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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 20 January 1997
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Personalised Number Plates
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many personalised number plates there are in the Government car pool; and if he will list them. [11239]
Mr. Freeman: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated under the terms of its framework document to the Security Facilities Executive under its chief executive, Mr. John King. The agency is therefore responding to the question.
Letter from John King to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 17 January 1997:
I have been asked by Mr. Freeman, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (who has Ministerial responsibility for the Government Car Service (GCS)), to provide you with a response to your Parliamentary Question concerning the use of personalised number plates by the Government Car Service. I am the Chief Executive of the Agency with operational responsibility for the GCS.
I can confirm that the Government Car Service does not have any number plates which are personalised to individual users or to the GCS itself.
We do however have one number plate which does not include a letter indicating the cars year of registration. This is used on a 15 year old Daimler Limousine which operates as part of the pool fleet. It is the only Limousine on the fleet.
TREASURY
Labour Statistics
Dr. Howells: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the methodology used by his Department to calculate labour force statistics. [9889]
Mrs. Angela Knight [holding answer 13 January 1997]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Dr. Kim Howells, dated 20 January 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to your recent question asking for a statement on the methodology used to calculate labour force statistics.
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Mr. Spearing:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will personally sign future explanatory memoranda supplied to the Vote Office accompanying documents deposited there by Her Majesty's Government concerning changes in the system of value added taxes from within the European Community. [10809]
Mr. Kenneth Clarke:
No. Explanatory memoranda reflect the Chancellor's policy but are sometimes signed by junior Ministers within their own area of responsibility.
Mr. Thurnham:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reconcile the figures published by (a) the Office for National Statistics and (b) the Department of the Environment for the number of people employed in the construction industry; and what assessment he has made of the increase in productivity in the construction industry over the last 10 years. [11031]
Mrs. Angela Knight:
The Office for National Statistics and the Department of the Environment expect to reconcile the figures by the end of 1997.
The index of output per person employed is published by ONS in "Labour Market Trends". The index uses value added data from DOE and employment data from the ONS work force in employment series. The index increased by 16.4 per cent. in the 10 years to the third quarter of 1996.
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the (a) number, (b) distribution and (c) benefits of (i) local exchange and trading systems and (ii) credit unions in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [10534]
Mrs. Angela Knight
[holding answer 16 January 1997]: Information about the number and distribution of local exchange and trading systems is not held centrally.
As for credit unions, 554 are currently registered under the Credit Unions Act 1979.
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This distribution is:
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many personalised number plates there are in the ownership of the executive agencies operated by his Department; and if he will list them. [11415]
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list the (a) total area of land administered by the Church Commissioners, (b) amount assessed as agricultural land, (c) amount of land let for the purpose of farming and (d) total number of tenant farmers; and if he will make a statement. [10519]
Mr. Alison:
The commissioners administer land for investment in agricultural, residential and commercial property and, in addition, small areas occupied by bishops' residences. Statistics of total area are available only for agricultural land. As at 31 December 1995, the latest date for which figures are available, the commissioners owned 55,518 hectares--137,185 acres--of agricultural land; 52,788 hectares--130,438 acres--were let for the purpose of farming. For the purpose of calculating only the number of tenant farmers, the commissioners define a farm as an area of land over 20 hectares--50 acres. As at 31 December 1995, there were 371 tenanted farms.
The main official sources of labour market statistics are the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the Workforce in Employment (WiE) figures and the monthly unemployment claimant count. All these are published by the ONS.
The LFS is a quarterly household survey collecting information from individuals on a wide range of labour market issues (e.g. employment, unemployment, training job-search methods). The LFS uses the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions of
labour market statuses, including unemployment, which are suitable for international comparison. A description of the LFS was published in the October 1992 Employment Gazette (page 483).
The other regular source of employment data is the WiE series. This is a count of jobs based mainly on a survey of employers. A comparison of the LFS and WiE employment figures and methodologies was published in the January 1996 edition of Labour Market Trends (page 19).
The other major source of unemployment data is the monthly administrative count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. This is dependent on rules relating to benefit entitlement and is not suitable for international comparisons. The methodologies for both the claimant count and the LFS ILO unemployment measure are described and compared in the booklet How Exactly is Unemployment Measured?.
The Government's policy on the collection and presentation of labour market statistics is set out in its Response to the Third Report from the Employment Committee Session 1995-96: Unemployment and Employment Statistics (30 October 1996).
Copies of all the above publications are available in the House of Commons Library.
England: 408
North: 80
North West: 118
Yorks and Humberside: 61
East Midlands: 12
West Midlands: 57
South West: 10
South East: 62
East Anglia: 8
Scotland: 113
Wales: 33.
Child Care Facilities
Mr. Allen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if Ministers are entitled to use child care facilities supported by his Department. [11600]
Mr. John M. Taylor: Ministers of the Crown are able to make use of the child care facilities provided by the Department.
EC Gas Directive
Dr. Howells: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress was made towards agreeing a
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European directive on gas liberalisation at the EU Energy Council of Minsters meeting on 3 December; and if he will make a statement. [10823]
Mr. Page: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) on 9 December, Official Report, column 30 and the hon. Member for Blaneau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 11 December, Official Report, column 274.
Small and Medium Enterprises
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what conclusions his Department has drawn from the Grant Thornton 1996 European business survey regarding (a) the percentage of United Kingdom SME which export, (b) the figures in each European Union country and (c) the European Union average. [11229]
Mr. Page: I welcome the survey's findings that as many as 45 per cent. of United Kingdom SMEs export, and that the share is significantly higher in only six other European Union countries. SMEs clearly make an important contribution to Britain's position as the world's fifth largest trading nation.
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