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New Constituences

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will rank the new parliamentary constituencies by share of the electorate below normal retirement age. [15836]

Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.

This 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 Mr. Peter Bottomley, dated 24 February 1997:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on ranking the new parliamentary constituencies by share of the electorate below normal retirement age.

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 5

Electoral Registration Officers are responsible for collecting information for electoral registers. However, apart from the number of attainers, no information on the electorate is collected by age. Therefore the requested information can not be provided.

I regret that I cannot be more helpful.

ENVIRONMENT

Health and Safety Executive Studies

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what new instructions he has given to the Health and Safety Executive concerning the carrying out of studies of over 25 people relating to stress, working hours, fatigue or safety; and which proposed studies by the HSE have been abandoned as a result. [16216]

Sir Paul Beresford: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has given no new instructions to the Health and Safety Executive concerning studies in these areas.

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the Health and Safety Executive is required to obtain ministerial permission before conducting surveys of more then 25 people; and what recent changes there have been in this respect. [16212]

Sir Paul Beresford: The Health and Safety Executive is required to obtain ministerial permission before conducting surveys of 25 or more people in accordance with the Prime Minister's instructions on the control of statistical surveys, which were issued to all Government Departments in August 1994. This is because the Government need to strike the balance between burdens on businesses and the need to collect information for Government purposes. No recent changes have been made in this respect.

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what new instructions he has given concerning departmental approval of studies of over 25 people relating to stress, working hours, fatigue or safety.[16215]

Sir Paul Beresford: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has given no new instructions concerning departmental approval of studies in these areas.

Private Employment Agencies

Mr. Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the private employment agencies used by his Department and its agencies in each of the last three years for which figures are available, indicating (a) the names of the agencies, (b) the numbers employed by the agencies in work for his Department, (c) the total cost to his Department of using employment agencies and the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited and (d) the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. [16179]

Sir Paul Beresford: In the last three years, my Department has used Addecco Alfred Marks, Manpower and Brook Street employment agencies to recruit temporary typists and secretaries. Since line managers

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 6

have the delegation to appoint such staff, information on numbers, costs and length of employment is not held centrally and is not readily available.

The chief executives of the Department's agencies have been asked to write to the hon. Member about their own arrangements.

Letter from M. C. Buck to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 18 February 1997:
I would refer to the above Parliamentary Question concerning the use of employment agencies.
Please be advised of the following:-
(1) The names of the agencies
Alfred Marks (a division of Adia UK Ltd)
David Chorley Associates
Dunlop & Baddenoch Ltd
Reed Personnel Ltd.
Tobias Recruitment Ltd
The People Business Ltd
(2) The number employed by the agencies in work for the Department
Currently 1
(3) The total cost of using employment agencies
Year to 31 March 1994 £51,354
Year to 31 March 1995 £78,158 For temporary staff
Year to 31 March 1996 £73,057
10 months to 31 January 1997 £37,534 - also includes One permanent
(4) The median cost paid to the agency per person recruited
Year to 31 March 1994 nil
Year to 31 March 1995 nil
Year to 31 March 1996 nil
10 months to 31 January 97 £2,484 (Cashier)
(5) The average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies.
1 Permanent
Temporary assignments average two to six months.

Letter form R. G. Courtney to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 18 February 1997:

The Secretary of State for the Environment has asked me to reply on behalf of the Building Research Establishment Executive Agency to your question on the use of private employment agencies.

The Building Research Establishment has not used any private employment agencies for the recruitment of staff within the last three years.

Letter from C. J. Shepley to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked by Sir Paul Beresford to reply to your question about the use made by the Planning Inspectorate of private employment agencies.

We have not used private employment agencies to recruit staff on our behalf. We have, however, used agencies such as RAS and PA Consulting to advise us on recruitment methods.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which are the 10 highest spending local councils per head in England. [16157]

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 7

Sir Paul Beresford: The 10 local authorities within each class of authority with the highest budgeted net revenue expenditure per head are as follows:

	1996-97 Budgeted net revenue expenditure per head(4)
	£
London Boroughs(5)
1 Tower Hamlets	1,449
2 Hackney	1,413
3 Islington	1,324
4 Camden	1,271
5 Southwark	1,258
6 Newham	1,228
7 Hammersmith and Fulham	1,190
8 Greenwich	1,153
9 Haringey	1,139
10 Westminster	1,127
Metropolitan Districts and Unitary Authorities(6)
1 Liverpool	1,053
2 Manchester	1,053
3 Knowsley	1,018
4 Birmingham	972
5 Wolverhampton	940
6 Middlesborough UA	915
7 Hartlepool UA	913
8 Sandwell	910
9 Gateshead	901
10 Salford	886
Shire Counties
1 Northumberland	680
2 Lancashire	659
3 Durham	659
4 Cumbria	656
5 Kent	656
6 Bedfordshire	654
7 Hertfordshire	651
8 Northamptonshire	640
9 Nottinghamshire	638
10 Cheshire	636
Shire Districts
1 Leicester	203
2 Luton	198
3 Alnwick	193
4 Southampton	180
5 Harlow	176
6 Reading	175
7 Hove	175
8 Blackburn	169
9 Wear Valley	160
10 Portsmouth	160

Notes:

(4) The information has been grouped by the classes of authority which bear responsibility for the same range of functions. Comparisons should therefore not be made between these groups.

(5) City of London excluded.

(6) Isles of Scilly excluded.

British Waterways

Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been Her Majesty's Government's grant in aid to British Waterways in the last 10 years.[16956]

24 Feb 1997 : Column: 8

Mr. Robert B. Jones: Grant-in-aid to British Waterways since 1987-88 has been as follows:
1987-88: £43.0 million
1988-89: £44.8 million
1989-90: £47.156 million
1990-91: £48.3 million
1991-92: £50.1 million
1992-93: £51.075 million
1993-94: £49.3 million
1994-95: £48.866 million
1995-96: £49.84 million
1996-97: £49.8 million
1997-98: £50.89 million.

The figure for 1996-97 is currently under review.

Building Research Establishment

Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 13 February, Official Report, column 261, how many members of the Future BRE group were also members of the in-house bid team. [17444]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: Five.

Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 13 February, Official Report, column 261, how many members of the Foundation for the Built Environment have been appointed to date. [17441]

Mr. Jones: The Foundation for the Built Environment is a company limited by guarantee the members of which, for the time being, are two members of staff of Ashurst Morris Crisp, legal advisers to the management bid team.

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