Home Page |
Column 331
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for reports from the appropriate chief constables, for the most recent five years for which figures are available, as to how many police officers were allocated to duties in (a) Derby, (b) Preston, (c) Darlington, (d) Slough, (e) Luton and (f) Gloucester ;
(2) how many assaults on police officers have been recorded, for the most recent five years for which figures are available, in (a) Derby, (b) Preston, (c) Darlington, (d) Slough, (e) Luton and (f) Gloucester.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The available information on police strength is as follows. Information on assaults on police officers is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
|c|Police manpower|c| Strength as at 31 December<1> |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Derby division |545 |545 |545 |547 |544 Preston division |307 |304 |367 |367 |366 Darlington sub-division |136 |143 |154 |150 |160 Slough sub-division |181 |175 |<1>185|<2>146|146 Luton division |291 |291 |294 |299 |300 Gloucester sub-division |207 |208 |220 |227 |245 <1> In all cases the police area extends beyond the boundary of the town. <2> Part of the Slough sub-division was transferred to Windsor resulting in a lower establishment and strength at Slough.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Gower 9 December 1988, Official Report, column 353, he has now completed his consultations regarding the European convention for the protection of pet animals ; and if the United Kingdom will sign the convention, without any reservations on Article 10 on surgical operations.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No. Consultations on this convention are continuing.
Mr. Randall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list all new criminal offences enacted since 1979 ; if he will give details of the maximum penalty for each new criminal offence enacted since 1979 ; and if he will list all criminal offences abolished by legislation since 1979 ;
(2) how many criminal offences were (a) created and (b) abolished by legislation between 1974 and 1979.
Column 332
Mr. John Patten : We maintain no running record of criminal offences created or abolished. The information requested could be extracted from the statutes themselves only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to making it a statutory requirement for official poll cards to be issued for parish and community council elections ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Poll cards have to be issued at all parish and community elections where, as is the case with the great majority of such elections, they are combined with the poll for another election. Consideration was given, at the time of the making of the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986, to making a poll card mandatory at all parish and community elections, but this would have obliged parishes and communities to meet relatively substantial costs even where they felt they could not afford to.
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if his Department has made any grants directly to Cumbria county council between 1974 and 1979 ;
(2) what grants his Department made directly to Cumbria county council since 1985.
Mr. Hurd : My Department paid specific grant contributions to Cumbria county council during the period 1974 to 1979 towards the costs incurred by the council in funding the police, magistrates' courts and probation services in the county as well as civil defence provision and has continued to do so in all subsequent years. Grant has been paid at the rate of 80 per cent. of eligible expenditure for the magistrates' courts and probation service and 50 per cent. for the police service until the financial year 1986-87 and 51 per cent. thereafter. Civil defence expenditure has been grant aided either 75 per cent. or 100 per cent. throughout the period depending on the nature of the expenditure.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the case of Miss FR whose fiance , Mr. JNA (reference A421085/2(S)) has applied for entry clearance.
Mr. Renton : Mr. JNA's application was referred to the Home Office by the entry clearance officer in Islamabad so that an interview could be arranged with Miss FR. The interview was carried out on 9 January 1989 at Manchester airport and a report of the interview was sent to the entry clearance officer in Islamabad on 24 February. His decision is awaited. As I undertook in my letter of 15 November to the hon. Member, I shall inform him of the outcome as soon as a decision has been reached.
Column 333
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many professional staff left the Home Office forensic science service, other than on retirement on age grounds in each of the years 1986, 1987 and 1988 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The number of scientific staff (including professional and technical grades) leaving the forensic science service, other than on retirement on age grounds were as follows :
|1986|1987|1988 --------------------------------------- Resignations: ASO |24 |12 |12 SO |10 |10 |19 HSO |6 |2 |3 SSO |4 |2 |3 |-- |-- |-- |44 |26 |37 Transfer |5 |3 |1 Medical retirement |1 |1 |- |-- |-- |-- Total |50 |30 |38
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners held on remand in jails in Nottingham, London and Tyneside are from an ethnic minority ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 23 February 1989] : The latest readily available information is given in the table. Prisoners remanded in custody by courts in Nottinghamshire are normally received into Leicester and Lincoln prisons together with prisoners from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire ; remand prisoners from Tyne and Wear are normally received into Durham prison and Low Newton remand centre together with those from Cleveland, Cumbria, Northumberland and North Yorkshire.
Column 333
|c|Remand prisoners held in specified Prison Service establishments on 30 June 1988: by ethnic origin and type of remand|c| Percentage Establishment and type of |White |Minority ethnic origins |Not recorded refused |Total prisoner ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leicester and Lincoln: Untried |88 |10 |2 |100 Convicted unsentenced |94 |5 |1 |100 London:<1> Untried |56 |37 |6 |100 Convicted unsentenced |76 |20 |4 |100 Durham and Low Newton: Untried |90 |1 |9 |100 Convicted unsentenced |93 |- |7 |100 <1> Brixton, Feltham, Holloway, Latchmere House, Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the results of the inspection of Skegness grammar school, Lincolnshire, and Audenshaw high school, Tameside, by Her Majesty's inspectors.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : There have been no formal reporting inspections of these schools in the recent past. In accordance with their normal practice for dealing with statutory proposals affecting schools, Her Majesty's inspectorate provided me with professional advice on the educational merits of the schools' proposals to become
grant-maintained based on their knowledge of the schools concerned, including knowledge gained through recent visits. As with advice on other statutory proposals involving schools this advice was provided in confidence. I took account of it in my recent decisions to approve the proposals for grant-maintained status from these schools.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the names of the non-statutory organisations and bodies in receipt of grant or loans from
Column 334
his Department in 1988-89, stating in each case the amount, whether a grant or loan and the brief purpose of making the grant or loan.Mr. Kenneth Baker : My Department makes grants to a wide variety of bodies. In addition to capital grants and loans to voluntary aided schools ; grants to non-maintained special schools and establishments for the handicapped ; direct grants to nursery schools ; grants to city technology colleges ; and grants to the Royal College of Art, Cranfield institute of technology and to grant-aided colleges, the following bodies are in receipt of grants in 1988-89 ;
Youth Service
Grants are paid in support of the headquarters activities of national youth organisations and for youth service provision to the following bodies :
|c|Provision in 1988-89|c| |£ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Army Cadet Force Association |4,260 Association of Jewish Youth |25,740 Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland |24,900 Bedfordshire Council for Voluntary Youth Services |9,500 Birmingham Young Volunteers |25,960 Boys' Brigade |39,737 Briars Residential Centre |33,446 British Council of Churches |24,000 British Deaf Association |13,200 British Red Cross Society |9,960 British Trust for Conservation Volunteers |29,280 British Youth Council |152,000 Broadless Trust |31,177 Campaigners |15,240 Catholic Youth Services |43,900 Church Army |28,847 Church Lads' Brigade and Church Girls' Brigade |9,060 Church of England Board of Education |42,240 Community Trusts |10,000 Council for Education and Training in Youth and Community Work |251,000 Council for Environmental Education |40,880 Covenanters |5,040 Duke of Edinburgh's Award |67,920 Endeavour Training |29,520 Fairbridge Drake Society |27,960 Forest Schools Camps |1,680 Frontier Youth Trust |12,660 Girl Guides Association |99,848 Girls' Brigade |21,060 Girls' Venture Corps |24,120 Greater Manchester Youth Association |20,000 Horse Rangers Association |1,860 Inter-Action |49,780 International Voluntary Service |4,800 Jewish Lads' and Girls' Brigade |5,640 JMB Development Training |6,000 Kielder Adventure Centre |34,843 Leaving Home Project |25,000 Lubavitch Foundation |5,160 Methodist Association of Youth Clubs |114,280 National Association of Boys' Clubs |175,410 National Association of Muslim Youth |20,280 National Association of Young People's Counselling and Advisory Services |48,000 National Council for Voluntary Youth Services |145,000 National Federation of 18+ Groups |33,300 National Federation of Gateway Clubs |39,600 National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs |84,480 National Organisation for Work with Girls and Young Women |40,460 National PHAB |52,020 National Youth Bureau |552,000 National Youth Choir |2,040 National Youth Orchestra |4,680 National Youth Theatre |42,780 New Treatment Church of God |10,800 Ocean Youth Club |21,990 Outward Bound Trust |220,980 Quaker Home Service |33,860 Rathbone Society |25,560 Reform Synagogues of Great Britain |7,920 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds |4,500 Sail Training Association |5,700 St. John Ambulance Brigade |9,480 Salvation Army |12,960 Scout Association |65,820 Sea Cadet Association |11,640 SPLASH |3,900 Union of Maccabi Associations |26,686 United Kingdom Federation of Jazz Bands |7,080 United Reform Church |61,460 West Central |12,100 Woodcraft Folk |10,740 Young Christian Workers |19,860 Young Men's Christian Association |559,822 Young Men's Association of Wales |28,750 Young Women's Christian Association |90,821 Youth Clubs United Kingdom |255,360 Youth Hostels Association |43,480
Adult Education
Grants are made for the provision of courses for adults by long-term residential colleges, university extra-mural
Column 336
departments and the Workers' Educational Association, and to various national associations for educational services for adults :|c|Provision in 1988-89|c| |£ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long Term Residential Colleges |<1>1,610,000 University Extra-Mural Departments |<1>6,152,020 Workers' Educational Association |<1>2,801,940 National Associations Adult Literarcy and Basic Skills Unit |2,466,000 British Chess Federation |37,300 British Theatre Association |14,200 Educational Centres Association |6,300 National Association of Women's Clubs |27,100 National Federation of Community Organisations |25,950 National Federation of Women's Institute |15,600 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education |118,925 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (REPLAN) |1,159,000 National Union of Townswomen's Guilds |13,940 National Women's Register |5,840 Pre-Retirement Association |73,595 Trades Union Congress |787,028 Unit for the Development of Adult Continuing Education |289,000 University of the Third Age |2,400 Workers' Educational Association (National Office) |56,705 Workers' Educational Association (In-Service Training) |54,850 <1>Academic year.
Other bodies
Grants are paid in respect of specified educational services for the following bodies :
|c|Provision in 1988-89|c| |£ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bristol Exploratory |5,000 British Academy |5,578,000 British Association for Early Childhood Education |9,410 British Association for the Advancement of Science: Young Investigators |30,000 British Association for Teachers of the Handicapped |24,000 British Association for the Education and Welfare of the Visual Handicapped |5,000 British Association for Irish Studies |5,400 British Physics Olympiad |5,000 British Universities Film and Video Council Ltd. |150,000 Careers Research Advisory Centre |15,760 Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges |1,941,430 Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research |395,000 City Technology Colleges Trust |90,000 Christian Education Movement |35,000 Community Service Volunteers School Advisory Service |50,792 Conference for Higher Education, Art and Design (Germinations Art Exhibition) |5,000 Council for Education in World Citizenship |38,000 Council for Pre-Vocational Education |110,500 Craft, Design and Technology: Wolff Olins Design Dimension |25,000 Educational Counselling and Credit Transfer Information Service |789,860 Educational Disadvantage Projects: National Out of Schools Alliance |10,000 National Council for Mother Tongue Teaching |10,000 Refugee Education and Training Advisory Service |11,900 Commission for Racial Equality |18,712 Project Fullemploy-Windsor Fellowship Scheme |2,000 Commonwealth Institute Artists and Craftspeople in Education Project |720 Industrial Society |15,000 European Schools |2,443,000 European School Culham |462,000 European University Institute |1,182,000 Family Welfare Association: Educational Grant Advisory Service |20,000 Fun Promotions: Alcohol and Drug Education |10,000 Further Education Unit |3,354,000 Industry Matters |4,000 International Baccalaureate Office |16,490 International Musician Seminar (Music Master Class) |4,000 Joint United States-United Kingdom Educational Commission |300,000 League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers |472,470 Leicester University Centre for Teaching and Development in Social and Moral Education |4,500 National Academic Recognition Centre |10,903 National Association for Gifted Children |20,000 National Association of Governors and Managers |20,000 National Bureau for Handicapped Students |32,000 National Children's Bureau |39,000 National Choral Competition: Music for Youth |51,271 National Committee for Mathematical Contests |5,000 National Congress for Language in Education |1,000 National Council for Educational Technology |4,554,000 National Council for Vocational Qualifications |1,500,000 National Foundation for Educational Research |15,000 National Sub-titling for the Deaf |16,000 Pre-School Playgroup Association |153,000 Polytechnics Central Admissions System |31,745 Primary Education Study Group |1,000 Professional, Industrial and Commercial Updating Programme (PICKUP) |1,610,000 Project Trident |20,500 Radio One: Alcohol and Drug Education |10,000 School Curriculum Awards |10,000 School/Industry Understanding: Understanding Industry |17,500 Royal Society of Arts Industry Matters Initiative |20,000 Schools Curriculum Industry Partnership |28,250 Standing Conference on Education for International Understanding |6,000 Standing Conference on Schools Science and Technology |43,000 Teaching as a Career Unit |375,000 UK-EEC Education Information Centre |50,000 United Kingdom Centre for European Education |18,500 United Kingdom Council for Overseas Student Affairs |110,000 Voluntary Sector Consultative Council |119,276 World Organisation for Early Childhood Education |1,000
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment he has made of the impact that the Single European Act will have on his Department's operation of domestic policy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Education does not fall within the scope of the original EEC treaty and the Single European Act has not altered that situation. The Act will therefore have no direct impact upon the operation of domestic education policy. But the Government actively support co- operation between the member states in education matters, and we expect that the completion of the single European market will, over time, influence the demands made upon the education service by the employment sector.
Column 338
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether he will describe the arrangements which he will require for funding additional teaching hours in respect of a child transferred at age 11 years with a statement of special educational needs to a grant maintained school, where such funding would otherwise have been provided centrally by the local education authority ;
(2) what will be the continuing responsibility of a local education authority to provide additional staff or material resources in respect of pupils with statements of special educational needs after a school attains grant mantained status ;
(3) whether he will outline the methods and criteria by which he will resolve disputes between a grant maintained school and the local education authority over the allocation of resources in respect of a child which the school considers to be in need of formal assessment of special educational needs, but where the authority considers that the school is failing to perform their educational duties satisfactorily.
Mrs. Rumbold : Local education authorities have responsibility under the Education Act 1981 for the assessment of children in their area who have, or may have, special educational needs which require the LEA to determine the special educational provision necessary to meet those needs. In such cases the LEA is required to make a statement specifying the special educational provision and to make such provision available. This duty extends to pupils placed in grant-maintained schools. Where a pupil with a statement is placed in a grant-maintained school, it will be for the authority to make available any additional resources required.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will outline the arrangements which will be made to ensure that a pupil at a primary school with a statement of special educational needs is effectively reviewed by the local education authority prior to transferring to a grant maintained secondary school.
Mrs. Rumbold : Local education authorities have a duty under the Education Act 1981 to review at least annually statements they have made for pupils with special education needs. This means that all such children will be reviewed in their last year of primary school, regardless of whether they will be transferring to a grant-maintained secondary school.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set up a central fund administered by his Department to assist grant maintained schools with remissions of costs incurred on school expeditions, where it is no longer legally possible to make formal charges to parents, such a fund to match the remissions proposed in such circumstances by the local education authority.
Mrs. Rumbold : Grant-maintained schools will receive in annual maintenance grant funding at the level they could have expected from their former maintaining authority, including an apportionment of the authority's
Column 339
central costs. This will include an apportionment of any provision made by the authority for remission of costs incurred on school expeditions.Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make it his policy not to regard it as an adverse factor, in deciding upon an application for grant maintained status, that the school in question accepts children from the ages of 11 to 14 years only, coming from a locally maintained primary school and proceeding to a locally maintained upper school with age range 14 to 19 years.
Mrs. Rumbold : All secondary and middle-deemed secondary schools are eligible to apply for grant-maintained status irrespective of age range. My right hon. Friend considers all proposals on their merits.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will outline the methods and criteria by which he will resolve disputes between the apportionment of expenditure on a defective roof at a grant-maintained school where the governors consider that the defect is an inherent problem of construction requiring capital expenditure and the local education authority consider it to be a maintenance responsibility.
Mrs. Rumbold : Both maintenance and capital expenditure at a grant- maintained school will be the responsibility of the school governing body ; the local education authority will not be involved. Grant-maintained schools will be able to apply to the Department for capital grant at 100 per cent. to cover approved capital expenditure, including expenditure on major structural repairs. My right hon. Friend will consider bids for capital grants from grant-maintained schools on their merits in the light of the resources available.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will outline the methods and criteria by which he will resolve disputes between a grant-maintained school and the local education authority if the authority were to change the catchment areas of the primary schools feeding the grant-maintained school to that school's disadvantage.
Mrs. Rumbold : The admissions arrangements for a grant-maintained school will be as agreed with my right hon. Friend and included in the school's articles of government. They will not normally be affected by admissions arrangements for primary schools.
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the advantages he has identified for schools which opt out of local education authority control.
Mrs. Rumbold : Grant-maintained schools will be free to manage themselves as they think best within the law. Parents will enjoy enhanced influence over their conduct. Greater diversity within the maintained education system will lead to healthy competition, and thereby foster higher educational standards all round. My right hon. Friend has already approved proposals from three schools to become grant-maintained. Many more are following in their footsteps.
Column 340
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has made to those sections of the recent report of the interim advisory committee on teachers' pay which deal with remuneration and morale in the profession.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend announced on 16 February, in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey), Official Report columns 323-24 , that he proposed to accept in full the recommendations contained in the second report of the interim advisory committee on school teachers' pay and conditions.
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which modern foreign languages he proposes to specify for inclusion in the national curriculum.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I am proposing to make an order, jointly with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, under section 3(2)(b) of the Education Reform Act 1988 specifying two groups of modern foreign languages for the purposes of the national curriculum. Initially this order will apply to the requirement that pupils in key stage 3--aged approximately 11 to 14 years old--should study all the national curriculum foundation subjects, including a modern foreign language, for a reasonable time. That requirement was the subject of a commencement order made on 6 February 1989 which comes into force in England for most such pupils on 1 August 1989. My right hon. Friend is to make a commencement order bringing that requirement into force for pupils in Wales on 1 August 1989 for the core subjects, and on 1 August 1990 for the other foundation subjects including the modern foreign language.
The first group of languages will consist of the working languages of the European Community (Danish, Dutch, French, German, modern Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish), and maintained schools will be required to offer pupils the opportunity to study at least one of these. The second group will include non-EC languages (Arabic, Bengali, Gujerati, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, Urdu). Maintained schools will be allowed, but not required, to offer one or more of these in addition to those in the first group, as the national curriculum modern foreign language. The order will not restrict the choice from among the languages a school offers.
The order does not affect the provision of second and subsequent modern languages, or classical languages, which remains at schools' discretion outside the national curriculum.
I have today issued for consultation a draft of the order and of an accompanying circular. Copies have been placed in the Library. I am inviting comments from bodies representing local authorities, schools, teachers, churches, language professions, pupils with special educational needs, ethnic minority groups, industry and commerce, and others, by 14 April. Subject to the outcome of the consultations, I expect to publish the final circular and make an order around the end of April, to come into effect on 1 August 1989.
Column 341
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales is undertaking parallel consultations in Wales.Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Prime Minister what action will be taken following the recent reviews of the Government statistical services ; and if she will place copies of the reviews in the Library.
The Prime Minister : The Government are considering the report of the review established last summer on Government economic statistics. An announcement of the Government's conclusions and publication of the report will take place shortly.
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement of progress on the introduction of information technologies to facilitate internal communications in his Department and the provision of information to the public concerning those areas for which he is responsible ; and if he has any further plans to apply the newest technologies in these fields.
Mr. Forth : As part of the Department's agreed IT strategy a number of developments are taking place which will facilitate internal communications in the Department. These include :
a programme, now virtually complete, to replace aging telephone exchanges with modern digital equipment ;
an electronic mail pilot currently serving 1,000 staff ; a data communications network linking some 2,000 computer terminals to central computers ;
increasing use of FAX, with machines being installed at the rate of one a week.
Future plans include the use of videoconference facilities and public access to DTI databases containing company and export information, security and data protection withstanding.
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many accidents to children occurred in the home in each year since 1978 involving (a) cleaning products, (b) internal glass doors and (c) cookers, excluding hot plates, rings and hobs.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 2 March 1989] : National estimates of the number of accidents to children involving cleaning products, glass doors and cookers, excluding hot plates, rings and hobs are shown in the table. These estimates are based on accident details provided by the 20 participating hospitals in the home accident surveillance system and evaluated by the research section of the consumer safety unit. Information prior to 1980 is not available in this form.
Year |Cleaning products|Glass doors<1> |Cookers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1980 |7,000 |15,000 |3,600 1981 |11,500 |15,600 |3,400 1982 |11,300 |13,000 |2,700 1983 |10,000 |13,500 |2,400 1984 |10,000 |15,000 |2,400 1985 |8,000 |12,000 |2,600 1986 |8,200 |9,700 |2,400 1987 |7,800 |9,600 |2,400 <1> The figures for glass doors include internal and outer doors as the accident data does not distinguish between them.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to regulate products bearing eco labels in the light of current European Commission proposals for the introduction of a pan- European label ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 7 February 1989] : None.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Lord President of the council if he will name the most recent Bill introduced under the private Members' procedures which received Royal Assent without having bee allocated any additional time by the Governnent of the day and which had a division of either Second or Third Reading ; and if he will indicate the date upon which that Royal Assent was given.
Mr. Wakeham : The House divided on the Third Reading of the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Rear Seat Belts by Children) Bill on Friday 13 May 1988. Royal Assent was given to the Bill on Tuesday 28 June 1988.
Mr. McCusker : To ask the Attorney-General, how many (a) Queen's Counsel, (b) junior counsel and (c) solicitors are currently practising in Northern Ireland.
The Attorney-General : There are 31 Queen's counsel and 285 junior counsel practising in Northern Ireland. 1,210 solicitors hold practising certificates.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Attorney-General if he will give details of current times from application to hearing of an appeal against refusal of entry clearance for applicants appealing at different places in the Indian sub-continent.
The Attorney-General : Statistics about the time taken to complete individual appeals are not available. Neither are any statistics available on the time taken by the immigration appellate authorities to process appeals from different parts of the Indian sub-continent once they arrive at the appellate authorities' offices in London. It is, however, estimated that the current time taken from application to the hearing of appeals against refusal of entry clearance for appliants appealing at different places in the Indian sub-cpontinent is as follows :
(a) From receipt of the notice of appeal lodged at posts in the Indian sub- continent to preparation of the
Column 343
entry clearance officer's explanatory statement and despatch of the papers to the appellate authorities in London :|months ------------------------ Dacca |2-5 Islamabad |3 Karachi |1-3 New Delhi |2-3 Madras |1 Bombay |3 Calcutta |1
(b) From receipt of the notice of appeal by the appellate authorities in London to despatch of the appeal papers to both parties' representatives in the United Kingdom : 4-8 weeks. (
(c) From receipt of papers by both parties' representatives to the issue by each party of a certificate of readiness to proceed : this is in the hands of the parties, and times vary from a few weeks to several months. If no response is received within nine months the appeal is automatically listed for hearing.
(d) From certification of readiness to proceed to the hearing date : up to 6 weeks, but longer where the parties request adjournments.
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress he has made with the privatisation of Short Bros. plc.
Mr. Tom King : I have now received six preliminary proposals from interested parties for the purchase of the company. I have asked two of these to submit final
Column 344
proposals by 30 April 1989. These are Bombardier Inc. and a joint proposal from GEC/Fokker. I am considering whether a further proposal should also be included.Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how often the powers embodied in the Land Acquisition and Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, article 9, have been used in each year since it came into force ; and what were the total reductions in cash terms in each of those years or, if more convenient, financial years.
Mr. Ian Stewart [holding answer 28 February 1989] : The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, but the number of such cases in any year resulting in reductions are thought likely to have been very few.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was (a) the number of ancillary staffs employed in the National Health Service in Wales as of 30 September 1988, excluding nurse auxiliaries ; (b) the number of whole-time equivalents in Wales ; (c) the average hours of ancillary staffs by grade, together with average pay by grade ; and (d) the average hours of part-time ancillary staffs by grade and average pay, broken down by male and female for each of categories (b) , (c) and (d).
Mr. Grist : The information requested is shown in the table.
Column 343
|c|NHS Ancillary staff (excluding Nurse auxiliaries)|c| (a) 12, 461<1> (b) Total whole time equivalents Male Female 9,117 2,951 6,166 (c) and (d): Average hours Estimated average worked<2> gross weekly earnings (£ per week)<2> Grade Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time |Male |Female|Male |Female|Male |Female|Male |Female ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Non Supervisors and chargehands Scale A |44.7 |40.7 |27.8 |24.5 |131 |113 |75 |67 B |45.8 |40.9 |33.6 |26.5 |134 |116 |92 |69 C |45.4 |42.6 |<3>- |29.4 |154 |135 |<3>- |92 D |<3>- |<3>- |<4>- |25.1 |<3>- |<3>- |<4>- |81 Supervisors Scale I |44.3 |41.3 |<3>- |28.3 |148 |136 |<3>- |92 II |46.3 |41.3 |<4>- |33.3 |169 |145 |<4>- |109 III |46.9 |42.6 |<3>- |<3>- |169 |130 |<3>- |<3>- IV |46.2 |<3>- |<4>- |<3>- |170 |<3>- |<4>- |<3>- <1> As at September 1988. <2> For the last full week of the 1987-88 financial year, grades containing small numbers of staff are not shown. <3> Numbers of staff in these grades are too small to provide reliable figures. <4> Not applicable-no staff in grade.
Column 345
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been Hampshire county council's allocation for spending on roads each year since 1979 expressed in (a) cash terms, (b) real terms and (c) as a percentage increase or decrease on each previous year.
Column 346
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The present capital allocation system was introduced under the Local Government Planning and Land Act, 1980 and commenced in 1981-82. The previous system, called loans sanctions, is not comparable with the present system. Figures for 1979-80 and 1980-81 are therefore not included. Details of Hampshie county council's capital allocation for roads are given in the following table.
Next Section
| Home Page |