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52. Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current pupil-teacher ratio for secondary schools in Greater London.
Mr. Butcher : In January 1988, the pupil-teacher ratio within maintained secondary schools in Greater London was 14 :1.
School Improvements
53. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make it his policy to encourage developers to make financial contributions towards school improvements in areas where significant numbers of children of school age have been added to school rolls.
Mr. Butcher : Local education authorities are responsible for ensuring that sufficient school places are available in their areas. My right hon. Friend welcomes, in principle, any agreement between an LEA and developer that leads to the private sector investing in improvements in schools.
School Inspectors
54. Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that Her Majesty's inspectors are sufficiently diligent in detecting below average standards of teaching and achievement of pupils.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Her Majesty's Inspector's central concern has always been with standards of teaching and learning, and it reports regularly to me on those and other such matters. The senior chief inspector is directly responsible for the performance of the inspectorate, but I study carefully the reports that are submitted to me, which are also open to public scrutiny. I am satisfied that HMI already carries out its functions effectively and diligently.
School Activities (Charges)
55. Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has received from education authorities to departmental circular 2/89 entitled, "Education Reform Act 1988, Charges for School Activities".
Capital Allocations
56. Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received following the announcement of the 1989-90 capital allocations to local education authorities.
Mr. Butcher : A total of 26 representations have been received from hon. Members, local authorities and school
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governors. Fourteen of these relate to the prescribed capital allocations to local education authorities and 12 to the allocations for voluntary aided and special agreement schools.Durham University
58. Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received from the university of Durham ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The university has recently made representations about the cost of repairs to Durham castle, on which my right hon. Friend has seen no case for the supplementation of help available through existing channels. It has also notified us of an outline proposal to establish a college on Teesside which, depending on the outcome of local consultations, may lead to the need for decisions at national level.
City Technology Colleges
59. Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many city technology colleges are now envisaged.
63. Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many city technology colleges he has planned to open during the present year.
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many city technology colleges he expects to commence in 1989.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many city technology colleges have so far been announced.
Mrs. Rumbold : The city technology colleges programme continues to make excellent progress. Kingshurst CTC opened last year and two more, at Teesside and Nottingham, will open in September this year. CTCs in Bradford and Gateshead are planned to open in September 1990. In addition, sponsors have announced their intention to establish five other CTCs. Further announcements will be made soon.
Teachers (Pay and Conditions)
60. Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any proposals to restore negotiating machinery for teachers' pay and conditions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key).
School Curriculum
61. Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to make regulations under section 22 of the Education Act 1988 governing the supply and publication of information concerning the school curriculum.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has today issued for statutory consultations a draft of the first regulations
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he proposes to make under section 22. These are intended to take effect from the 1989-90 school year. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.Graduates
64. Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many graduates entered industry during the latest year that figures are available ; and what proportion this was of the total number of students graduating.
Mr. Jackson : In 1987, 16,600 first degree graduates in Great Britain entered industry. This accounted for 17 per cent. of the total first degree graduates of known destination in Great Britain. The destination of graduates from part-time courses in polytechnics and colleges is not obtained.
Science Budget
65. Dr. Bray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the advice he has received from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils on the allocation of the science budget for 1989-90.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend expects to make an announcement shortly.
Teacher Training
67. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is planning to introduce any proposals for teacher training in 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : In the near future, my right hon. Friend will be announcing his decision on the outcome of the consultation on the proposals for the reform of non-standard routes into teaching ; the aggregate intake numbers for initial teacher training for 1990, together with the split between sectors, undergraduate and postgraduate courses, phases and secondary phase subjects--and later the proposed distribution between institutions in the PCFC sector ; his proposals for the approval of courses of initial teacher training when the term of office of the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education expires at the end of 1989 ; his proposals for the national priority areas in the LEA training grant scheme for 1990-91. In addition, the Government keep under constant review the scope for encouraging innovatory developments in teacher training designed to enhance the quality of the teaching force and help to meet the demand for teachers.
Literacy and Numeracy
68. Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many children are estimated to leave Britain's primary schools and secondary schools with inadequate literacy and numeracy.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information is not available in the form requested. Attainment targets for English and mathematics in the national curriculum will establish what pupils should be able to achieve at ages seven, 11, 14 and 16. The introduction of assessment at those ages will mean that any pupils having difficulty will be identified at an early stage and can be given help.
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Classics
70. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a further statement on the teaching of classics in schools.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend attaches importance to the study of classics in schools. Its potential was illustrated in Her Majesty's inspectorate's recent publication "Classics from 5 to 16". Schools will still be able to offer classics outside the national curriculum in the early secondary years, as an option to fourth and fifth year pupils, and in the sixth form. We hope that parental and public demand will encourage such provision. In addition my right hon. Friend has asked the national curriculum working groups on English and history to consider the contribution of classical studies, as a cross-curricular theme, to the attainment targets and programmes of study for these subjects.
Degrees
71. Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what studies have been undertaken by his Department as to the effect on education of the single European market, with special regard to the common recognition of degrees and the outlawing of bogus degrees.
Mr. Jackson : The implications of the single European market for education are kept under continuous review. In further and higher education, many courses already address employers' single market training needs ; further demand can be expected to develop in a wide range of fields. The Education Reform Act 1988, in providing for increased involvement of employers in the government of all education institutions, will facilitate a direct response to that demand. The United Kingdom is participating fully under the European Community's ERASMUS programme in the development of a European credit transfer scheme designed to contribute to the recognition for academic purposes of higher education qualifications obtained and periods of study spent in different member states. The Government gave full support during negotiations in Brussels to the principle of the directive on a general system for the recognition of higher education diplomas for professional purposes which was adopted unanimously by the Council of Ministers on 21 December 1988. Finally, although not as part of any European Community initiative, the Government brought into effect on 30 November 1988 sections 214 to 216 of the Education Reform Act 1988 under which it is now a criminal offence to award, or to offer to award, an unrecognised United Kingdom degree. At school level, the work of the National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council will have regard to the resolution of the Council of Ministers on the European dimension in education.
New Schools
73. Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy for capital expenditure for new schools in areas of rapidly increasing population.
Mr. Butcher : Local education authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places for
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every child in their areas. To enable local authorities to meet their statutory obligations my right hon. Friend gives priority, when making capital allocations to those authorities who submit capital plans to provide additional school places to meet a rise in the local school population.Schools-industry Links
74. Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on his recent discussions with industrialists about links between school and industry.
Mr. Butcher : My Department is keen to encourage the development of links between school and industry in many ways. To this end, my colleagues and I have regular meetings with industrialists to discuss ways in which they can take advantage of the opportunities offered by recent legislation to become involved with schools.
Computer Software
76. Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next plans to review the types of computer software available to schools.
Mr. Butcher : A statistical survey undertaken by the Department in February 1988 obtained information about the software packages used most regularly in schools. The result of this survey will be published shortly.
Association of University Teachers
77. Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he last met representatives of the Association of University Teachers ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has not recently met the AUT, but we are in touch with it from time to time in the same way as we are in touch with a wide variety of bodies in order to keep abreast of developments.
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University Students (Science Courses)
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of first time university students entered full-time courses in science for each year since 1975.
Mr. Jackson : The information is as follows :
Full-time undergraduates new entrants to universities in Great Britain Academic year beginning |Percentage science in ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1975 |49 1976 |50 1977 |50 1978 |50 1979 |50 1980 |51 1981 |55 1982 |52 1983 |52 1984 |51 1985 |50 1986 |49 1987 |49
In 1985 a new subject classification was introduced, and figures are not therefore comparable with previous years' data.
Food Poisoning (Research)
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what university research departments in the United Kingdom are carrying out projects on food poisoning funded by his Department.
Mr. Jackson : The Agricultural and Food Research Council, which receives a grant-in-aid from this Department, is supporting the following projects at universities :
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Project |Principal investigator |Award
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genetic engineering of listeria monocytogenes |Dr. G. S. A. B. Stewart, Department of Applied|£31,800 for 2 years from 1 October 1988.
designed to enable the development of rapid |Biochemistry and Food Science, University
bioluminescent phage detection. | of Nottingham.
Improvements in methods of detection and |Dr. G. S. A. B. Stewart, Department of Applied|£47,300 for 3 years from 1 January 1989.
enumeration of sub-lethally injured |Biochemistry and Food Science, University
bacteria. | of Nottingham.
Application of specific antibodies to enzymic |Dr. J. O. Dolly, Department of Biochemistry, |£59,000 for 3 years from 1 April 1986.
methods for sensitive and routine detection |Imperial College of Science and
of botulinum neurotoxins in foods. |Technology, University of London.
Note: In addition, universities carry out research from general university funds which may be of relevance to food poisoning.
School Inspections
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Bradford, South of 22 December 1988, Official Report, column 388, when he expects a full inspection to be made of the Small School at Red House, Norwich ; and if the reports by the inspector following his visit in November 1988 will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Butcher : There are no immediate plans to undertake a full inspection of the Small School at Red House, nor was the visit paid to the school by HMI in
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November 1988 a full inspection. Only full inspection reports are placed in the Library. HMI notes of visit are internal working documents and it is not appropriate to make their contents public. I am writing to the hon. Member.Hospital Closures
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment he has made of the impact upon the educational abilities of children in Nottingham of the closure of hospitals in the Nottingham area ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Butcher : My right hon. Friend understands that the Nottingham health authority is considering the closure of St. Anne's hospital, to which a special school is attached, and I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 16 January at column 17. Under the Education Act 1981, it is for the local education authority to consider how it provides for children in its area with special educational needs.
Local Education Authorities (Expenditure)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, pursuant to his reply of 19 January, Official Report, column 265, to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey, he will publish a list of those local education authorities which, in respect of claims for 1987-88 (a) have claimed significantly less than the maximum allocated amount for 1987-88 or (b) have not yet made final claims for all quarters of 1987-88, showing for each of (a) and (b) the amount underspent or apparently unclaimed.
Mrs. Rumbold : (a) The following LEAs underspent by 5 per cent. or more in 1987-88 :
Local Education Authority |Total Amount Unclaimed £ |Underspend as a
|percentage of total
|maxima
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon |712,654 |19.4
Barnsley |<1>95,989 |14.0
Berkshire |<1>280,415 |10.5
Bexley |<1>54,897 |7.1
Bradford |330,257 |9.4
Brent |72,748 |7.1
Haringey |<1>84,014 |8.1
Hertfordshire |310,978 |7.3
Isles of Scilly |1,800 |18.0
Leeds |<1>385,346 |9.8
Lincolnshire |357,926 |16.9
Liverpool |221,760 |8.7
Merton |<1>88,986 |17.0
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |136,449 |7.2
North Yorkshire |137,589 |5.4
Redbridge |<1>69,790 |10.1
Sandwell |<1>92,058 |6.9
Sefton |116,427 |8.9
Solihull |112,310 |12.9
Sutton |<1>109,920 |21.8
Warwickshire |<1>104,025 |5.3
<1> Based on provisional end of year claims only.
(b) Waltham Forest has not yet submitted a final claim for all quarters of 1987-88 :
Total Maxima |Total amount yet to be
|claimed
£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------------------
915,000 |355,420
North Molton Primary School
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make additional funds available to Devon county council to include North Molton primary school replacement in the 1989-90 programme.
Mr. Butcher : It is for the Devon local education authority to decide what priority for funding to accord to particular projects, including North Molton, and to decide which of them to fund in 1989-90. For the 1989-90
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financial year, the authority was allocated £14.177 million in respect of prescribed expenditure on county and voluntary controlled schools and FHE, representing a 68 per cent. increase on its allocation for 1988-89.Class Sizes
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report figures showing the percentage of pupils in primary and secondary schools in classes of 30 and over for each local education authority in England in rank order.
Mr. Butcher [holding answer 30 January 1989] : The percentage of pupils in classes of 30 and over in maintained primary and secondary schools in each local education authority in England in January 1988 ranked in order was as follows. The analyses relate to classes taught by one teacher during a selected period on the day of the schools census and do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole.
Percentage of pupils in primary and
secondary schools in classes of
30 and over in rank order-January 1988
|Per cent.
-------------------------------------------
Primary
Isles of Scilly |0.0
Barking |7.7
Haringey |8.4
North Tyneside |9.1
Inner London |10.2
South Tyneside |11.0
Sheffield |13.5
Gateshead |14.3
Newham |14.7
Rotherham |14.9
Barnsley |15.4
Brent |17.5
Salford |17.6
Wolverhampton |17.9
Ealing |18.1
Wirral |18.5
Nottinghamshire |18.9
Doncaster |19.7
Knowsley |20.1
Suffolk |21.3
Waltham Forest |21.3
Walsall |22.2
Hillingdon |22.7
Bradford |23.0
Sunderland |23.4
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |24.2
Cleveland |24.2
Barnet |24.3
Liverpool |24.9
Cumbria |25.5
Shropshire |25.6
Humberside |27.0
Surrey |27.0
Richmond upon Thames |27.1
Croydon |27.6
Wiltshire |28.0
Manchester |28.7
Hounslow |29.0
Coventry |29.3
North Yorkshire |29.5
Durham |29.6
Leicestershire |29.9
Norfolk |29.9
Wakefield |30.5
Staffordshire |31.1
Havering |31.4
Isle of Wight |31.4
Hertfordshire |31.5
Bedfordshire |31.7
Kirklees |32.1
Oxfordshire |32.3
St. Helens |32.4
Bexley |32.6
Calderdale |33.4
Enfield |33.4
Bromley |33.6
Leeds |34.5
Northamptonshire |34.7
Sandwell |35.2
Derbyshire |35.2
Warwickshire |35.5
West Sussex |35.8
Sefton |36.0
Berkshire |36.3
Essex |36.6
Dudley |36.4
Bury |37.0
Stockport |37.3
Wigan |37.6
Devon |38.0
Sutton |38.1
Hereford and Worcester |38.7
Cambridgeshire |39.0
Hampshire |39.6
Rochdale |39.8
Tameside |40.0
Gloucestershire |40.1
Merton |40.1
Lincolnshire |41.6
Kingston upon Thames |42.2
East Sussex |42.7
Trafford |43.4
Cornwall |43.5
Solihull |43.6
Somerset |43.9
Harrow |44.7
Buckinghamshire |45.2
Lancashire |45.4
Bolton |45.7
Kent |46.2
Dorset |46.9
Northumberland |48.5
Oldham |48.6
Birmingham |49.3
Avon |49.8
Cheshire |50.3
Redbridge |56.4
|----
England |32.9
Secondary
Haringey |0.0
Isles of Scilly |0.0
Brent |2.7
Salford |3.8
Trafford |4.5
Inner London |5.0
North Tyneside |5.2
Wigan |5.4
Waltham Forest |5.6
Wolverhampton |6.2
Barking |6.5
Newham |6.6
Leicestershire |6.7
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |7.0
Dudley |7.0
Cleveland |7.1
Knowsley |7.2
Ealing |7.6
Rochdale |7.6
Norfolk |8.4
Sheffield |8.4
Shropshire |8.6
Nottinghamshire |8.7
Sandwell |9.0
South Tyneside |9.3
Suffolk |9.8
Wakefield |9.8
Barnsley |10.1
Walsall |10.1
Kirklees |10.3
Manchester |10.3
Doncaster |10.8
Richmond upon Thames |10.9
Cumbria |10.9
Northamptonshire |11.8
Harrow |11.9
St. Helens |12.4
Hampshire |12.4
Humberside |12.6
Wiltshire |12.7
Derbyshire |13.1
Bolton |13.1
Leeds |13.1
Bradford |13.3
Buckinghamshire |13.4
Rotherham |13.6
Northumberland |13.8
Stockport |13.8
Warwickshire |13.8
Wirral |13.9
Surrey |14.3
Bedfordshire |14.3
Hounslow |14.4
Merton |14.4
Kent |14.4
Somerset |14.8
Cambridgeshire |15.0
Hertfordshire |15.0
Lincolnshire |15.2
Isle of Wight |15.2
Coventry |15.4
North Yorkshire |15.4
East Sussex |15.5
Oxfordshire |15.7
Hillingdon |15.7
Berkshire |16.0
Calderdale |16.0
Kingston upon Thames |16.1
Lancashire |16.8
Staffordshire |16.8
Solihull |16.8
Tameside |16.9
Bury |17.0
Croydon |17.1
Redbridge |17.2
Essex |17.2
Durham |17.3
Oldham |17.3
Barnet |17.4
Cheshire |17.8
Avon |18.1
Havering |18.1
Liverpool |18.2
Dorset |18.2
Sunderland |18.3
Devon |18.4
Sutton |18.5
Bromley |18.6
Cornwall |18.9
West Sussex |19.1
Sefton |19.6
Gloucestershire |19.6
Hereford and Worcester |19.7
Birmingham |20.7
Gateshead |21.3
Bexley |22.2
Enfield |24.5
England |13.7
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official
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Report figures showing the percentage of pupils in primary and secondary schools in classes of 35 and over for each local education authority in England in rank order.Mr. Butcher [holding answer 30 January 1989] : The percentage of pupils in classes of 35 and over in maintained primary and secondary schools in each local education authority in England in January 1988 ranked in order was as follows. The analyses relate to classes taught by one teacher during a selected period on the day of the schools census and do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole.
Percentage of pupils in primary and
secondary schools in classes of
35 and over in rank order January 1988
|Per cent.
-------------------------------------------
Primary
Isles of Scilly |0.0
Inner London |0.2
North Tyneside |0.3
Newham |0.3
Havering |0.4
Bradford |0.5
Ealing |0.5
Bromley |0.6
Suffolk |0.6
Haringey |0.6
Essex |0.8
Calderdale |0.9
Waltham Forest |0.9
Rotherham |0.9
Barking |0.9
Gateshead |0.9
Barent |1.0
Wiltshire |1.0
Barnsley |1.1
South Tyneside |1.2
Wirral |1.4
Sunderland |1.5
Brent |1.7
Richmond upon Thames |1.7
Walsall |2.0
Enfield |2.0
Sheffield |2.0
Norfolk |2.0
Gloucestershire |2.1
Croydon |2.2
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |2.2
Bexley |2.3
Shropshire |2.3
Leicestershire |2.4
Isle of Wight |2.4
Liverpool |2.4
Hertfordshire |2.4
Tameside |2.5
Northamptonshire |2.6
Cumbria |2.6
Wolverhampton |2.7
Surrey |2.8
Oxfordshire |2.8
North Yorkshire |2.8
Doncaster |2.9
Hampshire |2.9
Coventry |3.0
Knowsley |3.0
Salford |3.0
Durham |3.2
Cambridgeshire |3.2
Dudley |3.2
Kent |3.2
Hereford and Worcester |3.3
West Sussex |3.3
Warwickshire |3.4
Berkshire |3.5
Nottinghamshire |3.6
Hillingdon |3.6
Humberside |3.7
Kirklees |3.8
Merton |4.0
Sandwell |4.0
Derbyshire |4.5
Cleveland |4.6
Manchester |4.6
Somerset |4.6
East Sussex |4.8
Wakefield |5.0
Staffordshire |5.1
Hounslow |5.2
Bedfordshire |5.2
Sefton |5.3
Birmingham |5.4
St. Helens |5.5
Stockport |5.6
Bury |5.9
Buckinghamshire |5.9
Avon |6.1
Leeds |6.2
Solihull |6.7
Cornwall |6.8
Devon |7.0
Sutton |7.1
Rochdale |7.1
Northumberland |7.1
Harrow |7.3
Kingston upon Thames |8.2
Wigan |9.3
Oldham |9.3
Lincolnshire |9.5
Dorset |9.8
Lancashire |10.0
Cheshire |10.8
Trafford |11.3
Redbridge |11.8
Bolton |12.3
England |3.9
Secondary
Barnet |0.0
Barnsley |0.0
Bexley |0.0
Brent |0.0
Croydon |0.0
Cumbria |0.0
Doncaster |0.0
Dudley |0.0
Ealing |0.0
Gateshead |0.0
Haringey |0.0
Harrow |0.0
Hillingdon |0.0
Isles of Scilly |0.0
Merton |0.0
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |0.0
Newham |0.0
North Tyneside |0.0
Redbridge |0.0
Richmond upon Thames |0.0
Rochdale |0.0
Salford |0.0
Sheffield |0.0
South Tyneside |0.0
St. Helens |0.0
Suffolk |0.0
Sunderland |0.0
Sutton |0.0
Trafford |0.0
Walsall |0.0
Wigan |0.0
Wolverhampton |0.0
Kent |0.1
Inner London |0.1
Cleveland |0.1
Hertfordshire |0.1
Leicestershire |0.1
Gloucestershire |0.1
Wakefield |0.2
Sandwell |0.2
Cambridgeshire |0.2
Havering |0.2
Bromley |0.2
Nottinghamshire |0.2
Durham |0.2
Somerset |0.3
Northamptonshire |0.3
Oldham |0.3
Shropshire |0.3
Kirklees |0.3
Warwickshire |0.3
Tameside |0.3
Norfolk |0.3
North Yorkshire |0.3
Northumberland |0.3
Lincolnshire |0.3
Hounslow |0.3
Coventry |0.3
Manchester |0.3
Buckinghamshire |0.3
Essex |0.4
Bury |0.4
Knowsley |0.4
Sefton |0.4
Hampshire |0.4
Birmingham |0.4
Isle of Wight |0.4
Waltham Forest |0.4
Humberside |0.4
Bolton |0.4
Oxfordshire |0.4
Barking |0.5
Enfield |0.5
Wirral |0.5
Devon |0.5
East Sussex |0.6
Berkshire |0.6
Kingston upon Thames |0.6
Surrey |0.6
Calderdale |0.6
Rotherham |0.6
Derbyshire |0.6
Lancashire |0.7
Bedfordshire |0.7
Bradford |0.7
Solihull |0.8
Cheshire |0.8
Staffordshire |0.9
Stockport |1.0
Hereford and Worcester |1.0
Dorset |1.0
Liverpool |1.2
Avon |1.2
West Sussex |1.2
Leeds |1.4
Cornwall |1.4
Wiltshire |1.4
|----
England |0.4
Single European Market
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy on educating European national school age children in British schools when their circumstances bring them to Britain for a period of time ; and if he expects to change that policy in the light of 1992.
Mr. Butcher [holding answer 30 January 1989] : Under the Education Act 1944, local education authorities already have a duty to provide suitable and efficient primary and secondary education free of charge for all
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children in their areas. This duty applies equally to British children and to school-age children accompanying EC nationals and is not affected by the move to a single European market in 1992.AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Food (Storage)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the estimated food types and quantities which were in storage in the United Kingdom under European Economic Community agreements on 3 January.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Food types and quantities in storage under EC regulationary provisions on 31 December 1988, (the nearest available date) were as follows :
Tonnes
|Intervention stocks|Private storage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beef |25,000 |2,497
Butter |24,179 |448
Grain<1> |1,162,000 |0
Pigmeat |0 |62
Sugar |0 |<2>967,878
<1> Including grain for animal feed.
<2> Stocks held under community storage refund scheme plus regional minimum
stock held by cane sugar refiner.
Pig Farmers
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the information he has on the number of pig farmers that have gone into liquidation in Derbyshire in the past 12 months.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I regret that this information is not available.
Meat Production (Hormones)
Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has that the use of hormones in United States of America meat production poses hazards to human health ; and if he will make a statement on the ban imposed on the import of such meat.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I have no evidence that the use of growth- promoting hormone products under appropriate conditions poses any hazard to human health. This Government have therefore consistently opposed the EC hormones ban and are continuing to work for a solution to the trade difficulties with the United States it has caused.
Slaughterhouses
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total number of slaughterhouses in England and Wales ; and what is the total number approved for exporting to the European Economic Community, for each year since 1983.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The information requested is as follows :
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0 Slaughterhouses in England and Wales December |Total |EC-approved ------------------------------------------------ 1983 |942 |59 1984 |931 |61 1985 |916 |64 1986 |867 |67 1987 |853 |60 1988 |<1>- |57 <1> Not yet available.
Plasticisers (Clingfilm)
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the implications for the health of consumers of the use of plasticisers in clingfilm, used to wrap food products.
Mr. Ryder : This matter has been the subject of detailed investigation, the results of which have been assessed by an independent expert committee. The committee's advice was that it was very unlikely that there were any adverse health effects from the current or past use of plasticisers in clingfilm.
Nevertheless, as a matter of prudence, action has been taken to secure the reformulation of clingfilm so as to reduce dietary intakes of the major plasticiser, and further survey work is in hand within the Government's comprehensive food surveillance arrangements.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure consumer awareness of the health implications of the use of plasticisers in clingfilm and of the existence of products without plasticisers.
Mr. Ryder : My Department has agreed with the industry the wording to be used on clingfilm packaging which gives advice to consumers on the use of the product. This advice applies to all clingfilms, whether or not they contain plasticisers. In a press statement on 22 December 1986 my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary drew the attention of the public to the need to follow the guidance provided.
Beef
Mr. Boswell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give in tabular form the proportion of the beef production of each member state of the European Community which will not benefit from the recently agreed special beef premiums.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Precise information of the kind requested is not available. The Community special premium for beef will apply to the first 90 male animals per holding. An indication of the effect of the limitation of the premium to male animals only is provided by the table which shows the proportion of slaughterings of male and female cattle in each member state. The limitation to 90 head will also have an effect on uptake. This will depend on farm structure, decisions by farmers on how they manage their enterprises and market cattle and on the methods used to administer the premium.
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Proportion of male cattle (steers and bulls) and female cattle (cows
and heifers) slaughtered in each EC member state (1987)
|Male animals (per cent.)|Female animals (per
|cent.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |40.4 |59.6
Denmark |48.5 |51.5
Germany |49.0 |51.0
Greece |71.6 |28.4
Spain |50.4 |49.6
France |33.7 |66.3
Ireland |55.0 |45.0
Italy |70.4 |29.6
Luxembourg |34.3 |65.7
Netherlands |27.0 |73.0
Portugal |50.1 |49.9
United Kingdom |48.3 |51.7
EC12 |48.3 |51.7
Source: EUROSTAT.
Ministerial Advisers (Salaries)
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total expenditure on salaries of ministerial advisers in his Department for each completed year since 1979 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : I have nothing to add to the information that I gave the hon. Member in my reply of 16 January at column 55.
Bovine Somatotropin
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what evidence or advice he has received from his veterinary products committee on the safety of the Monsanto experimental farm trials with bovine somatotropin in cows ;
(2) what advice he has received from the veterinary products committee on the safety of BST, including that based on the evidence received from Townsend.
Mr. Ryder : No field trials of veterinary products, including BST, are authorised until the veterinary products committee, following a rigorous evaluation of all pertinent data, advises that they are safe.
Butter
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Pembroke on 26 January 1989, he will give the figures for each year since 1973 for the percentage of the United Kingdom packet butter market, retailed to the non- industrial consumer accounted for by (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the Republic of Ireland, (c) France, (d) New Zealand, (e) Denmark, (f) the Netherlands and (g) Belgium and Luxembourg.
Mr. Ryder : The information requested is not available except in the form given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary in his reply of 26 January at columns 697-98.
Salmonella
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has as to whether salmonella is transmitted from rats to poultry ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 185
Mr. Ryder : I have no specific evidence that salmonella is transmitted from rats to poultry although it is recognised that animals such as rats are susceptible to salmonella. As part of the further measures to combat salmonella, I propose to strengthen the statutory controls for the control of rodents on poultry farms.
Radiation (Sheep)
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under what powers he served his direction on the owner of the flock of sheep in North Yorkshire where radioactivity readings were found to be above 1,000 bq/kg.
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