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Age Discrimination

Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the application of the Government's policy on age

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discrimination in respect of the training and enterprise council operating agreement with regard to priority for training for work for particular age groups. [5397]

Mr. Paice: No one has priority for entry to training for work solely on the grounds of age. Priority for entry to training for work is given to people who are regarded as being seriously disadvantaged in the labour market. This includes 18 to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for two years or more. Priority comes into effect only when there is a waiting list for entry. It is unlikely that this has occurred in practice.

Classroom Assistants

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the function of classroom assistants; what is her policy on the extent to which they are expected to engage in formal class teaching; and what guidance her Department issues regarding their engagement and use. [5351]

Mr. Robin Squire: Decisions on the engagement and deployment of classroom assistants are for headteachers and governors in consultation with the teaching staff whose work is to be supported. The Department is currently funding a pilot programme of training for specialist teacher assistants, and has defined the competences that this group of assistants will need to offer effective support to classroom teachers, principally at key stage 1, in the teaching of the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

Jobcentre Staff

Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the number of staff within jobcentres who are in receipt of family credit. [5426]

Mr. Forth: This information is not available from the Department for Education and Employment as individuals are required to contact social security (income support) directly if they wish to apply for family credit.

Job Creation (Construction Industry)

Mr. Hindchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the number of jobs in the construction industry which would be created by a building programme of 35,000 homes in one year. [5325]

Mr Forth: The Department has made no such assessment.

Quantock School

Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the performance of the Quantock school, Somerset to establish if it meets the standards required by her Department. [5461]

Mrs Gillan: Standards at independent schools are monitored through educational inspection by Ofsted and, in the case of boarding schools, by local services departments for child welfare provision. Inspectors from Ofsted and Somerset social services department have

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visited Quantock school this year and reported that provision meets the minimum standards required by the Education Act 1944, as amended.

TREASURY

VAT Debt (Bankruptcies)

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number of firms closed down in each year as a consequence of the actions of VAT inspectors for each year since 1979 by county. [5362]

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory [holding answer 11 December 1995]: Figures are not available prior to 1986 and are not available at all by county.

The number of bankruptcy and winding-up orders made by the courts following petitions laid by Customs and Excise in respect of VAT debts was:

Year to	Bankruptcy orders	Winding-up orders
31 March 1987	1,147	938
31 March 1988	778	690
31 March 1989	1,010	552
31 March 1990	1,047	1,172
31 March 1991	1,394	1,649
31 March 1992	3,025	2,098
31 March 1993	4,006	3,537
31 March 1994	4,970	3,668
31 March 1995	2,270	2,409

Share Ownership

Mr. Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the value of the United Kingdom equity market was (a) in the hands of private shareholders and (b) held by pension funds for each year since 1979. [1460]

Mr. Jack: The information requested is available for the years 1981, and 1989 to 1993 only. Details are in the table.

Beneficial ownership 1981-1993

		Percentage of total equity owned, 31 December
Year	Pension funds	Individual
1981	26.7	28.2
1989	30.6	20.6
1990	31.6	20.3
1991	31.3	19.9
1992	35.1	20.4
1993	34.2	17.7
1994	27.8	20.3

Household Incomes

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the change in take-home pay after tax and inflation for a one-earner couple on average male earnings with two children for the years (a) 1978-79 and 1996-97 (b) 1991-92 and 1996-97 and (c) 1995-96 and 1996-97. [3729]

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Mr. Jack: The estimates are as follows:

Growth in take-home pay after tax and inflation

		One earner couple on average male earnings with two children
	£ per week (1995-96 prices)	£ per year (1995-96 prices)
1978-79 to 1996-97	88.20	4,590
1991-92 to 1996-97	13.20	690
1995-96 to 1996-97	8.60	450

This information has been published in table 3 of the HM Treasury's living standards press release.

Consumption Statistics

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was (a) consumption as a proportion of gross domestic product and (b) consumer credit per capita in 1979, 1985, 1988 and 1994. [4508]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The information requested for 1990 onwards, for consumption as a proportion of gross domestic product, can be derived from table 2.2 of "Economic Trends", November 1995 edition, No. 505, which is available in the House of Commons Library. Figures for earlier years are available in "Economic Trends" annual supplement, 1996 edition. They are also held on the Central Statistical Office database which can be accessed by the Library. The CSO database identifiers are:

Consumers expenditure: CCBH
Gross domestic product: CAOP.

The level of consumer credit for 1990 onwards can be obtained from table 3.4 of "Financial Statistics", November 1995 edition, No. 403, and the total population from 1984 onwards can be obtained from table 17.1 of "United Kingdom National Accounts 1995". Previous years will be available in earlier copies of these publications, all available in the House of Commons Library. They are also held on the Central Statistical Office database which can be accessed by the Library. The CSO database identifiers are:

Consumer Credit: AILA prior to 1987. VZRD 1987 onwards.
Total UK population: DYAY.

Pension Contributions

Ms Corston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to tables 1.3, 7.1 and 10.4 in the latest report on the family expenditure survey, what was the average weekly expenditure in 1994-95 of all non-retired households on (i) contributions to pension and superannuation funds deducted by employees, (ii) personal pensions and (iii) national insurance contributions paid by employees, by gross income decile or quintile group. [5010]

Mrs. Angela Knight: Estimates of the average weekly expenditure on these items by households where the head of household is non-retired are given below. The figures are estimates from the FES, and are subject to sampling variations. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10p.

Average weekly gross income (£)

	Lowest quintile	Second quintile	Third quintile	Fourth quintile	Highest quintile	All households
Contributions to pension and superannuation funds deducted by employers	0.0	1.60	5.40	8.60	18.80	6.90
Personal pensions	0.60	2.70	3.70	6.30	17.90	6.20
National insurance contributions paid by employees	0.60	8.00	17.90	26.30	37.70	18.10

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EC Convergence Criteria

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will raise the subject of the consequences of EU member states' attempts to meet the Maastricht convergence criteria at the EU Finance Council in Brussels on 11 December. [5647]

Mr. Kenneth Clarke: The ECOFIN Council provisionally scheduled for 11 December was cancelled as work on preparation for the Madrid Council had been satisfactorily completed.

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