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Column 183
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 28 March 1990
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Science Students
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the cost of educating a science student to Ph.D. level in a university in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) Japan, (c) the United States of America, (d) Scandinavia and (e) the countries of the European Community.
Mr. Jackson : The data requested are not available by subject and level of course.
Universities (Capital Expenditure)
Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether the figure for 1990-91 for planned capital expenditure for universities in the public expenditure White Paper, Cm. 1011, is on a basis consistent with that for polytechnics and colleges.
Mr. Jackson : I regret that the figures for planned capital expenditure by the Universities Funding Council in table 11.1 of the public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1011) are not shown on a consistent basis for each year. Figures on a consistent basis are shown in the following table. The percentage increase in planned capital expenditure in 1990-91 is broadly the same for each sector of higher education.
£ million
|1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Universities
Funding
Council
Capital |141 |139 |152 (175)
Current |1,585 |1,713 |1,685 (1,661)
Note: Figures as shown in Cm. 1011 in brackets.
Consultancies
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total amount spent by his Department in 1989 on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that his Department has budgeted to spend in the current year.
Mrs. Rumbold : This Department spent £685,000 on computer and management consultancies in the 1989-90 financial year and has budgeted for £540,000 for 1990-91. Contracts awarded in 1989-90 were as follows :
Peat Marwick McLintock--Financial management survey
of SERC
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Peat Marwick McLintock--Student loansPrice Waterhouse--Student loans
PAS Limited--Parent awareness survey
Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte--Financial computer system consultancy Peat Marwick McLintock--Financial computer system consultancy SCOLL--IT Specialist productivity
FI Group--Grants payments system
BIS--CRAMM Reviews
Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte--Network security
LBMS--INGRES
Digitus--Desk Top Publishing
Fernhart--Service Desk
Butler Cox-- Further Education Statistical Records
BIS--Telecommunications Darlington
Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte--Mainframe replacement
Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte--Financial system testing
ICL--CRIS-F Report writing
CMG--Data modelling
BIS--Data collection and electronic data interchange
History Working Party
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) when he first received the draft of the final report of the history working party ;
(2) when he first received the final report of the history working party ;
(3) on what dates in the last year he has met Commander Saunders Watson, chairman of the history working party ;
(4) when he expects to publish the final report of the history working party.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend saw a draft of the history working group's report just before Christmas, and received the final report on 31 January. He will publish it soon. He met Commander Saunders Watson on 4 August last year and 10 January this year.
Pensions
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what is the average pension paid to head teachers who retired in 1989 ; and what was the average pension received by head teachers who retired in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(2) what is the value at current prices of the average pension received by lecturers in higher education on their retirement in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(3) what is the value at current prices of the average pension received by lecturers in further education on their retirement in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(4) what is the value, at current prices, of the average pension received by head teachers on their retirement in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(5) what is the value at current prices of the average pension received by teachers on their retirement in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(6) what was the average pension paid for lecturers in higher education who retired in 1989 ; and what is the average pension currently received by lecturers in higher education in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(7) what was the average pension received by lecturers in further education who retired in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969 ;
(8) what was the average pension paid to teachers who retired in 1989 ; and what is the average pension currently received by teachers who retired in (a) 1979 and (b) 1969.
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Mr. Alan Howarth [pursuant to his reply, 26 March 1990, c. 35-36.] : The average rate of pension paid to teachers, head teachers and lecturers who retired in 1989 was as follows :
|£
--------------------------
Teachers |5,010
Head teachers |8,460
Lecturers |5,990
WALES
Footpaths and Bridleways
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for each of the years 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, the number of temporary traffic regulation orders made by local authorities under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to restrict or prohibit the use of footpaths or bridleways for which he gave consent under section 15(2) of that Act for an extension of the period for which the order was in force.
Mr. Roberts : Temporary traffic orders affecting footpaths and bridleways are not separately identified from those affecting road traffic and no records are kept.
Infertility Services
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the infertility services provided by each health authority in Wales.
Mr. Grist : Information on infertility services provided by health authorities is not held centrally.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposes to charge-cap any Welsh local authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Walker : I will decide whether to introduce community charge limitation in Wales in 1990-91 in the light of my consideration of Welsh authorities' expenditure plans.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the rules he intends to use for poll tax-capping in Wales.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of the number of additional staff employed to administer the community charge in Wales (a) in total, (b) by county council and (c) by district council.
Mr. Grist : This information is not held centrally.
Pupil-Teacher Ratios
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the present pupil-teacher ratio for (a) primary and (b) post primary schools in Wales.
Mr. Roberts : At January 1989, pupil-teacher ratio was 22.3 for primary schools and 15.4 for secondary schools.
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Health Authorities
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the figures provided to him by each health authority in Wales in respect of (a) the authority's own estimate of the shortfall due to inflation in 1989-90 and (b) the figure by which each authority estimates it is underfunded for 1990-91.
Mr. Grist : My right hon. Friend and I have seen copies of reports from the treasurers of district health authorities in Wales to their chairmen's committee concerning the financial position of Welsh DHAs generally in the current financial year and their projections for 1990-91. These reports give estimates of shortfalls in funding in both years on the basis of estimates of inflation and other financial pressures. However, they fail to take account of the resources to be released to supplement allocations through the attainment of targets for cost improvements and income generation. They therefore understate the resources available to authorities to meet the financial pressures which they face. So long as minimum cost improvement and income generation targets are achieved--which should be possible in any well-managed authority--allocations in both years should be more than sufficient to meet these financial pressures.
Consultancies
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total amount spent by the Welsh Development Agency in 1989 on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by the Welsh Development Agency in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that the Welsh Development Agency has budgeted to spend in the current year.
Mr. Peter Walker : The Welsh Development Agency has spent £139,534 on the following consultancy contracts in 1989 :
Company |Assignment
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ernst and Young |Documentation for users of new computer
|systems and advice on implementing new
|systems.
P J Sullivan |Development of integrated data bases from
|existing computer systems.
Beaufort Research |Monitoring effectiveness of Agency market-
|ing campaign in Wales
Numbers Research |Monitoring effectiveness of Agency market-
|ing campaign outside of Wales.
Taylor Nelson |Monitoring effectiveness of Agency food
|initiative marketing campaign.
BJM |Customer attitudes monitoring.
The agency estimates that £150,000 will be spent on such contracts in 1990.
Myodil
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of people in each health authority area in Wales who have been affected adversely by the use of myodil in connection with X- ray tests.
Mr. Grist : I shall write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.
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ENERGY
Consultancies
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total amount spent by his Department in 1989 on management and computer contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that his Department has budgeted to spend in the current year.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department spent £618,000 on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases, in the financial year 1989-90.
Contracts placed with private sector firms and companies for management and computer consultancies during 1989-90 were :
Consultants |Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Price Waterhouse |Advice on, and implementation of, dat-
|abases related to North Sea oil and gas
|activity.
KPG |Transfer of data from magnetic tape to
|optical disk.
J. P. Kenny |Advice on electronic storage of petroleum
|maps.
BIS |Advice on local area networks for
|computers.
Businessland |Advice on data communication links.
Specialist Services Scotland |Development of industrial capabilities database for the Offshore Supplies Office
Oracle (UK) Ltd. |Development of a database for recording
|offshore safety incidents.
Saxton Bampfylde |Recruitment consultants for chairman of
|North Western Electricity Board.
Russell Reynolds |Recruitment consultants for chairman of
|National Power.
TDA Consulting |Management training.
group Ltd.
Jonathan Coates and |Management training.
Associates
TFC Ltd. |Management training.
Brewster Computer |IT training.
Training Ltd.
FI Word Processing |IT training.
Services Ltd.
PST Ltd. |IT training.
My Department has budgeted to spend an estimated £750,000 on management and computer consultancy in the financial year 1990-91.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Disarmament
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the current fora in which east- west disarmament talks are taking place.
Mr. Maude : NATO and the Warsaw pact are negotiating on conventional armed forces in Europe in Vienna, and at the open skies conference due to resume in Budapest next month ; and (together with the neutral and non- aligned countries) on confidence and security-building measures in Vienna. Forty nations take part in
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the chemical weapons talks at the conference on disarmament in Geneva. The United States and the Soviet Union are negotiating on START and on nuclear testing, also in Geneva.Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there is likely to be a conference on security and co-operation in Europe this year.
Mr. Maude : A meeting of the Heads of State or Government of the CSCE participating states is likely to be held in the course of this year. The CSCE intersessional meetings for 1990 agreed at the Vienna follow-up meeting will also take place.
Purchasing Costs
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department achieved the target of a 5 per cent. saving in purchasing costs in 1988-89 through use of the central unit on purchasing.
Mr. Maude : Yes. In 1988-89, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office achieved purchasing savings of 9.1 per cent.
Cuba
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the United States of America to restore normal relations with Cuba ; and if he will make a statement.
Nigeria
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the Nigerian authorities to expedite the issue of temporary employment visas for United Kingdom nationals carrying out duties in Nigeria with a stay of less than 90 days.
Mr. Maude : Under Nigerian rules, applications for temporary employment visas have to be referred to Nigeria for decision. We regularly press the Nigerian authorities to reduce delays to a minimum, and have been able to help with some individual cases.
German Democratic Republic
Mrs. Maureen Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the elections in the German Democratic Republic.
Mr. Maude : We welcome the recent elections in the GDR, which all observers consider to have been free and fair. We look forward to developing relations with the new Government once formed.
Baltic States
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy towards self-determination in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
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Mr. Maude : We have never recognised de jure the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the Soviet Union in 1940. We recognise the right of the Baltic peoples to say what their own future should be.Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards political developments in (a) Lithuania, (b) Estonia and (c) Latvia.
Mr. Maude : We support the right of the Baltic peoples to decide their own future, and have welcomed the considerable progress made in the past two years.
Against the background of recent developments we now think it vital that the dialogue between the Soviet authorities and the Lithuanians should continue. We attach particular importance to the repeated statements by the Soviet leadership that there is no question of use of force.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet leaders of the Sajudis Popular Front of Lithuania.
Mr. Maude : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no plans for any such meeting.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any representations have been made by Her Majesty's Government to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the political situation in (a) Lithuania, (b) Estonia and (c) Latvia.
Mr. Maude : The Soviet Union is well aware of our view that the Baltic peoples should be enabled to determine their own future. We have made clear to the Russians our concern about the situation in Lithuania and our firm view that continued dialogue between the Soviet authorities and the Lithuanians is essential.
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made by the Baltic states to the British Government concerning the Baltic gold deposited for safekeeping with the Bank of England at the outbreak of the war.
Mr. Maude : The criteria which we apply to the recognition of a state are explained in the answer which the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, West (Mr. Waldegrave) gave to a question by the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on 19 March. It would be open to the Government of any future independent state in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania to make representations on the subject of gold deposits.
Buchenwald Exhibition
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to Buchenwald concentration camp to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Mr. Maude : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Services Committee, arrangements have
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been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from 11 to 15 June.Consultancies
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total amount spent by his Department in 1989 on management and computer consultancy contracts, excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and the subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that his Department has budgeted to spend in the current year.
Mr. Maude : We estimate that our expenditure in the financial year 1989-90 on management and computer consultancy will be :
|£
-------------------------------------------
Management consultancy |232,100
Computer consultancy |1,691,710
Individual contracts awarded during the year were :
Management consultancies
W. S. Atkins Energy Limited--Energy survey
MWH Project Services Limited--Refurbishment project
The Anne Shaw organisation--Review of car pool
Pergamon Technical Services--Revision of regulations
Coopers and Lybrand--Study of Personnel Department
Coopers and Lybrand--Entry clearance study
Market and Opinion Research International--Staff
communications Survey
Duhig Berry Limited--Scoping study of Project Support Office Computer consultancies
BIS Applied Systems Limited--Systems Development
Casu Electronics Limited--Systems Development
Logica UK Limited--Requirements Analysis
The Instruction Set Limited--Requirement Analysis
Price Waterhouse--Project Management
BRS Europe--Systems Development
Software Sciences Limited--Systems Development/Training Consultancy
Infosound Limited--Training Aids
Secure Information Systems Limited--Systems Strategy
Towngate Software Limited--Systems Development
Technological Solutions Limited--Programming
Praxis Systems plc--Systems Analysis and Design/Project Management Applied Learning International Limited--Training Aids
Management Systems Development Limited--Feasibility Study/Systems Development
Casu Europe Limited--Systems Development
SCICON--FOLIOS Development
Duhig Berry Limited--Project Control Systems
Computer Learning Centre Limited--Traning Aids
Ashford Associates Limited--Post-Implementation Review
Softlab Limited--Risk Analysis
Kinesis Computing Limited--Systems Development
Mega Consultancy--Building and Cabling Works
Absolute Solutions--Technical Documentation
Digitus--Systems Development
System Assurance Limited--Strategy Support
PA Limited--Organisational Issues
P P Corporate Systems Limited--Systems Development
NCR Limited--Systems Development
BOS Software Limited--Systems Development
There is no specific budgetary provision of management consultancy for the financial year 1990-91, but our present estimated expenditure is £37,500. The budget for computer consultancy is £1,430,000.
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