| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Jul 2004 : Column 394W—continued
Teachers (Sexual Abuse)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the number of sexual abuse cases against teachers that reach court with flawed evidence on the part of the complainant. [180001]
Paul Goggins: The Home Office Court Proceedings database does not contain details of the circumstances of the offences for which prosecutions are brought, thus the status of the defendant is not available.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implications of allowing teachers accused of sex abuse anonymity until conviction. [180003]
Paul Goggins: The Government has carefully considered whether defendants in cases of sexual offences, including those working within the education system, should be entitled to anonymity until conviction.
We do not believe that there is a case for this. While we appreciate that those accused can suffer distress, the Government believes that it is vital to maintain the principles of open justice which are necessary to the maintenance of public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The Association of Chief Police Officers have strengthened guidance on safeguards for those subject to accusations of sex abuse before they are charged. The Government is keen for effective measures to be put in place in this area and believes this is the right approach to dealing with the concerns. In addition, the Government committed to monitoring the results of the revised guidance and Press Complaints Commission regulation through the interdepartmental ministerial group on sex offending which has a remit to monitor the impact of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Bankruptcy
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many UK companies have gone bankrupt in each quarter of the last five years. [181023]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The table below shows the numbers of company insolvencies in the UK in each quarter since 1999.
1 Jul 2004 : Column 395W
Bogus Traders
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with the Home Office on increasing co-operation between the police and trading standards departments to tackle bogus traders and distraction burglaries; and if she will make a statement. [181709]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have spoken to my colleague, the Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety, about a cross departmental Ministerial Group to encourage greater cooperation between departments and enforcement agencies.
Doorstep Selling
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to consult on the recent report on doorstep selling by the Office of Fair Trading. [181708]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We welcome the market study report on doorstep selling. It is being carefully considered and we aim to respond within 90 working days. Any proposed legislative changes will be the subject of thorough consultation.
Employment Tribunals
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many registered applications are outstanding in employment tribunals; how many of these are part-time worker pension cases; and how many (a) are backlog from previous years and (b) have been lodged this year. [181214]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Based on the information currently held in the Employment Tribunals Service's statistical database, at the end of May 2004 a total of 109,530 tribunal applications are recorded as outstanding. Of this total there were 43,762 live part time worker pension applications.
The Employment Tribunals Service makes comparisons on backlogs and registered applications at the end of the financial year. For the financial year 2003–04, based on the information held in the Employment Tribunals Service's statistical database, a total of 111,170 tribunal applications were recorded as outstanding. A total of 55,178 applications were lodged in 2003–04 and the remaining 55,992 applications may be classified as backlog as they were registered in a previous financial year.
1 Jul 2004 : Column 396W
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications have been registered in employment tribunals relating to flexible working regulations in each region; how many costs awards have been made against (a) respondents and (b) applicants in each region; and what the average cost award was in each region. [181216]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Flexible working regulations came into force on 6 April 2003. In the financial year ending 2003–04, based on the information held in the Employment Tribunal Service's statistical database, a total of 211 applications were registered relating to the flexible working regulations. Of this total, flexible working was identified as the main jurisdiction in 61 applications and in the remaining 150 applications flexible working was identified as a secondary jurisdiction.
Statistical information for individual regions is not readily accessible and could be produced only at disproportionate cost. Statistical data relating to individual jurisdictions, such as flexible working is also not readily available.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases concerned with (a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal have been heard by an industrial tribunal in each region in each of the last five years. [181217]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows the number of cases concerning equal pay, disability, sex and race discrimination and unfair dismissal which were disposed of at hearing by Employment Tribunals in each of the last five financial years.
| Equal pay | Disability | Sex | Race | Unfair dismissal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 377 | 415 | 1,320 | 1,140 | 11,872 |
| 1999–2000 | 143 | 456 | 1,110 | 771 | 9,604 |
| 2000–01 | 99 | 112 | 1,258 | 1,112 | 11,565 |
| 2001–02 | 236 | 618 | 1,136 | 829 | 9,143 |
| 2002–03 | 133 | 678 | 1,121 | 725 | 9,456 |
| 2003–04 | 114 | 587 | 882 | 761 | 9,634 |
Statistical information for individual regions is not readily available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Equal Opportunities
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department has put in place to (a) provide advice and (b) share best practice with employers with respect to increasing the number of women in science, engineering and technology. [180065]
Ms Hewitt:
My Department has awarded a contract to the JIVE Consortium to deliver a new Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology. Many of the services to be delivered under this contract, including advice and information on good employment practice for women in SET occupations, will be available online and the new website is being launched on 2 July. Other services, including direct
1 Jul 2004 : Column 397W
contact with employers to discuss how the Resource Centre can work with them to share best practice and provide them with relevant, tailored advice, will commence after the formal launch of the Centre on 16 September. The Government have allocated £800,000 per annum for three years to set up and operate the new Centre and an additional £500,000 per annum for development of a dedicated returners package.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department has taken to raise the profile of women in science, engineering and technology. [180066]
Ms Hewitt: My Department has awarded a contract to the JIVE Consortium to deliver a new Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET). Many of the services to be delivered under this contract, including raising the profile of women in SET occupations, will be delivered online. The new website, being launched on 2 July, will have a section dedicated to stories and reports which raise the profile of Women in SET. The contractor has also appointed a dedicated Marketing Officer and is the process of setting up a high-profile media advisory Group. There will be a pre-launch event, on 9 September, for the new Resource Centre as part of the BA Festival of Science and a well-publicised formal launch will take the format of a Conference on 16 September. The Government have allocated £800,000 per annum for three years to set up and operate the new Centre and an additional £500,00 per annum for the development of a dedicated returners package.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to encourage employers to provide support for women in the science, engineering and technology sector. [180067]
Ms Hewitt: My Department has awarded a contract to the JIVE Consortium to deliver a new Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET). The formal launch of the Centre will be at a Conference on 16 September to which representatives of a wide-range of SET employer organisations, including industry and academia, are being invited. As soon as the Centre has been launched, these employers will be invited to seek direct, tailored advice, provided by specialised consultants about the best ways in which they can support women working in their organisations and tackle the barriers which cause women not to reach their full potential. Also many of the services to be delivered under this contract, including publishing good practice case studies, will be delivered online. The new website, being launched on 2 July, will have a section dedicated to such case studies. The Government has allocated £800,000 per annum for three years to set up and operate the new Centre and an additional £500,00 per annum for the development of a dedicated returners package.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the work of the Promoting Science, Engineering and Technology for Women Unit in encouraging implementation of the Government's stategy on increasing female participation in science, engineering and technology. [180072]
1 Jul 2004 : Column 398W
Ms Hewitt: The Government's Strategy for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology sets out a new and enhanced role for the Promoting Science, Engineering and Technology for Women unit, now renamed the DiverSETy team to reflect its broader focus on all under-represented groups in SET. Since the publication of the Strategy, the DiverSETy team has been through a tendering process for the Resource Centre, followed by contract negotiations. A contract with the JIVE consortium was signed in May 2004, and the official launch will take place on 16 September 2004. The DiverSETy team also facilitated the appointment process of the Independent Implementation Group which has met twice. The members of this group were announced in January 2004 and the DiverSETy team provides secretariat support for its meetings. The DiverSETy team is strengthening relationships with relevant policy areas across DTI, other Government Departments (including their agencies) and the Research Councils to ensure that the representations and participation of women in SET is considered and incorporated across Government. This includes working towards the Government's target of 40 per cent. female representation on public bodies/policy committees by 2008 on which the DiverSETy team leads. The team is tasked with ensuring that mainstream science policy does not disadvantage women in SET and therefore scrutinises and comments on OST and Research Council policy documents to ensure that diversity is mainstreamed. Recently, it has also been working collaboratively with the DfES and the Treasury on the Skills chapter of the 10 year framework for Science and Innovation to ensure continuity of effort for girls and women in SET throughout education and employment.
The DiverSETy Team has continued to fund and support the Rosalind Franklin Awards which are administered for us by the Royal Society and which achieve excellent publicity for the Women in SET agenda.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |