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European Political Parties
Mr. Jenkin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made on the effects for the United Kingdom of article 138a of the treaty of Rome, inserted by the treaty of Maastricht, dealing with pan-European political parties.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We welcome contacts at the European level between national political parties, including in the European Parliament. But there is no provision in article 138a of the treaty on European union for any specific action by member states or the Community in relation to political parties.
Iraq
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions are taking place with his European Community counterparts about their release of blocked Iraqi funds for (a) the financing of trade in goods not embargoed under United Nations Security Council resolutions 706 and 712 and (b) for settling creditors' claims ; and what sums have been released in the case of each Community country, including the United Kingdom under each head.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We regularly exchange views with our European Community partners about all aspects of policy towards Iraq. Iraq continues to refuse to export oil to pay for essential humanitarian supplies and to meet claims for compensation as provided for in UN Security Council resolutions 706 and 712.
In conformity with the ruling of the United Nations sanctions committee we released £70 million of Iraqi funds frozen in the UK for the purchase of humanitarian goods of British origin following the release of Mr. Ian Richter in November 1991. We do not plan to release further assets.
There is a general agreement among our EC partners that Iraqi funds should remain frozen until Iraq meets its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions. We have no figures of any frozen Iraqi funds released by our partners.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current state of the Vienna talks between representatives of the United Nations and the Iraqi Government.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : Despite a further round of talks between the United Nations and the Iraqi Government in Vienna in June the Iraqi Government still refuse to export oil to finance the purchase of essential humanitarian supplies as provided for in United Nations Security Council resolutions 706 and 712.
Vietnam
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Vietnam about the detention of prisoners of religious conscience ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Goodlad : We continue to raise with the Vietnamese authorities, both bilaterally and with our EC partners, individual human rights cases, including prisoners of religious conscience. I also raised our concern about Vietnam's human rights record with the Vietnamese Foreign Minister during the latter's visit to Britian in June.
France (Road Blockades)
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the French authorities on behalf of those British citizens stranded in France as a consequence of the blockade of roads by demonstrating farmers and truckers.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I have been asked to reply.
I am glad to say that the blockades have almost all now been lifted. My right hon. Friend has kept in close and regular contact with his French counterpart Mr. Bianco on behalf of British coach and lorry drivers and British holiday-makers caught up in the blockades. Consular staff in France have given assistance to British citizens where necessary.
EDUCATION
Relocation
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the number of civil servants in his Department who could be relocated to provincial centres as part of the policy of devolving and decentralising Government Departments.
Mr. Forman : The Department keeps under review the balance between its staff in central London and those in its Darlington offices.
Schools Information
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of parents have received in the past 12 months (a) a written report on their child's progress in school, (b) a publication with comparable information about all schools in their locality including examination results, truancy rates and destination of school leavers and (c) a reminder of their right of appeal and how to use it in cases where the local education authority or school governors refuse them a place for their child in the school of their choice.
Mr. Forth : The parents charter, published in September 1991, promised that steps would be taken to ensure that all
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parents would receive or have access to the information mentioned. All these promises have been or are in the process of being implemented. New reporting regulations, introduced in May, require annual written reports to be sent to all parents on their child's educational progress. Comparative tables of public examination results will be produced this autumn ; in 1993 these will also cover national curriculum assessment results, truancy rates and school leavers' destinations. Since February of this year, all LEAs and governing bodies of LEA-maintained schools have been required by law to remind parents of their right of appeal when informing them of a decision not to allocate a place for their child at their preferred school. The model articles of government for grant -maintained schools were amended in January this year to include this requirement.Computer Networks
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what steps are being taken to draw together the research in the United Kingdom and other European countries on high band width computer networks ;
(2) if he will use Britain's presidency of the European Community to initiate an EC-wide network for connecting basic and applied research laboratories and universities.
Mr. Forman : The information systems committee of the Universities Funding Council--UFC--is participating in a European multi-protocol project to connect European countries via high band width computer networks. Fifty of the 200 sites connected to the United Kingdom joint academic network-- JANET--already have full multi-protocol access. The United Kingdom and Germany are taking the lead in the European multi-protocol project. Several other European countries have expressed an interest in joining.
The SuperJANET initiative will enhance United Kingdom development providing very high band width multi-protocol computer networking to United Kingdom academic sites.
The UFC and the DTI have jointly funded United Kingdom participation in the EUREKA COSINE project. This has recently completed a successful pilot project in academic computer networking across Europe and will move to a higher performance production service later this year.
The European Community is actively pursuing the provision of pan-European networks for academic sites through its consultations with the European Consultative Forum on Research Networking, which represents academic and research networking interests in the Community.
Schools, Isle of Wight
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he will write to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight to provide the advice which he undertook to supply following the meeting on 26 February and the visit of his regional team to Lake, Sandham and Nodehill schools.
Mr. Forth : I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
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Youth Service Funding
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on his Department's plans for funding the voluntary sector youth service in London.
Mr. Forman : I have nothing to add to what my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Baroness Blatch, said in another place on 6 July, Official Report, columns 981-84.
Rural Primary Schools
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has had about the consequences of future trends in devolved school budgets under local management of schools for the viability of small rural primary schools ; what safeguards exist to protect such schools ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The Department has received a number of representations within the last four weeks on issues arising from the local management of schools--LMS--including the funding of small rural schools. Under LMS, local education authorities--LEAs--can provide additional support to small schools in two ways : they may offer salary protection to schools with fewer than 330 pupils, and they may build factors into their formulae which allow for the higher costs of providing a balanced curriculum in small schools.
Special Needs
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the 10 local education authorities in England which spent most per pupil on the education of pupils with special needs, with the average amounts spent for each such authority and (b) the 10 local education authorities with the greatest number of pupils with special needs, with the number in each case, for the last year for which the information is available.
Mr. Forth : The latest year for which information on local education authorities--LEAs--actual spending is available is 1989-90. Information is not collected separately on LEAs' spending on special needs within mainstream schools, nor on support services for special needs. Table 1 lists the 10 LEAs in England which spent most per pupil in maintained or non-maintained special schools, hospital schools, or receiving education other than at school. Table 2 indicates the 10 LEAs providing education for the greatest number of such pupils. To provide a reasonable match with spending data, pupil number data are for January 1990.
#TCW92071329A
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Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many primary schools there are in England with (a) fewer than 50 pupils and (b) between 50 and 75 pupils ; and how many secondary or middle schools there are with (i) fewer than 200 pupils and (ii) between 200 and 300 pupils, at the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Forth : The information requested is given in the table :
Maintained schools in England by size: January
1991
Full-time pupils |Schools
---------------------------------------------------
Primary
0 to 50 |1,293
51 to 75 |1,247
Over 75 |15,955
Middle
0 to 200 |154
201 to 300 |378
Over 300 |511
Secondary
0 to 200 |45
201 to 300 |69
Over 300 |3,292
Subjects Allied to Medicine
Dame Jill Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what criteria will be used by the Higher Education Funding Council for the funding of subjects allied to medicine ; and what account such funding will take of the relative costs of the subjects within that category ;
(2) what steps he will take to ensure adequate funding for the clinical training of university students of optometry under the future arrangements proposed by the Higher Education Funding Council.
Mr. Forman : The Higher Education Funding Council for England is consulting institutions on the funding methodology for teaching and on the academic subject categories to be adopted from 1993-94. The council has adopted the general principal that the number of subject categories should be relatively small so as to maximise institutions' management freedom. The precise coverage of academic subject categories will be the subject of further
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consultation. It will be for individual institutions to determine the level of funding for particular courses within each category, taking account of cost differences.Sex Education
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what aims and standards his Department has for the teaching of sex education to all children ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : Section 1 of the Education Reform Act 1988 requires the curriculum of maintained schools to prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. As part of that preparation, all pupils are now required to be taught those aspects of sex education contained in national curriculum science. Beyond that statutory requirement, school governing bodies are responsible, under the provisions of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986, for deciding whether any further sex education should be included in their school's curriculum ; and for maintaining a written record both of that decision, and the content and organisation of any sex education they decide should be provided. In addition, section 46 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 requires that any sex education which schools provide--whether or not it is required as part of the national curriculum--should be given in such a manner as to encourage pupils to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life. Detailed decisions about how such education is delivered in the classroom should take full account of local circumstances, the particular needs of pupils and the views of parents.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) in what circumstances sex education can be excluded from the teaching of human biology within the national curriculum ; (2) if he will give details of the circumstances in which teachers and parents may withdraw children from lessons about HIV and AIDS.
Mr. Forth : There is no statutory right of withdrawal from the secular curriculum : pupils may not be withdrawn from the teaching of any aspects of sex education provided by their school, whether or not these are required by the national curriculum. Schools should be ready to discuss with parents both their policies and approaches to sex education, and to consider any anxieties or suggestions which individual parents may have.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of school children at the ages of 11, 14 and 16 years have received sex education.
Mr. Forth : This information is not available.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Environmental Initiatives
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what new environmental initiatives he intends to promote for the European Community during his term as President of the European Agriculture Council.
Mr. Curry : We intend to press forward our initiative to integrate environmental protection requirements into the common agricultural policy.
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Seagulls, Sellafield
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what radiological surveys of the seagulls killed by British Nuclear Fuels at Sellafield in the cull carried out in June have been carried out by the scientific services in his Department.
Set-aside
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what flexibility will be applied to the new 15 per cent. set-aside scheme to take into account field layout and cost structure.
Mr. Curry : We have stressed to the Commission the importance of providing flexibility in the implementing regulations for the scheme. I hope that this will be reflected in the final text of these regulations.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what experiments have been undertaken to see if meat from bovines suffering from BSE is infective ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : Experiments in which mice have been inoculated with muscle tissue from cows confirmed to have BSE are in progress. Two of these have passed the end point for these studies and no clinical evidence of a scrapie or BSE-like disease has resulted. The results so far show that, as in all other naturally occurring transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, there is no detectable infectivity in muscle tissue and thus meat.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy for each year since 1986, and the latest figure for 1992 for the total number of cattle diagnosed that were (a) under two years of age, (b) aged two to three years, (c) aged three to four years, (d) aged five to six years and (e) aged seven or more years.
Mr. Soames : There were 847 cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain prior to the disease becoming notifiable on 21 June 1988. Since then the number of confirmed cases is as follows by year of report.
|Number
---------------------
1988 |2,185
1989 |7,136
1990 |14,179
1991 |25,013
1992 |13,430
<1> to 3 July.
The distribution of confirmed cases of BSE as at 10 July 1992 with a date of onset of disease between January and June 1992 of known age is as follows :
Age band (yrs) |Number of
|cases
------------------------------------------------
2 and less than 3 |1
3 and less than 4 |225
4 and less than 5 |3,734
5 and less than 6 |2,132
6 and less than 7 |737
7 and over |340
These animals will have been born during the period from 1 January 1988 to 30 June 1989. Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will invite the Royal Society and the Royal Colleges of Medicine to carry out a wholly independent study of the epidemiology of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Mr. Soames : No. The spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee-- the Tyrrell committee--already exists to look at all matters relating to spongiform encephalopathies.
Dogs and Cats
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) dogs and (b) cats are exported and imported for breeding purposes each year ; and how many (i) dogs and (ii) cats are imported for scientific experiments each year.
Mr. Soames : This information is not available.
Sugar Quota
Mr. Cann : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to protect the British sugar industry from cuts in its quota.
Mr. Curry : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on July 6, Official Report, column 62.
Agricultural Support
Mrs. Currie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of Government spending was allocated to agricultural support in (a) 1962, (b) 1972 and (c) the most recent year available ; and what equivalent proportion is estimated to be required in 1995.
Mr. Curry : The figures for 1962 and 1972 are not readily available. The most recent year for which figures have been published is the financial year 1991-92 when the proportion of Government spending allocated to agriculture was 0.7 per cent. There are no estimates available for what the equivalent proportion will be in 1995.
Fisheries Conservation
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he sent his consultation paper for new fish conservation proposals to (a) the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd. and (b) the Northern Ireland Fish Producers Organisation Ltd.
Mr. Curry : The Department of Agriculture, for Northern Ireland issued the consultation paper on effort control and decommissioning to both Northern Ireland producer organisations on 30 April 1992.
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he received any representations from (a) the Northern Ireland Fish Producers
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Organisation Ltd. and (b) the Anglo-North Irish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd. prior to the publication of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Bill and after he published his consultation paper for the fishing industry.Mr. Curry : The Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland received comments from both organisations in June after the publication of the Sea Fisheries (Conservation) Bill.
National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions when, where and with whom in each of the last five years he, his predecessors in that office, Ministers in his Ministry and their predecessors have officially met representatives of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations.
Mr. Curry : I have had regular meetings with the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations since I came to the Ministry three years ago. I recently attended its executive committee in Cheltenham on July 4 and I offered the federation a further meeting on 7 July.
Relocation
Mr. Betts : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the number of civil servants in his Department who could be relocated to provincial centres as part of the policy of devolving and dencentralising Government Departments.
Mr. Curry : Some 78 per cent. of the Ministry's staff are based outside London. Planning is at various stages of development for moving 1,000 posts away from a number of locations in London and the south-east.
Salmon
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Scotland about further measures to protect British salmon stocks.
Mr. Curry : The Department maintains close and regular contacts with the Scottish Office on matters relating to British salmon stocks and their protection.
Farm Workers
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average number of farm workers employed per hundred hectares on farms of (a) under 100 hectares, (b) 100 to 200, (c) 200 to 300, (d) 300 to 400, (e) 400 to 500, (f) 500 to 600 and (g) 600 and over hectares.
Mr. Curry : The information is as follows for the latest available date, with separate details for the total farm labour force and regular hired workers.
Average number of persons per 100 hectares of total area
England and Wales
June 1991
Total area of holding<1> |Total labour |Regular hired
(hectares) | force<2> |workers<3>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under 100 |7.8 |1.4
100<200 |2.9 |0.8
200<300 |2.3 |0.9
300<400 |2.1 |1.0
400<500 |1.7 |0.9
500<600 |1.7 |1.1
600 and over |1.3
All holdings |4.5 |1.1
Number of persons(000s) |486.0 |115.0
<1> Based on main holdings in the annual June census.
<2> Includes all whole-time and part-time workers on the holding in June 1991, i.e. farmers,
partners, directors, spouses, managers, regular family and hired workers, seasonal and casual
workers.
<3> Whole-time and part-time.
Cerone
Mr. Kevin Hughes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the approved shelf life of the pesticide product (a) Union Carbide cerone, (b) Embetec cerone and (c) ICI cerone, MAFF registration numbers 3467, 04416 and 00463, respectively ; (2) how long the approved shelf life of the Union Carbide product cerone was for the years 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986.
Mr. Soames : For a pesticide product to gain full approval under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 evidence of two years storage stability at ambient temperature must be supplied. Only if such evidence is not forthcoming will a shelf life be specified on the approved product label. The information on cerone is as follows :
(a) Union Carbide cerone (MAFF 00464)--This product has been commercially withdrawn. From 1981 to 1986 it held approval (No. 3467) for efficacy under the former Agricultural Chemicals Approval Scheme (ACAS) with no specified shelf life on the label.
(b) Embetec cerone (MAFF 04416)--This has been replaced by Rhone-Poulenc's cerone which holds provisional approval, with no specified shelf life on the label.
(c) ICI cerone (MAFF 00463)--This has provisional approval with no specified shelf life on the label.
Badger Baiting
Mr. Burns : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of badger baiting there have been in Essex in each of the last three available years ; and what action is being taken to enforce the laws against badger baiting in Essex.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I have been asked to reply.
In 1988 there were seven prosecutions and one conviction in Essex under the Badgers Act 1973, although it is not possible to say how many of these involved alleged cases of badger baiting. There were no prosecutions under the 1973 Act in Essex in 1989 or in 1990, the last year for which statistics are available.
The enforcement of the law in Essex is an operational matter for the chief constable.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Residential Requirements
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what residential requirements he sets for the payment of DSS benefits ; whether he plans any changes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : People who do not have a fixed abode, and who meet the entitlement conditions for a benefit, will often have to come to a social security or Employment Service office in person to collect their girocheque or notification to pick up their order book from a post office. In some cases they are posted to an address nominated by claimants. For unemployed people the entitlement conditions include being available for, and actively seeking work. These conditions are rigorously checked by Employment Service staff. Social security and Employment Service staff are careful to verify the identities of all claimants, and our computer systems will show if someone is making a duplicate claim at another office.
Disability Living Allowance
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 29 June, Official Report, column 428 , to the hon. Member for Harwich, (Mr. Sproat) about appeals against disability living allowance decisions, if he will make a statement on the factors which account for the delay in resolving the appeal of the constituent of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough, Ref. YR691179c.
Miss Widdecombe : An appeal to the social security commissioner was made by the hon. Member's constituent on 18 November 1991 and leave to appeal was granted by the commissioner on 23 January 1992. A submission by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was sent to the office of the social security commissioners on 19 February 1992 and the appeal is now awaiting a date for hearing. Hearings by the social security commissioners are a matter for my noble Friend, the Lord Chancellor.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people with learning difficulties have been awarded the lower rate of the mobility component of the disability living allowance ;
(2) how many people with visual impairments have been awarded (a) the lower rate care or (b) the lower rate mobility component of the disability living allowance ;
(3) how many awards of the higher rate mobility components made since 3 February were made (a) on the grounds that the person was severely mentally impaired and displayed severe behavioural problems and (b) under the deaf- blind provisions ;
Miss Widdecombe : The latest available figure for the number of people awarded the higher rate mobility component on the grounds of severe mental impairment is 116. The other information is not yet available.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers awarded the disability living allowance to date by (a) those awarded the higher rate of the care component, (b) those awarded the middle rate of the care component, (c)
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