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Number of successful and unsuccessful prosecutions for drug offences
1990-1992
England and Wales
Convicted Not convicted
Year Prosecutio(Successful) (Unsuccessful)
|[=100 per|Number |Per |Number |Per
|cent.] |cent. |cent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |27,930 |24,558 |88 |3,372 |12
1991 |28,285 |23,455 |83 |4,830 |17
1992 |28,308 |22,678 |80 |5,630 |20
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will provide figures for the amount his Department has been reimbursed by the Department of Social Security in respect of statutory sick pay provision since April 1992.
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Mr. David Davis : The amount of statutory sick pay reimbursement due to the Office of Public Service and Science is offset against employer's national insurance contributions payable to the Department of Social Security. The amount offset between 1 April 1992 and December 1993 was £56,300.
Public Appointments
Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of the names on the public appointments unit central list are known to be politically active.
Mr. David Davis : Details of political affiliation are not sought by the public appointments unit. From the information made available by candidates, only 13 per cent. of those on the central list are known to have been members of a political party.
Market Testing
Mr. Mills : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are the current savings that have resulted up to January from the introduction of market testing in the civil service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 20 January, Official Report, columns 775-76.
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EMPLOYMENT
Wages
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average wage of (a) a male and (b) a female working in Durham for each year since 1979.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information requested can be found in tables 110 and 113 of part E of the new earnings survey for each year from 1979 to 1993.
Paintings and Photographs
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to buy or borrow photographs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I have no plans to buy or loan any photographs from the Government art collections or elsewhere.
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) paintings and (b) photographs there are on the walls of his rooms.
Mr. David Hunt : I have four paintings belonging to the Government art collection in my room. There are 49 photographic portraits of past Secretaries of State for Employment and senior staff in my waiting room ; these photographs belong to the Department.
Special Advisers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 17 December, Official Report, column 1031, what are the particular qualifications, experience or expertise relating to employment policy of the special adviser, Mr. Michael McManus.
Mr. David Hunt : It is not my practice to comment on the qualifications, expertise or experience of my special adviser.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) pursuant to his answer of 13 December, Official Report, column 515, if he is yet in a position to place in the Library a list of the directors of each training and enterprise council and the companies or organisations which they represent ;
(2) if he will place in the Library a list of the directors of each training and enterprise council in 1992-93 and the companies or organisations which they represented.
Miss Widdecombe : The list of current directors will be available in the Library from 4 February 1994. It will cover the training and enterprise councils for England and will be updated quarterly. The information requested for 1992-93 is not held centrally, and the cost of obtaining it would be disproportionate.
Employees (Food)
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the statutory provisions or relevant circulars or guidance from his Department affecting employers' powers to restrict the kinds of food made available to employees at their place of work.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : There are no provisions in employment or health and safety legislation governing this matter ; nor has this Department issued any such guidance or circulars.
Maternity Leave
Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will supply the figures for the number of weeks, after having their babies, that working women have off before they return to work, for each of the years since 1983.
Miss Widdecombe : The information for each year since 1983 is not available. However, the survey "Maternity Rights in Britain" by the Policy Studies Institute, based on research co-funded by the Department, indicates that in 1988 working women returned to work after a median of 19 weeks absence following child birth.
ILO Conventions
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the number of International Labour Organisation conventions deratified by the United Kingdom ; and how many have been ratified by each other EC state.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Over the years, successive United Kingdom Governments have denounced 10 conventions. The United Kingdom is currently bound by 69 conventions. The number of conventions by which other EC states are bound is shown in the table :
Number of ILO conventions to
which EC states are
currently bound
(as at 31 December 1992)
|Number
-----------------------------
Belgium |71
Denmark |59
France |102
Germany |64
Greece |58
Ireland |48
Italy |90
Luxembourg |55
Netherlands |76
Portugal |63
Spain |106
United Kingdom |69
Sources: ILO Lists of
Ratifications by Convention
and by Country;
ILO Chart of Ratifications
of International Labour
Conventions.
Stansted Airport
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations he has received to date about the effect of the transatlantic air travel bilateral restrictions on employment at and around London's Stansted airport.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received seven representations on this matter.
Redundant People
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has concerning schemes administered by the North Derbyshire training and enterprise council which offer subsidies to employers to take on redundant people ; and if he will make a statement.
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Miss Widdecombe : The North Derbyshire training and enterprise council offers a wide range of support to unemployed people to help them acquire the skills they need to get and keep jobs. This includes encouraging employers to recruit unemployed people by assisting with the cost of training.
Redundancies
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many requests he has received for information regarding notification procedures for impending redundancies as required under section 193 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ; (2) how many requests for information regarding notification procedures for impending redundancies under section 193 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 have been denied on the grounds of confidentiality ; to what type of information confidentiality applies ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) what criteria he uses when deciding that confidentiality applies to the operation of parts of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department receives requests from time to time for information about individual notifications of redundancies made by employers under section 193 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Records are not kept of such requests. The Department's policy, based on legal advice, is that such information is given and treated in confidence. The Department is not able to comment on individual notifications unless details of those notifications have already been made publicly available by the employer.
GCHQ
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in what circumstances the Government would allow unions to represent again employees at GCHQ.
Mr. David Hunt : The Government have made it clear that their overriding objective remains to ensure the maintenance of continuous operations at GCHQ for the protection of national security. It is necessary to ensure that the staff are not subject to potential conflicts of loyalty. The Government are willing to consider any proposals which are consistent with that objective. All staff at GCHQ are free to join the Government Communications Staff Federation which is listed as a trade union under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. More than 50 per cent. have done so.
DEFENCE
Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) of 11 January, Official Report, column 7, if he will place in the Library the papers his Department submitted to the joint Department of the Environment Ministry of Agriculture assessment of THORP for the consultation exercise ; and if he will set out
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the basis of his statement that conversion of nuclear material to military purpose can be achieved only with extreme difficulty.Mr. Aitken : My Department participated in the preparation of the statement of Government policy on reprocessing and the operation of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield, which was made public on 4 August 1993. No submissions have been made since then by my Department in respect of the consultation or decision on the new Sellafield discharge authorisation. A copy of the statement of Government policy has been placed in the Library of the House. I have nothing to add to the position set out in paragraph 51 of that statement, on the usefulness of plutonium from THORP for weapons purposes.
Vickers Armoured Vehicle
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if it is his intention to acquire the Vickers mark II armoured vehicle for the British Army.
Horizon Programme
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the Horizon programme.
Mr. Aitken : Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in July last year, a joint project office was established in London in November of last year, to manage Project Horizon, the common new generation frigate, on behalf of the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Two international consortia are now being formed to conduct competitive project definition for the combat management system to be contracted later this year. And a competition is underway for the selection of the United Kingdom member for the international joint venture company which will design and build the three first of class ships, which we currently plan to enter service around the turn of the century.
Departmental Dwellings
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the number and location of (a) dwellings and (b) vacant dwellings owned by his Department in (i) each district of Hampshire and (ii) Hampshire as a whole.
Mr. Hanley : Statistics on Ministry of Defence dwellings are not maintained by local authority districts and such information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
As at 31 December 1993, the Ministry of Defence owned 8,288 dwellings in Hampshire, of which 1,051 were vacant, located as follows :
%
|Stock |Vacant
-------------------------------------
Aldershot |2,405 |390
Bordon |673 |77
Farnborough |104 |9
Middle Wallop |509 |61
Oakhanger |92 |4
Odiham |581 |11
Portsmouth area |3,446 |386
Worthy Down |478 |113
Many of the vacant properties were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or already allocated to service families who were due to move in shortly.
In addition, 1,003 properties, of which 188 were vacant, were in the process of being sold.
South Citadel Building, Whitehall
Mr. Hutton : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts were placed for refurbishment of the command centre under the south citadel building in Whitehall between 1979 and 1985 ; who were the main contractors ; and what was the value of each contract.
Mr. Aitken : Four main contracts were placed for the refurbishment of the command centre under the south citadel building in Whitehall between 1979 and 1985. The contractors were Griffiths McGee Demolition Co Ltd, Mirrless Blackstone Stamford Ltd, Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd and Hayward Tyler Ltd. The total value of the four contracts when let was approximately £700,000.
Nimrod Aircraft
Dr. David Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF Nimrod aircraft are allocated to royal duties.
Mr. Hanley : No Nimrod aircraft are specifically allocated to royal duties, although aircraft can be made available in the search and rescue role should it be considered necessary on any occasion.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Nimrod aircraft were on royal duty in Australia on 26 January.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Nimrod aircraft there are in the RAF.
Mr. Hanley : The Royal Air Force currently has 33 Nimrod aircraft.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF Nimrod aircraft are located overseas.
Mr. Hanley : Two Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft are scheduled to depart the United Kingdom to conduct routine training in the Mediterranean on Tuesday 1 February. In addition to routine training deployments, Nimrod aircraft do deploy from time to time to Sicily from where they contribute to the NATO and Western European Union forces conducting maritine operations in the Adriatic ; the next deployment is due to begin on Friday 4 February.
Search and Rescue
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to alter the numbers of search-and-rescue helicopters based at the royal naval bases at (a) Portland and (b) Culdrose.
Mr. Hanley : There are no current plans to alter the numbers of search and rescue helicopters at the royal naval air stations at Portland and Culdrose.
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current number of SAR helicopters based at the royal naval bases at (a) Portland and (b) Culdrose.
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Mr. Hanley : Currently, three of the Sea King Mk4 helicopters held at the royal naval air station Portland are equipped for search and rescue operations. One duty aircraft provides day time cover with another held on standby. The royal naval air station Culdrose has a squadron of five Sea King Mk5 helicopters, all of which are capable of search and rescue operations. One aircraft is on duty at all times while another is held on standby.
Malaysian Arms Deal
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many files marked "Not for NAO eyes" relating to the Malaysian arms deal are held in his Department.
SSN Flotilla
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the modernisation of the SSN flotilla.
Mr. Aitken : I am pleased to announce that we have today placed a contract with Ferranti Thomson Sonar Systems--FTSS--for the full development and initial production of sonar 2076 which will be fitted to Trafalgar class fleet submarines.
The contract has been awarded following competition and covers the provision of four boat sets and supporting shore equipment. At a price in excess of £180 million it is the largest single sonar order placed for some time and will continue to keep the Royal Navy at the forefront of sonar technology and capability into the foreseeable future.
The contract is likely to create a number of new jobs and will safeguard hundreds of others at FTSS and at many sub-contractors, and will be welcomed by British industry.
EDUCATION
Technology College Status
7. Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have now expressed an interest in obtaining technology college status.
Mr. Patten : There has been a very encouraging level of interest from schools and businesses. More than 200 schools have made inquiries to my Department or the City Technology Colleges Trust on the technology college initiative.
Grant-maintained Schools
11. Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about the progress of the scheme for grant- maintained schools in Northumberland.
Mr. Robin Squire : There is only one self-governing school in Northumberland at present--a much smaller proportion than in the country as a whole. But there is considerable interest at other schools, representatives from 50 of which attended one of the Department's conferences about grant-maintained status last year.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to establish freephone lines to advise the
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public on grant-maintained school status on a national and regional basis ; how long he expects such lines to be in operation ; if they will offer a 24-hour a day service ; and what is the estimate of cost.Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the cost of the recent press advertisements promoting the availability of information concerning grant-maintained school status.
Mr. Robin Squire : The cost of the present series of advertisements, designed to provide factual information on grant-maintained status to parents, governors and schools, will be about £200,000.
Mr. Garnier : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils are now being educated in self-governing grant-maintained schools.
Mr. Patten : Over 530,000 pupils are now being educated in 814 self- governing schools. This represents 16 per cent. of England's secondary school population, and a significant and growing proportion of all primary school pupils.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools within Greater London have opted out of local education authority control ; and how many have applications being considered by his Department.
Mr. Robin Squire : By 31 January, 145 schools were operating with grant-maintained status in the Greater London area, and two more had been approved for incorporation on 1 April. In addition, 14 schools had applications for grant-maintained status under consideration, and another six had voted in favour but had not yet published proposals.
Nursery Education
13. Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many state-funded nursery school places are available in south Liverpool ; and what is the annual demand for them.
Mr. Forth : Figures for south Liverpool are not held centrally. Nor is information collected on the demand for or supply of nursery school places as such. The Department's statistics relate to pupils attending maintained schools in whole local education authority areas.
16. Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what calculation he has made of the percentage of three and four-year-olds that could be provided for by local education authorities if the element in the standard spending assessment for nursery education was used fully for this purpose.
Mr. Forth : It is for local education authorities to determine what type and level of educational provision to make for under-fives. The number of under-fives who could be supported with a given level of expenditure would depend on the type of provision, mode of attendance and take up of places. Many parents choose to make use of the many and varied alternative provisions made by the significant voluntary and private sector.
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23. Mr. Mudie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list those local education authorities which spend more than the element in the standard spending assessment for nursery education on providing places in nursery schools, units or classes.
Mr. Forth : This information is not held centrally.
25. Ms Estelle Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received on recent policy announcements on the availability of nursery education.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend has received a large number of representations on nursery education in recent months.
Truancy
15. Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the correlation between truancy rates and teaching standards.
Mr. Forth : Many factors contribute to truancy, some of them outside the immediate control of schools. However, evidence from Office for Standards in Education inspections and other research suggests that there may be factors in pupils' classroom experience which contribute to the disaffection of some pupils and encourage them to stay away from school.
26. Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to cut down truancy.
Mr. Forth : The Department is currently supporting expenditure of some £9.6 million in 71 English local education authorities under the reducing truancy programme of the grants for education support and training --GEST--scheme 1993-94. The programme will be extended in 1994-95 to include a "Truancy Watch" component as a means of promoting community involvement. Approved projects will be announced shortly.
Ministerial Visits
17. Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he will next be visiting Rochdale to discuss the educational needs of its population.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend has no plans at present to visit Rochdale.
Performance Tables
18. Mrs. Gillan : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools improved their performance in the school performance tables last year over that of the previous year.
Mr. Robin Squire : The tables show that, on the most widely used measure of school performance--the percentage of 15-year-old pupils gaining five or more A to C grades at GCSE--62 per cent. of schools improved their performance in 1993 as compared with 1992. This is a most creditable performance by the schools concerned.
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Capital Expenditure
19. Mr. Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from Cornwall county council about the level of its financial allocation for capital expenditure projects for 1994 -95 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : None. Local education authority bids for capital are dealt with consistently and fairly, in line with published criteria. Cornwall's annual capital guidelines are a reflection of the extent to which its plans for spending matched these criteria.
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