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Residential Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received any representations from residential or nursing home owners with respect to the European Commission's social action programme, Council document 8073/90, about the organisation of working time.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We are aware of the independent sector's concern about this directive, and have received comments on behalf of private hospital, nursing home and residential care home proprietors.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will estimate the average number of weekly working hours of the average home-worker including overtime in (a) local authority residential homes, (b) private residential homes and (c) private nursing homes ;
(2) what is his estimate of the number of employees in residential and nursing homes who (a) have a minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours in every 24 hours, (b) work two consecutive full-time night shifts, (c) work more than eight night hours of every 24 hours, on average, and (d) have regular, free health assessments when working on night shifts.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has now assessed the implications of the European Commission's social action programme concerning the organisation of working time, Council document 8073/90, for the level of staffing ratio, organisation and running of residential and nursing homes.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A draft EC directive on the organisation of working time is currently under negotiation in Brussels. The Government are considering the implications of the directive for the United Kingdom.
Whitley Council
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the total number of staff involved in servicing the General Whitley Council and its committees, the annual cost of running the council, and the number of national health service staff covered by the General Whitley Council ; and if he will give similar figures for the review bodies on doctors' and dentists' remuneration and nursing staff, midwives, health visitors and professions allied to medicine.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The General Whitley Council is responsible for negotiating conditions of service for some 937,000 staff in the national health service, including 590,000 whose pay is covered by the review bodies. Servicing the work of the council and its committees involves 9.5 whole-time equivalent staff of the Department at an approximate annual cost of £153,000. The pay of the non-review body staff is negotiated by the various functional Whitley councils and related negotiating bodies.
Questions about the servicing of the review bodies are a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Employment.
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Food Poisoning
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to control campylobacter infection to prevent infection entering kitchens and food manufacturing premises ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : Attention to good food hygiene practice will help to prevent all forms of foodborne infection.
Guidance for the consumer is given in the leaflet "Food Safety : A Guild from Her Majesty's Government" copies of which are available in the Library. Food manufacturers are responsible for the microbiological safety of their processes. This responsibility is clearly set out in the Food Safety Act 1990.
Childbirth
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the sample of 173,000 births in England in 1988-89 referred to in his answer of 22 October, Official Report , columns 33-34 , which were used to estimate induction rates, instrumental delivery rates and Caesarean section rates were a random sample of births in all regions and districts of England in each month of 1988-89 ; and how many of these records did not have information recorded about (a) onset of labour or (b) method of delivery.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 7 December 1990] : The 173,000 records were those submitted by health authorities with method of delivery and method of onset of labour recorded. Due to teething problems with new data collections some health authorities were unable to submit a fully coded record for each delivery. The available data are thus not a random sample, but checks showed that the information given in the answer of 22 October at columns 33-34 was consistent with earlier figures.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
University Research Projects
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he has received from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals on the Hanham report on the costing of university research projects ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Universities have responded positively to the Hanham report, improving their cost-recovery procedures in the light of its recommendations. In the light of experience and with the assistance of other parties concerned, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals is further developing the costing principles for research projects.
Speech Therapy
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to assist local education authorities to meet their redefined duties to provide speech therapy for children who need to learn to communicate by speech, following the 1989 Court of Appeal ruling in R v. Lancashire county council ex parte CM.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department's circular 22/89, which was published on 29 September 1989, reminds local
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education authorities that in the case to which my hon. Friend refers, the Court of Appeal ruled that speech therapy could be considered either educational or non-educational provision. However, the ruling does not diminish health authorities' general responsibilities under the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 to provide speech therapy, and it does not mean that education authorities are under any legal obligation to fund speech therapy.Agriculture and Food Research
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amount of money his Department gave to fund (a) arable crops research, (b) animal health, (c) animal physiology and genetics,
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(d) engineering research, (e) food research, (f) grassland and environmental research, (g) horticultural research and (h) plant science research at Agricultural and Food Research Council institutes since 1980 ; and what are his estimates for 1991 and 1992.Mr. Alan Howarth : The Department funds the research councils, including the Agricultural and Food Research Council, through grants in aid from the science budget. It is in general for councils to decide how to spend their total budgets.
The council has provided the following figures for expenditure of funds received from the science budget on the categories of research listed in the question for financial years 1987-88 to 1990-91, and for estimated expenditure in 1991-92 and 1992-93 :
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£s Million
|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arable Crops |6.0 |7.6 |7.4 |7.2 |7.9 |7.8
Animal Health |3.6 |4.0 |8.8 |9.5 |11.1 |10.1
Animal Physiology and Genetics |6.3 |6.7 |8.1 |8.8 |9.6 |9.3
Engineering |0.8 |0.8 |1.1 |1.3 |1.5 |1.4
Food |6.2 |6.5 |7.9 |9.1 |14.8 |10.5
Grassland and Environmental |2.2 |3.6 |3.6 |4.4 |3.2 |3.1
Horticulture |2.9 |2.7 |3.1 |2.8 |3.2 |3.2
Plant Science |6.9 |6.2 |6.8 |7.8 |9.2 |8.7
|---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |----
Total |34.9 |38.1 |46.8 |50.9 |60.5 |54.1
It is not possible, without disproportionate work, to provide strictly comparable figures for the years 1980-81 to 1986-87 because of the major restructuring of AFRC institutes which has taken place and which is still continuing. In those years, the council spent science budget funds as follows :
5
million
|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84
-----------------------------------------------------
Animals |11.0 |13.8 |13.9 |14.0
Arable Crops |8.7 |9.7 |12.5 |18.4
Horticulture |2.1 |3.4 |6.0
Engineering |1.1 |1.6 |1.0 |0.6
Food Science |2.6 |3.2 |2.0 |3.2
|-- |-- |-- |--
Total |25.5 |31.7 |35.4 |36.2
million
|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87
---------------------------------------------------------
Plant Breeding |3.4 |2.8 |4.8
Crop Protection |4.6 |4.5 |5.9
Soils and Crop Nutrition |2.6 |2.7 |2.4
Crop Production |6.4 |6.4 |7.8
Animal Breeding |4.5 |3.0 |4.0
Animal Disease |4.9 |4.1 |4.1
Animal Nutrition |1.6 |1.6 |2.4
Animal Production |0.5 |2.2 |2.9
Food |3.3 |5.3 |5.5
|-------|-------|-------
Total |31.8 |32.6 |39.8
All figures represent the amounts paid to institutes for both recurrent and capital costs, including payments for major restructuring projects. Grants made to bodies other than AFRC institutes (such as universities) and central funds which have been used to support institute research (central administration, superannuation and so on) are not included.
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Pupil Costs
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average cost of a place in (a) primary education, (b) secondary education, excluding sixth forms, (c) sixth forms and (d) further education.
Mr. Eggar : The latest available information is for financial year 1988-89. Net institutional expenditure per pupil in nursery and primary schools, for which separate figures are not collected centrally, was some £1,100. For secondary schools, for which figures for sixth form and other pupils are not collected separately, it was some £1,690. Net institutional expenditure per student in local education authority maintained establishments of further education, excluding polytechnics, was some £2,860.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science for what reasons grant-maintained schools are excluded from the requirement of section 26(9) of the Education Reform Act relating to duty to comply with a parent's preference as to school and the circumstances in which no prejudice is taken to arise.
Mr. Eggar : The provisions made in section 26(9) of the Education Reform Act relate to the Education Act 1980, which does not apply to grant- maintained schools.
Under section 83(1) of the 1988 Act the governing body of a grant- maintained school is required to fix as the number of pupils it intends to admit in any school year a number which is at least equal to the approved admission number.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science under which separate headings grant-maintained schools may apply for special purpose
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grant ; in each case, what criteria or formulae are applied in determining the level of such grant ; and what is the total sum available for such grant for 1991-92.Mr. Eggar : Schools may apply for four separate types of special purpose grant : SPG (development) or SPG(D) ; SPG (premises) or SPG(P) ; SPG (restructuring) or SPG(R) ; and SPG (VAT) or SPG(V). SPG(D) is intended to mirror what the school might have received via educational support grant and local education authority training grants scheme towards the cost of management training, staff development and the implementation of the national curriculum and assessment arrangements. In 1991-92 each school will be entitled to receive up to £42 full-year equivalent per pupil.
SPG(P) is intended to meet the costs of premises insurance. It is payable up to a limit of £6,000 or 50 per cent. of the school's insurance premium, whichever is the lower figure.
SPG(R) is available to help with the costs of redundancy payments and other staff restructuring, where it can be demonstrated that the staffing changes are in the interests of the efficient operation of the school.
SPG(V) compensates for the payment of VAT on supplies and services, which grant-maintained schools, unlike local education authorities, may not claim back. It is available at a rate of 2.5 per cent. of a school's annual maintenance grant, with an appropriate deduction in the case of ex-county schools which on incorporation become eligible to receive rate relief as charities.
The total amount of special purpose grant available in 1991-92 will depend upon the number of grant-maintained schools in operation. That figure cannot be accurately predicted.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what special purpose grant payments have been made, or approved, under each heading to grant-maintained schools so far ; and how much this represents per pupil.
Mr. Eggar : The only firm information available is for the financial year 1989-90. The total payments were :
1989-90 |Total
|payments
|(£)
---------------------------
SPG(D) |183,956
SPG(P) |27,736
SPG(R) |11,823
SPG(V) |231,313
|-------
Total |454,828
Taking pupil numbers as at January 1990, these payments in total represent a full-year equivalent payment of £59.35 per pupil.
School Playing Fields
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to amend rule 909 to reduce the circumstances in which school playing fields may be sold.
Mr. Fallon : The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981, Statutory Instrument No. 909, prescribe minimum standards for playing field provision at maintained schools. The forthcoming review of the school
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premises regulations will cover the appropriateness of these standards in the context of current and future educational practice, and of securing better use of school grounds.Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the number and size of school playing fields that have been sold in the past 11 years.
Mr. Fallon : The information needed to provide the estimate requested by the hon. Member is not available centrally.
Physical Education Colleges
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many physical education colleges have closed in the past 11 years ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to take the steps necessary to transfer responsibility for the closure of physical education colleges to his Department.
Mr. Fallon : As no freestanding colleges of physical education are still in existence, the question of responsibility for their closure does not arise. Nonington college, Kent, has closed ; most of the other physical education colleges have merged with other establishments to become part of polytechnics or colleges of higher education. These institutions now offer PE as a subject specialism within their initial teacher training courses (secondary phase). Anstey college, Birmingham, was absorbed into Birmingham polytechnic in which PE is no longer an option within initial teacher training for the secondary phase.
London Schools Athletic Championships
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on the reasons the London schools athletic championships did not take place this year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : I have received no representations on this issue. However, I understand that the London schools athletic championships were not held this year because the schools involved were unable to make the necessary commitment to this event. As a result, the London Schools Athletic Association has decided to organise next year's championships on an inter-borough basis.
Sport
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) how many schoolchildren and young persons participated in sporting activities in 1979 and 1989 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what is the average amount of time devoted to sport and recreation in schools.
Mr. Eggar : The information requested is not available centrally. The Government fully recognise the importance of sport in schools. The national curriculum working group on physical education has been asked to take account of the contribution which competitive sport can make to the curriculum as a whole. The group's interim report is due to be submitted by the end of the year.
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Teacher Training
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will provide the latest available estimated cost to train a teacher.
Mr. Fallon : In polytechnics and colleges the estimated annual mean level of public funding per student enrolled on education courses in 1989- 90 was around £3,500. The same figure was taken by the Universities Funding Council as the maximum at which it would fund each university undergraduate teacher training place in its recent bidding exercise.
Teacher Appraisal
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will state the outcome of the recent consultations on school teacher appraisal.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [pursuant to his reply, 7 December 1990, c. 213] : I am grateful for the full and considered responses to the consultation which my predecessor launched in September.
Most respondents wanted appraisal to be a duty on employers--and a duty and an entitlement for teachers. I agree. Appraisal will enhance the professional skills of teachers, and hence the education of their pupils. It should become part of the everyday working life of teachers, as in other occupations. Appraisal will assist teachers to realise their potential and carry out their duties more effectively. It affords parents an assurance of the quality of the teaching which their children will receive.
Accordingly my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I intend to introduce regulations to require local education authorities and the governors of grant-maintained schools to arrange for the regular appraisal of all teachers whom they employ. We shall need to bring that requirement in gradually because the teacher force in England and Wales is 440,000 strong. But my target is that every teacher now in service should have had his first appraisal by the end of the 1994-95 school year.
The recommendations of the national steering group on the aims of appraisal and on the broad components of the appraisal process command wide support. The regulations and the circular which will accompany them will build on that foundation. Appraisal will take place on a regular two-year cycle. At its heart will lie an observation by a senior colleague of the teacher's work in the classroom. This will be followed by an interview in which the appraiser will discuss the appraisee's professional development with him, and set targets for future action.
I envisage that the regulations will enable the chairman of the school governors to see on request the targets set for teachers at the school. Disciplinary procedures will remain separate but may draw on appraisal records. In advising governing bodies on the exercise of their responsibilities for remuneration head teachers will be able to draw on relevant information from appraisal, along with other factors.
I consider that the national steering group substantially overestimated the cost of introducing appraisal. I shall support expenditure of £10 million on appraisal in 1991-92, and of at least £10 million in 1992- 93. Final decisions about 1992-93 and later years will be taken in due time.
My Department has today invited the Interim Advisory Committee on School Teachers' Pay and Conditions to
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consider an amendment to teachers' conditions of service which would oblige teachers to participate in appraisal with a framework prescribed by the regulations. I shall, as required by section 49 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986, consult again before making the regulations.DEFENCE
RAF Flying Accidents
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the nature and circumstances of the flying accident involving a Royal Air Force Jaguar aircraft on 12 September.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : On 12 September 1990, a Jaguar aircraft from RAF Coltishall on a routine training sortie crashed into a sandbank in the Solway firth. Tragically, the pilot was killed.
A board of inquiry has been convened, and a summary of its findings will be published.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the nature and circumstances of the flying accident involving a Royal Air Force Tornado aircraft on 18 October.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : On 18 October 1990, a RAF Tornado aircraft crashed while approaching to land at Tabuk air force base in Saudi Arabia. The aircrew both ejected, but suffered major injuries. A board of inquiry has been convened, and a summary of its findings will be published.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions since 1985 external stores have been inadvertently released from Royal Air Force aircraft in flight.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Eight, excluding occasions where weapons were released inadvertently within a weapons range danger area.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the nature and circumstances of the flying accident involving a Royal Air Force Jaguar aircraft on 13 November.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : On 13 November 1990, a RAF Jaguar aircraft on a low-level training flight flew into a ridge in the desert in Saudi Arabia, some 100 miles south of Bahrain. Tragically, the pilot was killed.
A board of inquiry has been convened, a summary of its findings will be published.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the nature and circumstances of the flying accident involving a Royal Air Force Harrier aircraft on 17 October.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : On 17 October 1990, a RAF Harrier aircraft experienced what appeared to be engine problems shortly after take-off from Alborg air force base in Denmark. The pilot ejected and the aircraft crashed into a field. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
A board of inquiry has been convened, and a summary of its findings will be published.
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Low Flying
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will maintain central records of confirmed infringements of United Kingdom low-flying system regulations by foreign aircrews.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if foreign aircrew found to have infringed the regulations governing the United Kingdom low-flying system are subject to disciplinary proceedings under the Air Force Act 1955.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying movements were booked in low-flying area 17 in 1989.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : It is not the general practice to publish such information relating to individual low-flying areas.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those low-flying areas where a limit is imposed on the number of aircraft permitted within the area at any one time ; and what was the date of introduction of the limit in each case.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Limits on the number of aircraft allowed at any one time in low-flying areas 7 and 17 were introduced in 1987 and in low-flying area 12 earlier this year.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Royal Air Force pilots are permitted to fly low level over the United Kingdom while wearing a patch over one eye.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the special circumstances in which Royal Air Force aircrew may be authorised to fly at heights less than those set out in the United Kingdom military low flying handbook, as provided in section 51 (b) of the Air Force Act 1955, and set out in Joint Services Publication 318.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I have nothing to add tothe reply which my hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Mr. Neubert) gave to the hon. Member on 19 April 1989 at column 113.
Gower Peninsula
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now reply to the letter sent to him on 12 October by the hon. Member for Gower regarding the potential hazards associated with leisure flying and low-flying aircraft over the Gower peninsula.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I have written to the hon. Member.
Iraq
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will request from the French Minister of Defence a full list of all weapons, aircraft, missiles and munitions supplied by French companies to Iraq prior to 2 August 1990.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : I am satisfied that we are making appropriate inquiries about Iraqi military equipment.
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