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Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : Advice given to me is confidential. However, the CEGB provided evidence to the Hinkley Point inquiry on 6 December 1988 about the comparative costs of a PWR and coal-fired capacity, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of (a) the percentage of electricity generation currently met by nuclear power and (b) the likely percentage in each year to the year 2000.
Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : According to the CEGB, the percentage of electricity generated by nuclear power in England and Wales in 1988-89 was 17.4. Future levels will depend upon a number of factors which cannot be forecast with precision.
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Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what were the unprecedented guarantees on the costs of nuclear power stations which were being sought by National Power.
Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : The details of my negotiations with National Power are confidential. It argued that it should receive extensive protection against financial risks arising from a variety of potential circumstances relating to the construction and operation of stations and to the statutory regime governing them.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy which Magnox nuclear power stations he estimates can have an extended life.
Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : This will be a matter for the nuclear company. The continuing operation of nuclear power stations has to be licensed by the nuclear installations inspectorate.
CEGB
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is his latest estimate of the capital value of the assets scheduled to go to National Power, PowerGen and Gridco, respectively ; (2) what is his latest estimate of the capital value of the nuclear power stations to be retained in the public sector.
Mr. Wakeham : It is too early to assess the value of the assets assigned to each of the CEGB's successor companies : it will depend on a number of factors including the term of the power supply and other contracts which have yet to be included.
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, if he will make a statement on the effect on employment at Central Electricity Generating Board, Barnwood, Gloucester, following his announcement on nuclear power on 9 November.
Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : This will be a matter for the CEGB and the management boards of National Power and the nuclear company.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many (a) oral and (b) written questions were asked of his Department in 1988-89.
Mr. Wakeham : During the 1988-89 Session up to and including 13 November 1989, the number of questions asked of my Department was (a) 469 orals and (b) 1,204 written.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many written parliamentary questions he refused to answer in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Mr. Wakeham : None. It is my policy to give an answer to all questions within my responsibility other than those where the answers can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many written parliamentary questions to him in Session 1988-89 received answers that the information (a)
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was not available, (b) was not separately recorded, (c) was not centrally recorded, (d) was not recorded in Government statistics or (e) could be provided only at disproportionate cost.Mr. Wakeham : This information is a matter of public record but can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the cost to his Department of answering parliamentary (a) oral and (b) written questions in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Mr. Wakeham : This information is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Statistics
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether his Department has discontinued (a) the collection or (b) the publication of any statistics since 1979.
Mr. Wakeham : The Department of Energy publishes energy statistics in "Energy Trends" each month, the "Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics" each year and the annual report on the "Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom"--the Brown Book. These publications are regularly reviewed and their contents rationalised in response to the Government's requirements for statistical information and the changing nature of the energy industry. There have been a number of changes made to the statistics collected and published in these booklets since 1979. However, reductions in the collection and publication of statistical series have been relatively few. These have included a reduction in the statistics for coal industry operations and finance ; a reduction in the statistics of town gas manufacture ; the discontinuation of statistics on two star petrol prices ; and the rationalisation of coal stocks data and some electricity data to avoid duplication. In many cases the information remains available from alternative sources.
Mr. John Collier
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how much Mr. John Collier will be paid as chairman of the new nuclear company.
Mr. Wakeham : It has been agreed that Mr. Collier's salary will be £125,000 a year.
AGRs
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information on the costs of advance gas-cooled reactors become available after the July announcement of the decision not to privatise the Magnox stations.
Mr. Wakeham : National Power informed us of indicative prices and outline contract terms it was seeking for the sale of electricity from the AGRs during confidential discussions. As I made clear in my statement of 9 November at columns 1175-76, these were unacceptable.
Electricity Distribution
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of the present amount of power being fed into the national grid from sources other than the
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Central Electricity Generating Board, in total and as a percentage ; and what is his estimate for future years of the amount and percentage that will be fed in from other than on Central Electricity Generating Board generating capacity.Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : The CEGB informs me that during 1988-89 a total of 16.4 TWh was provided from outside sources, 6.6 per cent. of the total electricity supplied. The Government's proposals for privatisation will lead to greater competition in electricity generation in future years.
Renewables (Special Tranche)
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current state of progress on the 600MW special tranche of renewables announced by the right hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Morrison) during the summer.
Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : As I made clear in my statement on 9 November, we will maintain the arrangements for the 600 MW tranche for renewables. These were spelt out in another place by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary on 15 June.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has received any representations from the chairman designate of PowerGen about the division of assets between that company and National Power.
Mr. Wakeham [holding answer 13 November 1989] : I meet the chairman-designate frequently to discuss a wide range of matters relating to electricity privatisation. These discussions are confidential.
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Scottish Nuclear Power Stations
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what proposals he has for the management of the Scottish nuclear power stations after vesting day in the electricity supply industry.
Mr. Lang : I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House on 9 November by my right hon. and learned Friend.
EMPLOYMENT
Employment Training
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what types of training are being undertaken by people on employment training in (a) engineering, (b) construction and (c) information technology industries ; and how many places are available for each type.
Mr. Nicholls : Employment training provides many types of training to meet the demands of local labour markets. Information about the numbers of places available in each training occupational category is held in every area office, but because of the local focus of the programme is not currently aggregated centrally.
Employment (Leeds)
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons in the Leeds metropolitan district there were in (a) full-time employment, (b) part-time employment and (c) temporary employment for each year from 1979 (i) by gender and (ii) as a percentage of all employees in (x) manufacturing industry and (y) the service sector industry.
Mr. Nicholls : The available employee estimates for the area are from censuses of employment taken in September 1981, September 1984 and September 1987 and are given in the table.
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Employees in employment<1> in the Leeds metropolitan district<2>
September 1981 September 1984 September 1987
Standard Industrial |Divisions of SIC |Number (thousand) |Per cent.<3> |Number (thousand) |Per cent.<3> |Number (thousand) |Per cent.<3>
Classification (SIC)
1980
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturing industries |2-4 |85.5 |28.3 |71.8 |24.4 |72.6 |24.6
Male full-time |60.3 |20.0 |50.9 |17.3 |51.9 |17.6
part-time |0.9 |0.3 |0.7 |0.2 |0.8 |0.3
Female full-time |18.8 |6.2 |15.8 |5.4 |16.0 |5.4
part-time |5.5 |1.8 |4.3 |1.5 |3.9 |1.3
Service industries |6-9 |187.4 |62.1 |196.1 |66.5 |197.6 |67.0
Male full-time |81.9 |27.1 |83.5 |28.3 |81.8 |27.8
part-time |7.7 |2.6 |9.4 |3.2 |9.8 |3.3
Female full-time |50.7 |16.8 |53.4 |18.1 |57.5 |19.5
part-time |47.0 |15.6 |49.8 |16.9 |48.5 |16.5
All industries and services |0-9 |301.7 |100.0 |294.7 |100.0 |294.7 |100.0
Male full-time |166.7 |55.2 |157.1 |53.3 |154.1 |52.3
part-time |8.9 |3.0 |10.6 |3.6 |10.8 |3.7
Female full-time |72.3 |24.0 |71.7 |24.3 |76.3 |25.9
part-time |53.9 |17.9 |55.3 |18.8 |53.4 |18.1
<1> Excludes the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's Forces; employees in temporary employment are included but are not separately identified in the census; part-time workers are defined
as those working not more than 30 hours a week.
<2> The district is defined in terms of ward boundaries as at 1981.
<3> Percentage of all industries and services total.
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Pay (Leeds)
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the maximum and minimum hourly basic rates of pay recorded in the Leeds office of the Manpower Services Commission from advertised posts in (a) the manufacturing sector and (b) the service sector.
Mr. Nicholls : The information provided relates to vacancies available on Wednesday 8 November 1989 and is as follows :
Hourly pay rates
ManufacturinServices
|£ |years|£ |years
--------------------------------------
Minimum |1.25 |16-20|1.20 |16
Maximum |6.25 |- |5.20 |-
The table is based upon information from jobecentres in the Leeds local authority area. It excludes vacancies quoting only weekly, monthly or annual pay rates, which could not be adjusted to give reliable hourly equivalents.
Disablement Assistance
Mr. Litherland : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the contents of the draft document on the Government's internal review of employment assistance to disabled adults have been finalised ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The review is at an advanced stage. The contents of the consultative document which will follow the review have not yet been finalised. However, the document will be published as soon as possible.
The review is taking a comprehensive look at the framework for services for people with disabilities in the labour market in the 1990s.
Sheltered Employment
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the major issues discussed by the Employment Department sheltered employment consultative group over the last three years and all major achievements of the group during that time.
Mr. Eggar : This is a consultative body which exists to provide a forum for the exchange of views between the Department and organisations with an interest in the sheltered employment programme. The major issues discussed by the consultative group since 1986 have included :
A review of the provision of equal opportunity policies within the programme leading to the development and dissemination of a model policy.
Annual sheltered employment statements to the National Advisory Council for the Employment of Disabled People (NACEDP) 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88.
Sheltered employment research.
Numbers supported in the sheltered employment programme. Results of the sheltered placement scheme earnings survey. Net Exchequer costs of sheltered employment.
NACEDP working party report on the review of the Tomlinson principles.
Sheltered employment finance.
Health and safety in the sheltered employment programme. Retention of approved workers with significantly
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reduced output.Issues relating to the procurement of work, and the priority suppliers scheme.
Evaluation of the sheltered placement scheme.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the membership of the Employment Department sheltered employment consultative group and, where applicable, the organisation represented by each member.
Mr. Eggar : The current membership of the sheltered employment consultative group is listed as follows :
Organisation Represented: |Member
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Employment |Mr. D. J. Sullivan
|(Chairman)
Liaison Groups of Sheltered |Mr. M. J. Barratt
Workshop Managers |Mr. P. E. Linton
Local Authority Associations
Associations of County Councils |Councillor Mr. W. Minto
Association of Metropolitan |Mr. J. Gallagher
Authorities |Councillor Mrs. J. Watts
Convention of Scottish Local |Mr. A. J. H. MacNish
Authorities |Mr. D. Morrison
Remploy Ltd. |Mr. M. Daymond
|Mr. T. A. True
Trade Unions
National League of the Blind and |Mr. M. A. Barrett
Disabled
General and Municipal Workers |Mrs. P. Turner
Union
Small Firms Service
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Government's small firms service is able to offer expert advice on the particular problems of starting and running a small business which are faced by (a) women and (b) people with disabilities.
Mr. Eggar : Yes. The small firms service offers information, advice and guidance on business to all groups of people.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) oral and (b) written questions were asked of his Department in 1988-89.
Mr. Eggar : There were 1,342 oral and 1,600 written parliamentary questions asked of this Department in 1988-89.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many written parliamentary questions to him in Session 1988-89 received answers that the information (a) was not available, (b) was not separately recorded, (c) was not centrally recorded, (d) was not recorded in Government statistics or (e) could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Eggar : To provide the information in the form requested would involve manual scrutiny of some 3,000 replies to parliamentary questions ; I regret, therefore, that it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
It is, however, this Department's practice to supply substantive answers to questions wherever possible.
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Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost to his Department of answering parliamentary (a) oral and (b) written questions in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Mr. Eggar : This information is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many written parliamentary questions he refused to answer in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend has not refused to answer any parliamentary questions in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Brewing and Tobacco Industries
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what was the number of people employed in the brewing industry in England and Wales (a) at the latest date and (b) five years ago ; (2) what was the number of people employed in the tobacco industry in England and Wales (a) at the latest date and (b) five years ago.
Mr. Nicholls : The only information available for these industries is the employees in employment estimates from the census of employment in 1984 and 1987, as follows :
Employees in employment in England and Wales
|Brewing industry<1>|Tobacco industry<2>
|(thousand) |(thousand)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 1984 |47.7 |20.3
September 1987 |38.4 |13.7
<1> Group 427 of the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification.
<2> Group 429 of the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification.
Average Industrial Wage
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average industrial wage paid in the three most recent years for which figures are available, in Britain and in each EEC country.
Mr. Nicholls : The information on a consistent basis as compiled by the Statistical Office of the European Communities is as follows :
Average Gross Hourly Earnings of Manual Workers in
Manufacturing Industries (<1>) in national currencies.
|April 1986|April 1987|April 1988
---------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium (BFr) |298 |304 |308
Denmark (DKr) |73.67 |80.78 |86.38
Germany (DM) |16.51 |17.40 |18.25
Greece (Dr) |347 |383 |451
France (FFr) |38.55 |40.17 |41.68
Ireland (£IR) |4.35 |4.59 |4.83
Italy (<2>) (Lr) |n.a. |n.a. |n.a.
Luxembourg (LFr) |335 |345 |n.a.
Netherlands (Fl) |17.00 |17.35 |n.a.
Portugal (Esc) |200 |239 |272
Spain (Pts) |n.a. |n.a. |n.a.
United Kingdom (£) |3.86 |4.09 |4.38
Notes:
(<1>) NAC Classification of Manufacturing Industries
(<2>) Latest available data for Italy are for October 1985, 7,
802
Lira/hour
n.a. not available
Free Telephone Calls
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the cost of allowing everybody registered as seeking work in rural areas to be eligible for free telephone calls to their local jobcentre irrespective of the Telecom charges incurred.
Mr. Eggar : The information to enable an estimate to be made is not available.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the number of people seeking work who are denied access to a local free telephone facility from their home village to the nearest jobcentre because the Telecom telephone line routing is so indirect as to make the call liable to long distance rates.
Mr. Eggar : This information is not available.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he proposes to take to achieve a free telephone facility to the local jobcentre for everyone wishing to contact their local jobcentre.
Mr. Eggar : There are no plans to introduce a national free phone facility into jobcentres, although this has been introduced in some parts of the country where access to the jobcentre may be difficult and costly.
Employment Training
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on British Oxygen's refusal to continue to participate in employment training.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 10 November 1989] : British Oxygen Company (BOC) is still participating in employment training by providing high-level training under the higher technical national training (HTNT) arrangements. The effect of BOC's decision not to renew its contract as a training manager under ET is the loss of only 30 places, none of which was filled at the time of the withdrawal, and which will be made good by increasing places with other providers in the area.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the most recent details of (a) the number of filled places on the 23 large company employment training schemes listed in the Official Report , 6 July, column 275, (b) any changes to the maximum number of places allocated for each of these schemes and (c) which of those schemes have since withdrawn from employment training.
Mr. Nicholls : The following table updates to 29 September 1989 the details of the 23 large company employment training schemes listed in the Official Report, 6 July, column 275 .
The "No. of places allocated" column shows, in brackets, the changes to the figures from 26 May 1989, as listed in the Official Report.
None of the schemes listed has withdrawn from employment training.
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Company Number of places Places filled at
allocated at 29 September 1989
September 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Jarvis and Sons |1,310 |(-1,186)|1,160
J. Laing Construction |2,181 |(+3) |1,554
Henry Boot Construction |495 |(-74) |222
Invicta Training (Grand Metropolitan |1,105 |(+390) |147
Training)
Martin James |650 |(+10) |552
Geo. Wimpey |437 |(-110) |404
Mowlem |305 |(-100) |128
Comet PLC |354 |(-20) |51
Pilkington |230 |(-40) |181
Ferranti |152 |(-63) |92
Mill Garages Ltd. |170 |- |173
Tower Radio Ltd. |130 |(-120) |93
Portals Engineering Ltd. |250 |- |241
Marley Extrusions Ltd. |200 |- |Nil
Ryder Ltd. |165 |(+15) |194
Team Greyfriars Ltd. |380 |(+180) |155
John Lawrence Group |100 |(-50) |37
ICI |100 |- |83
Sumlock Business Service |60 |(-30) |36
R and D Associates |125 |- |139
Simon Engineering |110 |- |63
Coastline Ltd. |70 |- |114
Strategic Marketing (International Ltd.) |100 |- |88
Unemployment Benefit
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployment benefit claims offices in Wales have reduced the amount of time granted for first time claims interviews.
Mr. Eggar : An average time of 40 minutes is allowed for each new claim interview.
Labour Statistics
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures for the borough of Eastleigh, Hampshire, and for the same period in each of the last six years ; and, in each case, what percentage of the total available work force the unemployed represented.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 13 November 1989] : The following information is available from the Library. The table shows the number of unemployed claimants in Eastleigh local authority district in September 1989 and in each September for the preceding six years. These figures are slightly affected by the change in the compilation of the count in March 1986 to reduce over-recording and changes in benefit regulations in September 1988 affecting young people aged under 18.
Percentage rates of unemployment are not calculated for local authority districts.