Previous Section Home Page

Dr. Bray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the members of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils, the date of their original appointment and the date on which their current term of office will end.


Column 376

Mr. Alan Howarth : The Advisory Board for the Research Councils was reconstituted on 1 April 1990. Its current membership is as follows :


Column 375


<1> Date of appointment to the "old" ABRC prior to reconstitution.              

The following are ex-officio members :

Heads of Research Councils

Professor J. L. Knill Chairman, Natural Environment Research Council

Sir Mark Richmond Chairman, Science and Engineering Research Council (from October 1990)

Professor H. J. Newby Chairman, Economic and Social Research Council

Dr. D. A. Rees Secretary, Medical Research Council

Dr. B. Jamieson Acting Secretary, Agricultural and Food Research Council (from October 1990)

Assessors

Professor W. D. P. Stewart Chief Scientific Adviser, Cabinet Office (from October 1990)

Mr. J. M. M. Vereker Deputy Secretary, Department of Education and Science

Dr. Bray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the prescribed minimum and maximum number of members of (i) the Medical Research Council, (ii) the Science and Engineering Research Council, (iii) the Economic and Social Research Council, (iv) the Natural Environment Research Council, (v) the Agricultural and Food Research Council and (vi) the Advisory Board for the Research Councils.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The maximum and minimum numbers of members of the research councils are prescribed in their charters, as follows :


of members                                                                 

of members                                                                 

                                                                           

                                                                           

AFRC           |20            |23                                          

ESRC           |14            |20                                          

MRC            |16            |20                                          

NERC           |14            |20                                          

SERC           |15            |19                                          

There is no prescribed minimum or maximum for the Advisory Board for the Research Councils, which is an advisory body. As currently constituted, the board has 14


Column 376

members (an independent chairman, six independent members, the heads of the five research councils and two assessors).

Head Teachers

Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many state sector primary schools in England and Wales had a male head teacher and how many had a female head teacher in the school year 1988-89 ;

(2) how many state sector secondary schools in England and Wales had a male head teacher and how many had a female head teacher in the school year 1988 -89, divided between schools with students of 11 to 16 years and those 11 to 18 years.

Mr. Fallon : The information requested for maintained primary and secondary schools in England for January 1989 is as follows :


                                                       

                                                       

Primary<1> |10,162    |9,067                           

Secondary                                              

  11-16<2> |1,218     |213                             

  11-18<3> |1,679     |388                             

<1> Includes middle schools deemed primary.            

<2> Includes secondary modern schools, but excludes    

middle schools deemed secondary.                       

<3> Includes grammar, technical schools and sixth form 

colleges.                                              

Similar information for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science in the school years 1988 to 1989 and 1989 to 1990, how many (a) male and (b) female head teachers of primary and secondary schools in England and


Column 377

Wales left the profession for each of the following reasons : (i) normal retirement, (ii) early retirement and (iii) death in service.

Mr. Fallon : Information is not yet available for the dates specified.

Deaf-blind People

Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action is being taken by his Department to follow up the policy statement on the education of deaf-blind children.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department has undertaken a consultation exercise of local education authorities following the policy statement on the education of deaf-blind children. We are also proposing a joint seminar with SENSE early in 1991 to disseminate the results of the consultation exercise.

Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what services are available to deaf-blind students in higher education.

Mr. Alan Howarth : As autonomous bodies higher education institutions are responsible for determining what provision to make to meet the needs of students with disabilities. This is not monitored centrally. Students can obtain services individually in the light of their needs with the assistance of the disabled students allowances.

Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has had from local education authorities to his policy statement on the education of deaf-blind children.

Mr. Alan Howarth : To date, the Department has received 52 responses from local education authorities to the consultation exercise on the policy statement on the education of deaf-blind children.

Special Schools

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to publish the report of the feasibility study into the extension of local management of schools to special schools.

Mr. Fallon : The report has been published today. It concludes that the extension of LMS to special schools is both feasible and desirable. The report found that LMS would bring benefits to special schools and their pupils. Copies of the report are being sent to local education authorities and to special schools in both England and Wales. My right hon. Friend will shortly be consulting LEAs and schools on the report's findings. In the light of their views, the Government will consider making the necessary enabling regulations to permit LEAs to extend LMS to their special schools.

Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.

Language Learning

Sir Hal Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that young people have an effective grounding in modern foreign language.

Mr. Hague : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what importance he places on language learning.


Column 378

Mr. MacGregor [pursuant to the reply, 23 October 1990, c. 159- 60.] : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I are publishing tomorrow our proposals for attainment targets and programmes of study for modern foreign languages in the national curriculum. Our proposals are based on the recommendations of the working group for modern foreign languages, and will be published with the group's final report. Copies of the published document will be placed in the Library.

SCOTLAND

Education Expenditure

Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total capital expenditure on schools in Scotland in each year since 1978 in real terms.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is given in the following table which has been compiled from local authority financial returns. The reduction in expenditure in real terms during the period reflects a substantial and progressive decline in pupil numbers which in turn reduced the requirement for new school building.


Capital expenditure by local authorities on schools                             

<1> Provisional.                                                                

The figures include expenditure on nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.

Outturn figures have been converted to 1988-89 prices using the GDP deflator.

British Rail

Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Provan, Official Report, 19 October, column 945 (a) when he last discussed with Sir Bob Reid the improvement of the British Rail services between Glasgow and London and (b) what timetable was discussed for such improvements.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : British Rail's plans for the upgrading of the west coast main line between Glasgow and London are likely to be one of the subjects discussed when my right hon. and learned Friend next meets the chairman of British Rail. The timing of individual projects is however a matter for British Rail to determine in the light of other competing investment priorities and the resources at its disposal.


Column 379

Moray Adventurer

Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what investigations are being undertaken by his Department into events on 4 October involving the Buckie-registered vessel Moray Adventurer approximately 15 miles south-east of Peterhead.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : The matter has not been reported formally to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. Officers of DAFS sea fisheries inspectorate are seeking to establish with the skipper of the fishing vessel concerned the facts surrounding the incident.

Radioactive Waste

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his reply on radioactive waste to the hon. Member for Newport, West, Official Report, 22 October, column 73, he will list any other sites in Scotland under investigation for a deep repository.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : UK Nirex Ltd. is not investigating any sites in Scotland apart from Dounreay.

Mr. James Wilby

Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland for what period Mr. James Wilby was employed by the Scottish Office ; what was the period of his contract ; and why it was terminated.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : There is no record of a Mr. James Wilby having been employed by the Scottish Office. If the hon. Member is referring to Mr. John Wilby, the former director of the Scottish ambulance service, his employment was with the Common Services Agency from 1 November 1985 until 31 July 1990 when he resigned to take up the appointment of managing director to the London ambulance service.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Accountancy Bodies

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether, as a condition of granting the supervisory status to accountancy bodies, he will require that the minutes of their policy-making committees be available to any member of the public ;

(2) whether, as a condition of the supervisory status, he will require the councils of the accountancy bodies to meet in the open ; (3) whether, as a condition of granting the supervisory status to accountancy bodies, he will require that the minutes of the council meetings be available to all members of that body.

Mr. Redwood : The Secretary of State has no power to impose such conditions. His function is to determine whether applications for recognition meet the criteria laid down in the Companies Act 1989. In any case, the publicity to be given to meetings of this kind is a matter for the bodies themselves.

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will seek to introduce legislation to require any accountancy firm auditing a public limited company to file information with a designated authority.


Column 380

Mr. Redwood : We have no such plans. However, I expect that the applications for recognition from supervisory bodies for auditors under the Companies Act 1989 will include requirements as to the filing of information with them by audit firms.

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, as a condition of granting the supervisory status to accountancy bodies, he will require that the minutes of their policy-making committees be available to all members.

Mr. Redwood : The Secretary of State has no power to impose such a condition. His function is to determine whether applications for recognition meet the criteria laid down in the companies Act 1989. In any case, the question of whether minutes of its policy-making committees should be made available to all its members is one for the body itself to decide.

Student Complaints

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will seek to amend the Companies Acts to require the qualifying bodies to create an independent ombudsman to hear student complaints.

Mr. Redwood : No. But it is open to a body itself to set up an independent ombudsman to hear student complaints.

Audit Policy

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will exercise his powers under part II of the Companies Act 1989 to create an independent statutory body to regulate auditing.

Mr. Redwood : As the Government made clear during the passage of the Companies Bill, we have no present intention to do so.

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will create a body equivalent to OFGAS and OFTEL to regulate auditing.

Mr. Redwood : No. Under section 46 of the Companies Act 1989 the Secretary of State may establish a body corporate to exercise his functions under part II of that Act. However, we have no present intention of exercising this power.

Supervisory Bodies

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, before granting supervisory status to any organisation, he will ask it to explain its record on nominating women to major policy- making organisations.

Mr. Redwood : No. While the Government would favour the nomination of more women to major organisations, the record of a supervisory body in this respect is of no relevance to a decision by the Secretary of State on whether to recognise the body under the procedures in part II of the Companies Act 1989.

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will take powers to provide that each supervisory body has lay observers on its council.


Column 381

Mr. Redwood : We have no such plans.

Company Legislation

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will seek to introduce legislation to define the meaning of auditor independence.

Mr. Redwood : Section 27 of the Companies Act 1989 (which we expect to bring into force early next year) sets out connections between a person and a company which render the person ineligible for appointment as auditor to the company on the grounds of a lack of independence. The Secretary of State will consider whether to exercise the power in section 27(2) to specify by regulations further disqualifying connections once it is clear what professional rules and guidance there will be governing the independence of auditors. Under the 1989 Act the Secretary of State cannot recognise a supervisory body for auditors unless it appears to him to have adequate rules and practices in respect of professional integrity and independence.

Company Acquisitions (Financial Assistance)

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many prosecutions have been undertaken involving the use of section 151 of the Companies Act 1985 ; how many of such charges were subsequently dropped ; and how many were ultimately successful.

Mr. Redwood : To the Department's knowledge 19 charges have been brought under section 151 of the Companies Act 1985. In respect of six of these the judge ordered the jury not to bring verdicts and they were left on the file. The other charges have not yet come to trial.

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he proposes to review section 151 of the Companies Act 1985.

Mr. Redwood : I have received representations concerning section 151 and am considering them.

Insider Dealing

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he proposes to place before Parliament his proposals for implementing the EC directive on insider dealing.

Mr. Redwood : The Government said in their reply to the Select Committee on Trade and Industry's report on company investigations that they would bring forward legislation to implement the EC directive on insider dealing as soon as the parliamentary timetable permits.

Polly Peck Ltd.

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received about recent developments at Polly Peck Ltd. and Del Monte.

Mr. Redwood : No representations about Polly Peck plc have been received since I wrote to the company on 25 September 1990. However, in view of recent developments my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said that he will look at


Column 382

all the information available to him arising from the move into administration of Polly Peck and the events leading up to it. In particular he has told the administrators that he will want to hear from them at the earliest opportunity whether they think there are any matters that need investigating which require the use of the Secretary of State's powers under the Companies Acts, bearing in mind the investigation being undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office. No separate representations have been received about Del Monte.

Financial Reporting Council

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to ensure that the Financial Reporting Council conducts its proceedings in public.

Mr. Redwood : The procedural arrangements of the Financial Reporting Council are a matter for the council to decide. I am sure that the council is fully conscious of the need to maximise public understanding and awareness of its work.

Civil Servants

Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former civil servants from his Department joined General Electric Company, Plessey, Northern Engineering Industries, BICC, or Trafalgar after leaving the civil service since May 1979.

Mr. Redwood [holding answer 24 October 1990] : The Department of Trade and Industry has existed in its present form only since 1983. Separate Departments of Trade and Industry existed between 1979 and 1983. Totals for DTI, and these predecessor Departments since 1979 are as follows :


                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                            

To General Electric                |5                                                                                                       

To Plessey                         |0                                                                                                       

To Northern Engineering Industries |2                                                                                                       

To BICC                            |0                                                                                                       

To Trafalgar House                 |0                                                                                                       

Such figures would not, of course, include any staff who, once having left the Department and having passed the two-year notification period, then joined one of these companies.

Young People (Complaints)

Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will specify what formal procedures for making complaints and representations, specifying where appropriate under which sections of which Acts, are available locally and nationally to children and young people under 18 years of age who wish to make complaints about matters which are the responsibility of his Department.

Mr. Redwood [holding answer 25 October 1990] : Any member of the public can make complaints or representations to the Department about matters falling within its responsibilities. There are no formal procedures for doing so.


Column 383

EMPLOYMENT

Tourism

Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the estimate of spending by overseas visitors for each of the last five years.

Mr. Forth : The information is published in table 8.2 of the October 1990 issue of Employment Gazette.

Small Firms Service

Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inquiries were dealt with by the small firms service in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr. Forth : In 1989-90 the small firms service in England dealt with 317,529 inquiries.

Nuclear Installations Inspectorate

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list, by region, how many inspectors there are in the nuclear installations inspectorate ; what is the required manning establishment ; how many are in post ; and if he will make a statement as to what their terms of reference are.

Mr. Forth : The principal aim of HSE's nuclear installations inspectorate (NII) is to ensure a safe operating regime for civil nuclear installations through programmes of inspection of licensed sites, assessing safety cases provided by licensees, and seeing that appropriate safety standards are developed and maintained by licensees.

The NII is not regionally structured, but based in HSE's Bootle and London headquarters. On 1 October 1990, 160 inspectors were in post in the inspectorate, an increase of some 60 per cent. since 1987. Current plans are to recruit to a level of 172 inspectors.

Legionella

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations he had with the Health and Safety Executive regarding the occurrence of legionella in power station cooling towers.

Mr. Forth : None. The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) intends to take statutory action to strengthen existing legislation and guidance applying to the control of legionellosis. The HSC issued a consultative document in November 1989 setting out its proposals. In the light of comments received revised proposals for action have been drawn up and will be considered shortly by the HSC. Existing requirements under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 apply to all wet cooling towers, including those at power stations.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Sri Lanka

Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to what extent the question of human rights in Sri Lanka has been discussed in the context of aid negotiations with that country's Government.


Column 384

Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have on a number of occasions raised the question of human rights in the context of aid negotiations with the Sri Lanka Government, notably at meetings of the World bank-led aid group.

At the latest meeting of the aid group held in Paris on 25 October, the United Kingdom delegation, in common with other donors, made it clear that human rights performance was one of the factors to be taken into account in future decisions on aid.


Next Section

  Home Page