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Education Inspectors and Advisers
38. Mr. Faulds : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he has taken to bring to the attention of local education authorities the report by the Audit Commission, "Assuring Quality and Education : The Role of Local Education Authority Inspectors and Advisers."
40. Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he has taken to bring to the attention of local education authorities the report by the Audit Commission, "Assuring Quality and Education : The Role of Local Education Authority Inspectors and Advisers".
Mrs. Rumbold : The Audit Commission has already sent copies of the report to the local authority associations and every local education authority.
Cross-curricular Issues
39. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has responded to the interim report of the National Curriculum Council on cross-curricular issues ; and if he will make a statement.
46. Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has responded to the interim report of the National Curriculum Council on cross-curricular issues ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The National Curriculum Council published preliminary guidance on cross-curricular issues
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in a circular about the national curriculum and whole curriculum planning published on 31 October. Copies have been sent to all schools in England. The council plans to develop this guidance in other publications to issue in the coming months.Single Domain Antibodies
41. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science from which companies staff were seconded to join the team working on single domain antibodies at the Medical Research Council laboratory of molecular biology at Cambridge.
Mr. Jackson : I understand from the Medical Research Council that the team working on single domain antibodies at the Medical Research Council's laboratory of molecular biology at Cambridge did not include staff seconded from companies. However, two of the Medical Research Council scientists working on single domain antibodies hold appointments with the council which are funded by companies (Celltech, United Kingdom ; and Behringwerka, Federal Republic of Germany).
84. Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what patents have been applied for on single domain antibodies described by Sally Ward and others at the Medical Research Council laboratory at Cambridge in Nature, volume 341, pages 544-46 on 12 October.
Mr. Jackson : I understand from the Medical Research Council that patent applications have been filed in respect of work on single domain antibodies carried out at the council's laboratory of molecular biology, Cambridge. Until the patent applications have been published the contents must remain confidential.
Research Councils
42. Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what powers he has to prevent research councils funding particular projects and programmes which they believe worthy of support within the financial resources available to them.
64. Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what powers he has to give directions to research councils.
Mr. Jackson : Section 2 of the Science and Technology Act 1965 empowers my right hon. Friend to give mandatory directions to any of the research councils as regards the use and expenditure of funds provided from the Exchequer.
80. Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which research councils are primarily responsible for research into the respective roles of the atmosphere, the oceans and the land in the global environment.
Mr. Jackson : Research into the global environment cannot be divided into the respective roles of the atmosphere, the oceans and the land because the interactions between these systems are crucial. The primary responsibility for such research rests with the Natural Environment Research Council. The Science and
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Engineering Research Council is involved in basic research and technology development in atmospheric and ocean science. The Agricultural and Food Research Council is concerned with land studies and the impact of global change. The Economic and Social Research Council and the Medical Research Council are also concerned with the impacts of global change.91. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he last met the Advisory Board for the Research Councils ; and what was discussed.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has had a number of meetings with the chairman of the ABRC, Sir David Phillips, most recently on 8 November. They have discussed a number of matters concerning the research councils, particularly their funding.
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My right hon. Friend hopes to meet the full board within the next two months.Capitation Allowances
44. Mr. Couchman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what capitation allowance per pupil is received by (a) grant- maintained schools and (b) schools in the maintained sector.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The items of expenditure covered by the term "capitation allowance" can vary from LEA to LEA. Accordingly, the Department does not collect data on the size of the allowances made by each LEA to the schools it maintains. Nor is there any element corresponding to a capitation allowance separately identified within the grant which the Department makes to grant-maintained schools.
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Undergraduates
48. Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the number of first-year undergraduates entering institutions of higher education (a) this and (b) last autumn ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Provisional figures indicate that there were 176,000 United Kingdom-domiciled initial entrants to full-time and sandwich first degree and sub-degree higher education courses in Great Britain in autumn 1988. Preliminary indications are that this autumn's figures will be up to 10,000 higher. This is part of a wider and continuing trend which shows the success of the Government's education policies.
Schools (Repairs)
50. Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that expenditure on repairs to school buildings will be adequate in the next three years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. Friend will be announcing at the time of the Chancellor's Autumn Statement the capital funding that will be available for schools within the Government's expenditure plans for 1990-91 to 1992-93. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced on 6 November the Government's proposals for the local authority grant settlement for 1990-91, including current spending on education. Those proposals allow for significant increases in spending on school repairs and maintenance relative to that assumed in the comparable total for 1989-90.
87. Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make extra funds immediately available to Bradford education authority to repair and renovate schools within the district ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Bradford local education authority has received an allocation for prescribed expenditure for 1989-90 and it is for the authority to decide how to use the resources available to it in the light of local needs and priorities. Annual capital guidelines for education expenditure in 1990-91 are currently being considered and my right hon. Friend expects to be in a position to announce these in December.
Charities
51. Mr. Page : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from charities expressing concern over the UFC's proposals for charities to supply funding for university overheads.
Mr. Jackson : Neither the UFC nor the Government have any current proposals to change the basis on which charities provide support for university research or other activities. Nor are there any proposals to reduce the present level of public funding provided indirectly through UFC block grant to underpin university research projects sponsored by charities. My right hon. Friend has received two letters opposing such non- existent proposals.
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School Governors
52. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will issue guidance on the circumstances in which a local authority can remove its politically appointed school governors from school governing bodies, before their term of office has expired, in the light of the Haberdashers' Aske's case.
Mrs. Rumbold : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Field) on 9 November at column 735-36.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to introduce legislation to allow school governors time off work with pay in order to perform their functions as governors ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has no such plans. School governors are generally entitled to reasonable time off from their employment to fulfil their duties. Many employers already acknowledge the value of the work of governors by granting paid leave. We very much welcome this and are working to encourage other employers to follow their example. But we believe that this is a matter best resolved between employer and employee, rather than by legislation.
Astrophysics
54. Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has made to the proposal for co- operation in an International Institute for Astrophysics by all the major countries, in the earliest stages of formulating programmes in astrophysical research, which would be beyond the resources of any one group of nations.
83. Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what support he is giving to the proposal in Nature on 22 June for an international institute for astrophysics, put forward by a group of astrophysicists from the United States of America, the Soviet Union, Japan and Europe.
Mr. Jackson : I have read with interest the proposal for an international institute of astrophysics, contained in the 22 June 1989 edition of Nature. As yet, however, this proposal is still being discussed among scientists and so does not yet call for a Government response.
Supply Teachers
56. Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to encourage an increase in the number of supply teachers.
Mr. Alan Howarth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mrs. Fyfe) on 9 November at column 738.
University Funding
59. Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the current level of university funding.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend will make a statement shortly when the current public expenditure round has been completed.
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AIDS
65. Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science by what powers he prevented the economic and social research council supporting the survey of sexual behaviour proposed for the study of the epidemiology of AIDS.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend did not exercise any power to prevent the Economic and Social Research Council from supporting the survey and the council did not seek our advice on this. It decided not to proceed following the Government's decision not to provide financial support from the Department of Health's research programme.
Science Budget
69. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he has received from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils on the science budget for 1990-91.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend last received formal advice from the ABRC on the science budget for the years 1990-91 to 1992-93 on 12 May 1989. That advice was published and copies are available in the Library.
99. Dr. Bray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to reply to the advice of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils on the science budget for 1990-91 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend will be making a statement shortly.
107. Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science by how much the increase in the gross domestic product deflator in the latest available quarter over the corresponding quarter in the previous year, has exceeded the increase assumed by the Advisory Board for the Research Councils in its advice on the allocation of the science budget dated 13 December 1988 of an increase in the science budget in real terms in 1989-90 of 11 per cent.
Mr. Jackson : Forecasts of the GDP deflator are usually published on two occasions each year--in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" and the Autumn Statement. The forecast GDP deflator for 1989-90 over 1988-89 at the time of the ABRC's advice was five per cent. as given in the 1988 Autumn Statement. The figure was subsequently revised to 5.5 per cent. in the 1989 "Financial Statement and Budget Report."
Science and Engineering
71. Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of higher education qualifications are awarded in science and engineering subjects ; and what are the comparable figures for the major European Commission countries.
Mr. Jackson : The readily available information is as follows :
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Higher education qualifications awarded in sciences and engineering
Percentage of all qualifications
Country |Year obtained |Sciences<1> |Engineering<2>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
France |1982 |16 |12
Germany<3> |1983 |7 |<4>15
Italy |1984 |13 |7
Netherlands |1982 |5 |15
United Kingdom<5> |1984 |14 |16
|1987 |15 |14
Source: Statistical Bulletin 4/87.
<1> Excluding medicine.
<2> Including trade, craft and industry.
<3> 12 per cent. of qualifications, mainly at sub degree higher education
level, are not classified by subject, so that the figures for Germany are
probably understated.
<4> Sub degree higher education qualifications estimated from enrolments
data.
<5> Including estimates of qualifications awarded to students for
professional qualifications in public sector colleges. Excluding private
sector.
Vice-Chancellors
78. Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he last met the Committee of Vice-Chancellors ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy (Dr. Moonie) on 2 November at column 274.
Teachers (Re-entrants)
79. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to encourage qualified teachers who are no longer teaching back into the profession.
82. Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to encourage qualified teachers who are no longer teaching back into the profession.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Our proposed education support grant programme for 1990-91 includes support for expenditure of over £2 million on local recruitment measures to attract back more former teachers and to recruit mature entrants. Activities supported by this programme will build on considerable success : over half of all entrants to teaching in recent years have been former serving teachers returning to the classroom.
Civil Scientific Research
81. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what further plans he has to promote and finance further civil scientific research and development ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend will be making an announcement about the future levels of funding of the science budget shortly.
Assisted Places
85. Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to meet the chairman of the Association of County Councils to discuss the availability of local education authority grants and facilities to children on the assisted places scheme attending independent schools and city technology colleges.
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Global Environment
89. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on arrangements for the co-ordination of research into the global environment.
109. Mr. James Lamond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is responsible for the co-ordination of research into the global environment.
Mr. Jackson : Research into the global environment embraces a wide range of work supported by the research councils and a number of other agencies. A correspondingly wide range of co-ordinating arrangements exist, at scientific level ; between scientists, the research councils or other supporting agencies, and relevant Government Departments, and internationally. In the light of the pace of developments in this field, both in the United Kingdom and abroad, co-ordination arrangements are kept under regular review. As part of this process, consideration is currently being given to the creation of improved mechanisms for co-ordination.
Bus Passes
94. Mr. Sumberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what guidance is offered to local authorities by his Department concerning the issuance of bus passes to school children ; and what are the regulations governing such issuance.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Under section 55(1) of the Education Act 1944 it is for local education authorities to judge whether it is necessary to make arrangements to facilitate the attendance of pupils at schools. Transport provided under such arrangements must be free of charge. Section 55(2) provides a discretionary power for authorities to pay the whole or part of the travel expenses in other cases. There are no relevant regulations. No guidance has been issued on the specific question of bus passes, but a DES circular letter of 15 December 1981 set out the Secretary of State's views on school transport and travel expenses in the light of the 1980 Education Act's provisions on choice of school. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
GCSE
95. Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received on the results of the GCSE examinations in schools and colleges in the year ending 1988-89 assessment year.
Mrs. Rumbold : As in previous years, my right hon. Friend and I have received a number of letters from Members of Parliament, parents and teachers about the summer 1989 GCSE results, though significantly fewer than in 1988, the first year of the GCSE.
Hackney
96. Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next plans to visit Hackney.
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Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has not so far received an invitation to visit Hackney, but we intend to visit as many of the inner London boroughs as possible before next April.
Service Children
98. Mr. Key : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions he has had regarding the education of the children of service personnel.
Education (Inner London)
113. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the state of preparations of the London boroughs to take over the responsibilities of the Inner London education authority in 1988.
Mrs. Rumbold : The inner London councils continue to make progress in setting up their education departments in readiness for the transfer of responsibilities on 1 April 1990. Certain local education authority functions were transferred to the councils on 1 August and 1 September 1989.
Drug Abuse
115. Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that schools teach young people about the dangers of drug abuse.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Under the national curriculum children will be taught about the harmful effects of drugs and other substances. In addition, the important cross-curricular topics of health education and personal and social education will help equip young people with the skills and attitudes they need to resist pressures to misuse drugs, and to lead healthy lives.
School Places
116. Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to improve the formulas used or criteria adopted in his calculation of the likely need for school places in areas of rapidly growing population.
Mr. Alan Howarth : It is for local education authorities to calculate the likely need for school places in areas of rapidly growing population.
Nottingham CTC
117. Mr. Brandon-Bravo : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the exclusion from Nottinghamshire county council music and dance facilities of children attending the state-maintained Nottingham city technology college.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend remains most concerned about these cases ; my hon. Friend will shortly receive a letter from the Department on the subject.
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Clerical Assistants (Schools)
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the rate of pay of clerical assistants in (a) high schools, (b) middle schools and (c) first schools.
Mrs. Rumbold : School clerical assistants are usually paid on the local government administrative, professional, technical and clerical spine, the precise rate of pay being determined in the light of local circumstances and priorities.
School Duties
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what time is assessed as being required for (a) curriculumn responsibilities, (b) pastoral duties, (c) record keeping, (d) assessment and moderating and (e) classroom preparation at each age band of primary and secondary education ; and what proportion of teaching and general costs have been allocated to each such band.
Mrs. Rumbold : Teachers are required to be available for work for 195 days in any year of which 190 days shall be days on which they may be required to teach pupils, and to perform such duties at such times and such places as
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may be specified by the head teacher for 1,265 hours in any year. The allocation of resources to individual schools is a matter for local education authorities.Portage Schemes
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he aims to achieve comprehensive geographical coverage for portage schemes ; and how many such schemes operate in the county of Devon.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Between 1986 and 1989, pump-priming funds to provide portage were offered to every LEA in England, though the education support grant (ESG) ; 89 out of 97 LEAs took it up. Although no new ESG funds for portage are available, LEAs are encouraged to develop further schemes themselves. There is one scheme in the county of Devon.
Statistics
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether his Department has discontinued (a) collection or (b) the publication of any statistics since 1979.
Mrs. Rumbold : The main changes to the collection of regular statistics and to their publication are as follows :
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|Collection
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schools
Pupils
Form 7
Information on the curriculum needs and aspects of disability of
pupils with statements of special educational needs |Collection discontinued w.e.f. 1989
Data for pupils by age as at 31 December |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1980
Data for pupils by age and course of study (cross-analysis) |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1985
Teachers
September return |Stopped w.e.f. September 1987
DTR based tables:
(a) Number of students entering ITT |Not published w.e.f. 1988 but data available except for item (c)
(b) Number of students attending courses for qualified
(c) Full-time teachers in direct grant Grammar schools
(d) Teachers in independent schools
(e) Teachers Superannuation
Exams
Surveys of Examining Boards |Ceased after 1985 survey
Educational buildings
Data on the annual progress report on educational buildings in
each LEA |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1989
FHE
Students
FESR data for Wales |Collection and publication ceased after 1980 (transfer of responsibility
| to the Secretary of State for Wales)
FE Examinations entries and passes |Not published in the FE Volume since 1979
Statistics of ITT students in University Departments of |Not included in 1986 and 1987 editions of FE Statisics Volume, due to
Education | problems arising from a switch in data source. Publication to be
| recommenced in 1988 Volume
Residential students
Number of HE and FE full-time and sandwich course students
in halls of residence at polytechnics and other FHE
institutions |Collection ceased after the November 1987 survey
Students Staff ratios
Annual Monitoring Survey
Collection of data by Burnham category |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1988-89
FE Revenue
FE Revenue Accounts Survey
Separate data for gas, electricity, solid fuel and fuel oil |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1987-88
Student awards
Form 503G
Data in respect of discretionary award holders under Section
1(6) and Section (2) of the 1962 Education Act as amended:
(a) by status and rate of grant |Collection and publication ceased w.e.f. 1983-84
(b) married, independent and staying outside the United
Kingdom |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1983-84
(c) numbers in receipt of all additional allowances |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1983-84
Separate data on women students for (a) and (b) above and for
mandatory award holders |Collection and publication ceased w.e.f. 1983-84
Data for:
(a) mandatory awards for married and independent
students studying permanently outside the United
Kingdom |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1984-85
(b) numbers in receipt of dependents allowances by sex |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1984-85
(c) numbers in receipt of lesser-value awards by sex |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1984-85
(d) number of nil award-holders in receipt of free board and
lodging |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1984-85
(e) number of full-value award holders in the polytechnics
and colleges sector for whom no fees were paid by the
LEA |Collection ceased w.e.f. 1984-85
Greenways School, Liverpool
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the future of Greenways school, Grassendale, Liverpool, and the provision of special education in that city.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Liverpool local education authority published a preliminary report on special educational provision in the city in June. That report recommends the closure of Greenways and White Thorn special schools, and the establishment of three new nursery/infant assessment units. However, no formal proposals under section 14 of the Education Act 1981 have as yet been received by the Secretary of State in respect of the closure of these schools.
Education Spending (Northumberland)
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much money was spent per pupil in Northumberland on (a) special education, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools and (d) tertiary education in each year from 1978-79 to the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The available information is given in the table.
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