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subject and gender ;rates of unauthorised absence for each term and each year group ; and, from 1993, we propose :
national curriculum test results ;
routes taken by pupils once they reach school leaving age. The prospectus must also summarise curriculum and examination policies and arrangements made for pupils with special educational needs. We propose to require in addition a statement about how the school promotes the moral, spiritual, social and cultural values of pupils.
From September 1993 full inspection reports on every maintained secondary school will be published every four years. Four-yearly inspections of other maintained schools will start in 1994. The inspections will be arranged by OFSTED (the Office for Standards of Education) and will report on the quality of education, standards achieved, efficiency of management and development of values in the school. All parents will be sent a summary of the report on their children's school. The full report on each school will be available at the school and in local libraries.
School Inspectors
Mr. Hawksley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what criteria have been used for the selection of those being currently trained as registered secondary school inspectors ;
(2) how many registered secondary school inspectors are to be appointed for the school year 1993-94 ;
(3) how many registered secondary school inspectors currently being trained and employed are currently (a) local educational advisers and (b) former local educational advisers.
Mr. Forth : The training and registration of inspectors under the Education (Schools) Act 1992, and the arrangements under which they will carry out inspections under section 9 of that Act, are all the responsibilities of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools.
Pupil Assessments
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of the children who are tested at the key stage one national curriculum assessment are aged (a) seven and (b) six at the time of the test.
Mr. Forth : The information requested is not held centrally. In 1992 teachers were able to administer the end of key stage 1 tests from the mid- point of the spring term until the mid-point of the summer one. Estimates based on quarterly birth rate statistics recorded by OPCS reveal that by the end of this testing period less than 25 per cent. of pupils tested would not have reached their seventh birthdays.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many hours of teacher time he expects to be allocated to the administration and management of key stage one tests in primary schools (a) currently and (b) when the full range of national curriculum subjects is tested.
Mr. Forth : The test of reading expected, teachers were able to administer the 1992 statutory tests for seven-year-olds in English, mathematics and science in 24 hours, on average, for each class. This was well within the maximum of 30 hours allowed for. In addition teachers took on average nine hours to test individual pupils'
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reading ability by hearing them read aloud. Teachers were able to choose to administer the tests at any time between the mid-point of the spring term and the mid-point of the summer term.The 1993 tests in English, mathematics and science will be to the same model and should take the same time.
Assessments in the other foundation subjects will be based on teachers' own assessments of pupils' school work, although teachers will have available voluntary tests in technology, history and geography to use at their own discretion.
Free School Meals
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils received free school meals in Blyth Valley and Northumberland at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools for each year since 1988.
Mr. Forth : Information for schools in Blyth valley is not available centrally. The numbers of children taking free school meals in maintained primary and secondary schools in Northumberland local education authority for each year from 1988 to 1992 (provisional) are given in the table.
|c|Pupils taking free school meals|c| Northumberland LEA |<1>Primary |Secondary |Total ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <2>1992 |3,210 |2,403 |5,613 1991 |2,814 |2,162 |4,976 1990 |2,563 |2,017 |4,580 1989 |2,512 |2,036 |4,548 1988 |2,181 |1,991 |4,172 <1>Primary figures 1989 to 1992 include pupils in nursery schools. Primary figures in relation to 1988 do not include such pupils. <2>Provisional.
Education Associations
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the number of different schools he expects to be conducted by a single education association constituted under section 194 of the Education Bill.
Mr. Forth : The number will vary according to factors such as the timing of the identification of failing schools and their location. The Education Bill sets no upper limit.
15000 Hours"
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what public funding was used for Professor Sir Michael Rutter's study "15000 Hours" into successful schools ; and if he will list the names of the schools in the study.
Mr. Forth : The report on this project was published in 1979. The Department made grants of £71,045 to support the work which was also supported by the former Inner London education authority. The identities of the schools involved in the study were not made known to the Department.
Parents Meetings
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of annual parents' meetings ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Forth : Annual parents' meetings are an important aspect of involving parents in the life of their children's schools. Research commissioned by the Department has added weight to anecdotal evidence that, in general, parental attendance is disappointing, whilst also finding instances of very successful meetings. We are considering how this might be followed up.
Ozone-depleting Substances
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding has been allocated or spent to deal specifically with measures to reduce his Department's consumption of ozone-depleting substances.
Mr. Forth : A total of £4,911 has been spent in the current financial year to replace halon fire extinguishers with environmentally friendly alternatives.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance has been sought and received on alternatives or substitutes to the ozone-destroying chemicals in use by his Department.
Mr. Forth : Property Holdings, or their appointed contractors, maintain all the Department's refrigeration and air-conditioning plant, under their standard option arrangements. The Department depends on these arrangements to control the use of ozone-destroying chemicals, and to introduce suitable alternative or substitute materials in our premises.
In addition, for more general applications like the use of cleaning materials etc, the Department adheres to guidance and advice disseminated by the Department of the Environment.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many portable halon fire extinguishers are contained within departmental buildings ; and what measures are being taken to ensure their recycling and replacement.
Mr. Forth : There are 45 portable halon fire extinguishers contained within the Department. All these extinguishers will be replaced by the end of 1992 and be properly recycled.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what targets have been set for the recycling of ozone-depleting chemicals within departmental buildings.
Mr. Forth : A replacement programme for Halon fire extinguishers will be completed by the target date of December 1992. All other ozone- depleting chemicals which have to be replaced are properly recycled under the terms of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many catastrophic leaks of ozone-depleting substances have occurred within Department buildings in the last five years.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what proportion of his Department's consumption of ozone-depleting substances becomes controlled waste in terms of section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 ;
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(2) what action has been taken to ensure that ozone-destroying substances consumed by his Department are identified as controlled wastes when they are no longer in use ;(3) what measures have been taken to ensure that ozone-destroying substances in use by his Department identified as controlled waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 do not reach the atmosphere.
Mr. Forth : The disposal of controlled waste is governed by the Duty of Care Regulations which came into force on 1 April 1992 under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. These regulations make producers of controlled waste responsible for ensuring that it is disposed of safely and legally. There is no Crown immunity from these regulations and the Department takes care to observe them.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many refrigeration and air conditioning systems in his Department are equipped with automatic leak detection systems.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) by what date his Department's use of ozone-depleting chemicals will conform to EC regulations on limits on these chemicals ;
(2) which current uses of ozone-depleting chemicals by his Department are considered essential.
Mr. Forth : Both the Montreal protocol and EC regulations seek to control the production but not the use of substances which deplete the ozone layer. However, the Department is helping to phase out ozone- depleting substances by refraining from purchasing or using them unless no suitable alternative is available.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will provide details from the maintenance and servicing record of the quantity and type of ozone-destroying chemicals used annually in his Department's refrigeration and air conditioning equipment for servicing and in leakages ; and what proportion is removed for recycling.
Mr. Forth : This information is not collected centrally. Property Holdings, or its appointed contractors, maintain all the Department's refrigeration and air-conditioning systems and keep associated service records, under its standard option arrangements.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many CFC and HCFC installations are contained within departmental buildings ; and how many CFC domestic fridges are contained within departmental buildings.
Mr. Forth : Property Holdings is responsible for the maintenance of the air-conditioning and refrigeration plant in all the Department's buildings. Technical information on these installations is not held by the Department.
The Department has 57 CFC domestic fridges.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what quantity of HCFC 22 is purchased by his Department per annum.
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Mr. Forth : The Department does not make any direct purchases of HCFC22. Property Holdings, or its appointed contractors, is responsible for making purchases of such material for the Department under its Standard Option arrangements.
Ozone Layer
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how the departmental green Minister has promoted protection of the ozone layer with specific policy measures ; which possible measures have been considered and rejected ; and on what grounds.
Mr. Forth : The Department's policy is not to purchase new materials which are known to be harmful to the ozone layer as set out in the Montreal protocol and its revisions. Where existing equipment containing substances harmful to the ozone layer is to be renewed or subject to major maintenance it will be replaced by materials which are understood to be ozone friendly wherever this is possible. No specific measures have been considered and rejected.
Teachers' Salaries
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list teachers' salaries as a percentage of average non-manual earnings for each year since 1974.
Mr. Forth : The figures are given in the table :
|c|Table 1: Trends in school teachers relative pay 1974-92|c|
|c|Average gross weekly earnings (£) at April each year of full-time|c|
|c|men and women workers on adult rates whose pay was not affected|c|
|c|by absence.|c|
|Teachers |All non-manual |Teacher/non-manual
|ratio
|£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974 |47.0 |43.4 |108
1975 |65.2 |56.2 |116
1976 |81.4 |67.5 |121
1977 |86.2 |73.6 |117
1978 |94.2 |82.5 |114
1979 |98.1 |92.2 |106
1980 |115.5 |115.4 |100
1981 |156.9 |133.6 |117
1982 |159.4 |145.7 |109
1983 |172.2 |159.1 |108
1984 |180.8 |172.2 |105
1985 |191.2 |184.6 |104
1986 |211.0 |200.9 |105
1987 |225.2 |217.4 |104
1988 |259.4 |240.7 |108
1989 |277.7 |264.9 |105
1990 |305.7 |291.2 |105
1991 |349.8 |312.5 |112
1992 |394.2 |335.0 |118
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Further Education
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students in further and higher education there were in (a) 1979, (b) 1985 and (c) the last year for which figures are available ; and what was the average amount of money spent by the Government per student in each of those years.
Mr. Forman : Data are shown in the table for financial years 1979- 80, 1985-86 and 1989-90, the latest year for which data are available. Further details are available from table 8 of Statistical Bulletin 10/92, a copy of which is in the Library.
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|c|Numbers of students and net institutional expenditure per FTE student in further and higher
education<1> 1979-80, 1985-86 and 1989-90|c|
|1979-80|1985-86|1989-90
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UGC/UFC-funded universities
FTE students (thousands) |266.1 |274.2 |304.8
Unit funding per FTE student (£ cash terms<2><3>) |3,215 |5,335 |6,410
LEA maintained establishments<4>
FTE students (thousands) |735.1 |794.1 |692.0
Net institutional expenditure per FTE student (£ cash terms<2>) |1,725 |2,590 |2,790
PCFC institutions<4>
FTE students (thousands) |- |- |297.7
Unit funding per FTE student (£ cash terms<2>) |- |- |3,910
<1> Territorial coverage is as follows: LEAs and PCFC-England; UGC/UFC-Great Britain.
<2> Rounded to nearest £5.
<3> Includes funding for research.
<4> Figures reflect the transfer of a number of institutions formerly maintained or assisted by
local education authorities to the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC) in April
1989.
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the level of expenditure in 1992-93 on tertiary and further education and those related services to be transferred from local authority responsibility in 1993 by each local authority ; and what reduction in standard spending assessment for each local authority will occur in 1993-94 as a result of this transfer of responsibility.
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Mr. Forth : This information is not currently available. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will be announcing shortly his proposals for the 1993-94 local government settlement, including proposals for standard spending assessments. He also intends to announce proposals to specify a relevant notional amount for each authority to be used as the basis of comparison for the exercise of his capping powers for 1993-94 reflecting, inter alia, his estimate of authorities' budgeted expenditure in 1992-93 on those functions which will become the responsibility of the Further Education Funding Council from 1 April 1993.
Examination League Tables
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what amounts were paid to (a) Bath university and (b) PMS Communications Ltd. for compiling the recently published schools examination league tables.
Mr. Forth : The value of the contracts for the compilation of the school performance tables was as follows : (a) Bath university, £90,046 ; (b) PMS Communications Ltd., £65,000. These sums are exclusive of VAT.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the contract to compile the schools examination league tables was advertised ; how many organisations submitted tenders to carry out the work ; which body carried out the tender evaluation ; who drew up the tender specifications ; and who was responsible for the award of the contract.
Mr. Forth : The procedures adopted in inviting tenders for this work and deciding on the award of contract were fully in line with established Government purchasing policy. It is not the Department's policy to advertise all contracts. In the case of the school examination results data preparation contract the Department was aware, through extensive supplier research, of 18 potential tenderers with the right level of expertise to undertake the work. This was felt to be a sufficient number to ensure a high level of competition and good value for money, without the need to advertise.
The tender specifications were drawn up by officials from a number of branches within the Department, who offered professional guidance on specific issues. Eighteen invitations were sent out, and five tenders were received for the work. These were evaluated by a project board comprising Departmental officials, also from a number of branches. The decision to award the contract to PMS Communications Ltd. was taken by the project board.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what action he is considering against Bath university and/or PMS Communications Ltd. under their contract for the compiling of the schools examination league tables in relation to inaccuracies in the work carried out.
Mr. Forth : All alleged inaccuracies in the examinations data for individual schools are being investigated individually. Where definite inaccuracies are proved to be the fault of the contractors, these will be rectified free of charge, in accordance with their contractual obligations. As at 24 November, this has happened in five cases only. About half the alleged inaccuracies have been supplied or agreed by schools themselves ; the others relate to cases where the amendments sought were invalid, unsubstantiated or arrived after the given deadline.
Choice and Diversity"
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will place in the Library a list of the respondents to the White Paper "Choice and Diversity".
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has today placed in the Library a list of respondents to the White Paper
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"Choice and Diversity : A New Framework for Schools", and to the two related consultation documents on special educational needs and religious education.As well as those included on the list, a further 750 responses were received from governing bodies, headteachers, teachers, parents and members of the public. It would not be appropriate to list such respondents, some of whom may not wish their names to be disclosed.
Delinquency
Ms. Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the current per capita spending on children in special schools for delinquents in London ; and if he will outline the measures taken to reduce delinquency and its consequences.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I have been asked to reply.
There is one young offender institution in the London area, at Feltham, Middlesex. The per capita cost of running that establishment was £456 per week in the 1991-92 financial year.
Measures taken with juvenile offenders at Feltham YOI to help them to avoid further offending include group work on drug and alcohol abuse, temper control and sexual behaviour and relationships. In addition, members of a local victim support scheme come in to discuss the effects of offending on its victims, and members of inmates' families are invited in once a month to engage in discussion groups which deal with offending among other issues.
DEFENCE
Contractors
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the top 100 contractors to his Department in terms of size of the total contracts.
Mr. Aitken : The information for 1990-91, which is the latest available, is published at table 1.17 of the 1992 edition of "Defence Statistics", a copy of which is available in the Library.
European Fighter Aircraft
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the future sales potential of the European fighter aircraft.
Mr. Aitken : We expect that the EFA project will result in an even more exportable aircraft than Tornado which has created tens of thousands of jobs in the United Kingdom.
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the capacity of the United Kingdom defence industry to construct the European fighter aircraft on its own.
Mr. Aitken : We are confident that our requirement for a new fighter aircraft can continue to be met through collaboration with our European allies. In the now unlikely event that this is not possible it would be technically feasible to complete the project on our own, although the cost implications would need careful consideration.
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Export Controls
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution Ministers or officials of his Department will make to the forthcoming seminar held by the Export Control Organisation on a practical guide to United Kingdom export controls.
Mr. Aitken : My Department's officials regularly attend such seminars to provide guidance to industry on the export of defence and defence-related equipment. They participated in the seminar held on 20 November for this purpose.
Unexploded Bombs
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for each of the past five years and for each maritime county in England, Scotland and Wales the number of unexploded bombs and shells that have been rendered safe by units within his Department.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fylingdales
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was (a) the capital cost of the new installation at Fylingdales moor and (b) the annual running cost.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The total capital cost of the modernised ballistic missile early warning system at RAF Fylingdales was £160 million. It is estimated that the annual running cost will be around £15 million.
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will support the transfer of responsibility for inspections under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty from the International Atomic Energy Agency to a United Nations special commission under the direction of the Security Council.
Mr. Eggar : I have been asked to reply.
The Government believe that the IAEA continues to be the appropriate agency to verify that states meet their commitments for the safeguarding of nuclear materials under the NPT and similar treaties.
Nuclear Proliferation
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has made to the United Nations Security Council concerning improved intelligence-gathering procedures in world-wide nuclear proliferation.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has made no representations to the United Nations Security Council on this issue.
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has made to the Government of North Korea regarding obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I have been asked to reply.
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My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no personal contacts with representatives of North Korea. The United Kingdom continues to stress in international forums the importance we attach to North Korea abiding by her obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. We also did so in talks with North Korean officials in June.
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