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The Prime Minister : The association agreement will be concluded between the Republic of Poland, the European Community and its member states. It therefore requires ratification by the Parliaments of member states and the Polish Parliament. The European Parliament must also give its assent. I hope that these procedures can be completed quickly.
Crown Estate
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to bring the administration of the Crown estate within a Government Department and subject to Ministerial responsibility.
The Prime Minister : No. The Crown estate is administered by the Crown Estate Commissioners under the terms of the Crown Estate Act 1961.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister if he is consulted on the appointment of the Crown Estate Commissioners.
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Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister when a Government Minister last met the chairman or members of the Crown Estate Commission in order to discuss the administration of the Crown estate.
The Prime Minister : The Chancellor of the Exchequer met Lord Mansfield, the First Crown Estate Commissioner, to discuss the Crown estate's performance and long-term plans, on Wednesday 10 July 1991.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister in what circumstances the Crown Estate Commission is liable to pay the uniform business rate on property and estates it administers.
The Prime Minister : Commercial tenants of the Crown Estate Commissioners are liable to pay the uniform business rate in the usual way. Where the Crown estate occupies buildings for its own employees, the commissioners make a contribution in lieu of business rates to the Inland Revenue Crown property unit. The level of the rate is determined by the valuation office.
Voluntary Bodies
Mr. Sims : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the total amount paid in grants by Government Departments to voluntary bodies during the financial year 1990-91 ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Government funding to voluntary organisations in 1990-91 amounted to £2,680 million. Of this, £2,058 million was payments to voluntary housing associations ; £150 million was payments under major employment and training schemes ; and £472 million went to support provision of services and a wide range ofactivities and projects by a variety of voluntary organisations. This last figure, which represents the amount paid directly by Government funding to voluntary organisations, shows that direct Government funding of the voluntary sector increased in cash terms by 26.5 per cent.--16.6 per cent. in real terms--over the level of provision in 1989-90. In the period between 1979-80 and 1990-91, the level of the Government's support for voluntary bodies rose in real terms by 149.5 per cent., an increase in cash terms of 542.25 per cent.
The amount spent under individual departmental programmes was as follows :
|£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |179,037
Defence |9,688,730
Education and Science |5,725,346
Sports Council |13,454,000
Employment
Training programmes |177,199,203
Energy |725,462
Environment
Direct grants |15,965,568
Urban programme |51,300,000
Housing corporation |1,682,000,000
Countryside Commission |1,600,000
Nature Conservancy Council |1,469,000
Rural Development Commission |5,089,000
UK 2000 project grant fund |360,000
Foreign and Commonwealth Office |1,453,658
Overseas Development Administration |87,799,667
Health
Direct grants |36,498,099
Health Education Authority |1,108,405
Home Office
Direct grants |33,856,000
Equal Opportunities Commission |19,814
Commission for Racial Equality |508,887
Northern Ireland Office
Direct grants |17,673,816
Housing associations and societies |36,872,587
Sports Council for Northern Ireland |495,696
Employment |49,230,056
Community workshops |17,739,038
Community volunteering schemes |890,000
Youth community projects |831,479
Young help |1,148,681
Scottish Office
Direct grants |18,909,379
Urban programme |35,671,000
Housing associations |208,000,000
Countryside Commission for Scotland |1,004,341
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (formerly
Highlands and Islands Development
Board) |1,197,977
Sports Council for Scotland |1,451,561
Social Security |5,717,883
Trade and Industry |11,604,172
Transport |541,000
Welsh Office
Direct grants |8,767,755
Urban programme |3,060,000
Joint finance/care in the community |336,000
Development Board for Rural Wales |420,664
Housing for Wales
(Tai Cymru)-Grants to housing
associations |131,387,947
Sports Council for Wales and Play Wales
Management Committee |1,099,155
Grand Total |2,680,050,063
I am placing in the Library of the House a list of voluntary bodies funded by the Government in 1990-91 other than those funded under youth training and employment training, housing programmes and the urban programme or via non-departmental public bodies. Other recent publications about the relationship between Government and the voluntary sector already placed in the Library include "The Individual and the Community : The Role of the Voluntary Sector", and a leaflet entitled "Government and Voluntary Organisations Support and Partnership". Copies of these publications can be obtained from the voluntary services unit, Home Office, Room 1373, 50 Queen Anne's gate, London SW1H 9AT.
EDUCATION
Civil Servants' Shareholdings
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance, other than the civil service pay and conditions of service code and the establishment officers' guide, his Department provides relating to civil servants' shareholdings ; if he will list the number of occasions within the last five years on which civil servants have reported shareholdings to establishment officers in his Department ; what regulations apply to the staff of the next steps agencies within his Department ; what mechanisms are in place to prevent potential conflicts of interest ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forman : No special guidance is provided. Civil servants in the Department and its agency are expected to
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report shareholdings where a conflict of interest might arise. There is no record of any having done so over the past five years : the nature of most of the Department's business makes conflicts of interest inherently unlikely.Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what visits she has made to his EC counterparts in each member state to discuss deregulation matters since 18 April ; what agreements came out of such meetings ; and what plans she has for making further progress in deregulation matters during the United Kingdom presidency of the EC.
Mr. Forman : Education is not regulated at the level of the EC.
Theatres
Ms. Eagle : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what jurisdiction his Department has over those theatres currently controlled by colleges in the further education sector ; and if he has had talks with the Further Education Funding Council to guarantee their future survival.
Mr. Forman : My right hon. Friend has no jurisdiction over theatres currently controlled by further education colleges but, under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, his consent would be required for the disposal of such an asset prior to 1 April 1993. It will be for the Further Education Funding Council, when it is formed, to decide how to treat theatres for the purposes of its funding methodology.
Voluntary-aided Primary Schools, Rossendale
Ms. Janet Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will approve the application for capital grant in respect of an extension to St. Veronica's voluntary-aided primary school, Haslingden, Rossendale ;
(2) if he will approve the application for capital grant in respect of developments at St. Mary's voluntary-aided primary school, Haslingden, Rossendale.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend approved a proposal to enlarge significantly the premises of St. Veronica's on 6 February 1992 together with the associated project at St. Mary's. This approval means that he will be prepared to pay maintenance contribution on governors' approved net building expenditure subject to a maximum cash limit based on 85 per cent. of the governors' share of the scheme which estimated total capital costs of £580,000.
English
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) higher education students and (b) female students were reading English in the years 1979, 1985 and 1991.
Mr. Foreman : The information is given in the table :
Higher education students studying
English (Great Britain)
|Male |Female|Total
-----------------------------------
1979 |3,981 |7,857 |11,838
1985 |3,513 |7,897 |11,410
1990 |4,314 |11,773|16,087
Note: Subject classification
changed between 1985 and 1990.
Student Fees
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the cost to the Exchequer of student fees was in the years 1979, 1985, and 1991.
Mr. Foreman : In financial year 1991-92 the cost to the Exchequer of fees for mandatory student award holders domiciled in England and Wales, and of fees paid on behalf of students from the European Community, was some £1,173,084,000. This figure excludes discretionary award holders and the holders of postgraduate awards, for whom the fee element cannot be separately identified. For financial years 1979-80 and 1985-86, only combined fee and maintenance figures are available.
Standard Assessment Tasks
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations have been received against publication of SATs results and how many for publication during the past 12 months.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has not yet issued for consultation proposals for the publication of national curriculum assessment results at school level. It is not, therefore, possible to provide a tabulation of representations for and against publication. However, over the past 12 months the Department for Education has received many letters about the general issue of the publication of national curriculum assessment results at national, LEA and school level. Precise figures on the numbers for and against publication at the various different levels are not, however, available.
School Budgets
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish figures to show for each local education authority in English in the latest year for which such figures are available what was (a) the potential schools budget, (b) the amount of subsidy spent on school meals and milk and (c) (b) expressed as a percentage of (a).
Mr. Forth : The figures in the following table show planned expenditure for 1991-92, and were taken from local authorities' 1991-92 budget statements, published under section 42 of the Education Reform Act 1988.
School meals expenditure 1991-92
|(a) |(b) |(c)
Local education |Potential |School meals |School meals
authority |schools |expenditure |expenditure as
|budget (PSB) |not delegated |a percentage
|(£ million) |(£ million) |of PSB
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon |222.7 |14.0 |6.3
Barking |42.5 |2.1 |4.9
Barnet |75.4 |4.3 |5.7
Barnsley |50.7 |4.4 |8.7
Bedfordshire |150.4 |9.6 |6.4
Berkshire |168.3 |0.9 |0.5
Bexley |56.5 |2.6 |4.5
Birmingham |271.1 |18.8 |6.9
Bolton |71.0 |5.7 |8.0
Bradford |141.9 |8.5 |6.0
Brent |68.9 |4.4 |6.3
Bromley |64.1 |2.9 |4.5
Buckinghamshire |148.9 |1.4 |0.9
Bury |44.2 |3.4 |7.7
Calderdale |49.8 |3.3 |6.6
Cambridgeshire |158.6 |3.3 |2.1
Cheshire |243.6 |10.6 |4.4
Cleveland |164.9 |13.8 |8.4
Cornwall |102.1 |5.6 |5.5
Coventry |81.1 |4.4 |5.4
Croydon |81.2 |1.6 |1.9
Cumbria |122.6 |4.9 |4.0
Derbyshire |235.6 |21.6 |9.2
Devon |209.3 |8.2 |3.9
Doncaster |83.6 |7.0 |8.4
Dorset |132.0 |0.5 |0.3
Dudley |72.4 |2.7 |3.7
Durham |157.0 |10.5 |6.7
Ealing |74.2 |2.7 |3.6
East Sussex |135.8 |9.7 |7.1
Enfield |71.7 |2.4 |3.4
Essex |372.7 |5.1 |1.4
Gateshead |50.8 |3.3 |6.4
Gloucestershire |115.4 |2.0 |1.7
Hampshire |367.1 |17.3 |4.7
Haringey |55.8 |3.9 |6.9
Harrow |48.7 |1.4 |2.8
Havering |65.3 |1.5 |2.3
Hereford/Worcester 156.4 1.4 0.9
Hertfordshire |246.8 |14.3 |5.8
Hillingdon |60.8 |0.3 |0.5
Hounslow |60.6 |3.6 |6.0
Humberside |238.2 |13.5 |5.7
Isle of Wight |29.8 |1.0 |3.3
Isles of Scilly |0.9 |0.0 |2.6
Kent |343.8 |3.8 |1.1
Kingston |33.1 |1.3 |3.9
Kirklees |98.5 |7.5 |7.6
Knowsley |46.4 |2.9 |6.3
Lancashire |349.2 |19.3 |5.5
Leeds |188.0 |13.2 |7.0
Leicestershire |242.9 |12.3 |5.1
Lincolnshire |134.4 |0.6 |0.5
Liverpool |141.6 |7.9 |5.6
Manchester |123.3 |13.0 |10.5
Merton |40.6 |0.6 |1.6
Newcastle |70.8 |4.3 |6.1
Newham |73.6 |3.1 |4.2
Norfolk |177.0 |10.5 |6.0
North Tyneside |53.2 |4.1 |7.7
North Yorkshire |168.2 |9.9 |5.9
Northamptonshire |155.8 |2.2 |1.4
Northumberland |71.1 |6.2 |8.7
Nottinghamshire |267.3 |18.1 |6.8
Oldham |65.6 |4.6 |7.1
Oxfordshire |131.9 |5.3 |4.0
Redbridge |51.6 |1.1 |2.2
Richmond |32.2 |0.9 |2.8
Rochdale |52.2 |4.2 |8.1
Rotherham |70.7 |4.4 |6.2
Salford |59.2 |3.1 |5.3
Sandwell |90.8 |5.8 |6.4
Sefton |76.7 |4.3 |5.6
Sheffield |118.5 |8.0 |6.8
Shropshire |108.6 |6.3 |5.8
Solihull |54.6 |3.2 |5.9
Somerset |108.4 |1.9 |1.8
South Tyneside |38.3 |3.3 |8.7
Staffordshire |253.5 |13.3 |5.2
St. Helens |49.0 |3.1 |6.3
Stockport |71.6 |2.3 |3.2
Suffolk |152.3 |1.9 |1.3
Sunderland |76.6 |4.8 |6.2
Surrey |203.5 |12.1 |5.9
Sutton |37.7 |1.2 |3.2
Tameside |56.6 |4.4 |7.8
Trafford |46.4 |3.2 |6.9
Wakefield |80.8 |7.4 |9.1
Walsall |77.6 |5.4 |6.9
Waltham Forest |61.4 |4.8 |7.8
Warwickshire |110.5 |5.6 |5.1
Westminster |40.4 |3.0 |7.4
West Sussex |142.2 |3.0 |2.1
Wigan |86.7 |4.5 |5.2
Wiltshire |131.8 |4.4 |3.3
Wirral |83.8 |4.1 |4.9
Wolverhampton |73.7 |4.3 |5.8
Totals and |13,230.3 |554.2 |4.9
National averages
Notes:
1. The table listseach local education authority (LEA) which had a local
management scheme in operation in1991-92. Apert from Westminster, the LEAs in
inner London are not included. LEAs are not required to operate a full school
meals service, but they are obliged to offer free meals to pupils of families in
reciept of income support. Charges may be levied in respect of meals for other
pupils.
2. The potential schools budget-column (a)-is defined as the general schools
budget less expenditure on certain excepted items: capital expenditure;
expenditure supported by central government grants; and expenditure on school
meals, home to school transport and transitional exceptions (eg grounds
maintenance).
3. The figure for school meals expenditure in each authority-column (b)-is taken
from the list of items excepted from delegation shown in each authoriity's
section 42 budget statement for 1991-92. the figures may not be directly
comparable for two reasons:
(i) some authorities have separately identified school milk expenditure as a
different excepted item, in which case the figure for milk expenditure is not
included, and other authorities have included milk expenditure in the same item
without disaggregating costs,in which case milk expenditure is included;and
(ii) the extent to ehich income from charges is taken into account varies
consideraby between authorities. For example, in some authorities gross
expenditure on school meals is offset by income,in other authorities where the
meals service is cotracted out the income may be retained by the contractor and
the gross expenditure by the authority is reduced accordingly.
4. Figures for 1992-93 are not yet complete.
Young Musicians
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to ensure that the Centre for Young Musicians can continue to provide tuition to musically gifted children from all parts of inner London.
Mr. Forth : The work of the Centre for Young Musicians is widely regarded, not least by my Department which is providing funding over the three years 1990-93 of more than £330,000. I very much welcome the support which inner London boroughs give to the Centre for Young Musicians and hope that London children will continue to benefit from the tuition offered.
Food and Home Economics
Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the future of the subject of food and home economics in the national curriculum.
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Mr. Forth : Aspects of home economics are covered in a number of national curriculum subjects, including technology and science. While the revision of the programmes of study and statements of attainment of the national curriculum technology order is still in progress, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Post-16 Students
Mr. Kevin Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals he has for the assessment of the Government's financial contributions to the provision under section 12 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 providing for schools to admit, from 1993, persons over compulsory school age to courses suitable to their requirements on a full or part-time basis and to charge fees for this service ; and if these additional students will be accounted for in the methodology of the post-16 block of education standard spending assessment or otherwise.
Mr. Forman : Funding arrangements in 1993-94 will reflect LEAs' changed duties under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. In calculating the transfer of funds from local authorities to the new further education sector, the Government will leave within local authority standard spending the resources attributable to those courses which fall within LEAs' responsibilities. The Government will announce in due course their proposals for the education elements of standard spending assessments as part of the local authority finance settlement for 1993-94.
Performing Arts
Ms. Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what grants have been made to Oulder Hill community school, Rochdale, to fund the Business and Technician Education Council course in performing arts.
Mr. Forman : The Government are committed to increasing take-up of vocational qualifications in schools. In 1992-93, my Department allocated Rochdale LEA funds to support expenditure of £13,400 to help schools and sixth form colleges to introduce new vocational qualifications under the grants for education support and training--GEST--programme. Figures on the grants made to individual schools under this element of the GEST programme are not available centrally.
Discretionary Awards
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many students eligible for local authority discretionary awards under sections 1(6) and 2 of the Education Act 1962 were offered places on further education courses at educational institutions in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 ;
(2) how many students received local authority discretionary awards under sections 1(6) and 2 of the Education Act 1962 on further education courses in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Mr. Forman : Section 1(6) of the Act covers higher education only. Under section 2 of the Education Act 1962, LEAs have a discretionary power to bestow awards on persons over compulsory school age attending any course of full-time or part-time further education. LEAs must meet the cost for these awards from their own resources.
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The numbers of further education students receiving discretionary awards under section 2 of the Education Act 1962 are as follows :Thousands 1988-89 |1989-90 |<1>1990-91 -------------------------------------------- 130.9 |130.5 |128.5 <1> (Provisional). Data for 1991-92 are not yet available.
Expansion Funds
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether grant-maintained school and Church schools will be eligible for the expansion funds going to oversubscribed popular schools in 1993-94 on the same basis as local authority-maintained schools.
Student Support
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to conduct investigations into levels of higher education student support, the relationship between income and estimated expenditure and the levels of student hardship and debt ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forman : By this autumn, we shall have increased the level of full-year student support by nearly 40 per cent. since 1989-90. We shall commission surveys of students' income and expenditure as and when appropriate.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the number of (a) special needs students who have been statemented and attend (i) special day schools, (ii) special needs residential schools and (iii) mainstream schools each year since 1981, (b) statemented pupils for each year since 1981, (c) those waiting to be statemented for each year since 1981 and (d) the number of appeals.
Mr. Forth : I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Mature Students
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make provision for mandatory awards to be made by local authorities to mature students admitted directly for higher degrees without first doing first degrees ; and if he will make a statement.
National Curriculum
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements he intends to make for national curriculum assessments in 1993, in the light of recent consultations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Patten : In the light of consultation and of the advice of the School Examinations and Assessment Council under its chairman, Lord Griffiths, I shall be making later this month orders to govern the assessment
Column 876
under the national curriculum in 1993 of seven-year-olds in the core subjects--English, mathematics and science--and technology, history and geography, and of 14-year-olds in the core subjects and technology. I shall place copies of the orders and accompanying circulars in the Library.Next year's assessments of seven-year-olds will build on the experience of this year's successful tests. They will consist of : mandatory tests in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, focusing on the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic ; teachers' assessments of pupils' attainments in technology, and for the first time in history and geography, supported by non-mandatory tests ;
strengthened arrangements to ensure consistency of assessment standards within and between schools.
I have decided to give teachers greater flexibility over the timing of the tests of seven-year-olds in the core subjects which, in 1993, will be able to be delivered from the mid-point of the spring term to four weeks before the end of the summer term. This means that : teachers will have longer to deliver the programmes of study if they so choose ; and
those children whose seventh birthday falls in the summer term can be tested later, if teachers wish.
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 features will be :
short, written papers in science, mathematics, English and technology, taken simultaneously by all pupils under examination conditions ;
a practical test of pupils' manufacturing skills in technology ; teachers' assessments of each pupil's classroom work to provide a detailed diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses which will inform GCSE option choices and future teaching ;
provision for subject score consisting of test results, in attainment targets covered by tests, and teacher assessments in other attainment targets ;
a rigorous audit by independent examining bodies of each school's test marking and teacher assessments before results are reported to parents or published.
In response to concerns that test dates for 14-year-olds in 1993 should not clash with those for high entry GCSEs, and that testing should not be concentrated within a single week, I have decided that the tests in 1993 will be spread over the two weeks beginning 7 and 14 June. A detailed timetable setting out which tests will be on which days will be distributed to schools early in September. These measures are a further step in the Government's programme to ensure that pupils' attainments are assessed according to rigorous standards. They will provide parents and teachers with valuable information on each pupil's strengths and weaknesses, and will be a valuable tool in raising further standards in our schools.
Surplus Places
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will estimate the cost of keeping surplus places in primary and secondary schools in each academic year since 1987-88 in 1991-92 prices ;
(2) if he will estimate the number of surplus places in primary and secondary schools in each academic year since 1987-88.
Column 877
Mr. Forth [holding answer 9 July 1992] : The table records the estimated number of surplus places over the last four calendar--not academic--years.Year |Primary |Secondary ---------------------------------------- 1987 |900,000 |770,000 1988 |860,000 |890,000 1989 |830,000 |950,000 1990 |780,000 |1,000,000
These figures derive from an assessment of school capacity carried out in 1981 which has been adjusted annually to reflect accommodation brought into and taken out of use. We have recently completed an initial survey of school capacity. On the basis of this survey we estimate that in 1991 there were up to 1.5 million surplus places in England--approximately 800,000 in the primary sector and 700,000 in the secondary sector. Further work needs to be done to establish the reliability of these figures for each LEA.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Public Bodies
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by his Department ; which of these are audited by the National Audit Office ; which firms of private accountants audits each of the others ; by what method of tendering contracts to such firms are awarded ; and for what duration.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Non-departmental public bodies which are sponsored by the LCD are listed in the HMSO publication "Public Bodies 1991"--ISBN No. 011 4300 64X. Normal National Audit Office arrangements apply for all the LCD's non-departmental public bodies except in the following cases where the statutory provisions governing the body allow for external auditors to be appointed : the Legal Aid Board, which has appointed Messrs. Chantrey Vellacott for an initial period of two years following a competitive tender ; the Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board, which is audited by Messrs. Finnie & Co., who were chosen in preference to one other firm and where the contract between the board and Finnies is for no specific duration ; and the Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct, where the appointment of auditors is currently the subject of competitive tendering.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months relative to the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Government continue to place a high priority on helping small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and through specific programmes of support and assistance.
Column 878
Disability Living Allowance
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to the answer of the Secretary of State for Social Security of 13 July, about the appeal of the constituent of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough, Ref. YR691179C, against a disability living allowance decision, if he will make a statement on the delay in arranging a hearing.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Secretary of State's submission in the appeal Ref. YR691179C--Commissioner's ref. CA/016/92--of the hon. Member's constituent was received in the office of the Social Security Commissioner on 20 February 1992. Following the normal procedure, a copy of that submission was sent on 21 February 1992 to the constituent's authorised representative. His written observations were requested and are still awaited.
The constituent lodged a separate appeal--Commissioner's ref. CA/310/92-- against the same decision in a different regional office using a different representative. The two appeals are being dealt with together to ensure that they are resolved at the same time.
Distraint
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellors Department if he will review the basis of distraint by bailiffs on goods and chattels of debtors and further limit the range of such articles which can be distrained upon.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The goods and chattels which are exempt from levy and seizure following a judgment of a county court or the High Court were revised by section 15 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 which came into effect on 1 July 1991. This exemption also applies to distress for rent. I have no plans to amend those exemptions further.
I understand however that my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is consulting local authority associations and other interested bodies about introducing restrictions which mirror these in cases of non-payment of the community charge and rates.
Legal Aid
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what guidance is available to criminal legal aid ; and whether the same guidance is followed by the area offices of the Legal Aid Board when dealing with cases coming to them on review from refusals by the courts.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The Justices Clerks Society issued guidance to its members in 1990 and 1991. The Lord Chancellor's Department issued a circular in April 1992 which included advice and guidance for use when considering applications for criminal legal aid. The Legal Aid Board is aware of the guidance which has been made available. However, it remains for the court, or the legal aid area committee in the case of a review, to decide whether legal aid should be granted in any particular case in accordance with the criteria set down in the Legal Aid Act 1988.
Column 879
Magistrates, Sunderland
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the names of those responsible for choosing magistrates for the borough of Sunderland and their lengths of service in each case.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The members of the advisory committee responsible for recommending candidates for the magistracy for the Sunderland petty sessional division and their dates of appointment are as follows :
Chairman :
G. P. Suffield Esq. JP--Appointed 1982
Members :
Mrs. C. K. Wood JP--Appointed 1982
A. P. Greenshields Esq. JP--Appointed 1982
J. Hall Esq. JP--Appointed 1988
B. Dodds Esq. JP--Appointed 1991
C. J. Jones Esq. JP--Appointed 1991
Mrs. S. K. Whiteman JP--Appointed 1988
Mrs. C. P. M. Clarke JP--Appointed 1991
J. J. Gardiner Esq. MBE--Appointed 1991
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list magistrates in the borough of Sunderland by the wards in which they live.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The question cannot be answered without disproportionate cost. When seeking suitable candidates for appointment the Lord Chancellor expects all advisory committees to achieve a bench which is representative of the community it serves. To this end, he expects them to take into account geographical as well as other factors.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give the political balance of magistrates for the borough of Sunderland.
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