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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 5 March 1990
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Women Teachers
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many applications from women teachers who elect to cover pre 6 April 1988 service for family benefits purposes are outstanding ;
(2) how many applications have been made by women teachers since the Government announced that women teachers could elect to cover, for family benefits purposes, their services prior to 6 April 1988 ; (3) what is the average length of time taken to process applications made by women teachers who elect to cover pre 6 April 1988 service for family benefits purposes.
Mr. Alan Howarth : About 13,000 women teachers have elected for their service before 6 April 1988 to count for family benefit purposes. Only 500 elections remain to be processed and these are mainly cases where either the teacher or employer has incorrectly completed the election
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form or has provided insufficient information. Information on the average length of time taken to process the cases is not available.University of Wales
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what, over the last five years for which figures are available, have been the proportions of University Grants Committee/Universities Funding Council grants to universities in the United Kingdom allocated to the university of Wales.
Mr. Jackson : Recurrent grants to the university of Wales as announced in the University Grants Committee's allocation letters were as follows.
Academic |Wales |All Great |Wales as per
Year |£ million |Britain |cent. of total
|£ million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86 |70.55 |1,184.7 |6.0
1986-87 |71.84 |1,220.9 |5.9
1987-88 |74.56 |1,282.4 |5.8
1988-89 |75.39 |1,332.0 |5.7
1989-90 |78.13 |1,392.4 |5.6
Single Sex and Religious Schools
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) boys and (b) girls there are in single sex and religious schools.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The number of boys and girls in maintained single sex and religious schools in England is as follows :
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Number of boys and girls in single sex and religious schools-January 1989
Ma Maintained primary, middle and secondary
Boys schools Girls schools Mixed schools
|Boys |Girls |Boys |Girls |Boys |Girls
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Church of England |5,456 |9 |16 |7,340 |406,484 |392,757
Roman Catholic |25,250 |207 |14 |31,822 |304,142 |302,121
Methodist schools |0 |0 |0 |0 |2,453 |2,273
Jewish schools |0 |0 |0 |0 |4,198 |4,110
Other denominational schools |30,114 |137 |6 |12,020 |47,363 |45,371
Non-denominational schools |98,854 |126 |78 |136,818 |2,562,061|2,428,600
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total England |159,674 |479 |114 |188,000 |3,326,701|3,175,232
Equal Opportunities
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many and what percentage of women sit on boards awarding research grants.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend sponsors the five research councils--the agricultural and food research council ; the economic and special research council ; the medical research council ; the natural environment research council and the science and engineering research council, all of which award grants for scientific research. At present, total membership of the councils is 102 and the number of women is 7, or 6.9 per cent.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) women lecturers and (b) men lecturers there are in (i) polytechnics and (ii) universities ; and whether he will provide a break down of these by grade.
Mr. Jackson : Information for academic staff in universities is shown in the table.
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Great Britain: Full-time university academic staff
1988-89
|Men |Women |Total
-----------------------------------------------------
Professors |4,252 |137 |4,389
Readers/Senior lecturers |8,357 |765 |9,122
Lecturers |21,792|5,768 |27,560
Other grades |3,089 |2,122 |5,211
|--- |--- |---
Total |37,490|8,792 |46,282
Source: USR staff record.
Information on the gender of polytechnic lecturers
is not available centrally.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many of his Department's management training courses include sessions on equal opportunities for women ; and what proportion of managers at grade six level and above working outside headquarters has received training on equal opportunities for women.
Mrs. Rumbold : Sessions on equal opportunities are included in all the Department's management training
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courses. There are two managers at grade six or above outside headquarters : both have received some equal opportunities training.Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many research grants were given to (a) women and (b) men in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Jackson : This information is not available. Most Department of Education and Science research grants are placed with research institutes rather than individuals. The research councils are responsible for the allocation of research grants within their areas.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what child-care provision his Department provides for pre-school children of the employees ; what child-care provision for school holidays and after school care is provided for employees' children aged five years and over ; what plans he has to improve provision in the next five years ; and how these will be funded.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department has not yet provided child-care facilities for either the pre-school or school aged children of its employees ; it has however contributed to the Westminster holiday play scheme. Currently consideration is being given to the provision of creche facilities and a holiday play scheme at the Darlington office. In London the Department is participating in an interdepartmental study of the scope for providing creches centrally and in commuting areas. Provided that the schemes can be justified as good value for money the Department could contribute to both the capital and running costs.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what grade is his Department's equal opportunities officer.
Mrs. Rumbold : Senior executive officer.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to increase the number of women in senior academic positions.
Mr. Jackson : The recruitment and promotion of staff is a matter for individual institutions.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of civil servants in his Department are women at each of the grades (a) seven, (b) six, (c) five, (d) four, (e) three, (f) two and (g) one.
Mrs. Rumbold : The percentage of women in each grade requested is as follows :
Grade |Per cent. ------------------------------ 7 |25 6 |23 5 |21 4 |25 1-3 |0
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has plans to ensure that
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local education authorities' development programmes for further education provision will provide child-care facilities which allow (a) parents and (b) mothers to attend colleges, further education institutes, polytechnics and universities.Mr. Jackson : No. Under the arrangements for local management of colleges provision of child-care facilities will normally be a matter for the governing bodies of institutions to determine.
Disabled People (Training Courses)
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many training courses are funded by his Department for the disabled.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department does not directly fund courses of training or education : this is for the local education authorities. The training needs of the Department's disabled staff are provided for as they arise.
Sexual Harassment
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's policy on sexual harassment at work ; whether guidance on reporting complaints has been issued to all staff ; how many complaints have been reported in the past five years ; and what disciplinary action has been taken.
Mrs. Rumbold : This Department's policy is that sexual harassment is a form of misconduct which is unacceptable and where substantiated, will be dealt with as a disciplinary matter. Guidance about sexual harassment, reporting complaints and disciplinary procedures was issued to each member of staff last year. Over the last five years three cases have been reported each of which was investigated. In one case a formal warning was issued.
Pin-ups
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will issue instructions for the removal of all offensive pin-ups in all his departmental premises.
Mrs. Rumbold : The Department's policy is to encourage staff to respect the feelings of others. It has issued guidance to all staff about sexual harassment which could include offensive pin-ups. It is not considered necessary to issue specific instructions about offensive pin- ups.
Exam Results
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will provide a breakdown of GCSE and A-level results by gender and subject.
Mrs. Rumbold : The figures in the table relate to school leavers of all ages in England in 1987-88, including their achievements at O-level and CSE gained in earlier years.
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School leavers: examination attainments by selected subject
England
Leavers with graded results in the GCSE (1Leavers with
as percentage all leavers A-level
passes: as
percentage all
17 year olds
|Grades |Grades |All grades<4>|Grades A-E
|A-C<2> |D-G<3>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boys
Any subject |53.3 |35.0 |88.4 |17.4
English |35.1 |46.3 |81.4 |2.9
Mathematics |35.8 |40.9 |76.7 |7.6
Physics |21.8 |24.4 |46.2 |5.6
Chemistry |16.5 |13.9 |30.4 |4.4
Biological sciences |12.8 |12.8 |25.7 |2.5
Craft, design, technology and other science |19.1 |33.5 |52.6 |1.3
French |12.0 |14.8 |26.8 |1.0
History |14.0 |16.9 |30.9 |2.9
Geography |18.6 |25.3 |43.8 |3.5
Creative arts |10.6 |18.0 |28.6 |1.6
Commercial and domestic studies |5.1 |12.1 |17.2 |0.6
Girls
Any subject |61.4 |30.1 |91.5 |16.9
English |48.3 |39.4 |87.7 |6.7
Mathematics |30.5 |46.4 |76.8 |3.9
Physics |9.8 |9.7 |19.5 |1.7
Chemistry |12.0 |12.7 |24.7 |2.8
Biological sciences |19.7 |28.3 |48.0 |3.6
Craft, design, technology and other science |5.9 |16.5 |22.4 |0.3
French |20.4 |21.9 |42.3 |2.7
History |16.0 |17.5 |33.4 |3.3
Geography |15.3 |18.0 |33.3 |2.4
Creative arts |17.9 |18.2 |36.1 |2.7
Commercial and domestic studies |22.2 |31.6 |53.9 |1.3
<1> Including attainments at O-level and CSE.
<2> GCSE and O-level grades A-C; CSE grade 1.
<3> GCSE grades D-G, O-level grades D-E; CSE grades 2-5.
<4> Percentages have been calculated independently and may not equal the sum of the constituent parts owing to
rounding.
Child Minders
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many training courses for child minders are funded by his Department.
Nursery Education
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total public expenditure on nursery schools and classes in each year from 1975-76 ; and what was the total public expenditure on these services as a percentage of the gross domestic product for England and Wales for each of these years.
Mrs. Rumbold : Figures for expenditure on nursery schools and classes alone are not available. Figures for current expenditure on all pupils aged under 5 in England are given in the table.
|Current |Money GDP |Spending as
|Spending |per cent. of
|Under-5s |GDP
Year |£ million |£ billion
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1975-76 |108 |111 |0.10
1976-77 |127 |130 |0.10
1977-78 |128 |151 |0.08
1978-79 |146 |173 |0.08
1979-80 |177 |208 |0.09
1980-81 |222 |237 |0.09
1981-82 |241 |260 |0.09
1982-83 |274 |285 |0.10
1983-84 |296 |309 |0.10
1984-85 |331 |331 |0.10
1985-86 |350 |362 |0.10
1986-87 |397 |388 |0.10
1987-88 |447 |430 |0.10
1988-89 |510 |476 |0.11
1989-90 |561 |517 |0.11
Notes to table:
1. Under-5s include those in nursery schools, nursery classes in
primary schools, and other classes in primary schools.
2. The current spending figures are taken from successive DES
Chapters of the Public Expenditure White Paper. The figure for
1975-76 is an estimate derived by applying to the White Paper
figure given at 1980 survey prices a conversion factor
calculated from local authority returns of price changes. The
figures for 1988-89 and 1989-90 are provisional.
3. The money Gross Domestic Product figures are taken from Table
21.2.1 of Chapter 21 of the 1990 Public Expenditure White Paper (
Cm 1021). The GDP covers the whole of the United Kingdom; a GDP
for England and Wales is not available.
Teacher Training
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish (a) the target intake figures for each polytechnic or college education department of faculty for 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990, and (b) the actual intake in each case for 1987, 1988 and 1989.
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Mr. Alan Howarth : Initial teacher training target and intake figures for public sector institutions are as follows :Column 399
Target Intake
Institution |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1987 |1988 |1989
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Polytechnics
Birmingham |237 |237 |247 |298 |268 |287 |313
Brighton |337 |352 |377 |370 |341 |339 |408
Bristol |302 |337 |378 |423 |365 |359 |406
Hatfield |185 |162 |212 |243 |96 |178 |218
Huddersfield<1> |30 |30 |35 |40 |20 |J |J
Kingston |190 |188 |207 |218 |181 |176 |203
Leeds |334 |356 |342 |346 |320 |343 |333
Leicester |50 |50 |50 |52 |51 |46 |54
Liverpool |269 |284 |279 |251 |274 |233 |264
Manchester |526 |526 |536 |598 |519 |577 |577
Middlesex |248 |248 |228 |304 |231 |188 |225
Newcastle |216 |243 |220 |273 |217 |228 |225
Oxford |156 |166 |186 |217 |167 |206 |186
North London |120 |175 |157 |186 |101 |198 |179
Sheffield |404 |431 |443 |506 |407 |450 |423
South Bank |188 |168 |158 |159 |132 |133 |105
Sunderland |218 |250 |248 |268 |193 |212 |272
Thames |402 |442 |482 |504 |435 |373 |420
Trent |321 |341 |346 |367 |269 |258 |371
Wolverhampton |361 |366 |391 |432 |344 |358 |438
Colleges and institutes
Bath |247 |262 |237 |258 |242 |260 |278
Bradford |222 |223 |242 |236 |207 |243 |254
Bradford and Ilkley |172 |158 |172 |188 |127 |172 |168
Bretton Hall |205 |215 |225 |250 |222 |276 |158
Bulmershe<2> |217 |236 |- |- |215 |195 |-
Charlotte Mason |175 |185 |185 |201 |183 |201 |199
Crewe and Alsager |337 |347 |367 |394 |344 |354 |354
Derbyshire |167 |173 |187 |203 |166 |147 |211
Edge Hill |281 |291 |301 |319 |287 |303 |334
Essex |142 |147 |147 |189 |143 |151 |162
Nene |161 |166 |179 |195 |164 |188 |215
North Riding |135 |180 |200 |216 |161 |149 |243
Rolle<3> |170 |205 |220 |236 |206 |207 |235
West London |212 |217 |227 |231 |213 |210 |214
Worcester |252 |280 |281 |287 |221 |245 |268
Bishop Grosseteste |150 |175 |200 |220 |135 |210 |232
Chester |142 |153 |163 |182 |171 |173 |237
Christ Church |256 |297 |300 |338 |292 |321 |328
Homerton |266 |300 |292 |325 |285 |283 |319
King Alfred's |226 |242 |252 |286 |237 |277 |308
La Sainte Union |201 |219 |229 |233 |182 |234 |287
Liverpool |334 |351 |356 |393 |349 |394 |407
Newham and Westhill |240 |236 |228 |247 |260 |238 |272
Ripon and York |262 |257 |272 |295 |231 |261 |273
Roehampton |526 |501 |533 |544 |434 |460 |582
St. Mark and St. John |167 |209 |235 |256 |173 |251 |237
St. Martin's |297 |316 |307 |344 |327 |312 |315
St. Mary's |208 |227 |229 |259 |220 |200 |250
St. Paul and St. Mary's |217 |227 |242 |259 |228 |237 |261
Trinity and All Saints |254 |260 |284 |306 |229 |267 |263
West Sussex |242 |267 |276 |292 |256 |258 |281
Westminster |195 |210 |230 |264 |194 |231 |261
Welsh institutions
Bangor (Normal) |135 |135 |135 |144 |119 |135 |177
Gwent |135 |135 |135 |175 |154 |128 |154
North East Wales |95 |95 |95 |94 |115 |104 |111
South Glamorgan |250 |250 |250 |262 |272 |268 |272
West Glamorgan |95 |95 |95 |105 |82 |107 |136
Trinity |155 |155 |155 |171 |134 |174 |175
<1> Data on intakes to courses with January start dates are not collected centrally (indicated within tables by
notation J').
<2> Bulmershe College target and intake figures are included with Reading University figures from 1989.
<3> Rolle College is now the Polytechnic of the South West.
Replan
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to announce his decision about the future of Replan.
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Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend will announce his decision on the future of the Replan programme when he has considered the issues fully.
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Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will publish the evaluation undertaken by his Department of the Replan project ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Jackson : The Replan programme was introduced in 1984 with the aim of creating better opportunities for unemployed adults. It was initially funded to run up to 1987, but was subsequently extended on four occasions and will continue in its present form up to October 1991. The Government are currently undertaking a policy review of the programme, and have commissioned the preparation of an evaluation study as part of that review. The final report of the study is expected shortly. My right hon. Friend will consider whether the findings of the evaluation study should be more widely available when the policy review is completed.
School Playing Fields
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, further to his reply on 26 February, Official Report, column 3, whether he will carry out a survey of the current availability of land for use as school playing fields ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. Friend has no present plans to do so. The provision of school playing fields is a matter for LEAs and others responsible for the schools.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will seek a report from the London borough of Enfield about the position of school playing fields for the proposed Southgate school consolidation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department has received a submission from Enfield LEA seeking formal approval to a building project associated with the proposed consolidation of Southgate school. The submission includes a certificate confirming that the proposals will comply with the statutory standards. These include playing field requirements. The proposal will be considered by the Department in accordance with normal procedures.
Bronchitis and Emphysema
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will ask the medical research council to undertake research concerning the relationship between the development of chronic bronchitis or emphysema and exposure to substances associated with the processing, smelting, working or production of steel.
Mr. Jackson : No ; it is for the council to determine its own priorities for funding from its grant in aid.
Human Infertility
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will list the research the Government are currently funding into the causes of human infertility ; and what is the cost to the Government of this research.
Mr. Jackson : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) on
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30 October 1989, Official Report , columns 11-13 . The cost of research into the causes of human infertility has not been separated out from the overall cost of research into human infertility.PRIME MINISTER
Security Services
Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if she will give the terms of reference of the Sir Anthony Duff inquiry of 1987 into the security services.
The Prime Minister : I have nothing to add to my statement in the House of 6 May 1987.
Sea Dumping
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to transfer responsibility for regulating sea dumping from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the Department of the Environment.
Deforestation
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her reply to the hon. Member for Linlithgow of 28 February, what she is doing to implement Dr. Holdgate's suggestion that the priority for western Governments is to steer deforestation practices in the direction of sustainable cropping systems.
The Prime Minister : Helping developing countries with sustainable forest management is the key objective of the British aid programme's increasing support for tropical forestry activities.
National Health Service Reform
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to her oral reply to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on Tuesday 27 February, what sums have been expended by Her Majesty's Government in preparation or advocacy of self-governing status of hospitals within the National Health Service.
The Prime Minister : Over £80 million has been made available this year for preparation for the implementation of the National Health Service review proposals as a whole. Resources have not been specifically allocated from within this sum for the preparation of National Health Service trusts.
Mr. Colin Wallace
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister if, pursuant to her reply to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, Official Report, 26 February, column 8, she will set out the policy considerations involved in her decision not to place in the Library the letter to Mr. Colin Wallace to which the hon. Member made reference.
The Prime Minister : It is not my practice to do so.
Column 403
Press Briefings
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if she will give details of the contents of the press briefings by her press secretary in relation to the Leader of the Opposition in the week beginning 12 February.
The Prime Minister : It is not the practice to give details of press briefings.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Private Notice Questions
Mr. Beith : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many private notice questions were answered (a) from Back Bench Members and (b) from Opposition Front Bench Members in the sessions of 1977-78, 1978-79 and 1988-89.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : For sessions 1977-78 and 1978-79 it is not possible accurately to identify whether private notice questions were asked by Back Bench Members or Opposition Front-Bench Members. However, of the 20 questions asked in Session 1977-78 my best assessment is that six were asked by Opposition Front-Bench spokesmen and for Session 1978-79 the numbers were 29 and 13 respectively. In Session 1988-89, a total of 35 private notice questions were asked ; of these, 21 were asked by Opposition Front-Bench spokesmen.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Baltic Gold
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the Baltic gold ; and what is its current value.
Mr. Waldegrave : When the Baltic states were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, the property of a number of British nationals was seized without compensation. The Soviet authorities also did not accept responsibility for the external debts of the Baltic states, including three external loans which had been placed in London. To safeguard British interests, the British Government responded by freezing the gold reserves of the three Baltic central banks which were deposited in London, and which were claimed by the Soviet authorities.
Negotiations between the British and Soviet Governments culminated in an agreement which was signed on 5 January 1968. This provided that the British and Soviet Governments would not pursue their respective claims. It thus enabled the British Government to use most of the money realised from the sale in 1967 of the Baltic gold reserves (in addition to certain other assets of the Baltic States and ceded territories) to meet in part the claims of British creditors who had lost assets in the former Baltic states and in certain other territories incorporated into the Soviet Union. The judicial determination of these claims was carried out by the Foreign Compensation Commission in accordance with the Foreign Compensation (Union of Soviet Socialists Republics) Order 1969 ; claimants eventually receiving 42.6 per cent. of the assessed value of their claims.
The Baltic gold (weighing 460,220 fine ounces) realised £5.8 million when sold in 1967. Its value would be approximately £112.17 million at current prices.
Column 404
East European Foreign Ministers
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met his Polish, Hungarian and Czechoslovakian counterparts ; and what matters were discussed.
Mr. Waldegrave : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met his Polish and Czechoslovak counterparts at the open skies conference in Ottawa on 12 to 14 February. They discussed various issues of bilateral relations, internal developments in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and German reunification. My right hon. Friend met the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Dr. Horn, on 28 February. They discussed a number of bilateral issues including the know-how fund for Hungary, and other questions relating to the future of Europe.
Vietnamese Boat People
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong detention camps have injured themselves in protest at the British Government's screening policy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : Since 16 June, 12 people have injured themselves in Hong Kong detention centres.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information is given generally to Vietnamese boat women in Hong Kong detention camps as to the health attributes of the contraceptive drug Depo Provera and its consequences ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on this question on 14 February at column 235.
Eastern Europe
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to improve trade and consular facilities in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : Increased resources are being directed to United Kingdom official representation, including trade and consular facilities, in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to enable our diplomatic missions there to meet new demands arising from the dramatic changes in these countries. Staffing has already been strengthened at several posts to deal with increased visa demand and with work connected with the know-how funds. Further reinforcement to meet these and other tasks will be made in the next few months.
Tunisia
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring of the monument at Tabrouna, Tunisia, has been undertaken by Her Majesty's embassy in Tunis, in order to ensure its protection and preservation.
Mr. Waldegrave : The embassy is continuing to monitor the condition of the monument at Takrouna. A member of the embassy visited the site on 21 February.
Column 405
Vietnam
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent visit to Vietnam by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Warwickshire, North (Mr. Maude).
Mr. Maude : I visited the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 18 to 21 February for talks with the Vietnamese Government. There were wide- ranging and useful discussions. I signed an agreement to speed up the voluntary return of boat people from Hong Kong, in which connection the Vietnamese Government will, with British financial assistance, construct a new transit centre so that by 1 May 1990 around 1,000 returnees a month can return. I explained that the continued failure of the Vietnamese Government to accept their international obligations notably towards their own citizens could not avoid being an obstacle to the development of bilateral relationships. The Vietnamese assured me of their concern to settle the boat people issue. Her Majesty's ambassador in Hanoi is continuing the discussions.
Rain Forests
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his discussions with Senor Diego Cordouey, Foreign Minister of Ecuador, on rain forest problems during his recent visit to London.
Mr. Sainsbury : We have discussed this matter with the Government of Ecuador on a number of occasions. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and I discussed a wide range of other issues with Dr. Cordovez during his recent visit to London.
Coto Donana National Park
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Spain about the conservation of the Coto Donana national park.
Mr. Maude : We recognise the international importance of the Coto Donana national park, and the concern shown by conservation bodies within Spain and more widely about its future. The European Commission is aware of possible breaches of the wild birds directive, and has begun infraction proceedings against Spain.
Nuclear Non-proliferation
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what initiatives Her Majesty's Government intend to put forward at the third preparatory committee meeting in Geneva on 24 April to 4 May, for the fourth review conference of the nuclear non- proliferation treaty ; and whether any financial support has been made available to non-governmental organisations to attend this final preparatory meeting.
Mr. Waldegrave : The third preparatory committee will be devoted largely to administrative aspects of the review conference. As convenor of the western group of non-proliferation treaty parties in Geneva, the United Kingdom has been active in the preparations. No financial support has been made available to non-governmental organisations to attend the meeting.
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