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Column 559
|c|Revision of county court fees|c|
|c|County Court Fees (Amendment) Order 1992|c|
Fee |Title |Date last amended |Current |New |Percentage increase
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1(i) |Summons |April 1986 |Min.=£7 |Min.=£10 |Min.=+43
|10p in £ |10p in £ |£300-£500=-19 to +35
|£300-£500=£37 |£500-£1,000=£60 |£500-£1,000=+40
|Above £500=£43 |£1,000-£5,000=£65 |£1,000-£5,000=+51
|Above £5,000=£70 |Above £5,000=+63
1(ii) |Fixed Date Action/ |May 1985 |£30 |£40 |+33
| Originating Application
2 |Service |December 1983 |£5 |£10 |+100
4(i) |Warrant of Execution/ |Min.=December 1983 |Min. £5 |Min. =£10 |Min = +100%
| Delivery |Max.=April 1986 |15p in £ |15p in £ |Max. =+32%
|Max.=£38 |Max.=£50
4(ii) |Oral Examination |May 1985 |£12 |£20 |+67
4(iii) |Garnishee Order |May 1985 |£12 |£20 |+67
4(iv) |Warrant of Possession |April 1986 |£25 |£50 |+100
4(v) |Charging Order |May 1985 |£12 |£20 |+67
4(vi) |Judgment Summons |May 1985 |£12 |£20 |+67
4(vii) |Attachment of Earnings |Min.=December 1983 |Min.=£5 |Min.=£10 |Min.=+100%
|Max.=April 1986 |10p in £ |10p in £ |Max. =+75%
|Max.=£40 |Max.=£70
7 |Registry of County CourtJudgments|December 1982 |£1 |£3 |+200
| Judgments
9(i)(a) |Debtor |December 1986 |£15 |£20 |+33
9(i)(b) |Creditor |December 1986 |£45 |£50 |+11
9(ii) |Other |December 1986 |£40 |£50 |+25
9(iii)(a) |Applications to DistrictJudge |December 1986 |£10 |£15 |+50
| Judge
9(iii)(b) |Applications to Judge |December 1986 |£15 |£20 |+33
9(iv) |Public Examination Hearing |December 1986 |£15 |£20 |+33
County Courts
Mr. Byers : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases have been dealt with by county courts for the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. John M. Taylor : During the 12 months from November 1991 to October 1992, the county courts of England and Wales issued 3,211,281 default cases of which 76,564 were disposed of by arbitration and 26, 980 by trial. A further 2,042,127 judgments were entered in default or on acceptance of an admission. In addition, a further 402,925 other actions were issued by county courts including summonses for possession of land and return of goods.
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EDUCATION
Community Care
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the importance to the development of community care policies of two new degree courses in learning disabilities that were officially launched on 16 November.
Mr. Forman : The two new degree courses to be run at Stockport college of further and higher education and King Alfred's college aim to develop the knowledge and skills of those who work in the provision of services for people with learning disabilities. The courses constitute part of the overall training provision for the caring professions offered by educational institutions throughout the country. The Government welcome the development of such provision, which has an important part to play in ensuring that those who work at all levels in community care have opportunities to acquire the necessary skills.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations have been received from Manchester's chief education officer in reply to the letter
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sent to him by Mr. D. M. Forrester of his Department on 3 November concerning applications from schools for grant- maintained status ; what reply is being sent ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Forth : Manchester city council's chief education officer has responded to the Department's letter of 3 November making a number of points. A reply will be sent to the CEO shortly.
Examination League Tables
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many specific errors in the league table of school examination results were reported to his Department within the first 48 hours of publication.
Mr. Forth : Within the first 48 hours the Department had received 52 complaints ; during this time, only two complaints were substantiated, one of which was a spelling mistake. The press were notified as soon as those errors came to light and erratum slips have been sent out with the tables concerned.
The other complaints did not reveal errors on the part of the Department or its contractors. The schools concerned had in many cases supplied the information they were complaining about ; others had not asked for any changes, had asked for unacceptable changes, had not sent in the necessary evidence, or sent it in too late ; one was complaining about a newspaper error which misquoted the tables.
Pupils
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Education if he will list for the most recent date for which information is available, the number and proportion of pupils in each local education authority educated outside the local education authority, and the proportion which resides outside the local education authority, in rank order by the net pupil inflow.
Mr. Forth : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I shall write to my hon. Friend.
Regulatory Measures
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Education if he will list the main measures increasing regulation in any area for which his Department has responsibility, which his Department has caused to be put into effect since 9 April.
Mr. Forth : The wide-ranging reforms of school inspection put into effect by the Education (Schools) Act 1992 will involve the regulation of registered inspectors by Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, in order to maintain quality assurance. No other new regulatory measures have been put into effect in the Department's area of responsibility.
Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Education if he will list the main measures of deregulation, or simplification of regulation, which his Department has carried out, or caused to be carried out, since 9 April.
Mr. Forth : There have been no such measures of deregulation.
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Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Education which Minister in his Department is responsible for the oversight of deregulation of regulatory matters which fall within the responsibility of his Department.
Mr. Forth : I have the responsibility for these matters in the Department.
Mature Students
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of students in higher education were classed as mature in each year since 1979.
Mr. Forman : The percentages of first-year students on higher education courses in further and higher education institutions in Great Britain classified as mature are shown in the table.
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1979 |40.0
1980 |42.6
1981 |42.4
1982 |42.0
1983 |44.0
1984 |44.0
1985 |46.7
1986 |49.3
1987 |48.7
1988 |50.5
1989 |49.8
1990 |50.6
Note:
Mature students are defined
as those enrolling on the 1st
year of a 1st degree or
undergraduate course at age
21 or over, or on a
postgraduate course at age 25
or over.
Special Education Needs
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to ensure access to local education authority psychological services for further education students who have special educational needs and who need special examination arrangements for GCSE and A-level equal to that provided by local education authorities for students in sixth forms at schools.
Mr. Forman : It is for the Further Education Funding Council to decide how to secure such support services, including psychological services, as are needed by students with learning difficulties in the new further education sector, for which the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 provides. The council intends to issue guidance on this to colleges in due course.
Books
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to ring fence funding for books in the allocation of resources to local education authorities.
Mr. Forth : No. It remains our policy that it is for local authorities to decide what expenditure, within the resources available to them, to devote to the services for which they are responsible ; and for schools under delegated management to decide how to deploy their budgets among teaching costs, other staff costs, and non-pay costs such as books.
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Corporal Punishment
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the level of costs and compensation paid in respect of the recent case before the European Court of Human Rights, relating to corporal punishment ; and what are the reasons for making the settlement.
Mr. Forth : The applicant received £8,000 compensation and agreed costs totalling £11,368. It is common practice for the parties to litigation to attempt to reach a settlement out of court.
Vocational Courses
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the criteria he uses to determine whether a vocational course should qualify for mandatory grants.
Mr. Forman : The Education Act 1962 permits my right hon. Friend to designate, for mandatory student awards, only those full-time and sandwich courses which lead to a first degree or comparable qualification, or to a DipHE or HND, and courses of initial teacher training. His present policy is to designate most courses which fall within those categories. Where, however, a course is a candidate for specific designation on an individual basis--for example, as a course provided by an institution other than a university and leading to a qualification comparable to a first degree--it is considered in the light of all the relevant factors.
University Academic Staff (Pay)
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education by how much university academic staff pay has increased since 1979 ; and what was the average pay level for such staff at 1 April.
Mr. Forman : Between December 1979 and April 1992 the average pay of academic staff in the universities supported by the Universities Funding Council in Great Britain rose by just under 20 per cent. in real terms, as measured by the retail prices index. The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals estimate that the average pay for a university lecturer as at 1 April this year was £22,894.
Agencies
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list those agencies in his Department which are being considered for privatisation or contractorisation.
Mr. Forman : There are no current plans to privatise or contract out any agencies in my Department. However, this issue is reconsidered periodically as part of my Department's normal review process, as explained in the reply given by my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson) to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridgeshire, South East (Mr. Paice) on 17 November 1992, Official Report, column 104.
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TRANSPORT
Ferry Ships (Safety)
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a statement on the safety of ferry ships.
Mr. Steven Norris : The Government consider that all ro-ro passenger ferries should be required to meet the full safety of life at sea--SOLAS '90--standard for damage stability. Despite intensive efforts, it has not so far proved possible to secure sufficient international support for implementation of the full SOLAS '90 standard on existing vessels over a reasonable time scale. We will continue to seek support in the International Maritime Organisation for an amendment to the convention. Meanwhile, we are considering alternative ways of achieving the same objective for vessels using United Kingdom ports.
General Register and Record Office ofShipping and Seamen
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received against the privatisation of the General Register and Record Office of Shipping and Seamen from (a) shipping interests, (b) seafarers and their representatives, (c) historians and researchers, (d) artists and others concerned with depicting Britain's maritime heritage and (e) families and descendants of those who have served at sea during the existence of the register.
Mr. Norris : The information requested is as follows :
|Number
---------------------
(a) |0
(b) |2
(c) |3
(d) |0
(e) |0
Rail Services (Disabled People)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received (a) from disabled people and (b) organisations concerned with the welfare of disabled people, in regard to the preservation or enhancement of provision of rail services, access to rail services and cost of rail services for disabled people ; and what response he has made.
Mr. Freeman : I receive representations on these matters from time to time both from disabled people and groups which represent them. The BR board has had a policy commitment for a number of years to improve access and facilities for disabled passengers whenever possible. It has an advisory group on disability which is consulted in advance of major decisions on either station development or rolling stock design.
I know that BR provides discounts for disabled passengers, but the detail of such discounts is for BR to decide.
For the future, our privatisation proposals envisage a duty on the rail regulator to take into account the interests
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of persons with disabilities, which would be reflected in obligations imposed on railway operators through the regulator's licensing regime.Rail Electrification
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what national safety standards are set for the diameter of the current carrying overhead wire used for railway electrification, giving the largest and smallest permitted diameters.
Mr. Freeman : The electrification equipment used by BR generally conforms to the appropriate British or UIC standards. Stranded wires of diameters between 10 and22 mm and solid contact wires of between 12.3 and14.5 mm diameter are currently used. The Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate issues standards for the safe use of this electrical equipment.
Green Issues
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who, in his Department, has been appointed to oversee and develop green issues ; how many civil servants have been allocated new or additional responsibilities to deal with the management and development of green issues ; and what additional allocation of resources has been made to support programmes related to green issues in his Department.
Mr. MacGregor : As the Department of Transport's Green Minister, I am personally responsible for overseeing its environmental work. This work is co-ordinated and developed by the transport policy unit which was set up in 1989.
Conserving the environment is one of the main aims of transport policy and is an aspect of many of the Department's activities. It is not therefore possible to specify the precise number of people or resources in my Department concerned with green issues.
Nuclear Material
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the full text of the United Kingdom delegation's statement to the recent International Maritime Organisation marine environment protection committee in connection with the transport by sea of nuclear materials ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : The report of the marine environment protection committee on its 33rd session, held between 26 and 30 October 1992, will reflect the oral contribution made by the United Kingdom delegation during the plenary session. A copy of that report will be placed in the Library when it is available.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he will be represented at the forthcoming joint International Atomic Energy Agency- -International Maritime Organisation--United Nations Environment Programme working group on the transport of irradiated nuclear fuel, at the International Maritime Organisation maritime safety committee on 7 to 11 December.
Mr. Norris : The Department will be represented by specialists in the transport of irradiated nuclear fuel.
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Bus Companies
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to offer cash incentives for bus companies to develop full access to vehicles for disabled people.
Mr. Freeman : It is for bus operators to make their own decisions on the purchase of vehicles. Local authorities may assist operators in the purchase or equipment of vehicles to facilitate travel by members of the public who are disabled. My Department is supporting two low-floor bus demonstration projects, one inside London and one elsewhere ; and we shall be evaluating their costs and benefits.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 2 November, Official Report, column 86 to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith), what ozone- friendly alternatives were considered in the construction of the channel tunnel ; if he will recommend that the bi-national intergovernmental commission and safety authority reconsider the use of ozone-destroying substances in the sealed tunnel cooling system ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : At present no suitable ozone-friendly substances have been developed, although it is envisaged that advances in fire extinguishing and cooling substances will eventually allow Eurotunnel to replace the materials now available. As indicated in my answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury, Eurotunnel has been required to design a cooling system to accept without great modification the possible replacement of HCFC 22 by more ozone-friendly fluids which become available.
Rail Services (Franchising)
Mr. Keith Hill : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many responses he has received to his consultation document "The Franchising of Passenger Rail Services" from those with an interest either as a franchisee or lessor.
Mr. Freeman : Responses to the consultation document have included 48 expressing interest in operating passenger franchises and nine in leasing rolling stock.
Freight Services
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the estimated targets established by his Department for the proportion of freight tonnage to be transported through combined road-rail transport means by the year 2000.
Mr. Freeman : The Department neither sets any such targets nor makes any such estimates. The extent to which consignors of freight use combined transport will depend on what services are available and on their cost, reliability and speed relative to carriage by other means.
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Public Service Obligation Payments
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to amend the current public service obligation rules to allow payments to be made in respect of individual railway lines.
Mr. Freeman : Amendments to the present rules will be made with the introduction of the franchising of passenger rail services.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Manufacturing Investment
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of United Kingdom gross domestic product was earned from manufacturing investment in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.
Mr. Nelson : Estimates of manufacturing investment and gross domestic product may be obtained from the Central Statistical Office database accessible through the House of Commons Library.
Offshore Companies
Mr. Miller : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax avoided by intellectual property contracts with offshore companies entered into by United Kingdom companies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The United Kingdom has long-established transfer- pricing legislation to counteract international tax avoidance generally, which would include tax avoided in relation to such contracts. Where cases of international tax avoidance are identified, these are in the main handled by a small specialist section within the Inland Revenue, which in 1991-92 recovered an additional £123 million in tax from its investigations generally.
Export Controls
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Department will make to the forthcoming seminar being held by the Export Control Organisation on a practical guide to United Kingdom export controls.
Sir John Cope : Customs and Excise regularly participate in seminars organised by the Export Control Organisation on United Kingdom export controls. Such a seminar was held on Friday 20 November with Customs and Excise participation.
National Income Accounts
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to adjust national income accounts and gross national product calculations to take account of natural resource usage and pollution.
Mr. Nelson : The national accounts, compiled by the Central Statistical Office, measure economic activity in a clearly defined way in line with international recommendations. Development of methods of evaluating environmental factors in an economic accounting
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framework to complement the national accounts is also being encouraged by international organisations. For a number of reasons, however, not least the difficulty of putting monetary values on environmental factors, the development of integrated environmental and economic accounts is particularly difficult. The Central Statistical Office will be publishing an article on this subject, with illustrative statistics, in the November issue of "Economic Trends".Pensioners' Price Index
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his best estimate of the annual cost of calculating the pensioners' price index.
Mr. Nelson : The estimated annual cost of the two price indices for pensioner households, which are produced as a by-product of the retail prices index, is approximately £4,000.
Whisky
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how far the income from duties on whisky has fallen in real terms since 1983-84.
Sir John Cope : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) on 17 November 1992, Official Report , column 118 .
Friendly Societies Commission
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the full-time and part-time commissioners appointed to the Friendly Societies Commission ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : Mr. Derek Lee is chairman of the Friendly Societies Commission and a full-time commissioner.
The part-time commissioners are :
Mr. Phillip Couse
Dr. Janet Dine
Mr. Anthony Geddes
Mr. Alec Wilson
Mr. Lee and Mr. Wilson were appointed with effect from 22 July 1992 and Mr. Couse, Dr. Dine and Mr. Geddes were appointed on 1 October 1992.
Minimum Lending Rates
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce legislation to remove the freedom of clearing banks to set their own minimum lending rates.
Mr. Nelson : I have no plans to do so.
Interest Rates
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at what level interest rates were set (a) in each of the 14 days prior to leaving the exchange rate mechanism and (b) in each of the 14 days afterwards.
Mr. Nelson : The information is as follows :
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$ |c|Clearing Banks' Base Rates<1>|c| 1992 |Rate ------------------------------------ September 2-September 15 |10 September 16 |12 September 17-September 21 |10 September 22-September 30 |9 <1>Clearing banks do not necessarily all change their base lending rates on the same day.
Macroeconomic Forecasting
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he has taken to improve macroeconomic forecasting.
Mr. Lamont : I have introduced a number of measures. First, in my Mansion House speech on 29 October I announced my proposal to invite a number of independent forecasters to join a new forecasting panel. This will meet at regular intervals and then publish an assessment which will be used to inform Government policy decisions alongside the Treasury's own forecast.
Secondly, this year's autumn statement includes for the first time some details of how the Government's own economic forecast compares with the view other organisations have taken.
Thirdly, Treasury officials now regularly meet economists from industry to discuss current business conditions.
Fourthly, both I and my predecessor have taken steps to improve the quality of economic statistics on which forecasts are based. Fifthly, efforts are being made to strengthen the analytical basis of Treasury forecasting.
Nevertheless, it is important to recognise that economic forecasts will always be subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty.
Insider Dealing
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals are being considered to simplify the investigation and prosecution of insider dealing under one authority.
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