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Column 457
Written Answers to Questions
Monday 6 February 1989
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Recycled Materials
74. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what action he is taking to promote the use of recycled materials.
Mr. Atkins : My Department is pursuing an awareness campaign to encourage industry to consider the benefits of using recycled materials in its production processes. We are holding a series of sector conferences in this field and technical advice for industry is provided through our Warren Spring laboratory. Where appropriate further initiatives will be introduced.
Telecom Advisory Committees
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how the membership of telecom advisory committees is decided.
Mr. Forth : The chairman and members of the four national advisory committees for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are appointed by the Secretary of State and those of the two specialist committees for the elderly and disabled and for small businesses by the Director General of Telecommunications. In appointing members to the committees the Secretary of State and director general aim to have a balanced membership representing the interests of all telecommunications users and of the special needs of small businesses and the disabled and elderly people.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the role of telecom advisory committees.
Mr. Forth : The common duty of all the advisory committees is to advise the Director General of Telecommunications on
telecommunication matters affecting the interests of people which the committee was established to represent. Matters may either be referred to the committee by the director general or the committee may decide to offer advice on its own initiative. The national committees for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, also have a specific role in handling consumer complaints where the consumer has been unable to resolve the matter directly with the industry.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many telecom advisory committees have been established.
Mr. Forth : There are six advisory committees on telecommunications in total. These are made up of four national committees--one for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland--and two specialist committees, one to represent the needs of small businesses and one for the disabled and elderly people.
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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will name the chairpersons of telecom advisory committees and provide a contact address for each.
Mr. Forth : The chairmen and contact address of the advisory committees are as follows :
Committee |Address
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
English Advisory Committee
on Telecommunications |Atlantic House,
|Holborn Viaduct,
|London EC1N 2HQ
Welsh Advisory Committee
on Telecommunications |Caradog House,
|St. Andrews Place,
|Cardiff CF1 3BE
Scottish Advisory Committee |Mr. W. K. Begg,
|on Telecommunications
|Alhambra House,
|45 Waterloo Street,
|Glasgow G2 6AT
Northern Ireland Committee |Mr. J. J. Eccles,
|on Telecommunications
|3rd Floor,
|Chamber of Commerce House,
|22 Great Victoria Street,
|Belfast BT2 7PU
The Advisory Committee on |Mr. D. Hobman,
Telecommunications for |Atlantic House
Disabled and Elderly |Holborn Viaduct
People (DIEL) |London EC1N 2HQ
The Advisory Committee on |Mr. M. Ashton,
Telecommunications for |Atlantic House,
Small Businesses |Holborn Viaduct,
|London EC1N 2HQ
GATT Talks
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the result of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade talks in Montreal.
Mr. Alan Clark : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) on 12 December at column 400.
Privatisation
Mr. Warren : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list, for each company or part of company in the aerospace, shipbuilding and motor vehicle businesses privatised since 1979 (a) the annual turnover in the year prior to privatisation, (b) the value of assets in the year prior to privatisation, (c) the number of employers in the year prior to privatisation, (d) the approximate total of Government financial assistance in the five years prior to privatisation, and (e) a breakdown of the public expenditure costs in terms of capital reconstruction, elimination of debt or guarantees, redundancy and other restructuring, any other items and total receipts stating the year in which they arose.
Mr. Newton : I shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible and place a copy in the Library.
Ford Sierra (Manufacture)
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what he estimates would be the effect on Britain's balance of trade and hence on the balance of payments, of a transfer of the manufacture of the Ford Sierra car from Britain to another country.
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Mr. Alan Clark : Such an estimate would depend on a large number of variables, including projected consumer demand, the incidence of import substitution, dealer incentive programmes and others. I do not think, therefore, that it would be of tangible value.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Arts Education Services
75. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will allocate funds to offset the loss of local education authority funding to theatre-in-education and other arts education services under sections 33 to 36 of the Education Reform Act.
Mrs. Rumbold : Circular 7/88, issued on 6 September, a copy of which is available in the Library, makes clear that local education authorities will be free to except from delegation the school-related costs of services such as arts education under schemes of local management. Where authorities exercise this discretion, they will continue to fund arts education services directly. Where authorities choose to delegate the costs to schools, the schools themselves will decide whether they wish to continue to support the services.
Heriot Watt
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what Government assistance is being given to establish the private medical laboratory on the Heriot Watt campus at Riccarton in Edinburgh ; and which companies are being considered to manage it.
Mr. Jackson : I know of no such proposal.
University Staff
Mr. Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has recieved from the Association of University Teachers regarding pay increases ; and what action he intends to take.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend exchanged correspondence with the Association of University Teachers in August last year, and there has been informal contact since. My right hon. Friend is considering a letter from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and the Association of University Teachers about the pay of academic staff and technicians in the universities.
Mr. Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to alter present Treasury practice which prevents selected university staff in part-time employment who have in the course of the last three years taken a privately funded early retirement scheme from qualifying for reimbursement and redundancy costs if the period of part- time employment exceeds three or four years.
Mr. Jackson : Public funds are provided to meet universities' expenditure on premature retirement compensation where staff retire fully, but the Government do not consider this appropriate where the change is simply from full-time to part-time employment. The rules of the scheme operated by the University Grants Committee have now been appropriately clarified. Contrary to some institutions' fears, this clarification does not have retrospective effect.
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Teachers (Pay and Conditions)
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what are the average annual earnings of (a) primary and (b) secondary state school teachers in each of the European Community countries, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United States of America and the United Kingdom in their (i) first, (ii) fifth, (iii) tenth and (iv) fifteenth working year for 1987 and 1988 ;
(2) what are the comparable average weekly working hours of (a) primary and (b) secondary state school teachers in the European Community countries, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United States of America and the United Kingdom in 1987 and 1988.
Mrs. Rumbold : Comparable information is not available for 1987 and 1988. Some information on EC teachers' salaries and conditions in 1985 is published in a detailed report, "The Conditions of Service of Teachers in the European Community", published by the European Commission in 1988 (pages 133 to 160 in particular). A copy is available in the Library.
Computers
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make available copies of the report produced by the National Council for Education Technology on the compatibility of computer hardware and software for local education authorities.
Mr. Butcher : This report was commissioned by the Department to inform the guidance given to local education authorities on microcomputers for educational use in schools. Consideration is being given to how the information contained in the report can be conveyed most effectively to LEAs.
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report full details of the educational support grants he made to Lancashire county council in 1987 and 1988 for the purchase of micro computers ; and if he will show which of these was capable of running MS-DOS software.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend approved education support grant expenditure by Lancashire LEA on the purchase of microcomputers in 1987-88 and 1988-89 as follows :
Activity |1987-88 |1988-89
|£ thousands|£ thousands
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
IT in NAFE |63.5 |-
Micro equipment for FE students with
special educational needs |14.0 |-
IT in schools |- |267.4
It is for authorities to decide, in consultation with Her Majesty's Inspectorate as appropriate, what machines and software are best suited to their needs. DES guidance to LEAs is that new computers purchased under the IT in Schools programme should offer access to MS-DOS, but this is not mandatory.
Halls of Residence
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether rates paid in respect of university halls of residence will be reimbursed by the
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Universities Funding Council, including business rates for university halls of residence, for the financial years 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93.Mr. Jackson : The Universities Funding Council has yet to decide its approach to this and other funding issues for 1990-91 and subsequently.
AS Courses
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the best information known to him on the availability of AS-level courses in schools and colleges, including the information relating to the variety of courses on offer, and the proportion of A-level students who are also able to follow a course at AS level.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : The results of a survey of school pupils and FE college students studying AS-level courses in England from September 1987 and of the courses studied, were published in the Department's statistical bulletin 12/88 last October, a copy of which is available in the Library. This shows that about 4 per cent. of first year A-level students in schools were studying AS levels and that about 15 per cent. of schools were offering these courses. It also provides information on the courses on offer. First indications from a similar survey for September
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1988 are that nearly three times as many students and schools are starting and offering AS-level courses. I hope to announce the results of the latest survey shortly.Community Charge (Scottish Universities)
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the University Grants Committee-Universities Funding Council will reimburse Scottish universities in 1989-90 for the standard community charge on vacant flats registered with the accommodation service of universities, as against halls of residence.
Mr. Jackson : The Universities Funding Council will reimburse the standard community charge in 1989-90 in respect of vacant property owned by Scottish universities for the purpose of students.
Media Studies
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many trainee teachers have taken media studies courses in each of the past five years.
Mrs. Rumbold : The table gives details, for the past five years, of the number of students recruited to courses of initial teacher training which include media studies.
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|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
West Glamorgan institute of higher
education |- |- |19 |36 |44
London university institute of education |13 |15 |13 |11 |11
Exeter university |12 |10 |19 |20 |18
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many (a) pupils in secondary schools, (b) students in colleges of further education, (c) students in polytechnics and (d) students in universities take media studies courses ;
(2) how many (a) secondary schools, (b) colleges of further education, (c) polytechnics and (d) universities offer media studies as part of their curriculum.
Mrs. Rumbold : Readily available information is as follows :
|Number of pupils/students|Number<4>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secondary schools |na |na
Colleges of further education<1> |2,280 |53
Polytechnics<1> |279 |5
Universities:
Undergraduates |<2>124 |<3>4
Postgraduates |<2>708 |na
na = not available.
<1> England, November 1987. Covers both higher education and further education level courses.
<2> Great Britain, 1987-88. Has wider subject coverage than colleges of further education and polytechnic
figures.
<3> United Kingdom institutions offering first degree courses for October 1989 entry.
<4> Institutions with pupils/students on relevant courses.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will list the teacher training colleges which offer media studies courses.
Mrs. Rumbold : In England and Wales the West Glamorgan institute of higher education and London
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university institute of higher education offer initial teacher training courses with main subject specialisms entitled, respectively, "literature and media studies", and "English and media studies". Exeter university offers "media studies" as a second subject specialism.Under-Fives
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the annual expenditure by central and local government on education for the under-fives for each year from 1971 to 1988.
Mrs. Rumbold : The table below shows annual recurrent spending by local authorities on under-fives since 1976-77. These figures include expenditure supported by grants from central Government which cannot be separately identified. Figures on a comparable basis before 1976-77 are not available.
Recurrent local authority spending on under fives
|Spending £ million cash|Index from 1976-77
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1976-77 |127 |100.0
1977-78 |128 |100.8
1978-79 |146 |115.0
1979-80 |177 |139.4
1980-81 |222 |174.8
1981-82 |241 |189.8
1982-83 |274 |215.7
1983-84 |296 |233.1
1984-85 |331 |260.6
1985-86 |350 |275.6
1986-87 |397 |312.6
1987-88<1> |443 |348.8
1988-89<1> |495 |389.8
<1> Provisional outturn figures.
Institute of Terrestial Ecology
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many full-time scientific, administrative and other staff were employed at the Institute of Terrestial Ecology research station at Bangor and at the research vessel support service at Barry in each of the years 1979 to 1988 ; and what figures are projected for 1989.
Mr. Jackson : The information on staffing is as follows :
RVS Barry-staff
|Science
---------------------------------------------
1981 |32
1982 |32
1983 |34
1984 |32
1985 |30
1986 |34
1987 |31
1988 |29
<1>1989
<1> No significant change expected.
A breakdown of full- and part-time staff,
and separate figures for Barry before 1981,
are not available.
RVS Barry-staff
|Science
---------------------------------------------
1981 |32
1982 |32
1983 |34
1984 |32
1985 |30
1986 |34
1987 |31
1988 |29
<1>1989
<1> No significant change expected.
A breakdown of full- and part-time staff,
and separate figures for Barry before 1981,
are not available.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what budget his Department has allocated (a) in cash terms and (b) adjusted to today's prices to the Institute of Terrestial Ecology research station at Bangor for each of the years 1979 to 1988 ; and what figure is projected for 1989.
Mr. Jack
son : Information in the form requested is not immediately available and I shall write to the hon. Member.
Natural Environment Research Council
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what factors he has taken into account in considering the budget to the Natural Environment Research Council for 1989 ; and what indications he has given to that council of the purpose of any budget increase.
Mr. Jackson : In considering the level of grant-in-aid to the Natural Environment Research Council in 1989, my
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right hon. Friend will take account of advice from the council, the Advisory Board for Research Councils, and other representations that he has received. A detailed announcement will be made shortly.Discovery (Refit)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what he estimates to be the cost of a major refit for the Natural Environment Research Council vessel Discovery at today's prices ; what allowance he has made for funding such a refit in whole or in part in the coming financial year ; and when he anticipates that refit may commence.
Mr. Jackson : The total cost of a major refit for the RRS Discovery was estimated by the Advisory Board for the Research Councils in their advice published in July 1988 as about £10 million at current prices. Details of the grant-in-aid to the Natural Environment Research Council for the period 1989-90 to 1991-92 will be announced shortly. It will be for the NERC to determine its priorities, both in 1989 and later years, in the light of the available resources.
Antarctic
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of the stated increase in the Natural Environment Research Council's budget for 1989 has been allocated to the Antarctic survey based in the Falklands.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend announced on 8 November ( Official Report, columns 134-5) an additional £10 million allocation to the British Antarctic survey in 1989-90 for a new BAS airstrip and rebuilding the Halley station. Details of the overall grant-in-aid to the Natural Environment Research Council will be announced shortly.
Environmental Research Vessels
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what facilities currently exist at Southampton for the support of environmental research vessels ; and how many staff are employed there.
Mr. Jackson : Southampton has a deep-water port that is well suited to environment research vessels. I understand that support facilities and staff for their proposed oceanographic centre would be organised by the Natural Environment Research Council.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Motions
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Lord President of the Council on how many days each of the motions tabled by the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) entitled (a) Procedure, (b) Sittings of the House and (c) Members' Facilities has appeared in the Remaining Orders of the Day and Notices of Motions during the parliamentary Sessions (i) 1987-88 and (ii) 1988-89.
Mr. Wakeham : The information requested is as follows :
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Session 1988-89
|Number
-----------------------------
(a) Procedure |33
(b) Sittings |33
(c) Facilities |25
Up to and including 3
February 1989.
Session 1988-89
|Number
-----------------------------
(a) Procedure |33
(b) Sittings |33
(c) Facilities |25
Up to and including 3
February 1989.
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Lord President of the Council what is the current daily cost of printing on the Remaining Orders of the Day and Notices of Motions the motions in the name of the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) entitled (a) Procedure, (b) Sittings of the House and (c) Members' Facilities.
Mr. Wakeham : Her Majesty's Stationery Office estimates that the current daily printing cost of the three motions totals £145.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
European Convention on Human Rights
Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times since 1959 each signatory to the European convention on human rights has been found to be in violation of the convention by (a) the European Court of Human Rights and (b) the Committee of Ministers.
Mrs. Chalker : I shall be writing to the hon. Member.
Soviet Union (Visits)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy on holding briefings for hon. Members planning to visit the Soviet Union.
Mr. Eggar : We actively encourage hon. Members to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before and after their overseas visits. We welcome the opportunity to offer written and oral briefing when hon. Members would find this useful.
Caribbean Territories
Mr. Patnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the light of the recent study by Coopers and Lybrand of the development of the offshore financial sectors in the Turks and Caicos Islands, there is any intention to extend this scrutiny to other dependent territories in the Caribbean.
Mr. Eggar : After consultation with the dependent territory Governments concerned, Coopers and Lybrand, acting as financial consultants to Her Majesty's Government, have been appointed to carry out a review covering the regulation of the offshore financial sectors in Anguilla, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The terms of reference for this consultancy will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Prison Officers (Assaults)
Mr. Tom Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of assaults on prison officers in each of the last three years.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information requested is not available. The table shows the number of offences of gross personal violence to a prison officer, or of assault on a prison officer, or of attempts to commit such offences, of which inmates were found guilty on adjudication in each of the years 1985-87. Figures for 1988 are not yet available.
|1985 |1986 |1987
---------------------------------------------------------
Gross personal violence |17 |12 |10
Attempt to commit gross personal
violence |125 |37 |17
Assault |1,216|1,221|1,149
Attempted assault |117 |158 |151
Animal Experiments
Mr. Tom Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animals were used in experiments either for medicine or cosmetics in each of the last three years.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The latest available information is published in "Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 1987" (Cm. 515). Information for medicine for 1985 to 1987 is given in table 20 and for cosmetics for 1987 in table 3. Information on experiments for cosmetics for earlier years is contained in table 15 of "Statistics of Experiments on Living Animals Great Britain 1986" (Cm. 187). Copies of these publications are in the Library.
Broadcasting (Deaf People)
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in finalising his plans for broadcasting in the 1990s, he will make it his policy to take full account of the resolution of the Scottish Association for the Deaf, of which he will have a copy.
Mr. Renton : Careful account will be taken of all the comments we receive on the broadcasting White Paper (Cm. 517) including all representations made on behalf of those with impaired hearing.
Probation Committees
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many area probation committees employ a public relations consultant ; and what is the cost of providing this service.
Mr. John Patten : This information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration
Mr. Holland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish details of the number of port refusals made at each of the major ports of entry, by week for the months of October, November and December 1988 and the first three weeks of January 1989.
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Mr. Renton : The figures for those initially refused entry at the major ports are given in the table :
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Refusals at the Major Ports
|Terminal 1 |Terminal 2 |Terminal 3 |Terminal 4 |Gatwick South|Gatwick North|Dover |Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week ending
8 October 1988 |37 |88 |69 |76 |47 |27 |99 |443
15 October 1988 |44 |86 |72 |87 |73 |22 |73 |457
22 October 1988 |41 |71 |51 |65 |53 |21 |73 |375
29 October 1988 |34 |93 |61 |72 |34 |28 |61 |383
5 November 1988 |40 |83 |49 |57 |48 |25 |75 |377
12 November 1988 |31 |82 |88 |53 |56 |30 |58 |398
19 November 1988 |35 |86 |61 |52 |45 |24 |45 |348
26 November 1988 |27 |78 |57 |69 |49 |30 |55 |365
3 December 1988 |33 |74 |82 |48 |45 |26 |39 |347
10 December 1988 |39 |86 |58 |63 |50 |35 |44 |375
17 December 1988 |46 |88 |70 |42 |46 |32 |62 |386
Fortnight ending
Week ending
31 December 1988 |113 |224 |143 |131 |175 |82 |198 |1,066
7 January 1989 |51 |72 |54 |26 |62 |31 |46 |342
14 January 1989 |28 |88 |37 |25 |63 |41 |46 |328
21 January 1989 |26 |87 |48 |22 |59 |28 |46 |316
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |625 |1,386 |1,000 |888 |905 |482 |1,020 |6,306
Mr. Holland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish details of (a) the number of deferrals of removal requested by hon. Members of this House and (b) the number granted, by week for the months of October, November and December 1988, and the first three weeks of January 1989.
Mr. Renton : Details of the number of deferrals of removal granted in the months of October, November and December 1988 are as follows :
|Number
-----------------------
October |175
November |153
December |150
Weekly totals for this period are not readily available. There are no central records of the number of deferrals of removal requested by hon. Members during this period.
As to the number of requests for deferral of removal in the first three weeks of January 1989, I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 16 January to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Darling) at column 6.
Passports
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of issuing passports in each of the past 10 years ; and what was the annual revenue received in each of these years.
Mr. Renton : The table below shows the available information for the financial years 1981-82--1988-89 covering ;
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