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8 Mar 2004 : Column 1267W—continued
Service Personnel (Demobilisation)
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources his Department has allocated to replace the EU Konver programme, to help servicemen and women in moving from the armed forces to civilian occupation. [158620]
Mr. Caplin: The two Konver programmes which ran from 1993–94 and from 1995–99 were aimed at areas affected by the running down of defence-related industries and military installations, and the measures funded included training for new jobs, support for other businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, and the conversion and re-use of ex-military land.
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The Ministry of Defence's resettlement programme which supports Service leavers moving from the armed forces to civilian life predated the Konver programme and was not affected by the closure of Konver II in 1999. Until October 1998, the career transition services programme was managed in-house, and the current contract placed in 1998, is not due to expire until September 2005. Arrangements are currently in hand to retender this requirement for a further period of at least seven years.
Suez Medal
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long on average it has taken to process claims for the campaign medal for those ex-service personnel who served in the Suez Canal zone between 1951 and 1954. [156831]
Mr. Caplin: At this stage it is not possible to give a meaningful average figure. Over 34,000 claims have been received, the majority by the Army Medal Office (AMO), which has had to spend more time than is usual to acknowledge the huge number of letters which have arrived in the last four months. This has delayed the assessing of individual claims, though the backlog of letters requiring acknowledgement has now been cleared. The AMO are aiming to process between 250 and 300 cases a week, but many variables can and do impinge on this target.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims his Department has received for campaign medals for those ex-service personnel who served in the Suez Canal zone between 1951 and 1954 from (a) former Naval personnel, (b) former Army personnel and (c) former RAF personnel. [156833]
Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence has received the following applications from veterans and their families up to week ending 20 February 2004.
| Service | Number of applications |
|---|---|
| Royal Navy | 1,521 |
| Royal Marines | 622 |
| Army | 25,048 |
| Royal Air Force | 7,076 |
| Total applications | 34,267 |
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's personnel are processing claims for a campaign medal for those ex-service personnel who served in the Suez Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954; and when he expects this process to be complete. [156834]
Mr. Caplin: The number of people who are dealing with applications for the new campaign medal for service in the Suez Canal Zone varies to meet the demand. Some staff are occupied full-time on this task, particularly with assessing individual entitlement to the medal, while support staff are working both on the Canal Zone medals and others as part of their duties. The individual medal offices have the following staff addressing this task:
- Royal Naval Medal Office: four staff assessing claims, plus one part-time clerk ordering and despatching the medals.
- Royal Marines Medal Office: overall one half of one person.
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- Army Medal Office: Nine staff directly processing claims, plus three people acknowledging claims, stamping and despatching medals.
- Royal Air Force Medal Office: overall three personnel receiving, assessing and despatching medals.
It is not possible to say when the process will be complete as it will depend entirely on when veterans and their families apply for the medal.
Radioactive Contamination (Hebrides)
Mr. MacDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place a copy of the Summary Report of Radioactive Contamination problems at the RA Range Hebrides and the decontamination of the Radiac
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Source Store and Compound, produced by Naval Radiation Protection Services, in September 1980, in the Library. [156722]
Mr. Caplin: Arrangements are in hand to de-classify the report, and, as soon as this has been done, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
Welsh Infantry
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment and (b) current strength is of each of the regular Welsh infantry battalions; and where they are located. [158896]
Mr. Caplin: The establishment, strength and location of the Welsh Infantry Battalions, as at 1 January 2004, are included in the following table:
| Regiment | Unit establishment | Unit strength | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Wales | 741 | 680 | Barker Barracks Paderborn Germany |
| 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards | 618 | 660 | RAF St. Athan Vale of Glamorgan Wales |
| 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers | 668 | 620 | New Mons Barracks Aldershot |
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
Equal Pay
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister for Women what the difference in pay in Greater London was between (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) male and (ii) female workers in each year since 1997. [158445]
Ms Hewitt: The following table shows the mean hourly pay gap in Greater London between (a) men and women in full-time employment and (b) men in full-time employment and women in part-time employment in each year since 1997.
| Pay gap between men's and women's full-time mean hourly earnings | Pay gap between men's mean full-time hourly earnings and women's mean part-time hourly earnings | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 23.4 | 45.7 |
| 1998 | 23.3 | 45.1 |
| 1999 | 23.3 | 45.2 |
| 2000 | 22.7 | 48.0 |
| 2001 | 23.0 | 51.1 |
| 2002 | 23.0 | 48.9 |
| 2003 | 23.6 | 46.0 |
Note:
Figures for men's part-time hourly earnings are not available due to small sample sizes.
TREASURY
Unemployment (Anniesland)
John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the most recent figure is for unemployment in Glasgow, Anniesland. [158619]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr John Robertson, dated 8 March 2004:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about unemployment in the Glasgow Anniesland Parliamentary Constituency. (158619)
- The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definitions. For Parliamentary constituencies, information about unemployment rates, but not levels, is available, subject to the sample size being sufficiently large. However, the sample size for Glasgow Anniesland is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment.
- ONS also publishes data on the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). In January 2004 there were 1,864 JSA claimants in the Glasgow Anniesland Parliamentary Constituency. This represents 4.9 per cent. of the working age population of the area.
Child Trust Fund
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed EU investment services directive on the sales regime for Child Trust Funds. [158614]
Ruth Kelly: The Government are continuing to work with the Financial Services Authority on the development of the regulatory regime for the Child Trust Fund. The Government believe that its plans for the Child Trust Fund are consistent with the draft version of the investment services directive agreed by the Council in October 2003.
Work Force
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change has been in the net size of the work force in the UK since 1997. [157812]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
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Letter from Len Cook to Mark Simmonds, dated 8 March 2004:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about skilled migrant workers in the NHS and in the Education sector. (157584)
- The attached table gives the available information from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the three month period ending in November 2003. "Migrant" workers have been identified from the survey as those people working in the UK whose nationality is not British. The survey does not analyse data specifically according to "skills", but for this purpose "skills" have been represented in terms of a person's highest qualification.
- As with any statistical sample survey, estimates for the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
| Health authority or NHS trust | Education sector(6) | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest qualification | ||
| Degree or equivalent | 41 | 23 |
| Higher education | 35 | (7)— |
| GCE A-level or equivalent | (7)— | (7)— |
| GCSE grades A-C or equivalent | (7)— | (7)— |
| Other qualifications | 36 | 10 |
| No qualification | (7)— | (7)— |
(5) Applies to all men aged 16 to 64 and women 16 to 59.
(6) This includes university, polytechnic or other grant funded educational establishments.
(7) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.
Source:
ONS—Labour Force Survey
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