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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 4 May 1989
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Schools (Expenditure)
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the latest figure for expenditure per pupil on (a) books and (b) equipment and comparable figures for each year
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since 1978-79 in (i) primary schools, (ii) secondary schools and (iii) special schools in cash and real terms using an index of 100 for 1978-79.Mr. Butcher : While local authorities' expenditure returns to the Department of the Environment show separate figures for books and equipment, these need to be treated with caution because of differing local authority practices in allocating expenditure between the two items. The table therefore shows spending figures for books and equipment as well as for books and equipment separately.
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Expenditure per pupil<1>-England
Primary Secondary Special
|Cash |Real<2> terms|Index |Cash |Real<2> terms|Index |Cash |Real<2> terms|Index
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Books and equipment
1978-79 |12.85 |26.25 |100 |24.40 |49.86 |100 |37.16 |75.93 |100
1979-80 |14.33 |25.11 |96 |26.61 |46.60 |93 |41.78 |73.19 |96
1980-81 |16.05 |23.71 |94 |29.26 |43.23 |93 |46.73 |69.04 |94
1981-82 |18.16 |24.45 |103 |32.18 |43.32 |100 |51.09 |68.78 |100
1982-83 |20.90 |26.28 |107 |36.53 |45.93 |106 |61.00 |76.69 |112
1983-84 |22.79 |27.39 |104 |39.21 |47.12 |103 |68.24 |81.99 |107
1984-85 |23.54 |26.96 |98 |42.53 |48.70 |103 |70.45 |80.67 |98
1985-86 |24.91 |27.04 |100 |44.83 |48.67 |100 |88.84 |96.44 |120
1986-87 |28.04 |29.45 |109 |57.15 |60.02 |123 |87.58 |91.98 |95
1987-88 |30.67 |30.67 |104 |62.27 |62.27 |104 |98.73 |98.73 |107
Books
1978-79 |4.25 |8.68 |100 |7.16 |14.64 |100 |5.93 |12.12 |100
1979-80 |4.69 |8.21 |95 |7.82 |13.69 |94 |6.73 |11.79 |97
1980-81 |5.32 |7.86 |96 |8.08 |11.94 |87 |6.90 |10.20 |87
1981-82 |5.91 |7.96 |101 |8.60 |11.58 |97 |7.09 |9.55 |94
1982-83 |7.00 |8.80 |111 |9.89 |12.43 |107 |8.65 |10.87 |114
1983-84 |7.14 |8.58 |98 |10.09 |12.12 |98 |8.68 |10.43 |96
1984-85 |7.29 |8.34 |97 |10.15 |11.62 |96 |9.12 |10.44 |100
1985-86 |7.49 |8.13 |97 |10.66 |11.58 |100 |11.46 |12.44 |119
1986-87 |8.25 |8.66 |107 |13.13 |13.79 |119 |10.65 |11.18 |90
1987-88 |8.99 |8.99 |104 |14.92 |14.92 |108 |12.21 |12.21 |109
Equipment
1978-79 |8.60 |17.57 |100 |17.24 |35.22 |100 |31.23 |63.81 |100
1979-80 |9.65 |16.90 |96 |18.79 |32.91 |93 |35.05 |61.40 |96
1980-81 |10.73 |15.85 |94 |21.17 |31.29 |95 |39.83 |58.85 |96
1981-82 |12.25 |16.49 |104 |23.58 |31.74 |101 |44.00 |59.23 |101
1982-83 |13.91 |17.48 |106 |26.65 |33.50 |106 |52.35 |65.82 |111
1983-84 |15.65 |18.81 |108 |29.12 |34.99 |104 |59.56 |71.56 |109
1984-85 |16.26 |18.61 |99 |32.38 |37.07 |106 |61.33 |70.22 |98
1985-86 |17.42 |18.91 |102 |34.17 |37.09 |100 |77.38 |84.00 |120
1986-87 |19.79 |20.78 |110 |44.02 |46.23 |125 |76.94 |80.80 |96
1987-88 |21.68 |21.68 |104 |47.35 |47.35 |102 |86.52 |86.52 |107
<1> The figures are based on local education authority returns to Department of the Environment and pupil number returns to Department of Education and
Science.
<2> The cash figures for earlier years have been repriced to 1987-88 prices using the gross domestic product (market prices) deflator.
National Curriculum
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will publish a table showing (a) the printing and publishing costs and (b) the numbers of all the documents circulated to schools, local education authorities and the general public concerning the national curriculum.
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Mrs. Rumbold : The table lists DES documents concerning the national curriculum which have been published following the Education Reform Act 1988, with figures for printing costs and copies printed. The National Curriculum Council also publishes information and advice on the national curriculum.
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DES Documents on the National Curriculum
|Date of publication|Printing costs £ |Number printed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
School Curriculum and Assessment
Draft Circular |October 1988 |2,400 |1,600
Final Circular 5/89 |February 1989 |18,000 |103,000
Local Arrangements for the Consideration of Complaints
Draft Circular |September 1988 |600 |1,500
Final Circular 1/89 |January 1989 |19,800 |82,500
School Curriculum and Related Information
Discussion paper on information requirements |September 1988 |1,000 |1,500
Draft Circular and regulations |January 1989 |1,700 |1,600
Section 19 of ERA 1988: temporary exceptions for individual pupils
Draft Circular and Regulations |April 1989 |28,000 |35,000
Mathematics
Proposals (on attainment targets and programmes of study) |August 1988 |114,700 |100,000
Draft Orders |December 1988 |3,900 |2,000
Statutory Orders and Associated Documents and Circular 6/89 |March 1989 |697,000 |318,000
Science
Proposals (on attainment targets and programmes of study) |August 1988 |143,900 |120,000
Draft Orders |December 1988 |5,400 |2,300
Statutory Orders and Associated Documents and Circular 6/89 |March 1989 |663,400 |318,000
English (Primary)
Proposals (on attainment targets and programmes of study) |November 1988 |103,700 |170,000
Draft Orders |March 1989 |1,500 |1,500
Design and Technology
Interim Report of Working Group |November 1988 |37,500 |15,000
Modern Foreign Languages
Draft Order and Circular |March 1989 |1,200 |2,500
Other Documents
From Policy to Practice |February 1989 |215,000 |600,000
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether he will make it his policy to distribute copies to school teachers of the order for English, key stage 1 in the national curriculum, when he lays the order before the House ; if he will ensure that such a distribution is completed before the end of the current school term ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will make it his policy to ensure that all primary school teachers with responsibility for teaching English to children in key stage 1 of the national curriculum from September will have adequate access to the relevant programmes of study and attainment targets before the end of the current school term ; if he will consider the practical difficulties facing primary school teachers in the case that such access before the end of the current school term is not achieved ; what is the earliest date for the end of the current school term of which his Department is aware ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what progress has been made towards making the statutory order for English, key stage 1 in the national curriculum since his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) of 17 March, Official Report, columns 357-58 ; whether he still expects to make the final order in May ; what account he has taken in his plans of the approaching end of the current school term ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all primary school teachers with responsibility for teaching English to children in key stage 1 of the national curriculum from September will have adequate access to the relevant programmes of study and attainment targets
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before the end of the summer term ; by what date he expects such teachers will have been provided with (a) adequate access to the relevant programmes of study and attainment targets and (b) such other relevant information as may be planned by his Department or the National Curriculum Council ; and if he will make a statement.Mrs. Rumbold : Following completion of consultations on the draft, my right hon. Friend aims to lay the final order for English in key stage 1 of the national curriculum before Parliament at the end of May. Immediately afterwards, he intends to send initial copies, with the accompanying statutory document and circular of guidance, direct to all maintained primary and secondary schools, nursery schools, special schools, local education authorities, teacher training institutions and other bodies. Bulk supplies will then be dispatched to local education authorities by mid-June for delivery to all primary and special school teachers. Further priced copies of the document will be available from Her Majesty's Stationery Office. This should enable schools and teachers concerned with English in key stage 1 to have details of the attainment targets and programmes of study well before the end of their summer terms. The National Curriculum Council plans to issue non-statutory guidance to schools during the summer.
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Higher Education
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimate he has made of the numbers of additional students who may participate in higher education as a consequence of the proposals to increase tuition fees announced in his consultative paper.
Mr. Jackson : The impact of higher fees will be one of the factors to be taken into account in revising student number projections from time to time. It will be for individual institutions to decide how to respond to the incentives to compete for and recruit students which our proposals offer.
Encephalopathies
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the research being sponsored by his Department into transmissible encephalopathies.
Mr. Jackson : This Department is funding research on transmissible encephalopathies in animals, namely, on scrapie in sheep and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, at the AFRC Institute for Animal Health.
Superannuation (Employers' Contributions)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science to what extent and amount he expects local education authorities to offset the additional cost of the recommended pay increase for school teachers by means of the reduction in employers' contributions for superannuation ; to what extent and amount this reduction in employers' contributions for superannuation relates to the employment of school teachers, as against other categories of employees ; to what extent and amount this reduction in employers' contributions has been taken into account elsewhere in assumptions for block grant calculations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher : The effect of the 1.4 per cent. reduction in the cost of employers' contributions to the teachers' superannuation scheme flowing from the report of the Government Actuary will be to reduce the salary bill of local authorities in England by about £100 million, of which the savings in respect of further education lecturers and other teachers not employed to work in schools will be about £15 million. The rate support grant settlement which preceded the Actuary's report assumed savings of about 1 per cent.
Capital Projects (Kent)
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about support for voluntary aided capital projects in Kent.
Mr. Butcher : Since the announcement of the capital allocations for education on 21 December 1988 my right hon. Friend has received two representations about voluntary-aided capital projects in Kent. These specifically concerned the Judd school in Tonbridge.
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Roman Catholic Schools
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the capital loan approvals given for Roman Catholic aided schools in each of the last four years.
Mr. Butcher : Capital loans under section 105 of the Education Act 1944 have been made in respect of the following Roman Catholic voluntary aided schools :
Financial Year |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86
25 May 1985 |St. Mary Magdalene, Buckinghamshire |45,226
10 June 1985 |St. Peter's and St. Paul's, Redbridge|30,245
2 October 1985 |Corpus Christi High, Waltham Forest |25,000
25 October 1985 |St. Paul's High, Manchester |25,000
23 January 1986 |Corpus Christi High, Waltham Forest |104,806
1986-87
11 July 1986 |St. Paul's High, Manchester |85,094
11 July 1986 |De Lisle, Leicestershire |89,758
13 March 1987 |St. Mary's, Leicestershire |42,775
1987-88
|Nil
1988-89
22 September 1988 |St. Paul's, Buckinghamshire |25,000
14 December 1988 |St. Paul's, Buckinghamshire |211,688
14 February 1989 |St. Joseph's, Derbyshire |25,000
20 February 1989 |St. Joseph's, Derbyshire |83,383
Teachers
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list for each local education authority the total number of teachers employed, the number who hold instructor status, the number who are graduates with no formal teaching qualification, graduates with a post graduate certificate in education, graduates with a bachelor of education degree and non-graduates with a teacher training qualification ; what percentage each category represents of all the teachers in each authority ; and what were these figures and percentages for the same categories in 1974 ;
Mr. Butcher [holding answer 10 April 1989] : Information is not available in the full detail requested and is not all compiled on the same basis. Data on instructors and student teachers include both full and part-time staff, while those on the graduate status and teacher training of qualified teachers include only those in full-time service, and also relate to different time points. Table 1 shows the total full-time equivalent of full and part-time teachers and instructors employed by each local education authority in England and Wales in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in January 1988, and the number and percentage of these that were instructors or student teachers.
Table 2 shows the breakdown of full-time qualified teachers in these schools by graduate status and teacher training, for each authority and at March 1986 (the latest date for which these figures are available).
Tables 3 and 4 contain figures on the same basis for 1974. National totals only are available.
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Table 4: Full-time qualified teachers in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools by graduate status
and teacher training-March 1974
Numbers Percentages
Trained<1> Untrained<1> Trained<1> Untrained<1>
|Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates|Total |Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |69,796 |275,722 |21,268 |13,022 |379,808 |18.4 |72.6 |5.6 |3.4
Wales |5,691 |18,566 |1,135 |517 |25,909 |22.0 |71.7 |4.4 |2.0
England and Wales |75,487 |294,288 |22,403 |13,539 |405,717 |18.6 |72.5 |5.5 |3.2
<1> Trained teachers are those who have completed a course of initial teacher training in the United Kingdom. Untrained teachers may therefore include some
trained outside the United Kingdom.
Table 4: Full-time qualified teachers in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools by graduate status
and teacher training-March 1974
Numbers Percentages
Trained<1> Untrained<1> Trained<1> Untrained<1>
|Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates|Total |Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |69,796 |275,722 |21,268 |13,022 |379,808 |18.4 |72.6 |5.6 |3.4
Wales |5,691 |18,566 |1,135 |517 |25,909 |22.0 |71.7 |4.4 |2.0
England and Wales |75,487 |294,288 |22,403 |13,539 |405,717 |18.6 |72.5 |5.5 |3.2
<1> Trained teachers are those who have completed a course of initial teacher training in the United Kingdom. Untrained teachers may therefore include some
trained outside the United Kingdom.
Table 4: Full-time qualified teachers in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools by graduate status
and teacher training-March 1974
Numbers Percentages
Trained<1> Untrained<1> Trained<1> Untrained<1>
|Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates|Total |Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |69,796 |275,722 |21,268 |13,022 |379,808 |18.4 |72.6 |5.6 |3.4
Wales |5,691 |18,566 |1,135 |517 |25,909 |22.0 |71.7 |4.4 |2.0
England and Wales |75,487 |294,288 |22,403 |13,539 |405,717 |18.6 |72.5 |5.5 |3.2
<1> Trained teachers are those who have completed a course of initial teacher training in the United Kingdom. Untrained teachers may therefore include some
trained outside the United Kingdom.
Table 4: Full-time qualified teachers in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools by graduate status
and teacher training-March 1974
Numbers Percentages
Trained<1> Untrained<1> Trained<1> Untrained<1>
|Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates|Total |Graduates |Non-graduates|Graduates |Non-graduates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |69,796 |275,722 |21,268 |13,022 |379,808 |18.4 |72.6 |5.6 |3.4
Wales |5,691 |18,566 |1,135 |517 |25,909 |22.0 |71.7 |4.4 |2.0
England and Wales |75,487 |294,288 |22,403 |13,539 |405,717 |18.6 |72.5 |5.5 |3.2
<1> Trained teachers are those who have completed a course of initial teacher training in the United Kingdom. Untrained teachers may therefore include some
trained outside the United Kingdom.
TRANSPORT
Nuclear Materials
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Council of Transport Ministers has received any report from the German Transport Minister, since January 1988, on irregularities discovered in the transfrontier transport of nuclear materials between the Federal Republic and Belgium.
Mr. Bottomley : We are not aware of such a report.
London Underground Ltd.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library documents or publications produced by London Underground Ltd. or its predecessors which set out the terms of employment and related matters now in dispute together with its proposals, or decisions in respect of future changes to them and a description of relevant negotiations ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Portillo : This is a management matter for London Underground Limited.
Air Travel Organisers
Mr. Prescott : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions were initiated by the Civil Aviation Authority in 1988 against unlicensed persons offering accommodation on charter flights from the United Kingdom in breach of the air travel organisers licensing system ; how many were successful ; and what was the average penalty or fine imposed for (a) first offence and (b) repeated offence.
Mr. Channon : This is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority. I shall ask the chairman to write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Prescott : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has discussed the policing of the air travel organisers licensing system with the Civil Aviation Authority ; and if he has any plans to ensure the tougher enforcement of the air travel organisers licensing regulations 1972.
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Mr. Channon : The operation of these regulations is a matter for the Civil Aviation Authority, which has, I understand, been increasing the resources devoted to enforcing them over the last two years.
Automatic Ticket
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will introduce legislation to prevent the computing type functions that currently check tickets and control the gates of automatic ticket machines from being developed to monitor the movements of individuals through the use of personal details recorded on the magnetic strip found on the reverse side of season tickets ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : The matter of compliance with or enforcement of the Data Protection Act is a matter for the Data Protection Registrar.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has in relation to the instructions given to London Underground staff when congestion occurs at exit points controlled by automatic ticket
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machines during peak periods, and as to whether staff are instructed to open the gates of the machines to relieve congestion.Mr. Portillo : Station staff have strict instructions to open the gates if there is any threat to safety from congestion building up behind them.
Radioactive Material
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by year for the last 10 years how many tonnes of radioactive material was imported via each of the Humber ports ; how many tonnes were exported through these ports ; what method of transport was used to transport the material to and from the ports ; and if he will make a statement on the future plans for transporting radioactive waste through the Humber ports.
Mr. Portillo : The Department does not collect this information on a routine basis, but I am advised that the following shipments (in tonnes) were made through Immingham/Hull :
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|Irradiated fuel imported|Natural exported |UF6 imported |Enriched exported |UF6 imported |Fresh fuel exported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978 |- |91 |- |- |- |-
1979 |- |180 |- |- |- |3
1980 |- |236 |- |- |34 |1
1981 |2 |285 |- |- |31 |2
1982 |3 |575 |- |- |19 |2
1983 |5 |859 |- |10 |35 |-
1984 |1 |968 |528 |30 |19 |-
1985 |2 |260 |960 |44 |17 |2
1986 |3 |116 |- |74 |19 |2
1987 |2 |1,066 |- |152 |- |2
1988 |0.6 |740 |156 |- |17 |-
All movements to and from the ports were by road except irradiated fuel which travelled by rail.
Transatlantic Flights
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussion he has had with the United States Transportation Secretary at his meeting last week about new transatlantic flights out of Manchester airport ; what was the outcome ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : My right hon. Friend stressed that Her Majesty's Government are anxious to make progress on negotiations over traffic rights between United States cities and Manchester ; we are prepared to do any size of mutually beneficial deal. The Transportation Secretary promised that his Department and the State Department would now prepare themselves for another round of negotiations.
Traffic Surveys (London)
Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will detail the objectives of his Department's central London traffic surveys ;
(2) what will be the estimated cost of his Department's central London traffic surveys.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Statistical surveys of traffic are undertaken on a regular basis in London in order to
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monitor trends in average flows and speeds. Full details are given in the Department's "Statistical Bulletin (88) 39" which is available in the Library. The costs of these surveys are not recorded separately for the central London area, but for London as a whole the total cost for the two-year period to March 1989 was £370,000. In addition, statistical surveys are carried out for the development of proposals for road improvements. The Department carried out surveys for this purpose last month on the A13 trunk road in the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. The estimated cost of these surveys is £200,000.Vehicles
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles, and of what value, were purchased by (a) his Department, (b) British Rail and (c) other public sector agencies for which he is responsible in 1988 ; and how many of these vehicles were British made within the definition of British as set out by the Department of Trade and Industry in its arrangement on content with the European Community.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 17 April 1989] : The Department of Transport purchased 24 new vehicles in 1988--mostly for research or other specialist use--at a cost of £737,472. Eleven of these vehicles were United Kingdom-produced, on the definition employed by the DTI for statistical purposes, under which a vehicle is
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classified as United Kingdom-produced if the United Kingdom content exceeds 50 per cent. of the ex-works value. These figures do not include second-hand cars used for impact studies, which are purchased at minimum cost.Details of vehicles purchased by British Rail or other sponsored bodies are not available within the Department.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Rain Forests
113. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to have rain forest issues and policy on the financing of nuclear power stations included on the agenda of the next meeting of the World Bank.
Mr. Chris Patten : The development committee of the IMF/IBRD has already agreed to discuss environmental issues at its next meeting in September. Meanwhile, the World Bank is intensifying its work on these issues, including its role in the tropical forestry action plan.
The role of nuclear power is considered within the energy development plans of a few IBRD borrowing countries but its cost, high technology and demand on scarce human resources make it generally inappropriate at present for the vast majority of developing countries.
Third-world Debt
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at what conferences dealing with Third-world debt reduction his Department has been represented in 1988 and 1989.
Mrs. Chalker : The FCO has been represented at international conferences which discussed debt reduction at UNCTAD in September 1988, the IMF and IBRD annual meetings in Berlin in September 1988 and the spring meetings of the IMF and IBRD in April this year. It has also been represented at a variety of meetings organised by research, academic and private sector groups.
Southern Africa
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received from international bodies in relation to a possible role for Britain in finding solutions to the problems of southern Africa.
South Africa
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during the recent visit of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of South Africa, he discussed the prospects of South Africa joining the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Waldegrave : Yes. My right hon. and learned Friend stressed the importance of South Africa joining the NPT as soon as possible.
Ethiopia
Mr. Faulds : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commowealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's
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Government have yet received the considered response from the Ethiopian Government on human rights concerns which they await.Mrs. Chalker : No. We shall continue to press the Ethiopian Government on all human rights issues.
Bophuthatswana
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will recognise the state of Bophuthatswana as a self-governing country with a right of recognition similar to that of Swaziland.
Mrs. Chalker : No. Bophuthatswana is a homeland within the Republic of South Africa. Swaziland is an independent country.
EC Directives
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many European Community directives have been implemented in each year since 1979.
Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-West (Dr. Hampson) on 15 February, at col. 203 .
Departmental Policy
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the successes of implementation of policy by Her Majesty's Government in foreign policy since May 1979.
Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 2 May, at col. 34 to the question from the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn).
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the failures in his Department's policy implementation since May 1979.
Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the written answer of 28 April at col. 710 of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the question from the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn).
China
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from Her Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China on recent student and workers unrest ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : We have received regular reports from Her Majesty's Ambassador in Peking on the recent unrest in China. We are continuing to follow developments closely.
Palestine Liberation Organisation (World Health Organisation Status)
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the application by the Palestine Liberation Organisation for its observer status at the World Health Organisation to be turned into full membership ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Eggar : We are in close touch with a wide range of fellow members of the World Health Organisation, including European Community and western partners in Geneva.
The 12 member states of the European Community have made their position clear in a formal note to the director general of the World Health Organisation. No member of the European Community has recognised the Palestine Liberation Organisation/Palestine as a state. Accordingly, we do not accept that the Palestine Liberation Organisation satisfies the criteria for membership of the World Health Organisation.
We have also strongly advised the Palestine Liberation Organisation not to pursue its application.
Death Penalty
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from Amnesty International concerning the death penalty overseas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : We have on a number of occasions received representations from Amnesty International concerning particular cases involving the death penalty in various countries. We have recently received copies of Amnesty's new report on the death penalty worldwide. We are studying its contents carefully.
Turkey
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning Turkey's entry to the European Economic Community ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : We have received a number of representations concerning Turkey's application to join the European Community. The application is currently being studied by the Commission. Once its opinion is available, the Council of Ministers will consider the application further. We shall take all relevant factors into consideration when assessing the application in the Council.
International Monetary Fund
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement explaining the criteria upon which he bases his decision whether or not to support an individual country's application to join the International Monetary Fund.
Mr. Eggar : Membership of the International Monetary Fund is open to every state that is prepared to fulfil the obligations of membership contained in the International Monetary Fund's articles of agreement (a copy of which is in the Library). That is the criterion on which we base our decision.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether he has been notified of any formal application submitted by the Angolan MPLA regime to join the International Monetary Fund ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) what recent representations have been made to him by the MPLA regime of Angola concerning any application which it may be making to the International Monetary Fund ;
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(3) whether it is his policy to establish pre-conditions before supporting the acceptance by the International Monetary Fund of any application for membership made by the MPLA-PT regime of Angola ; and if he will make a statement ;(4) whether he has any information about the likely date upon which any final decision may be reached by the International Monetary Fund upon any application for membership which it is currently considering from the Angolan MPLA regime ;
(5) whether it is his policy to have discussions with the United States of America concerning any application for membership which may be made to the International Monetary Fund by the Angolan MPLA regime ; and whether he has any information concerning United States' policy towards any such application.
Mr. Eggar : Angola formally applied to join the International Monetary Fund in October 1987. We have told the Angolan Government that we support their application in principle and consider that it should be dealt with on it technical merits. We understand that the IMF executive board is likely to make a decision on the application in the next few months. United States' policy is a matter for the United States Government but they are well aware of our view that Angola's attempts to improve its relations with the West should be encouraged. We will be restating this at the meeting of the membership sub-committee currently considering Angola's application for membership.
WALES
Bathing Water
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish in the Official Report the estimated cost for each of (a) Tenby north, (b) Abersoch, (c) Llandudno west shore of (i) a long sea outfall, (ii) full sewerage treatment works with a short sea outfall and (iii) full sewerage treatment works with a long sea outfall to enable them to comply with European Economic Community bathing water directive 76/160/EEC ; and when the appropriate solution will be put in place, giving the estimated date of commencement and completion.
Mr. Grist : The authority is currently reviewing its programme of remedial works, which aims to achieve compliance of all listed waters. The full cost of the programme has yet to be evaluated.
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