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                                          |Pupils in maintained secondary schools<1>                                          

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 1979                              |73,747                                                                             

January 1990                              |50,777                                                                             

<1>Includes middle schools deemed secondary.                                                                                  

Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much money in real terms was spent on average on each child attending state primary and secondary schools in Leeds in 1979 and in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mr. Fallon : Leeds spent £480 per nursery and primary pupil in 1979-80 and £1,155 in 1988-89, the latest year for which figures are available. It spent £490 per secondary pupil in 1979-80 and £1,545 in 1988-89. At 1988-89 prices those figures are £905 and £1,155 respectively for nursery and primary schools, and £920 and £1,545 respectively for secondary schools.

Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much Leeds education authority spent on books and equipment per pupil in 1987-88 and 1988-89 ; what is the estimated expenditure for 1990- 91 ; and what is the comparable average expenditure for metropolitan districts over the same period.

Mr. Fallon : Leeds spent £19 per pupil on books and equipment in 1987-88 and £22 per pupil in 1988-89. The comparable average figures for metropolitan districts are £41 per pupil in 1987-88 on books and equipment and £48 in 1988-89. Estimated figures for 1990-91 are not available.

Pupil : Teacher Ratios

Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the pupil : teacher ratio in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Leeds in 1979 and in the latest year for which figures are available.


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Mr. Fallon : The information requested for Leeds local education authority is as follows :


              Pupil:teacher ratio          

             |Primary  |Secondary          

-------------------------------------------

January 1979 |24.6     |17.8               

January 1990 |19.4     |14.8               

Iraqi Students

Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will indicate the income derived from postgraduate courses of study by Iraqi students in each year from 1981 to 1990 inclusive ; and what proportion of these amounts were provided from grants or loans from the Government of Iraq.

Mr. Alan Howarth : Fees for overseas students are set by institutions. They are expected to meet the full cost of the provision made, but details of the actual fees charged are not collected by the Department. However, on the basis of the minimum fee levels recommended by institutions' representative bodies for different types of courses, the Department's estimate is that the total fee income from the numbers of Iraqi postgraduate students in British institutions in the 10 academic years 1980-81 to 1989-90--details of which were provided at column 372 on 14 January in response to an earlier question from the hon. Member--was in the region of £35 million to £40 million. The Department does not collect information about the sources of individual students' funding.

Licensed Teachers

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the annual cost per trainee teacher of the licensed teacher scheme, disaggregated into (i) payment to licensee, (ii) payment to mentor teacher and (iii) additional expenditure incurred in paying for other teachers to cover mentors' usual teaching commitments.

Mr. Fallon : The information is not available in the form requested. Licensed teachers are employed by local education authorities and school governing bodies and are paid in accordance with the teachers' pay and conditions document 1990.

Training and associated costs for licensed teachers, including payment of incentive allowances to mentor teachers and the provision of supply cover both for the licensee and mentor, are eligible for support under the grants for education support and training programme.

A table showing the amount of local education authority expenditure to be supported in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 financial years and the number of licensed teachers expected to be supported has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what monitoring he is undertaking of the costs and effectiveness of the licensed teacher scheme ; how many local authorities are operating the scheme ; and how many teachers are involved.

Mr. Fallon : We have commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research to evaluate the scope, organisation and effectiveness of the first two years of the licensed teacher route to qualified teacher status. In


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addition to its routine inspections, Her Majesty's inspectorate is conducting a three-term examination of the licensed teacher programmes being operated by 11 local education authorities. In 1990-91, 57 LEAs applied under the local education authority training grants scheme and were allocated £2.3 million to support the training of 500 licensed teachers. For 1991-92, 67 LEAs have been allocated £5.4 million to support 1,500 licensed teachers under the grant for education support and training programme. A condition of receiving funding under this programme is that authorities monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their training schemes for licensed teachers.

Oxbridge Undergraduates

Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the number of undergraduates who enter Oxford and Cambridge university colleges who came from local authority-maintained schools ; and if he will show the numbers as a proportion of the entry as a whole for each college for each of the last five years.

Mr. Alan Howarth : Information on individual institutions is collected by the "Universities Statistical Record". Apart from regularly published information, further data at the institutional level may be released only with the prior authorisation of the institution.

Stolen Equipment

Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available ; and what was the approximate value of each item.

Mr. Eggar : The equipment stolen from the Department over the last three years is as follows :


[

Destination of Assisted Pupil Leavers                                                      

Academic      Numbers of assisted pupils<1>                                                

             |University  |Polytechnic |FHE         |Total       |Total pupils             

                                                                 |leaving AP               

                                                                 |schools                  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1988-89      |1,560       |400         |354         |2,314       |2,783                    

1989-90<2>   |1,822       |432         |611         |2,865       |3,670                    

<1>Figures include both fifth and sixth form leaders.                                      

<2>Subject to confirmation.                                                                

Assisted Place Pupils

Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the number of assisted place pupils who have entered higher and continuing education and the number who have entered Oxford and Cambridge colleges ; and if he will show such figures for each full year as available.

Mr. Fallon : The numbers of APS pupils entering universities, polytechnics and other establishments of further and higher education is available for academic years 1988-89 onward and are shown in the table. Information is not collected on the particular institutions which pupils enter.


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Destination of Assisted Pupil leavers Academic Year Numbers of assisted pupils

University Polytechnic FHE Total Total pupils leaving AP schools

1988-89 1,560 400 354 2,314 2,783

1989-90 1,822 432 611 2,865 3,670

Figures include both fifth and sixth form leavers.

Subject to confirmation.

Nuclear Structure Facility, Daresbury

Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will allocate to the Science and Engineering Research Council £20 million earmarked for funding for the nuclear structure facility at Daresbury ;

(2) if he will give the allocated budgets for 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1993-94 for the synchrotron radiation source project and the nuclear structure facility at the Daresbury laboratory of the Science and Engineering Research Council in Cheshire.

Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. and learned Friend allocates the science budget to the Science and Engineering Research Council and other bodies in the light of advice from the Advisory Board for the Research Councils. It is for the research councils to determine the detailed allocation of the funds made available to them.

Shire Counties (Expenditure)

Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list all shire counties in England in rank order of expenditure (a) per secondary pupil and (b) per primary pupil (i) including all items included in the general schools budget except capital and (ii) as in (i) but also excluding school meals and home-to-school transport for the latest year for which he has information.

Mr. Fallon : The information requested is not yet available.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Church of England (Vacancies)

37. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, what is the average period of vacancy for (i) bishoprics and (ii) incumbencies in the Church of England.

Mr. Alison : Over the last five years the average period of vacancy for diocesan bishops has been 22 weeks and for incumbents 29 weeks.

DEFENCE

Atomic Weapons Establishment Bill

Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has now made of the costs anticipated for 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95 to fund the proposals by the Atomic Weapons Establishment Bill, since his statement to the House of 18 December 1990, Official Report, column 251.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The only expenditure I expect to arise directly from the provisions of the Atomic Weapons


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Establishment Bill, as opposed to expenditure which the Secretary of State is able to make under his existing powers, is that of setting up an employing company at AWE. As I told the House on 18 December, this is likely to be of the order of £50,000. This will probably be incurred during 1991-92.

The Gulf

Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expressions of concern he has received from service men and their families about the length of time that mail takes to arrive in the Gulf and about the non-arrival of some mail ; and what response he proposes to make.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : We have received a number of letters from service families expressing concern about the length of time it takes for mail to arrive in the Gulf, but these must be set against the very large volume of mail being delivered daily to our forces. All forces mail to the Gulf is being moved by RAF aircraft. The transit time for letters is around five days and ten days for parcels, though these timings may be exceeded for troops in forward positions.

The importance of an efficient mail service is fully appreciated by the Services and every effort is made to achieve the earliest possible delivery.

Foreign Service Personnel (Training)

Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what income was derived from foreign and Commonwealth personnel sent for training at United Kingdom service establishments in each of the years 1985 to 1990 inclusive ; and what amounts were paid in each year by the Government of Iraq.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : The income from training foreign and commonwealth personnel at United Kingdom service establishments in the financial years 1985-86 to 1989-90 is set out below. It is not our practice to release details of military training provided for individual countries-- details of payments by Iraq are not held centrally and would require disproportionate effort to collect.


Financial Year |£ million                  

---------------------------------------------

1985-86        |25.0                         

1986-87        |47.9                         

1987-88        |41.2                         

1988-89        |50.2                         

1989-90        |51.7                         

Stolen Equipment

Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available ; and what was the approximate value of each item.


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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The number and value of major cases of theft of assets reported in the three most recent years for which information is available were provided in the Comptroller and Auditor General's Report on Fraud and Irregularities at Defence Establishments HC 134 (14 January 1991) at Table 1.

Three of the cases are covered in greater detail in cases 4, 5 and 6 of appendix 1 to that report, and the other two cases were : 1987-88

£22,761--Controlled and prescription only drugs.

1989-90

£19,707--Equipment.

Details of the individual items of equipment included in these major cases and in minor theft cases, which are handled at unit/establishment level, cannot be provided without disproportionate effort.

Land Acquisition

Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all land acquisitions by his Department in Scotland in the last 10 years, giving the dates of the acquisitions, the area acquired, and whether each acquisition is in the form of (a) freehold, (b) leasehold and (c) training rights.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.

Anti-tank Device

Mr. Dover : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the third tranche of orders for the anti-tank device will be placed with Royal Ordnance plc.

Mr. Alan Clark : Manufacturing release for the third tranche of the light anti-armour weapon 80 (LAW 80) is under consideration. I hope to make a decision shortly.

The Gulf

Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what units are currently on standby for the Gulf.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has announced the deployment to the Gulf of a further half squadron of RAF Buccaneer aircraft. Any additional deployments will be announced as appropriate when they arise.

Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether any plans for rotating units in the Gulf could result in United Kingdom forces being replaced by forces from other Community countries ;

(2) what plans he has for rotating units currently serving in the Gulf.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : The roulement of units in the Gulf will, if necessary, be considered as part of the normal military planning process, but is unlikely to involve the replacement of British units by forces from other European Community countries.

Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors, if any, compromise the minimisation of allied casualties as the overriding priority in considering how and at what time the plans for the liberation of Kuwait should be put into effect.


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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The aim of the current allied air campaign is to reduce the ability and the will of the Iraqi forces to fight, so that allied ground forces can, if necessary, complete the liberation of Kuwait in the shortest possible time with the fewest casualties.

Defence Jobs

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the consequence in Wales for jobs in defence establishments following the decision to reduce in real terms defence spending.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State indicated to the House on 21 January at column 103, we are continuing to study the broad proposals stemming from the options for change study. We will keep the House informed of progress in our planning as the implications for individual establishments become clearer.

HMS Onyx and Brereton

Mr. Sayeed : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he proposes to pay off (a) HMS Onyx and (b) HMS Brereton ; when he announced each such decision ; what further vessels he intends to announce the decommissioning of in the current financial year ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : HMS Onyx was decommissioned in December 1990. HMS Brereton is to be decommissioned in April 1991. It is not our normal practice to announce formally the decommissioning of individual vessels. Other ships which are to be decommissioned in the current financial year are HMS Penelope, HMS Hubberston, HMS Cuxton, HMS Cormorant and HMS Hart.

Holy Loch

Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 5 February, Official Report, column 167, under what circumstances he envisages visits to the Holy loch by United States naval vessels carrying cruise missiles after the base has been closed.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no specific plans for future visits to the Holy loch by United States vessels after the submarine forward support facility has closed. However, the Holy loch is currently one of a number of berths around the United Kingdom approved for visits by nuclear powered submarines. Holy loch's use for future periodic visits is therefore possible.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Non-fossil Fuel Obligation

Mr. Rost : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 24 January, Official Report, column 280, what plans he has to extend the non-fossil fuel obligation provisions of the Electricity Act 1989 to Northern Ireland.

Mr. Needham : There are no plans to extend the non-fossil fuel obligation provisions of the Electricity Act to Northern Ireland. However, in drawing up proposals


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for electricity privatisation in Northern Ireland, I am considering legislative provisions to encourage the use of renewable energy sources. I expect to publish the proposals shortly.

General Grant Factor

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the general grant factor in pence per pound for each district council for 1980-81 and each subsequent year.

Mr. Needham : The information is not recorded in the form requested.

Leisure Facilities

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the income from recreation and leisure facilities for each district council for the last available year and state the number of such facilities in respect of each council.

Mr. Needham : The income from recreation and leisure facilities for the 1989-90 year is set out below. Information about the number of facilities in respect of each council is not held centrally.


                 |£                

-------------------------------------

Antrim           |233,251            

Ards             |374,905            

Armagh           |189,989            

Ballymena        |215,486            

Ballymoney       |213,475            

Banbridge        |180,021            

Belfast          |2,951,829          

Carrickfergus    |461,142            

Castlereagh      |1,901,042          

Coleraine        |963,758            

Cookstown        |101,546            

Craigavon        |782,775            

Derry            |746,218            

Down             |347,639            

Dungannon        |144,177            

Fermanagh        |649,150            

Larne            |127,517            

Limavady         |220,400            

Lisburn          |409,556            

Magherafelt      |197,189            

Moyle            |209,563            

Newry and Mourne |403,414            

Newtownabbey     |537,666            

North Down       |378,294            

Omagh            |352,411            

Strabane         |153,711            

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many district councils sought, and how many received, Government loan sanction to build


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leisure facilities where a Department of Education grant was unavailable ; and if he will list the councils and the schemes.

Mr. Needham : The information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Regional Rates

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the regional rate in Northern Ireland for each year since 1980-81.

Dr. Mawhinney : The regional rate in Northern Ireland for each year since 1980-81 is set out in the table :


Year           |Regional rate                

               |(non-domestic)               

               |(pence)                      

---------------------------------------------

1980-81        |71.7                         

1981-82        |78.7                         

1982-83        |84.1                         

1983-84        |86.54                        

1984-85        |93.34                        

1985-86        |100.87                       

1986-87        |110.38                       

1987-88        |113.53                       

1988-89        |122.59                       

1989-90        |138.07                       

1990-91        |148.27                       

Domestic ratepayers have received a reduction of 12 pence in the poundage each year, through the domestic rate aid grant. The resulting domestic regional rate poundages were :


Year          |Regional rate              

              |(domestic)                 

              |(pence)                    

------------------------------------------

1980-81       |59.70                      

1981-82       |66.70                      

1982-83       |72.10                      

1983-84       |74.54                      

1984-85       |81.34                      

1985-86       |88.87                      

1986-87       |98.38                      

1987-88       |101.53                     

1988-89       |110.59                     

1989-90       |126.07                     

1990-91       |136.27                     

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the percentage increase in Northern Ireland's regional rate for each year since 1980-81 ; and what was the annual rate of inflation for each year.

Dr. Mawhinney : The percentage increase in Northern Ireland's regional rate and the annual rate of inflation in April for each year since 1980-81 is set out below.


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Year           |Per cent.     |Per cent.     |Per cent.                    

               |increase      |increase      |annual rate of               

               |(non-domestic)|(domestic)    |inflation                    

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1980-81        |17.9          |22.3          |21.8                         

1981-82        |9.8           |11.7          |12.0                         

1982-83        |6.9           |8.1           |9.4                          

1983-84        |2.9           |3.4           |4.0                          

1984-85        |7.9           |9.1           |5.2                          

1985-86        |8.1           |9.3           |6.8                          

1986-87        |9.4           |10.7          |3.0                          

1987-88        |2.9           |3.2           |4.4                          

1988-89        |7.98          |8.92          |3.9                          

1989-90        |12.63         |14.0          |8.0                          

1990-91        |7.39          |8.09          |9.4                          

District Councils

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the penny product for each Northern Ireland district council's district rate.

Mr. Needham : The information is set out in the table :



Penny  rate products for each Northern 

Ireland district  coun-                

cil                                    

1990-91 year                           

District         |1p Product           

                 |£                  

---------------------------------------

Antrim           |51,960               

Ards             |59,350               

Armagh           |38,640               

Ballymena        |59,470               

Ballymoney       |19,020               

Banbridge        |27,870               

Belfast          |400,790              

Carrickfergus    |30,690               

Castlereagh      |63,230               

Coleraine        |59,030               

Cookstown        |23,020               

Craigavon        |71,280               

Derry            |84,080               

Down             |46,730               

Dungannon        |32,880               

Fermanagh        |40,550               

Larne            |28,820               

Limavady         |22,230               

Lisburn          |95,700               

Magherafelt      |25,240               

Moyle            |11,810               

Newry and Mourne |61,680               

Newtownabbey     |81,520               

North Down       |77,340               

Omagh            |34,860               

Strabane         |23,130               

Housing, Belfast

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what number and percentage of houses in each housing district in Belfast were declared unfit for human habitation in each of the years between 1979 and 1991.

Mr. Needham : This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive but I have been advised by the chief executive that the information is not readily available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many houses have been built by (a) the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and (b) housing associations in each housing district in Belfast over the period from 1979 to 1991.

Mr. Needham : (a) This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive but I have been advised by the chief executive that the information sought for the period 1979-80--1981-82 is not readily available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. For the period 1982-83--1990-91 the numbers of dwellings built are as follows :


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Belfast Housing Districts                          

Year       |1   |2   |3   |4   |5   |6   |7        

---------------------------------------------------

1982-83    |118 |486 |217 |215 |109 |209 |390      

1983-84    |40  |367 |107 |179 |126 |361 |308      

1984-85    |41  |331 |198 |244 |38  |173 |325      

1985-86    |63  |393 |408 |110 |124 |179 |183      

1986-87    |47  |146 |135 |164 |148 |183 |191      

1987-88    |-   |237 |122 |83  |193 |115 |175      

1988-89    |22  |184 |108 |136 |167 |78  |129      

1989-90    |35  |308 |80  |70  |184 |77  |52       

<1>1990-91 |38  |124 |74  |99  |125 |17  |85       

<1> Figures for 1990-91 are for the period April   

1990-January 1991.                                 

(b) The numbers of dwellings built by registered housing associations for the period 1979-80 to 1990-91 are as follows :


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Belfast housing districts                          

Year       |1   |2   |3   |4   |5   |6   |7        

---------------------------------------------------

1979-80    |-   |-   |-   |37  |-   |-   |-        

1980-81    |-   |19  |-   |55  |-   |-   |-        

1981-82    |-   |8   |-   |-   |5   |-   |-        

1982-83    |-   |89  |-   |25  |9   |28  |66       

1983-84    |22  |70  |-   |7   |2   |64  |96       

1984-85    |-   |72  |-   |11  |68  |40  |250      

1985-86    |-   |77  |-   |22  |56  |22  |58       

1986-87    |31  |51  |-   |-   |41  |8   |46       

1987-88    |-   |45  |-   |36  |38  |11  |91       

1988-89    |-   |76  |-   |-   |48  |17  |133      

1989-90    |40  |4   |-   |-   |10  |45  |27       

<1>1990-91 |4   |30  |7   |-   |-   |46  |81       

<1> Figures for 1990-91 are for the period April   

1990-January 1991.                                 

General Grant Factor

Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the general grant factor paid to each district council in Northern Ireland in 1990-91 and the amount that would have been paid if the 1980-81 general grant factor had been used.

Mr. Needham : The total estimated amount of general grant due to each district council in 1990-91 is set out in the table :


Estimated grant payable in 1990-91   

year                                 

Council          |£                

-------------------------------------

Antrim           |271,500            

Ards             |1,246,451          

Armagh           |981,329            

Ballymena        |485,881            

Ballymoney       |560,834            

Banbridge        |594,700            

Belfast          |5,490,717          

Carrickfergus    |472,571            

Castlereagh      |373,483            

Coleraine        |296,053            

Cookstown        |589,420            

Craigavon        |1,607,153          

Derry            |3,700,423          

Down             |1,514,200          

Dungannon        |987,085            

Fermanagh        |1,105,293          

Larne            |440,627            

Limavady         |660,561            

Lisburn          |1,063,829          

Magherafelt      |710,623            

Moyle            |480,442            

Newry and Mourne |2,594,300          

Newtownabbey     |914,170            

North Down       |678,434            

Omagh            |1,182,481          

Strabane         |1,259,828          

It is not possible to apply the 1980-81 general grant factor to district council expenditure in 1990-91. The calculation of the general grant factor is dependent on the population, rateable valuations and the penny rate product for a district in a particular year. The criteria applying in 1980- 81 are not comparable with those applying in 1990-91.

Spelling

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will postpone the implementation of proposals to penalise pupils who have difficulty with spelling in examinations ; and what provision is being made to prevent disadvantaging dyslexic children when penalties for poor spelling are introduced at examination level.

Dr. Mawhinney : The Northern Ireland Schools Examinations and Assessment Council (NISEAC) is required by law to seek to ensure that its examinations are recognised as equivalent in standard to those conducted elsewhere in the United Kingdom. As part of the process of achieving this its GCSE syllabuses conform to the nationally set general and subject criteria for GCSE and, if there is any change to those criteria, this would affect NISEAC examinations also. The possible introduction of a penalty for poor spelling is currently being considered by the joint council for the GCSE and final decisions have not yet been taken.


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On the matter of the position of dyslexic children, for reasons of equivalence of standards it will be necessary to conform to whatever arrangements are agreed in relation to the spelling penalty for these pupils, and others with learning difficulties, in England and Wales.

Hazardous Waste, Maydown

Mr. Hume : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the consideration given by the Industrial Development Board to funding a hazardous waste incinerator at Dupont's Maydown complex ; what discussions have taken place with Dupont on the subject of grant aid ; what figures are being indicated ; and what discussions have taken place between the Department of Economic Development and the Industrial Development Board on such grant aid.

Mr. Needham : The Industrial Development Board has not yet given detailed consideration to financial support for a high temperature waste incinerator at Maydown. Du Pont is still at a very early stage in considering the feasibility of constructing such a facility.

Mr. Hume : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether any Northern Ireland Government Minister, Department or public agency communicated with any public official of the Irish Republic regarding Dupont's interest in hazardous waste incineration at its Maydown plant prior to receipt of a letter from the appropriate Minister in the Republic of Ireland in November 1990.

Mr. Needham : No.


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