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Education SSAs
Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate the funding made available in the 1999-2000 SSA for (i) a primary school with 250 pupils and (ii) a secondary school with 900 pupils in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Staffordshire; and what factors underlie the differences in allocations between the two counties. [72200]
Ms Estelle Morris: The following table sets out the information requested. The differences in allocations are very largely due to the way the area cost adjustment is calculated, although the ethnicity factor also has a small effect in allocating more education SSA per pupil to Hertfordshire.
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Local Education Authority | SSA funding for 250 pupil primary school | SSA funding for 900 pupil secondary school |
| Hertfordshire | 593,000 | 2,721,000 |
| Staffordshire | 538,000 | 2,483,000 |
National Minimum Wage
Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what guidance he has issued to (a) job centres and (b) other parts of the Employment Service on their role in monitoring the introduction of the national minimum wage; [71496]
- (2) whether job centres will be permitted (a) to process and (b) to display job vacancies notified to them at pay rates below the national minimum wage. [71497]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Richard Burden, dated 24 February 1999:
24 Feb 1999 : Column: 345
Dr. Tony Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average annual cost of employing a school teacher in England. [72201]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The estimated average cost of employing a full-time teacher (including heads and deputies) in the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special sector in England at April 1999:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your two questions concerning the Employment Service's preparations for the introduction and monitoring of the National Minimum Wage and whether the Service will advertise jobs at a wage below the legal minimum. These are issues which fall within the responsibilities delegate to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
We have already issued guidance to Jobcentres and other relevant parts of the Agency that from 1 April they must only process and display vacancies which comply with the requirements of the National Minimum Wage Act and its associated regulations. All Jobcentre Managers will be required to check that this guidance is being followed. Vacancy takers in Jobcentres will advise employers using the Employment Service who may seek to offer rates below the National Minimum Wage of the requirements of the legislation.
The Employment Service is working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry, who have responsibility for the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, and through them with the Inland Revenue who are charged with its enforcement. Any complaints received at Jobcentres about employers who may not be meeting the requirements of the Act will be passed to the Inland Revenue to investigate.
I hope this is helpful.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Average salary | 25,400 |
| Employer costs(6) | 3,800 |
| Total cost | 29,200 |
(6) Includes 7.6 per cent. National Insurance contributions and 7.2 per cent. pension costs
HEALTH
Nurses
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses left permanent nursing jobs to work for agencies in (a) 1997 and (b) 1998. [67381]
Mr. Denham: Information on the number of nurses who left permanent nursing jobs to work for agencies is not available centrally.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant nursing posts there are currently. [67374]
Mr. Denham: Based on various figures from various sources, there are probably in the region of 9,000 vacancies lasting three months or longer.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of the shortage of nurses. [67372]
Mr. Denham: We recognise that staff shortages, particularly in nursing, are a major concern for National Health Service employers seeking to deliver high quality patient care. Many of the problems stem from the decision, made under the previous Administration, to cut the number of training places. This year, 16,873 student nurses are expected to start training--the highest figure for six years. If nurse training since 1992 had matched the current level, there could now be an extra 11,000 nurses available in the NHS today.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent on agency nurses in each year between 1979 and 1999. [67377]
Mr. Denham: The table contains data outlining the expenditure on nurses not employed directly by the National Health Service for the years 1987-88 to 1997-88. Information on the cost of nurses not employed directly by the NHS prior to 1987-88 is not available.
Note:
The 1997-98 figure is provisional.
Source:
1. Annual financial returns of NHS trusts, 1991-92 to 1997-98.
2. Annual financial returns of health authorities, 1996-97 and 1997-98.
3. Annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1991-92 to 1995-96.
4. Annual accounts of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1987-88 to 1990-91.
24 Feb 1999 : Column: 346
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent by the NHS in 1997 and 1998 to recruit nurses, broken down by health authority. [67376]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken to tackle the shortage of nurses; and how much this action has cost, broken down by project, over the last year. [67382]
Mr. Denham: We have agreed the best, real terms pay rise for nurses for 10 years, backed with a £100 million allocation from the Modernisation Fund. On 1 February, a high profile, multi-media nurse recruitment campaign was launched. This builds on the £50 million package which was announced last September to expand part-time training places, target enrolled nurses to retrain and return to the National Health Service (2,700 over the next three years) and widen access to training and support existing NHS staff to become qualified nurses (200 staff this year and 1,000 in the following three years). In addition, an extra £4 million was allocated in 1998-99 specifically to support "return to practice" initiatives on getting former nurses back to the NHS.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of UK trained nurses who are of working age and who are currently not working as nurses. [67383]
Mr. Denham: Analysis of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Register suggests that up to 140,000 qualified nurses, under 55 years old, are not working as nurses.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce more family friendly employment practices for nurses. [67379]
Mr. Denham:
The Human Resources Framework (Health Service Circular 1998/162) is a major step forward in our drive to meet the aspirations of both staff and employers in the provision of flexible employment policies and working practices to reconcile work and
24 Feb 1999 : Column: 347
family life. Work being undertaken by the Government's Women's Unit, and the development of a series of resource packs, aims to share innovation, good practice and support their local implementation.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list each of the research projects (a) conducted and (b) sponsored by his Department into the health implications of genetically modified food. [72526]
Ms Jowell:
None by this Department. However, colleagues in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food sponsor research on food safety generally, including genetically modified foods.
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