§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many agencies are currently licensed under the Employment Agencies Act 1974, giving, in each case, their location and the numbers of staff employed by them.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythAt the last count on 31 December 1993 there were 14,482 holders of licences under the Employment Agencies Act: 7,966 in London and the home counties; 3,056 in the midlands, Wales and the south-west; and 3,460 in the north and Scotland. The exact location of each licence holder is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department has no information about the numbers of staff employed by licensed employment agencies.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employment agencies have been refused a licence or had their licence revoked under the Employment Agencies Act 1974 since it came into force; and what were the reasons in each case.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythFifty-eight licences have been refused and nine licences revoked since the Employment Agencies Act came into force in 1976. Convictions for 1003W criminal offences were the reason for 26 refusals and four revocations. Evidence of lack of financial probity was the reason for 16 refusals and one revocation. The remaining cases each involved a variety of reasons, principally the persistent failure to comply with regulations applying to employment agencies.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspections were made of employment agencies by his Department in 1993; and what was the figure in each year since 1979.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe annual number of inspections was not recorded in full until 1982. The numbers for the year 1982 to 1993 in the table include visits to investigate complaints.
Inspection of Employment Agencies Year Number of Inspections 1982 3,686 1983 3,997 1984 3,650 1985 4,252 1986 4,337 1987 4,547 1988 4,854 1989 6,274 1990 6,093 1991 5,199 1992 4,842 1993 4,567