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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 15 May 1989
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Special Needs
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he plans to take to ensure that special needs provision is protected within the framework of local financial management of schools.
Mr. Butcher : Circular 7/88 on local management of schools makes clear that LEAs will be expected to reflect in their LMS formulae the incidence of pupils with special educational needs in their schools. This will include both non-statemented pupils with learning difficulties and statemented pupils where provision for the latter is delegated to schools. It will be open to LEAs to propose to except from delegation provision for statemented pupils where they judge this to be the best way of ensuring that resources are targeted on the needs of the individual pupils concerned. Authorities may also choose to continue to manage centrally the range of advisory and support services associated with special needs provision.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what he plans to do to ensure that resources are allocated within local financial management of schools to pupils with special educational needs but without statements of special educational needs.
Mr. Butcher : Paragraph 115 of circular 7/88 on local management of schools makes clear that LEAs will be expected to reflect in their LMS formulae the incidence of pupils with special educational needs in their schools. This will include non-statemented pupils with learning difficulties. Where the numbers of such pupils vary between schools it will be open to LEAs to include a specific factor in their formulae designed to target resources according to the additional need to spend of certain schools.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that the provisions made in section 19 of the Education Reform Act concerning the power of headteachers to temporarily exclude pupils with special needs from the national curriculum or to request that statements be made on such pupils is not misused.
Mr. Butcher : My Department has issued for comment by 31 May draft regulations to be made under section 19 of the Education Reform Act governing temporary exceptions from the national curriculum for individual pupils. These include the following proposals for safeguards against misuse.
A head teacher must give a special direction before lifting or modifying any national curriculum requirements in respect of an individual pupil for the purpose of assessment or reassessment for special educational needs. The special direction must include the headteacher's
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reasons for judging that the pupil has or probably has special educational needs requiring the making or amendment of a statement. Copies must be sent to parents, the school governing body and the LEA. Parents will have the right of appeal to the governing body, which may overturn the headteacher's decision. There will be strict time limits on the duration of directions and the scope for renewals.A copy of the draft regulations has been placed in the Library.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to allocate additional resources for the training of teachers and others in the implementation of the national curriculum in respect of children with special educational needs.
Mr. Butcher : Additional support for training teachers to implement the national curriculum is available through the LEA training grants scheme ; £47.5 million is available for this purpose in the current financial year. It is for local education authorities to decide how much to spend, within this total, on training in respect of children with special educational needs.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria were used in the selection of the membership of the NCC task group on special educational needs.
Mr. Butcher : It is for the National Curriculum Council, and not for my right hon. Friend to determine the selection of members of task groups.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) when he plans to publish the revision of circular 1/83 ; and whether he can indicate the results of the consultation process in respect of the draft revision ;
(2) whether he plans to give advice to local education authorities on the proper conduct of appeals in the light of the contents of the National Deaf Children's Society report entitled "A Mockery of Needs" ;
(3) whether, in the light of the contents of the National Deaf Children's Society report entitled "A Mockery of Needs" he will take further steps to ensure that parents of children with special educational needs receive accurate up-to-date information and adequate support at diagnosis following the provisions made in section 10 of the Education Act 1981 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher : The Department of Health, the Welsh Office and this Department have received a substantial number of responses to the draft circular to replace circular 1/83. They have indicated a general welcome to the provision of new guidance to local education authorities, health authorities and social services departments on the procedures to be followed in the implementation of various provisions in the Education Act 1981. They have made a number of detailed observations which are now being considered by the Departments. The contents of the National Deaf Children's Society's report will also be taken into consideration. We hope to issue the new circular within the next few months. Guidance on the conduct of local appeals is included in the code of practice on appeals prepared by the local authority associations and the Council on Tribunals.
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Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many appeals under section 8(6) of the Education Act 1981 against the special educational provision set out in the statement of special educational needs he has received since 1983 in respect of (a) all children with statements of special educational need and (b) deaf children with statements of special educational needs ; and how many of these appeals have gone in the parents' favour.
Mr. Butcher : My right hon. Friend has received 150 appeals under section 8(6) of the Education Act 1981 since 1983. It is not possible to identify from the Department's records how many of those appeals were in respect of deaf children. My right hon. Friend has amended the statement of special educational needs in 34 of those appeals. Decisions have yet to be taken on 25 appeals.
Schools Examination and Assessment Council
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to ensure representation from special education sectors on the Schools Examination and Assessment Council.
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Mr. Butcher : Last year Professor Peter Mittler, director of the centre for educational guidance and special needs at the university of Manchester, accepted my right hon. Friend's invitation to become a member of the Schools Examination and Assessment Council.
Departmental Property
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the property costs, including rent, asset replacement and rates of his Department in total, in each standard both in total and per square foot for each year since 1983.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information in the precise form requested is not available without incurring disproportionate cost. The Department has, however, paid the Property Services Agency for accommodation and services under the property repayment system since 1 April 1984. Under these arrangements, annual charges for accommodation, including those incurred by non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Department and Her Majesty's inspectorate, have been as follows :
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1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7
Financial year |Area sq ft |Opportunity cost-rent |Contribution in lieu of |Club subscription for |Administration charges on|Total annual costs
|rates |minor works and |5
|maintenance
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |193,239 |3,857,031 |2,887,683 |760,741 |181,927 |7,687,382
1985-86 |180,616 |3,569,792 |2,522,640 |786,386 |187,534 |7,066,352
1986-87 |178,222 |3,616,573 |3,076,339 |768,223 |182,250 |7,643,385
1987-88 |178,990 |3,730,160 |3,022,937 |631,163 |157,269 |7,541,529
1988,89 |182,423 |3,934,872 |2,969,576 |945,710 |234,804 |8,084,962
Departmental Plant and Equipment
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when the last revaluation of plant and equipment employed by his Department was carried out ; and what plant and equipment asset replacement charges are incurred by his Department.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department, like most other Government Departments, operates cash-based systems which enable Parliament to be satisfied that amounts of cash voted to be spent on certain activities have been so spent. There has, therefore, been no overall need, apart from those limited areas where repayment to transactions are conducted, to maintain comprehensive up-to-date valuations of plant and equipment, the purchase cost of which is tightly controlled through the cash accounting system and plant and equipment asset replacement charges are often not entered in the accounts.
Radiation
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the research commissioned by his Department into the relationship between cancer and radiation in the last 30 years.
Mr. Jackson : Since 1976 the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid through my Department, has supported a total of 191 projects relevant to the relationship between cancer and radiation-- both in its own establishments and through its grant schemes. I am
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arranging for a list of these research projects to be sent to the right hon. Member and for a copy to be placed in the Library. I regret that it is not possible to provide details of research conducted prior to 1976.Vice-Chancellors and Principals
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the average salary paid to all those
vice-chancellors or principals at United Kingdom universities, for whom data are collected, in 1989 and each of the last five years.
Mr. Jackson : The Department does not collect information on the salaries of vice-chancellors or principals.
City Technology Colleges
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to allow city technology colleges to introduce selection based on attainable levels at the age of 11 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Butcher : Pupils admitted to city technology colleges represent a wide range of abilities and will have demonstrated their aptitude to benefit from the particular type of education to be offered. In time, national assessments at age 11 will provide evidence of the distribution of attainment on entry to CTCs.
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Tranquillisers
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects the study being carried out by the Institute of Psychiatry into benzodiazepines will be completed ; and whether it will be published.
Mr. Jackson : The Institute of Psychiatry is currently carrying out several studies related to benzodiazepines. It is anticipated that they will be completed by September 1989. The researchers would be expected, as is the usual practice, to disseminate their findings through appropriate professional journals.
Teachers (Incentive Allowances)
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford of 8 May, Official Report, columns 298-99, if information from the 1988 secondary staffing survey can be used to test the accuracy of his Department's expectations in relation to the automatic award of incentive allowances in October 1987 for that sector, without reference to the DTR data mentioned in his reply ; if he will publish a table showing comparative figures for entitlement to such allowances (a) derived from the results of the 1988 secondary staffing survey and (b) his Department's plans ; if he will, by other means, estimate the number of each rate of incentive allowance awarded automatically in secondary schools ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Data from the 1988 secondary school staffing survey can in due course be compared with the assumptions in circular 8/87 about the number of teachers in secondary schools who would receive an incentive allowance automatically in October 1987. Such data are not yet available and, for a number of reasons, will not provide a precise measure of the accuracy of the assumptions in the circular. Information from the 1987 database of teacher records will enable more reliable comparisons to be made, and will shortly become
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available. There are no other practical means of estimating the number of allowances awarded automatically in that year.Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford of 8 May, Official Report, columns 298-99 , if information from the 1987 primary staffing survey will be used to test the accuracy of his Department's expectations in relation to the automatic award of incentive allowances in October 1987 for that sector, without reference to the DTR data mentioned in his reply ; if he will publish a table showing comparative figures for entitlement to such allowances (a) derived from the results of the 1987 primary staffing survey and (b) his Department's plans ; if he will, by other means, estimate the number of each rate of incentive allowance awarded automatically in primary schools ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department does not plan to compare the assumptions in circular 8/87 about the number of teachers in primary schools receiving an incentive allowance automatically in October 1987 with data from the 1987 primary school staffing survey. Information from the 1987 database of teacher records will enable more reliable comparisons to be made, and will shortly become available. There are no other practical means of estimating the number of allowances awarded automatically in that year.
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford of 8 May, Official Report , column 299, what is the estimated planned cost of incentive allowances in financial years 1988-89 and 1989-90 on a similar basis to that reply, distinguishing the amount and proportion in each year attributable to the automatic award of allowances in October 1987.
Mrs. Rumbold : The information is as follows :
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Estimated cost<1> of incentive allowances in ordinary schools
|1987-88<2> |1988-89 |1989-90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total cost (£ million) |113 | 319 | 366
Costs attributable to the automatic award of incentive |106 |<3>236 |<3>250
allowances in October 1987 (£ million) |(94 per cent.)|(74 per cent.)|(68 per cent.)
<1>Costs are cash values for financial years and include employers' on-costs.
<2>1 October 1987 to 31 March 1988.
<3>These figures assume that all the teachers who received an incentive allowance automatically in 1987 continued
to teach in ordinary schools and to be paid the same allowance. They are therefore overstated because in practice
a significant number would have been promoted or ceased to work in such schools.
University Students
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many full-time students there were in (a) British and (b) Scottish universities for each year since 1973 ;
(2) how many full-time women university students there were in (a) British and (b) Scottish universities for each year since 1973.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested is shown in the following table :
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Full-time students in universities in Scotland and Great Britain Thousands ------------------------------------ 1973 |39.0 |13.8 |244.1|77.7 1974 |39.7 |14.6 |250.6|82.5 1975 |40.5 |15.2 |261.3|87.7 1976 |41.6 |15.9 |271.8|92.5 1977 |42.3 |16.2 |280.5|97.1 1978 |43.0 |16.7 |288.4|102.2 1979 |43.3 |17.2 |292.7|107.3 1980 |44.4 |18.0 |298.7|112.4 1981 |45.0 |18.7 |300.2|115.4 1982 |44.8 |18.9 |295.4|115.7 1983 |44.8 |18.9 |291.7|115.0 1984 |45.3 |19.0 |290.6|116.0 1985 |46.2 |19.3 |295.5|118.4 1986 |47.2 |19.7 |301.3|121.8 1987 |48.3 |20.5 |305.4|125.2
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many full-time university students of (a) Asian, (b) African and (c) other ethnic minority origins there were in (i) British and (ii) Scottish universities for each year since 1973, excluding foreign students.
Mr. Jackson : This information is not at present collected centrally. It will be collected for students starting undergraduate courses in 1990.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many full-time students from social groups IIIM, IV and V there were in the British universities for each year since 1973 ; and how many of them registered in courses of Scottish universities.
Mr. Jackson : The number of home university students accepted through the Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA), and who were from social groups III M, IV and V since 1977 in the United Kingdom are shown in the following table. Comparable figures for Scottish universities are not readily available. Nor are figures for earlier years.
Numbers of home acceptances through UCCA
from social classes III M, IV, V
|Numbers (000's)
------------------------------------------------
1977 |14.8
1978 |14.9
1979 |15.4
<1>1980 |14.0
1981 |11.8
1982 |11.8
1983 |12.3
1984 |13.0
1985 |14.3
1986 |14.4
1987 |14.7
<1> A new coding system was introduced in 1980.
Figures for earlier years are not strictly
comparable.
School Watch Video
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the cost of the poster advertising the school watch video sent to every chair of every school governing body.
Mr. Butcher : The cost of printing and distributing copies of the poster to all chairs of school governing bodies was £4,883, borne equally by the Department and Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd., which jointly sponsored the project.
THE ARTS
Arts Festival
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Minister for the Arts how many additional annual arts festivals have been established since 1979.
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Mr. Luce : The publication "Arts Festival in Great Britain" estimates that in 1989 there will be more than 600 festivals taking place in Great Britain which have a professional performing element. Information on the number of arts festivals that were held in 1979 is not available.
Touring Fund
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will make a statement on the United Kingdom touring fund.
Mr. Luce : The Arts Council's Great Britain touring fund was established in 1987-88 with £1.5 million from the extra £5 million that I made available to the Council for Incentive Funding and Touring. In its first year, the fund enabled more than 60 extra weeks of touring across all art forms. Figures are not yet available for 1988-89, but they are expected to show a further increase.
Library Services
Mr. Ray Powell : To ask the Minister for the Arts what assessment he has made of the effects of the proposal to charge for obtaining and notifying the availability or non-availability of an item reserved on those living in rural areas, ethnic minorities, and those whose library service is limited or poorly provided for in circumstances beyond their control.
Mr. Luce : I have considered carefully the comments made by respondents to the library Green Paper. I have also taken account of library authorities' current charging policies on reservation fees. I intend that authorities should continue to have discretion to decide whom to charge, and whom to exempt or offer concessionary rates of charging, subject only to a maximum limitation. I will in due course consult on what that limitation should be.
Mr. Ray Powell : To ask the Minister for the Arts what evidence is available on (a) the time and quality of personal assistance to users given by libraries and library staff, (b) the number of requests for assistance that cannot be met within half an hour and (c) the effect of the likelihood of charging to particular classes of use or user.
Mr. Luce : I intend to consult local authority associations, and other bodies as I consider appropriate, about these and other issues before introducing any regulations.
TRANSPORT
Radioactive Material (Transport)
56. Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further measures he is planning to introduce to regulate the transport of radioactive material.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The transport of radioactive material is carried out in accordance with national and international regulations which are under continuous review. The United Kingdom takes a leading part in the review process which is administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, of which the United Kingdom is a member state. The list of the current regulations in force for the transport of radioactive material is as follows :
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Regulations for the transport of radioactive materials-- International recommended regulationsInternational Atomic Energy Agency's safety series No. 6 Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive materials 1973 edition (as amended)
As above but 1985 edition
International Atomic Energy Agency's safety series No. 80 Schedule of requirements for the transport of specified types of radioactive material consignments (companion to safety series No. 6 1985 edition)
International Atomic Energy Agency's safety series No. 37 Advisory material for the application of the IAEA transport regulations 1982 edition (for 1973 IAEA regulations) and 1987 edition (for 1985 IAEA regulations)
National regulations and codes of practice for the transport of radioactive materials based on the IAEA safety series Nos. --6 and --37
Road
The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) (Great Britain) Regulations 1974 (SI 1974 No. 1735)
The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) (Great Britain) (Amendment) Regulations 1985 (SI 1985 No. 1729)
The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1983 (SR 1983 No. 344)
The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1986 (SR 1986 No. 61)
The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 (SI 1985 No. 1333) Code of practice for the protection of persons against ionising radiations arising from any work activity
Code of practice for the carriage of radioactive materials by road
Sea
The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1981 (SI 1981 No. 1747)
The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) (Amendment) Regulations 1986 (SI No. 1069)
Report of the Standing Committee on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods in Ships 1978 ("The Blue Book") Class 7
Air
The Air Navigation Order 1985 (SI 1985 No. 1643)
The Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1985 (SI 1985 No. 1939)
The Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) (Amendment) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986 No. 2129)
Ports
The Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987 (SI 1987 No. 37)
All the above are obtainable from Her Majesty's Stationery Office Rail
British Rail list of dangerous goods and the conditions of acceptance for carriage by freight train and by passenger train or similar service (Class 7)
Obtainable from British Railways Board, Melbury house, Melbury terrace, London NW1 6JU
Inland Waterways
British Waterways Board terms and conditions : Dangerous Goods BWB 1981, and Schedule of Dangerous Goods ("The Green Book") BWB 1981 (Class 7)
Obtainable from Freight Services Division, Central Administration Office, British Waterways Board, Melbury House, Melbury terrace, London NW1 6J
International agreements and codes for the transport of radioactive materials based on IAEA safety series No. --6
Road in Europe
European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) (Class 7)
Rail in Europe
Convention concerning the International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) Appendix B, Uniform rules concerning the contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM) Annex 1, Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID) (Class 7)
The above are obtainable from Her Majesty's Stationery Office
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