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Nuclear Explosive Materials

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the international commerce in nuclear explosive materials.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : Under article 1 of the treaty on the non- proliferation of nuclear weapons the United Kingdom has undertaken

"not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices directly or indirectly".

As a depositary for the treaty, the United Kingdom has always taken its responsibility very seriously and is a member of both the Zangger committee and the nuclear supplies group which are the main bodies which deal with transfers of nuclear-related equipment.

Iran

Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made in normalising relations with Iran ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave to the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow (Dr. Godman) on 18 December 1991. We hope that the relationship with Iran will evolve in a positive direction.

Nuclear Arms and Human Rights

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what requirements Her Majesty's Government have laid down in recognising new states in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in respect of their adherence to nuclear arms control and human rights treaties including (a) the 1963 partial nuclear test ban treaty, (b) the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty and (c) the 1975 Helsinki accords on human rights ; and what discussions (i) he has had and (ii) he plans with his counterparts in these respective new states.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The European Community guidelines adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 December on the recognition of new states in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union cite respect for the commitments in the Helsinki final act and charter of Paris and acceptance of all relevant disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation commitments as factors relevant to the process of recognition. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met his counterparts in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia during his visit on 18 to 20 January, and stressed the importance we attach to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He has no immediate plans to meet foreign ministers of any other newly independent states in Europe.

Nuclear Non-proliferation

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what matters in regard to nuclear

non-proliferation were (a) discussed and (b) decided on his recent visits to (i) India, (ii) Kazakhstan, (iii) Ukraine and (iv) Russia.


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Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friend discussed nuclear non-proliferation and the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons--NPT--in all four countries. In India he urged early adherence to the NPT and commended the United States proposal for talks on nuclear restraint in south Asia. He received assurances from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan that nuclear weapons would continue to remain under central control and that the latter two countries would also accede to the NPT in due course.

Gold Deposits

Sir Robin Maxwell-Hyslop : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement concerning the gold deposited in the Bank of England by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : As the movement towards the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gathered pace in 1990, Baltic representatives and supporters raised questions about the gold which the Baltic central banks had deposited with the Bank of England before the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states in 1940. On 8 May 1990 my right hon. Friend the former Minister of State told the House that if the Baltic states achieved their independence they could advance claims for the gold.

Following the Government's recognition of the independence of the Baltic states on 27 August 1991, I immediately visited the three states and made clear that we hoped to settle the question of the gold promptly and on a basis satisfactory to all concerned. We invited representatives of each Baltic state to come to London for a first round of discussions on the gold and other financial matters. These took place in November : the Baltic Governments each formally lodged a request for their respective share of the gold.

Since then we have been working up appropriate proposals. This work has been completed. In general terms, the Government would like to see these questions settled on the following basis. We propose to transfer to each Baltic state gold equal in quantity to the gold deposited with the Bank of England before 1940 by its respective central bank, or the gold's equivalent value in money should the Baltic states themselves so prefer. We envisage this transfer as part of a settlement whereunder in each case no further claims would be pursued by either Government. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister this morning met President Landsbergis of Lithuania at Downing street and conveyed to him in general terms our proposals ; he also sent parallel messages to the Prime Ministers of Estonia and Latvia. We have invited each Baltic Government to send representatives for further rounds of discussion aimed at completing the various technicalities involved ; meetings with an Estonian delegation and a Lithuanian delegation are scheduled for 27 and 28 January respectively. We hope to reach final agreement with each Baltic Government by the end of March.

We want our relations with the newly-independent Baltic states to begin on the best possible footing. We are very pleased to be on the way to bringing this long-standing question to a satisfactory conclusion.


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Horn of Africa

Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will take steps to ensure that instability in the Horn of Africa is discussed at the current month's New York summit on the role of the United Nations and that consideration is given to steps that might be taken to recognise and support the continuation of relative stability that has been achieved by the current administration in Northern Somalia (Republic of Somaliland).

Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 21 January 1992, at column 105.

European Community

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to establish an induction course for new Members on the working of the European Community including a visit to Community institutions.

Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.

I have no plans to do so, but this is a matter which the hon. Member may wish to raise with the Administration Committee. I should point out that on 6 December 1991, the House agreed to provide for reimbursement of the costs of one visit on parliamentary business to a Community institution by a Member in any year.

DEFENCE

Chapelcross

Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facility will be provided to replace the tritium and plutonium presently produced at Chapelcross when the Chapelcross Magnoxes are shut down ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Arrangements for the supply of tritium and plutonium to meet the requirements of defence nuclear programmes are kept under constant review.

Low flying

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the numbers of low-flying sorties by aircraft type (a) for the period June to December 1990 and (b) for the period January to December 1991.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The numbers of low-flying sorties by aircraft type carried out in the United Kingdom for the periods June to December 1990 and January to November 1991, the most recent date for which figures are available, are as follows :



Numbers of Aircraft type                                                       

Aircraft type                        |June-December|January-                   

                                     |1990         |November 1991              

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

Buccaneer                            |1,239        |1,442                      

F-4                                  |993          |1,477                      

Harrier                              |3,926        |5,447                      

Hawk                                 |10,734       |14,664                     

Jaguar                               |3,502        |5,686                      

Jet Provost                          |5,948        |9,377                      

Tornado                              |12,787       |19,667                     

Tucano                               |1,339        |2,652                      

A-10                                 |7,065        |8,867                      

F-111                                |5,232        |8,964                      

Other aircraft including helicopters |26,648       |42,749                     

                                     |-------      |-------                    

Total sorties                        |79,413       |120,992                    

USAF Munitions Accident

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will send the hon. Member for Don Valley a copy of the Health and Safety Executive report on its investigation of the United States Air Force munitions convoy accident near King's Lynn on 13 September 1991 ; what action has been taken following the report ; and if he will place a copy of the Health and Safety Executive report in the Library.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Health and Safety Executive investigated this incident and concluded that there has been no breach of regulations governing the carriage of munitions. It was not asked to produce a formal report. We are, however, carrying out a comprehensive review of our arrangements for notifying the police of munitions movements by road.

Submarines

Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if any changes have been made since 1989 to instructions given to a submarine commander in the event of his vessel becoming entangled in fishing nets ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : The guidance given to commanding officers in the event of submarines becoming entangled in fishing nets has been revised to reflect the recommendations of the Royal Navy's board of inquiry following the loss of the FV Antares. This mainly reflected changes to the communications and alert procedures and the circumstances under which a submarine may leave the scene of the incident. The guidance has always stressed that the safety of life must take precedence over all other considerations.


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HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

EC Meetings

Mr. Allen : To ask the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, for each of the conferences since 1979, what expenditure has been incurred for the attendance by the House of Commons representatives at the meetings of presiding officers of national parliaments of the EC.

Mr. Beith [holding answer 20 December 1991] : Since 1979 seven conferences of the Speakers or presiding officers of parliaments of EC countries have been held : in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1991. In 1987 an additional extraordinary meeting was convened in Berlin to mark that city's 750th anniversary.

As the Fees Office accounting system for those years did not separate out the costs attributable to these events, it has not been possible without disproportionate effort to search out figures for them all. It has been possible, however, to extract the costs for the conferences held in Madrid in 1989 and Berlin in 1991. They were £1, 298.78 and £1,502.48, respectively.

New accounting methods being introduced into the Department of Finance and Administration should allow information of this kind to be more accessible in future.

Chlorofluorocarbons

Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on past and future private sector research into alternatives to CFCs ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Leigh : The proposed early phase out of Montreal protocol substances has encouraged rapid development of a range of alternative processes in all user sectors. United Kingdom producers continue to be in the forefront of both national and international research into drop-in replacements and new technologies, including the programme for alternative fluorocarbon toxicity testing.

Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research his Department has commissioned or carried out into alternatives to CFCs ; and what was the (a) cost, (b) type of alternative and (c) company involved in each project for the last five years and for 1992.

Mr. Leigh : The Department of Trade and Industry has carried out research and commissioned studies into the economic effects and availability of CFC alternatives, and has funded collaborative industry projects as follows.


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Date                    |Project                |Type of research       |Type of alternative    |Company involved       |Cost                                           

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

1987-ongoing            |NPL Soldering Club     |Collaborative          |Electronics Cleaning   |Over 100 United        |N/A                                            

                                                                                                |Kingdom                                                                

                                                                                                |Electronics                                                            

                                                                                                |Companies                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                        

March 1989              |Assessing alternatives |Conference Paper       |Refrigerant            |National Engineering   |N/A                                            

                        |  to CFCs                                                              |Laboratory (NEL)                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                        

November 1989           |Flooded Evaporator     |Conference Paper       |Refrigerant            |NEL                    |N/A                                            

                        |  Heat Transfer                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                        

November 1989           |Physical Properties of |Conference Paper       |Refrigerant            |NEL                    |N/A                                            

                        |  CFC alternatives                                                                                                                             

September-              |CFCs and Halons-       |Market Survey          |Aerosol Propellants    |Coopers & Lybrand      |£120k                                          

December 1989           |  the Scope for                                |  Solvents             |  Mott McDonald                                                        

                        |  Recycling and                                |  Refrigerants Foam    |  CS Todds various                                                     

                        |  Recovery                                     |  Blowing Agents       |  users and producers                                                  

                                                                        |  Fire Extinguishers                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                        

September 1991          |Defluxing of           |Collaborative          |Aqueous, Semi          |STC                    |£631k (of which DTI                            

                        |  electronic assemblies|  Research joint       |  Aqueous, and         |  GEC Marconi          |funding £217k                                  

                        |  An assessment of     |  MoD/DTI industry     |  hydrocarbon          |  BAe Dynamics                                                         

                        |  CFC replacements                             |  cleaning, no clean                                                                           

                                                                        |  fluxes                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                        

November 1991-          |Further demand for     |Market Survey          |HCFCs, alternative     |Coopers & Lybrand      |Project in progress                            

Ongoing                 |  HCFCs and effects                            |  refrigerants, foam   |  Deloitte, various                                                    

                        |  of use controls                              |  blowing agents,      |  producers and users                                                  

                                                                        |  cleaning                                                                                     

                                                                        |  technologies                                                                                 

To obtain details of cost of research completed prior to 1990 would involve disproportionate costs. There are no firm plans for further research in 1992.               

Ozone Layer

Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what were the dates of any regular meetings and one-off seminars regarding ozone depletion involving his Department within the last three years ; and if he will make a statement on plans for future meetings and seminars.

Mr. Leigh : Since the establishment of the DTI environment unit in March 1990 meetings have been held regularly with the various industry user sectors usually on a three monthly basis, to discuss Montreal protocol issues. During 1991 the Department also conducted a series of 17 environmental seminars around the United Kingdom in which ozone depletion featured among a wide range of topics. The DTI has in addition provided speakers for other seminars dealing specifically with ozone layer issues and attended ad hoc meetings with producer and user industry representatives. Officials of the Department are also involved in EC and international negotiations on such issues. It is envisaged that this pattern of contacts will continue for the foreseeable future.

Manufacturing Industry

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will next meet representatives of the Confederation of British Industry to discuss the recession in manufacturing industry in the north- west region.

Mr. Leigh : My right hon. Friend keeps in touch with the CBI on a wide range of business matters and next expects to meet representatives of the CBI on 4 February.

Car Exports

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the levels of exports of the British car industry in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Mr. Leigh : The number of cars produced for export was 280,729 in 1989, 405,769 in 1990 and 605,425 in 1991. This last figure represents a 49 per cent. increase on the 1990 figure.

Car Industry

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on prospects for the car industry.


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Mr. Leigh : The outstanding export performance of the United Kingdom car industry over the past year has done much to alleviate the short term difficulties which the recent slump in domestic demand has caused. In addition, the medium and long-term prospects for the industry look excellent. In particular the inward investment projects currently being undertaken by Nissan, Toyota and Honda look set to have a profoundly positive effect on the United Kingdom car manufacturing sector. Last week's announcement that Nissan is to increase production at its Sunderland plant to 270,000 units a year by next year, creating 600 new jobs, is of course very welcome, and will serve to continue the revolution which the United Kingdom supplier industry is currently undergoing as a result of the exacting requirements demanded by Nissan, and indeed increasingly by the longer established vehicle builders. Such developments mean that annual United Kingdom car production should be well on the way to2 million units by the mid to late-1990s, with an increasingly substantial proportion of it going for export.

Insurance Enterprises

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review the use of the term "mutual" by those enterprises he regulates through the Insurance Acts.

Mr. Redwood : I have decided that the Department should join the Life Assurance and Unit Trust Regulatory Organisation in undertaking a general review of the use of the word mutual in the marketing of insurance products and in the titles of companies providing those products.

Bus Operations

Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial assistance has been provided to Volvo Bus and the previous owners of Leyland's bus operations in Workington and Farington in each year for the last five years.

Mr. Leigh : The following financial assistance has been provided to Volvo Bus Ltd. (formerly Leyland Bus Ltd.) in the last five years for the Workington plant :


        |£              

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

1987    |482,484        

1988    |377,667        

1989    |nil            


     |£      

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

1990 |nil    

1991 |nil    

No financial assistance was given to the Farington plant in this period.

Manufacturing Plants

Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to take in respect of proposals by non-EC companies to close down manufacturing plants in the United Kingdom which provide for the strategic needs of the public sector.

Mr. Leigh : Individual cases are considered on their merits ; but in general decisions on the future of manufacturing plants are for the directors of the company concerned.

Company Accounts

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the sections of the Companies Acts which relate to appropriation of pension surpluses in a company's accounts.

Mr. Redwood : There are no specific provisions in the Companies Acts dealing with the accounting treatment of a pension scheme surplus in a company's accounts. However, the accounting treatment of pension scheme surpluses is dealt with in an accounting standard, SSAP24. There are also Inland Revenue rules about pension fund surpluses in connection with eligibility for tax relief.

Exports

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation under which companies in their annual accounts would be required to show the amount of exports to EC and non-EC countries.

Mr. Redwood : I have no plans to add to the present statutory requirements in respect of segmental information.

Price Level Accounting

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to require large companies to adopt a system of price level accounting.

Mr. Redwood : No. The valuation bases of assets in company accounts are best dealt with by accounting standards.

Liechtenstein (Companies)

Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid into the insolvency service account in each of the past four years by the Official Receiver and liquidators appointed by his Department (a) in total and (b) which had been recovered from companies based in Liechtenstein.

Mr. Redwood : The value of receipts paid into the Insolvency Services Account in each of the past four years is as follows, broken down by insolvency type :


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Year       |Bankruptcy|Compulsory|Voluntary            

           |£ million |£ million |£ million            

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

1987-88    |38.4      |52.9      |118.7                

1988-89    |55.9      |55.8      |106.7                

1989-90    |50.3      |52.3      |89.1                 

1990-91    |53.2      |85.6      |187.8                

No separate information is available regarding amounts recovered from Liechtenstein.

EC Trade Marks Office

Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress his Department has made in seeking to secure the proposed new EC trade marks office for a United Kingdom location ; and what consideration he has recently given to specific United Kingdom sites, including the London borough of Harrow.

Mr. Leigh : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave him on 11 March 1991, Official Report, column 385. There have been no developments and the position is unchanged.

British Steel

Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give the date of the meetings between himself or a Minister in his Department and the management of British Steel at which Ravenscraig was discussed in the last six months.

Mr. Leigh : My right hon. Friend meets the chairman of British Steel from time to time. The last meeting was on 20 December, and Ravenscraig was among the subjects discussed.

Manufacturing, Planning and Implementation Studies

Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what sum of money has been allocated for the manufacturing, planning and implementation studies programme for 1991-92 ; what proportion thereof had been allocated as at 31 December 1991 ; how many (i) successful, (ii) unsuccessful and (iii) pending applications there have been for assistance under the programme ; what arrangements his Department has made to monitor the administration of the programme ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Leigh [holding answer 20 January 1992] : Funding of the manufacturing planning and implementation studies--MPI--programme is £10,500,000, which has been allocated on the basis of the three year life of the programme, rather than by individual years. As of 31 December 1991, four applicants had accepted offers of grants totalling £200,000. Eighty-two applications have been received, 36 have been rejected and 46 are being progressed.

The MPI programme is continuously monitored by the Department through regular meetings with the scheme contractor, and the sampling of project applications. In addition, an independent review panel reports to the Department on matters surrounding the operation of the programme.


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Regional Selective Assistance

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the cost per job limit for regional selective assistance was last reviewed.

Mr. Leigh [holding answer 20 January 1992] : The regional selective assistance scheme is kept under continuous review with a view to ensuring that the scope for encouraging worthwhile and efficient investment in the assisted areas remains unimpaired.

Citizens Charter

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money his Department has spent on producing its citizens charter proposals, arising from production, distribution and publicity costs.

Mr. Redwood [holding answer 21 January 1992] : My Department has incurred no significant costs on the production, distribution and publicity of citizens charter proposals.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Tidbury Green School, Solihull

Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on his Department's assessment of the condition of Tidbury Green school in Solihull.

Mr. Fallon : My right hon. and learned Friend does not assess the condition of individual county and controlled schools. Solihull LEA's annual capital guidelines for 1991-92 and 1992-93 take account of both the projected deficit of school places in the area served by Tidbury Green school and the total number of sub-standard places in the authority's schools, as measured by the local education authority.

Polytechnics

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much funding has been made available to polytechnics for improvement and renovation of buildings.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The Government have made available some £340 million in capital grant to the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council to date. Of this, the council has allocated some £140 million to institutions for building improvements, renovations, additions and extensions. Separate information on building improvements and renovations at polytechnics is not held centrally.

The planned overall total for 1992-93 is some 50 per cent. higher than that of 1989-90.

Music Teaching

Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy on increasing the teaching of musical instrument playing in primary and secondary schools.

Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend is currently considering the report of the National Curriculum Council


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on music in the national curriculum for pupils aged five to 14. He intends to publish shortly, for consultation, a draft order for music, together with a draft associated document containing attainment targets and programmes of study. These will set out what pupils should achieve in music and the matters, skills and processes they should be taught so that they can reach their objectives.

Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy for increasing the number of teachers in primary and secondary schools who are trained to teach the playing of musical instruments.

Mr. Fallon : The Government are taking steps both to increase the supply of music teachers and to improve the skills of existing teachers of music. Measures include substantial support for in-service training and the funding of a video designed to interest more young people in a career in music teaching. Since 1990, the Government criteria for the approval of teacher training courses have stipulated that all students on primary phase courses are trained to teach music to the level required by the National Curriculum. Recruitment to secondary phase courses in music has been increasing since 1989, including an 18 per cent. rise in 1991.

Access Funds

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to increase the size of access funds to reflect the increase in the number of students.

Mr. Alan Howarth : The size of the access funds for 1993-94 will be considered in this year's public expenditure round.

Pupil Numbers

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average size of (a) a secondary school and (b) a primary school in England measured by the number of pupils.

Mr. Fallon : The average sizes of maintained primary and secondary schools, measured by the number of pupils including part-time pupils, are given in the following table. Separate figures are given for middle schools, which are therefore excluded from the primary and secondary averages.


=

                                   |Average size             

                                   |January 1991             

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

Primary schools<1>                 |210                      

Middle deemed primary schools      |282                      

Middle deemed secondary schools<2> |391                      

Secondary schools<2>               |778                      

<1>Includes centres for teaching English as a second         

language.                                                    

<2>Includes grant-maintained schools.                        

Prison Education

Sir Charles Irving : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements he intends to make to ensure the contribution of the full range of prison educational provision after implementation of the proposals in the Further and Higher Education Bill [Lords]


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Mr. Alan Howarth : The Secretary of State for the Home Department has responsibility for the provision of education in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales.

At present, local education authorities accept invitations to provide education for prisons and provision is usually made through a college of further education. Following the transfer of colleges of further education out of local authority control on 1 April 1993, subject to the passage of the Further and Higher Education Bill, the Secretary of State for the Home Department will invite colleges to provide education for prison establishments direct. This will ensure clearer lines of responsibility and better accountability.

All-seater Stadiums

Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many applications he has blocked from football clubs requesting grants towards all-seater stadiums ; whether he will list their names and the amounts of cash involved ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Atkins : I have made it clear to the trust that in my view it should continue to pay grant to any club in the present first division of the Football League for works to be completed or under way by the end of this close season. I am not yet in a position to offer support for a change in the Football Trust's resolution of April 1990 to allow premier league clubs, once that league is established, to have access to moneys made available to the trust following the reduction in pool betting duty in 1990. I prefer not to take matters further until I have received satisfactory clarification from the Football Association of the funds likely to be generated by FA-driven initiatives and their split between the premier league and Football League clubs for purposes of implementing the Taylor report.

Earth Sciences

Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make bursaries available for students taking postgraduate certificate in education courses in earth sciences ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Fallon : With effect from September 1991, students undertaking postgraduate certificate in education courses composed principally of physics, chemistry or biology, or any combination of those subjects, are eligible to receive a bursary. My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans for any further extension of the scope of the bursary scheme.


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