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Mr. Forth : The new Government Department, the Office for Standards in Education, was created on 1 September 1992. All inspections carried out by HMI or reports published since that date are a matter for OFSTED. I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.
Prior to September 1992, when HMI were members of this Department, they undertook a variety of types of inspection visit to schools. Not all of these inspections were planned to lead to published reports. A list of the independent schools which received an inspection visit between 1 January 1991 and 31 August 1992 has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Jamieson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many grant-maintained schools have been inspected by Her Majesty's inspectorate or OFSTED in the last three years ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Robin Squire : The new Government Department, the Office for Standards in Education, was created on 1 September 1992. All inspections carried out by HMI or reports published since that date are a matter for OFSTED. I have asked Professor Sutherland to write to the hon. Member.
Prior to September 1992, school inspections were carried out by HMI who were members of this Department. Up to July 1992, none of the visits to grant-maintained schools was a formal inspection intended to lead to a published report. Under the new independent inspection arrangements introduced from September 1993, schools maintained wholly or mainly from public funds, including grant-maintained schools, will be inspected every four years by registered inspectors with published reports and action plans. I will write to the hon. Member in regards to the information requested about HMI inspections before September 1992.
Private and Independent Schools
Mr. Jamieson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is his Department's estimate of the number of private and independent schools currently operating.
Mr. Forth : There are currently 2,294 independent schools, including 15 city technology colleges, in operation in England.
Parents Charter
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Education which organisations have been asked to tender for contracts to distribute the revised parents charter ; and how many copies are to be distributed.
Mr. Robin Squire : Organisations have not yet been invited to tender for the contract to distribute the parents charter later in 1994. Approximately 20 million copies will be distributed.
Moral Education
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provisions currently exist to ensure that children receive proper moral education, with particular reference to safe sex, at the primary and secondary school levels.
Mr. Forth : The new arrangements for sex education introduced by the Education Act 1993, which will come
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into force in September 1994, require maintained secondary schools to provide sex education and give maintained primary schools discretion whether to do so. Section 46 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 provides for sex education to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life. Section 1 of the Education Reform Act 1988 provides more generally for the maintained school curriculum to promote the moral development of pupils. We are currently consulting on a draft circular of guidance to schools on the implementation of the sex education provisions : the final version will be issued in the spring.Student Unions
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if it is his intention, under his proposed principles to be observed in relation to student union services supported out of public funds, to prohibit student unions from funding or giving strategic support to community action schemes.
Mr. Boswell : The Government are determined to reform student unions and to secure that the principles of choice, democracy and accountability are universallly observed in their activities. It is not our intention to jeopardise student services, for which funding will remain available in institutions' budgets.
University College Fees
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish the current level of college fees agreed with his Department in respect of undergraduates in all the colleges of universities who have recognised collegiate structures ; and when the levels for the next academic year will be agreed.
Mr. Boswell : The current maximum levels of college fees reimbursed through a student's mandatory award in 1993-94 are shown in the table. The levels for 1994-95 will be agreed during the course of this academic year.
|Fee
|£
----------------------------------
Cambridge colleges
Christ's |2,526
Churchill |2,511
Clare |2,535
Clare Hall |2,460
Corpus Christi |2,619
Darwin |2,580
Downing |2,700
Emmanuel |2,565
Fitzwilliam |2,706
Girton |2,601
Gonville and Caius |2,562
Hughes Hall |2,460
Jesus |2,589
King's |2,526
Lucy Cavendish |2,616
Magdelene |2,694
New Hall |2,691
Newnham |2,691
Pembroke |2,688
Peterhouse |2,514
Queens' |2,640
Robinson |2,655
St. Catharine's |2,601
St. Edmund's |2,463
St. John's |2,478
Selwyn |2,691
Sidney Sussex |2,694
Trinity |2,460
Trinity Hall |2,628
Wesley |2,622
Wolfson |2,499
Durham Colleges
University |182
Hatfield |182
Grey |182
Van Mildert |182
Collingwood |182
St. Hild and St. Bede |182
St. Cuthbert's |182
St. Mary's |182
St. Aidan's |182
Trevelyan |182
St. Chad's |945
St. John's |945
Ushaw |945
Kent Colleges
Darwin |160
Eliot |160
Rutherford |160
Keynes |160
Lancaster Colleges
Bowland |138
Cartmel |138
The County |138
Furness |138
Fylde |138
Grizedale |138
Lonsdale |138
Pendle |138
Oxford Colleges
Balliol |2,936
Blackfriars |2,819
Brasenose |2,955
Campion Hall |3,129
Christ Church |2,953
Corpus Christi |2,946
Exeter |2,986
Greyfriars |3,008
Hertford |3,115
Jesus |2,959
Keble |3,183
Lady Margaret Hall |3,108
Lincoln |2,903
Magdalen |2,985
Manchester |3,012
Mansfield |3,297
Merton |2,870
New College |2,977
Oriel |3,108
Pembroke |2,962
Queen's |2,921
Regent's Park |3,116
Ripon (Cuddesdon) |2,775
St. Anne's |3,094
St. Benet's Hall |3,076
St. Catherine's |3,010
St. Edmund Hall |3,069
St. Hilda's |3,062
St. Hugh's |3,096
St. John's |2,918
St. Peter's |3,162
St. Stephen's House |3,011
Somerville |3,067
Trinity |2,939
University |2,972
Wadham |3,030
Worcester |3,021
Wycliffe Hall |3,011
York Colleges
Alcuin |154
Derwent |154
Goodricke |154
Langwith |154
Vanburgh |154
Wentworth |154
Student Support
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the report on discretionary student support currently being prepared by the Gulbenkian Foundation and the Sir John Cass Foundation with the Further Education Funding Council and his Department will (a) be completed and (b) be published.
Mr. Boswell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton (Mrs. Browning) on 7 December 1993, Official Report, column 161.
Discretionary Awards
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to enable local authorities to increase the number of discretionary awards available to students on access courses in further education colleges.
Mr. Boswell : Discretionary awards are made by local authorities, which meet the cost from their own resources. The Secretary of State has no power to intervene in the discretionary award policies of local authorities.
Access Courses
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the Government intends to increase the number of places on access courses in further education colleges.
Mr. Boswell : The Government's expenditure plans for further education allow for the forecast increase of 25 per cent. in student numbers up to 1995-96 to be met in full, with an additional increase of 3 per cent. between 1995-96 and 1996-97. These plans include provision for students on access courses as defined by schedule 2 to the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Decisions about the number of places in individual subjects or types of courses are for individual colleges, in the light of demand from students and employers and the funding available to them.
Consultants
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education on which occasions since 1979 his Department has employed the services of external consultants ; and if he will give details of the purposes for which they were employed and the cost of employing them.
Mr. Boswell : I have placed in the Library a list of the projects on which consultants were engaged in each year since 1987. The total cost of these was £7.4 million. Information for the years prior to 1987 is not available in the form requested.
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Christmas Cards
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 414, how many official Christmas cards he and his junior Ministers sent out in 1993, and how much this cost.
Mr. Boswell : Ministers from the Department sent out some 820 cards in 1993, at a total approximate cost of £710.
TRANSPORT
M62 Relief Road
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total number of valid objections to the M62 relief road proposals received to date at (a) the north-west regional office, Department of Transport and (b) the Department of Transport, Marsham street.
Mr. Robert Key : So far, 5,180 representations have been received-- 4,850 at the north-west regional office and 330 at Marsham street. These figures include an element of duplication.
Transport Police
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 15 December, Official Report, columns 697-98, what amendments will be required to the British Transport Police Scheme 1963 (Amendment) Order 1992 to take effect from April ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The British Transport Police Force Scheme 1963 will need to be amended to take effect from April to enable the BTP to continue to operate in the restructured railway.
The amendments are needed to allow the British Railways Board, as employer, to enter into the agreements referred to in section 132(3) of the Railways Act 1993. These agreements will enable the BR Board to provide services to other users of the police on a repayment basis.
Some minor consequential amendments will also be needed to ensure compatibility of the scheme with the Railways Act 1993.
Following consultation with the BR Board, London Underground Ltd. and the Docklands Light Railway, the amendments will be laid before Parliament in the spring.
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 15 December, Official Report, columns 697-98 , what the budgetary, funding and charging arrangements will be for the British Transport police from April ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : In the restructuring railway, the employer of the British Transport police, initially the BR Board, will be responsible for the BTP budget. The budget will be drawn up as now on a regional basis, for consideration by the police committee, in consultation with the BTP and users of their services.
Costs attributable to other users will be recovered in full by the employer through charging. It will be for the employer to ensure that all the appropriate charges are collected.
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A licence condition will require operators to use and pay for the services of the BTP. Operators will pay the employer of the police--British Rail--direct. Policing costs will be split between Railtrack, train operating companies, independent station operators and open access operators. Operators will also pay for any specific additional policing requirements.Isle of Wight
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will consider appointing a special adviser for the Isle of Wight's coastal road problems and to assist the highway authority to prepare alternative routes in the event of further slippage ; (2) if he will ensure his officials visit the Isle of Wight to assess the landslip and stability problems and safety of the island's roads for holiday traffic.
Mr. Robert Key : If the Isle of Wight council needs technical advice from the Department of Transport on its road network, it should contact our south-eastern regional office and state its requirements. We shall be glad to provide any assistance we can. Should it prove necessary, officials will visit the island.
A19
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will detail his plans for improving the A19 between Peterlee and the roundabout known as Testo's ; when works is expected to (a) begin and (b) end ; and what plans there are to improve Testo's roundabout.
Mr. Key : The section of the A19 between Easington and Hawthorn services will be improved to modern standards by widening the carriageway by 2 m at the same time as essential maintenance work is undertaken during 1994-95.
There are no plans in the current programme for improvement to Testo's roundabout.
Consultants
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on which occasions since 1979 his Department has employed the services of external consultants ; and if he will give details of the purposes for which they were employed and the cost of employing them.
Mr. Norris : I regret that an answer to this question can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Rail Freight
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department expects to receive a report on the study being conducted by the piggy back consortium into conveyance of freight by rail ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : I understand that this consortium expects its study to be completed by April. I look forward to examining its findings.
Rail Infrastructure (Spending)
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a table showing spending on rail infrastructure for each country in the EC per capita for the latest year available.
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Mr. Freeman : No. It is difficult to make realistic spending comparisons between railway systems because of differences in areas such as accounting methods, definitions of infrastructure and terrain. However, last January, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Community, published "Transport Annual Statistics 1970-1990" which gives, at page 14 of the publication, infrastructure spending for seven of the 12 EC countries up to 1989. A copy of this publication has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
A2
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on when the public consultation period will begin on the proposals to dual the A2 road between Lydden and Dover ; and by which date he will publish those proposals.
Mr. Key : Investigation of options for the A2 Lydden--B2060--to Dover improvement is continuing and the present programme is for public consultation later this year. The scheme is included in the current review of the road programme and I will make a further announcement about the outcome of the review as soon as possible.
HEALTH
Arboviruses
Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work has been done on arboviruses in national health service hospitals by scientists from the Ministry of Defence's Porton Down chemical and biological warfare establishment since 1964 ; when this work was carried out ; what was the conclusion of the work ; if the results of the work were exchanged with the United States of America, Canada and Australia ; and in which publications the results were published.
Mr. Sackville : The Department has no record of any collaborative work between national health service hospitals and the chemical and biological defence establishment at Porton Down.
Hospital Beds
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data have been collected by her Department regarding the average length of time between the installation of national health service hospital beds and other ward furniture and their replacement.
Asbestos-related Diseases
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her estimate of the number of people suffering from asbestos-related diseases and the numbers of them who do not have bilateral pleural diffuse thickening.
Mr. Sackville : Information on which to base such an estimate is not available.
Complementary Therapies
Sir Donald Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much the NHS spent on complementary therapies in each of the last three years for which figures are available ;
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(2) what definition the NHS uses of the therapies regarded as complementary ; and if she will list the therapies ;(3) how many NHS hospitals provide treatment considered to be complementary medicine.
Mr. Sackville : There is no common definition in use within the national health service of complementary therapies, therefore figures on how much the NHS spent and the number of NHS hospitals where treatments are given cannot be provided.
Mental Health
Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many districts have a policy and practice plans to deal with those who fall out of care/contact with services.
Mr. Bowis : Information is not collected on districts which have a policy and plans to follow up those who fall out of contact with mental health services. We are planning to issue guidance on discharge arrangements for mentally disordered people which will emphasise the need for follow-up procedures under the care programme approach.
Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the number of beds in each district for (a) special hospitals, (b) medium secure beds, (c) acute hospital in-patient beds, (d) hospital hostel beds and (e) community beds in (i) half-way hostels, (ii) crisis care, (iii) respite care, (iv) women only, (v) 24 hours staffed community beds and (vi) day-time staffed beds.
Mr. Bowis : The numbers of long stay beds, short stay beds and medium secure beds by district are published annually in "Bed Availability in England". The latest publication relating to 1992-93 is available in the Library. The remaining information is not available centrally.
Mr. Rendel : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the total expenditure of (a) West Berkshire health authority and (b) each of the other health authorities in the United Kingdom is spent on activities relating to mental health ; and how much this represents per capita of the population served by each health authority.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 17 January 1994] : This information will be placed in the Library.
Unleaded Petrol
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made by the Chief Medical Officer about the possible danger of vapour fumes from unleaded petrol ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The Committees on Carcinogenicity--COC--and Medical Effects of Air Pollutants--COMEAP--set up by the Chief Medical Officer to advise him, have considered hazards to health from inhalation of benzene which is a component of vapour fumes from leaded and unleaded petrol. Benzene is an important component of leaded and unleaded petrol. It is limited by European Community directive to a maximum content of 5 per cent. by volume.
Benzene is toxic at high doses and is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a human carcinogen. Long-term occupational exposure to benzene at concentrations a thousand times greater than those
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typically found in urban air in the United Kingdom has been shown to increase the risk of certain types of leukaemia in adults : its use in industry is therefore strictly controlled. Although it is not possible to define an absolutely safe level of exposure to benzene, levels in outdoor air encountered in the United Kingdom are considered by COMEAP and the COC, to present a very low risk to health.Treatment Facilities
Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many districts have residential and general treatment facilities for those who have had challenging behavioural or forensic histories.
Mr. Bowis : Information on the number of beds by sector is published annually in the KHO3 summary booklet, "Bed Availability in England", a copy of which is available in the Library. The number of districts with residential and general treatment facilities of this kind is not recorded centrally, but guidance was issued to health and local authorities in October 1992, LAC(92)15 and HSG(92)42, which emphasised the need to provide a diverse range of services to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities.
Cervical Smear Tests
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will arrange for general practitioner contracts to be amended so that cervical smear tests are carried out every three years.
Mr. Sackville : Our first priority is to increase take up under the existing screening programme, as research shows that the majority of women who develop cervical cancer have not been screened.
GP Fundholders
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health of she will list the management allowances payments made to GP fundholding practices and practices preparing to be fundholders (a) by wave and (b) in total for each (i) family health services authority and (ii) region.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information requested will be placed in the Library. General practitioner fundholding has delivered many improvements in quality of care for patients. The costs of the management allowance--at about 2 per cent. of budgets set, represents excellent value for money.
Special Advisers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which special advisers in her Department are seconded from other organisations ; and what are the organisations and the lengths and terms of the secondments.
Mr. Sackville : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's one special adviser is employed directly by the Department of Health.
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Children (Slow Development)
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged under 16 years suffer from developmental delay and learning difficulties where it has not been possible to establish the reason.
Mr. Bowis : Three to four per 1,000 children are known to have severe learning disabilities. In at least a quarter of these cases the cause is unknown.
Independent Sector Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average number of beds of an independent sector home in each year since 1979.
Mr. Bowis : The information is shown in the table. Figures for 1981 and 1982 have not been provided for residential care homes as the information held for these years is not considered reliable. No figures are available for nursing homes before 1982.
Mean number of beds available per home in the
independent sector at 31
March 1979 to 1992
Year |Residential|Nursing
|homes |homes
------------------------------------------------
1979 |21 |n/a
1980 |21 |n/a
1981 |n/a |n/a
1982 |n/a |26
1983 |19 |27
1984 |19 |26
1985 |18 |26
1986 |17 |26
1987 |17 |<1>-
1988 |17 |26
1989 |17 |28
1990 |17 |29
1991 |18 |30
1992 |18 |31
1993 |<2>- |32
<1>The year of collection for data on nursing
homes changed from
calendar to financial between 31 December 1986
and 1 April 1988,
consequently the figures for 1987 are included
in the 1988 entry.
<2>Figures are not yet available.
Sources: Nursing homes SBH212 (1982-1986),
KO36 Returns (1987/88-1992/93).
Residential homes RA2-RA4 (1979-1986) RAC5
Return (1987-1992).
Christmas Cards
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 389, how many official Christmas cards she and her junior Ministers sent out in 1993 ; and how much this cost.
Mr. Sackville : Some 1,800 charity Christmas cards were sent out, at an estimated cost of £1,080.
Appointments
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the size and nature of the list maintained by her Department of candidates for health authority and trust appointments.
Dr. Mawhinney : Nominations for appointment to national health service authorities and trusts, which are
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received from hon. Members and others, including self-nominations, are forwarded to regional health authorities who are responsible for making some appointments and whose chairmen are required to propose candidates for board appointments made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.Cold-related Illnesses
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records are maintained annually as to the effect of cold weather spells on hospital admissions according to GP recommendations.
Mr. Bowis : Anonymised data from hospital patient administration systems are submitted to the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in respect of each patient admitted to hospital for treatment. Extracts of the dataset are then analysed by the Department of Health. The patient record will show the condition for which admission was made and will include the date of that admission. There is no central record of the admission practice of individual general practitioners.
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research has been undertaken by her Department into the effects of cold weather, hypothermia and chill-related illnesses on the overall health budget.
Mr. Bowis : None. The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the most recent estimated cost to her Department of cold-related illnesses.
Mr. Bowis : Information is not available on which to base such an estimate, since no precise definition of "cold-related illness" can be made.
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure has been incurred by her Department to ensure public awareness of the dangers of cold weather to health and the measures required to combat them ; and if she will give a breakdown by regional health authority and regional health boards.
Mr. Bowis : We spent approximately £445,000 on our "Keep Warm Keep Well" public information campaign for the winter of 1992-93. Contributions to the total cost, which approached £500,000, were also made by the Department of Social Security and the Welsh Office. A similar campaign for Scotland, "Keep Warm this Winter" is funded by the Scottish Office at a cost in 1992-93 of £103,000. These campaigns do not involve regional health authorities or regional health boards.
Yorkshire Regional Health Authority
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set out for each of the last five financial years, and for 1993-94, the amount of money spent on refurbishing and improving the Yorkshire regional health headquarters in Harrogate.
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