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Young People
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the total number of (a) 18-year-olds, (b) 17-year-olds and (c) 16-year-olds in January (i) 1991, (ii) 1992 and (iii) 1993 ; and if he will list for each year the number in full-time education in (1) school including maintained, independent and special schools and (2) further education, excluding those on youth training schemes in colleges.
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Mr. Boswell : The numbers of 18, 17 and 16-year-olds in England and the numbers in full-time education are shown in the table.
(Academic years,
thousands)
|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93
----------------------------------------
Population aged
18 |678.3 |636.7 |604.9
17 |634.5 |602.2 |579.4
16 |599.0 |577.3 |554.8
Pupils in full-time education in school
(excluding sixth form colleges)<1>
aged
18 |14.8 |15.9 |16.5
17 |130.1 |135.3 |138.7
16 |185.6 |195.3 |195.6
Students in full-time further education
(including sixth form colleges but exclu
those on youth training schemes in colle
aged
18 |67.2 |77.8 |89.2
17 |136.2 |152.9 |174.2
16 |161.7 |180.7 |193.1
<1> The figures for 1992-93 are
provisional estimates based on
partially processed returns from
schools and colleges.
Vocational Qualifications
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about the new general national vocational qualifications.
Mr. Patten : I have today announced that the three levels of GNVQ should in future be known by names rather than numbers :
"Advanced" for Level 3,
"Intermediate" for Level 2, and
"Foundation" for Level 1.
"Advanced" GNVQs--or "vocational A Levels" will help pupils, students, parents, teachers, higher education and employers to understand that these GNVQs require a level of achievement equivalent to two GCE A-Levels.
Bradford City Technology College
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what total financial assistance has been given to Bradford city technology college, to date, by (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector ; how much will be given to the college by each sector in each of the next three years ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will list the names of all persons, companies or other organisations in the private sector who, to date, have given financial assistance to Bradford city technology college to support its capital or revenue expenditure ; and if he will list the names of all persons, companies or other organisations in the private sector who have indicated their intention to offer financial assistance to the college over the next three years.
Mr. Forth : The initial capital cost of establishing Bradford city technology college totalled £9.16 million of which the Department for Education contributed £7.33 million and sponsors £1.83 million. The major sponsors were : Dixons Group plc, Mr. H. Wong and Kodak plc. The directors of the college are committed under the terms of their funding agreement with the Secretary of State to provide a minimum of 20 per cent. of any further
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capital expenditure. Revenue expenditure of CTCs is met from recurrent grant provided by the Secretary of State. As with other schools, individuals and organisations make voluntary contributions from time to time ; these are matters for the directors of the college concerned.FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Baltimar Zephyr
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) of 16 June, Official Report, columns 644-45, what information he has on whether the Indonesian Government have tried any crew members of the Baltimar Zephyr for mutiny.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are not aware that any crew members of the Baltimar Zephyr have been tried for mutiny.
Yugoslavia
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the extent of mobilisation of Bosnian-Croat citizens in Bosnia-Herzegovina on 30 June ; what action he plans in the event of fighting by these forces ; if he will bring forward plans to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Republic of Croatia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are aware of reports that all three parties in the conflict in Bosnia are taking further steps to mobilise their citizens. We are pressing all parties to stop fighting and to support the peace process. We are also pressing the Croatian Government to co-operate fully in this. Croatia was put on notice by the 8 June meeting of EC Foreign Ministers that restrictive measures would be initiated against it if the situation so required.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times representatives of Her Majesty's Government have met President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia since January 1991 ; and what was the purpose of each meeting.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Representatives of Her Majesty's Government have met President Tudjman and his staff on numerous occasions since January 1991, most recently on 30 May when Her Majesty's ambassador in Zagreb met the President. The main purpose of our representations on this and previous occasions has been to press President Tudjman to co-operate fully with the efforts of the international community to achieve lasting and equitable settlements to the conflict in Bosnia, based on the principles established by the London conference, and to urge restraint in trying to restore Croatian sovereignty in the Serb-occupied Krajinas.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times representatives of Her Majesty's Government have met President Izetbegovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina since January 1991 ; and what was the purpose of each meeting.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Representatives of Her Majesty's Government have met President Izetbegovic and his staff
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on numerous occasions since January 1991, most recently on 14 June 1993 when he visited London for talks with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. The main issues raised by President Izetbegovic were the arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia and the fighting in central Bosnia. My right hon. Friend set out British policies and encouraged President Izetbegovic to engage in negotiations to achieve a lasting and equitable settlement to the conflict in Bosnia, based on the principles of the London conference.Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber (Sir R. Johnston) of 14, April, Official Report, column 581, what assessment he has made of the relation between that answer, his answer to that hon. Member in the Official Report, column 580 and information contained in United Nations Security Council note verbale, dated 16 March 1993, Ref. S/24900/Add. 27 ; on what basis the assumption was made that aircraft crossing the borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into Bosnia-Herzegovina were flown by Bosnian Serbs ; and what subsequent information he has received about the incident.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The information referred to in the written answer given on 14 April to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber by my right hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is contained in note verbale S/24900/Add. 30 of 26 March from the United Nations Secretary-General to the president of the Security Council. The aircraft observed at Gladovici on 13 March were seen to withdraw towards the Bosnian/Serbian border following the incident, but have not been definitively attributed to any party.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to urge the Security Council to defer decisions on actions in the former Yugoslavia until reliable evidence is available on which to make decisions.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : In taking decisions on the former Yugoslavia, as on other areas of the world where there is a need to maintain international peace and security, Security Council members take account of the views of the United Nations Secretary-General as set out in his reports, as well as their own knowledge and assessment of a situation.
Piracy
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will make representations to the Government of Indonesia for them to undertake to set up a full investigation of all acts of piracy and murder in Indonesian waters.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Her Majesty's embassy in Jakarta has on a number of occasions raised with the Indonesians the issue of attacks at sea. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised the subject during his visit there in April.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold talks with the Association of South- East Asian Nations about
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the establishment of multilateral agreements by their member states towards the prevention of piracy in the region.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : There are no current plans for talks on piracy with ASEAN. The International Maritime organisation is the best forum in which to address this issue. The IMO has recently produced a report covering piracy in south-east Asia.
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold talks with ASEAN about providing intelligence data relating to piracy and safety to merchant vessels travelling on the seas of that region.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The International Maritime Organisation is responsible for collating and disseminating information relating to attacks on shipping in the ASEAN region and elsewhere.
Iran
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made, directly to the Government of Iran, or at the United Nations, concerning violation of women's human rights in Iran.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We are concerned about all human rights abuses in Iran, including those against women. We regularly underline our concerns to the Iranians, both bilaterally and with our EC partners. The latest report of the United Nations Secretary-General's special representative on human rights in Iran includes information about the situation of women in Iran. We and our EC partners co-sponsored the resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on 10 March reflecting the special representative's concerns.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government of Iran have sought to impose restrictions on the dress of female United Kingdom diplomatic personnel in Iran ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Islamic dress code has to be observed in public by all women in Iran, including female foreign diplomats.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received in respect of Iranian attacks upon People's Mojahedin bases in Iraq ; what his response has been ; if he regards such attacks as being in contravention of Security Council resolution 598 ; what action Her Majesty's Government are taking on this matter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We have received a number of representations about the air raids carried out by Iran on 25 May inside Iraq. The possible contravention of UN Security Council resolution 598 is a matter for the Security Council which is permanently seized of this issue. We have expressed our serious concern at these air raids to the Iranian authorities.
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Cyprus
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on extradition arrangements between the United Kingdom and Cyprus.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Until 1990, extradition between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Cyprus was possible under the Commonwealth scheme for the rendition of fugitive offenders. Since 1990, extradition arrangements with the Republic of Cyprus are under the Extradition Act 1989 and the European convention on extradition.
Murders (Holidaymakers)
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many United Kingdom citizens have been murdered on overseas holidays in each year since 1985 ; and if he will list the countries the murders occurred in.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The number of United Kingdom citizens murdered abroad since 1985, and reported to the FCO, is as follows :
|Numbers
------------------------
1985 |18
1986 |26
1987 |45
1988 |55
1989 |39
1990 |50
1991 |49
1992 |51
1993 |<1>27
<1>First six months.
Murders took place in 75 countries, as shown in the list. FCO records do not distinguish between holidaymakers, business people and residents abroad.
Afghanistan
Antigua
Argentina
Australia
Bahamas
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Canary Islands
Caymen Islands
Colombia
Cyprus
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Egypt
El Salvador
France
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jerusalem
Kenya
Lebanon
Liberia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Morocco
Mozambique
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
St. Lucia
St. Maarten
(Netherland Antilles)
Sudan
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tanzania
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