House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Feb 1990

Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the national identification bureau, which is responsible for the maintenance of the national criminal record collection, uses the following information technology systems : Microfiched Library Records ;

An Image Retrieval System for fingerprints ;

The Police National Computer, in particular the Index of Criminal Names and Convictions file ;

Fax/Message Switching/Integrated telephone

communications systems.

Proposals are under consideration to extend the use of information technology within the bureau to include :

A fully computerised national criminal record system linked directly to police forces, the crown prosecution service and other parts of the criminal justice system ;

Computerisation of the property and method indices ;

Office automation ;

Automatic fingerprint recognition.

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average delay between a request for a full criminal record being received by the criminal records office and its receipt by the body which made the request.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the average time taken for the national identification bureau to reply to requests for information, from receipt of the request to dispatch from the bureau, varies according to the type of request received. The most common requests and response times are as follows :

Confirmation of identity of arrestees--6 working days ;

Copy of microfiche record--2 working days ;

Telephone request for urgent responses--30 minutes ;

Government searches--no trace--2 working days ;

Government searches--trace--5 working days ;

Bulk list searches--3 working days.

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces are principally dependent upon the national criminal records office ; and which make use of regional or force records offices.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : All police forces in the United Kingdom make use of the national collection of criminal records held by the national identification bureau (NIB). The following forces have no additional criminal record facilities available to them :

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Bedford

City of London

Cumbria

Dorset

Durham

Dyfed Powys

Gloucestershire

Gwent

Hertfordshire

Kent

North Wales

North Yorkshire

Surrey

Warwickshire

Wiltshire

Scottish forces have access also to the Scottish criminal record office. Other forces in England and Wales hold their own collections of criminal records which may, in part, duplicate the information held by the NIB.

Lorry Inspections

Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training police officers receive for lorry weight and tachograph inspections.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : Training for police officers in these inspections, as in other aspects of road traffic enforcement, is a matter for individual chief officers of police.

Pop Concerts

Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have (a) died and (b) been injured at pop concerts in the last 10 years ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Freeman : I have been asked to reply.

The information requested is not available since injuries and deaths are not coded to show type of event, such as pop concerts.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Meteorological and Climate Research

3. Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what provision exists for postgraduate training in meteorological and climate research.

Mr. Jackson : The Natural Environment and the Science and Engineering Research Councils are funding a total of 74 studentships for postgraduate study in meteorology and climate research in the 1989-90 academic year. In addition, the Meteorological Office provides training for its new graduate scientific staff, which enables them to proceed to posts in climate research.

Financial Management (Schools)

13. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the progress of the introduction of local financial management in schools.

Mrs. Rumbold : Sixty-one authorities have received formal approval for their schemes and a further 30 are being consulted on modifications prior to approval. We have indicated to six authorities that their schemes cannot be approved in their present form.

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Special Educational Needs

14. Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to increase the level of resources available for pupils with special educational needs.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The appropriate level of resources for pupils with special educational needs will be considered, alongside all other sectors of education, in determining the local authority grant settlement for 1991-92. At local level it is for individual LEAs to decide, within the statutory framework, what resources to allocate for such pupils from the total funds available to them.

99. Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he has taken to ensure that the content of educational statements for children with special needs is determined only by the needs of the handicapped pupils.

Mr. Alan Howarth : Guidance on the procedures for assessments and the preparation of statements of special educational needs was issued to local education authorities on 29 September 1989 in circular 22/89.

LEAs (Administration Costs)

15. Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what savings have been achieved in respect of central administration costs of local education authorities as more responsibilities have been devolved to local schools.

Mrs. Rumbold : We expect LEAs to secure the largest economies they can as schemes are implemented. This will allow as much money as possible to be delegated.

Standard Spending Assessments

16. Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about the 1990-91 standard spending assessments for education.

Mr. MacGregor : Since the announcement of the local authority settlement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on 11 January, my Department has received direct representations about standard spending assessments for education from a small number of local education authorities.

92. Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to discuss the 1990-91 standard spending assessments for education with the Association of County Councils.

Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has no plans to meet the Association of County Councils to discuss the 1990-91 standard spending assessments for education.

72. Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the standard spending assessments for education in 1990-91.

Mrs. Rumbold : The standard spending assessments for education will replace the education grant-related expenditure assessments on 1 April 1990 as the education component of the assessment by which revenue support grant is distributed. The methodology for determining

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education standard spending assessments was decided after extensive consultation with the local authority associations.

ERASMUS Project

17. Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current level of Government expenditure on the ERASMUS project ; and what estimate he has made of this budget for the coming year.

35. Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current level of Government expenditure on the ERASMUS project ; and what estimate he has made for the budget for the coming year.

62. Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current level of Government expenditure on the ERASMUS project ; and what estimate he has made for this budget for the coming year.

Mr. Jackson : With the exception of the administrative costs of the national grant-awarding agencies, ERASMUS is funded from the Community budget. Provision in 1990 has been set at 60 million ecu. Provision in 1991 will be determined during the Community budget negotiations later this year but has been provisionally estimated by the Commission at 64 million ecu.

Drug Misuse

18. Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he next intends to meet local education authority drug misuse co-ordinators ; and what he will discuss with them.

Mr. Alan Howarth : I will be meeting the national liaison group of the drug education co-ordinators on Monday 12 March. The agenda for the meeting has yet to be determined.

81. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he plans to take to consider the problem of drug abuse in schools.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department is providing grant on expenditure of up to £4.1 million by local education authorities in 1989-90 to encourage and support the development of programmes of drugs education in schools, colleges and the youth service. In 1990-91 grant will be paid on expenditure of up to £7 million on programmes of preventive health education, including education about drug misuse. The national curriculum science order requires that pupils in both primary and secondary schools should study the risks of drug misuse and how it affects body processes. In addition, the National Curriculum Council plans to issue guidance in the spring to all schools in England on the place and content of health education, including education about drug misuse, in the curriculum as a whole.

School Repairs

19. Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his latest estimate of outstanding repairs for schools in (a) England and (b) Wales ; and if he will make a statement.

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50. Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of outstanding repairs for schools in (a) England and (b) Wales ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The 1987 report of the DES survey of school buildings estimated that the cost of implementing the main structural requirements related to the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981 and the other physical requirements in primary and secondary schools in England was about £1.1 billion (although this estimate is subject to sampling error). This figure includes improvements to buildings as well as repairs. Since the survey substantial sums, both capital and current, have been, and continue to be, devoted to improving school premises. The repair of schools in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Nursery Education

20. Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet

representatives of those local education authorities that make little provision for nursery education.

44. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to meet representatives of those local education authorities that make little provision for nursery education.

Mrs. Rumbold : No. My right hon. Friend believes that local authorities themselves are best placed to determine the extent and form of provision for the under-fives in their area.

86. Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many nursery and under-five-year-old public education places have been created since 1979 ; and which are the local authorities which have reached the higher proportion of places created during such period.

Mrs. Rumbold : Information on the number of places available in England is not collected centrally. The number of children under five attending maintained nursery and primary schools increased by 119,000 between 1979 and 1989. The 10 local education authorities with the largest share of that increase are :


                    |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989       

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

Secondary vacancies                                     

  Number            |1,897|2,398|2,508|1,989|2,424      

  Proportion        |0.9  |1.1  |1.2  |1.0  |1.3        

                                                        

Primary vacancies                                       

  Number            |n/a  |n/a  |n/a  |2,400|3,116      

  Proportion        |n/a  |n/a  |n/a  |1.5  |1.8

43. Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any proposals to extend the provision of nursery education ; and if he will make a statement.

82. Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any proposals to extend the provision of nursery education ; and if he will make a statement.

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Mrs. Rumbold : The local authority grant settlement for 1990-91 allows for local authorities to spend almost £15 billion (£14,988 million) on education. This total allows for the continuance of the steady growth in the proportion of under-fives participating in education, as well as for the growth in the under-five population. The actual deployment of education funding will continue to be for authorities and schools to determine.

Out-of-Borough Pupils

21. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about the number of out-of-borough pupils being educated in Barnet in January.

Mr. Alan Howarth : Information for January 1990 is not yet available. However, in January 1989 there were 4,747 pupils from outside the borough in Barnet schools.

National Curriculum.

22. Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any new proposals on the national curriculum.

Mrs. Rumbold : The Government intend to continue to implement the national curriculum on the broad timetable announced. My right hon. Friend will continue to make new proposals as appropriate.

31. Mr. Sumberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to help ensure the effective implementation of the national curriculum.

Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend is making specific grants available to support the implementation of the national curriculum. Education support grants and LEA training grants will support over £100 million relevant expenditure by local education authorities this financial year and some £120 million next. These are in addition to general rate (or revenue) support grant funding.

My right hon. Friend is also grant-aiding the National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council, which are providing advice and training materials.

Rural Primary Schools

23. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy in relation to the provision of rural primary schools.

Mr. Alan Howarth : It is for LEAs to decide on the pattern of provision of rural primary schools. Any proposals for closure of such schools must take account of considerations such as denominational choice, local geography, the distance to be travelled to alternative schools, and the age of the children making those journeys. My right hon. Friend is currently supporting through education support grants a number of pilot projects at primary schools in rural areas, including Cumbria, which are designed to experiment with ways of enriching the curriculum.

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Teachers' Pay

24. Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he intends to dissolve the interim advisory committee which reports on teachers' pay and conditions.

Mrs. Rumbold : The committee discharged its remit to report on teachers' pay and conditions in 1990-91 on 30 January.

59. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the progress towards setting up new collective bargaining arrangements for teachers.

87. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress he has made to establish a new negotiating machinery for the pay and conditions of teachers ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold : I refer the hon. Members to the reply given earlier today by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Ashfield (Mr. Haynes).

60. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received on the report by the interim advisory committee on teachers' pay ; and if he will make a statement.

77. Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent representations he has received concerning the need to improve the pay and conditions of school teachers.

98. Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received on the report by the interim advisory committee on teachers' pay ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend wrote to the teacher unions, the local authority employers and others on 7 February inviting their comments on the recommendations of the interim advisory committee on school teachers' pay and conditions and on his proposals for their implementation. He asked for comments by 1 March.

33. Mr. Day : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a further statement on the implementation of the recommendations of the interim advisory committee on teachers' pay and conditions.

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