House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Jul 1991

Refugees (Legal Advice)

Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration was given to the obligations in the international conventions on refugees

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that there should be no discrimination in access to legal advice and assistance in proposing the ending of green form legal advice and assistance to refugees.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : In their review of asylum arrangements the Government have taken full account of the United Kingdom's international obligations. The planned change in eligibility for green form legal aid, which relates to all immigration matters, is compatible with these obligations. In this area the primary remedy lies in appeals to the immigration appellate authorities, for which free advice and representation is available from the United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service. We have no plans to alter access to the High Court in these cases or eligibility for legal aid for litigation there.

Mr. Paul Cleeland

Mr. John Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for his Department's document on Paul Alexander Cleeland's trial to be further

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amended in respect of the comments of the preparer of the document so that it refers only to the summing-up of the trial judge.

Mr. John Patten : Following my reply to a question from the hon. Member on 1 May 1991 at column 178, a copy of the revised Home Office memorandum on Mr. Cleeland's conviction was placed in the Library. We are now considering whether there are grounds to justify the intervention of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in the conviction of Mr. Cleeland. As part of the review of the case, we will consider whether any further amendments to the Home Office memorandum on Mr. Cleeland's conviction are necessary.

Public Opinion Surveys

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the public opinion surveys carried out by his Department since his answer of 17 December, Official Report, column 4.

Mr. John Patten : The Department has carried out four public opinion surveys since 17 December 1990 :

--two surveys of attitudes to crime and crime prevention among adults, done before and after Crime Prevention Week in April 1991 ; --two surveys about crime prevention, carried out in March and May 1991, as part of a series of surveys to test the effectiveness of crime prevention publicity.

Some questions on attitudes to punishment were also put to 12 to 19-year- olds in May 1991 in an omnibus survey.

Prisoner Transfers

Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons in which Mr. Charlie McGhee (MM2170) has been held in the six weeks up to 5 July ; and if he will give reasons for transfer in each case.

Mrs. Rumbold : Charles McGhee--MM2170--who is a category A prisoner, was transferred on three occasions in the six weeks up to 5 July 1991. On 7 June, Mr. McGhee was transferred to Frankland prison from Full Sutton prison in the interests of maintaining good order and discipline. On 23 June, following an incident at Frankland prison, it became necessary to move a number of prisoners, including Mr. McGhee, who was transferred to Long Lartin. On subsequent review, it proved necessary to move him again, in the interests of good order and discipline, and on 28 June he was transferred to Wakefield prison.

Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those countries with which the United Kingdom has a prisoner transfer ratification agreement ; how the parole systems in each country are affected by transfer ; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold : The following countries have joined the United Kingdom in ratifying the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons :

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Cyprus

Denmark

Finland

France

Greece

Italy

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Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

USA

A bilateral agreement has also been signed with the Government of Thailand.

We do not have comprehensive information about the parole systems in other countries. The necessary details are established when an application for transfer is received.

Advertising Campaigns

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the advertising, promotional or public relations companies employed by, or on behalf of, his Department who are involved in the campaigns given in his answer of 1 July, Official Report, column 4.

Mr. Kenneth Baker : The Home Office uses the following advertising agencies :

Collett Dickinson Pearce and Partners Limited--Crime Prevention FCO Limited --Fire Prevention and Safety, Electoral Registration, Absent voting

Riley Advertising--Police Recruitment : Graduate/Ethnic, Police Special Constable Recruitment, Prison Service Recruitment BMP DDB Needham Worldwide Limited--Passports

My Department does not use public relations companies. We do not currently use a promotional agency, although we did engage Clarke Hooper Consulting Limited for last April's Crime Prevention Week. "Civil Protection Magazine" is produced by the Home Office and the Central Office of Information.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

SERC Projects

Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the practice for the Science and Engineering Council in setting up a capital project with regard to estimating and recording the actual manpower used at the end of a project.

Mr. Alan Howarth : We have been informed by the SERC that under arrangements now in force for consideration of major capital projects, full account is taken of the estimated direct and indirect manpower costs involved. Detailed arrangements for subsequent monitoring during project construction also apply.

Education Resources

Mr. Butcher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his reply of 21 February, Official Report, columns 235 -36, he will publish the same tables with deductions for capital expenditure from the appropriate heading.

Mr. Fallon : The figures published in my reply of 21 February already exclude capital expenditure. The potential schools budget is the general schools budget less expenditure on five items excepted from delegation : capital ; government specific grants ; home to school transport ; school meals ; and transitional exceptions.

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National Curriculum

Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he is taking to inquire into the activities and costs of educational institutes following the Government's decision that the language in the national curriculum report was not of an adequate standard to merit publication.

Mr. Eggar : No such inquiry is necessary. My right hon. and learned Friend has decided that the materials should not be published so that they would be used only for their intended purpose and not used in the classroom as teaching materials.

Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, what action he is taking to recover the full amount spent on the unpublished language in the national curriculum report from educational institutes and other bodies engaged in its preparation.

Mr. Eggar : Language in the curriculum is a three-year training programme for teachers, now entering its final phase. The cost of producing the training package used in the programme was about £120, 000. The question of recovering costs does not arise.

Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions he has held with Nottingham university concerning research contracts between his Department and the university following his decision in respect of the language in the national curriculum report.

Mr. Eggar : My right hon. and learned Friend has had no discussion with the university of Nottingham concerning research contracts.

Salaries

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy on parity of salaries between clinical academic staff and their NHS counterparts.

Mr. Alan Howarth : It is for the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, as the representatives of university employers, to settle the pay levels of clinical and other academic staff within the aggregate resources available. The Government take account of relative pay and price costs and other relevant factors in determining aggregate public funding for the universities.

Medical Education

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from the British Medical Association on the impact on medical education of underfunding of universities ; and how he has responded.

Mr. Alan Howarth : Two letters about university funding and other matters have been received recently from the medical academic staff committee of the BMA. In reply, we have made clear that it is for individual universities to determine the funding of medical schools within the aggregate resources at their disposal, including the planned increase in available public funding in 1991-92 of some 10 per cent. for the second year running.

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Public Opinion Surveys

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the public opinion surveys carried out by his Department since his answer of 17 December 1990, Official Report, column 41.

Mr. Eggar : Further policy evaluation projects of the kind described in my reply on this subject on 17 December, which we have commissioned from the relevant budget since then are :

Effective management in schools.

Employment and development of teachers after long INSET courses. Follow-up of a survey service on bully/victim problems. Family expenditure survey 1991/92 (DES contribution).

Haberdashers' Aske's CTC

Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) in determining the percentage of his contribution towards any additional capital costs of establishing the Haberdashers' Aske's city technology college, what account he will take of the Haberdashers' Company's agreement to underwrite extra sponsorship income for the college during the period in which the initial capital works will be completed ;

(2) pursuant to his answer of 6 March, Official Report, column 187, what percentage up to 80 per cent. he will agree to contribute towards any additional capital costs of establishing the Haberdashers' Aske's city technology college ;

(3) what additional capital costs, beyond those specified in paragraph 8(ii) of the funding agreement signed on 21 December 1990, are expected to be incurred in establishing the Haberdashers' Aske's city technology college ;

(4) over what period he anticipates that the initial capital works for establishing the Haberdashers' Aske's city technology college will be carried out.

Mr. Eggar : I am discussing possible design changes to proposed capital works with the sponsors. I am not yet in a position to confirm the extent of any changes, associated costs and their apportionment.

British Nuclear Fuels plc

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assistance is provided by his Department to British Nuclear Fuels plc in support of its educational programme for school governors.

Mr. Fallon : As part of our general programme of support for school governors, the Department and Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools participated last December in the annual seminar organised by British Nuclear Fuels plc for its employees who are governors.

Advertising

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the advertising, promotional or public relations companies employed by, or on behalf of, his Department who are involved in the campaigns given in his answer of 1 July, Official Report, columns 43-44.

Mr. Eggar : The teacher recruitment campaign has been designed by Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising Limited.

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No company has yet been selected to undertake the publicity campaign to provide parents with information about changes in the education system.

The services to business campaign, run as part of the Department's professional, industrial and commercial updating (PICKUP) programme, is managed by Quadrangle Communications Limited.

Voluntary Aided Schools

Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schools applied to become voluntary aided schools during each of the past four years ; in how many cases were the applications supported by the local education authority ; and how many of these applications were subsequently approved by the Secretary of State.

Mr. Fallon : The information on the number of independent schools which have applied to the Secretary of State since 1987 for voluntary-aided status is provided in the table.


P

Year            |Number ofNumber|Number                                         

proposals       |proposals      |supported by   |approved                       

published       |published      |LEA                                            

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

1987            |2              |2              |1                              

1988            |0              |0              |0                              

1989            |1              |0              |<1>-                           

1990            |1              |1              |0                              

1991            |1              |0              |<1>-                           

<1> Still outstanding.

Nuclear Physics, Daresbury

Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what were the total manpower costs for nuclear physics at Daresbury for each year since 1974.

Mr. Alan Howarth : This information is not held centrally by the Department. The hon. Member may wish to direct his question to the Science and Engineering Research Council.

Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the annual extra overhead costs to be borne by the remainder of Daresbury laboratory as a result of the ending of the NSF contributions to those overhead costs.

Mr. Alan Howarth : This information is not held centrally by the Department. My hon. Friend may wish to direct his question to the Science and Engineering Research Council.

British School

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, if he will make additional provision for construction costs of the British school in Armenia in 1991-92.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Parliamentary approval for my Department to make final payments for the Armenian school project will be sought in a winter supplementary estimate for the schools, research and miscellaneous services vote (class XI, vote 1). This will provide mainly for some minor remedial work to complete the contract liabilities. The expenditure will be offset by a saving

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elsewhere on the vote. Pending Parliament's approval, urgent expenditure will be met by a repayable advance of £7,000 from the contingencies fund.

National Curriculum

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, when he intends to publish for consultation the draft order with attainment targets and programmes of study for modern foreign languages in the national curriculum.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I have today published for consultation a draft order with an associated document setting out attainment targets and programmes of study for modern foreign languages in the national curriculum for pupils aged 11 to 16, as I am required to do by section 20(5) of the Education Reform Act 1988. Copies have been placed in the Library.

The draft order has been prepared following advice to me from the National Curriculum Council, in the light of its consultations on the proposals made by the former holder of my office and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. I am most grateful to the council for its advice.

I have accepted the council's recommendations for attainment targets and programmes of study as a basis for further consultation. The National Curriculum Council has recommended a reduction in the total number of statements of attainment from 144 to 102. I have accepted this change and believe that it will be helpful in reducing the assessment load on teachers. I have however, made a few minor changes of wording, particularly to the non-statutory examples. The draft order for modern foreign languages sets out a range of essential language competences ; concentrates on the ability of pupils to use foreign languages effectively for communication ; highlights the importance of cultural awareness as an integral part of language learning and ensures that all pupils will receive a stimulating and worthwhile challenge in order to raise standards and stretch even the most able learners at the upper levels of attainment.

The period for consultation on the draft order will end on 4 October 1991. I intend to make the final order in November 1991 in good time for schools to begin teaching national curriculum modern foreign languages to pupils aged 11 from the following autumn. I have also accepted the national curriculum council's recommendation that the format of the order made under section 3(2) (b) of the Education Reform Act be amended from two schedules to a single list of specified languages. I intend to make a new section 3 order at the same time as the final order in November 1991.

Truancy

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he proposes to take to reduce truancy rates in schools.

Mr. Fallon [pursuant to the reply, 15 April 1991, columns 51-52] : My right hon. and learned Friend and his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales have today laid before Parliament regulations on pupil registration and the publication of information about rates of unauthorised absence. These require that from the

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beginning of the next school year, schools distinguish in their attendance registers between authorised and unauthorised absences of pupils of compulsory school age and from August 1992 maintained schools' prospectuses and annual reports include specified information on rates of unauthorised absence.

These regulations have been laid after a two-month consultation period in which widespread support was expressed for our proposed action on school attendance. They will stimulate all schools to give a high priority to attendance. Schools in turn should be able to look to parents to shoulder their responsibilities to secure their children's attendance at school.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Environment Exhibition, Olympia

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost and the benefit of his Ministry's exhibit at the recent exhibition on environment, wildlife and conservation at Olympia ; and what special literature was produced for the event.

Mr. Curry : The cost of the Department's exhibit at the Sunday Times exhibition on environment, wildlife and conservation at Olympia, was £100,000 of which £27,000 was for site rental. The exhibit explains how MAFF, in association with other Government Departments and agencies, works to achieve a balance in the use of the countryside and surrounding rivers and seas. A brochure entitled "Balance in the Countryside" is being used to support the exhibit.

Public Opinion Surveys

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the public opinion surveys carried out by his Department since his answer of 17 December, Official Report, column 72.

Mr. Curry : Current publicity campaigns are based on the opinion surveys commissioned by the Department prior to 17 December 1990. No further surveys have been undertaken since that date.

Set-aside Scheme

Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much has been spent on the United Kingdom set-aside scheme for each year since 1989-90 ; what are his estimates for 1992-93 and 1993-94 ; and what account in these estimates has been taken of the agreements reached at the Agriculture Council meeting in May.

Mr. Curry : The table shows the actual amounts paid to United Kingdom participants in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 financial years and the estimates of payments to be made in the period 1991-92 to 1993-94. The estimates do not take account of the agreement reached at the Agriculture Council meeting in May.


-

Financial |£ million          

years                         

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

1989-90   |<1>9.84            

1990-91   |<1>19.11           

1991-92   |<2>27.92           

1992-93   |<2>49.37           

1993-94   |<2>48.91           

<1> Actual.                   

<2> Estimated.

Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on the results of inspections his Ministry has carried out on the set-aside scheme including (a) the number of farms visited and (b) the percentage visited of the total in set-aside ; and how many breaches of regulation have been identified, for each year of the scheme.

Mr. Curry : The Community set-aside rules require member states to inspect a minimum of 5 per cent. of holdings on which land is being set aside under the scheme. It is not departmental policy to indicate the expected or achieved levels of inspection in the interests of proper enforcement. In the United Kingdom, in the first year of the scheme, significant irregularities were found on 2 per cent. of the holdings inspected.

Mr. Gill : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the arrangements for the five-year set-aside scheme in 1991-92 ; and whether he will allow the use of set-aside land to grow non-food crops.

Mr. Gummer : The five-year set-aside scheme will be open to new applications from 1 August 1991. The only changes to the rules of the existing scheme will be to provide for the partial refund of cereals coresponsibility levy paid between 31 July 1991 and 30 June 1992 to set- aside participants. The refund is expected (subject to detailed Commission rules) to amount to £2.68 per tonne. Application forms and explanatory booklets will be available from local divisional offices at the end of this month. These forms must be returned by 30 September 1991.

I have consulted interested bodies on the EC regulations permitting member states to permit the growing of cereals for non-food uses on set-aside land. In the light of that consultation and the report to the House of Lords by the Select Committee on European Communities (Sub-Committee D) on non-food uses of agricultural products I have concluded that we should not introduce such a scheme in the United Kingdom. I will, however, continue to keep the possibility under review.

Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the uptake of the set-aside scheme, including the number of farms and the area of land set aside in hectares in England in 1990 and 1991 ;

(2) if he will list the numbers of farms, the numbers of hectares and the average area per farm in hectares which are in the set-aside scheme in each county in 1991 ;

(3) what amount of land in (a) hectares and (b) percentage terms in set- aside was used for different land use options in 1990 and 1991.

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