| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Fallon : In seeking approval for further instalments of central grant support all LEAs have since 1989 had to report on progress towards their school governor training targets. A survey by the National Foundation for Educational Research in summer 1990 showed that almost all governors had been offered training and over two thirds had attended training sessions. Her Majesty's inspectors of schools published a report in October 1989 on the early experiences of school governor training in a number of LEAs. A further HMI review is now under way and its findings will be published in the early autumn.
Nuclear Structure Facility
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to whether the nuclear structure facility will be subject to peer review before any final decision is made on its future.
Mr. Alan Howarth : At its meeting on 13 March, the Science and Engineering Research Council confirmed its decision to close the nuclear structure facility at its Daresbury laboratory, probably at the beginning of 1993. In reaching this decision the council took full account of the views of its Nuclear Physics Board as well as the representations it had received from the scientific community.
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will be represented at the Nuclear Physics European Collaboration Committee meeting in Ruthin in the week beginning 18 March in connection with discussion on the future of the nuclear structure facility at Daresbury.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to be represented at this meeting.
Birmingham City Action Team
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many meetings of Birmingham city action team were held in 1990 ; and how many meetings have been held in the current year.
Column 58
Mr. Alan Howarth : The Birmingham city action team meets approximately once a month. It had 10 meetings in 1990 and has had four meetings in the first three months of 1991.
Nursery Schools
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the spending for each local education authority in ranking order for the provision of nursery school places for the last year that figures are available.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 18 March 1991] : The last year for which expenditure on nursery schools was collected separately was 1986-87. For later years, authorities' returns of expenditure do not identify separate figures for nursery and primary schools. The table shows school- based recurrent spending on nursery schools. The figures do not include expenditure on nursery classes in primary schools.
Net institutional expenditure<1> in nursery schools 1986-87<2> LEA |£000 ----------------------------------- ILEA |7,623 Lancashire |2,481 Birmingham |1,987 Durham |1,917 Staffordshire |1,676 Avon |1,628 Berkshire |1,516 Humberside |1,481 Hertfordshire |1,337 Salford |1,166 Bedfordshire |1,021 Derbyshire |938 Manchester |929 Newcastle upon Tyne |862 Sheffield |744 Sunderland |715 Rochdale |666 Stockport |633 Bradford |611 Cumbria |591 Cambridgeshire |554 Liverpool |548 Walsall |541 Cheshire |525 Nottinghamshire |514 Ealing |512 Brent |491 South Tyneside |475 Warwickshire |456 Wolverhampton |438 Dudley |435 Bolton |434 Kirklees |422 Northamptonshire |386 Oxfordshire |385 Surrey |355 Coventry |345 Barnet |344 Wakefield |341 Croydon |339 Tameside |327 Buckinghamshire |325 Waltham Forest |290 North Yorkshire |243 Norfolk |244 Lincolnshire |240 West Sussex |230 Wirral |230 Rotherham |230 North Tyneside |219 Northumberland |213 Leeds |211 Kingston upon Thames |208 Sandwell |205 East Sussex |199 Sefton |195 Essex |184 Sutton |169 Devon |158 Hampshire |157 Haringey |157 Wigan |154 Bury |142 Bexley |124 Barnsley |112 Shropshire |111 Suffolk |103 Cornwall |94 Calderdale |90 Cleveland |90 Hillingdon |81 Kent |63 St. Helens |60 Gateshead |55 Merton |53 Richmond upon Thames |45 Leicestershire |31 Somerset |7 Barking and Dagenham |0 Bromley |0 Enfield |0 Harrow |0 Havering |0 Hounslow |0 Redbridge |0 Solihull |0 Knowsley |0 Oldham |0 Trafford |0 Doncaster |0 Dorset |0 Gloucestershire |0 Hereford and Worcester |0 Isle of Wight |0 Wiltshire |0 Newham |n/a Notes: <1> Net institutional spending includes the cost of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. The cost of central administration and of financing of capital expenditure is not included. <2> The figures are taken from authorities' expenditure returns to Government.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the number of nursery school places made available by each local education authority in ranking order for the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 18 March 1991] : Information on the number of nursery places is not available centrally. The number of pupils in maintained nursery schools in each local education authority in rank order as at January 1990 is given in the table. This excludes pupils in nursery classes in maintained primary schools.
Number of pupils in maintained nursery schools in rank
order
January 1990
|Number on roll
----------------------------------------------------------
1. Inner London |4,187
2. Lancashire |3,397
3. Durham |2,519
4. Birmingham |2,371
5. Berkshire |2,119
6. Staffordshire |1,916
7. Avon |1,685
8. Hertfordshire |1,633
9. Derbyshire |1,549
10. Bedfordshire |1,356
11. Humberside |1,007
12. Sunderland |996
13. Newham |965
14. Rochdale |922
15. Salford |900
16. Cumbria |881
17. Oxfordshire |870
18. Cheshire |839
19. South Tyneside |827
20. Wolverhampton |820
21. Stockport |816
22. Walsall |780
23. Warwickshire |758
24. Sheffield |692
25. Newcastle-upon-Tyne |689
26. Cambridgeshire |669
27. Nottinghamshire |658
28. Kirklees |619
29. Northamptonshire |597
30. Ealing |572
31. Liverpool |533
32. Barnet |527
33. Manchester |521
34. Buckinghamshire |519
35. Bradford |518
36. Bolton |507
37. Wakefield |469
38. West Sussex |455
39. Croydon |432
40. Coventry |426
41. Surrey |410
42. Norfolk |399
43. Rotherham |357
44. Hampshire |338
45. North Yorkshire |334
46. Tameside |328
47. Waltham Forest |325
48. Sefton |319
49. Dudley |310
50. Wirral |308
51. Leeds |299
52. Lincolnshire |299
53. East Sussex |298
54. North Tyneside |292
55. Devon |276
56. Brent |267
57. Essex |252
58. Haringey |245
59. Sutton |240
60. Kingston upon Thames |233
61. Sandwell |209
62. Bexley |180
63. Barnsley |177
64. Wigan |170
65. Shropshire |162
66. Bury |162
67. Cleveland |156
68. Northumberland |147
69. Hillingdon |120
70. Cornwall |118
71. Suffolk |97
72. Kent |80
73. St. Helens |75
74. Gateshead |68
75. Richmond upon Thames |62
76. Leicestershire |50
77. Isle of Wight |0
78. Barking |0
79. Calderdale |0
80. Harrow |0
81. Hounslow |0
82. Isles of Scilly |0
83. Redbridge |0
84. Bromley |0
85. Doncaster |0
86. Somerset |0
87. Dorset |0
88. Gloucestershire |0
89. Enfield |0
90. Trafford |0
91. Havering |0
92. Solihull |0
93. Oldham |0
94. Merton |0
95. Hereford and Worcester |0
96. Wiltshire |0
97. Knowsley |0
|---
England |51,678
Note:
(i) Includes full time and part time pupils
(ii) Zeros indicate authorities with no nursery schools.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Value Added Tax
Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the required level of value added tax if the amount of tax levied through the community charge were collected through the VAT system.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby) on 13 March at columns 553-54 .
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the additional revenue that would be generated by raising to 25 per cent. the VAT rate on those products which were historically subject to a 25 per cent. purchase tax levy.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Around £5 billion at 1990-91 levels of expenditure.
Company Cars
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the basis of environmental considerations concerning the cost of subsidies by the Exchequer towards the costs of company cars ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : I have received a number of such representations.
Interest Rates
Mr. Lawson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a table showing for each year from 1979 to 1991 to date, the average real short-term interest rate in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the Group of Seven as a whole, measuring the real United Kingdom interest rate in each case on the basis of the underlying rate of inflation.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Following is the information :
Column 62
Per cent.
Year |United |G7
|Kingdom
--------------------------------
1979 |1.2 |0.0
1980 |-0.1 |0.1
1981 |2.1 |3.6
1982 |3.6 |4.5
1983 |4.9 |4.6
1984 |5.3 |5.0
1985 |6.9 |4.6
1986 |7.4 |4.9
1987 |6.0 |3.8
1988 |5.7 |3.8
1989 |7.8 |4.5
1990 |7.1 |4.3
Sources:
OECD, CSO and national sources.
Inflation
Mr. Lawson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a table for each year from 1970 to 1990 inclusive, showing (a) the average underlying rate of inflation in the United Kingdom, (b) the average rate of inflation in the United States and (c) the amount by which underlying United Kingdom inflation exceeds United States inflation.
Mr. Norman Lamont : There are various ways of measuring underlying inflation. The following table shows the United Kingdom figures as measured by the RPI excluding mortgage interest payments and the community charge/rates. These figures are available only from 1976.
Average annual increase in consumer prices
|United |United States|Difference
|Kingdom<1> |of America
|Per cent. |Per cent. |Per cent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1976 |16.9 |5.7 |11.2
1977 |16.0 |6.5 |9.5
1978 |8.5 |7.6 |0.9
1979 |12.5 |11.3 |1.2
1980 |16.7 |13.5 |3.2
1981 |11.7 |10.3 |1.4
1982 |8.3 |6.1 |2.2
1983 |5.1 |3.2 |1.9
1984 |4.4 |4.3 |0.1
1985 |5.0 |3.5 |1.5
1986 |3.3 |1.9 |1.4
1987 |3.5 |3.7 |-0.2
1988 |4.4 |4.1 |0.3
1989 |5.7 |4.8 |0.9
1990 |7.2 |5.4 |1.8
<1> All items RPI excluding mortgage interest payments and community
charge/rates.
Mr. Lawson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average annual underlying rate of United Kingdom inflation for the periods (a) from July 1983 to October 1989 inclusive, (b) from July 1984 to October 1990 inclusive, (c) from July 1985 to October 1991 inclusive, using as a proxy for October 1991 the forecast for the fourth quarter of 1991 published in the 1991 FSBR, adjusted to provide a forecast for the underlying rate, and (d) from July 1985 to the latest available month, inclusive.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The average annual increase in the RPI excluding mortgage interest payments and the community charge was : (
(i) 4.4 per cent. between July 1983 and October 1989 inclusive ; (
(ii) 4.4 per cent. between July 1984 and October 1990 inclusive ; (
Column 63
(iii) 4.8 per cent. between July 1985 and January 1991 inclusive. No forecast is published for underlying inflation.Public Sector Borrowing
Mr. Lawson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total public sector borrowing requirement for (a) the period from June 1979 to June 1983 inclusive, (b) the period from July 1983 to October 1989 inclusive and (c) the period from November 1989 to the latest available month, inclusive.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The figures are as follows :
|£ million
-------------------------------------------------------
(a) June 1979 to June 1983 |40.5
(b) July 1983 to October 1989 |4.6
(c) November 1989 to February 1991 |-8.3
WALES
Special Schools
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how the weighting accorded to the number of statemented pupils on the rolls of special schools is expected to influence the integration of pupils with special educational needs into ordinary schools.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Education Act 1981 places a duty on local education authorities to secure that children with statements are educated in ordinary schools, subject to certain conditions. Wherever a child with a statement is placed, it is the responsibility of the LEA to ensure that the special educational provision specified in the statement is made and to allocate resources accordingly.
Toxic Waste
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the ports in Wales currently registered for the import of toxic waste and the amount of such waste imported, by port, for the last available year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : There is no requirement for ports to be registered for the importation of waste. The following amounts of hazardous waste were imported through ports in Wales for the year to March 1991 : 156 tonnes through Holyhead, 1,346 tonnes through Newport and 5 tonnes through Swansea.
Perinatal Mortality
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the perinatal mortality rate for the years 1986-87 to the present for (1) West Wales general hospital, Carmarthen, (2) Withybush hospital, Haverfordwest, (3) Singleton hospital, Swansea, (4) Morriston hospital and (5) Wales ; and what information he has on comparable figures for Great Britain.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Perinatal mortality rates on a hospital basis are not available centrally.
Data from the registration system which are routinely published on an area of residence basis are reproduced in the following table with equivalent rates for Great Britain.
Column 64
Perinatal Mortality Rates<1>
Area of mother's usual |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989
residence<2>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Britain |9.6 |8.9 |8.7 |8.4
Wales |10.3 |9.2 |8.6 |8.3
District Health Authority Area
East Dyfed |12.5 |10.1 |9.1 |9.5
Pembrokeshire |<3>8.0 |<3>8.2 |<3>13.4 |<3>8.9
West Glamorgan |10.1 |9.5 |8.4 |7.6
Source: Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
<1> Rates are perinatal deaths (stillbirths and deaths within the first week after birth) per 1,000 total (live and still) births.
<2> Not necessarily the area of delivery or death.
<3> Care should be taken in interpretation of these rates calculated from fewer than 20 events.
Equal Opportunities
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of officers in each grade, 1 to 7, and overall in his Department are women.
Mr. David Hunt : I refer the hon. Lady to the reply that I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner) on 7 March 1991 at columns 233-34.
Air Pollution
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to operate air pollution monitoring sites in Wales on behalf of the Government in respect of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, atmospheric hydrocarbon, trace germs, atmospheric chemistry and multi-element sites ; and if he will list other monitoring by independent organisations.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The coverage and density of the United Kingdom monitoring networks for airborne pollutants is kept under continual review. We are now planning to expand the network, as announced in the White Paper, "This Common Inheritance". As a first step we propose an improved urban system which will monitor carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and a range of atmospheric hydrocarbons, and will include a site in Wales.
There is no centrally maintained list of monitoring by independent organisations.
Housing Association Consultancy and Advisory Service
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many draft reports by HACAS in respect of Corlan Housing Association were presented to Tai Cymru before the final version ; and what was the final fee paid to HACAS.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I will ask the chairman of Tai Cymru to write to the hon. Gentleman.
Rehabilitation Seating
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Health Common Services health authority regarding (a) waiting lists, (b) funding requirements and (c) the method of transfer payment appropriate from 1 April, for rehabilitation seating provided by the rehabilitation engineering unit at Rookwood hospital.
Column 65
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : None. Management and financial responsibility for the rehabilitation engineering unit rests with the South Glamorgan health authority.South Glamorgan Hospitals
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what consideration he gave, prior to his approval of South Glamorgan health authority's proposals to transfer services provided at Glan Ely hospital to the Prince of Wales hospital at Rhydlafar to (a) the capacity of the foul drains at the Prince of Wales hospital to accept sluicings from the disposable bed pan mashing equipment currently used at Glan Ely hospital and (b) the cross-infection risk between geriatric and non-geriatric patients in physiotherapy and occupational therapy departments ;
(2) what consideration he gave, prior to his approval of South Glamorgan health authority's proposals to transfer services provided at the children's ENT hospital, Ely, to the University Hospital of Wales, to (i) the recent medical audit report on the relative costs of children's ENT operations at the children's ENT hospital, Ely, and (ii) the involuntary departures of the unit general manager, chief nursing officer, chief finance officer and chief personnel officer from the University Hospital of Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The considerations given to the authority's proposals are set out in the decision letter issued on 7 March. Changes in senior personnel at University Hospital of Wales are a matter for South Glamorgan health authority, which advises that a number of staff are moving as part of an agreed programme to strengthen financial and clinical management as the authority prepares for the NHS changes in April.
I regret that the hon. Gentleman has used parliamentary privilege to make careless, unfounded insinuations against public officials. I hope that in future he will ensure that any statements he makes have been verified.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will visit Glan Ely hospital and St. David's hospital, Cardiff.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : At present, neither my right hon. Friend nor I have any plans to visit these hospitals.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will visit the children's ward at Prince of Wales hospital, Rhydlafar.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I visited the ward on 15 March.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Maternity Provision
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the cost per annum of Britain's current maternity provision ; and what this figure is as a percentage of the national payroll.
Mr. Jack : The total estimated cost of financial provision for maternity in the 1990-91 year is £395 million made up as follows :
|£ million
---------------------------------------------------
Statutory Maternity Pay |340
State Maternity Allowance |34
Social Fund Maternity payments |21
In addition, there are costs to industry resulting from the right of those women employees who meet the relevant qualifying conditions to return to work after maternity absence. It is difficult to estimate these costs, but they may reasonably be expected to be in the range £200 million to £300 million per annum.
It is estimated that the cost to industry and the state is in the range 0.17 to 0.2 per cent. of total labour costs over the economy as a whole which are running at well over £300 billion.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to increase the £35 disregard in income from occupational pensions above which unemployment benefit is reduced for people over the age of 55 years.
Mr. Jack : We have no plans to increase the disregard.
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the real-term value of the £35 disregard on income from occupational pensions above which unemployment benefit is abated for people over the age of 55 years in relation to its level in 1981.
Mr. Jack : If the disregard had been increased in line with the RPI at January 1991 it would be £61.50.
Disability Working Allowance
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will give details of the functions to be assessed by the functional test on the disability working allowance ; and which disability organisations he has consulted regarding the details of the test ;
(2) whether his Department has drafted details of the functional test on the disability working allowance.
Mr. Scott : The test of functional disability for the disability working allowance--DWA--will be based upon the method of assessing disability developed by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys for its survey of disabled people in Great Britain. Research is currently under way to ensure that the test, which will use claimants' own assessment of their abilities, works satisfactorily. Very early indications are that a large majority of disabled people are happy to complete a self-assessment form similar to the one we have in mind for DWA. The research should be completed in April 1991.
Our proposals were developed in the light of discussions between officials and representatives of a number of disability organisations and other experts in the field.
Pensions
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to reach a social security agreement with Caribbean countries to enable those retiring there to receive annual increments to their old age pension.
Mr. Jack : The United Kingdom has a reciprocal social security agreement with Jamaica which provides for the payment of annual pension increases. Negotiations for an agreement with Barbados are nearly complete. This will provide for future pension increases to be paid after the agreement comes into force. We have no plans to negotiate agreements with any of the other Caribbean countries.
Column 67
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those countries which have a reciprocal agreement with Britain which ensures that retired people who are entitled to a British pension receive an annual increase.Mr. Jack : The United Kingdom has reciprocal social security agreements, providing for the payment of annual pension increases, with the following countries :
Austria
Belgium
Bermuda
Cyprus
Finland
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Guernsey
Iceland
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Luxembourg
Malta
Mauritius
Netherlands
Philippines
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United States of America
Yugoslavia
Pension increases are also paid to pensioners living in Sark by virtue of a provision of the Social Security (Persons Abroad) Regulations 1975.
| Next Section
| Home Page |