from the outset that the pay award for 1995/96 will not be improved. The pay award is fair, and is set at a level that is all the Agncy can afford.
We have made very real efforts to reach a settlement with the CPSA, both before the dispute started and since. This included my agreement that talks should take place under the auspices of ACAS. Those talks were called off when the CPSA decided not to adhere to the agreement we had reached that it would order its striking members back to work before the talks started.
The Employment Service remains committed to finding an early resolution to the idspute to enable us to resume our normal level of service to the job seekers who use the 47 offices currently affected by strike action. Communication channels with the union, therefore, remain open. But that does not mean we are in a position to improve upon a pay award which is both competitive and at the limits of what we can afford.
I hope this is helpful.
Nursery Vouchers
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the (a) categories and (b) names of (i) statutory bodies, (ii) voluntary organisations or (iii) commercial contractors she has chosen, or is considering, to administer the production, distribution, and use of vouchers for financing (1) nursery education, (2) some infants in reception classes of primary schools and (3) an associated system of registration. [9964]
Mr. Robin Squire: Capita Managed Services Ltd. will administer the issue and redemption of nursery education vouchers in phase 1. Parents will be able to exchange their vouchers in maintained, private and voluntary providers participating in the scheme. It is proposed that Ofsted will inspect registered providers.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Departmental Costs
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what is his estimate of the total cost for himself and other departmental Ministers for each year since 1991-92, including the current year of (a) overseas travel and accommodation expenses of Ministers and their advisers, (b) car and chauffeuring costs of Ministers, (c) ministerial security costs and (d) domestic travel and accommodation expenses of Ministers; [6404]
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- (2) what is his estimate of the cost of running his departmental office, and that of his predecessor, for each year since 1990-91 including the current year, broken down into (a) telephone bills, (b) total staff costs, (c) press and communications, (d) entertainment, (e) alcoholic drinks, (f) non-alcoholic drinks, (g) stationery, (h) office refurbishment and (i) other. [6403]
Mr. Lang: The total running cost of the DTI ministerial organisation, including Ministers' offices, parliamentary branch and the office of the permanent secretary, is as follows. Figures for the office of the President of the Board of Trade are also shown.
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| 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President's office | 565,000 | 735,000 | 874,000 | 883,000 | 829,000 |
| Total cost of ministerial organisation | 1,840,000 | 2,354,000 | 3,225,000 | 3,849,000 | 3,898,000 |
(10) Costs based on current estimates.
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| Total cost of ministerial organisation | President's Office | |
|---|---|---|
| Total running costs | 3,898,000 | 829,000 |
| Travel and subsistence (including ministerial car service, domestic and foreign travel) | 875,000 | 149,000 |
| Entertainment (includes alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks) | 52,000 | 10,000 |
| Stationery | 85,000 | 19,000 |
| Staff costs (includes ministerial salaries) | 2,377,000 | 582,000 |
| Other | 509,000 | 69,000 |
Brazilian Mahogany
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many cubic metres of Brazilian mahogany were imported into the United Kingdom in 1995 from Brazil. [8538]
Mr. Oppenheim: There are no official sources on imports of Brazilian mahogany into the United Kingdom. The information has not been available since 1992, when the United Kingdom trade classification no longer separately identified mahogany from other non-coniferous woods.
China
Mr. Spellar: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the latest available figures for the balance of trade with China. [9028]
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Mr. Oppenheim: In the 12 months ended November 1995, UK exports to China were worth £0.8 billion while imports were worth £1.9 billion, resulting in a crude trade deficit of £1.1 billion.
Post Offices
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many Crown post offices there were (a) in 1990 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [9112]
Mr. Oppenheim: I understand from the Post Office that the numbers of Crown post offices in the United Kingdom as at 1 April 1990 and 31 December 1995 are as indicated in the table. The number of main post offices, which offer customers the full range of post office services, are also indicated.
| Main post offices crown and agency offices | Crown post offices | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April 1990 | 1,492 | 1,339 |
| 31 December 1995 | 1,518 | 677 |
Manufactures
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing unit values for United Kingdom exports and imports of manufactures for each quarter since 1990, based on 1985=100. [9781]
Mr. Oppenheim: Information based on 1985=100 is not available. Information based on 1990=100 is published by the Central Statistical Office in the monthly review of external trade statistics, which is available in the Library of the House. It is also available on the central shared database, which may be accessed from the Library.
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Manufacturing Output
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table, based on 1985=100, showing the volume of manufacturing output less fuel, food, drink and tobacco for each year since 1970. [9780]
Mr. Oppenheim: Information based on 1985=100 is not available. Information based on the standard industrial classification 1992 and 1990=100 is available from 1986 and is given in the table.
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 83.7 |
| 1987 | 88.3 |
| 1988 | 95.4 |
| 1989 | 100.4 |
| 1990 | 100.0 |
| 1991 | 93.4 |
| 1992 | 92.4 |
| 1993 | 93.7 |
| 1994 | 98.2 |
(11) For fuel the standard industrial classification 1992 subsection DF has been used.
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