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Sir John Cope : My Department consults a wide range of expert bodies and individuals as appropriate.
Earnings Statistics
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will show for 1992-93 those ranges of earnings within which the burden of income tax plus national insurance is less than in 1978-79.
Mr. Dorrell : In 1992-93, for taxpayers of working age whose incomes have increased in line with earnings, average rates of income tax and national insurance contributions are lower than in 1978-79 for everyone except some married men with earnings up to and including half of the average. On the same basis, real take-home pay is higher than in 1978-79 at all levels of earnings.
Departmental Policies
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who is the Minister responsible for considering the environmental implications of all of his Department's policies ; when that person was appointed ; what actions his Department has taken since the appointment of a responsible Minister ; and if he will make a statement.
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Sir John Cope : I have been responsible for considering the environmental implications of Treasury policies since 15 April.Beer
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he proposes to introduce the new system for taxing beer on the alcoholic strength of the finished product.
Sir John Cope : The Government propose to introduce the new end product duty on beer with effect from 1 April 1993. From that date, duty will become payable when beer is dispatched for distribution and consumption from registered breweries or from bond.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Intestacy
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many individuals (a) in the Duchy of Lancaster and (b) in the constituency of Pendle die intestate in each year since 1982 ; and what was the total value of the estate claimed by the Crown in each year.
Mr. Waldegrave : The solicitor for the affairs of the Duchy of Lancaster is appointed to administer the estates of persons whose last permanent address was within the boundaries of the county palatine of Lancaster who die intestate and without surviving kin entitled to the estate under the rules of intestate succession. The boundaries of the county palatine are the same as the county boundaries which existed prior to local government reorganisation in 1973.
|c|Intestate estates|c|
|c|1982 to 1991|c|
|Number of |Total amount
|cases |claimed (£)
----------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |456 |540,185.52
1982-83 |463 |747,058.28
1983-84 |453 |734,664.12
1984-85 |455 |748,154.93
1985-86 |462 |821,697.50
1986-87 |462 |921,513.00
1987-88 |386 |672,679.68
1988-89 |391 |754,241.67
1998-90 |411 |960,671.80
1990-91 |398 |799,872.54
|-------
|7,691,739.04
Unfortunately records do not show the number of cases arising in each year within any particular part of the county palatine. There are a number of cases each year where kin who are entitled under the intestacy rules traced after administration is complete and in those cases the value of the estate plus interest is paid from Duchy funds to the relative concerned.
Duchy Income
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what were the main sources of income to the Duchy of Lancaster for each year since 1982.
Mr. Waldegrave : The main sources of income to the Duchy of Lancaster for the years ending 29 September
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1982 to 29 September 1991 have been set out in the accounts of the Duchy, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House each year.They may be summarised as follows :
Year and Item |Amount
|£
---------------------------------------------------
1982
Revenue from estates |1,977,961
Dividends and interest |395,041
Devolutions |444,569
1983
Revenue from estates |2,057,824
Dividends and interest |403,472
Devolutions |553,628
1984
Revenue from estates |2,251,990
Dividends and interest |495,620
Devolutions |733,223
1985
Revenue from estates |2,547,395
Dividends and interest |732,943
Devolutions |744,507
1986
Revenue from estates |2,775,597
Dividends and interest |704,923
Devolutions |962,928
1987
Revenue from estates |3,054,203
Dividends and interest |1,048,507
Devolutions |979,027
1988
Revenue from estates |3,477,622
Dividends and interest |1,407,729
Devolutions |1,225,692
1989
Revenue from estates |3,812,205
Dividends and interest |1,639,579
Devolutions |839,845
1990
Revenue from estates |4,088,767
Dividends and interest |1,543,844
Devolutions |804,977
1991
Revenue from estates |4,445,219
Dividends and interest |1,509,523
Devolutions |938,597
Duchy Land Holdings
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the locations of all the land holdings held by the Duchy ; and if he will list separately those held in the county palatine.
Mr. Waldegrave : The information is as follows :
Estates :--
Crewe survey
Halton
Crewe
Marbury
ASH
Castleton-High Peak
Miscellaneous
Newcastle
Needwood survey
Needwood
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Yorkshire surveyPickering
Brompton
Marishes
Goathland
Cloughton and Scalby
Silpho
Pontefract
Tickhill
Knaresborough
South survey
Higham Ferrers
Olney
Strixton
Ogmore
Wainfleet-Bolingbroke
Desford
Lewes
York
Leicester
Cockfosters and Hadley Wood
London
Savoy
Harrogate
Clare
Dedham
County palatine Lancashire survey
Myerscough
Wyreside
Salwick
Winmarleigh
Whitewell
Miscellaneous
Foreshores
Lancaster
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all those functions and areas in his Department and associated agencies that have been identified for market testing in the wake of the White Paper "Competing for Quality".
Mr. Robert Jackson : I am still considering the proposals put forward by my Department and other Government Departments and an announcement will be made shortly.
Maastricht Treaty
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment his Department has made of the Commission report, "Research after Maastricht : an Assessment and Strategy", SEC (92) 682F.
Mr. Waldegrave : The report was discussed at the 29 April Research Council in Luxembourg. I made clear our concern that the future development of EC research policy should be based on a rigorous evaluation of research to date, and that the emphasis should be on pre-competitive research, identifying generic technologies with a wide range of applications, rather than supporting specific industrial sectors. These points were broadly supported by other member states. We look forward to developing these themes with the Commission and our partners during our presidency.
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EDUCATION
Student Loans
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students from the county of Durham are in receipt of student loans at the present and for the last two years.
Mr. Forman : This information is not available. The Student Loans Company does not collect data relating to borrowers' place of domicile.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the financial implications of the following comprehensive schools in the Colne Valley constituency taking on grant- maintained status (a) Colne Valley high school, (b) Holmfirth high school, (c) Hanley high school and (d) Salendine Nook high school ; and how the funding outlined compares with what the schools currently receive from the local education authority.
Mr. Forth : The main recurrent grant for GM schools is annual maintenance grant--AGM. This is set for GM schools in most LEAs at 15 per cent. above their local management of schools entitlement. This standard cash addition helps meet the cost of services previously provided free by the LEA. There is also a smaller addition related to school meal subsidy levels in that LEA.
GM schools are also eligible to receive other grants as follows : (
(i) Transitional grants to help meet the transitional costs of schools newly approved for GM status--in 1992-93 secondary schools can receive £30,000 plus £30 per pupil, to maximum of £60,000. (
(ii) Special purpose grants to help with a variety of activities. For example the SPG for "development" helps fund in-service training and implementation of the national curriculum and assessment, for which LEAs are funded via the GEST programme. This SPG is paid at a flat rate of £42.50 per pupil. Other SPGs are available to help with VAT, staff restructuring and premises insurance.
(iii) There are two types of capital grant available to GM schools : a formula allocation for the purchase of equipment or small scale capital works ; and project allocations for specific capital work. GM schools bid for project allocations and bids are considered in competition.
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what amount of capital grant per pupil he has provided to grant-maintained schools in each local education authority for 1992-93 based on the pupil numbers as at 1 April.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 12 June 1992] : The table lists the capital allocations to GM schools for 1992-93, expressed as an average per pupil figure, based on January 1991 numbers, for GM schools in each LEA area. The relevant number of pupils will rise as schools join the GM sector during the year.
The figures need to be treated with caution. Because of current coverage of GM schools, figures will vary widely depending on the number of GM schools in a LEA area and whether or not a school was successful in the bidding round for capital projects in 1992-93. Bids are looked at in competition with others received from schools across the whole of the country.
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|c|Average capital allocations per pupil by former LEA area for|c| |c|GM schools for projects starting in 1992-93|c| ----------------------------------- Avon |185.68 Barnet |56.96 Bedfordshire |178.31 Berkshire |257.37 Birmingham |281.96 Bolton |34.56 Bradford |296.60 Brent |224.51 Bromley |148.05 Buckinghamshire |284.41 Calderdale |204.55 Cambridgeshire |52.63 Cheshire |63.10 Croydon |147.04 Cumbria |71.54 Derbyshire |493.34 Devon |41.65 Dorset |192.40 Dudley |38.38 Ealing |30.64 Essex |71.89 Gloucestershire |689.11 Hammersmith |28.49 Hampshire |57.56 Hertfordshire |229.89 Hillingdon |215.98 Humberside |122.04 Kensington |35.90 Kent |126.44 Kirklees |229.92 Lambeth |1,299.46 Lancashire |304.53 Leicestershire |337.00 Lincolnshire |149.26 Liverpool |29.86 Newham |45.45 Norfolk |71.03 Northamptonshire |320.20 Rochdale |62.37 Sandwell |131.82 Shropshire |1,070.33 Somerset |46.25 Southwark |429.21 Surrey |136.41 Sutton |210.31 Thameside |33.19 Tower Hamlets |31.48 Waltham Forest |58.88 Wandsworth |286.32 Warwickshire |86.56 Wiltshire |39.84 Wolverhampton |727.55 Notes: 1. The total includes formula capital allocations to schools for 1992-93 and provision for spending in 1992-93 and 1993-94 on named projects started in 1992-93. 2. The total does not include spending in 1992-93 on named projects begun in previous years.
Student Funding
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received about the future of student funding.
Mr. Forman : My right hon. Friend has received various representations on this matter. Public funding for higher education is at record levels. For the third year running, public expenditure plans provide for a year-on-year increase of about 10 per cent. Full-year student support from grant and loan is now over 30 per cent. higher than the grant alone two years ago. Our reforms have led to a dramatic expansion of higher education. Ten years ago,
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only one in eight young people entered higher education. it is now nearly one in four. We expect it to be one in three by the year 2000.Ealing Schools
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 9 June, Official Report, column 88, if he will aim to give his decision on the reorganisation proposals for Ealing's county and voluntary schools before mid-July ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : Statutory proposals from the five grant-maintained schools in Ealing were published between 8 and 15 May. My right hon. Friend intends to determine these proposals as soon as possible after the two- month statutory objection period ends on 15 July. He will then be in a position to reach decisions on the outstanding proposals in respect of the county and voluntary schools.
Interleukin-6
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions his Department has held with the university of Leeds in relation to the scientific work on Interleukin-6 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forman : My Department has held no such discussions. It is for individual universities and research funding bodies to pursue particular areas of scientific research in line with their own priorities.
EC Proposals
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the experts his Department consults on European Community proposals relating to educational matters.
Mr. Forman : The Department has taken account of a variety of expert views in its consideration of new EC proposals and the implementation in this country of EC programmes. At present, the Department is supporting a major consultation exercise on the EC Commission's memorandum on higher education in the EC.
Departmental Policies
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education who is the Minister responsible for considering the environmental implications of all of his Department's policies ; when that person was appointed ; what actions his Department has taken since the appointment of a responsible Minister ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment today. He will be publishing a list of nominated Ministers shortly.
Schools (Organisation)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the proposed White Paper on organisation of schools before the summer recess ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Forth : As announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, we will publish a White Paper by the end of the summer. This will be followed by an education Bill in the autumn.Student Unions
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is (a) the total amount for the United Kingdom and (b) the average amount per student of local education authority payments on behalf of students to further and higher education institutions to pay the students' membership fees of student unions.
Mr. Forman : In general, campus unions are not funded by membership fees but by block grant from their parent institutions. In higher education institutions, block grant is paid out of general funds including funding council grant and fees. In further education, the block grant is usually derived from an element within the student registration fee.
School Playing Fields
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will revise the criteria for school playing fields so as to provide larger areas of playing fields.
Mr. Forth : The current review of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981 is considering school playing field provision as part of its programme of work.
The results of the review are expected to be available later this year.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Fraud
33. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Attorney-General what new proposals he has to reduce the levels of crimes of fraud.
The Solicitor-General : The Serious Fraud Office and the fraud investigation group of the Crown prosecution service are designed to deter the incidence of serious fraud by providing for effective investigation and prosecution.
34. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the number of (a) prosecutions and (b) inquiries launched by the Serious Fraud Office in 1992 to date.
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