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Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total number of grant-maintained schools.
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Mr. Forth : There are 217 GM schools operating in England, with a further 31 so far approved to begin in September 1992.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the current average length of time taken to determine
grant-maintained status.
Mr. Forth : The current average length of time from publication of proposals to decision is approximately 4.5 months.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many denominational schools have obtained grant-maintained status ; and how many inquiries are outstanding from such schools for grant-maintained status.
Mr. Forth : There are 17 denominational grant-maintained schools. Proposals for a further four have been approved. Proposals from two further schools will be determined in due course.
Police and Schools
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to encourage greater co-operation between police and schools.
Mr. Forth : Under the Education (No. 2) Act 1986, school governing bodies are required to report annually to parents on steps taken to strengthen links with the community, including the police. Advice on good practice in police/school liaison was contained in HM inspectorate's publication "Our Policeman" published in 1989. The Elton report on "Discipline in Schools", distributed to all LEAs and schools in March 1989, also gave advice on links with the police. The Department is currently funding a research project by the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders on the role of the education service in youth crime prevention. My right hon. Friend will wish to review the general question of links between schools and the police in the light of the outcomes of that project.
Truancy
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what plans he has to reduce the incidence of truancy in schools ; (2) what is the estimated level of truancy in secondary schools (a) nationally and (b) by reference to local education authority area.
Mr. Forth : Truancy is a serious matter. It undermines the educational process and contributes to the juvenile crime rate. Figures are not collected centrally, but truancy is known to be particularly prevalent in the latter years of secondary schooling, where as many as one in five pupils in some schools truant. The Department is currently supporting through the grants for education support and training--GEST--programme projects in a number of LEAs designed to improve school attendance.
My right hon. Friend intends to make truancy a priority for the Department. In order to establish the full extent of the problem, maintained schools are required, from August 1992, to publish their rates of unauthorised absence. From this school year reports to parents on individual pupils will also record instances of truancy. In
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accordance with the parents charter commitment, the Government intend to require the collection of truancy information for local comparative tables from 1993.Teacher Training
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring forward plans to reform teacher training to provide for greater time to be spent on the practical as distinct from the theoretical aspect of teaching.
Mr. Forth : The Government issued in January a consultation document with proposals for the reform of the training of secondary school teachers. My right hon. Friend is studying the responses to those proposals and the advice he has recently received on the proposals from the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. It remains our intention to see a start made this September in the introduction of reforms on the lines we have proposed. The Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education has also been asked to advise on the reform of training for primary school teachers, taking account of the report on curriculum organisation and classroom practice in primary schools which was issued in February. The council has been asked to provide its advice by June.
Disciplinary Measures
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the disciplinary measures available to teachers in secondary schools.
Mr. Forth : Effective learning can take place only in an orderly atmosphere. Headteachers are responsible for maintaining discipline within their schools on a day-to-day basis in accordance with any general principles set out by the governing body. Within the policies of individual schools teachers are free to adopt a range of disciplinary measures other than corporal punishment, which is prohibited in maintained schools and for certain categories of pupils in some independent schools. The Elton report on "Discipline in Schools", distributed to all LEAs and schools in March 1989, gave practical advice on action at school and classroom level to promote good behaviour and tackle bad behaviour.
League Tables
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about his plans regarding league tables of schools by examination results ; and if he will make it his policy to broaden such tables to take account of a range of other factors including socio- economic, regional and ethnic mixes.
Mr. Forth : New regulations governing the publication of comparative tables of schools' performance in 1992 will be published later this month, together with a circular setting out the Government's policy.
The Department will continue to examine ways of improving the tables in future years, including the possible use of measures of pupils' progress through the national curriculum when the necessary information is available.
Staff Statistics
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of non-teaching staff employed by local education authorities and the Department of Education, full-time equivalents.
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Mr. Forth : In December 1991, a total of 364,500 full-time equivalent staff other than teachers and lecturers were employed in local authority education in England. A further 2,400 full-time equivalent staff are currently employed in the Department for Education and Her Majesty's inspectorate.
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the number of teachers in local authority-funded schools, full-time equivalents.
Mr. Forth : In January 1991, a total of 392,500 full-time equivalent --FTE--teachers were employed in the LEA-maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools sector in England. A further 2,400 FTE teachers were employed in grant-maintained schools in England.
Education (Schools) Act 1992
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for the implementation of the Education (Schools) Act 1992.
Mr. Patten : I have decided to recommend to the Queen in Council that Her Majesty should appoint Professor Stewart Sutherland, Vice- Chancellor of the university of London, as Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools in England for five years in the first instance with effect from 1 September 1992. I am delighted to have been able to secure Professor Sutherland's services for this important new job. I should like to thank the university of London for having accepted that he should take on this responsibility concurrently with the balance of his term as Vice-Chancellor of London university and indeed to be available immediately to help with the preparations for the new office.
The new schools inspection arrangements which we enacted in the last Parliament are a key component of the parents charter published last autumn. Professor Sutherland will bring just the right blend of academic distinction, administrative experience, authority and commitment to ensure the success of this initiative.
So as to be able to receive advice on matter relating to the strategic planning of the new office I have today appointed Professor Sutherland as a part-time consultant to the Department on the creation of the office of Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools.
National Curriculum
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements he intends to make for national curriculum assessments in 1993 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Patten : I have today published for consultation draft orders to govern the assessment under the national curriculum in 1993 of seven-year- olds in the core subjects--English, mathematics, science--and technology, history and geography, and of 14-year-olds in the core subjects and technology. I am placing copies of the draft orders, together with drafts of the accompanying circulars, in the Libraries of both Houses.
Next year's assessment of 14-year-olds will be the first under statutory arrangements. They will apply to all maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and such independent schools as choose to participate. The key main features will be :
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--short, unseen written examinations covering the key elements of each subject under assessment, with a standardised longer practical test of pupils' designing and making skills in technology ; --the assessment by teachers of each pupil's attainments on the basis of their school work across the whole of each subject to provide a detailed diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses which will inform GCSE option choices and future teaching ;--a rigorous audit by independent examining bodies of each school's test marking and teacher assessments before assessment results are reported to parents or published. The examining bodies will be designated by the Secretaries of State on the advice of the School Examinations and Assessment Council (SEAC) ;
--provision for test results to be preferred to teacher assessments in determining overall subject scores where both are available in relation to the same AT, with teacher assessments used in relation to attainment targets which are not tested.
We are proposing that the written examinations of 14-year-olds in 1993 should take place in the week beginning 7 June.
These arrangements, proposed in the light of advice from SEAC, will secure for the first time reliable assessments of 14-year-olds nationwide for the purpose of reporting to parents and more generally. They will also inform teachers of how, at a critical stage of development, each of their pupils is progressing in each aspect of each subject. They will provide the underpinning to raise standards of achievement in our secondary schools.
WALES
PCBs
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what contribution his Department has (a) made to date and (b) plans to make to the revision of waste management paper No. 6 on technical guidance on the treatment and disposal of polychlorinated byphenel wastes.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Waste management papers are produced by the Department of the Environment who will be consulting other Government Departments including the Welsh Office on the revision of waste management paper No. 6.
National Curriculum
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements he intends to make for the national curriculum assessment arrangements in Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I have today published for consultation, in parallel with the Secretary of State for Education, draft orders to govern next year's arrangements to assess 14-year-olds in Wales, and those for seven-year-olds will be published later this week. Next year's assessments will be the first statutory arrangements for 14-year-olds and will cover the core subjects, technology and, where taught, Welsh second language. The arrangements are intended to be rigorous and informative and will comprise :
Predominantly a combination of short, written, timed examinations and teachers' own assessment of pupils' attainment based on their continuous school work ;
Provision for test results to be preferred to teacher assessments in determining overall subject scores where
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both are available in relation to the same attainment target, with teacher asssessments used in relation to attainment targets which are not subject to such tests ;The assessment of Welsh and Welsh second language will provide for the testing of oral skills, and technology will include a longer practical task to test pupils' designing and making skills in this subject ;
The consistency of standards and results between schools and LEAs in Wales will be audited by an independent examining body before reports are made to parents or the results published more generally ;
In line with the arrangements for schools in England it is proposed that the written tests for 14-year-olds in 1993 should take place in week commencing 7 June.
The proposed arrangements, which are based on the advice and development work of the School Examinations and Assessment Council, are intended to provide a rigorous and reliable assessment of 14-year-olds as they prepare for future GCSE and other public examinations later in their schooling. They will apply to both LEA maintained and grant-maintained schools in Wales and such independent schools as choose to participate. The results will be fully reported to parents.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
RMS St. Helena
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there has been any change in the unions recognised to represent the crews of RMS St. Helena.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Recognition of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers--RMT--was withdrawn by the St. Helena Government with effect from 1 January 1992. The St. Helena Government will recognise the St. Helena General Workers Union or any other local body or group selected by the crew to represent them in negotiations with the employers.
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent arrangements have been made about the salaries of the officers and crew of RMS St. Helena.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : These arrangements are a matter for the St. Helena Government, as employers, and the officers and ratings and not for Her Majesty's Government.
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those companies qualifying to tender for the new RMS St. Helena contract.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 11 May 1992] : The closing date for companies to express an interest in tendering for the new contract for the management of RMS St. Helena was Friday 8 May. The indications are that there has been a very substantial response. A decision on those who will be invited to tender will be made shortly.
Children by Choice not Chance"
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether copies of the full report, or a salient summary, of the Overseas Development Administration's report "Children by Choice not Chance" will be made available by the British delegation to the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 11 May 1992] : Yes, copies of "Children by Choice not Chance" will be made available by the British delegation at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June. Copies of the booklet were also distributed to participants at a preparatory meeting for the conference last August.Forest Management
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Overseas Development Administration was represented at the lecture on wise forest management by Don Cleary at the recent Oxford tropical forest conference ; and what action is being taken in the area of forest management.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 11 May 1992] : The ODA was represented at the Oxford Forestry Institute tropical forestry conference. Promoting the sustainable management of tropical forests is the prime purpose of ODA-funded activities in this field. It includes taking full account of relevant social issues.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Data Collection
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any plans to change the way in which his Department collects data on the agricultural industry ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The ways in which my Department collects statistical data on the agricultural industry are kept under continual review, including through the survey control system. I have no plans at present for significant changes.
Cattle (Salmonella)
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in what circumstances his Department sends in its veterinary services to investigate cases of salmonella poisoning in cattle ; what charges are then payable by the farmers concerned ; and whether these arrangements differ depending upon whether farmers are involved in milk or meat production.
Mr. Soames : The Zoonoses Order 1989 requires isolations of salmonella to be notified to a veterinary officer of the Ministry. The action taken by the Ministry on receipt of a salmonella report depends on the circumstances of the case and in particular whether it is considered to be primarily an animal health matter or a human health risk.
The responsibility for dealing with animal health matters rests with the farmer's veterinary surgeon since the animals are under his care. If the veterinary surgeon requests further advice from the Ministry's state veterinary service, on an animal health matter, an advisory visit to the farm would be provided on a chargeable basis. The charge for an advisory visit is based on the time spent by the veterinary investigation officer on the farm with possible additional charges for any laboratory examinations carried out on samples taken during the visit.
Where the Ministry considers that there are significant human health risks associated with the case the matter is
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investigated free of charge by the state veterinary service in collaboration, where appropriate, with the local medical and environmental health authorities. The farmer's veterinary surgeon is informed of the action to be taken.These procedures apply irrespective of whether a farmer is involved in milk or meat production.
Fisheries Conservation
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy on measures to supplement European Community requirements for fisheries conservation.
Mr. Curry : The EC Fisheries Council agreed in October 1991 on a significant package of technical conservation measures which take effect from 1 June 1992. United Kingdom fishermen made it clear that they were willing to go further in some respects in order to help conservation. After consulting the industry we have decided to apply the following additional and complementary measures on a national basis from 1 June.
For all United Kingdom vessels we shall operate a minimum landing size for whiting maintained at 27 cm rather than reduced to 23 cm as allowed for by the EC ; an anti-ballooning provision for whitefish fisheries which is designed to prevent closure of meshes by requiring the circumference of the cod end of the net to be no greater than that of the adjacent part of the net.
In the North sea and west of Scotland area where the EC's minimum mesh size is to increase to 100 mm for roundfish fisheries the EC's further measure to permit the optional use of a square mesh panel will be adopted. While we shall no longer require a 90 mm square mesh panel in a 90 mm diamond mesh net, mesh selectivity will be enhanced by the EC provision to limit the number of meshes round the cod end and our own anti-ballooning provision.
To complement the increase in the EC's minimum mesh size in the Irish sea from 70 to 80 mm we shall increase our present unilateral requirement for a square mesh panel from 75 to 80 mm for all whitefish nets with meshes between 80 and 89 mm inclusive in the Irish sea--area VIIA--and also apply the same requirement in area VI south of 56 N to remove the anomalous position of this area and to assist enforcement.
We shall continue to require the use of an 80 mm square mesh panel when fishing for nephrops in areas IV and VI. We shall retain the present requirement for a 75 mm square mesh panel for nephrops nets with meshes of between 70 and 85 mm inclusive in the Irish sea--area VIIa--and introduce it for all nephrops nets in the rest of area VII. In this way the discards of young whitefish from all nephrops fisheries undertaken by United Kingdom vessels should be reduced. Further, from 1 June all licensed fishing vessels will be subject to a one net rule, designed to improve the enforcement of minimum mesh size nets, and we intend to apply it to smaller vessels when licensing is extended to them.
The necessary regulations will be laid shortly.
I greatly welcome the constructive response of the United Kingdom fishing industry to the need for national measures to supplement the new Community measures being applied from 1 June because as a significant fishing nation we have a strong interest in making conservation work. We will continue to work for agreement on similar
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measures and further improvements in the EC technical conservation measures, but in the meanwhile the national measures which we are introducing will make an important additional contribution to conserving the stocks, including hard-pressed haddock and cod stocks in the North sea, of which United Kingdom fishermen take 89 per cent. and 46 per cent. respectively. These conservation measures are vital to our fishermen's long-term future and to our consumers. We are very pleased that the Irish Government too intend to maintain the minimum landing size for whiting for Irish vessels at 27cm. We regard this joint move in the Irish sea as very important and we are exploring ways of taking this collaboration further.TRANSPORT
Road Humps
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when traffic calming measures are being considered, what discretion exists for local authorities to decide the distance between humps installed on urban roads.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Local highway authorities are required to comply with the Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1990 which state, in regulation 2, that road humps forming a series of two or more shall be spaced so that not less than 20 m nor more than 150 m lies between one hump and the one next to it.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints the Department has received from road users about the installation of road humps.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : There have been some complaints, but no central record is kept of the number of these and it would not be economic to produce such figures. Most representations received by the Department about road humps are positive and relate to practical advice on siting and installation.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations the Department has received from the Road Haulage Association, bus users' associations and other similar trade bodies about road humps.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Comments were received from a wide range of interested organisations including the Road Haulage Association and bus users' associations who were consulted when the road humps regulations were made.
Port of Tilbury
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for how much the port of Tilbury was sold ; and what was the valuation of the port of Tilbury, as advised to him or the Port of London Authority, prior to the sale.
Mr. Norris : The port of Tilbury was sold to International Transport Ltd, a management and employee buy-out team, at a price of £32 million. Prior to the sale the Port of London Authority, as the vendors, were advised of
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benchmark valuation ranges for the sale of the port of Tilbury of £27 million to £37 million for a trade sale and of £25 million to £34 million for a leveraged buy-out.Stockport Bypass
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to meet a deputation from the Stockport metropolitan borough council to discuss the line of route of the Stockport north-south A6(M) bypass.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Arrangements for a meeting will be put in hand shortly.
London Underground
Mr. Dover : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has received to improve services on the northern line of London Underground.
Mr. Norris : The service has already improved significantly. London Underground Limited has a number of proposals to improve it further, not all of which require Government approval. LUL's intention is to undertake full modernisation of the Northern line following the modernisation of the Central line which is currently under way.
M1-M62 Link Road
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will carry out an integrated transport study before making a decision to proceed with either of the proposed routes for the M1-M62 link road ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : No. The proposed M1-M62 link road is designed to overcome road traffic problems which already exist.
Roads (South-east Essex)
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to assist Essex county council to bring forward funding for road projects in south-east Essex ; and if he will visit the area to assess the need for himself.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I shall give careful consideration to any proposals which the county may wish to make as part of their bid for transport supplementary grant and credit approvals for capital spending on local roads in 1993-94.
I have no plans at present to visit south-east Essex. There are regular meetings between Department of Transport officials and officers of the county council, and the Department is kept well informed about the county's needs.
Road Accidents
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the annual rate of death and serious injury on the roads for each quarter from 1986 and show index figures, using the latest quarter as 100.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The information requested is given in the table.
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Deaths and serious injuries in road accidents: cumulative totals for 4 quarters ending in each
quarter: Great Britain: 1986 to 1991
Casualties: 4 quarter toIndex 1991 Q4=100
Year ending |Killed |Seriously |Killed or |Killed |Seriously |Killed or
|injured |seriously |injured |seriously
|injured |injured
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |Q1 |5,255 |71,315 |76,570 |116
Q2 |5,280 |70,440 |75,720 |117 |137 |135
Q3 |5,298 |68,815 |74,113 |117 |134 |132
Q4 |5,382 |68,752 |74,134 |119 |134 |132
1987 |Q1 |5,271 |66,909 |72,180 |117
Q2 |5,282 |66,638 |71,920 |117 |129 |128
Q3 |5,300 |66,464 |71,764 |117 |129 |128
Q4 |5,125 |64,293 |69,418 |113 |125 |124
1988 |Q1 |5,179 |66,321 |71,500 |115
Q2 |5,113 |65,136 |70,249 |113 |126 |125
Q3 |5,000 |64,047 |69,047 |111 |124 |123
Q4 |5,052 |63,491 |68,543 |112 |123 |122
1989 |Q1 |5,180 |63,053 |68,233 |115
Q2 |5,189 |63,311 |68,500 |115 |123 |122
Q3 |5,315 |63,092 |68,407 |118 |123 |122
Q4 |5,373 |63,158 |68,531 |119 |123 |122
1990 |Q1 |5,419 |63,299 |68,718 |120
Q2 |5,487 |62,738 |68,225 |121 |122 |122
Q3 |5,332 |61,943 |67,275 |118 |120 |120
Q4 |5,217 |60,441 |65,658 |115 |117 |117
1991 |<1>Q1 |4,901 |57,445 |62,346 |108
<1>Q2 |4,681 |55,524 |60,205 |104 |108 |107
<1>Q3 |4,598 |53,334 |57,932 |102 |104 |103
<1>Q4 |4,520 |51,499 |56,019 |100 |100 |100
<1> Provisional estimate.
A664-M6 Junction
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce his decision following the most recent public inquiry into the junction of the A664 with the M66.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The inspector's report is expected shortly. I shall make an announcement as soon as I have considered it.
Wheel Clamping (Newham)
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will discuss with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis the designation of High street north, Katherine road, Green street and Upton lane in the London borough of Newham as streets for wheel clamping for unlawfully parked vehicles.
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