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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 30 October 1990
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Grant-maintained Schools
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimate he has made of the cost of increasing by 50 per cent. the formula allocation made to grant-maintained schools for equipment and small-scale capital projects for the year 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend announced on 10 October that the formula allocation paid to grant-maintained schools for equipment and small -scale capital projects would be increased by 50 per cent. for the financial year 1991-92. The cost of this increase in 1991-92 for existing grant-maintained schools and schools approved so far for incorporation as grant-maintained schools by April 1991 is £430,000. There are no additional costs in 1990-91.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the cost to date of the grant-maintained schools programme.
Mr. Eggar : The cost of the grant-maintained schools programme up to the end of the 1989-90 financial year was £3.5 million. Of this, £2 million was spent on meeting the cost of inherited capital commitments. The £3.5 million does not include annual maintenance grant payments to schools which were recouped in full from local education authorities.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimate he has made of the cost of increasing by 50 per cent. the annual amount of specific grant paid to grant-maintained schools for the year 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend announced on 10 October that the annual amount of specific grant paid to grant-maintained schools would increase by an average of £10,000 for the financial year 1991-92, a 50 per cent. increase on current plans. This specific grant supports staff development and other preparation for implementing the national curriculum and assessment arrangements. The cost of this increase in 1991-92 for existing grant-maintained schools and schools approved so far for incorporation as grant-maintained schools by April 1991 is £530,000. There are no additional costs in 1990-91.
Nursery Education
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the latest figures, in ranked order, for the percentage of under-fives in nursery schools, nursery classes and primary classes by local education authority in England and Wales.
Mr. Eggar : The percentage of children under five attending maintained nursery schools, nursery classes and
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infant classes and infant classes in primary schools in each local education authority in England in January 1989 in rank order is given in the following table. Similar information for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Percentage of under fives in maintained nursery and primary schools
in rank order in each local education authority-January 1989
|All under|Nursery |Nursery |Primary
| fives | schools |classes |classes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walsall |91.2 |11.1 |48.2 |32.0
Salford |83.6 |14.2 |38.2 |31.3
South Tyneside |81.0 |18.2 |31.5 |31.3
North Tyneside |80.3 |5.6 |44.5 |30.5
Liverpool |79.9 |4.3 |43.4 |32.3
Sandwell |77.4 |2.6 |43.4 |31.5
Cleveland |74.4 |1.0 |54.3 |19.1
Tameside |71.7 |5.5 |34.6 |31.5
Doncaster<2> |71.2 |0.0 |39.6 |31.6
Newcastle upon Tyne |70.7 |9.6 |31.1 |30.1
Wakefield |70.7 |6.0 |43.1 |21.6
Manchester |70.6 |4.1 |50.9 |15.6
Wolverhampton |70.0 |11.7 |43.4 |14.9
Oldham<2> |69.9 |0.0 |36.2 |33.7
Knowsley<2> |69.2 |0.0 |40.9 |28.4
Durham |68.7 |16.6 |22.3 |29.8
Gateshead |66.9 |1.3 |32.8 |32.8
Barking<2> |65.8 |0.0 |33.3 |32.5
Merton<2> |65.1 |0.0 |43.2 |22.0
Ealing |64.3 |6.9 |30.4 |27.0
Hounslow<2> |64.1 |0.0 |63.1 |1.0
Sefton |63.8 |4.5 |26.7 |32.6
Calderdale<2> |63.4 |0.0 |29.1 |34.4
Birmingham |63.4 |7.8 |24.2 |31.4
Bolton |63.2 |6.1 |28.8 |28.4
Barnsley |63.0 |3.0 |43.5 |16.4
Sunderland |61.8 |10.9 |22.3 |28.6
Rochdale |61.4 |15.4 |15.5 |30.6
Solihull<2> |61.0 |0.0 |29.9 |31.1
Brent |60.8 |3.8 |29.6 |27.5
Sheffield |60.8 |6.0 |36.0 |18.8
Wigan |59.9 |2.2 |24.5 |33.2
St. Helens |59.7 |1.5 |29.1 |29.1
Kingston upon Thames |59.2 |8.2 |22.3 |28.7
Haringey |59.0 |3.1 |31.5 |24.4
Newham |58.4 |13.5 |44.8 |0.0
Leeds |58.1 |1.3 |35.5 |21.4
Derbyshire |56.0 |5.5 |27.9 |22.7
Bradford |55.6 |3.5 |32.8 |19.4
Kirklees |55.4 |5.6 |31.2 |18.6
Northumberland |54.2 |1.8 |24.0 |28.3
Rotherham |53.9 |5.1 |34.4 |14.5
Nottinghamshire |53.9 |2.3 |45.0 |6.5
Bury |53.8 |3.3 |21.6 |28.9
Humberside |53.5 |4.4 |29.1 |20.1
Cumbria |52.8 |6.6 |14.3 |31.8
Barnet |52.3 |6.4 |22.4 |23.6
Cheshire |52.2 |3.4 |17.4 |31.4
Hillingdon |51.5 |2.0 |45.9 |3.6
Coventry |51.4 |4.9 |17.2 |29.3
Northamptonshire |51.3 |3.9 |15.1 |32.3
Waltham Forest |49.9 |5.3 |33.0 |11.7
Wirral |49.8 |3.2 |17.5 |29.0
Inner London |48.7 |6.8 |29.4 |12.5
Lancashire |48.6 |9.1 |7.9 |31.6
Enfield<2> |48.4 |0.0 |20.0 |28.3
Warwickshire |48.0 |6.3 |10.8 |30.9
Hertfordshire |47.1 |6.5 |23.5 |17.1
Harrow<2> |46.8 |0.0 |16.6 |30.1
Avon |46.4 |6.3 |9.3 |30.8
Dudley |45.3 |3.9 |28.1 |13.3
Stockport |43.7 |10.0 |5.1 |28.7
North Yorkshire |43.7 |2.2 |16.5 |25.0
Staffordshire |43.5 |7.1 |14.9 |21.5
Cornwall<1> |43.0 |0.9 |12.9 |29.1
Cambridgeshire |41.7 |3.9 |8.0 |29.8
Havering<2> |39.0 |0.0 |4.5 |34.5
Richmond upon Thames |37.4 |1.8 |17.6 |18.1
Leicestershire |36.5 |0.2 |21.3 |15.0
East Sussex |36.1 |2.0 |5.2 |28.9
Isle of Wight<2> |35.4 |0.0 |4.9 |30.5
Dorset<2> |35.0 |0.0 |5.6 |29.4
Bedfordshire |34.9 |8.3 |21.8 |4.8
Somerset<2> |34.7 |0.0 |0.9 |33.8
Shropshire |32.6 |1.6 |10.5 |20.5
Croydon |32.5 |4.6 |2.0 |25.8
Gloucestershire<3> |30.6 |0.0 |0.0 |30.6
Lincolnshire |30.5 |2.2 |5.7 |22.5
Suffolk |30.2 |0.6 |14.7 |14.9
Norfolk |29.2 |2.3 |2.4 |24.5
Sutton |25.7 |6.0 |19.1 |0.6
Devon |25.4 |1.1 |9.2 |15.1
Trafford<2> |25.4 |0.0 |18.0 |7.5
Berkshire |25.0 |9.5 |14.4 |1.2
Redbridge<2> |24.8 |0.0 |10.9 |13.9
Bexley |24.1 |2.9 |10.9 |10.3
Surrey |23.1 |1.7 |9.5 |11.9
Essex |21.5 |0.7 |5.4 |15.4
Hampshire |19.6 |0.7 |4.2 |14.7
Wiltshire<2> |18.4 |0.0 |2.2 |16.2
Buckinghamshire |18.3 |3.0 |7.4 |7.9
Oxfordshire |17.8 |5.0 |9.1 |3.7
Hereford and Worcester<2> |15.7 |0.0 |6.2 |9.5
Bromley<2> |15.1 |0.0 |1.8 |13.3
Kent |12.8 |0.2 |4.7 |7.8
West Sussex |9.1 |3.0 |0.6 |5.4
|------- |------- |------- |-------
England |44.8 |4.1 |20.1 |20.6
<1> Includes Isles of Scilly.
<2> Have no nursery schools.
<3> Have no nursery schools or nursery classes.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Odette Churchill
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Attorney-General how many applications have been received under the Public Records Act 1958 for access to information relating to the activities of Odette Churchill in the second world war ; and how many have been refused.
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The Attorney-General : Requests for access to information from records that are not open to public inspection are the responsibility of individual Departments. I understand that no information is available about the number of applications that have been made for information relating to Odette Churchill's wartime activities.
WALES
Community Care
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will set out the programme he intends to follow in providing additional finances to voluntary bodies other than housing associations in Wales (a) in the present financial year, (b) in the 1991-92 financial year and (c) in subsequent financial years in order to ensure adequate availability of appropriate housing to match the requirements of his programme for the implementation of care in the community.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on Monday 29 October, c. 360.
Schools (Surplus Places)
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy towards surplus places in schools.
Sir Wyn Roberts : This is set out in Welsh Office circular 20/88, entitled "Educational Quality in Wales : The Response to Falling School Rolls", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Planning Appeals
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all the planning appeals he has decided for west Swansea since he became Secretary of State ; and in which he found in favour of the developer.
Mr. Grist : The information is shown in the following table :
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Reference Number |Name and address |Development |Decision
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P84/1824 |Yeartripple Ltd., Rear of 15 Maliphant Street, Hafod |Commercial Garage and |Dismissed
| Store
P84/1826 |Hakbori and Maghsuoi, 608 Mumbles Road, Swansea |Change of use to |Allowed
| Restaurant and
| Takeaway
P84/1831 |Mr. A. Evans, Rear of 28 Wimmerfield Crescent, Killay |Single dwelling |Dismissed
P84/1836A |Messrs. SRN Homes Ltd., Whitegates Nursing Home, Mayals|Extension to Nursing |Allowed
| Road, Mayals |Home
P84/1877 |Gower Road Developments, Rear of 683, 685 and 687 Gower|Three Houses |Dismissed
| Road, Upper Killay
Schools (Surplus Places)
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy for providing funds for the construction of new schools in areas with surplus places in existing schools.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Most Government financial resources, including educational resources, made available to local authorities are distributed by means of a formula and are not hypothecated to particular services or schemes. It is for local education authorities to determine
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their needs for new schools, taking account of published policy on the reduction of surplus places, and to decide how these needs can best be met within the resources available to them.PRIME MINISTER
South Hams
Q23. Mr. Steen : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make an official visit to South Hams.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
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Textile Factories
Q65. Mr. Cryer : To ask the Prime Minister when she next expects to pay an official visit to a textile factory.
The Prime Minister : I have at present no plans to do so.
Territorial Claims
Q155. Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Prime Minister what steps she has taken to encourage signatories to the treaty of Rome and the Helsinki agreement to disavow territorial claims over their co-signatories.
The Prime Minister : None. No machinery has been established for considering such questions under the Helsinki final act. The European Communities have no competence in this area.
Food Mountains
Q162. Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the issue of the size of food mountains in the EEC.
The Prime Minister : Decisions on what issues to raise at the next European Council in December will best be made nearer the time. At the meeting on 27-28 October I emphasised to my colleagues the importance of the Community playing a more constructive part in the current GATT negotiations over reducing support for agriculture.
Scottish Fishing Industry
Q168. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Prime Minister if she will establish a Government inquiry into the financial prospects of the Scottish fishing industry.
The Prime Minister : No. The industry's earnings this year have increased, despite reduced volumes of fish being landed.
Funding of the Heritage
Q194. Mr. Allen : To ask the Prime Minister if she will meet lobbyists to Parliament from IPMS and other trade unions to discuss the funding of the heritage, on 31 October.
The Prime Minister : I am advised that the meeting has been cancelled. My right honourable Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment set out the Government's approach to the preservation and enhancement of our heritage in the White Paper "This Common Inheritance" (Cm. 1200).
Tanks (Spare Parts)
Q241. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what
representations she has had on the availability of desert-related spare parts for tanks and armoured vehicles to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in the middle east.
The Prime Minister : I am not aware of any such representations. Sufficient spare parts and major assemblies are available to meet anticipated requirements.
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Engagements
Mr. Adley : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 October.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 October.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 October.
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 October.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 30 October.
The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today. This evening I hope to have an Audience of Her Majesty the Queen.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Coastal Defences
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional resources are being provided by his Department to help improve Britain's coastal defences.
Mr. Curry : Increased funding for coast and tidal defence works was announced following the 1988 and 1989 public expenditure surveys. By 1992- 93 the provision for this work will have increased to £43 million compared with £33 million in the current financial year. The grant supplement paid on sea and tidal defence work was also increased in the last survey from 15 to 20 per cent. In addition, in response to the storms of last winter, increased supplementary credit approval of £2.3 million is to be made available for local authority schemes during the remainder of the current financial year.
Varroa Treatment
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures are being taken by his Ministry to approve treatments of varroa for use in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maclean : Any company wishing to seek approval to market a suitable treatment can apply to the veterinary medicines directorate at Weybridge for a product licence under Medicines Act procedures.
Horses (Export)
Mr. Moate : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his latest proposals in the European Economic Community negotiations on the question of the export of live horses from the United Kingdom for slaughter and consumption on the continent ; if it is still his policy that this trade will not be permitted ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : There have been no recent negotiations in the Community on this subject. It remains firm Government policy to press for the retention of controls designed to prevent the export of live horses for slaughter.
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Departmental Reorganisation
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what organisations and sections within his Department presently housed in London are being considered for dispersal to provincial areas.
Mr. Curry : My right hon. Friend and I are currently considering relocating some of the Department's headquarters functions away from London. The areas under consideration include work on pesticides and plant health, some of our statistical services and sections of our personnel, management and common services.
Intervention Products
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 25 October, about products released from intervention, if he will list the countries which bought the produce listed and the quantities in each case.
Mr. Gummer : Exporters who take products from intervention are not required to sell to particular countries but are free to find markets outside the European Community. Community arrangements allow exporters up to one year to supply proof of export. Consequently, information about the destinations of the products released from intervention in the 12 months to 30 September 1990 is not available.
Research and Development
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to restructure his priorities board for research and development.
Mr. Gummer : The membership of the priorities board for research and development in agriculture and food was expanded in June this year to include two more independent members. It now comprises an independent chairman, six independent members, MAFF's chief scientific adviser, a DAFS scientific adviser and the secretary to the AFRC. The full membership of the board is as follows :-- Dr. N. Brian Smith CBE
Professor T. L. Blundell FRS (with effect from
1 January 1991)
Mr. S. G. Metcalfe
Mr. J. G. Rymer
Dr. P. J. Bunyan FRSC
Dr. T. W. Hegarty
Mr. I. Howie FBIM
Mr. G. E. G. Harvey
Professor C. J. Leaver FRS
Mrs. B. M. Kelly
With the exception of the chairman, each independent board member chairs one of six advisory sectoral groups (ASGs). These provide the board with support and advice on what R and D is being sponsored within Government and industry. They have replaced the 18 occasional research consultative committees which previously reported to the board. The ASGs cover :
Ruminants
Monogastric Animals
Arable Crops
Horticulture
Food
Environment
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and bring together representatives from the main funding bodies of R and D from Government and industry in each sector.Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has published his response to the food safety and applied nutrition research consultative committee report to the priorities board of November 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The priorities board for R and D in agriculture and food took account of the food safety and applied nutrition research consultative committee report in preparing its 1990 report to agriculture Ministers and the chairman of the AFRC. The board's advice was accepted and is being implemented.
Food Imports
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he intends to take to stop the dumping of foodstuffs from eastern Europe at uneconomic prices in European Community countries via eastern Germany.
Mr. Curry : Foodstuffs imported duty-free into East Germany from eastern Europe during the transitional period following German unification must not exceed traditional trade flows and may be used only on the territory of the former German Democratic Republic. The Commission's "end- use relief" system of control is designed to ensure that these products do not leak into the rest of the EC. It requires permits specifying the "end use" of a product to be issued on import and allows customs authorities to make the necessary checks during processing and trading to monitor stated "end uses". Any other foodstuffs entering East Germany will be subject to normal Community duties and levies.
Agri-chemicals
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the prices of agri-chemicals in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Curry : No. Pricing is a matter for the market to determine.
Liming Grants
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek powers to reinstate grants for liming land.
Mr. Curry : Farmers taking out improvement plans under the Farm and Conservation Grant Regulations are already eligible for grant aid towards the cost of liming land where this is part of a programme of reseeding and regeneration. In the less-favoured areas lime treatment alone is eligible for grant where it can be demonstrated to be genuine restoration and not routine treatment. I have no plans to extend the grant aid to application of lime in other circumstances.
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EMPLOYMENT
Labour Statistics
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give a regional breakdown in percentage terms of the number of the unemployed in each region who have been out of work for over one year on the most recently available figures.
Mr. Jackson : The information is available in the Library. Unemployment figures by duration are produced quarterly. The table shows the percentage of unemployed claimants who have been unemployed for 12 months or more for each region in July 1990, the latest available date.
Region |<1>Percentage ------------------------------------------------------------------ South East (excluding Greater London) |19.4 East Anglia |21.1 Greater London |28.9 South West |23.2 West Midlands |32.8 East Midlands |27.8 Yorkshire and Humberside |32.2 North West |35.7 Northern |34.0 Wales |27.7 Scotland |35.8 Northern Ireland |51.3 United Kingdom |31.6 <1> Percentage of unemployed claimants who have been unemployed for 12 months or more in each region.
Mr. Lee : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the five travel-to-work areas with the highest percentage of employment in manufacturing and their respective figures.
Mr. Jackson : The most recent estimates of employment in travel-to- work areas are taken from the September 1987 census of employment. They cover employees in employment and exclude the self-employed. The five travel-to-work areas with the highest percentage of employment in manufacturing industry were :
|<1>Percentage
------------------------------------------------------
Haverill |56.0
Pendle |55.4
Barrow-in-Furness |54.6
Hawick |53.6
Accrington and Rossendale |48.9
Employees in Divisions 2 to 4 of the Standard Industrial Classification 1980, as a percentage of all employees in the travel-to-work area.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many were employed in the (a) agricultural industry, (b) coal mining industry, (c) shipbuilding and ship-repair industries and (d) the steel industry as at June of 1988 and 1989.
Mr. Jackson : The information is given in the table :
Employees in employment Great Britain Thousands Industries (SIC 1980) |June 1988 |June 1989 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Agriculture and horticulture (Class 01) |276.4 |262.5 Coal extraction and solid fuels (Group 111) |121.0 |101.8 Iron and steel (Group 221) |45.7 |36.2 Shipbuilding and ship repairing (Group 361) |52.8 |43.7
Small Businesses
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to retain the training and enterprise council structure to enable small businesses to have a say in their local organisations.
Mr. Jackson : Training and enterprise councils are required to include at least one executive on their board who has first-hand experience of running a small business.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to aid the establishment of small firm investment companies to provide equity and loan licensing for small businesses.
Mr. Forth : I have at present no plans to do so. I am, however, always ready to consider suggestions for new ways of helping small firms if there is clear evidence of a gap in market provision.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to establish an industrial development advisory service to provide advice and assistance to small firms and the self-employed.
Mr. Forth : Last year my Department's small firms service provided 50,000 counselling sessions for small firms and answered over 300,000 inquiries. Responsibility for small firms advice is, of course, being transferred to the emerging network of training and enterprise councils. In the training and enterprise council area that encompasses Southport the corporate and business plans are still under development. It is recognised locally that a full and comprehensive service to the small business sector will be necessary.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on investigations into the explosion and fire that occurred recently during construction of the channel tunnel.
Mr. Forth : Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive are still investigating the circumstances of the fire at the channel tunnel site on 22 September.
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