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Company |Amounts paid since 1 |Nature of work
|November 1991
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LOGICA |8,183,300 } |Central four-year
| } |contract providing on
BIS |2,473,500 } |call development
| } |support
MFT Computer Systems |3,300 |Amendments to Tariff Quota File
Aspire |44,500 |Market Testing advice
Adbury Electronics |3,900
|Development
Coopers and |63,000 |Market Testing advice
Lybrand
Haymark |11,800 |Software support
communications
Capita Management |51,500 |Market Testing advice
Consultant
Interchange |84,700 |IT advice to Board
Associates
Dove |91,400 |Telecomms. support
Communications
Comshare |322,000 |Technical specs. and
|analysis
Datafit |574,000 |VAT Programming
Hedra |51,900 |Information System
|Strategy Support
Valid Consultancy |87,100 |Telecomms. support
TCSL Group |33,100 |Prototype development
CCTA |80,200 |Management studies/
|development
Firefox |2,400 |Software Support
Communications
Sun Microsystems |1,000 |Technical assurance
Data General |49,500 |Testing and
|configuration support
ACTLOGSYS |26,100 |Technical Support
Total |12,238,200
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all the computer consultancies employed by the Treasury and Treasury agencies, since November 1991, the tasks for which they were engaged, and the total cost to his Department.
Mr. Nelson : The Department's spend on computer consultancies since 1991-92 to date amounts to £64,220, including VAT. Information on individual consultancies and by task is not held centrally in the same way and cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.
Agricultural Partnership Tenancies
Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to his answer of 26 February, Official Report, column 765, when he expects the issue of jurisdictional problems over the valuation of agricultural partnership tenancies to be solved ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) how many cases relating to the valuation of agricultural partnership tenancies are outstanding with the Lands Tribunal ; and when he expects them to be resolved.
Mr. Dorrell : The case referred to in my earlier answer is due to be heard by the Lands Tribunal in early October. No other such cases are currently outstanding with the Lands Tribunal. In future, any such cases reaching the
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Lands Tribunal after this year's Finance Bill receives Royal Assent should benefit from clause 200 of the Bill, which proposes to allow the special commissioners to refer to the Lands Tribunal questions as to the value of land without the need for a fresh appeal.Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in Customs and Excise, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were not applied.
Sir John Cope : There have been no cases where Customs and Excise have contracted out existing in-house services where TUPE did not apply. To date, there has been only one contract involving the transfer of staff awarded to an outside bidder, London HQ catering, and the staff were transferred under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in Treasury and Treasury agencies, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were not applied.
Mr. Nelson : No previously in-house services have been contracted out since November 1991.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in Inland Revenue, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were not applied.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is set out in the table : Records management (off-site store at Nottingham)
Valuation banding for council tax
Bulk mailing (employers' annual pack)
Typing, secretarial and office support services (Nottingham) Catering (St. Albans)
Catering (Leicester)
Training Office--Writing of Training materials
Estate management (south-east, Wales)
Estate management (Scotland)
Estate management (west midlands, East)
Estate management (London and headquarters)
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the achievements of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
Mr. Portillo : The Government's economic policies are designed to maintain an environment in which business and enterprise can develop and prosper. The Treasury therefore places a high priority on helping small businesses. Developments in the last year include : reduction of inflation to 1.2 per cent., its lowest level for nearly 30 years ;
reductions in interest rates since leaving the exchange rate mechanism which, when fully passed through, will be worth over £5 billion a year off companies' interest payments.
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In addition, the March Budget included :further transitional help on business rates, worth £370 million, so that no business will face a real increase in rates in 1993-94 ; changes to the loan guarantee scheme to improve the supply of bank finance to small businesses ;
allowing VAT relief on bad debts after six months rather than a year ;
increases in the VAT registration threshold from £36,600 to £37,600 and in the turnover limit of the VAT cash accounting scheme from £300,000 to £350,000 ;
reductions in VAT penalties on late returns and misdeclarations, and new flexibility in applying penalties ;
a new entrepreneurs' relief from capital gains tax where gains from the sale of a person's own business are reinvested in new businesses, and an extension of capital gains tax retirement relief.
Yugoslavia
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what requests have been received from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to release frozen funds from banking institutions in London for the purpose of purchasing medical supplies ; how many of these requests have been granted ; how many have been denied ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : The information requested is not readily available. The Bank of England, which administers financial sanctions on behalf of Her Majesty's Treasury, has given delegated authority to individual banks to release funds in respect of the export of humanitarian goods to Serbia and Montenegro from the United Kingdom, provided that a licence has been issued by the Department of Trade and Industry and that a letter of authorisation has been issued by the United Nations sanctions committee.
Nuclear Companies
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what cash contributions he has estimated that British Nuclear Fuels plc, Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear will make to the national loans fund for each year from 1993 to 1998.
Mr. Portillo : No such estimates are available. All three companies may deposit cash surpluses in the national loans fund. But all three also have access to other deposit facilities. They take decisions on where to deposit surpluses from time to time as appropriate.
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Inland Revenue
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the organisation of executive officers in the Inland Revenue.
Mr. Dorrell : The Inland Revenue has today announced moves towards a smaller number of large executive offices.
With effect from 1 October 1993, the Controller, Inland Revenue Wales will assume responsibility for Inland Revenue midlands and the two executive offices will be combined and managed as a single executive office from 1 April 1994.
Also from 1 April 1994, the tax offices in London responsible for some of the largest groups of companies, principally in the financial sector, will be brought together in a new executive office, top be known as the large groups office. This office will also incorporate a number of audit and investigative functions currently in the Department's head office.
Responsibility for the remaining tax and collection offices in the three present London regional executive offices will be brought together under a single controller in charge of a new executive office, to be known as Inland Revenue, London.
Budget Council
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent meeting of European Ministers at the Budget Council.
Sir John Cope : The Budget Council met in Brussels on 22 July. I represented the United Kingdom.
The council established a first reading draft budget for 1994, totalling 72.4 billion ecu--£55.7 billion--in commitment appropriations and 69.0 billion ecu--£53.1 billion--in payment appropriations, respectively 760 million ecu--£585 million--and 1,088 million ecu--£837 million--below the figures proposed by the Commission in its preliminary draft budget. The draft budget would require own resources totalling 1.18 per cent. of Community gross national product, compared with the own resources ceiling for 1994 of 1.2 per cent.
The draft budget respects the financial perspective expenditure ceilings agreed at the Edinburgh European Council in December 1992. The summary table compares the outcome of the Budget Council to the proposals in the Commission's preliminary draft budget by reference to the financial perspective ceilings.
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Financial Preliminary draft Budget council
perspective budget draft budget
expenditure
ceilings
|mecu |£ million<1>|mecu |£ million |mecu |£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commitment appropriations
1. Common agricultural policy |36,465 |28,063 |36,465 |28,063 |36,465 |28,063
2. Structural operations |23,176 |17,836 |23,176 |17,836 |23,176 |17,836
3. Internal policies |4,325 |3,328 |4,243 |3,265 |3,638 |2,800
4. External action |4,236 |3,260 |4,174 |3,212 |4,020 |3,094
5. Administrative expenditure |3,579 |2,754 |3,579 |2,754 |3,578 |2,754
6. Reserves |1,530 |1,177 |1,530 |1,177 |1,530 |1,177
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total commitments |73,311 |56,419 |73,167 |56,308 |72,407 |55,723
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total payment appropriations |70,232 |54,050 |70,099 |53,947 |69,011 |53,110
<1> Throughout this reply the rate of £1=1.2994 ecu has been used-the rate notified in the 0fficial Journal as
prevailing on the last working day of last month (30 June).
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The European Parliament will consider the draft budget for 1994 at its plenary session in October. The Parliament's amendments and modifications will be considered at the second Budget Council in November. The European Parliament's second reading is set for mid-December.The Council took no formal votes, the presidency concluding that there was the necessary majority to establish the draft budget for 1994.
The Budget Council also considered the Commission's proposed supplementary and amending budget for 1993. It believed that further consideration of the proposal was necessary before any decision could be reached.
Sterling Deposits
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the gross figures for sterling deposits held by financial institutions and banks in (a) the Bahamas, (b) Bermuda, (c) the Grand Cayman islands, (d) the Channel islands and (e) the Isle of Man for the latest year available.
Mr. Nelson [holding annswer 15 July 1993] : Neither the Treasury nor the bank collects this information. The following figures have been supplied by the relevant authorities in the Channel islands, the Isle of Man and the Cayman islands, and cover all banks with a presence in these centres. They do not cover other financial institutions.
£ billion
Financial Centre |Total sterling
|deposits
----------------------------------------------------
Jersey<1> |22.35
Guernsey |8.9
Isle of Man<2> |8.04
Cayman Islands<3> |2.98
<1>March 1993 figure.
<2>December 1992 figure.
<3>December 1992 figure for total sterling
liabilities-including loans.
Overseas Funds
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much had been placed in offshore and overseas funds by individual and corporate investors by summer 1983 ; and what is the amount at the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 22 July 1993] : The data requested are not available.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Data Processing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the numbers of staff by grade that are employed in his Department and agencies in the automatic data processing functional specialism.
Mr. David Davis : The Cabinet Office, of which the Office of Public Service and Science and its agencies are a part, employs the following numbers of civil servants in automatic data processing posts :
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106 senior executive officers124 higher executive officers
102 executive officers
31 administrative officers
39 administrative assistants
Scientific and Technological Options
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to meet the chairman and secretariat of the European Parliament's scientific and technological options assessment programme to discuss the prospect for collaborative work ; and whether his Office of Science and Technology receives copies of the scientific and technological options assessment research reports on a routine basis.
Mr. David Davis : The European Parliament's scientific and technological options assessment programme (STOA) advises the European Parliament on science and technological issues. I do not anticipate developing a programme of collaborative work. Nevertheless, I have instructed my officials to develop closer links with the STOA secretariat to ensure better mutual understanding of science and technology policy issues, and obtain copies of relevant reports.
Central Scrutiny Programme
Mr. Paice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what topics have been covered in the efficiency unit's central scrutiny programme in the last financial year ; and which scrutiny reports can be made available to the general public.
Mr. Waldegrave : Fourteen efficiency scrutinies or similar reviews have been undertaken by Departments in 1992-93 in association with the Prime Minister's adviser on efficiency and the efficiency unit. The programme, including those which are not yet completed, is as follows :
Department/Title of |Report:
Scrutiny
Completed |Publicly available
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HM Customs and Excise
External Consultants |No
Ministry of Defence
VIP Flying |Under consideration
Department of the Environment
LA Superannuation Scheme |Yes
Department for Education
Information Needs |Under consideration
Inland Revenue
Valuation Office |Under consideration
Northern Ireland Office
Community Economic Regeneration |Under consideration
Scheme
Department of Social Security
Property Management |Under consideration
Document Retention |Under consideration
Welsh Office
Health Promotion |Yes
HM Treasury
Principal Civil Service Pensions Scheme |Yes
Purchasing Group |Under consideration
Not Completed
Inland Revenue
Common Causes of Error
Department of Social Security
Fraud and Security
Customer Satisfaction
Decisions on the publication of scrutiny reports are taken by the Ministers responsible for the scrutinies concerned. In a number of cases, where a scrutiny has been recently completed or is not yet complete, no decision on publication has been made.
Government Estate
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what will be the terms of reference for the scrutiny of the management of the Government estate.
Mr. Waldegrave : The terms of reference are as follows : To consider what arrangements would be needed to enable Departments and/or agencies to take as much responsibility as possible for the management, including acquisition and disposal, of all their civil estate properties, including those which are listed buildings. In particular, to consider :
What financial and other systems should be retained or established to ensure efficient and effective property management, value for money for the Exchequer and to safeguard the position of Accounting Officers ;
Best public and private sector practice on property management issues ;
What central advice/support is needed for Departments on property management issues, including the employment of consultants ; procurement of work services ; measures against fraud ; standards ; health and safety ; fire precautions ; conservation and environmental issues ;
What co-ordination mechanism would need to be retained or established to ensure the development and implementation of strategic plans for estate rationalisation, to exploit fully Government's strong position in the market place, to make Departments aware of accommodation across Government and to avoid them bidding against each other for properties ;
What arrangements should be retained or established forany Department which cannot approximately take responsibility for the management of their civil estate.
To make recommendations.
The Prime Minister has asked his efficiency adviser, Sir Peter Levene, to review how the Government currently manages the properties it occupies, to consider the alternatives for their management and to report to him by the end of the year.
As public service reforms gather pace, it is important to consider whether Departments and agencies should take
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on more direct responsibility for managing their property, and the means of ensuring that Government property is managed efficiently and effectively to achieve the best value for money for the tax payer. The scrutiny is being led by a team from the efficiency unit of the OPSS and began work on 19 July. Members will be drawn from other Departments and the private sector. Their report will be published.EDUCATION
A-levels
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what have been the total numbers of A-level entrants in (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) biology, (d) mathematics and (e) other or combined sciences in each year since 1988 ; and what was the total number of entrants to those subjects each year as a percentage of A-level entrants in all subjects.
Mr. Robin Squire : The exact information requested is not available on a comparable basis for each year since 1988.
The number of candidates aged 18 and below at the beginning of the academic year in schools and further education colleges in England entered for A- level in a (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) biology, (d) mathematics and (e) other or combined science in 1991-92 are shown :
|Number entered |Per cent. of total
|entrants
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Physics |34,892 |15.7
(b) Chemistry |35,659 |16.1
(c) Biology |39,327 |17.7
(d) Mathematics |56,222 |25.4
(e) Other/combined science |4,749 |2.1
GCSE
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the number of GCSE entrants in (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) biology, (d) mathematics and (e) combined sciences in each year since 1989 ; and what has been the total number of entrants in those subjects each year as a percentage of the total entrants in all subjects.
Mr. Robin Squire : The estimated numbers of 16-year-old pupils in schools in England entering GCSE (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) biology, (d) mathematics and (e) combined science in each year since 1989 are shown in the table. The percentage of the total entrants are also shown.
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School examination survey GCSE attempts by 16 year old pupils in England Subject taken |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |<1>1991-92 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Physics Number (000's) |196.92 |152.34 |100.08 |54.87 Per cent. of any subject |34 |28 |19 |10 Chemistry Number (000's) |179.07 |143.66 |97.95 |55.14 Per cent. of any subject |31 |26 |19 |10 Biology Number (000's) |216.96 |171.36 |110.14 |58.87 Per cent. of any subject |37 |31 |21 |11 Mathematics Number (000's) |532.26 |490.26 |471.41 |460.21 Per cent. of any subject |92 |90 |90 |87 Combined science Number (000's) |142.11 |203.75 |300.92 |396.71 Per cent. of any subject |24 |37 |58 |75 Any subject Number (000's) |581.3 |544.4 |521.15 |530.5
School Inspections
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to extend school inspections to cover (a) methods of punishment, (b) complaints procedures, (c) the views of pupils and (d) provision for children with special needs.
Mr. Robin Squire : All inspections of schools must report on quality of education and standards of achievement, financial efficiency and development of pupils' spiritual, moral, cultural and social values. Inspections must be carried out in accordance with the framework of inspection published by the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.
Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list all those services or functions contracted out in his Department and agencies, since November 1991, in which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 were not applied.
Mr. Boswell : Whether or not the TUPE regulations apply in any particular case depends on the nature of the work awarded and the contractors' own proposals for carrying it out. TUPE regulations did not apply to either of the Departmental functions contracted out since November 1991--the publications dispatch service and the pilot study of professional scrutiny and control of school building projects.
Blind and Partially Sighted People
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements his Department makes to ensure that blind and partially sighted people have access to information produced by his Department where it has not been published in alternative media such as Braille, large print or tape.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Department ensures that most publications with key messages are available on tape for blind or partially sighted people. We do not make alternative arrangements when this is not practical.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is his Department's policy on which information produced by his Department is published in alternative media to standard print such as Braille, tape or large print.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Department ensures that most publications which have important information for
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parents are made available on tape. It also pays for the Royal National Institute for the Blind to produce the annual booklet "Student Grants and Loans--a brief guide" in Braille.Medical Training
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals he has received for altering the arrangements for training medical, paramedical or other students of subjects principally aimed at careers in the NHS and similar employees.
Mr. Boswell : My right hon. Friend has received no general proposals for change in this area. Officials of the Department for Education have held discussions with officials at the Department of Health about the arrangements for funding undergraduate courses in speech and language therapy, dietetics and chiropody. No decisions have yet been reached. Any proposals for change which may emerge from these discussions will be considered in consultation with higher education institutions, professional bodies and the NHS.
Technology Teaching
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what efforts are being undertaken by his Department to secure an increased supply of approximately qualified teachers of technology in schools.
Mr. Forth : The shortage subject bursary scheme for teacher training has included technology since the start. The Open university's postgraduate certificate in education, which the Department has funded, will provide 100 training places a year in technology from February 1994. The school-centred initial teacher training scheme incorporates 100 places available for secondary technology teachers to be organised through the City Technology College Trust. Sixty 20-day designated courses of in-service training for technology will take place in 1993-94, with support under the grants for education support and training (GEST) programme, to enhance primary teachers' subject knowledge. GEST funding can be used for secondary in- service training in technology and other subjects. The Department's teaching taster courses have always featured technology amongst the subjects offered. Special courses have been offered to encourage highly qualified technologists facing redundancy to consider careers in teaching.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements will be undertaken by his Department to allocate appropriate capitation, resources, workshop facilities and ancillary staff to assist with the teaching of technology in schools.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Government make unhypothecated grant available to local authorities, which decide on
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their spending priorities between and within services, or directly to grant-maintained schools. In either case, it is for governing bodies to allocate their funds as they think best between different priorities, including technology. It is not for central Government to prescribe how much should be spent locally on any one area, but in 1993-94 we are making available grants for education support and training support in England for £179 million related to the implementation of the national curriculum generally, of which £30 million is specifically for information technology in schools. The Department is also supporting £24 million of expenditure through the technology schools initiative.Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will outline the changes planned by his Department to (a) curriculum materials and (b) testing and examination arrangements following the production of the National Curriculum Council's interim report on the teaching of technology in schools.
Mr. Robin Squire : The present national curriculum requirements for technology will remain in force until revised ones are introduced in respect of pupils in key stages 1 to 3 from the autumn of 1995, and in key stage 4 from the autumn of 1996. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and for Wales will decide towards the end of this year how best to take forward the development of these new curriculum requirements and the arrangements for their implementation, taking into account the findings of Sir Ron Dearing's wider review of the national curriculum and its assessment.
Data Processing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the numbers of staff by grade that are employed in his Department and agencies in the automatic data processing functional specialism.
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