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Minimum Wage
Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the number of companies in Wales which are not paying the minimum wage. [123935]
Mr. Alan Johnson: The Government have asked the Low Pay Commission to assess the impact of the minimum wage. Their Second Report, published on 15 February, said early indications were that the vast majority of businesses throughout the UK were meeting their obligations to pay the national minimum wage and that the Inland Revenue had made a successful start to enforcement. As at the end of April 2000, minimum wage compliance offices have dealt with 204 cases of suspected underpayment of the national minimum wage in Wales.
Power Station, Runcorn
Mr. Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will announce his decision on ICI Chemicals and Polymers Ltd.'s proposal to build a combined heat and power station at Runcorn, Cheshire. [124315]
Mrs. Liddell: I have today given clearance under Section 14 of the Energy Act 1976 to ICI Chemicals & Polymers Ltd. to build a 250 MW gas-fired combined heat and power station at the ICI Chlor-Chemicals works, Runcorn, Cheshire. The decision has been taken in accordance with the policy set out in the White Paper entitled "Conclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government response to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee" (Cm 4071).
The decision to give clearance to the proposal on energy policy grounds is without prejudice to any decision that may be taken on whether or not consent is granted under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.
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Copies of the Press Notice and the clearance letter are being placed in the Library of the House.
Laptops
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many laptop computers used by Ministers, officials and special advisers in his Department have been (a) lost and (b) stolen since May 1997. [123745]
Dr. Howells: During the period since May 1997 there have been 10 laptop computers stolen and three lost from my Department. These figures reflect central records for the core Department and exclude Executive Agencies.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Euro
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which (a) local education authorities and (b) organisations for which his Department has budgetary responsibility (i) have set up and (ii) are setting up projects to prepare for the UK adopting the euro; what these projects are costing each organisation; what the total cost to the Department is; and from which budget sums already spent have come. [122812]
Ms Jowell: An update on changeover planning in the public sector was given in the second Outline National Changeover Plan published on 9 March.
Teacher Re-training
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make available grants for re-training to qualified teachers seeking to re-enter the profession. [123132]
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Ms Estelle Morris: In the current academic year, the Teacher Training Agency is providing funding for 56 courses for teachers who wish to refresh their skills. Course structures and the tuition fees charged by providers vary considerably. Local education authorities have power to make grants to teachers who attend these courses under the local education authority (Post-Compulsory Awards) Regulations 1999.
College Lecturers (Silver Book Contracts)
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many college lecturers are still employed on Silver Book contracts; and what proposal he has for their assimilation onto new contracts. [123277]
Mr. Wicks: Over 95 per cent. of all lecturers have agreed to new contracts which are not based on the Silver Book. Contracts are a matter to be agreed between individual colleges and their staff.
Equal Opportunities Legislation
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many applications have been made to industrial tribunals under the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975; and what percentage of such applications were successful through being settled with an award (a) before a hearing and (b) following a hearing. [123466]
Ms Hodge [holding answer 23 May 2000]: The following tables show employment tribunal statistics for sex discrimination and equal pay cases since 1976. The percentage of cases each year which were settled through arbitration is given. Information is not available on whether cases were settled before or after a hearing. The percentage of those cases heard at a tribunal each year which were successful is also given.
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| ACAS arbitration settled | Heard at tribunal | Successful at tribunal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total number of applications | Number settled | Percentage settled | Number heard | Number successful | Percentage of cases heard |
| 1976 | 243 | 35 | 14 | 119 | 24 | 20 |
| 1977 | 229 | 63 | 28 | 77 | 17 | 22 |
| 1978 | 171 | 29 | 17 | 67 | 14 | 21 |
| 1979 | 180 | 46 | 26 | 61 | 16 | 26 |
| 1980 | 181 | 46 | 25 | 70 | 15 | 21 |
| 1981 | 259 | 53 | 20 | 92 | 19 | 21 |
| 1982 | 150 | 42 | 28 | 56 | 24 | 43 |
| 1983 | 265 | 64 | 24 | 116 | 62 | 53 |
| 1984 | 314 | 102 | 32 | 118 | 52 | 44 |
| 1985 | 414 | 124 | 30 | 150 | 39 | 26 |
| 1986(1) | 612 | 167 | 27 | 201 | 48 | 24 |
| 1987 | 691 | 200 | 29 | 208 | 46 | 22 |
| 1988 | 935 | 366 | 39 | 250 | 78 | 31 |
| 1989 | 1,046 | 384 | 37 | 280 | 86 | 31 |
| 1990 | 1,078 | 335 | 31 | 298 | 78 | 26 |
| 1991 | 1,104 | 378 | 34 | 268 | 90 | 34 |
| 1992 | 1,386 | 504 | 36 | 369 | 127 | 34 |
| 1993 | 1,969 | 824 | 42 | 461 | 176 | 38 |
| 1994 | 4,052 | 1,005 | 25 | 690 | 340 | 49 |
| 1995 | 3,677 | 1,464 | 40 | 574 | 218 | 38 |
| 1996 | (2)-- | (2)-- | (2)-- | (2)-- | (2)-- | (2)-- |
| 1997 | 2,839 | 1,005 | 35 | 676 | 224 | 33 |
| 1998 | 4,025 | 1,791 | 44 | 797 | 270 | 34 |
(1) From the end of 1985 the figures were calculated by financial year rather than by calendar year
(2) Because of changes to the tribunal handling system in 1996, comparable information for 1996-97 is not available
Source:
Collated from Labour Market Trends
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Teachers (Early Retirement)
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many teachers in each local education authority were offered early retirement in each of the last 20 years. [123113]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 22 May 2000]: The number of teachers taking early retirement from the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special sector in each local education authority in England for the last 20 years is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library.
Astra Group Pension Scheme
Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the winding-up of the Astra Group Pension Scheme. [123324]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 23 May 2000]: The process for winding-up the Astra Group Pension Scheme started on 1 April 1999. Since then no new pensions have been awarded as members reach age 60, but payments to existing pensioners have continued to be made. The scheme's administrators still have some outstanding issues about the restoration of members' rights in the state pension scheme. These need to be resolved to establish the amount of money available to buy annuities to protect current pensioners and preserved annuities for members with preserved pensions. Until this process is completed, nobody will know the extent of any shortfall in the scheme's assets to meet its liabilities.
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I am unable, at this stage, to give any indication of when the winding-up process will be completed.
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