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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 17 May 1991
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Grant-maintained Status
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schools have (a) become committed to hold a ballot on grant- maintained status, (b) voted yes and (i) had the proposals approved, (ii) had the proposal rejected and (iii) await determination of the proposal and (c) voted no ; how many in each category were the subject of (1) closure or (2) reorganisation proposals ; and whether, for schools in categories (b) , (ii) and (c) , the proposals have been approved or rejected.
Mr. Eggar : Two hundred and seventy-nine schools have been or are committed to holding a ballot on GM status. There have been 160 votes in favour, 47 votes against and 75 results are still awaited. Four schools have embarked on the process twice and one application lapsed.
Of the schools which voted in favour of applying for GM status, 77 applications have been approved and the Secretary of State is minded to approve another. Thirteen have been rejected and 45 have yet to be decided. Applications from a further 24 schools are awaited. The number of schools in each category which have been the subject of closure or reorganisation proposals were :
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|Number subject
|to closure/
|reorganisation
|proposals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
GM proposals:
Approved |77 |20
Minded to approve |1 |0
Rejected |13 |12
Not yet decided |45 |15
Still to be published |24 |6
Voted no |47 |20
Lapsed applications |1 |1
Ballot result pending |75 |11
|------- |-------
Total number of embarkations |283 |85
Nine of the 12 LEA proposals involving schools with rejected GM applications were eventually approved. Twelve of the 20 LEA proposals involving schools which voted not to apply for GM status were approved.
Voluntary-aided Status
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those applications for voluntary-aided status which have been rejected in the last 10 years, giving in each case the dates of application and rejection and the local education authority affected.
Mr. Fallon : The information since 1985 is provided in the following table. The Department has no readily available record of such applications before then. The list includes proposals for the establishment of schools after amalgamation or reorganisation, as well as proposals for brand new schools.
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Proposal date |Decision date |Description |Local
|education
|authority
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 March 1984 |25 February 1986 |Secondary reorganisation |Devon
23 November 1984 |12 August 1985 |Close two schools and establishment of a new secondary |ILEA
23 November 1984 |12 August 1985 |Close two schools and establishment of a new secondary |ILEA
9 July 1985 |28 July 1986 |Establishment Lubavitch House school as a voluntary aided instead of an
| independent |ILEA
6 December 1985 |17 September 1986 |Reorganisation in Trafford |Trafford
9 December 1985 | 7 January 1987 |Establishment of a new Church of England primary school |Avon
25 April 1986 |24 May 1990 |Application for aided status for the Islamia primary school |Brent
15 September 1986 | 8 May 1987 |Closure of St. Albans' Church of England secondary and establishment of
| secondary school |Birmingham
23 October 1986 | 5 August 1987 |Dudley reorganisation |Dudley
2 January 1987 |31 October 1988 |Change status of Yesodey Hatorah primary school from independent to
| voluntary aided |ILEA
15 December 1987 |12 May 1988 |Close one Roman Catholic infant and one Roman Catholic junior school
| and establishment of new Roman Catholic primary school |Salford
26 February 1988 |14 December 1988 |Establish new Church of England (voluntary assisted) first school,
| Creekmoor, Poole |Dorset
4 March 1988 |16 February 1989 |Establish St. Julian of Norwich high school in substitution for three Roman
| Catholic secondary modern schools |Trafford
11 November 1988 | 1 September 1989 |Amalgamate St. Bernard's convent and St. Thomas More high schools and
| establish a secondary school |Essex
6 January 1989 |15 September 1989 |Amalgamate St. Mary's and St. Veronica's Roman Catholic primary schools
| and establish a new Roman Catholic primary school |Lancashire
20 January 1989 |13 March 1990 |Establish a new Roman Catholic first and middle school in substitution for
| St. Mary's Roman Catholic primary school |Norfolk
18 May 1989 | 5 April 1990 |Reorganisation of primary and secondary schools-part 7 |Leeds
24 August 1989 |10 April 1990 |Establish new secondary school (on reorganisation) |Cheshire
13 September 1989 |22 January 1991 |Establish new Church of England comprehensive school (to replace county
| school) |Devon
28 September 1989 |26 November 1990 |Establish new Church of England voluntary aided primary school at
| West Tytherington, Macclesfield |Cheshire
19 October 1989 | 2 May 1990 |Establish a new voluntary aided primary school (amalgamation) |Salford
26 October 1989 |29 November 1990 |Establish new primary school in Ventnor road |Sutton
19 December 1989 |16 August 1990 |Establish new Church of England/Methodist voluntary aided primary school |Avon
15 March 1990 |26 October 1990 |Establish new Roman Catholic primary school in Sandhurst |Berkshire
13 June 1990 |28 January 1991 |Establish new voluntary aided secondary school (amalgamation) |Kent
7 September 1990 |25 March 1991 |Establishment of new secondary school |Somerset
14 September 1990 |20 February 1991 |Establishment of new primary school |Dudley
Seven-year-olds (Assessment)
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what preparatory steps he is taking to collect reports from teachers administering standard assessment tasks to seven-year-olds as to the practical implications of these tasks in their present form.
Mr. Eggar : A range of methods will be used to obtain teachers' views about the standard assessment tasks--SATs--as part of the evaluation of the first national assessments of seven-year-olds. The School Examinations and Assessment Council--SEAC--will be co-ordinating the information, which will include replies to questionnaires sent to two random samples of teachers. SEAC, together with the Department and Her Majesty's inspectorate--HMI--has also arranged a series of conferences which will be attended by teachers of seven-year-olds. The conferences will give teachers an opportunity to put forward their views about a range of aspects of the assessment arrangements, including the SATs.
Qualifications
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimate he makes of the proportion of the age group who by their 19th year have achieved (i) five or more GCSE passes at grade C or above, or qualifications at national vocational level 2 and (ii) two or more A-level passes, or qualifications at national vocational level 3.
Mr. Eggar : Information on students' attainments in national vocational qualifications is not held centrally, nor is information collected about GCSE passes gained by students in FE colleges. However, the proportion of all school leavers in England who had gained five or more GCSE passes at grade C or better in the academic year 1988-89 was 31.9 per cent.
As a proportion of the 18-year-old age group, 17.4 per cent. of school leavers and home full-time students in FE colleges had gained two or more A/AS passes, with two AS passes counting as one A-level.
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Olympic Games
Sir Neil Macfarlane : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether he has met members of the British Olympic Association to discuss Manchester's bid for the Olympic games ; (2) whether he has had meetings with the representatives of the committee for Manchester's Olympic games bid.
Mr. Atkins : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave yesterday, Official Report, column 221, to the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Mr. Pendry).
East Birmingham Task Force
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what visits or other engagements were undertaken by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science during his visit to the east Birmingham task force area on 21 December 1989.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The programme included visits to Birmingham Heartlands Ltd., St. Peter's college, the Ocean Video project and Just for Starters Ltd. and meetings with representatives of the Grand Metropolitan Community Trust and the Birmingham training and enterprise council.
Agency Status
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those bodies currently with agency status within his Department under the "next steps" initiative ; and whether he has identified any further candidates for agency status under the initiative within his Department.
Mr. Eggar : There are as yet no agencies within the Department under the "next steps" initiative, but my right hon. and learned Friend has identified the Department's teachers' pensions branch as a candidate for agency status.
Teacher Vacancies
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the results from his Department's January survey of teacher vacancies.
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Mr. Fallon : In England, in January 1991 there were 3,400 full-time vacancies in maintained nursery and primary schools and 2, 200 full-time vacancies in secondary schools. These figures are equivalent to 2.0 per cent. of teachers in service in nursery and primary schools and 1.2 per cent. of teachers in service in secondary schools. The overall total of 5,600 vacancies is equivalent to 1.6 per cent. of full-time teachers in service. These vacancy rates compare with 2.1 per cent. for nursery and primary, 1.5 per cent. for secondary and 1.8 per cent. overall last year, an improvement of around 14 per cent. These figures are most encouraging, especially for London, where the improvement on last year is of the order of 33 per cent. The full published details of the survey have been placed in the Library.ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Immigration Appeals Tribunal
Mr. Madden : To ask the Attorney-General for what reasons the Home Office's amplified grounds of appeal were not placed before the chairman of the immigration appeals tribunal when he reached a decision on 28 February ; when the amplified grounds were placed before the chairman of the IAT ; and if he will arrange for the chairman's decision to be expedited in view of the compassionate circumstances of the case.
The Attorney-General : The Home Office's amplified grounds of appeal in the case of Mr. Liwa Uddin were not placed before the chairman of the immigration appeals tribunal--IAT--when he reached a decision on 28 February because of an administrative error on the part of the immigration appellate authorities which resulted in the amplified grounds of appeal not being linked to Mr. Uddin's case file.
The grounds of appeal were subsequently placed before the chairman of the IAT on 17 April 1991, who dismissed the Home Office appeal in his determination of 7 May 1991.
Official Secrets Act
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions and on what basis he has been asked to authorise a grant of immunity to a civil servant from prosecution under the Official Secrets Act 1911 as part of inquiries into the leak of law officers' letters to Secretaries of State and other private individuals.
The Attorney-General : I have never been asked to authorise a grant of immunity from prosecution in such circumstances. The hon. Member will recall that my right hon. Friend the Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) informed the House on 23 January 1986, Official Report, column 451, that my predecessor had authorised the then head of the civil service to tell an official that he had my predecessor's authority to say that, provided that the head of the civil service received full co-operation in his inquiry into the disclosure of parts of a letter written by me, the official concerned would not be prosecuted in respect of anything said during the course of the inquiry.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Aid Policy
Sir Bernard Braine : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy in regard to providing aid for the governments of countries where human rights are openly violated and where there is evidence that traffic in drugs intended for export to the outside world is permitted.
Mrs. Chalker : A country's human rights record and its attitude towards illicit drugs production and trafficking are among the factors taken into account in allocating aid programme assistance among countries.
Economic Aid
Sir Bernard Braine : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries currently receiving British economic aid.
Mrs. Chalker : I refer the right hon. Member to the list of developing country recipients of gross bilateral aid in "British Aid Statistics 1985-89", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The following countries of eastern Europe have received assistance from the know-how fund : Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union.
Burma
Sir Bernard Braine : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the policy of denying aid to the Government of Burma, other than humanitarian aid to the refugees on the Thai-Burmese border, has yet had any effect on the repressive policies of the Burmese Government ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : Despite widespread international condemnation, there is still no evidence that the Burmese authorities intend to transfer power to the democratically elected representatives of the Burmese people or to put an end to their repressive human rights policies.
Botswana
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the environmental implications of subsidised beef imports from Botswana into the EC under the Lome trade agreement in terms of (a) the livestock stocking policy and (b) the veterinary fencing policy under EC disease control regulations.
Mrs. Chalker : No official assessment has been made. This is a matter for the Government of Botswana in the first instance.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning the use of levies returned to Botswana in subsidies for beef imports into the EC under the Lome trade agreement.
Mrs. Chalker : Under the preferential import quota scheme for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries including Botswana, beef imported into the Community is subject only to 10 per cent. of the normal import levy. No portion of this levy is reimbursed to the exporting industry.
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PRIME MINISTER
Special Forces
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will now make it his policy to answer questions relating to special forces.
Education and Training
Mr. Straw : To ask the Prime Minister when the promised White Paper on 16 to 19-year-olds' education and training will be published ; and which Department is taking the lead on this.
The Prime Minister : The White Paper on education and training will be published shortly. It is being produced jointly by my right hon. and learned Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Science and for Employment and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. A White Paper on education and training in Scotland will also be published shortly by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Olympic Games
Sir Neil Macfarlane : To ask the Prime Minister if he has any plans to meet representatives of the British Olympic Association and the Manchester Olympic Committee.
The Prime Minister : It is for my hon. Friend the Minister of Sport to discuss with those concerned how best the Government can help to promote Manchester's bid for the 2000 Olympic games. The Government wish Manchester every success.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Maintenance
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the amount of benefit expenditure on lone parents recovered from relatives liable to pay maintenance, for each year from 1978 to the latest available date.
Mr. Jack : The first year for which complete data are available is 1980-81. The data cover all payments received from liable relatives and include a small amount of maintenance paid for other families besides lone parents. The information is in the table.
|£ million
|(1989-90 prices)
---------------------------------------------------
1980-81 |175.6
1981-82 |207.0
1982-83 |209.0
1983-84 |197.6
1984-85 |186.2
1985-86 |197.6
1986-87 |-<1>
1987-88 |181.2
1988-89 |176.6
1989-90 |205.6
<1>Data not available as, no annual statistical
inquiry, which collects
the bulk of the required information, was
undertaken during 1986-87
because of a change in the collection
arrangements.
NB: The figures include estimates of benefit saved
as a result of
payments from liable relatives removing
entitlement to benefit.
Source: Departmental records.
Expenditure
Mr. Lawson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide the information given in his answer of 3 May, Official Report, columns 349-51, at constant 1989-90 prices.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is in the table.
£ million (1989-90 prices)
|Council rents |Community charge
|(rent rebates) |benefit and rate
|rebates
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |2,732 |1,681
1984-85 |2,817 |1,778
1985-86 |2,860 |1,842
1986-87 |2,913 |1,968
1987-88 |2,864 |1,944
1988-89 |2,851 |1,460
1989-90 |2,856 |1,460
1990-91 |2,951 |2,109
Note: Revalued to 1989-90 prices using the GDP deflator.
Social Fund
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for review by a social fund inspector were outstanding for more than one month on 28 February and 31 March.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is in the table.
28 February 1991--616 cases outstanding for more than one month. 31 March 1991--1,013 cases outstanding for more than one month. Additional inspectors have been recruited.
Child Benefit
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the amounts by which child benefit could be increased at no extra cost, if (a) the proposed extra £2 for first children were distributed evenly between all children and (b) third and subsequent children received £1 a week more than first and second children.
Mr. Jack [ holding answer 22 April 1991 ] : The £1 increase in April 1991 for the eldest eligible child is estimated to cost some £250 million. The full-year cost of increasing that rate by a further £1 in October will be some £355 million. If this £605 million were redistributed in the ways suggested, without carrying them through into income-related benefits, the rate for (a) all children would be £8.60 compared with £9.25 for the eldest eligible child and £7.50 for all other children from October, and (b) that for first and second children would be £8.45 and for third and subsequent children, £9.45.
ENVIRONMENT
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will indicate the financial costs to his Department in commissioning and publishing the research
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document "Competitive Tendering for Local AuthorityServices--Initial Experiences" ; and if he will indicate the future costs of any further research into compulsory competitive tendering that his Department is planning.
Mr. Portillo : The figure is £83,000. This was the first part of a three-year study, the remainder of which is estimated to cost £98, 000.
Environmental Education
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, as part of his programme to promote environmental education, he will make available resources for the distribution to schools, colleges and other similar bodies of copies of relevant environmental publications.
Mr. Baldry : Copies of the Department's "Environment in Trust" leaflets were circulated to all secondary schools in England and Wales on publication. These leaflets and other publications, including the recent "Wake Up" leaflet, are available to anyone on application. The Department also supports the preparation and distribution of educational materials by our grant-in-aid environmental bodies, and by those organisations which receive funds from the special grants programme.
Wath Recycling
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 9 May, Official Report, column 551, what assessment Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has made of the security with which the toxic waste held at Wath Recycling since June 1989 is contained.
Mr. Trippier : Contaminated copper hydroxide sludge was delivered to the Wath site during the week commencing 5 June 1989. After discussions between the South Yorkshire hazardous waste unit, the Health and Safety Executive, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution, the company and the producer of the material, it was agreed that the sludge should be repacked in steel drums and stored in a safe place on site, pending a decision on its final destination. The statutory control authority for waste storage and disposal is the SYHWA. HMIP has no statutory duties in respect of this matter and has had no further involvement.
People Sleeping Rough
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made on the initiative to provide accommodation for people sleeping rough in central London.
Sir George Young : I am glad to be able to report that there has been significant progress on this initiative.
The Housing Corporation is announcing today the allocation of over £50 million to more than 50 housing associations in London, to provide some 1,400 bedspaces in permanent homes for people sleeping rough or in hostels in central London. This allocation is part of the total provision of £96 million over three years which my Department has made for rough sleepers in central London.
Today's allocations will bring to more than 2,300 the number of places in move-on housing for rough sleepers
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being provided this year and next. In addition, some 1,000 additional places in direct access hostels should be in place within the next few months. So far, about 1,000 places are available, in a mixture of move-on housing, hostels and short-term shelters. The first Department of Health hostel for homeless mentally ill people was opened last month. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Health is today announcing proposed additional revenue funding of £2.7 million over three years, of which his Department will provide £1.5 million and the Mental Health Foundation will endeavour to raise £1.2 million from private sources. This will provide further psychiatric support for people sleeping rough and in hostels in London.The initiative is beginning to have a significant effect on the numbers of people sleeping rough in central London. The voluntary groups estimated in January that there were about 1,000 people sleeping rough in seven main areas in central London. Last month, the estimate was that numbers in these areas had come down to about 500. I hope that this progress will continue as more accommodation becomes available. I am very grateful for the very positive way in which the voluntary groups, the housing associations and the London boroughs have responded to the initiative. Our aim remains to make it unnecessary for anyone to sleep rough in central London.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Bailiffs
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to issue a code of conduct for bailiffs attached to magistrates courts.
Mr. John Patten : We intend to issue best practice guidance shortly on the use of bailiffs by magistrates courts.
Immigration
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of individuals accepted by the immigration authorities for permanent settlement in the United Kingdom for each of the last five years for which figures are available ; and how many individuals came from the Indian sub-continent and from Africa.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The available information for 1986 to 1988 is published in table 15 of the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration : Statistics United Kingdom 1989", Cm. 1124, and for 1989 and 1990 in table 1 of the Home Office statistical bulletin 3/91 "Control of Immigration : Statistics--Third and Fourth Quarters and Year 1990". A copy of each publication is held in the Library.
Coaches (Speeding)
Sir Anthony Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of convictions of coach drivers for speeding offences in each of the last five years.
Mr. John Patten : The motoring offences information collected centrally does not include the details of the type of vehicle involved.
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Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding has been provided to the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association in the last five years ; and what funding is proposed for 1991-92.
Mr. John Patten : Prior to 1990-91, no contribution from central funds was made to the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association. In the financial year 1990-91, a contribution of £40,000 was made by the Home Office to the association. Provision is available for a contribution of £40,000 in the current financial year, of which £10,000 has so far been paid to the association.
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role is played in the provision of advice to his Department by (a) the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association and (b) the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council.
Mr. John Patten : The Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council is constituted under section 29 of the Fire Services Act 1947 to advise my right hon. Friend on matters as to which he is required by the Act to consult it, or on any other matters arising in connection with the operation of the Act which the council has taken into consideration, apart from matters relating to conditions of service and the maintenance of discipline. My right hon. Friend is responsible for appointing the members of the council, who include representatives of the interests of fire authorities and of persons employed as members of fire brigades. The Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association is one member of the council. The association is also represented on the joint committees which report to the council and to the Scottish Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council. Apart from its role in submitting advice to my right hon. Friend through the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council, the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association has no special role in the provision of advice to the Home Office.
Birmingham Six
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is considering final proposals for financial compensation for each of the Birmingham Six ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : On the advice of the independent assessor, my right hon. Friend has made interim payments of compensation to each of the six men.
The solicitors representing the men have been asked to supply any information which they wish the assessor to take into account when determining the final sum. It is for the assessor to decide what the amount should be and when he has the information he needs to reach a decision. In accordance with the provisions of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, my right hon. Friend will accept the assessor's recommendation.
Criminal Justice System
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether the Royal Commission on the criminal justice system will consider the retirement age of those dispensing justice ;
(2) whether the Royal Commission on the criminal justice system will consider the work of the Crown forensic service ;
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(3) if the Royal Commission on the criminal justice system will consider replacing the appeal court system with a less adversarial court ;(4) whether the Royal Commission on the criminal justice system will consider the establishment of a national police force.
Mr. John Patten : The Royal Commission on criminal justice has been given very wide terms of reference, and it is for the commission to determine the way in which it will carry out its task and to report accordingly.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are proposed to allow hon. Members to give evidence to the royal commission on the Criminal Justice System.
Mr. John Patten : It is for the royal commission to determine the way in which it will carry out its task, but I understand that an announcement will be made shortly about the arrangements for the submission of evidence to the commission.
Crime
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give figures for (a) total crime and offences, (b) total crimes, (c) total offences, (d) serious assaults and (e) housebreaking for each year since 1979 inclusive ; if he will give the percentage increase or decrease for each year compared with the figure for the previous year together with the total increase or decrease since 1979 ; and what was the percentage clear-up rate for crimes in each of the years since 1979 inclusive.
Mr. John Patten : The information for England and Wales is published annually in tables 2.1 and 2.18 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" and tables A and D of Home Office statistical bulletin 4/91, copies of which are available in the Library. Corresponding information for Scotland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Sports Grounds
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what are the organisations and individuals which he has consulted on extending mandatory all-seated accommodation to sports grounds other than football grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 ; what are the methods by which and the dates on which such consultations will take place ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what are the organisations and individuals which he plans to consult on extending mandatory all-seated accommodation to sports grounds other than football grounds designated under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 ; what are the methods by which and the dates on which such consultations will take place ; when the consultation period will be completed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : During the course of last year Home Office officials held separate discussions with members of the executive committee of the rugby league, with officials of the rugby football union and, together with colleagues from the Welsh Office, with officials of the Welsh rugby
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football union. We have consulted and are currently awaiting the views of the Association of Chief Police Officers on the extension of mandatory all seated accommodation to these sports. My right hon. Friend will make a statement in due course. No consultations have been held with the cricket authorities because most designated cricket grounds are already wholly or substantially all seated. The designation of sports grounds under the 1975 Act is confined to grounds used for association football, rugby league, rugby union and cricket.Press Complaints Commission
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission ; and when he proposes to bring forward legislation as recommended by the Calcutt commission.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : My right hon. Friend and I met the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission on 14 March. The legislation recommended by the Calcutt committee is still under consideration.
Asylum Applications
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the numbers of (a) asylum applications granted and (b) cases in which exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom was granted in (i) 1988, (ii) 1989 and (iii) 1990.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The latest available information is given in the table :
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