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New Dwellings
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the number of new dwelling units which will be built in 1990- 91 in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector.
Mr. Grist : No estimates are available for the number of new dwelling units to be built in 1990-91.
Teachers
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will commission a study into the number of mid-career teachers in primary and secondary schools in Wales giving notice of their resignation in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : No. The Department of Education and Science maintains records of the number of mid-career teachers in primary and secondary schools in Wales who have actually resigned.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will commission a study into the numbers and percentages of head teachers, deputy heads and teachers in primary and secondary schools in Wales who applied for early retirement in 1990, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : No. The Department of Education and Science maintains records of the number and percentages of head teachers, deputy heads and teachers in primary and secondary schools in Wales who have actually left on early retirement terms.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will institute a study into the numbers of applications for deputy headships and headships in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Wales in 1990, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the most up-to-date estimates available to him of the numbers of teachers applying for vacant deputy headships and headships in (a) primary and (b) secondary education in Wales covering the period 1985 to 1990.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made on implementing the licensed teachers and articled teachers schemes.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : Although education support grant was made available to support the training of licensed teachers in 1990-91, no local education authority in Wales
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submitted a bid. One authority in Wales has shown an interest in the articled teachers scheme, but it was not possible to support the consortium of which it was a member. We are currently considering whether to make local authority training grant money available to support these schemes in 1991-92.School Buildings
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what allowance he proposes to make in the setting of tests for children at seven, 11, 14 and 16 in pursuit of the national curriculum where education has been disrupted for six weeks or more by natural or man-made disasters affecting the availability of school buildings.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : The School Examinations and Assessment Council is currently considering the range of circumstances in which exceptional arrangements may need to apply and its further advice is awaited.
Flats, Porthcawl
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received concerning the Stoneleigh Club and Dunraven Court flats in Porthcawl ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : No representations concerning the Dunraven Court flats in Porthcawl have been recorded since the Dunraven (Porthcawl) Housing Society Ltd. went into voluntary liquidation in July 1984. I shall write to the hon. Gentleman about the Stoneleigh Club.
Welsh Language
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many primary school Welsh language units are currently recognised in each county in Wales ; and what is his Department's policy relating to (a) Welsh medium units and (b) Welsh medium schools as a means of providing Welsh language education.
Mr. Wyn Roberts : There is no standard definition of a Welsh language unit. The number of schools having classes where Welsh is the sole or main medium of instruction of first and second language pupils in each county is set out in the table :
Welsh Office policy on Welsh medium education was set out in the publication "Welsh in Schools" (July 1981) which encouraged local education authorities to make available bilingual education for pupils whose parents desired it for them. The means of making this provision would be a matter for individual local education authorities to determine. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will undertake a review of the funding of Welsh medium schools and units in Wales.
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Mr. Wyn Roberts : Funding of schools is a matter for the LEAs. The publication of school budget and outturn statements under LMS will help in identifying any extra costs associated with bilingual education.EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Polytechnic Designations
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which higher education establishments have expressed an interest in receiving polytechnic designation ; which are likely to meet the new criteria which he has issued ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has accepted the criteria proposed by the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council for the designation of new polytechnics and has invited the council to advise him before the end of May whether any colleges currently meet, or whether there is a clear prospect that they will meet within the next two years, its criteria for polytechnic designation. It is now for the council to consider evidence from individual institutions and advise my right hon. Friend.
The higher education establishments which, I understand, have expressed an interest in receiving polytechnic designation are as follows :
Anglia Higher Education College
Bolton Institute of Higher Education
Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education
Derbyshire College of Higher Education
Dorset Institute of Higher Education
Ealing College of Higher Education
Humberside College of Higher Education
Luton College of Higher Education
Southampton Institute of Higher Education
Thames Valley College of Higher Education
To be formed by the merger of Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology (HE) and the College of St. Paul and St. Mary, Cheltenham on 1 April 1990.
The London Institute has expressed an interest in receiving the status of a polytechnic, but not the name.
Parenting
Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the Government's policy on promoting the teaching of parenting skills and the care of children in schools.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Section 1 of the Education Reform Act places a duty on the Secretary of State, local education authorities, school governors and head teachers to ensure that the curriculum as a whole prepares young people for the responsibilities and experiences of adult life. The science order within the national curriculum, being implemented under the Education Reform Act, requires that pupils should understand the factors necessary for the well-being of young children in the early stages of their development.
Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he has taken to ensure that there is sufficient time available for schools to include in the curriculum parenting skills and the care of children.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Section 4(3) of the Education Reform Act precludes the Secretary of State from requiring schools to allocate particular periods of time to any aspect of the national curriculum.
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Secondary Admissions (Bromley)
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will obtain details from the London borough of Bromley of its secondary schools admissions policy.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department has received some details from the London borough of Bromley about its school admissions policy and these are currently under consideration.
Training Grants
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what date in 1989 he published the amount of the training grants available for each local education authority ; when he expects to publish the figures applicable to the financial year 1990-91 ; and what advice he has given to these authorities in respect of determination of their education budgets and related revenue decisions.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Indicative maximum amounts of expenditure which my right hon. Friend had it in mind to support in each priority area in each local education authority (LEA) under the LEA training grants scheme in 1990-91 were first set out in a circular issued on 18 August 1989. Final allocations were notified in letters to each LEA sent on 15 December 1989. The financial arrangements governing the training grants scheme for 1990-91 were explained in the August 1989 circular.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the primary and secondary school pupil-teacher ratio for 1979, 1983, 1987 and the most recent year for which information is available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The pupil-teacher ratios in maintained primary and secondary schools in England in 1979, 1983 and 1987 and 1989 were as follows :
The pupil-teacher ratio in both primary and secondary schools has improved since 1979. It is for local education authorities and schools to make the best use of the available teacher resources.
Nursery Education
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimate he has made of how much it would cost to provide full-time nursery education for all three and four-year-olds in the United Kingdom in 1991-92.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend's responsibilities for schools do not extend beyond England. The Department has not attempted detailed costings of the introduction of universal, full-time nursery education for
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three and four-year-olds in England. However, a broad extrapolation from the estimated cost per pupil for all forms of provision made by local education authorities for the under-fives suggests an annual recurrent cost of the order of £1.65 billion in 1989-90 prices. In addition there would be a substantial capital cost ; and costs would also be incurred in training or retraining the additional teaching and ancillary staff who would be needed.Table 11.2, DES Chapter of the Public Expenditure White Paper 1990 (Cm 1011).
Food Research
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has made an assessment of the implications for that element of food safety research, which may be of benefit to the consumer but is unlikely to offer a worthwhile return to industry, of the Government's decision to withdraw from near-market funding.
Mr. Jackson : The policy decision to withdraw from funding near- market research has not altered the Government's commitment to basic and strategic research in the area of food safety. Funding for such research has been increased in real terms.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions he held with the Agricultural and Food Research Council in respect of the Bristol laboratory of the Institute of Food Research, prior to the decision by the Agricultural and Food Research Council to close it ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The Agricultural and Food Research Council is an independent body which is grant-aided by Government. The council announced its intention to concentrate physical restructuring of its institutes, including the Institute of Food Research, in its corporate plan 1989-94, published in February 1989. The council kept the Department informed of its consideration of proposals for restructuring but the evaluation of those proposals and the decisions taken concerning it were entirely a matter for the council.
School Education, Bradford
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total number of children being educated in first, middle and upper schools in the metropolitan district of Bradford in the current academic year.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The number of pupils on roll in January 1989 in first, middle and upper schools in Bradford was 78,555, the latest year for which figures are available.
Internal Audit
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the subject matter of the two internal audit reports that were drawn to the attention of Ministers in his Department in 1989.
Mrs. Rumbold : The internal audit reports covered controls over adult education grants and education support grants both of which were taken into account in policy reviews.
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Middle Schools
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which local education authorities intend to retain middle school systems ; and which have proposals to change status from middle school systems to transfer to secondary provision at 11 years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The local education authorities that operate middle school systems are listed in the table :
Barnsley
Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Birmingham
Bradford
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire
Devon
Doncaster
Dorset
Dudley
Ealing
East Sussex
Hampshire
Harrow
Hereford and Worcester
Hertfordshire
Humberside
Isle of Wight
Kent
Kirklees
Leicestershire
Leeds
Merton
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Norfolk
North Tyneside
North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Rochdale
Sheffield
Shropshire
Somerset
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Wakefield
Warwickshire
West Sussex
Wiltshire
Of these authorities, only Leeds has published statutory proposals to change to a system of primary-secondary provision which are currently under consideration. In addition, the Secretary of State has approved proposals for Shropshire, Humberside, Rochdale and Barnsley LEAs which are still to be implemented, all in September 1990.
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