| Previous Section | Home Page |
Manchester Business School
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration he has given to the letter sent to him by the Manchester Association of University
Column 274
Teachers on 12 June, concerning the future of the Manchester business school ; what reply he is sending ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Forman : My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations about Manchester business school. He is concerned at the rift that has developed between the lay members of the MBS council and the university of Manchester authorities.
Manchester business school is a constituent part of the university and my right hon. Friend has no power to intervene in the internal affairs of universities. He has suggested that both sides should approach an independent figure of standing who is mutually acceptable to them to act as mediator. I am replying to the Manchester Association of University Teachers' letter of 12 June to this effect.
International Agreements
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list all the bilateral and multilateral agreements directly or indirectly negotiated by his Department or a body acting on behalf of his Department with (a) Switzerland and (b) Liechtenstein.
Mr. Forman : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 24 June, Official Report, columns 208-9.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what approvals have been given to grant-maintained schools to dispose of capital assets ; and how much of the proceeds, in each case, have been returned to the former maintaining authority.
Mr. Forth : One grant-maintained school has received my right hon. Friend's consent to the sale of a piece of surplus land. The attribution of proceeds between the school and the former maintaining authority is currently being determined. Another school has received consent for the disposal of part of its premises by annual lease, and for the renewal of this lease.
City Technology Colleges
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the total amounts and individually for each city technology college, including planned and proposed colleges, the private donations that have been (a) pledged, (b) confirmed, (c) committed and (d) actually paid over ; and if he will indicate in each case the nature of donations in kind rather than cash.
Mr. Forth : This information is not available centrally in the form requested.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will update the table given in his answer of 12 March, Official Report, columns 602-4, giving the latest available information in respect of each city technology college or proposed and planned city technology college.
Mr. Forth : The table covers announced CTCs :
Column 275
Name Site LEA Opening Planned Total Exchequer Sponsors contribution Principal sponsors Contracts School
|dates |number |capital |contribution |awarded to |closure |parents been held
|of pupils |cost |(i) |(ii) |sponsors |involved |and with what
|committed<1> |confirmed<2> |result
|£ million |£ million |£ million |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kingshurst CTC, |Kingshurst |Solihull |1988 |1,150 |9.71 |7.60 |2.11 |2.89 |Hanson Trust |None |No |No
Solihull |School site
Emmanuel College, |St.John Fisher |Gateshead |1990 |900 |8.61 |6.89 |1.72 |1.60 |Peter Vardy |Building |No |No
Tyneside |School site |contract -
|Laings
|Northern
Dixons CTC, |Newby Square,Bradford|1990 |980 |9.16 |7.33 |1.83 |2.89 |Dixons plc, |None |No |No
Bradford |Bradford |Mr.Haking
|Wong
Leigh CTC, Dartford |Downs School |Kent |1990 |1,250 |8.95 |7.16 |1.79 |1.76 |Sir Geoffrey |None |Yes |No<3>
|site |Leigh
Britschool CCTA, Site of Selhurst |Croydon |1991 |720 |10.00 |8.00 |2.00 |2.42 |The British |None |No |No
Croydon |Tertiary Centre |Record Industry Trust
|Trust
Djanogly CTC, |Sherwood Rise, |Nottinghamshire |1989 |1,000 |9.75 |8.20 |1.56 |1.90 |Mr. Harry |None |No |No
Nottingham |Nottingham |Djanogly
Macmillan College, |St. Michael RC |Cleveland |1989 |1,100 |8.45 |6.74 |1.71 |1.51 |BAT Industries |None |No |No
Teeside |School, |plc
|Middlesborough
Harris CTC, |Sylvan School |Croydon |1990 |1,100 |8.66 |6.93 |1.73 |1.78 |Philip and |None |Yes |Yes, Majority
Norwood |site, Croydon |Pauline Harris |against
|Charitable Trust
Bacons College, |Bacons School |Southwark |1991 |1,100 |15.47 |<4>13.87 |<4>1.60 |<5>1.00 |Philip and |None |Yes |No
Bermondsey |site, Southwark |Pauline Harris
|Charitable Trust/
|Southwark
|Diocesan Board
|of Education
Haberdashers CTC, |Haberdashers' |Lewisham |1991 |1,150 |9.15 |5.70 |3.45 |<6>4.45 |Haberdashers |None |Yes |Yes, Majority
New Cross |Aske's |Company as |in favour
|Hatcham |Trustees of
|School site |Robert Aske
|Charity
Brooke CTC, Corby |Great Oakley, |Northants |1991 |900 |10.19 |8.15 |2.04 |2.04 |Mr. Hugh de |None |No |No
|Corby |Capell Brooke
Landau Forte |Wood Street, |Derbyshire |1992 |900 |10.20 |8.16 |2.04 |2.05 |The Landau |None |No |No<7>
College, Derby |Derby |Foundation
|Forte plc
Thomas Telford |Old Park, |Shropshire |1991 |1,000 |10.75 |8.40 |2.35 |2.35 |The Mercers |None |No |No<7>
School, Telford |Telford |Tarmac plc
ADT College, |Mayfield School |Wandsworth |1991 |1,000 |11.32 |9.06 |2.26 |2.39 |ADT plc |None |No |No<7>
Wandsworth
John Cabot CTC, |Kingswood, |Avon |1993 |900 |To be |Not more |At least |At least |Wolfson |None |No |No<7>
Bristol |Bristol |deter- |than 80 |20 per |20 per |Foundation and
|mined |per cent. |cent. of |cent. of |Cable and
|of cost |cost |cost |Wireless plc
<1>Committed sponsorship contributions represent agreed percentage contributions to CTC capital cash limits as secured in formal funding agreements with CTCs.
<2>Confirmed sponsorship includes sponsorship beyond the cash limit.
<3>Public consultations were held by Kent on its proposals to close the Downs School. One statutory objection containing 62 signatures was made to the section 12 proposal subsequently published.
<4>The sponsors commitment is stated net of the proceeds of sale of the site of the former school: the Exchequer contribution will be reduced by the amount of the proceeds of sale.
<5>The confirmed contribution is net of the proceeds of sale of the former school site and of contributions to community provision and the chapel.
<6>This figure includes the donation of the present site, which has been valued at £3.445 million.
<7>In each case, LEA, local schools and other interests consulted on proposal to establish CTC.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Civil Servants
Dr. Bray : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the civil service grades or grade equivalents of the chief scientific adviser in the Office of Science and Technology, the chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council, the secretary of the Medical Research Council and the chief scientific adviser of the Ministry of Defence.
Column 276
Mr. Waldegrave : The civil service grades (or grade equivalents) are :
!Chief Scientific Adviser in the Office of Science and Technology !Grade 2!
!Chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council!Grade 1a!
!Secretary of the Medical Research Council!Grade 2!
!Chief Scientific Adviser of the Ministry of Defence!Grade 1a!
Departmental Management
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what further plans he has to introduce business discipline and entrepreneurial methods into the management of Government departments.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Government are committed to improving management in government for the benefit of customers, taxpayers and staff by drawing upon a wide range of proven management practices. The next steps initiative has already made use of many such practices : performance pay ; businesslike reports and accounts ; clear accountability ; customer surveys ; trading funds ; and the financial flexibility to carry money between financial years. And many agency chief executives with business experience have been appointed following open competition. About half the civil service is already operating along next steps lines and the aim is that all the executive functions of government will, so far as practicable, be operating along these lines by the end of 1993.
The citizens charter will place additional requirements on Government Departments to become consumer orientated, including published standards of service ; consultation with users in setting those standards ; greater openness and an end to anonymity ; and improved systems for responding when things go wrong.
The citizens charter also calls for a more direct link between performance and reward. I and my colleagues therefore intend to ensure that performance pay schemes are introduced throughout the civil service and that the process of delegating management responsibility for the civil service from the Office of Public Service and Science and the Treasury to Departments and agencies continues. In addition, in line with the commitments in the "Citizen's Charter" White Paper and its companian "Competing for Quality", all Departments and agencies are currently seeking to take forward the Government's market testing initiative and extend competitive tendering to new areas closer to the heart of government.
In all of this work I am able to draw directly upon the business experience of the citizens charter panel of advisers, chaired by Sir James Blyth, and the efficiency unit, led by Sir Peter Levene.
Agencies
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the budgets of each executive agency.
Mr. Waldegrave : Agency budgets are a matter for the responsible Minister, although in the case of trading funds there will not necessarily be an approved budget as such.
Where an agency has published a corporate plan, a copy of which will be placed in the House of Commons Library, the corporate plan will normally contain this information. A number of Departments also include this information in the relevant section of their departmental report.
In addition, the table in the "Next Steps Annual Review", Cm. 1760 gives information on the operating costs of all the agencies which had been established as at 1 April 1991.
Column 278
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he proposes to make the necessary order to bring into force the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Subject to making the necessary amendments to rules of court, on which consultation will begin shortly, the Lord Chancellor hopes to be in a position to bring the Act into force in January 1993.
County Court Payments
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the average time taken for county courts to make payments to beneficiaries from sums paid into county courts.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Moneys paid into a county court are required by rule to be paid out within one week of receipt. Where paid in satisfaction of a claim, payment is normally made within one week of acceptance.
Moneys transferred by a county court to the court funds office for investment are generally paid out within seven working days of demand.
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what regulations exist to ensure the prompt payment of money paid into county courts to beneficiaries.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The payment out of moneys paid into a county court or invested by the court funds office is governed by part VII of the Court Funds Rules 1987.
Moneys paid into a county court are required to be paid over to creditors within one week of receipt, except where paid in satisfaction of a claim.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Sovereign Debt
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for each of the last five years what was the amount of corporation tax forgone from British banking institutions in relation to the writing-down of developing country sovereign debt ; and how much sovereign debt has (a) been cancelled or (b) been made available for
debt-for-environment or debt-for-development swaps, in each of the last five years as a result of this writing-down.
Mr. Dorrell : Provisions for doubtful sovereign debt by banks operating in the United Kingdom are estimated to have reduced corporation tax receipts in the last five years by the following amounts :
|£ million
-------------------------------
1987-88 |240
1988-89 |550
1989-90 |360
1990-91 |720
<1>1991-92 |190
<1>Provisional.
I regret that the further information requested is not available centrally.
Column 279
Foreign Workers
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to alter the tax treatment of non-United Kingdom citizens working in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Dorrell : My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Biodiesel
Mr. Milligan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce new measures to reduce taxation on alternative fuels such as biodiesel.
Sir John Cope : The European Commission has produced a draft directive on the reduction of excise duties on motor fuels from agricultural sources--biofuels. These proposals were reported to the House in an explanatory memorandum on Com(92)36. A detailed assessment of the proposal is currently being made by interested Government departments. As yet, there have been no Community discussions on the draft directive.
Public Accounts Committee
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the recommendations made by the Committee of Public Accounts during 1990-91 were accepted by the Government ; if he will make an estimate of the savings that were made as a result ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The Government pay close attention to all the Public Accounts Committee's recommendations and have agreed with the majority of them. It is not possible to quantify resulting savings.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes he intends to make in the scheme announced in the budget whereby the largest VAT payers would be required to make monthly payments on accounts from the autumn of 1992.
Sir John Cope : Customs have now completed the consultation exercise launched on Budget day on the details of the scheme. All representations made have been considered most carefully. I can now confirm that the broad outlines of the scheme announced by my right hon. Friend will remain unchanged. However, we have been able to agree to some modifications which respond to points made in consultation.
Businesses with net VAT payments of over £2 million will still pay monthly amounts on account instead of paying quarterly as at present. However, a business will not now be included in the scheme where exceptional transactions in the year ending 31 March 1991 caused it to exceed the £2 million VAT threshold.
Second, lower monthly payments will be permitted where a change in business circumstances results in a reduction of VAT liability to 80 per cent. or less of that in the reference period. This responds to concerns that the original two-thirds trigger was too low. In addition, we intend to review the criteria for selection for inclusion in the scheme once we have some experience of its operation.
Column 280
We have received representations that monthly payments on account should be confined to those EC importers who will gain from the introduction of the postponed accounting system. We have considered these very carefully, but have concluded that this is likely to be inconsistent with the single market and that the scheme would be at serious risk of successful challenge in the European Court of Justice.Sanctions
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress Her Majesty's Customs and Excise has made in its investigations into potential sanctions-breaking trade between British and Danish companies and Iraq before, at the time of, and since the Gulf war ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir John Cope [holding answer 24 June 1992] : Investigation into potential sanctions breaking trade is a matter for the Commissioners of Customs and Excise who can prosecute in appropriate cases. It would not be appropriate for information relating to any particular investigation to be made public other than in the course of court proceedings. If the hon. and learned Member has information regarding any potential sanctions- breaking trade, Customs and Excise would be grateful to receive it.
Earning Statistics
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update, to take account of the 1992 Budget, the information on tax changes contained in his reply of 21 October 1986 to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher), Official Report , columns 807-8 .
Mr. Dorrell [pursuant to his reply, 22 June 1992, c. 4] : I regret that, due to a typographical error, one of the figures in the table was incorrect. The answer should read as follows :
Latest estimates of the annual change in income tax liability resulting from the changes in tax rates, allowances and thresholds announced in the 1992 Budget are in the table. The 1978-79 income tax regime has been indexed to 1992-93 levels by reference to the statutory formula, and allowing for independent taxation. For the purposes of these calculations the indexed regime of 1978-79 is applied directly to the income base of 1992-93. In practice, retention of the regime indexed as appropriate for the intervening years would have led to changes in the income base.
|c|Average reduction in income tax per individual<1>|c|
|c|in 1992-93 compared with the 1978-79 indexed
regime|c|
Range of |Total |Average
individual's |reduction |reduction
income in
1992-93
£ |£ million |£ per annum
--------------------------------------------------------
Under 5,000 |500 |150
5,000 to 10,000 |3,200 |400
10,000 to 15,000 |4,500 |730
15,000 to 20,000 |4,300 |1,060
20,000 to 30,000 |5,000 |1,590
30,000 to 50,000 |3,600 |2,960
Over 50,000 |10,300 |21,000
Total |31,400 |1,200
<1>Individuals liable to income tax under the 1978-79
indexed regime.
Column 281
PRIME MINISTER
Kashmir
Mr. Madden : To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had recently with the Prime Minister of Pakistan concerning Kashmir ; what agreement was reached on representations to be made on behalf of Her Majesty's Government about Kashmir ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I discussed Kashmir with Mr. Nawaz Sharif on 17 June. I repeated our hope that Pakistan and India will agree to a means of solving this dispute through negotiation. I made clear our concern about interference in Kashmir by militants from Pakistan, and also briefed Mr. Nawaz Sharif on our representations to the Indian Government about the need to respect human rights and the need for a political process in Kashmir.
Intellectual Property Rights
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the United States Administration on intellectual property rights regarding forestry products and medicines.
The Prime Minister : All these issues were discussed in the negotiations leading up to the biodiversity convention, in which representatives of the United States Administration were involved.
Engagements
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 25 June.
Sir Peter Tapsell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 25 June.
The Prime Minister : This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Council of Europe
Mr. David Howell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will announce the composition of the United Kingdom delegation for the 44th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The Prime Minister : The 44th session parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe was opened in Strasbourg on 4 May. The next meeting of this session will be held in Budapest on 30 June, and the delegation from the United Kingdom, for this meeting and the remainder of the session, will consist of 19 Members of the Conservative party, 15 Members of the Labour party and two Members from the minority parties.
The appointments of representatives and substitutes have been made on the basis of nominations by the parties concerned.
The same delegation will be representing the United Kingdom Parliament at the assembly of the Western European Union, which next meets in Paris on 30 November 1992.
Representatives from the Government Benches will be : Sir Geoffrey Finsberg becomes Lord Finsberg on 27 June. He will be a member of the delegation, and its leader, in his capacity as a member of the upper House.
Column 282
The hon. Members for :Warwick and Leamington (Sir Dudley Smith)
Calder Valley (Sir Donald Thompson)
Twickenham (Mr. Toby Jessel)
Poole (Mr. John Ward)
Ashford (Sir Keith Speed)
Medway (Dame Peggy Fenner)
Lewes (Mr. Tim Rathbone)
Bournemouth, East (Mr. David Atkinson)
and the Earl of Dundee
Representatives from the Labour party will be :
The hon. Members for :
Wentworth (Mr. Peter Hardy)
Tooting (Mr. Tom Cox)
Wansbeck (Mr. Jack Thompson)
Newham, North West (Mr. Tony Banks)
Don Valley (Mr. Martin Redmond)
Manchester, Central (Mr. Robert Litherland)
and Lord Kirkhill
The representative from the minority parties will be : The hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber (Sir Russell Johnston)
The following substitutes have been appointed to act as necessary on behalf of the delegates :
From the Government Benches :
Reading, West (Sir Tony Durant)
Norfolk, North (Mr. Ralph Howell)
Brighton, Kemptown (Mr. Andrew Bowden)
Ravensbourne (Sir John Hunt)
Wellingborough (Mr. Peter Fry)
Bridlington (Mr. John Townend)
Newark (Mr. Richard Alexander)
Lord Newall and Baroness Hooper
From the Labour Benches :
Pollok (Mr. James Dunnachie)
Greenock and Port Glasgow (Dr. Norman Godman)
Newport, East (Mr. Roy Hughes)
Easington (Mr. John Cummings)
Leigh (Mr. Lawrence Cunliffe)
Leicester, South (Mr. James Marshall)
Hodge Hill (Mr. Terry Davis)
and Baroness Lockwood
From the minority parties :
Lord Mackie of Benshie
| Next Section
| Home Page |