§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he has taken to make job openings available to those who have been made redundant with the closure of BCC at Clay Cross, Derbyshire. [143476]
§ Mr. CabornA Response Group has been set up to co-ordinate the action taken to support those affected by the BCC closure. Action taken so far includes the opening of an on-site Job Shop to provide advice on job vacancies, training and benefits. Two job and training fairs have been held and Rapid Response Funding secured to help provide skills assessment and retraining for those affected. In addition St. Gobain have made 122 new or replacement jobs available to the BCC work force from elsewhere in their operation. Over the longer term the Government Office for the East Midlands, working with East Midlands Development Agency and other regional and local partners, will seek to deliver a range of training, reclamation and other economic initiatives aimed at supporting the regeneration of Clay Cross. Clay Cross 591W also has Assisted Area Status giving access to Regional Selective Assistance and Enterprise Grants.
Furthermore, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced last week that Derbyshire county council has been invited to work up its proposals for a new junction on the M1 motorway between junctions 29 and 30 to serve the Markham Employment Growth Zone. This is part of a major regeneration scheme to provide more than 8,000 jobs in the North Derbyshire area. The Council's detailed proposals will be submitted to the DETR next summer so that a decision can be taken by the end of the year.
Region Wales Scotland Nottinghamshire Yorkshire North East North West Midlands South January 67 111 56 191 32 10 50 12 February 121 26 47 195 38 19 51 11 March 107 11 42 142 46 32 80 26 April 55 24 35 117 52 26 35 13 May 45 50 21 69 30 22 32 6 June 46 55 36 75 61 28 58 10 July 53 14 36 117 38 32 39 4 August 17 22 18 79 58 18 37 12 September 20 17 29 81 40 15 38 7 October 23 3 11 66 16 12 33 1 November 54 21 95 129 18 10 33 5 December 99 6 109 478 175 72 60 14 The breakdown of vibration white finger claims settled (including denials) since January 2000 on a month by month basis, and by regional split, is as follows:
Region Wales Scotland Nottinghamshire Yorkshire North East North West Midlands South January 133 66 53 225 323 8 24 2 February 60 37 84 190 213 10 30 4 March 144 69 55 356 286 46 51 8 April 80 61 39 163 134 22 29 4 May 194 86 62 250 220 46 60 8 June 216 118 100 339 267 41 56 15 July 131 147 102 211 147 43 50 13 August 108 72 108 210 197 23 43 14 September 134 83 129 182 206 20 79 3 October 219 90 191 278 243 42 108 19 November 172 63 289 334 184 36 113 20 December 117 77 169 224 174 34 75 9 In total the Department has now made over 64,800 individual payments, including interim and full and final settlements, to claimants in respect of compensation for respiratory and vibration related diseases, totalling over £310 million. The Department continues to pay out around £1 million per day in compensation.