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Dronfield School
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he will be acknowledging and replying to the letter of 3 January from the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East headed Dronfield school.
Mr. Forth : A fully reply has now been sent. The Department has not called for a report on the ballot at Dronfield. Any correspondence which the Department considers requires the comments of the governors will be sent to the chairman of governors for comment.
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Primary Education, Brent
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will carry out an investigation into primary school education in the London borough of Brent.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has no plans to carry out such an investigation.
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from Brent primary schools head teachers as to the adequacy of the budget from Brent council for the education service in Brent in 1993-94 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend has received a small number of such representations. Brent council is solely responsible for determining its education budget, and within that total, the proportion of resources allocated to primary schools.
University Education
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will give details of the charges made for the last five years to those applying through Universities Central Council on Admissions for university education ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell : The application fees (including VAT) charged by UCCA to those applying for admission to universities for the last five academic years are as follows :
Application Fee |Year of Admission ------------------------------------------------------ £6 |1989-90 £6 |1990-91 £6 |1991-92 £7 |1992-93 £7 |1993-94
UCCA is to merge with PCAS later this year to establish a joint admission system to be called the universities and colleges admissions service (UCAS). The application fee for admission in 1994-95 has yet to be determined.
Nursery Education
Mrs. Currie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list for each local education authority in England in rank order (a) the number of nursery school places per 1,000 population and (b) the spending on nursery school places per 1,000 population.
Mr. Forth : Information on the expenditure on nursery places or on the numbers of nursery places available is not collected centrally. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave on 21 January 1993 to the hon. Member for Wallsend (Mr. Byers) at column 353, on the latest available information on the numbers of pupils in nursery classes and schools in each local education authority, expressed as rates per 100 population aged three and four.
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EMPLOYMENT
Health and Safety
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement on Government policy towards the proposed Council regulation establishing a European agency for safety and health at work and the location of such an agency.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The United Kingdom believes that the European Community has an important role in disseminating best practice on health and safety in areas such as risk assessment, new health and safety techniques, research and the impact of Community legislation. A wide range of views was expressed at the Labour and Social Affairs Council on 3 December 1992, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State chaired, as to whether it was desirable to establish a new agency to take this work forward or whether alternatively it could be pursued through existing institutions or bodies, through Community programmes, through intergovernmental co-operation or otherwise. There was no discussion of the location of a possible agency. The Government's view is that the case for such an agency has yet to be clearly demonstrated.
Youth Training
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many eligible young people in Leeds have currently been unable to obtain a place on a youth training scheme.
Mr. McLoughlin : Information on the total number of young people eligible for youth training is not available. It is not, therefore, possible to say how many of this group are unable to obtain a place.
Low Pay
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the levels of pay of the lowest decile of (a) male and (b) female workers in (i) Wales and (ii) England at the latest available date.
Mr. McLoughlin : The information requested is published in part E of the 1992 New Earnings Survey, tables 116.2 and 116.3. A copy is available in the Library.
SCOTLAND
Hospital Waiting Times
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what provisions are made within the citizens charter programme to ensure that the waiting times of outpatients is minimised.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : In accordance with the provisions of the patients charter all health boards introduced, with effect from 1 April 1992, local targets for waiting times for first appointments at outpatient clinics. Health boards are at present reviewing these targets with the objective of converting them into guarantees to take effect from 1 April 1993. The patients charter also included the commitment that patients should be seen within 30 minutes of the appointment time they have been given or should expect to receive an explanation for the delay and an idea of how much longer the wait is likely to be.
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Folk Music
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on conserving, developing and promoting the cultural heritage of Scotland through folk music.
Mr. Brooke : I have been asked to reply.
Support for Scottish folk music is the responsibility of the Scottish Arts Council. Since 1984 the council has provided annual revenue support for the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland. Financial assistance has also been given to a growing number of traditional music and folk festivals. This year, the sum allocated was £53,385.
In addition, in 1992 the council established a traditional music development fund which, as well as supporting a number of education projects, supports the Greentrax Record Company which is re-releasing valuable traditional music source material. The fund totals £50,000. This year the council also provided financial support for Gaelic arts amounting to £73,880.
Disabled Employees
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) physically disabled and (b) sensorily disabled people are employed in his Department ; and what percentage they are of the total work force.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 14 December 1992] : There are currently 94 disabled staff employed by my Department, which represents 1.4 per cent. of the total work force. Of these, 78 are physically disabled and 16 sensorily disabled.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Mortgage Interest
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce measures to compel mortgage lenders to renegotiate fixed interest rates arrangements with mortgagors.
Mr. Nelson : No. The terms on which mortgage lenders make loans are matters for their commercial judgment.
Ministerial Cars
Mr. Beith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what special tax provisions apply to Ministers of the Crown in respect of (a) availability of a car for private use, (b) provision of a chauffeur in connection with a car made available for private use and (c) provision of any amount of petrol for private use of the car described in (a) above and in what aspects these provisions differ from that set out in chapters 11 and 15 of booklet 480, detailing the relevant statutory or extrastatutory concessions for Ministers of the Crown.
Mr. Lamont : There are no special tax provisions for cars, chauffeurs or fuel provided for Ministers of the Crown. They are subject to the same tax rules as employees generally.
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has had from business organisations representing health service and local authority private
Column 744
contractors to underwrite losses on contracts secured under compulsory competitive tendering legislation where the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were ruled to apply after the commencement of the contract ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Portillo : I have received no representations on the matter. Contracting out has taken place for many years with no question of any losses being underwritten by the Exchequer.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Davidson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reasons underlay his introduction of a new national accounts adjustment for NHS trusts' debt remuneration in table 2B.1 of his 1992 "Autumn Statement" (Cm 2096) and the treatment of hospital trusts as public corporations outside general Government ; and if he will publish an analysis of this national accounts adjustment by the programmes for Health, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, together with the underlying calculations of interest payments on outstanding debt and of dividends on public dividend capital.
Mr. Portillo : The reasons are set out in paragraphs 2B.19 to 2B.23 of the 1992 "Autumn Statement" (Cm 2096). The forecasts of provision for debt interest and dividends are the responsibility of the individual health departments.
Vehicle Excise Duty
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received calling for a reduction in vehicle excise duty for commercial vehicles.
Sir John Cope : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has received a number of representations on this subject which he will consider carefully during the run up to the Budget.
Investment
Mr. Hain : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the amount for each year since 1979 invested in (a) property and (b) manufacturing industry ; and what was the cumulative total over the period for each category, at constant prices.
Mr. Portillo : Estimates of manufacturing investment may be obtained from the Central Statistical Office database accessible through the House of Commons Library. Figures showing investment by the property sector are not available separately ; these are combined on the CSO database with other industries in the financial sector.
Value Added Tax
Dr. Marek : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which countries in the EC impose a standard rate of VAT on books, newspapers and magazines.
Sir John Cope : Denmark is the only EC country to apply a standard rate of VAT to books and magazines. No EC country applies a standard rate of VAT to newspapers.
Mr. Olner : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses have been fined for late payment of VAT in each of the last four years ; and how much revenue has been raised by the Treasury by these means.
Column 745
Sir John Cope [holding answer 26 January 1993] : Information is held about the number of VAT default surcharge assessments issued but not of the number of businesses which have been surcharged which will be smaller, as a business may be surcharged more than once in any year. The available information is as follows :
Number of surcharge assessments
issued
|Number
--------------------------------------
April 1988-March 1989 |426,000
April 1989-March 1990 |415,000
April 1990-March 1991 |451,000
April 1991-March 1992 |490,000
The amount of default surcharge paid in the period from 1 April 1988 to 31 March 1992 was £337 million.
Textile Imports
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 260, when he expects to make a determination of country of origin of the textile products imported by Dewhursts of Driffield which were held at port in December 1992.
Sir John Cope : Customs tell me that inquiries are continuing. I will therefore let the hon. Member have a full reply when matters are finalised.
Departmental Returns
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the 1993 departmental reports to be published.
Mr. Portillo : Proposed publication dates for 1993 departmental reports are as follows :
|Date
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statistical Supplement to the Autumn |Friday 29 January
Statement
Department of Health and Office of |Tuesday 2 February
Population Censuses and Surveys
Cabinet Office |Wednesday 3 February
Department for Education |Tuesday 9 February
Chancellor of the Exchequer's |Tuesday 9 February
departments and net payments to
EC institutions
Ministry of Defence |Wednesday 10 February
Foreign and Commonwealth Office |Wednesday 10 February
(including ODA)
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and |Wednesday 10 February
Food and Intervention Board
Home Office (including Charity |Wednesday 10 February
Commission)
Department of the Environment |Wednesday 10 February
Department of Trade and Industry |Wednesday 10 February
Department of Employment |Thursday 11 February
Department of Social Security |Thursday 11 February
Department of Transport |Thursday 11 February
Lord Chancellor's and Law Officers' |Friday 12 February
departments
National Heritage |Friday 12 February
Scotland |Friday 12 February
Northern Ireland |Friday 12 February
Wales |Monday 15 February
Copies will be made available in the Vote Office.
House Prices
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 10 December 1992, Official Report, column 777, if he will publish figures for the percentage change in regional house prices to earnings ratios in each region between the third quarter of 1992 and the third quarter of 1991.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 26 January 1993] : Information on average earnings is collected each April for both Great Britain and Northern Ireland through the new earnings survey. Until April 1992, quarterly data were not available. Since then, quarterly estimates for Great Britain have been produced by projecting the results of the April survey by the monthly average earnings index (AEI). There are no quarterly estimates for Northern Ireland because the AEI covers Great Britain only. The following table therefore only shows regional figures for the third quarter of 1992. For Great Britain as a whole, the average earnings to house price ratio was 3.89, some 9 per cent. lower than in the third quarter of 1991.
Average house price to earnings ratio
third quarter 1992
Region
-----------------------------------------
Great Britain |3.89
North |3.24
Yorkshire and Humberside |3.72
East Midlands |3.86
East Anglia |3.92
South East
Greater London |3.79
Rest of South East |4.49
South West |4.28
West Midlands |3.93
North West |3.84
England |3.95
Wales |3.44
Scotland |3.43
Industrial Investment
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amounts of money have been invested in British manufacturing industry in cash and real terms in each year since 1979.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 26 January 1993] : Estimates of manufacturing investment at current and
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constant prices may be obtained from the Central Statistical Office database accessible through the House of Commons Library.Mr. Worthington : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the source of investment funds for British manufacturing industry in percentage terms from (a) banks, (b) the stock exchange, (c) self-generated and (d) other in each year since 1979.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 26 January 1993] : A statement of sources and uses of capital funds for all United Kingdom industrial and commercial companies is published in "Financial Statistics" table 8.2. Manufacturing companies are included in industrial and commercial companies but statements of sources and uses of capital funds for manufacturing companies, or for manufacturing industry, are not available.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total level of industrial investment as a percentage of national output in each of the last 20 years for which figures are available.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 26 January 1993] : Estimates of industrial investment and of gross domestic product may be obtained from the Central Statistical Office database accessible through the House of Commons Library. Consistent information is available only from 1978.
Inflation
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has concerning the average level of inflation experienced by each member country of the European Community, by the United States of America, and by Japan, over the last five-year period for which figures are available ; and if he will rank those countries by order of magnitude of the level of inflation.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 26 January 1993] : Consumer price inflation data are published in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's "Main Economic Indicators" and the Central Statistical Office's "Economic Trends".
Stock Exchange
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount and percentage of the funds invested on the stock exchange goes into new issues or rights issues ; and how this has changed in each year since 1979.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 26 January 1993] : Details of money raised on the stock exchange are published by the stock exchange in the Stock Exchange Quarterly.
DEFENCE
European Defence
Mr. Ancram : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what forecast he has made of the number of jobs in the defence industry that will be gained or lost as a result of the new proposals for European defence.
Mr. Aitken : I am unaware of any new proposals for European defence which are likely in themselves to affect employment in the defence industry.
Column 748
Correspondence
Mr. Temple-Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when Ms. Gill Linscott of Wood View, Hope-under-Dinmore, Hertfordshire HR6 0PP, can expect a reply to her oral and written complaint to his Department on 14 October 1992, concerning low flying RAF aircraft under Ministry reference SEC(AS) 92/10/280.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Officials from my Department will write to Ms. Linscott once the investigation into her complaint being conducted by the RAF police has been completed.
Bosnia
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the additional 89 personnel to be deployed with British Forces in Bosnia as set out in his oral statement of 14 January, Official Report , column 1057, will be under United Nations command ; and which vote will meet the costs of their deployment will be met by the Foreign Office vote.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Yes. The additional specialist personnel deployed to Bosnia are an integral part of the British force and as such subject to the same command arrangments as currently apply to the battalion group as part of the United Nations protection force. The same will apply to the forces now available with the carrier group led by HMS Ark Royal if these have to be deployed ashore. It has not yet been decided which Government Department will meet the cost of this deployment.
Tracked Vehicles
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many tracked vehicles, and of what type, are to be deployed as part of the artillery contingent to be sent to the Adriatic on Argus ; and what armoured protection such vehicles possess.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Seven armoured personnel carriers and 29 vehicles designed for cross country use in winter conditions are deploying to the Adriatic. While it is not our practice to comment on the detail, they have the armoured protection assessed as necessary to enable them to undertake their tasks.
RAF Kemble
Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the future plans for RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire ; what consideration is being given to maintaining its present use ; and what plans there are to sell all or part of the base.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Current plans envisage the Army continuing to use RAF Kemble for the temporary storage of vehicles until 31 March 1994. Further defence used of RAF Kemble after this date is currently under review. No decisions are expected until later this year. In the light of the Army's current use and the longer term uncertainty no plans exist to sell all or part of the base although we continue to liaise with the local authorities to determine their views against the eventuality that the site may be declared surplus to defence requirements in due course.
Column 749
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what further plans Her Majesty's Government have to provide technical and operational assurance to Russia to assist in the safe dismantlement of nuclear weapons following the START II agreement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We have no plans to provide assistance to Russia beyond that announced by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement on 11 November at column 823. We will however continue to discuss issues relating to dismantling surplus nuclear warheads with the Russian authorities as necessary.
Experimental Establishments
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the turnover at the Ministry of Defence proof and experimental establishment at Pendine is work carried out for the Ministry of Defence ; and what percentage is for work carried out for private companies.
Mr. Aitken : The proof and experimental establishments (P and EEs) are maintained primarily for the conduct of proof and trials work for the Ministry of Defence ; work for private companies at Pendine, and at the other P and EEs, accounts for less than 10 per cent. of their turnover.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what would be the estimated cost of relocation of the work now being carried out at the Ministry of Defence proof and experimental establishment at Pendine.
Mr. Aitken : The estimates of relocation costs for the work now being carried out at each of the proof and experimental establishments are not yet complete. They will be an important factor in our review of test and evaluation activities.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which proof and experimental establishments (land systems) are being considered for closures.
Mr. Aitken : The Director General of Test and Evaluation (DGT&E) is conducting a wide-ranging review of the Department's test and evaluation activities and facilities. This will look at each of his 40 test and evaluation establishments, including all the proof and experimental establishments. DGT and E is due to report his findings in May. Decisions on his recommendations will be taken by Ministers after full consultation with the trade unions, hon. Members and others.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the turnover for 1991-92 and forecast turnover for 1992-93 for each of the five Ministry of Defence proof and experimental establishments (land systems) ; and what comparisons he has made of their cost effectiveness.
Mr. Aitken : It is not possible to produce figures on an exactly comparable basis for the two years in question because of changes in the Department's accounting practice and some rationalisation of facilities.
Subject to these provisos, the running cost details are as follows :
Column 750
;
£ million
|1991-92 |<1>1992-93
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cold Meece |1.8 |2.4
Eskmeals |8.0 |8.0
Environmental Test Centre
Foulness |3.6 |4.5
Pendine |7.6 |7.0
Shoeburyness |11.7 |17.2
<1> Projected.
The figures for Shoeburyness include P and EE Lavington which is a satellite of the former.
Cold Meece is scheduled to close on 31 March 1993.
Each establishment has different specialist capabilities and whilst the Department seeks to ensure that all are cost effective, comparisons on a purely financial basis would be misleading.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the construction cost in today's prices of building a facility to the same specifications as the 1500-metre test track at the Ministry of Defence proof and experimental establishment at Pendine.
Mr. Aitken : We are assessing our exact requirements for test-track facilities, and the cost of re-providing them should that prove necessary, as part of the review of test and evaluation facilities. Accurate cost figures are not yet available.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give individual cash estimates as to the amount of work carried out for customers in the private sector at the Ministry of Defence proof and experimental establishment in Pendine in the last financial year.
Mr. Aitken : Estimates of the cost of work undertaken for private customers are confidential to the Department and the companies concerned.
Job Losses
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total number of jobs lost at Ministry of Defence establishments for each year since 1989-90 to the present and projected to 1996-97 for (a) Dyfed, (b) Wales and (c) Great Britain.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is set out in the table.
Net changes in the number of posts since 1989-90 in Dyfed, Wales
and the United Kingdom
|Dyfed |Wales (including |United Kingdom
|Dyfed) |(including Wales)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989-90 |-81 |+11 |+56
1990-91 |-102 |-54 |-1,173
1991-92 |-103 |-9 |-745
<1>1992-93 |-50 |-27 |-3,300
<1>1993-94 |+35 |+17 |-4,000
<1>1994-95 |-176 |-109 |-2,900
<1>1995-96 |-205 |-135 |-4,750
<1>1996-97 |0 |+73 |-800
<1>These figures are based upon announcements made to date; they are therefore
susceptible to change. It should also be noted that as establishments and units are
Market Tested further changes may occur.
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the conclusions of the studies carried out into the relative safety of keeping used fuel cores on board decommissioned submarines or storing on land.
Mr. Aitken : The safety of used fuel cores, both on board decommissioned submarines and stored on land, has been confirmed by rigorous independent safety assessments.
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