| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 May 2004 : Column 356W—continued
IT Equipment
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in South Ribble have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment. [172000]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) on 5 May 2004, Official Report, column 1505W.
Job Vacancies
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in South Ribble in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [171998]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Borrow, dated 12 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in South Kibble. (171998)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records, the number of unfilled vacancies notified to Jobcentres in Lancashire West Jobcentre Plus District was 4,730 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
Figures are not available for South Ribble alone because the vacancies are allocated to local Jobcentres, not according to constituency boundaries, and because of the practice of notifying some vacancies centrally with one Jobcentre taking vacancies for others in the same district. Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.
Mr. Benton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in Bootle in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [172331]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Joe Benton, dated 12 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Bootle. (172331)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records, the number of unfilled vacancies in the Liverpool travel-to-work area was 4,403 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
Figures are not available for Bootle alone because the vacancies are allocated to local Jobcentres, not according to constituency boundaries, and because of the practice of notifying some vacancies centrally with one Jobcentre taking vacancies for others in the same district.
Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.
Unemployment
Mr. Benton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unemployment was in Bootle in each year since 1997. [172330]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Joe Benton, dated 12 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Bootle Constituency.
ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
The table below gives the annual average number of JSA claimants for the Bootle constituency for each year since 1997.
| Number of claimants | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 4,368 |
| 1998 | 3,828 |
| 1999 | 3,516 |
| 2000 | 3,218 |
| 2001 | 2,873 |
| 2002 | 2,706 |
| 2003 | 2,543 |
WALES
Advisers/Consultants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on external consultants and advisers in each of the last three years. [171879]
Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office has spent the following amounts on external consultants and advisers in each of the last three financial years:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 44,650 |
| 2002–03 | 6,599 |
| 2003–04 | 587 |
Health Service Funding
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to his oral answer of 5 May 2004, Official Report, column 1329, on health service funding, if he will list the 10 hospitals which are planned or have been started in Wales. [172347]
Mr. Touhig [holding answer 11 May 2004]: Since 2001, two hospitals—Neath/Port Talbot and St. David's, Cardiff—have been opened.
Two additional hospitals—the second Rhondda and Tenby hospitals—have completed business case development and received approval
The following six hospitals are currently going through various stages of business case development:
Holywell
Porthmadog
Blaenau Gwent (Ebbw Vale)
Caerphilly
Cynon Valley
Merthyr Community.
Nuclear Power Plants (Air Security)
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Defence and (b) the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales on emergency planning procedures to deal with a serious nuclear incident since the release of information by the Ministry of Defence on 1 May 2004 on incidents involving military aircraft and the Berkeley nuclear installations. [171648]
12 May 2004 : Column 359W
Mr. Touhig: Further to the answer given to my hon. Friend by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the armed forces on 6 May 2004, Official Report, column 1714W, I can confirm that in the UK, off-site civil nuclear emergency planning has been well established over many years. This includes emergency plans which are prepared for all UK nuclear sites by first tier local authorities under the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001. The emergency response arrangements are regularly tested in a programme of off-site exercises which bring together local and national organisations, and which are followed up both locally and nationally through the DTI-chaired Nuclear Emergency Planning Liaison Group.
Restricted areas of two nautical miles radius are in place around all major nuclear installations, which apply to both military and civil aircraft.
The Secretary of State for Wales meets with the Secretary of State for Defence and the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues, including emergency planning.
Productivity
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his policy is for (a) increasing the productivity and (b) cutting the costs of his Department. [172193]
Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 148W.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |