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Mr. Sproat : The Department of National Heritage was established in April 1992. Between April and December 1992, the Department issued 129 press notices. In 1993, to date, the Department has issued 177 press notices.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Special Advisers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Attorney-General if he will list the name and job description of each special ministerial adviser employed in his Department, showing any particular outputs for which each adviser is responsible.
The Attorney-General : There are no special ministerial advisers employed in my Department.
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Attorney-General what arrangements are made to ensure that special advisers to Ministers in his Department do not have access to the kind of information, and are not involved in the type of business, that would be likely to create suspicion of impropriety in relation to subsequent employment.
The Attorney-General : There are no special advisers to Ministers in my Department.
Bromley Social Services Department
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Attorney-General if the Crown Prosecution Service has yet reached a decision in respect of prosecution over the alleged fraud within the social services department of the London borough of Bromley ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : No. The Metropolitan police have been asked to make further inquiries. When the result of those inquiries is known, the decision will be taken.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Sudan
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been made to the Government of Sudan on the subject of human rights and the rights to freedom of religious worship ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Her Majesty's ambassador in Khartoum takes every suitable opportunity, both bilaterally and in concert with other European Union heads of mission, to express our concern to the Sudanese authorities at reported abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms, freedom of religion among them. We were
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active earlier this year in securing the appointment of a special rapporteur to investigate the human rights situation in Sudan. At the United Nations General Assembly, we co-sponsored a hard-hitting resolution in the third committee, commending the work of the special rapporteur, which was passed on 6 December by 102 votes to 11.Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is regarding the use of executive search consultants in making appointments to public bodies ; and if he will (a) list the appointments where such consultants have been used and (b) list the cost in each case since April 1992.
Mr. Goodlad : Foreign and Commonwealth Office practice is not to make use of executive search consultants in making appointments to public bodies.
(a) Since April 1992 executive search consultants have not been used in making appointments to public bodies.
(b) None.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which of the appointments made to public bodies by him since April 1992 have been advertised.
Press Releases
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many press releases his Department has issued in each year since 1979.
Mr. Goodlad : The number of press releases issued per year by the FCO and ODA press offices is as follows :
|FCO |ODA
------------------------
1979 |176 |160
1980 |168 |155
1981 |221 |125
1982 |169 |129
1983 |138 |149
1984 |120 |148
1985 |142 |186
1986 |163 |178
1987 |168 |148
1988 |120 |127
1989 |177 |135
1990 |263 |114
1991 |221 |102
1992 |182 |111
1993 |189 |<1>91
<1> At 13 December
1993.
Administration Costs
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total expenditure by his Department on administration in 1992-93 ; what is the estimated outturn for expenditure by his Department on administration for 1993-94 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, in 1992-93 prices ; and what is his estimate for expenditure on administration by his Department for 1994-95 in (a) cash terms and (b) 1992 -93 prices.
Mr. Goodlad : The final outturn for the recurrent costs of running the Department in 1992-93 is :
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|£ million
--------------------------------------------------------
FCO Diplomatic Wing |520.976
Overseas Development Administration |45.650
|-------
Total |566.626
The total running cost limit for 1993-94 in cash terms is :
|£ million
--------------------------------------------------------
FCO Diplomatic Wing |579.877
Overseas Development Administration |51.771
|-------
Total |631.648
An estimated outturn will be published in the spring in the 1994 departmental report and the unified Budget supplement.
Estimates of expenditure will be published in the spring in the 1994 departmental report and in the 1994-95 supply estimates. The GDP deflators required to calculate real terms figures are shown on page 121 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1994-95", HC 31, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Manchester United Supporters
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 10 December, Official Report, column 407 , if there has yet been any response from the Turkish Government to the representations made by the British ambassador in Ankara in regard to the treatment of Manchester United supporters by the Turkish authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Turkish authorities have told the British ambassador in Ankara that a formal response to his representations would be available soon. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has also received a letter from the Turkish ambassador confirming this stressing that the Turkish authorities are taking the allegations very seriously.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 10 December, Official Report , column 407 , if he has (a) met or (b) plans to meet the Turkish ambassador to discuss the allegations of mistreatment of Manchester United supporters by the Turkish authorities.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not met the Turkish ambassador to discuss these allegations. However, I met him on 8 November. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs wrote to the Turkish ambassador on 2 December with a list of the main allegations. We are currently awaiting his detailed response. When we have this we shall decide what further action should be taken.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 10 December, Official Report , column 407 , what
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further action he now proposes to take in regard to the treatment of Manchester United supporters by the Turkish authorities.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We have pressed for a report from the Turkish authorities. Further action will be considered in the light of that report.
EDUCATION
Further and Higher Education
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many educational institutions the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further and Higher Education has visited during his first 12 months in office.
Mr. Boswell : I have visited a total of 67 educational institutions during my first 12 months in office, as follows :
Date |Institution visited
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 15 December |Royal Holloway and Bedford New College
Monday, 1 February |Brooklands College
Friday, 12 February |Beanfield Infant School, Corby;
|Beanfield Junior School, Corby;
|Brooke CTC, Corby
Monday, 15 February |Exeter University
Friday, 19 February |Open University, Milton Keynes
Friday, 26 February |New College, Oxford
Monday, 8 March |Coventry University
Tuesday, 16 March |University of West of England
Friday, 19 March |Kirby College; University of Teeside
Monday, 22 March |Edge Hill College
Friday, 26 March |Daventry William Parker School
Wednesday, 31 March |Hackney College
Wednesday, 21 April |Central St. Martins School of Art
Friday, 23 April |Blackburn College;
|William Temple High School, Preston;
|North Cheshire College, Warrington
Wednesday, 28 April |University of Westminster
Friday, 30 April |Tresham College, Kettering
Friday, 14 May |Northampton School for Boys;
|Daventry Tertiary College
Thursday, 20 May |London Institute of Education
Friday, 21 May |St. Crispin's School;
|Reading University
Saturday, 12 June |Nuffield College, Oxford
Friday, 28 May |Campion School, Northants
Friday, 4 June |Manchester College, Oxford
Wednesday, 16 June |St. Vincent College, Gosport
Friday, 18 June |Beachborough School
Monday, 21 June |ADT College, Wandsworth
Friday, 25 June |Churchill College, Cambridge;
|Malvern Girls' College
Wednesday, 30 June |Berkshire College of Agriculture
Friday, 2 July
Spoone School, Towester
Thursday, 8 July |St. Anthony's College, Oxford
Tuesday, 20 July |South Bank University
Wednesday, 21 July |Keele University
Tuesday, 17 August |Europa Kolleg, Kassel, Germany
Thursday, 30 September |North Oxfordshire College, Banbury
Friday, 1 October |Nene College, Northampton (and also
| Friday, 5 November)
Wednesday, 6 October |Blackpool and Fylde College
Thursday, 7 October |Blackpool Sixth Form College
Tuesday, 12 October |Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Germany;
|Leipzig University
Wednesday, 13 October |Technical College, Dresden;
|Teachers' Academy, Dresden
Friday, 22 October |Sparsholt College, Hampshire
Wednesday, 27 October |Leeds Metropolitan University;
|University of Leeds (Main Campus);
|University of Leeds, Bretton Hall;
|Birkbeck College
Sunday, 31 October |Worcester College, Oxford
Monday, 1 November |East Birmingham College;
|Bournville College
Thursday, 11 November |Farnborough 6th Form College
Monday, 15 November |Wootton Bassett School, Wiltshire
Wednesday, 17 |St. Martins' College, Lancaster;
November |Lancaster University
Sunday, 21 November |Oriel College, Oxford
Friday, 19 November |Guilsborough School, Northants
Thursday, 25 November |Cambridge Regional College
Friday, 26 November |University of Luton
Wednesday, 1 December |Bonn University, Germany
Thursday, 2 December |European University Institute, Florence
Nursery Education
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reasons, at what legislative stage and by which procedure, the provisions contained in section 8(2)(b) of the Education Act 1944, concerning nursery education, were removed from the statute book.
Mr. Robin Squire : Section 8(2)(b) of the Education Act 1944 was repealed by section 38(6) and schedule 7 of the Education Act 1980, and provision was substituted by section 24 of that Act. This was designed to clarify the imprecise wording of the 1944 Act as regards the nature of any duty to provide nursery education. The 1980 Act established that, as indeed had generally been assumed to be the position, there was a discretionary power, but no duty, on local education authorities to provide either nursery schools or education in nursery classes for children under five.
Examinations
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what evidence he has of any correlation between a school's examination performance and the number of taught hours.
Mr. Robin Squire : 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. My right hon. Friend wrote to Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools in England on 9 December taking up his offer of help with a review of the length of the taught week and in particular asking for his advice on the relationship between the amount of taught time and the quality and standards of pupils' work ; a copy of the letter, attached to DFE press notice 420/93, is in the Library. The chief inspector will be submitting an initial report by the end of January 1994.
Degrees
Dr. Moonie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what changes he plans in the balance of numbers of masters level and doctoral level degrees in the arts and humanities in line with the changes for science and technology courses announced in the White Paper "Realising our Potential" ; if he will discuss this issue with the British Academy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell : The British Academy implemented a revised structure for its awards for postgraduate research in
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the humanities at the start of the current academic year. This new structure is similar to that proposed in the White Paper "Realising our Potential" for courses in science and technology. For the 1993-94 academic year, the academy has made 529 new awards for study at masters level and 519 for doctoral study. It is for the academy to determine this balance.Environmentl Education Advisers
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the local education authorities that currently employ environmental education advisers and the ones that have ceased to do so over the last five years.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested is not centrally available.
Environmental Education
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that all schools, in stating their moral values and outlining their general ethos, refer to the importance of their responsibility for the environment and the development of such awareness among their pupils ;
(2) how he intends to meet the requirements of "Agenda 21", objectives 36.5D, incentive training, E, local environmental studies and F promoting proven education methods with respect to estuaries ; (3) if he will help to increase schools' awareness of estuarine sites of importance to wildlife by providing educational resources and training for the interpretation of estuaries ;
(4) what plans he has to set up pre-service and in-service training programmes for all teachers and educational planners to ensure delivery of environmental education as recommended at the Rio summit.
Mr. Robin Squire : Environmental education is addressed through the statutory subjects of the national curriculum : schools themselves are responsible for how environmental education is delivered. National curriculum geography includes study of rivers, river basins and seas ; and requires that pupils are taught about the quality and vulnerability of different environments and the possibilities for protecting and managing them.
Schools are free to include reference to the importance of their responsibilities for the environment and the development of such awareness among their pupils in the statement of the school's ethos and values included in their prospectuses, if they so wish. The Government provide specific grant to support expenditure on the national curriculum which is devolved mainly to schools to spend on books and equipment or training. It is for schools and LEAs to decide what priority to give to particular subject areas and to make detailed plans in the light of their own staff development needs. My right hon. Friend seeks to ensure, through his criteria for the approval of initial teacher training--ITT--that courses give a thorough preparation for teaching the national curriculum. The detailed content of courses is a matter for ITT providers and not the Government.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance he has issued to local education authorities, schools and institutions of further and higher
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education on those aspects of Agenda 21 dealing with education for sustainable development and the environment.Mr. Robin Squire : None. A general Government strategy document on sustainable development is in preparation.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress has been made in the implementation of the recommendation of the Toyne report : "Environmental Responsibility : An Agenda for Further and Higher Education".
Mr. Boswell : When the report was published in February 1993, I welcomed it as a valuable contribution to debate in an area which involved complex issues. The report's recommendations were addressed to the whole higher and further education sector, but particularly the institutions themselves and the funding councils. We therefore distributed the report to vice-chancellors of universities, principals of colleges and the chairmen of the funding councils, drawing the recipients' attention to the recommendations addressed to their institutions. Implementation of these is a matter for them.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to ensure that Office for Standards in Education inspectors comment on the quality of environmental education when compiling reports following a school inspection.
Mr. Robin Squire : Under the Education (Schools) Act 1992, registered inspectors conducting inspections of schools must report on the quality of education and standards achieved in accordance with Ofsted's published framework for inspection.
I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's policy is regarding the use of executive search consultants in making appointments to public bodies ; and if he will (a) list the appointments where such consultants have been used and (b) list the cost in each case since April 1992.
Mr. Boswell : The Department occasionally uses the services of executive search consultants as one of the options available to ensure a sufficiently wide field of suitable candidates for appointment to our public bodies. Since April 1992, we have used these services once. On 4 December 1992, we announced that the Department had paid £27,000 to employ Saxton Bampfylde International plc to assist us in searching for candidates suitable for consideration for the chairmanship of the Schools Curriculum and Asessment Authority.
Funding Councils
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria are used in the selection of the chair and the executive members of (a) the Further Education Funding Council, (b) the regional committees of the Further Education Funding Council, (c) the Higher Education Funding Council and (d) the Funding Agency for Schools, in respect of relevant experience and qualifications ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Boswell : The criteria governing appointments to the Further Education Funding Council are set out in section 1(4) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. There are no statutory requirements governing appointments to the regional committees of the Further Education Funding Council. However, the White Paper "Education and Training for the 21st Century", Cm 1536, made it clear that the composition of the regional committees would be similar to that of the council. The criteria governing appointments to the Higher Education Funding Council for England are set out in section 62(4) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The criteria governing appointments to the Funding Agency for Schools are set out in section 3(3) of the Education Act 1993.
Education Boards
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the minimum and maximum numbers of possible board members of (a) higher education corporations, (b) further education corporations, (c) grant- maintained schools and (d) city technology colleges ; what guidelines he has issued concerning the composition of these boards ; and what specific guidance has been given on how many board members should be (i) from ethnic minorities, (ii) women, (iii) from the local business sector, (iv) from local authorities and (v) from trade unions.
Mr. Boswell : (a) The board of governors of higher education corporations must consist of not fewer than 12 and not more than 24 members, plus the principal unless the principal chooses not to be a member. The composition of the board is governed by the provisions of schedule 7A to the Education Reform Act 1988. This requires that up to 13 members shall be independent members appearing to have experience in industrial, commercial or employment matters or the practice of any profession. No specific guidance has been given on particular areas from which membership should be drawn.
(b) In accordance with their instruments of government, which have been prescribed by regulations, further education corporations must have between 10 and 20 members, of whom at least half must be business members, including a representative of the local training and enterprise council. They may co-opt up to two persons who are employees or members of a local authority. In the case of corporations to conduct sixth-form colleges, the initial members of which were appointed by my right hon. Friend, those responsible for submitting nominations were asked by my right hon. Friend to have regard to the overall balance of the membership in terms of age, gender and ethnic background.
(c) The minimum number of possible members of a grant-maintained school governing body is 15. Although there is no maximum number, my right hon. Friend expects governing bodies to be of a manageable size. A guide giving details of the composition of governing bodies is available to all grant- maintained schools. It is a statutory requirement that some governors be members of the local business community. There is no requirement that governing bodies include members of ethnic minorities, women, local authorities or trade unionists.
(d) The model scheme of government for city technology colleges suggests a minimum of nine and a maximum of 20 persons on the board of governors. General guidance on the composition of the governing
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body is included in the model scheme, but there is no specific guidance on how many board members should come from any of the groups named.Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the minimum and maximum numbers of possible board members of the (a) Further Education Funding Council, (b) regional committees of the Further Education Funding Council, regional committees of the Further Education Funding Council ; (c) action trusts and (d) Funding Agency for Schools ; what guidelines he has issued concerning the composition of these boards ; and what specific guidance has been given on how many board members should be (i) from ethnic minorities, (ii) women, (iii) from the local business sector, (iv) from local authorities and (v) from trade unions.
Mr. Boswell : Information relating to the first part of this question is as follows : Following my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's initiative, goals were set for increasing the representation of ethnic minority groups and women on our public bodies and the Department has made steady progress in this direction. Guidance is available on how these goals may be achieved. Notwithstanding this consideration, appointments to all our public bodies are made solely on the basis of the aptitude, merit and suitability of candidates to undertake the varying requirements associated with individual bodies.
|Maximum number of board members|Minimum number of board members
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further Education Funding Council |15 |12
Regional Committees of the Further approximately 12
Education Funding Council members
Education Associations not less than 5 members
Funding Agency for Schools |15 |10
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the total numbers of (a) chairpeols and (c) chairpersons and members of the governing bodies of further education and sixth form colleges.
Mr. Robin Squire : (a) There are currently 14 chairmen of the city technology college governing bodies. Information is not held centrally on the total number of members of governing bodies but each governing body has at least nine members.
(b) There are 697 chairmen of operating self
governing--grant-maintained--schools' governing bodies. There are a further 108 chairmen designate for schools which are shortly to become self governing. Information is not held centrally of the total number of members of governing bodies but each governing body has at least 15 members.
(c) The governing bodies of the 464 further education and sixth form colleges normally have between 10 and 20 members, including a chairman.
Assisted Places
Mr. Jamieson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was spent on the assisted places scheme in Devon in each financial year since 1990.
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Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested is given in the table :
Financial Year |DFE expenditure £000s ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1990-91 |1,903 1991-92 |2,259 1992-93 |2,573
Advertising
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the cost of advertising by his Department has been for each year since 1979 and for each of the last 12 months.
Mr. Boswell : The expenditure figures for advertising, including press, television and radio, by the Department for the financial years since 1979 are in the table.
Year |Advertising £k --------------------------------------------- 1979-80 |91.6 1981-82 |86.9 1982-83 |6.0 1983-84 |9.6 1984-85 |18.5 1985-86 |14.8 1986-87 |532.0 1987-88 |280.0 1988-89 |515.0 1989-90 |249.8 1990-91 |2,604.0 1991-92 |3,037.9 1992-93 |1,086.4
It would involve disproportionate costs to break down into individual months the advertising campaigns run by the Department from January to December 1993. Advertising costs are not billed when the adverts actually appear. Details of the campaigns run in the calendar year 1993 are as follows :
Campaign |Date |Costs £k
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GM schools |February to March |200.0
Testing in schools |April to May |449.0
Further and high education
charters |September to October|486.0
| Total |1,135.0
Press Releases
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many press releases his Department has issued in each year since 1979.
Mr. Boswell : The number of press notices issued by the Department in each year since 1979 are as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1979 |124
1980 |209
1981 |201
1982 |311
1983 |434
1984 |218
1985 |333
1986 |348
1987 |392
1988 |418
1989 |408
1990 |406
1991 |444
1992 |425
1993 |<1>423
<1> To 14 December.
Henry VIII Clauses
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Henry VIII clauses have been contained in legislation from the Department of Education since 1979 ; and if he will list the relevant clause and Act in each case.
Mr. Boswell : The following provisions in Education Acts enacted since 1979 empower the Secretary of State to amend the Act in which they are contained :
|Section
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education (No. 2) Act 1986: |Section 30(5) and
|paragraph 5 of
|Schedule 3;
Education Reform Act 1988: |sections 3(4)(a), 41,
|43(2)(a), 52(7)(a),
|76(14) and 146(1)
|and paragraph 4 of
|Schedule 9; and
Education Act 1993: |section 41(10) and para-
|graph 1(4) of
|Schedule 3.
Administration
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the total expenditure by his Department on administration in 1992-93 ; what is the estimated outturn for expenditure by his Department on administration for 1993-94 in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms in, 1992- 93 prices ; and what is his estimate for expenditure on administration by his Department for 1994-95 in (a) cash terms and (b) 1992-93 prices.
Mr. Boswell : The information requested is as follows : i. The final outturn for the net recurrent costs of running the department in 1992-93 is £103.275 million.
ii. The estimated outturn for 1993-94 is £89.575 million. iii. The Department's planned running costs expenditure for 1994-95 is £89 million.
The GDP deflators required to calculate real terms figures are shown on page 121 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1994-95", HC 31, copies of which are available in the Library. It should be noted that the 1992-93 figures includes recurrent expenditure of £15.347 million by the office of Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools.
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Secretary of State's Powers
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many powers were conferred upon the holder of his post by (a) the Education Reform Act 1988, (b) the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and (c) the Education Act 1993 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell : These Acts confer on the Secretary of State a number of powers. Examples are powers to give directions--for example, the power under section 34(1) of the 1988 Act by order to direct the date by which a scheme of local management is to be submitted--and powers of approval--for example, of proposal for the establishment of a new grant-maintained school under section 51 of the 1993 Act. The legislation also contains many examples of powers to prescribe forms or information to be contained in notices, or periods in which duties are to be performed. To identify all the powers in the legislation referred to in the question could be provided only at
disproportionate cost.
Student Income Survey
Mr. Lord : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the results of the recent survey of student income and expenditure conducted by Research Services Ltd. will be published ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell : Research Services Ltd. will be publishing the survey report today. I am placing copies in the Library.
The survey is an important contribution to the information available about students' financial circumstances since the introduction of student loans. Other recent surveys in this area have been based on small, unrepresentative samples and often less than rigorous questionnaires. The survey reported on today is the most extensive of its sort since the last one in the series in academic year 1988-89.
It confirms, as expected, that public support for students under 26 who have taken out Government-subsidised loans has increased since the last survey was conducted in 1988-89. Their income from grant, loan, access funds and benefits rose by about a third in real terms as compared with grant and benefits in 1988-89.
At the same time, the report records the reduced financial burden on parents, whose contribution to younger students' income has on average fallen by about a fifth in real terms since 1988-89. On average, parents have continued to pay in full the contribution expected of them, with most paying more and only about a third paying less.
The Government particularly welcome the survey's finding that a higher proportion of students from lower social groups are entering higher education. The fears of those who said that the introduction of loans would deter these groups have not been realised. A system of loans for maintenance rates is based on the recognition that everyone's spending needs are different. The accelerated switch from grant to loan which my right hon. Friend announced on 30 November will enhance still further the flexibility of our system of student support.
School Minibuses (Safety Belts)
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he proposes to make compulsory the fitting of safety belts to all seated positions in minibuses owned or used by schools.
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Mr. Key : I have been asked to reply.
We are currently carrying out a review of the full technical and cost implications of seat belts in these vehicles.
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