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Horn of Africa
127. Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will hold discussions with other Governments and non-governmental organisations on the situation in the Horn of Africa.
Mrs. Chalker : At the European Community Development Council on 21 November I drew attention to the serious threat of famine in northern Ethiopia and
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urged that all possible diplomatic channels be used to exert pressure on the parties to the conflict to secure free access for food supplies. We are also liaising closely with other donor Governments and international agencies. Similar co-ordination takes place on the situation in Sudan. I meet regularly with the British non- governmental organisations working in the Horn of Africa.Tropical Hardwood Forests
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the United Kingdom is making to the European Community's effort to select the most practical and internationally economically viable options to conserve the tropical hardwood forests.
Mrs. Chalker : The United Kingdom is playing a full part in the Community's discussion of these issues, which were raised both at the Council of Development Ministers on 21 November and at the Council of Environment Ministers on 28 November. We have provided the only expert on tropical forestry in the development directorate of the Commission.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Local Education Authority Inspectors
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he received a copy of the Audit Commission report on the role of local education authority inspectors and advisers ; and what response he will be making.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend received a copy of the report on 3 October. My right hon. Friend and I agree with much of the analysis and believe that local authorities will find the report thought-provoking and helpful. We shall be discussing with them how best to follow it up.
School Numbers
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his estimates of the numbers of (a) primary school children and teachers and (b) secondary school children and teachers for each year of the 1990s.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The projected numbers of pupils in maintained primary and secondary schools in England and of teachers overall are given in the table. The numbers of teachers in future years will depend upon many factors. The projection is based on an illustrative assumption that the current overall pupil teacher ratio of 17 : 1 will be maintained in future years. Further assumptions would be needed to disaggregate the overall figure between the nursery, primary and secondary sectors, and no attempt has been made to do this in the figures shown.
Thousands At January of |Primary |Secondary |Teachers each year |schools |schools |overall ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 |3,967 |2,851 |397 1991 |4,011 |2,818 |396 1992 |4,046 |2,833 |399 1993 |4,093 |2,866 |404 1994 |4,164 |2,912 |410 1995 |4,236 |2,967 |418 1996 |4,316 |2,999 |424 1997 |4,385 |3,031 |430 1998 |4,452 |3,063 |436 1999 |4,512 |3,106 |442 Notes: 1. Pupils in maintained nursery and special schools are excluded, as are those in independent schools. 2. The projections take account of the mid-1988 population projection provided by the Government Actuary's Department. 3. Pupils of all ages are included. For primary schools, part-time pupils under the age of five are each counted as one. 4. The overall number of teachers employed for service in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England is given. Teachers in nursery schools are included, to be consistent with the usual coverage of the overall aggregate employed for public expenditure planning. All full-time equivalent teachers are counted, including student teachers, instructors, occasional teachers and secondments.
International Student Conference, Buenos Aires
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if there was any United Kingdom representative present at the third international student conference on youth building the future in Buenos Aires on 11 to 18 August ; and whether he has received any report on decisions taken at the forum.
Mr. Jackson : So far as I have been able to establish, the United Kingdom was not represented. I have received no report of this conference.
Records of Achievement
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that all school children have an individual record of achievement ; what resources he is putting into securing this specific objective ; and what advice he is offering to local education authorities on the need for records of achievement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Draft regulations and an accompanying circular on information to parents on their child's achievements are to be issued for consultation shortly. I will arrange for copies to be placed in the Library as soon as they are available.
Teacher Appraisal
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements have been made by his Department for the report on the evaluation of the school teacher appraisal pilot study, undertaken by the Cambridge Institute of Education, to be made available to those interested bodies who have been invited by his Department to comment on the report of the national steering group ; what priority he attaches to such evaluation of school teacher appraisal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Cambridge Institute of Education report on the evaluation of the school teacher appraisal pilot study was presented to the national steering group (NSG) responsible for overseeing the study in July this year, and was taken into account in the report to the Secretary of State by that group. My right hon. Friend did
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not send copies of the evaluation report, in addition to the reports of the NSG and Her Majesty's inspectors, to all those consulted on the NSG's recommendations, because he wished to limit the amount of reading required of them. Copies were, however, sent to the local authority and teacher associations and to all local education authorities and grant maintained schools.My right hon. Friend attaches considerable priority to the evaluation of pilot projects such as those in school teacher appraisal. The Cambridge Institute of Education as evaluators of the pilot projects made an important contribution to the work of the national steering group.
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the amount of his Department's expenditure on the evaluation of teacher appraisal pilot projects, including expenditure for work undertaken by the Cambridge Institute of Education ; and if he will make a statement on the main findings of this evaluation.
Mrs. Rumbold : A total of £248,843 was spent on external evaluation of the school teacher appraisal pilot study by the Cambridge Institute of Education. The findings of this evaluation are set out in a report by the Cambridge institute, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
Child Care Courses
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will introduce legislation to make practical child care courses part of the school curriculum.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Guidance on the place and content of health education in the curriculum as a whole is to be issued to all schools in England in 1990 by the National Curriculum Council. This is likely to include guidance on education about child care.
Barnstaple Schools
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the present and the forecast figure for pupils at the primary schools in Barnstaple Roundswell, Barnstaple Whiddon Valley and Barnstaple Landkey ; and what additional funding he will provide for new schools in this area.
Mr. Alan Howarth : According to Devon local education authority, the figures are as follows :
|1989 |1993
---------------------------------------------
Barnstaple, Roundswell |371 |501
Barnstaple, Whiddon Valley |887 |1,140
Barnstaple, Landkey |205 |218
No proposals for new schools are currently before my right hon. Friend for decision. Priority is given in the distribution of annual capital guidelines for new school places needed as a result of population growth.
New School Buildings
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the guidance his Department gives to local education
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authorities on planning space and facilities to cater for first aid and sickness of pupils and staff in new school buildings.Mr. Alan Howarth : Local education authorities are under a duty to provide medical accomodation in both new and existing schools in accordance with the requirements of regulation 12 of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981.
The Department has not published any separate guidance on planning space and facilities in school buildings for these purposes. Its professional staff are, however, available to offer advice on aspects of the design and planning of school buildings where this is required.
CBI Skills Report
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about the Confederation of British Industry report "Towards a Skills Revolution--A Youth Charter" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has discussed the work of the Confederation of British Industry's task force on vocational education and training with its chairman, Sir Bryan Nicholson, and with the confederation's director general, Mr. John Banham. The Government have welcomed the final report "Towards a Skills Revolution" and are giving serious consideration to its proposals.
Further Education Colleges
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking and on what timetable to give greater independence to local authority maintained further education colleges ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : Under the Education Reform Act all local education authorities are required to draw up schemes for the planning and funding of their further education colleges, and to delegate substantial authority to reformed college governing bodies. LEAs outside inner London were required to submit proposed schemes, together with articles of government for their colleges, by September 1989 for implementation from April 1990. Those proposed schemes and articles are currently under consideration.
Inner London boroughs will be required to submit proposed schemes and articles of government by September 1991 for implementation from April 1992.
London Museums Education Initiative
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to encourage London education authorities to work with the London museums education unit's new initiative for education in the capital.
Mrs. Rumbold : The London Museums Service has had discussions with the Office of Arts and Libraries about the establishment of the unit and its programme of work. I welcome the steps the unit has taken to establish contact with individual boroughs and local authority associations.
Vocational Education and Training
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to encourage the involvement of employers with further education colleges in the development of vocational education and training.
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Mr. Jackson : The reconstitution of college governing bodies required by the Education Reform Act will ensure that governors representing employment interests have no fewer than half of the available places on each new governing body. The Government have taken a number of steps to encourage employers to take up this opportunity to become involved in the development of vocational education and training. The then Secretary of State's speech to the 1988 CBI conference encouraged people from business to get involved and a leaflet "College Governors from the Business Community" was distributed. Earlier this year, an information pack "New Governors for Further Education" was produced by Industry Matters and also a promotional video. Employers can become involved in the work of colleges in many other ways. Through its Pickup initiative the Department has been encouraging colleges to work with employers to develop tailor-made training and updating provision. The changes required by the Education Reform Act will give employers greater oportunity to participate in the planning of such work.Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what targets he is setting for vocational education and training among young people.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend recognises the need for considerable improvement in both the number and the level of vocational qualifications gained by young people. He believes that : Every young person should either be in full-time education or in a job with time off for good quality training.
Every young person should achieve a recognised vocational qualification or its equivalent, with greater numbers achieving higher levels of qualification.
Bradford and Ilkley (Colleges)
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many times since 1979 Her Majesty's inspectors of education have visited Bradford and Ilkley community college ; how many times their reports have drawn attention to inadequate accommodation ; and what action has been taken ;
(2) what location for new accommodation for Bradford college is identified in the bid submitted by Bradford local education authority to replace accommodation lost to Bradford college by vacating the Alexandra hotel building ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) what representations he has received from students and others about inadequate accommodation at Bradford college.
Mr. Jackson : The Bradford and Ilkley community college has been visited by HMI on many occasions since it was created in 1982 but most of those visits will not have resulted in a report. There have, however, been four inspections of parts of the college's provision since HMI reports were published in 1983. As is usual all include an assessment of the adequacy and sufficiency of the teaching and other accommodation. Copies of the reports are sent to the authority for its consideration.
The bid from Bradford LEA for a major building project to start in 1990-91 proposes to replace the Alexandra hotel building by converting the Westbrook building on the same site. The bid will be considered on its merits along with those from other education authorities, and allocations will be announced later this month.
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The hon. Member recently wrote to my right hon. Friend enclosing a press release and representations from students in respect of accommodation at Bradford and Ilkley community college. My right hon. Friend has not received any other representations this year on this matter.Scientific Research
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the Government's policy on maintaining and improving the standards of British scientific research.
Mr. Jackson : I refer my hon. Friend to the speech at the first plenary meeting of the Academia Europaea on 26 June by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State, a copy of which is in the Library.
Student Loans
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science in what way the proposed student loan scheme will apply to students from other European Economic Community countries attending centres of education in the United Kingdom ; what arrangements will be made to recover the loans from such students after they have returned to their home countries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The rules governing the eligibility of students from the European Community will follow the provisions of the Mandatory Awards Regulations. Students from other member states will be eligible for top-up loans if they are attending relevant courses and satisfy the requirements for ordinary residence within the British Islands. Loans will also be available to students who are British citizens and who do not satisfy the ordinary residence requirements, if their absence resulted from employment, or their parents' employment, elsewhere in the European Community. European Community nationals not meeting the residence requirements will also be eligible if they, or their parents or spouses, can establish worker status under the relevant provisions in EC law. Arrangements will be made for the recovery of outstanding repayments from graduates living overseas. It will be in the interests of all borrowers to repay their loans.
Local Management of Schools
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement of progress to date on approving local education authorities' schemes of local management of schools.
Mrs. Rumbold : LEAs were required to submit their schemes by the end of September, and all did so. It is a great tribute to LEAs that they have got their schemes in on time. I have been impressed by the quality of what I have seen and the hard work that has been put into schemes by authorities, head teachers and governors.
We have now announced our approval decisions on 24 schemes. In each case we have proposed minor modifications, all designed to ensure that our three key objectives of local management are met. These are : the maximum delegation of resources to schools ; the funding of schools through a clear, open and objective formula ; and the minimum constraints on governors' use of their new powers.
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The first 24 LEAs whose schemes we have announced our intention to approve from next April are ;Barking and Dagenham
Bedfordshire
Calderdale
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cumbria
Essex
Harrow
Havering
Kent
Lincolnshire
Newcastle
Norfolk
Northamptonshire
Oxfordshire
Rotherham
Sandwell
Solihull
Suffolk
Sunderland
Surrey
West Sussex
Westminster
Wiltshire
Survey of Parental Awareness
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to publish the survey of parental awareness of school education commissioned by his Department.
Mr. MacGregor : Copies of the interpretative report of the survey of parental awareness of school education are being sent to each chief education officer and to various national education bodies today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Investment
Mr. Amos : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the investment figure for United Kingdom business for the last year for which figures are available ; if he will express the figure as a percentage of gross domestic product ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The level of business investment in 1988 is estimated to have been £58 billion. This was 14.7 per cent. of GDP at factor cost. Total business investment was forecast in the Autumn Statement to increase in real terms by 9 per cent. in 1989. As a share of GDP this year it is likely to be the highest ever.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution the increase in investment in manufacturing industry made to the increase in the trade deficit in 1988 and in 1989 to date.
Mr. Norman Lamont : It is not possible to make a precise estimate of the contribution of the increase in manufacturing investment to the increase in the trade deficit. However, with the Autumn Statement forecast of a 9 per cent. rise in 1989, business investment will have increased by over 40 per cent. in the three years to 1989--the largest increase over a three-year period since the war.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the inward and outward investment
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flows for each of the last five years between the United Kingdom and (a) the United States of America, (b) Japan, (c) West Germany and (d) France.Mr. Norman Lamont : The available information relates to net outward and net inward direct investment flows and is published in tables 1.4 and 2.4 of Business Monitor MA4 1987--"Overseas Transactions". Information on portfolio investment, by country, is not available.
Manufactured Goods
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (i) in terms of volume and of value at 1985 prices United Kingdom sales in 1973, 1979 and 1988 of the industries wholly or mainly engaged in manufacturing importable and exportable goods, (ii) imports and exports of such goods and (iii) the annual rate of increase in United Kingdom output in the 15 years prior to 1973 and in the period since.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Most manufactured goods can be imported and exported and therefore the question can be considered only in terms of manufacturing as a whole.
(i) United Kingdom sales data are not collected in volume terms, nor at 1985 prices, but the "Report of the Census of Production" summary volume contains current price data for sales and work done. However, a preferred indicator is gross output--that is, sales and work done adjusted for work in progress and goods on hand for sale. No figures are available yet for 1988.
(ii)--Data at 1985 prices are not published for imports and exports, but current price data and volume indices are contained in the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics".
(iii) Index numbers of output for manufacturing industries at 1985 prices are available in "Economic Trends" and its associated annual supplement.
The above publications are available from the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing in terms of 1985 prices the balance of trade in manufacturing less erratics on a BOP basis in each year from 1970 to 1973, in 1977, and from 1985 to 1988 and this year to date at an annual rate together with the annual increase/decrease in terms of 1985 prices in (i) gross and net investment in manufacturing industry, (ii) savings, (iii) consumer expenditure, (iv) United Kingdom output of capital and consumer goods, (v) imports of consumer and capital goods and (vi) exports of consumer and capital goods ; and if he will publish corrective co-efficients with the trade deficit in each case.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Information at constant prices, as is available, from which the balance of trade and percentage changes may be derived, can be found in Government statistical service publications, available from the Library of the House, or on the Central Statistical Office databank, which may be accessed through the Library.
It is not clear what the hon. Member means by "corrective coefficients".
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the increase in the trade deficit in manufactures less erratics on a BOP basis in 1988 and this year to date ; and what is his estimate of the contribution
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made in each case by the increase in investment in manufacturing industry and the fall in personal saving, respectively.Mr. Norman Lamont : The figures requested can be found on the CSO's computer databank, which can be accessed in the House of Commons Library. It is not possible to make precise estimates of the contribution to the manufacturing trade deficit of the rise in investment and fall in personal saving.
Employment
Mr. Brazier : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth in employment over the last five years.
Mr. Lamont : Total employment increased by 2,117,000 in the five years to June 1989.
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