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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 18 May 1989

NATIONAL FINANCE

European Monetary System

Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consequences would ensue for the United Kingdom economy and United Kingdom citizens in the event of sterling joining the exchange rate mechanism of the European monetary system and what would be the necessary changes in public policy.

Mr. Lilley : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Mr. Soames) on 8 May, at column 318 .

Value Added Tax

Mr. Conway : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether value added tax is charged on Ministry of Defence purchases from the United States of America which are delivered direct to British forces in Germany ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lilley : United Kingdom VAT is not applicable to such purchases. By virtue of international agreements, German VAT is not charged.

Advertising

Mr. Grocott : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much advertising air time Her Majesty's Treasury purchased with each commercial television company in each of the last five years.

Mr. Brooke [holding answer 15 May 1989] : None.

PRIME MINISTER

Civil Service (Discipline)

Q17. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what assessment has been made of the effects on discipline in the Civil Service of the practice of officials sanctioning the unauthorised release of official information other than through conventional channels without prior explicit ministerial consent.

The Prime Minister : None.

Court of Auditors

Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the procedure for considering the annual reports of the Court of Auditors ; and if she will make a statement.

The Prime Minister : The annual reports of the Court of Auditors are discussed each year at the Economic and Finance Council in line with a procedure which the United Kingdom was instrumental in securing.


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Engagements

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 18 May.

The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Teaching Vacancies (Bolton)

Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current number of teaching vacancies at educational establishments in the Bolton education authority area ; and what categories of subject the vacancies fall into.

Mrs. Rumbold : In January 1989 (the latest date for which figures are available) there were 10 full-time teacher vacancies in nursery and primary schools maintained by bolton local education authority--one in the nursery, five in the infant and four in the junior age group.

At the same date there was one full-time teacher vacancy (in English) in maintained secondary schools.

No information is available regarding vacancies in other educational establishments.

Open University

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the outcome of the latest meeting of the visiting committee of the Open university in terms of evaluation of the future course profile and financial stability of the university.

Mr. Jackson : At its latest meeting on 13 and 14 April the Open university visiting committee began its consideration of the university's programmes and financial forecasts. It will complete its assessment, and report to my right hon. Friend in the summer.

Volunteer Youth Workers

Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has made to the letter of 7 March from the chairman of Warwickshire association of youth clubs, Mrs. B. E. Winstanley, about grant aid for the training of volunteer youth workers ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold : The Department sent a reply to Mrs. Winstanley on May 10. A copy of the reply has been sent to the hon. Member.


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Student Grants

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total cost of maintenance grants paid to part-time students in each of the past 10 years in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms with 1979=100.

Mr. Jackson : This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the projected cost of maintenance grants to be paid to part -time students in each of the next five years.

Mr. Jackson : The information which would be required to provide such a projection is not collected centrally.

College Lecturers (School Teachers)

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to encourage college lecturers to become school teachers.

Mrs. Rumbold : Last October the Department published a discussion paper on the staffing implications of projected student numbers in LEA- maintained FE colleges in England. That paper suggested that local education authorities should consider redeploying suitably qualified surplus FE lecturers to teach shortage subjects in schools. Under the proposed licensed teacher scheme, FE lecturers with two years' experience will become eligible for qualified teacher status after one year's service as a licensed teacher instead of two as will be the case generally.

Incentive Allowances

Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Bridgend of 5 May, Official Report, column 256, that no further information is at present available, what further information he intends to collect in relation to awards of incentive allowances, for each school or financial year since 30 September 1987 ; when and by what means he intends to collect such further information ; if he will estimate the date or dates of publication of such further information ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold : The database of teacher records will provide detailed information on an annual basis about the numbers of teachers in receipt of incentive allowances. The first such data, showing the position in March 1988, are likely to become available early next year.

University Statistical Record

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he collects information from, or has access to, the University Statistical Record.

Mr. Jackson : The Department has no direct access to the University Statistical Record. Given prior notice, the USR can on occasions supply information not available in published reports, although details of individual institutions normally remain confidential.


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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Citizens Imprisoned Abroad

Mr. Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the figures for each of the last five years for which records are available of the numbers of British citizens imprisoned abroad who returned to this country within that year.

Mr. Eggar : The information requested is not available.

Mr. Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state for the last year for which figures are available how many British citizens imprisoned abroad received (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) more than four visits from consular officials.

Mr. Eggar : The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in the Official Report all those consular posts which have a local benevolent fund or charity on which they can draw for buying extra food, soap, and so on for British citizens imprisoned abroad, stating against each (a) the total drawn for each of the last five years for which figures are available and (b) the total amount available from each source in this financial year.

Mr. Eggar : Many of our consular posts around the world have access to local benevolent funds. Such funds exist purely due to private donations. Since public funds are not involved we do not keep a central list. The funds also vary enormously in their extent and purpose as well as the degree to which consular posts may draw on them.

Lorrain Esme Osman

Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the issue in Hong Kong on 30 November 1985 of a warrant for the arrest of Lorrain Esme Osman, and the quashing of the warrant by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal on 4 May 1989 on the grounds that it was vitiated by bias.

Mr. Eggar : These are matters for the relevant authorities in Hong Kong and for the courts here.

Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Government of the Republic of Liberia in respect of Lorrain Esme Osman ; whether Mr. Osman has diplomatic immunity ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Eggar : There has been an exchange of notes with the Liberian Government through its embassy in London about Mr. Osman's appointment as Liberian ambassador-at-large to the European Community and his status in the United Kingdom. It is for the courts to decide whether Mr. Osman has any diplomatic immunity, in accordance with the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 and the facts presented to them.


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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Gas Masks (Israel)

Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster why his Department is refusing an export licence to allow gas masks to be sold to Israel for purely defensive purposes.

Mr. Alan Clark : No application has been received for a licence to export gas masks to Israel.


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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

Population Control

Sir Charles Morrison : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications were received for 1989 for allocations through the joint funding scheme for population and family planning projects ; what these applications were and from which organisations ; how many and which were accepted ; and what amounts were allocated to each organisation.

Mr. Chris Patten : This information is maintained by financial year rather than calendar year. Details of the population and family planning project applications which have been received under the joint funding scheme for the current financial year, 1989-90, and following years are :


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Agency and country                                  |Project name                                       |Requested 1989-90                                  |Requested 1990-91                                  |Requested 1991-92                                  |Requested 1992-93                                  |Requested 1993-94                                                                                      

                                                                                                        |£                                                  |£                                                  |£                                                  |£                                                  |£                                                                                                      

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Accepted                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Marie Stopes International                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Kenya                                               |Extension of Family Planning Education and Service |96,957                                             |52,599                                             |101,490                                            |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                    |  Programme for National Youth Service                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Lesotho                                             |Creating a Corps of Village-based Family Planning  |41,269                                             |33,205                                             |35,652                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                    |  Educators and Motivator                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Pakistan                                            |Lahore reproductive health extension services      |22,844                                             |24,270                                             |25,540                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Population Concern                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Bangladesh                                          |Chittagong Family Planning                         |32,820                                             |36,360                                             |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Ethiopia                                            |Development of Manual for Training Rural Women     |39,670                                             |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                    |  Development Agents                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Pakistan                                            |Family Planning through Community Institutions     |21,535                                             |23,565                                             |23,835                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Pakistan                                            |Training for Womens Development                    |24,835                                             |25,985                                             |28,240                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                                                                        |----                                               |----                                               |----                                               |----                                               |----                                                                                                   

                                                    |Totals                                             |279,930                                            |195,984                                            |214,757                                            |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Rejected                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Marie Stopes International                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Haiti                                               |Condom Social Marketing                            |36,355                                             |44,110                                             |39,935                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Nigeria                                             |Combat Aids                                        |252,080                                            |352,835                                            |208,454                                            |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Tanzania                                            |National Family Planning Radio Education/          |53,793                                             |53,397                                             |53,882                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                    |  endorsement Programme                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                        |----                                               |----                                               |----                                               |----                                               |----                                                                                                   

                                                    |Totals                                             |342,228                                            |450,342                                            |302,271                                            |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Under consideration                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Marie Stopes International                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Ethiopia                                            |Maternal and Reproductive Health Clinic            |114,473                                            |91,500                                             |91,476                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

India                                               |Comprehensive Family Planning and Preventive Health|69,806                                             |73,382                                             |73,382                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                    |  Service for employees                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

India                                               |Contraceptive Social Marketing                     |57,843                                             |63,627                                             |64,206                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

India                                               |Marketing Educational Family Planning Materials    |85,000                                             |85,000                                             |85,000                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

India                                               |Soap Drama                                         |26,500                                             |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Sierra Leone                                        |Work based Maternal and Child Health and Family    |45,171                                             |33,668                                             |30,544                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

                                                    |  Planning                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Population Concern                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Caribbean                                           |Family Planning Motivational video Series          |40,158                                             |50,098                                             |44,374                                             |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Nepal                                               |Newalparasi Womens Development Project             |36,880                                             |52,635                                             |42,555                                             |34,300                                             |29,590                                                                                                 

                                                                                                        |----                                               |----                                               |----                                               |----                                               |----                                                                                                   

                                                    |Totals                                             |475,831                                            |449,910                                            |431,537                                            |34,300                                             |29,590                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Application withdrawn by Agency                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Marie Stopes International                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Africa                                              |Health Education Family Planning film              |18,245                                             |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                  |-                                                                                                      

Sir Charles Morrison : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which organisations received allocations from the joint funding scheme for population and family planning projects for each of the years 1987 and 1988 ; what amounts were allocated to each organisation ; and for what purposes.


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Mr. Chris Patten : This information is maintained by financial year rather than calendar year. Details of the population and family planning projects which have been supported under the joint funding scheme in the financial years 1987-88 and 1988-89 are :


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Agency and country                                    |Project name                                         |Spent in 1987-88                                     |Spent in 1988-89                                     |Under offer for 1989-90                              |Under offer for 1990-91                              |Under offer for 1991-92                                                                                    

                                                                                                            |£                                                    |£                                                    |£                                                    |£                                                    |£                                                                                                          

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Africa Now Marie Stopes International                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Kenya                                                 |Chogoria Family Planning Programme                   |-                                                    |10,300                                               |9,213                                                |8,358                                                |11,182                                                                                                     

Bangladesh                                            |Family Planning, preventative health care            |23,550                                               |23,793                                               |52,868                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

India                                                 |Brass Tacks Family Planning Programme                |13,550                                               |39,537                                               |71,700                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Kenya                                                 |National Youth Service                               |11,000                                               |22,369                                               |41,950                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Malawi                                                |Health Programme for poor women and families         |-                                                    |47,910                                               |42,550                                               |32,257                                               |-                                                                                                          

Mexico                                                |Family Planning Leon                                 |21,038                                               |13,525                                               |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Peru                                                  |Provision of Maternal Health and Family Planning     |8,427                                                |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

                                                      |  Services                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Sierra Leone                                          |Youth Fertility Education Programme                  |16,174                                               |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Sri Lanka                                             |Family Planning Educators and Motivators             |-                                                    |-                                                    |37,244                                               |45,049                                               |45,049                                                                                                     

Swaziland                                             |Male Oriented Family Planning                        |6,000                                                |23,772                                               |49,430                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Zimbabwe                                              |Training Programme Zimbabwe Association of Womens    |-                                                    |23,793                                               |23,840                                               |31,650                                               |-                                                                                                          

                                                      |  Clubs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Oxfam Population Concern                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Pakistan                                              |Family Planning Project                              |-                                                    |2,825                                                |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Bangladesh                                            |Family Planning Health and Education                 |15,876                                               |18,429                                               |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Caribbean                                             |Two workshops for Family Planning personnel Antigua  |-                                                    |25,754                                               |30,928                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Caribbean                                             |Towards accreditation sex education in Caribbean     |-                                                    |23,820                                               |51,861                                               |38,569                                               |-                                                                                                          

                                                      |  schools                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Caribbean                                             |Two workshops for teachers                           |-                                                    |41,592                                               |44,665                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Caribbean                                             |Three workshops Family Planning Fieldworkers         |-                                                    |23,117                                               |24,784                                               |25,512                                               |-                                                                                                          

Ethiopia                                              |Training rural women development agents              |17,051                                               |55,027                                               |42,240                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Mauritius                                             |Construction of Mauritius Family Planning Association|-                                                    |3,000                                                |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

                                                      |  building                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Nepal                                                 |Three micro projects in Nepal                        |6,150                                                |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

Nigeria                                               |Non Government Organisation Workshops on             |34,682                                               |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

                                                      |  Population Policy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

United Kingdom Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Fiji                                                  |Family Planning                                      |-                                                    |5,500                                                |33,000                                               |-                                                    |-                                                                                                          

                                                                                                            |-------                                              |-------                                              |-------                                              |-------                                              |-------                                                                                                    

                                                      |Totals                                               |173,498                                              |404,063                                              |556,273                                              |181,395                                              |56,231                                                                                                     

Sir Charles Morrison : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contributions for 1989 are being made to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities and the World Health Organisation's special programme on human reproduction.

Mr. Chris Patten : We have made the following pledges for 1989 : International Planned Parenthood Federation :

£6.75 million (including £0.5 million for AIDS prevention programme) ;

United Nations Population Fund :

£5.5 million :

World Health Organisation's special programme on human reproduction : £2.2 million.

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list bilateral disbursements for population and family planning activities in each of the years 1987, 1988 and 1989, classified by project and country.

Mr. Chris Patten : The Overseas Development Administration funded the following population-related projects in 1987 :

Bangladesh

World Bank Third Population and Family Health Project (825,000) Botswana

Public Health and Primary Nurse Tutor (£20,000)

Fiji

Population Census (£15,000)

The Gambia

Provision of family planning materials (£2,000)


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India

Orissa Family Welfare Project Phase I (£566,000) Integrated Family Welfare Gujarat (£8,000)

Assistance to the Registrar General's Office (£18,000) Kiribati

Population Census (£4,000)

Malawi

Population Census (£62,000

Malaysia

Adviser in Demography (£52,000)

Nepal

ODA/UNFPA Project (Pilot Operational Research in Community Based Family Planning/Mother and Child Health Activities (£2,000) Pakistan

Population Welfare Projects I and II (141,000)

Tanzania

Family Planning Study (£22,000)

Population Census (£6,000)

In addition, the provision of family planning services formed part of a large number of primary health care projects and programmes in which we were involved. The Overseas Development Administration also provided £78,000 under its research and development programme for population- related work.

Disbursement figures for 1988 and 1989 are not yet available. The following projects were under way or were approved in 1988 and 1989 :

Bangladesh

World Bank Third Population and Family Health Project

Botswana

Public Health and Family Planning Tutor

Fiji

Assistance to Population Census

India

Orissa Family Welfare Project phases I and II


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Integrated Family Welfare Project Gujarat

Population components in Slum Improvement Projects (Hyderabad, Indore and Vijayawada)

Assistance to the Registrar General's Office

Kenya

World Bank Third Population Project

Population Census

Kiribati

Population Census

Malawi

Population Census

Malaysia

Adviser in Demography (Economic Planning Unit)

Nepal

Population Studies

Pakistan

Population Welfare Projects I and II

Reproduction Health Services Project

Tanzania

Population Census

In 1987, 29 trainees came to the United Kingdom on

population-related courses. In 1988 a further 37 trainees began similar courses.


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