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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : A number of issues raised by the draft report of the sub-group of the land compensation working party have to be resolved. It is hoped that an announcement will be made shortly.
British Rail (Freight)
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made with the Government's plans for the sale of British Rail's freight businesses to the private sector ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The privatisation of British Rail's freight businesses requires primary legislation. Subject to enactment of that legislation, we intend that privatisation will commence in 1994. We are aiming to announce preferred options for the restructuring of the freight businesses prior to privatisation in the first part of next year.
Passenger Rail Services
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with interested parties regarding the Government's plans for the franchising of passenger rail services in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The Department is considering responses to the consultation document issued on 12 October, and will be having discussions with some of those respondents. I shall be visiting Scotland next month as part of my national programme of presentations on our proposals for privatising British Rail.
Road Accidents (Summer Time)
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence he has on the connection between the ending of British summer time and traffic accidents and casualties, with particular reference to children.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Detailed estimates, by the Transport Research Laboratory, of the casualty savings that would accrue from a change to the present summer time regime are contained in paragraphs 26 to 43 of the 1989 Home Office document " Summer Time' "--A Consultation Document". Copies of this are available in the House Library.
The estimates of the casualty savings that would accrue from a single double summer time regime have been updated to take account of 1991 casualty data. This indicates a saving of 140 fatalities, 520 serious injuries and 1,200 slight injuries, many of which would be child casualties.
Chelmsford/A12 Bypass
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he now expects the emergency telephones on the Chelmsford/A12 bypass to be erected and in operation.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 16 November 1992] : The telephones are currently being installed and should be in service early next month.
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Heavy Goods Vehicle Instructors
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to operate a scheme for registration of heavy goods vehicle instructors along the lines of his scheme for driving instructors ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 16 November 1992] : I have no such plans. All large goods vehicle candidates must already have passed a car driving test and then face the very demanding LGV driving test. There is no clear road safety evidence to justify further regulation.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what qualifications he considers suitable for HGV instructors ; how they differ from driving instructors ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 16 November 1992] : My Department does not set qualifications for LGV driving instructors beyond requiring that they hold a full licence for driving the category of vehicle. The Driving Standards Agency is, however, preparing an official learner syllabus for LGV drivers which will help trainers and trainees alike.
School Buses
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 3 November, Official Report, column 160, when he completed the review of the Carrying Capacity Regulations 1984 and associated regulations regarding the permissibility of three children aged under 14 travelling on a double seat as referred to in his reply to the hon. Member for Thurrock (Mr. Mackinlay), 25 June, Official Report, column 273 ; and what are the reasons underlying the decision not to change the regulations.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle [holding answer 16 November 1992] : We are continuing to review these regulations. For the present, as I said in my reply of 3 November, I have no plans to amend the regulations.
Commuter Services
Mr. Channon : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to divert sufficient amounts of the proposed increased investment by British Rail to modernise commuter services to and from London, including the Fenchurch street line to Southend.
Mr. Freeman : It is for British Rail to set priorities for investment within the resources at its disposal.
BR is currently reviewing its priorities in the light of the autumn statement and I will write to my right hon. Friend in due course.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
India
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library the text of the extradition treaty with India he signed on behalf of Her Majesty's Government.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and India was signed on 23 September 1992 and copies placed in the Libraries of both Houses on that date.
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Baltic States
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Russian Government regarding its cancellation of troop withdrawals from the Baltic states.
Mr. Hogg : The Russian Government have suspended rather than cancelled withdrawals from the Baltic states. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister raised the matter with President Yeltsin during their talks in London on 9 November, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs discussed it with the Russian Foreign Minister on 10 November.
Publicity Expenditure
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total spending in Britain by the European Commission and its agencies on information, public relations and publicity in 1980 and 1990.
Mr. Garel-Jones : Details of the information and publicity budgets of institutions are set out in the EC general budget. This is published in the Official Journal , copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The Commission and other EC institutions do not specify what proportion of their information budgets are spent in each member state.
Private Detectives
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use his Department has made of private detectives in each of the last five years ; at what cost ; and if he will list the firms involved.
Kaliningrad
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on levels of military deployment within the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Republic.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Kaliningrad region of the Russian republic contains the headquarters of the Russian Baltic fleet. We understand that there are at least 30,000 ground forces, as well as significant numbers of aircraft of the Russian naval air force and the Russian air force based there. Kaliningrad is a significant staging-post for Russian ground troops withdrawn from Germany and Poland.
Hong Kong
Mr. Renton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the prospects for economic, political and democratic growth in Hong Kong as outlined in the Governor's speech last month to the Legislative Council ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Goodlad : The Government fully endorse the economic, social and political policies for Hong Kong set out in the Governor's address to the Legislative Council on 7 October.
The economic prospects of Hong Kong are very encouraging. Hong Kong's projected annual GDP growth
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between now and 1997 is expected to average 5 per cent. in real terms. The growing economic co-operation between the territory and southern China has enabled Hong Kong to benefit from the remarkable rates of growth in China in recent years.The best way to protect Hong Kong's prosperity and stability in the years ahead is to maintain the territory's way of life. The Governor made a number of proposals in his speech aimed at making the administration of Hong Kong more effective and broadening the participation of Hong Kong people in running their own affairs. We consider that these proposals are consistent with the joint declaration and the basic law. The Governor has made clear that he is willing to consider alternative proposals if these meet the requirement of being open, fair and commanding widespread support in Hong Kong.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Hong Kong citizens have applied for United Kingdom passports ; what is the likely proportion that will be granted passports ; and how many dependants are likely to attach to each passport granted.
Mr. Goodlad : Some 66,511 Hong Kong residents have applied to date for British citizenship in the first phase of the British nationality scheme under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990. About 39, 418 of them are expected to be successful in their application. Present indications are that the principal beneficiaries each have two dependants on average.
Iraq
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the light of the documents made available in the Matrix Churchill court case, he will make further inquiries into the circumstances of the death of journalist Jonathan Moyle in 1990 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : As I told the House on 21 January 1991, we have previously looked into media reports that Mr. Moyle may have come across information about Chilean arms sales to Iraq, but we have no evidence to substantiate this.
Mr. Jonathan Moyle's tragic death is still under investigation by the Chilean authorities, and the British Embassy in Santiago remains in touch with those authorities.
Bosnia
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of any formal or informal agreement reached by EC ministers for EC member states to receive families from Bosnian detention camps this year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : This question was discussed at the EC Foreign Affairs Council on 9 November but no agreement, formal or informal, was reached. We have offered to accept 150 (plus dependants) in the first instance and are looking at what more we can do. We understand that EC partners have made similar offers.
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Public Works Contracts
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the dates on which regulations equivalent to the Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991 were enacted or came into force in each other EC member state.
Mr. Garel-Jones : The material requested is not held centrally and will need some time to be collected. I will provide as full a response as I can as soon as possible.
Wilton Park
Mr. Sumberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the appointment of a departmental board for the Wilton Park executive agency ; and whether targets have been agreed for the current year.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Wilton Park departmental board was appointed earlier this year and held its first meeting on 23 October. I have agreed the recommendation of the board that the following key targets be adopted for this financial year :
to increase income from £790,000 to £876,000 ;
to recover 72.5 per cent. of costs ;
to increase the overall number of Wilton Park conference participants from 720 to 860 ;
to reduce the average cost to the FCO of each participant from £426 to £387.
Foreign Affairs Council
Mr. Harris : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 9 November.
Mr. Hurd : I chaired the Foreign Affairs Council on 9 November. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and, on trade issues including GATT, my hon. Friend the Minister of Trade represented the United Kingdom.
There was a discussion of guiding principles on subsidiarity on the basis of a draft presidency paper. It was agreed that COREPER would report to the next meeting of the Council. There was discussion on how to introduce greater openness into the work of the Community following the discussion at the European Council in Birmingham. COREPER will take this work forward too.
Progress in ratifying the Maastricht treaty was discussed informally. The Danish Foreign Minister explained the Danish proposals. We as presidency agreed to liaise closely with the Danes and our other partners to reach agreement on a framework for a solution at Edinburgh. I reiterated the Government's commitment to securing the passage of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill in order to permit the United Kingdom to ratify the Maastricht treaty. There was a further discussion on the Community's finances, based on outline conclusions tabled by the presidency and on a presentation by the President of the Commission.
The Commission reported on recent negotiations with the United States on GATT and oilseeds. The Council urged the Commission to resume negotiations with the United States and warned that United States unilateral
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action could lead to a retaliatory spiral. The Council emphasised the vital importance of early action by both sides to avoid this. The Council welcomed the Commission's opinion on Finland's application to join the Community. It was agreed that this should be considered as part of the preparations for enlargement negotiations with the EFTA countries.The right hon. and noble Lord Owen briefed Ministers on recent developments in the former Yugoslavia. Ministers had a wide ranging discussion of the crisis, including the plight of released detainees. They agreed to continue work on tightening sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro.
An EC/Turkey Association Council took place in the margins of the Council. The Council agreed on a new political dialogue arrangements with Turkey, including meetings at the highest level and regular meetings at Foreign Minister level.
Korea
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent visit by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to the Republic of Korea.
Mr. Goodlad : Their Royal Highnesses were the guests of President Roh Tae Woo. The Korean Government and people gave them an extremely warm reception as a mark of the esteem in which they and Britain are held in Korea. Their Royal Highnesses undertook a very busy schedule which involved meeting many distinguished and influential Koreans. Their visit provided an excellent base from which to develop further the already good bilateral relations which exist. Their Royal Highnesses attended a number of major commercial promotions, several sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry. Their presence provided a unique opportunity for British companies to demonstrate their commitment to the market, and to raise the profile of British business and technology in South Korea's growing economy.
PRIME MINISTER
Security Service
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister what arrangements he intends to make for parliamentary scrutiny of the Security Service and the secret intelligence service.
The Prime Minister : As I explained to the hon. Member on 13 May 1992, Official Report, column 103, the security and intelligence services are all subject to close ministerial oversight, and the Ministers are responsible to Parliament. There is now also a Commissioner for the Security Service who produces an annual report to Parliament, and a tribunal for those who have grievances. There will be an opportunity for Parliament to debate such matters when legislation is brought forward.
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Engagements
Sir Peter Tapsell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 17 November.
The Prime Minister : This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
Cabinet Committees
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Prime Minister whether it is customary for decisions made in Cabinet Committee to be relayed to Members of the Cabinet who have not attended that meeting.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 16 November 1992] : Not in all cases. The procedures for Cabinet committees are set out in paragraph 4 of the "Questions of Procedure for Ministers," which is available in the Library.
EDUCATION
Governing Bodies
4. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a further statement on the corporate status of governing bodies of schools.
Mr. Forth : The Education Bill includes provision for the incorporation of governing bodies of LEA-maintained schools.
Teachers' Pay
11. Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what factors he will take into account when considering the
recommendations from the School Teachers' Pay Review Body.
Mr. Patten : I set out in my letters to the chairman of the school teachers' review body dated 24 July and 12 November the considerations which should inform their recommendations for teachers' pay and conditions of service in 1993-94. Copies are in the Library.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on teachers' pay.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has asked the school teachers' review body to make recommendations on teachers' pay and statutory conditions of service from April 1993. His letters to the chairman of the school teachers' review body dated 24 July and 12 November set out the matters on which he has asked for recommendations, and the considerations to which the review body is to have regard. Copies of both letters are in the Library.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received regarding performance-related pay for teachers and the scheme's proposed introduction.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has received a small number of representations on the introduction of performance-related pay for school teachers. He has asked the school teachers' review body to recommend how the pay of all school teachers might be more closely related to their individual performance.
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University Entrance (Cumbria)
13. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information he has available to him as to the proportion of sixth formers in Cumbria going on to attend university.
Mr. Forman : More than 1,200 students from Cumbria entered universities in Great Britain and polytechnics and colleges in England in 1990-91. This represented nearly20 per cent. of the young adult population in Cumbria, and was very similar to national participation rates for that year.
Schools (Surplus Places)
14. Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the latest Government estimate of the number of surplus places in schools in England.
Mr. Patten : We estimate that there are currently up to 1.5 million surplus places in England.
Grant-maintained Schools
12. Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provisions he has made in relation to the auditing of the accounts of grant -maintained schools.
Mr. Forth : The governing body of a grant-maintained school is required to appoint qualified external auditors, which may include the Audit Commission, to audit the school's annual accounts. The Department has issued guidance on the form of an audit code for governors and auditors of grant-maintained schools. As for other Exchequer-funded bodies, grant- maintained schools are subject to the oversight of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
15. Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of schools in England have had ballots on grant- maintained status.
Mr. Forth : Ballots have been held at 701 schools in England to date, that is around 3.5 per cent. of eligible schools. The sevenfold increase in ballots last month compared to October last year reflects the significant increase of interest following publication of the White Paper.
16. Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from Blackburn about his proposals for grant-maintained schools.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has received no representations from Blackburn about his proposals for grant-maintained schools.
19. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) secondary and (b) primary schools are now operating under grant-maintained status.
Mr. Forth : A total of 225 secondary schools and 53 primary schools are currently operating under grant-maintained status. A further 43 secondary schools and 21 primary schools have received approval.
24. Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the contributions which can be made by grant-maintained schools in rural areas.
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Mr. Forth : The advantages of grant-maintained status--for example, the ability of schools to manage their own affairs, their accountability to parents and the local community and not to a bureaucracy, and popularity with parents shown by the increased applications for places--apply equally to schools in rural as in other areas.
25. Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received about the future funding of grant-maintained schools.
Mr. Forth : We have received a number of representations on the future funding of grant-maintained schools in the light of the White Paper. We aim to publish consultation papers on the arrangements for calculation of grant in 1993-94 and on the common funding formula before the end of the year.
26. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on changes in the resources for 1993- 94 available for (a) grant-maintained schools and (b) local education authority schools.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend announced provision for grant- maintained schools for 1993-94 in his reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 12 November at columns 894-97.
Details of the Government's assumptions about the level of local authority recurrent spending in 1993-94, including spending on education, will be announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment later this month, along with other details of next year's local authority finance settlement.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what capital funding arrangements he is making for newly appointed grant- maintained schools ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : All new and existing grant-maintained schools are invited to bid for grant funding for capital projects in an annual bidding round. All bids are judged strictly on their merits and in the light of the funds available. Decisions on the bids received from schools for 1993-94 projects will be announced in the new year. Grant-maintained schools' annual maintenance grant includes an element for minor repair work. Schools also receive a formula allocation of capital grant for longer-term repairs and minor capital projects. In 1992-93 schools becoming grant-maintained in April received a full-year's formula allocation. Schools becoming grant- maintained in September received a proportion of their full-year allocation once incorporated. Schools can decide how to allocate this funding and are free to set their own priorities including the amount which they spend on repairs and maintenance.
17. Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about the funding available in the next financial year to finance pre-school education.
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