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M40
Dr. Howells: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the deterioration of the M40; and if he will make a statement. [20477]
Mr. Watts [holding answer 18 March]: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Dr. Kim Howells, dated 19 March 1997:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question about his assessment of the deterioration of the M40 motorway.
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Mr. Robert Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assumptions the Treasury uses when calculating the cash flow loss to the Exchequer of being paid in two instalments for six-month vehicle excise discs as against the single instalment for a 12-month disc. [20908]
Mr. Bowis:
The cash flow loss depends on the interest and inflation rates pertaining at any time. At the current Treasury discount rate of 6 per cent., and inflation of around 2.8 per cent., the loss on the private and light goods licence would be some £3.20 if the annual duty were paid in two six-monthly instalments.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (i) six-month and (ii) 12-month vehicle excise discs were issued for the last year in which figures are available. [20910]
Mr. Bowis:
The number of licences issued against VED payments in the UK in 1995-96 was:
As you may be aware, a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract under the Government's Private Finance Initiative has been awarded to UK Highways M40 Ltd for the operation and maintenance of the M40 from Junction 1 to Junction 15. The contract is 30 years and work began on 6 January 1997.
The age and type of construction of individual sections of the M40 vary considerably and hence there are significant variations in the residual life of both pavement and surfacing.
Prior to the DBFO contract the Agency's Agents responsible for maintaining the motorway undertook regular surveys of the structural and surface conditions of the road. They maintained the M40 in accordance with Highways Agency standards. All of the
Agents records were made available to tenderers bidding for the DBFO contract. For the section between junctions 1A and 3 the contract requires that the road be widened from 3 lanes to 4 and this will inevitably necessitate substantial treatment of the existing carriageway.
Part of the route between junctions 6 and 8 is in need of major maintenance and the DBFO contract stipulates that the existing concrete carriageway shall be overlaid with "black top" during the course of this year.
The DBFO Contract requires that the contractor undertake routine inspections and structural assessments of the road and that they maintain the road to a high standard. This mechanism will ensure that the road will not deteriorate in the future as the penalty for failure to meet their obligations would be termination of the contract.
I am confident that the M40 is not deteriorating and that with the current contract a high standard of maintenance is assured for the next thirty years.
Mr. Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total administrative cost of issuing vehicle excise discs for the last year in which figures are available. [20909]
(i) 6 month: 20,342,490
(ii) 12 month: 17,933,098.
Mr. Bowis: The issue of vehicle excise discs is an integral part of the vehicle registration and licensing system. The total administrative cost in the UK in 1995-96 was some £128 million, excluding enforcement.
TREASURY
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the contracts awarded by his Department to (a) EDS, (b) Andersens, (c) EMI, (d) Capita and (e) Sema since 1992 and the broad function to be carried out by the contractor, and the value of the contract in each case. [17609]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The Treasury has awarded only two contracts to the contractors mentioned since 1992:
(a) EDS in December 1993, valued at £1,475.80 for the supply and installation of a memory board and
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(d) Capita in March 1994, valued at £22,031.25 for a consultancy to review the personnel statistic division.
Mr. Barron:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many persons employed in the coal mining industry had as their place of abode a location within (a) each travel-to-work area and (b) each local authority area in South Yorkshire in each of the last seven years;[17536]
(3) what information he has collected since 1990 on the (a) place of residence and (b) place of work of persons employed in the coal mining industry. [17596]
Mrs. Angela Knight
[holding answer 25 March 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.
(2) how many persons employed in the coal mining industry had their place of work within (a) each travel-to-work area and (b) each local authority area in South Yorkshire in each of the last seven years; [17595]
| Local authority district | 1989 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnsley | (5)-- | 2,900 | (5)-- | (5)-- |
| Doncaster | 6,200 | 5,200 | -- | -- |
| Rotherham | 5,200 | -- | -- | -- |
| Sheffield | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | 16,500 | 13,100 | 4,000 | 1,100 |
| Travel-to-work area(6) | ||||
| Barnsley | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Doncaster | 6,000 | 5,200 | -- | -- |
| Rotherham/Mexborough | 4,600 | -- | -- | -- |
| Sheffield | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | 16,500 | 13,200 | 4,000 | 1,100 |
Source:
ONS 1989-1993; Census of Employment.
1995; Annual Employment Survey.
(4) 1989: Standard Industrial Classification 1980; coal extraction and manufacture of solid fuels.
1991-95: Standard Industrial Classification 1992; mining and agglomeration of hard coal.
(5) Confidential.
(6) Includes areas outside South Yorkshire.
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Duplicate NHS Numbers
Mr. Barron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent, and what other contributions have been made, by the General Register Office and the Registrars of Births and Deaths towards the costs of correcting the problem of duplicate NHS numbers. [19102]
Mrs. Angela Knight: 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 Mr. Kevin Barron, dated 19 March 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply to your recent question on how much has been spent by the General Register Office and the Registrars of births and deaths towards the costs of correcting the NHS duplicate number problem.
To date, the Office for National Statistics (incorporating the General Register Office) has spent £33,000 on discussions with the NHS Executive, analysis of problems causing duplicate NHS numbers for babies, and planning and programming software changes. Registrars of births and deaths have not spent money on correcting the NHS duplicate number problem.
In addition, advice and instruction have been given to Registrars during routine helpline work. This is provided as part of the General Register Office day-to-day support of the local registration service.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate what the unemployment level would have been for the United Kingdom if inactive jobseekers were included in the totals in each year from 1992 to the present; [20097]
- (2) what estimate he has made of the number of unemployed people in the United Kingdom who were not active in their search for employment but wished to be employed, in each year from 1992 to the present. [20096]
Mrs. Angela Knight [holding answer 17 March 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 Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 19 March 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions on time series of the numbers of people unemployed, inactive job seekers and people who were not active in their search for employment but wished to be employed.
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Estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are shown in the attached table. The LFS uses the widely accepted International Labour Office (ILO) definition of unemployment. The ILO measure covers people who were available to start work in the two weeks following their LFS interview and who had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview of were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.
People who would like a job, but have not sought one in the last four weeks, or have looked for work but are not available to start in the next two weeks are not unemployed according to the ILO definition. However, the ONS appreciates that there is a lot of interest in these groups. We regularly publish information about the numbers and characteristics of these people in the LFS Quarterly Bulletin. For example, table 31 in Quarterly Bulletin Number 18, published in December 1996 shows that 6 per cent of those in
Great Britain who wanted a job, but were not seeking one were "discouraged workers" (i.e. they were not looking for work because they believed no jobs were available).
Detailed analyses of any aspect of the LFS, including the groups you have asked about, are possible via the publicly accessible LFS database.
The Labour Force Survey Quarterly Bulletin is available in the House of Commons Library. The LFS database can also be accessed via the House of Commons Library.
| ILO unemployed | Inactive wanting a job of which: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seeking work(8) | Not seeking work(9) | ||
| 1992(7) | 2,769 | 326 | 1,707 |
| 1993 | 2,936 | 324 | 1,972 |
| 1994 | 2,736 | 276 | 2,155 |
| 1995 | 2,454 | 283 | 2,153 |
| 1996 | 2,334 | 227 | 2,261 |
(7) In spring 1992 only the inactive people of working age (men 16-64, women 16-59) were asked if they wanted a job. People over working age were not asked. All inactive people aged 16 and over were asked the question in other years.
(8) But not available to start within next two weeks.
(9) Within last four weeks. Also note that more detailed analysis of this category is available in the LFS Quarterly Bulletin.
Source:
ONS, Labour Force Survey.
Mr. Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees work in a workplace which employs fewer than 10 people in the Hemsworth constituency. [20725]
Mrs. Knight: 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.
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