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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 11 December 1990
ENERGY
V7 Light Bulbs
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the V7 light bulb ; whether Her Majesty's Government will be taking any steps to promote its use ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The V7 light bulb is an energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamp available in the United States and manufactured to operate at United States voltage levels. My Energy Efficiency Office has examined a range of similar commercially available lamps in the United Kingdom. Compact fluorescent lamps are now becoming generally available in high street shops and supermarkets. They use 75 to 80 per cent. less electricity and last eight times as long as normal light bulbs for which they are suitable as direct replacements. The electricity they save will more than cover their extra initial cost.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many separate individual applicants have applied for shares in the regional electricity companies of England and Wales.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many individuals have made applications for shares in one or more regional electricity company.
Mr. Wakeham : A total of 12.75 million applications have been made for shares in the 12 regional companies share offers. Precise figures are not available at this stage, but the number of application forms is estimated at over 5 million. This is the highest number for any privatisation.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate for each regional electricity company floated, what the breakdown is of (a) within franchise area individual shareholders, (b) outside franchise area individual shareholders and (c) institutional shareholders.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 December 1990, at column 300 .
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is yet in a position to state how many applications for shares in one or more regional electricity companies have been received from households involving more than one applicant.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the estimated cost allocated for the use of the TRAP computer programme for the detection of illegal multiple share applications for shares in the electricity flotation.
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Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The electricity fraud auditors have set up a number of sophisticated systems for the detection of multiple share applications. The costs will depend on the scale of the work required.
Goods and Services
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will publish tables showing the amount spent on (a) acquiring and (b) commissioning goods and services by his Department in each of the last five years.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department's purchasing information system does not differentiate between acquiring and commissioning goods and services. However, information on the Department's purchasing expenditure from 1986- 87 is set out in the annual reports of the Central Unit on Purchasing, copies of which are available in the Library.
Advertising
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will publish a table showing the amount spent in each of the last five years by his Department on (a) advertising in the press, (b) advertising on television and radio, (c) other advertising and promotion and (d) promotion videos and sound cassettes.
Mr. Wakeham : The information requested is as follows :
£'000 ------------------------------------------- 1989-90 |892 |0 |1,000 |120 1988-89 |2,378 |4 |1,313 |184 1987-88 |1,513 |0 |959 |44 1986-87 |11,830|17,519|4,501 |62 1985-86 |1,589 |2,212 |<1> |49 <1>Expenditure on other advertising and promotion is not available for 1985-86 on a comparable basis. <2>Includes expenditure on films as well as videos.
THE ARTS
Goods and Services
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish tables showing the amount spent on (a) acquiring and (b) commissioning goods and services by his Department in each of the last five years.
Mr. Renton : My Department's accounting information system does not differentiate between the acquisition and commissioning of goods and services. The Office of Arts and Libraries administration vote totals £1,802,000 in 1990-91, of which about £150,000 will be spent on goods and services.
Advertising
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish a table showing the amount spent in each of the last five years by his Department on (a) advertising in the press, (b) advertising on television and radio, (c) other advertising and promotion and (d) promotion videos and sound cassettes.
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Mr. Renton : There has been expenditure by my Department only on the category "other advertising and promotion". The details for the last five years are as follows :Year |£ ---------------------- 1986-87 |Nil 1987-88 |13,225 1988-89 |6,785 1989-90 |1,564 1990-91 |658
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
University Staff
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement pursuant to the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State's letter, reference TEAH/614/1016 of 5 November to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, on his study of the report commissioned by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and AUT on recruitment and retention of university, academic and academic-related staff.
Mr. Alan Howarth : In agreeing appropriate pay levels for university academic and academic-related staff, the Government regard recruitment and retention as most important factors for consideration. The report referred to by the hon. Member will be taken into account in the context of the 1991 pay settlement. Our examination of the report has concluded that it does not appear to shed any significant new light on the question of staff outflows overseas.
Educational Psychologists
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on the numbers of educational psychologists placed in schools with substantial ethnic minority populations who are able to speak the language of that minority for 1985 to 1990.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The information requested is not collected centrally. The employment and deployment of educational psychologists is the responsibility of the individual local education authority.
Ethnic Minority Pupils
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has, for the last five years, on the number of ethnic minority pupils who have stayed on in school after the age of 16 years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The information requested is not available centrally.
Multi-faith Education
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will outline the ways in which multi-faith education is currently being promoted.
Mr. Eggar : Within the framework of the Education Reform Act, the precise content of religious education is a matter for local determination. The changes introduced by the ERA secure the place of Christianity within RE in
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schools, while taking account of the needs and aspirations of the many people who hold different beliefs. In county schools, RE must be provided in accordance with a locally agreed syllabus drawn up by a conference, convened for that purpose by the LEA and reflecting the principal religious traditions of the area. The ERA requires all new syllabuses to"reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain".
Teachers (Language Training)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much money has been spent in the past five years on the training of teachers in other languages ; and if he will give the languages currently being studied by those teachers.
Mr. Fallon : Training costs for individual courses vary between institutions and details are not held centrally. The principal languages other than English being studied include French, German, Spanish, Italian, Welsh, Latin and Greek.
Schools (Annual Grants)
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what, for each authority in which there is a grant-maintained school, is the average sum per pupil, in the primary or secondary phases, as appropriate, attributed in the calculations of annual maintenance grants to central services (a) for 1989-90 and (b) for 1990-91.
Mr. Eggar : This information is given in the table :
1. Figures are full-year equivalent for secondary schools. There
Central costs component of annual maintenance grant for grant
\~maintained schools
Local education authority |Per pupil |Per pupil
|amount (£) |amount (£)
|1989-90 |1990-91
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barnet |186 |251
Bedfordshire |203 |285
Berkshire |- |247
Birmingham |257 |351
Bolton |163 |249
Brent |- |380
Buckinghamshire |- |273
Cheshire |241 |318
Derbyshire |- |340
Devon |245 |389
Dorset |- |245
Dudley |274 |354
Gloucestershire |- |234
Hertfordshire |- |225
Hillingdon |- |374
Kensington and Chelsea |- |661
Kent |166 |238
Kirklees |218 |268
Lancashire |217 |269
Leicestershire |- |311
Lincolnshire |222 |190
Liverpool |315 |193
Northamptonshire |- |242
Shropshire |- |264
Southwark |- |520
Surrey |- |296
Sutton |243 |331
Tameside |193 |262
Wolverhampton |- |323
Notes:
1. Figures are currently no grant-maintained primary schools in operation.
2. Apportionment of costs between school and local education authority level will have changed in some
local education authorities between 1989-90 and 1990-91 as a result of the introduction on 1 April 1990
of financial delegation schemes for local management of schools.
3. Figures for Avon, Brent and Hammersmith have yet to be finalised.
Schools (Suspensions)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has, for the last 12 months, on the number of pupils expelled or suspended from primary and secondary schools, by ethnic origin.
Mr. Fallon : The information requested is not available centrally.
Bilingual Teachers
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has on the number of bilingual teachers appointed since 1985 by primary and secondary schools to bridge the language gap between teachers and students or parents.
Mr. Fallon : The information requested in not available centrally.
Occupational Health Services
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.
Mr. Eggar : All civil service departments and agencies have access to the services of the civil service occupational health service which employs some 100 fully qualified occupational health professionals-- doctors, nurses and hygiene and safety advisers. It operates via a network of regional offices throughout the United Kingdom. DES does not itself provide occupational health services. The Department currently employs some 2,600 staff.
Food Research
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give details of the staff losses expected at the Institute of Food Research attributable to the withdrawal of Government funding from those projects designated as near market.
Mr. Alan Howarth : A total of 19 posts will be lost by the end of the financial year 1990-91, as a result of the withdrawal of Government funding for "near market" research in 1991-92. In addition, a further 24 posts will be lost during the same period, because of the realignment of existing Government commissions.
Science and Engineering Research Council
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the amount of the special bonus paid by the Science and Engineering Research Council to its establishment officer in 1989.
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Mr. Alan Howarth : Under a scheme for Science and Engineering Research Council employees operative at the time, merit awards were made in February 1990 to the council's establishment officer and to a number of other staff. It is not normal practice to make public the value of payments to individual members of the Science and Engineering Research Council staff.
Goods and Services
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will publish tables showing the amount spent on (a) acquiring and (b) commissioning goods and services by his Department in each of the last five years.
Mr. Eggar : Departmental purchasing information systems do not differentiate between acquiring and commissioning goods and services. However, information on departmental purchasing expenditure from 1986-87 is set out in the annual reports of the Central Unit on Purchasing, copies of which are available in the Library.
Advertising
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will publish a table showing the amount spent in each of the last five years by his Department on (a) advertising in the press, (b) advertising on television and radio, (c) other advertising and promotion and (d) promotion videos and sound cassettes.
Mr. Eggar : The expenditure figures for advertising and other promotional materials by this Department for the financial years 1986-87 to 1989-90 are provided in the table. Video and cassette costs cannot readily be disaggregated from other advertising and promotion costs. The 1990-91 figure is provisional.
Year |Press |Television |Radio |Other
|advertising |advertising
|and
|promotion
|£000 |£000 |£000 |£000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |532.0 |Nil |Nil |533.0
1987-88 |280.0 |Nil |Nil |1,459.0
1988-89 |475.0 |Nil |40.0 |1,156.0
1989-90 |238.0 |Nil |11.8 |1,150.0
1990-91 |1,160.0 |1,100.0 |Nil |2,115.0
Education Resources
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what measures he is taking to ensure that more resources are delegated to schools ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Fallon : My right hon. and learned Friend is publishing today two draft circulars which will take forward our policies on local management of schools and on more open enrolment. My right hon. and learned Friend is determined to ensure that as much money as is reasonably possible is delegated to schools to manage themselves, and that parents are given the widest possible choice of school at primary as well as at secondary level. Copies of the two circulars are today being placed in the Library of the House.
The draft circular on local management of schools will require LEAs, before 1 April 1993, to hand over to schools
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at least 85 per cent. of the potential schools budget, and to determine 80 per cent. of school budgets on the basis of pupil numbers. The draft circular will also require, by 1 April 1994, the extension of delegated management to all small schools and to those special schools that are able and want to manage their own budgets. The two tables show, where the information has been provided, how each LEA currently performs against these criteria.Column 326
The draft circular on more open enrolment sets out our plans to extend that policy to all primary schools for intakes from autumn 1992. This will ensure that schools may not turn away any pupils while they have the space to take them, and so remove artificial limits on parental choice.Column 325
1990-91 budgets: percentage of potential schools budget delegated to schools
LEA<3> |Percentage of Total<2> dis-|Central
|PSB<1> delegated |cretionary
|to schools |exceptions as |as percentage of
|percentage of |PSB
|PSB
1. Bolton |89.10 |10.90 |2.02
2. Berkshire |87.68 |12.32 |2.71
3. West Sussex |87.49 |12.51 |1.95
4. Sefton |87.44 |12.56 |4.45
5. Sunderland |86.86 |13.14 |3.10
6. Gloucestershire |86.78 |13.22 |3.65
7. Northumberland |86.54 |13.46 |3.10
8. Rotherham |86.13 |13.87 |3.74
9. Leeds |86.12 |13.88 |3.87
10. Bradford |86.04 |13.96 |3.87
11. Hampshire |85.78 |14.22 |3.34
12. Rochdale |85.74 |14.26 |2.55
13. Walsall |85.72 |14.28 |3.37
14. Suffolk |85.66 |14.34 |2.75
15. Surrey |85.57 |14.43 |6.17
16. Doncaster |85.45 |14.55 |2.29
17. Solihull |85.31 |14.69 |2.49
18. Warwickshire |85.24 |14.76 |3.90
19. Lincolnshire |85.13 |14.87 |2.68
20. Liverpool |84.91 |15.09 |4.07
21. Buckinghamshire |84.88 |15.12 |4.58
22. Kent |84.87 |15.13 |3.79
23. Northamptonshire |84.74 |15.26 |3.69
24. Staffordshire |84.61 |15.39 |4.51
25. Shropshire |84.60 |15.40 |2.48
26. Tameside |84.40 |15.60 |2.47
27. Trafford |84.38 |15.62 |3.49
28. Salford |84.37 |15.63 |3.19
29. Barnet |84.36 |15.64 |5.07
30. Cheshire |84.31 |15.69 |5.15
31. East Sussex |84.09 |15.91 |2.42
32. Essex |84.03 |15.97 |4.11
33. Bedfordshire |84.02 |15.98 |3.91
34. Dudley |83.98 |16.02 |3.62
35. Havering |83.87 |16.13 |2.28
36. South Tyneside |83.76 |16.24 |4.20
37. Brent |83.63 |16.37 |4.82
38. Cleveland |83.63 |16.37 |5.56
39. Norfolk |83.62 |16.38 |4.05
40. Cornwall |83.57 |16.43 |3.72
41. Sutton |83.44 |16.56 |4.05
42. Barnsley |83.38 |16.62 |2.86
43. Kirklees |83.38 |16.62 |3.98
44. Derbyshire |83.37 |16.63 |2.96
45. Gateshead |83.29 |16.71 |3.01
46. Wigan |83.28 |16.72 |3.70
47. St. Helens |83.27 |16.73 |3.69
48. Sandwell |83.24 |16.76 |3.75
49. Durham |83.13 |16.87 |4.35
50. Devon |83.11 |16.89 |3.06
51. Birmingham |83.04 |16.96 |4.36
52. Somerset |82.91 |17.09 |3.58
53. Wakefield |82.87 |17.13 |2.98
54. Nottinghamshire |82.72 |17.28 |5.24
55. Redbridge |82.71 |17.29 |4.91
56. Lancashire |82.66 |17.34 |3.65
57. North Yorkshire |82.62 |17.38 |4.15
58. Sheffield |82.61 |17.39 |3.49
59. Cumbria |82.53 |17.47 |4.04
60. Isle of Wight |82.48 |17.52 |4.68
61. Wiltshire |82.35 |17.65 |3.92
62. North Tyneside |82.30 |17.70 |5.03
63. Avon |82.30 |17.70 |3.40
64. Bury |81.92 |18.08 |4.70
65. Knowsley |81.91 |18.09 |5.07
66. Calderdale |81.86 |18.14 |4.84
67. Dorset |81.85 |18.15 |4.71
68. Wolverhampton |81.77 |18.23 |5.26
69. Humberside |81.71 |18.29 |3.57
70. Ealing |81.66 |18.34 |6.33
71. Oldham |81.64 |18.36 |4.98
72. Hounslow |81.59 |18.41 |5.19
73. Harrow |81.52 |18.48 |5.76
74. Enfield |81.50 |18.50 |5.56
75. Oxfordshire |81.37 |18.63 |5.46
76. Bexley |81.33 |18.67 |4.61
77. Coventry |80.93 |19.07 |6.00
78. Cambridgeshire |80.75 |19.25 |4.82
79. Bromley |80.70 |19.30 |4.49
80. Richmond |79.98 |20.02 |6.91
81. Merton |79.79 |20.21 |7.86
82. Newcastle |79.75 |20.25 |6.12
83. Haringey |79.36 |20.64 |6.04
84. Kingston |78.46 |21.54 |7.09
85. Barking |77.98 |22.02 |8.91
86. Westminster |77.97 |22.03 |8.20
Average |83.75 |16.25 |5.26
<1> PSB=General Schools Budget minus mandatory exceptions, school meals, home to school transport and transitional exceptions.
<2> Column 2 is the percentage of PSB not delegated to schools ie 100 per cent. minus Column 1.
Note: All 87 LEAs which introduced LMS in April 1990 were required to publish budget statements for 1990-91 under Section 42 of ERA. The table gives figures for 86 LEAs,
Waltham Forest has not yet published its budget statement.
1990-91 budgets: percentage of the aggregated schools budget<1> allocated on the basis of pupil numbers and ages LEA<2> |Percentage ------------------------------------------- 1. Redbridge |89.30 2. Lincolnshire |87.27 3. South Tyneside |86.93 4. Barking |86.73 5. Bolton |85.73 6. Dudley |85.72 7. Tameside |85.57 8. North Yorkshire |85.51 9. Northumberland |85.49 10. Bromley |84.99 11. Oldham |84.77 12. Bexley |84.40 13. Gateshead |84.36 14. Wigan |84.35 15. Westminster |84.20 16. Staffordshire |84.00 17. Harrow |83.83 18. Kent |83.72 19. Coventry |83.52 20. Sefton |83.33 21. Trafford |83.28 22. Gloucestershire |83.22 23. Barnsley |82.80 24. Devon |82.64 25. Suffolk |82.57 26. Cambridgeshire |82.34 27. Avon |82.30 28. Solihull |82.29 29. Northamptonshire |82.19 30. Calderdale |82.17 31. West Sussex |82.13 32. Humberside |81.97 33. Rotherham |81.79 34. Salford |81.69 35. Isle of Wight |81.62 36. Bury |81.45 37. Cleveland |81.43 38. Hounslow |81.42 39. Wiltshire |81.00 40. Cornwall |80.93 41. Sunderland |80.69 42. Newcastle |80.66 43. Ealing |80.62 44. Durham |80.40 45. Sutton |80.29 46. Somerset |79.99 47. Warwickshire |79.89 48. Buckinghamshire |79.73 49. Berkshire |79.68 50. Enfield |79.21 51. Dorset |79.03 52. Leeds |78.90 53. Birmingham |78.63 54. Bradford |78.51 55. Merton |78.36 56. Haringey |78.25 57. Walsall |78.19 58. Kirklees |78.17 59. North Tyneside |78.00 60. Shropshire |77.91 61. Brent |77.81 62. Cheshire |77.78 63. East Sussex |77.41 64. Richmond |77.26 65. Sheffield |77.19 66. Essex |77.05 67. Bedfordshire |77.00 68. Kingston |76.84 69. Hampshire |76.63 70. Derbyshire |76.04 71. Norfolk |75.99 72. Cumbria |75.62 73. Oxfordshire |75.61 74. Doncaster |75.38 75. Havering |75.36 76. Wakefield |75.29 77. Barnet |75.19 78. Liverpool |75.00 79. Rochdale |75.00 80. St. Helens |75.00 81. Knowsley |75.00 82. Wolverhampton |75.00 83. Sandwell |74.94 84. Surrey |74.91 <1> ASB=Aggregated Schools Budget; the amount planned to be allocated through the LMS formula. <2> The budget statements produced by Lancashire and Nottingham LEAs did not contain the relevant information. Waltham Forest has not yet published its budget statement.
EC Education Ministers
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the outcome of the meeting of European Community Education Ministers on Thursday 6 December.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I represented the United Kingdom at a meeting of the Education Council and of the EC Education Ministers meeting within the Council on 6 December. The Council and the Ministers meeting within the Council :
--agreed a resolution inviting the Commission to report on the development of the EURYDICE information network,
--invited the Commission to conduct a survey on current and planned school activities in the field of education against drug abuse and to report in the context of its report on the implementation of the resolution of 1988 on health education,
--agreed a range of activities to promote co-operation between member states in the development of assessment systems in education, --discussed aspects of the development of professional and vocational higher education.
The meeting was preceded by an informal discussion with the Polish and Hungarian Ministers of Education and the Czechoslovakian Vice-Minister for Education.
PRIME MINISTER
Gulf Crisis
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister whether any disciplinary action is proposed against Brigadier Patrick Cordingley in respect of public statements about potential casualties in the event of resort to a military option in the Gulf.
Iraq (Supergun)
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Prime Minister which Government Departments were consulted about the orders for Iraq placed in 1988 by Walter Somers and Forgemasters.
The Prime Minister : In the case of Walter Somers, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Defence were involved. For the licence application made by Sheffield Forgemasters only DTI was involved.
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Nature Conservation
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the representations he has had from staff of the Nature Conservancy Council in Peterborough and Huntingdon about the break-up of the Nature Conservancy Council.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 10 December 1990] : In my capacity as the Member for Huntingdon, I received several letters and other representations from constituents employed by the Nature Conservancy Council about the planned reorganisation of the council. I have responded to those representations.
Science Policy
Dr. Bray : To ask the Prime Minister if he intends to take the overall responsibility for science policy ; if he proposes to chair the Advisory Council on Science and Technology and the Cabinet Committee on Science and Technology ; and what arrangements he proposes to make for overall ministerial responsibility for science policy.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 10 December 1990] : My intention is to continue the arrangements set out in the White Paper, "Civil Research and Development" (CM 185) of July 1987. In particular there will be collective ministerial consideration, under my chairmanship, of science and technology policy and priorities and the provision of independent advice from the Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST), chaired by Sir Robin Nicholson FRS.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will seek to arrange for the Order Paper to list the total number of questions entered in the ballot for each oral Question Time.
Mr. MacGregor : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. King), at column 296 .
WALES
Hospital Closures
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the date for a decision on the hospital closures proposed by South Glamorgan health authority.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : With the exception of the William Nicholls home, for which further consultation does not end until 31 December, it is hoped that decisions will be issued shortly.
Occupational Health Services
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements exist for the provision of an occupational health service for employees within his Department, stating (a) how many staff are employed to provide occupational health services, (b) how many of those staff are qualified nurses and (c) how many employees work in his Department in total.
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Mr. David Hunt : The Welsh Office employs the Civil Service Occupational Health Service to provide this service for its 2,352 employees. It does not employ staff directly for this purpose.Agricultural Co-operatives
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what financial support will be given to the organisation for the promotion of agricultural co-operatives in Wales in 1991.
Mr. David Hunt : The Welsh Agricultural Organisation Society does not receive any direct Government funds. One of the changes arising from the restructuring of Food From Britain's finances in 1988 was that the Welsh Agricultural Organisation Society would not, after March 1990, receive the annual subvention it had previously enjoyed. Food From Britain's new business plan emphasised project-based funding targeted at specific objectives. Consequently, Food From Britain will still consider funding the Welsh Agriculture Organisation Society, but only on a specific project basis.
Alcohol Abuse
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to ensure quality control and effective monitoring of the services provided as a result of the £150,000 funding for work on alcohol abuse announced by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at his Department on Drinkwise Day in June.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Arrangements for monitoring and evaluation of services are outlined in the guidance contained in WHC90(78) and WHC90(79) which were issued on 5 December 1990. Copies of both these circulars are in the Library of the House.
Homelessness
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many persons are classed as homeless in (a) Ceredigion and (b) Dyfed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Ninety-four persons in Ceredigion and 353 in Dyfed were accepted as homeless during the third quarter of 1990.
Young Offenders
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the provision of secure accommodation for 15 and 16-year-olds.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Our officials are currently conducting a review of secure child care, including secure accommodation, in Wales. They have sought and received views on the provision of secure accommodation for young people from the chief executives of the county councils in Wales ; from the chief constables, chief probation officers, chief Crown prosecutors and clerks to the magistrates in the Principality ; and from select voluntary organisations. In addition we have received a small number of letters from other interested parties, from members of the public and from right hon. and hon. Members. All representations received are being taken fully into account in the review.
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Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what changes he intends to announce to increase the amount of secure accommodation in Wales for youngsters of 15 and 16 years.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier reply of today. All options for improvement in secure child care practice in Wales are being considered in the Department's review of this area. In particular, the review will assess need for secure accommodation and will consider how that need might be met in the future. We have asked for the review to be completed early in the new year.
Goods and Services
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will publish tables showing the amount spent on (a) acquiring and (b) commissioning goods and services by his Department in each of the last five years.
Mr. David Hunt : Departmental information systems do not differentiate between acquiring and commissioning goods and services. Information on departmental purchasing expenditure from 1986-87, however, is set out in the annual report of the central unit on purchasing, copies of which are available from the Library of the House.
Health and Social Services Research
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) in cash terms and (b) deflated according to an appropriate index of higher education pay and prices the spending on health and personal social services research in each year from 1979 to the most recent year which his Department has funded in universities, polytechnics and other related institutions.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Funding for health and personal social services research is largely provided under the joint England and Wales health and personal social services research programme. Spending on this programme in 1989-90, the latest year for which outturn figures are available, was £15.4 million.
Information for earlier years is available in the Cabinet Office annual review of Government-funded research and development. Some additional funding for health research in Wales is provided directly by the Welsh Office. Spending in 1989-90, the latest year for which outturn figures are available, amounted to £518,000. Information for earlier years is available in the appropriation accounts.
Advertising
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will publish a table showing the amount spent in each of the last five years by his Department on (a) advertising in the press, (b) advertising on television and radio, (c) other advertising and promotion and (d) promotion videos and sound cassettes.
Mr. David Hunt : Welsh Office expenditure on advertising and other promotional activity for the past five financial years is shown in the following table :
Column 333
Year |Press |Television |Other
|advertising|advertising|advertising
|and
|promotion
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86 |31,000 |Nil |92,000
1986-87 |49,000 |27,000 |331,000
1987-88 |191,000 |39,000 |615,000
1988-89 |112,000 |64,000 |1,105,000
1989-90 |354,000 |57,000 |1,758,000
Expenditure for promotion videos and sound cassettes is contained within the amounts given for other advertising and promotion as records do not allow these elements to be quantified separately.
Countryside Council for Wales
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what level of resources will be provided for the Countryside Council for Wales in the 1991-92 financial year.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The proposed provision for the Countryside Council for Wales in 1991-92 is £14,554,000. This will enable the new body to undertake a comprehensive and balanced programme of work in discharge of all its functions. It fully meets the assurances I have previously given that the council will be adequately resourced.
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