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Redundancies and Closures
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will list all hon. Members whom he has personally met concerning redundancies or closures in their constituencies, the dates of each of the meetings and the precise nature and numbers of redundancies involved ; (2) what is his policy concerning meetings with hon. Members about redundancies or closures in their constituencies ;
(3) if he will now meet the Ayrshire hon. Members to discuss redundancies at Jetstream and the long-term threat to the plant.
The Prime Minister : I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry met a group of hon. Members to discuss Jetstream on 25 November.
Ministers at the Department of Trade and Industry and I often discuss such matters with right hon. and hon. Members.
Ex-service Men
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received calling for the setting up of a department of veterans' affairs to cover the needs of ex-service men ; what consideration he is giving to dealing with such requests positively ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 2 December] : I have received a number of letters from right hon. and hon. Members and members of the public on this matter, but I do not believe that the establishment of a separate department for ex-service affairs would result in a better service for ex-service men and women. The facilities of the health service and social security system are available to all and provision for veterans is integrated with that for the population as a whole ; a new department would simply add another tier of administration.
We recognise, however, that some ex-service personnel may encounter difficulties on returning to civilian life. We are therefore committed to the provision of comprehensive resettlement advice and support. We also recognise the particular needs of disabled ex-service personnel ; we have not only preserved the preferential provisions of the war pensions scheme, but have also done much to enhance it.
Royal Marsden Hospital
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister when he received the petition opposing the closure of the Royal Marsden hospital and its institute of cancer research ; and what response he has made.
The Prime Minister : The petition was received in my office on Thursday 25 NoveeMr. Purchase : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils have attended Wolverhampton grammar school under the assisted places scheme since the scheme's inception ; what was the cost to the state of those
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places ; and if he will give the usual place of residence of pupils attending the school under the APS listed by parliamentary constituency and local government ward.Mr. Forth : Nearly 460 pupils have benefited from assisted places at Wolverhampton grammar school since the scheme was established in 1981. In 1992-93 there were 256 assisted pupils and the cost to public funds was £760,000. Schools participating in the scheme are not required to supply data concerning pupils' residence and the Department does not hold any such information centrally.
Classroom Discipline
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he will take to encourage schools to insist the pupils treat the teaching staff with respect and call them by their surnames.
Mr. Forth : Head teachers are responsible for maintaining discipline within their schools and for encouraging pupils to have respect for others. How best to achieve that is a matter for local determination.
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to offer guidelines on classroom discipline.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend plans to issue a circular of guidance on behaviour and discipline in spring 1994. We will be consulting widely on the terms of that guidance.
Information Security
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about the operation of his Department's sensitive documents unit ; how many staff are employed in its operation ; and approximately how many documents per annum come within its purview.
Mr. Boswell : The Department does not have a sensitive documents unit.
Children (School Hours)
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the extent of variations of hours children spend in schools ; whether there are regional differences or differences for grant-maintained schools ; and what analysis has been carried out of the correlation with performance.
Mr. Robin Squire : Provisional data for January 1993 for maintained schools in England show that, in primary education, 3 per cent. of pupils are receiving less than 21 hours' teaching a week whereas at the other end of the range 4 per cent. are receiving 26 hours or more. In secondary education, 2 per cent. of pupils are receiving less than 23 hours a week compared to 26 hours or more received by the 5 per cent. at the other end of the range. On average, pupils in primary education received 23.2 hours per week compared with 24.3 hours per week for pupils in secondary education. These figures refer to time during which children are actually being taught rather than time spent on school premises.
There appear to be no significant differences between local education authorities maintained and self-governing
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--GM--schools. There is some variation between regions : between an average of 22.9 hours per week in East Anglia and 23.5 hours per week in the north in primary education, and between an average of 24.1 hours per week in Yorkshire and Humberside and 24.5 hours per week in East Anglia and the south-west in secondary education.Initial work carried out in the Department indicates on average a small but statistically significant positive correlation between the length of the taught week and educational performance as measured by public examinations and national tests.
Student Unions
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many representations he has received on making membership of student unions voluntary ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell : Since the Government's plans for the reform of student unions were announced on 1 July, my right hon. Friend has received some 3,000 representations about the voluntary principle for student unions which our proposed reforms are intended to implement.
EC Students
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the costs of education in England and Wales for EC students met by (a) his Department and (b) each local education authority ; and what are the numbers of such students from each EC country, and in each level of institute of education.
Mr. Boswell : Students from other EC member states attending designated courses of higher education in the United Kingdom qualify for an award covering their course fees up to a specified maximum, where they satisfy basic eligibility conditions similar to those for students who live in the United Kingdom. In 1991-92 there were some 11,100 such award holders studying in England and Wales. In that year, mandatory awards expenditure by local authorities in England and Wales on students from other EC member states totalled £22.8 million ; local authorities are fully reimbursed for this expenditure by the Department. In the same year, additional expenditure by the Department on awards to students from other EC member states attending part of a higher education course at an institution in England and Wales totalled £1.5 million. Copies of Department for Education statistical bulletins 21/93 and 22/93, which give details of students from abroad and student awards in England and Wales, are available in the Library.
Other provision for students from other EC member states studying in England and Wales, which flows from the grant made annually to institutions by the higher education funding councils, is in the region of £80 million. Reciprocal rights apply to British nationals studying elsewhere in the EC.
Departmental Files
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many files marked "Not for National Audit Office eyes" are held by the Department ; and how many are marked "Not for Public Accounts Committee eyes".
Mr. Forth : The Department has 39 files--out of a total of over 500, 000--marked "Not for NAO eyes".
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This marking is used in accordance with the agreement between the Treasury and the National Audit Office under which documents relating to the handling of relations between departments and the NAO and PAC are not automatically available to the NAO while they remain current.There is no such marking as "Not for PAC eyes".
Opt-out Ballots
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from the Electoral Reform Society regarding documents published by his Department and sent out with opt-out ballot papers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Electoral Reform Society's company, Electoral Reform (Ballot Services) Ltd., wrote to the Department on 1 December about a leaflet sent to parents with their ballot papers. A reply will be sent shortly.
Sixth Forms
Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what action he intends to take following his statement at the annual conference of the Girls Schools Association on 25 November about the role of school sixth forms.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend intends shortly to publish, following consultation with the Further Education Funding Council and others, a framework of criteria in the light of which he will make future decisions on statutory proposals for new school sixth forms.
University Grants Committee
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the total gross public spending for each year from 1983-84 to 1988-89, in 1992-93 prices, for the University Grants Committee.
Mr. Boswell : Figures for total capital and recurrent grant are shown below :
|£ million, 1992-93
|prices
---------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |2,168
1984-85 |2,119
1985-86 |2,068
1986-87 |2,080
1987-88 |2,175
1988-89 |2,203
The figures do not include publicly funded tuition fees.
Grant-maintained Schools
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been, in 1992-93 prices, the total gross public spending for each year from 1991-92, and the projected expenditure for each year up to 1995-96 for grant-maintained schools.
Mr. Robin Squire : Total spending to date on
self-governing--grant-maintained--schools has been as follows :
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|1991-92 outturn|1992-93 outturn
|£ million |£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exchequer grant |22 |50
Annual maintenance grant |167 |435
The Government's spending plans for 1993-94 to 1995-96, at 1992-1993 prices, provide for total Exchequer grant as follows :
1993-94 |1994-95 |1995-96 £ million |£ million|£ million ---------------------------------------- 150 |226 |398
Provisional outturn spending on annual maintenance grant for 1993-94, at 1992-93 prices, is £950 million. Depending on the number and size of grant-maintained schools, total annual maintenance grant for 1994-95 and 1995-96 is projected to be around :
1994-95 |1995-96 £ billion |£ billion ------------------------------ 2 |4 Note: Figures for exchequer grant include special purpose grants; capital grant; cost of GM ballots; the Grant Maintained Schools Centre; and the projected cost of the Funding Agency for Schools. They exclude other spending by local authorities, who remain responsible for some services to GM pupils, and DFE running costs.
City Technology Colleges
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been, in 1992-93 prices, the total gross public spending for each year from 1987-88, and the projected expenditure for each year to 1995-96 for city technology colleges.
Mr. Robin Squire : Total spending on city technology colleges by the Department since 1987-88 and projected expenditure to 1995-96 are shown in the following table. This includes both capital and recurrent expenditure.
DFE Expenditure
Financial Year |At 1992-93 prices £|Cash £ million
|million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987-88 |2 |1
1988-89 |18 |14
1989-90 |36 |30
1990-91 |64 |58
1991-92 |58 |56
1992-93 |50 |50
1993-94 (estimated outturn) |48 |50
1994-95 (plans) |48 |52
1995-96 (plans) |51 |56
Funding Councils
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the total gross public spending for each year from 1989-90, in 1992-93 prices, for (a) the Universities Funding Council and (b) the Polytechnic and Colleges Funding Council.
Mr. Boswell : Figures for total capital and recurrent grant to the funding councils are shown :
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£ million, 1992-93 prices
|UFC |PCFC
--------------------------
1989-90 |2,209|1,324
1990-91 |2,027|1,215
1991-92 |1,850|1,031
1992-93 |1,804|1,036
The decline in grant from 1990-91 onwards relates to the transfer of funds to tuition fees reimbursed through mandatory awards. Recurrent funding for higher education taking account of tuition fees increased by more than 10 per cent. in real terms over the period.
Student Loan Scheme
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish a table showing the number of those in arrears on repayment of the student loan scheme by (a) educational institution and (b) county/borough of residence.
Mr. Boswell : This is a matter for the Student Loans Company. I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what procedures are in force for his Department to be notified of any approach to British Nuclear Fuels plc from any utility with a contract with British Nuclear Fuels plc for the use of THORP, to cancel or vary the contract or its terms.
Mr. Eggar : My Department is in regular contact with British Nuclear Fuels plc on a wide range of issues.
Leases
Mr. Spellar : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation as part of his deregulative initiatives to make illegal anti-competitive abuses in commercial leases which allow only upward review of rents.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The measure described does not appear to be deregulatory and does not fall within the scope of the deregulation initiative. The Department of the Environment has, however, issued a consultation paper on certain aspects of commercial property leasing arrangements, including upward-only rent reviews. An announcement of the outcome of that exercise will be made in due course.
Monopolies and Mergers Commission
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade who appoints the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ; who are the present members ; what are their qualifications by examinations ; what posts they currently hold ; and when they were appointed.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Biographical details of members of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission are compiled by the commission for publication in its annual review. I
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will write to the hon. Gentleman enclosing those biographical details, and relevant dates of appointment. Qualifications by examinations are not a factor in determining the suitability of potential MMC members and, as such, details of the current members' qualifications are not held. Collation of such details could be made only at disproportionate cost.Car Parking
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to establish an advisory panel to advise him on restrictive practices and monopolistic power in the provision of car parking in Britain.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I announced to the House on 14 April, Official Report , column 842-50, that when parliamentary time permits, proposals will be introduced to strengthen existing United Kingdom legislation concerning anti-competitive and exploitative behaviour following the Green Paper on abuse of market power. At the same time, a prohibition on restrictive trade practices will be introduced. As part of this package, the Fair Trading Act 1973 and the Competition Act 1980 will be extended to cover some limited situations where specific property rights are exercised in a way which damages competition. I am currently considering the property rights to which competition law should apply and the extension of the Fair Trading Act 1973 to temporary rights of access such as car parks is one option under consideration.
Information Security
Mr. Cohen : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the operation of his Department's sensitive documents unit ; how many staff are employed in its operation ; and approximately how many documents per annum come within its purview.
Mr. Eggar : My Department's sensitive documents unit arranges for the circulation of such documents to those officials cleared to see them. Its procedures are kept under review and amended from time to time. Two officials are employed in the unit full time and one half time. At present, it handles some 9,000 documents a year.
Inconel 600
Mr. Cohen : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many nuclear reactors in the United Kingdom have parts which contain the nickel- based alloy, Inconel 600 ; what assessment his Department has made as to its safety ; what representations he has received ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : I understand that Inconel 600 is used chiefly in Sizewell B, but the material is also found in minor components in certain other nuclear stations. Any implications for such plant arising from the use of a material are taken into account by the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate--NII. The performance of materials--such as Inconel 600--is an integral part of the safety case assessment which is carried out before reactors are started up and which continues throughout their operation. Such safety cases are reviewed periodically and amended as necessary in light of new information. For its part, Nuclear Electric is undertaking a programme of inspections at Sizewell B which will ensure
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early warning of any problems arising from the use of Inconel 600 and enable remedial action to be promptly implemented. Moreover, the NII would not allow any nuclear power station to commence or continue in operation if they were not satisfied that it was safe to do so. I have received two letters from hon. Members forwardingrepresentations from their constituents about this matter.
Budget Setting
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give the date on which the budgets for each of his Department's laboratories and agencies were finalised for 1993-94.
Mr. Heseltine : Budgets for 1993-94 were set on 5January 1993 for the following :
Accounts Services Agency
Radiocommunications Agency
Laboratory of the Government Chemist
National Physical Laboratory
National Engineering Laboratory
Warren Spring Laboratory
Patent Office
Companies House
and on 1 April 1993 for the following :
National Weights and Measures Laboratory
Insolvency Service
Nuclear Industry
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what was the mass of spent fuel discharged from each Magnox reactor operated by Nuclear Electric in each financial year since 1983-84 ; (2) what commitment has been given by Nuclear Electric in relation to the reprocessing of spent fuel from pressurised water reactors.
Mr. Eggar : These are operational matters for Nuclear Electric plc.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what facilities exist in the United Kingdom for the conversion of plutonimum into californium.
Japan (Atomic Energy Agreement)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when Her Majesty's Government last sought assurance from the Japanese Government in regard to the commitments entered into under article III(a) of the United Kingdom/Japan agreement for co-operation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy (Cm 3853).
Mr. Eggar : Her Majesty's Government last sought assurance from the Japanese Government in July 1992.
Nuclear Safeguards
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions since 1990 Her Majesty's Government have informed the appropriate safeguards authorities of its putting into effect clause 14 of the United Kingdom-EURATOM-International Atomic Agency trilateral safeguards agreement.
Mr. Eggar : In accordance with the arrangements under article 14 of the United Kingdom-Euratom-IAEA tripartite
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safeguards agreement, 46 advanced notifications of withdrawal of nuclear material from safeguards have been made since 1 January 1990.Radioactive Waste
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the latest undiscounted cost estimate for the dumping of projected United Kingdom low level and intermediate level radioactive waste arising in the Nirex repository ; the unit cost for the dumping of that waste ; and the latest date for fully opening the repository for low level and intermediate level radioactive waste.
Mr. Eggar : These are management matters for UK Nirex Ltd.
Departmental Files
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many files marked "Not for National Audit Office eyes" are held by the Department ; and how many are marked "Not for Public Accounts Committee eyes."
Mr. Eggar : No central record is kept by my Department of files marked "not for National Audit Office eyes". For each National Audit Office study, a number of divisions in different locations may be involved and each may possess in its registries a file with a number of parts--that is, individual jackets. The information requested is therefore not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The marking "not for National Audit Office eyes" is used in accordance with an agreement between the Treasury and the National Audit Office, under which documents relating to the handling of relations between Departments and the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee are not automatically available to the National Audit Office while they are current.
There is no marking "not for Public Accounts Committee eyes".
Eco-labelling
Mr. Burden : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the letter sent to the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Technology on 20 October by the Body Shop in connection with EC eco-labelling and animal welfare ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : I have been asked to reply.
My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in another place has replied to the letter from the Body Shop. Copies of her reply of 2 December have been placed in the Library of the House.
Fireworks
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of fireworks sold in Britain was manufactured in Britain in each year since 1980.
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