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Textile and Clothing Industry
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what initiatives his Department has set in place to develop training opportunities for students interested in pursuing careers in the United Kingdom textile and clothing industry; and if he will make a statement. [108659]
Mr. Wicks: The Secretary of State and I announced on 3 February a major new advice, guidance and support service for all 13 to 19-year-olds, called the Connexions Service. This will be a universal service but with intensive help for those in greatest need. It will be at the heart of the Government's strategy to prepare all young people for a successful adult and working life.
My Department also works through the two relevant employer-led National Training Organisations (National Textile Training Organisation (NTTO) and CAPITB, the NTO for the Clothing Sector). CAPITB has placed particular importance on providing high quality careers guidance and actively supports the placement of graduates with employers. Following the restructuring of the
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industry both NTOs are refocusing their attention on meeting skill gaps at technologist, management and technician levels.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what initiatives his Department has taken to improve (a) the marketing skills of the United Kingdom textile and clothing industry and (b) employment opportunities within the United Kingdom textile and clothing industry. [108660]
Mr. Wicks:
The National Training Organisations for the Textile and Clothing industries (NTTO and CAPITB) are refocusing their work in line with the restructuring of the industries, both bodies having recognised that although the demand for traditional skills is declining there is increased demand for specialist skills. Competitive success depends on the development of such skills with marketing very much to the fore. My Department is encouraging the National Textile Training Organisation and CAPITB, the National Training Organisation for the Clothing and Apparel industries, to develop Skills Foresight for their industries. Skills Foresight involves the collection of skills intelligence in a conscious and planned manner, engaging directly with employers. My Department will help the employer-led NTOs to use this intelligence as the basis for Workforce Development Plans, reviewing the study of education and training to meet the ends identified by Skills Foresight, establishing the necessary partnership arrangements needed to ensure the skill needs of employers and individuals are met and ensuring their plans link to the expected strategies of the Learning and Skills Councils, nationally and locally. In addition the Government support the Apparel and Textile Challenge whose activities include developing marketing skills among textiles and clothing suppliers. We also support the raising of the profile and marketing of "generic brands" such as Scottish Cashmere.
Mr. Hilary Benn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list in rank order, for the latest year for which information is available, pupil attainment for (i) Key Stage 1, (ii) Key Stage 2, (iii) Key Stage 3, (iv) Key Stage 4, (v) GCSE and (vi) A levels for the following local education authorities (i) Leeds, (ii) Sheffield, (iii) Liverpool, (iv) Islington, (v) Hackney and (vi) Hull. [109009]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The available information for 1999 is shown in the table. For the Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 results, the Local Education Authorities have been ranked using the sum across subjects of the percentage of pupils attaining the given levels in the tests/tasks. There is no measure of pupil attainment for Key Stage 4.
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| Test/Tasks | Teacher Assessments | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Writing | Spelling | Mathematics | Aggregate | English | Mathematics | Science | |
| Leeds | 83 | 83 | 75 | 86 | 327 | 83 | 86 | 86 |
| Liverpool | 82 | 82 | 70 | 85 | 319 | 81 | 85 | 85 |
| Sheffield | 78 | 81 | 68 | 86 | 313 | 79 | 83 | 84 |
| Hull | 74 | 76 | 63 | 83 | 296 | 74 | 81 | 82 |
| Islington | 74 | 73 | 60 | 81 | 288 | 75 | 80 | 79 |
| Hackney | 71 | 72 | 58 | 79 | 280 | 71 | 77 | 75 |
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| Percentage 5 A*-C GCSE/GNQV | |
|---|---|
| Leeds | 39.4 |
| Sheffield | 37.6 |
| Liverpool | 32.4 |
| Hackney | 27.8 |
| Islington | 27.4 |
| Hull | 23.4 |
| Average score per candidate | |
|---|---|
| Leeds | 18.5 |
| Sheffield | 18.4 |
| Liverpool | 16.7 |
| Hull | 14.0 |
| Islington | 12.0 |
| Hackney | 11.4 |
HOME DEPARTMENT
Policing Powers
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers are available to the police to impose crowd control and safety measures on the organisers of popular events which are held on private land; and what plans he has to strengthen them. [108112]
Mr. Charles Clarke: There are no specific police powers relating to crowd control or safety for events on private land. For an organised entertainment event where there are no trespassers, the local authority for the area would be the lead body to ensure public safety, and fire and police services would also be consulted with regard to both safety and emergency planning. Once this consultation has been completed, the local authority can issue a Public Entertainments Licence under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.
There are no plans to amend the legislation.
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Mr. Hunter:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take measures to enable the police to remove more promptly motor vehicles which have been abandoned on (a) public and (b) private land; and if he will make a statement. [108113]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for chief officers of police. The legislative provisions governing the removal of vehicles are contained in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 and the Disposal of Vehicle Regulations 1986. Under the 1986 Regulations, the police have powers to remove vehicles abandoned without lawful authority which are left in breach of local traffic regulation orders or left where they are causing an obstruction or likely to cause a danger. In these circumstances, removal would be arranged as soon as possible.
Where vehicles are not illegally parked but otherwise appear to be abandoned, the responsibility for removing and ultimately disposing of them rests with local authorities. The police do not have the power to remove abandoned vehicles from private land.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number and percentage of ethnic minority officers in each of the 18 specialist departments within the Metropolitan police; and if he will make a statement. [108185]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that there are four Specialist Departments within the Metropolitan police, comprising over 50 branches. The numbers and percentages of ethnic minority officers in each specialist department is shown in the table.
| Department | Ethnic minority officers | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist Operations (SO) | 84 | 3.17 |
| Headquarters Department (CO) | 20 | 2.25 |
| Deputy Commissioners Command Department (DCC) | 5 | 1.79 |
| Personnel (P) | 28 | 4.0 |
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Stop and Search (Dover)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) articulated lorries, (b) commercial vans and (c) private motor cars were stopped and searched on arrival at Dover in 1999. [108175]
Mrs. Roche: The immigration service does not keep records of the searches of individual vehicles it conducts. However, immigration service staff based at Dover dealt with 8,878 clandestine illegal entrants who had arrived through the port of Dover in 1999.
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