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Unitary Development Plans
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information (a) is available and (b) will be made available to persons concerned about major changes to unitary development plans under the provisions of the citizens charter. [111]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: The free booklet, "Development Plans: What You Need to Know", published by the Department of the Environment, contains a code of practice for development plans and sets out the procedures that are to be followed by a local planning authority when it proposes to make alterations to, or replace, a unitary development plan. The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires the authority to place those proposals on deposit for public inspection for a period of six weeks, during which objections or representations may be made by any member of the public. Notices of the deposited proposals are required to be advertised locally and in the London Gazette. Additionally, in planning policy guidance note 12, "Development Plans and Regional Planning Guidance", the Secretary of State advises authorities to give adequate publicity at an early stage to the proposed alteration or replacement, and to give members of the public an opportunity to participate in the preparation of those proposals, prior to deposit.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Workstart Scheme
Mr. Heppell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what factors underlay the omission from guidelines sent to employment officials overseeing workstart placements of a requirement to (a) withdraw a client and (b) inform the employer immediately when a health and safety risk within the workplace is noticed; and what assessment her Department has made of the risk to workstart clients from the omission of this requirement; [978]
(2) how many of the workplaces with people on the workstart scheme have been found not to meet health and safety requirements; [976]
(3) how many of the workplaces with people on the workstart scheme have been inspected by health and safety officers; [892]
(4) what provisions she is making to ensure that unemployed people on the workstart scheme are placed in working environments which meet all health and safety requirements; [890]
(5) how many accidents have occurred involving people placed on the workstart scheme since it began. [891]
Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. John Heppell, dated 21 November 1995:
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The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about Health and Safety issues and the Workstart Employment Subsidy Scheme.
Workstart aims to encourage employers to take on long term unemployed people by the payment of a subsidy. Once recruited, subsidised people are employees of the employer concerned and their status is identical to that of any other employee. They are therefore covered as any other employee by health and safety legislation.
As part of the audit procedures, Workstart co-ordinators from the Employment Service (ES) visit a percentage of the firms who are in receipt of a subsidy. The purpose of this visit is for the co-ordinators to satisfy themselves that the Workstart recruit is still employed at the firm.
As the co-ordinators will be on the employers' premises, the ES sought legal advice regarding its position should they observe what appears, to a lay person, to be a health and safety problem during the course of the visit. The advice given was that the ES has no legal responsibility to identify or to act on any suspected breach of health and safety legislation. ES people undertaking Workstart visits are neither trained nor qualified to assess whether a situation is in contravention of health and safety legislation or is liable to constitute a danger. As such the monitoring visit can in no way constitute an inspection of the employer's premises. Nevertheless if the co-ordinator sees something of concern to themselves about the safety of the employer's premises they are advised to report the matter to the Health and Safety Executive. The ES has no power to 'withdraw' the employee as they are no longer employed.
The Employment Service places importance on ensuring that employers are made fully aware that agreeing to the conditions of Workstart does not negate their responsibility for health and safety issues. We therefore insist the employer signs a declaration which outlines their intent to comply with all relevant health and safety legislation when a Workstart subsidy is agreed and would not allow subsidies to be paid to employers who refused to do so.
Given that the responsibility for Health and Safety is solely that of an employer, no specific records are kept of accidents on the premises of employers in receipt of a Workstart subsidy or of visits by officials of the Health and Safety Executive to their premises.
I hope this is helpful in explaining the position.
Dance and Drama Students (Funding)
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on her policy on the funding of dance and drama students. [172]
Mr. Forth: The Government are aware of the difficulties faced by some potential students of dance and drama in obtaining discretionary award support from their local authorities. We are continuing to look at whether anything might be done to help. No decisions have yet been taken.
Primary School Class Sizes
Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the estimated number at January 1995 of primary school pupils educated in class sizes of 40 and above in the Dudley metropolitan borough; and what proportion this figure is of all primary children in England and Wales educated in these sized classes. [578]
Mr. Robin Squire: The number of pupils in single teacher classes of 40 or more pupils in maintained primary schools in Dudley local education authority area in January 1995, provisional, was 1,027. This represented 5.6 per cent. of pupils in single teacher classes of 40 or more pupils in maintained primary schools in England.
Information on classes in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
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Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to ensure that teachers are properly trained in the use of information technology. [18]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The Government's criteria for initial teacher training require that newly qualified teachers should be able to make effective use of information technology as a learning resource. The Teacher Training Agency has identified support for teachers using information technology as one of the national priorities to be addressed through its action programme for continuing professional development.
Mr. MacShane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many times in the last year she has used (a) London Transport buses and (b) London Underground while on official business. [421]
Mrs. Gillian Shephard:
I have not used either London Buses or London Underground on official business, although I often walk.
Mr. Steinberg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list by area (a) the percentage of unemployed persons who attend a jobclub and (b) the percentage of those who attended who were successful in finding full-time work. [184]
Mr. Forth:
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
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