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Conservation
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many proposed Ramsar sites there are in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : There are six proposed Ramsar sites in Wales, the details of which are shown :
Site Name |County
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Carmarthen Bay |Dyfed
2. Cors Fochno and Dyfi (extension |Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed
of existing boundary)
3. Corsydd Mon/Llyn |Gwynedd
4. Midland Meres and Mosses<1> |Clwyd, Cheshire, Shropshire,
|Stafford
5. Migneint and Cwm Hesgyn |Gwynedd
6. Lower Severn Estuary<1> |South Glamorgan, Gwent,
| Somerset, Avon, Gloucester
<1>Cross border site
Prescriptions
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many prescriptions were dispensed, and how many were exempt from charges, for each year since 1988.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information requested is given in the table.
Number of prescriptions dispensed
Thousands
Year |Total |<1>Number
|exempt
----------------------------------------
1988-89 |28,840 |23,443
1989-90 |29,366 |24,510
1990-91 |30,033 |25,219
1991-92 |31,634 |26,786
1992-93 |32,888 |28,042
<1>Includes pre-paid certificates.
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Llanelli
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to receive the inspector's report of the public inquiry he held in Llanelli in November 1993 into aspects of the proposals to redevelop the town centre of Llanelli.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The inspector's report is expected to be submitted for consideration in June 1994.
Asthma
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) of 25 April, Official Report, column 52, when he expects to be able to give the figures for asthma cases in Mid-Glamorgan and West Glamorgan district health authorities for the years 1991-92, and 1992-93 ; and if he will publish them as soon as possible after they are available to him.
Mr. Redwood : The information for 1991-92 and 1992-93 given in the answer of 25 April to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) was based on data supplied by hospitals for the patient episode database for Wales, and for those districts for which the information is sufficiently complete. Data for some hospitals in Mid Glamorgan and West Glamorgan for these years are not yet sufficiently complete. Summary information from the database will be published once more complete information is received from the hospitals concerned.
Hospital Beds
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients in NHS hospitals in Wales have had to wait longer than four hours for a bed if admitted to a ward following an assessment or treatment in a casualty department during the last five years ; and if he will list the hospitals in which the incidents occured.
Mr. Redwood : This information is not held centrally, though a recent review of performance indicates that patients in Wales can generally expect to wait between 25 minutes and four hours for a bed following assessment or treatment in a casualty department.
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I want the NHS in Wales to do better than this and in the summer I will announce a new patients charter standard covering performance in this area. Performance against this standard will be monitored quarterly.Health Authorities
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total cash allocation for health authorities in Wales in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993-94.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The total cash allocations to health authorities in Wales in these years were as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1992-93 |1,470,438
1993-94 |1,400,863
The figures for 1993-94 are not comparable to those for 1992-93 because of several changes, in particular capital resourses were made available to NHS trusts which in 1993-94 increased to 14 in number. Training costs of professions allied to medicine were allocated to the newly created education and purchasing unit of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority, and resources were transferred from health authorities allocations to GP fundholders.
Welsh Jazz
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent on the promotion of jazz in Wales in each of the last 10 years ; and how much his Department expects to spend on the promotion of jazz in Wales in the next two years.
Sir Wyn Roberts : This information is not held centrally. The funding of music and other art forms is a matter for the Arts Council of Wales, previously the Welsh Arts Council.
European Regional Funding
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of the allocation of European regional development fund funding to each district council in Wales during 1992-93 ; and what account was taken of this funding in the allocation of capital charges SSA for each district council in 1993-94.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : A total of £46.5 million of ERDF money was allocated to district councils in Wales under the structural funds programmes which spanned the years 1992-93. Details of allocations to individual authorities are given in the following table.
European regional development fund grants received by councils in 1992 and 1993 were not taken into account in calculating standard spending assessments in 1993-94. They were taken into account in calculating SSAs for 1994-95.
ERDF funding provided to Welsh district councils
between 1992-93
|£
--------------------------------------------------------
Industrial South Wales OP 1992-93
Rhymney Valley District Council |338,725
Dinefwr Borough Council |384,750
LLanelli Borough Council |2,310,411
Blaenau Gwent Borough Council |184,516
Islwyn Borough Council |1,703,400
Monmouth Borough Council |37,836
Newport Borough Council |1,284,195
Torfaen Borough Council |1,670,682
Cynon Valley Borough Council |428,500
Ogwr Borough Council |27,500
Rhondda Borough Council |873,450
Taff Ely Borough Council |122,500
Cardiff City Council |82,134
Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council |336,300
Port Talbot Borough Council |69,151
Lliw Valley Borough Council |40,000
Swansea City Council |3,292,910
RECHAR OP
Rhymney Valley District Council |56,250
Carmarthen District Council |56,250
Dinefwr Borough Council |475,213
Llanelli Borough Council |757,820
Blaenau Gwent Borough Council |2,770,682
Islwyn Borough Council |1,072,492
Torfaen Borough Council |1,435,660
Cynon Valley Borough Council |1,642,086
Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council |160,984
Ogwr Borough Council |1,402,832
Rhondda Borough Council |1,531,216
Taff Ely Borough Council |350,290
Brecknock Borough Council |102,694
Port Talbot Borough Council |331,868
Lliw Valley Borough Council |320,060
Neath Borough Council |1,650,797
Dyfed, Gwynedd, Powys OP 1992-93
Carmarthen District Council |445,800
Ceredigion District Council |407,063
Preseli Pembs District Council |531,250
South Pembs District Council |1,300,681
Dwyfor District Council |1,559,102
Meirionnydd District Council |151,290
Montgomeryshire District Council |1,103,500
Radnorshire District Council |162,500
Dinefwr Borough Council |111,838
Arfon Borough Council |2,416,214
Ynys Mon Borough Council |5,274
Brecknock Borough Council |1,776,500
Clwyd OP 1992-93
Alyn and Deeside District Council |142,400
Colwyn Borough Council |171,200
Delyn Borough Council |1,474,534
Rhuddlan Borough Council |6,051,070
Wrexham Maelor Borough Council |1,444,025
|------
Total |46,558,395
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provision was made in the cash allocation for health authorities in Wales in 1993-94 for the change in regulations governing statutory sick pay announced in the Budget in November 1993.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : There has been no specific provision. Overall authorities in Wales have benefited from increases in their discretionary allocations--2.2 per cent. in 1993-94 and 2.8 per cent. in 1994-95. These cash increases, together with the efficiency savings that authorities have been required to achieve in their contacts with service providers, should have been more than sufficient to meet all pay and non-pay cost increases. Patient activity is expected to increase by more than 4 per cent. in the current financial year.
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Local Government
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date his predecessor sent the draft White Paper, "Local Government in Wales --a Charter for the Future", to other members of the Cabinet seeking their agreement to its publication ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : It is not the practice to give details of internal discussions on policy formulation.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish his estimate of total funding for grant-maintained schools for each county and for Wales as a whole for each financial year between 1993-94 and 1996-97 ; and if he will make a statement on the likely decrease in funding in consequence of new funding rules on the lines of those introduced by the Department for Education in England.
Sir Wyn Roberts [holding answer 9 May 1994] : The details for 1993-94 and 1994-95 are given in the following table. Funding for the grant -maintained sector in 1995-96 and 1996-97 has yet to be decided.
|<1>1993-94 |<1>1994-95
|Provisional|Estimated
|outturn |outturn
----------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |8,569,012 |10,575,910
Dyfed |0 |0
Gwent |4,659,396 |5,898,099
Gwynedd |451,675 |729,767
Mid Glamorgan |0 |0
Powys |72,909 |167,415
South Glamorgan |4,200,692 |9,722,275
West Glamorgan |3,352,253 |2,911,750
Wales |21,305,937 |30,005,216
<1>This covers annual maintenance grant, special
purpose grants, and capital grants.
Decisions on funding in England do not apply to grant-maintained schools in Wales.
Students
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each county and for Wales as a whole for the last available year (a) the number of students aged
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19 years and over who are receiving further education and (b) the estimated proportion of those students aged 19 years and over in further education who are not receiving grants.Sir Wyn Roberts [holding answer 9 May 1994] : The latest information on awards received under section 2 of the Education Act 1962 is for 1991-92. The table gives the number of students aged 19 and over who were on further education courses at colleges in Wales, by their county of usual residence, the number of people aged 19 and over receiving awards from each local authority and the difference between these numbers expressed as a percentage of student numbers. The number of students receiving awards includes some studying outside Wales and therefore not included in the student totals.
Welsh students aged 19 and over on Further Education courses
in Wales, 1991-92
County of usual |Student |Award |Students
residence |numbers |numbers |less awards as
|(a) |percentage of
|students
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |5,481 |1,498 |73
Dyfed |4,945 |1,246 |75
Gwent |8,460 |65 |99
Gwynedd |3,992 |346 |91
Mid Glamorgan |9,999 |1,303 |87
Powys |2,620 |345 |87
South Glamorgan |5,349 |218 |96
West Glamorgan |8,972 |429 |95
|------- |------- |-------
Wales |49,818 |5,450 |89
(a) Covers students at further and higher education colleges and includes those
of unstated age. Excludes students studying outside Wales.
EDUCATION
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Jack Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the schools in the counties of Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, Cleveland and the metropolitan boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland who have obtained grant- maintained status or have applied for grant-maintained status.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested is as follows :
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LEA |School |Grant-maintained
|status
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cumbria |Queen Elizabeth Grammar School |Operating
Cumbria |Kirkbie Kendal School |Operating
Cumbria |St. Aidan's High School |Operating
Cumbria |Hayton CE Grant-Maintained School |Operating
Cumbria |Trinity School, Carlisle |Operating
Cumbria |Scotby CE Grant-Maintained Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |The Queen Katherine School |Operating
Cumbria |Appleby Grammar School |Operating
Cumbria |Harraby School |Operating
Cumbria |Dallam School |Operating
Cumbria |Kirkby Stephen Grammar School |Operating
Cumbria |Parkview School |Operating
Cumbria |Warwick Bridge (GM) Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Cartmel Priory CE School |Operating
Cumbria |Brampton Junior School |Operating
Cumbria |St. Paul's CE Junior School |Operating
Cumbria |Broughton Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Eaglesfield Paddle CE Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Askam Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Dearham Grant-Maintained Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Queen Elizabeth School |Operating
Cumbria |Flookburgh (CE GM) Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Heversham CE Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Gilsland CE Primary School (Grant Maintained) |Operating
Cumbria |Ireleth St. Peter's CE GM Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Bowness-On-Solway Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Appleby Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Dalton St. Mary's CE Primary School |Operating
Cumbria |Hallbankgate (Grant-Maintained) Primary School|Operating
Cumbria |William Howard School |Operating
Cumbria |Caldew School |Operating
Cumbria |Eden School |Rejected
Cumbria |Fir Ends School |Proposals published
Cumbria |Orton CE Primary School |Proposals published
North Tyneside |Wellfield Middle School (Grant Maintained) |Operating
North Tyneside |Ralph Gardner High School |Rejected
North Tyneside |Monkseaton Village First School |Rejected
Northumberland |Astley High School |Operating
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools there were in each local education authority area on 1 April ; in each case, how many had held ballots on grant-maintained status ; how many ballots had resulted in
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votes in favour of seeking grant-maintained status ; how many ballots had resulted in votes against seeking grant- maintained status ; and how many schools were operating as grant-maintained schools.Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 4 May 1994] : The information requested is in the table :
Column 109
Primary Secondary
LEA |All |GM |Total |"Yes" |"No" |All |GM |Total |"Yes" |"No"
|Schools|Schools|Ballots|Votes |Votes |Schools|Schools|Ballots|Votes |Votes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon |369 |- |5 |- |5 |60 |2 |4 |2 |2
Barking |55 |- |- |- |- |8 |- |- |- |-
Barnet |89 |2 |6 |2 |4 |21 |10 |11 |10 |1
Barnsley |96 |- |1 |1 |- |15 |- |2 |- |2
Bedfordshire |218 |3 |3 |3 |- |71 |10 |19 |11 |8
Berkshire |275 |7 |10 |7 |3 |59 |10 |16 |13 |3
Bexley |64 |3 |4 |3 |1 |17 |5 |6 |5 |1
Birmingham |336 |6 |11 |6 |5 |79 |17 |24 |17 |7
Bolton |105 |1 |1 |1 |- |16 |3 |3 |3 |-
Bradford |167 |3 |9 |7 |2 |88 |6 |8 |6 |2
Brent |64 |3 |4 |4 |- |13 |10 |14 |12 |2
Bromley |78 |3 |7 |6 |1 |17 |12 |14 |13 |1
Buckinghamshire |290 |6 |9 |7 |2 |45 |10 |11 |10 |1
Bury |71 |1 |2 |1 |1 |14 |- |- |- |-
Calderdale |91 |4 |5 |4 |1 |16 |7 |11 |8 |3
Cambridgeshire |267 |6 |9 |7 |2 |44 |16 |25 |17 |8
Camden |41 |- |- |- |- |11 |2 |3 |2 |1
Cheshire |454 |3 |9 |6 |3 |68 |3 |11 |4 |7
Cleveland |203 |- |- |- |- |44 |- |3 |- |3
Cornwall |249 |- |1 |1 |- |31 |- |- |- |-
Corporation of London |1 |- |- |- |- |0 |- |- |- |-
Coventry |109 |- |1 |- |1 |19 |- |- |- |-
Croydon |98 |2 |5 |3 |2 |20 |7 |11 |9 |2
Cumbria |306 |17 |27 |21 |6 |42 |14 |15 |15 |-
Derbyshire |450 |7 |14 |8 |6 |61 |14 |25 |15 |10
Devon |442 |1 |10 |2 |8 |64 |6 |10 |6 |4
Doncaster |127 |- |5 |4 |1 |34 |- |1 |- |1
Dorset |200 |1 |2 |1 |1 |56 |10 |16 |14 |2
Dudley |83 |1 |1 |1 |- |22 |6 |9 |7 |2
Durham |298 |- |- |- |- |43 |- |1 |- |1
Ealing |92 |4 |4 |4 |- |13 |5 |8 |6 |2
East Sussex |219 |- |1 |- |1 |34 |- |2 |- |2
Enfield |70 |1 |4 |1 |3 |17 |5 |6 |5 |1
Essex |581 |72 |79 |73 |6 |105 |69 |77 |72 |5
Gateshead |82 |- |- |- |- |13 |- |1 |- |1
Gloucestershire |262 |11 |18 |17 |1 |43 |27 |36 |30 |6
Greenwich |79 |1 |1 |1 |- |15 |- |1 |- |1
Hackney |70 |1 |1 |1 |- |10 |- |1 |- |1
Hammersmith |38 |- |1 |1 |- |10 |1 |1 |1 |-
Hampshire |580 |13 |21 |18 |3 |94 |18 |24 |19 |5
Haringey |77 |- |- |- |- |9 |- |- |- |-
Harrow |54 |- |- |- |- |10 |1 |2 |1 |1
Havering |74 |- |2 |- |2 |19 |4 |7 |4 |3
Hereford and Worcester |288 |- |2 |- |2 |76 |5 |8 |5 |3
Hertfordshire |432 |9 |15 |12 |3 |88 |23 |32 |27 |5
Hillingdon |72 |11 |11 |11 |- |15 |12 |15 |14 |1
Hounslow |62 |- |- |- |- |14 |2 |3 |2 |1
Humberside |354 |2 |5 |3 |2 |60 |- |4 |- |4
Isle of Wight |46 |- |- |- |- |21 |- |- |- |-
Isles of Scilly |4 |- |- |- |- |1 |- |- |- |-
Islington |57 |- |- |- |- |9 |- |- |- |-
Kensington and Chelsea |27 |2 |2 |2 |- |4 |1 |1 |1 |-
Kent |570 |18 |27 |25 |2 |136 |62 |75 |71 |4
Kingston upon Thames |36 |1 |1 |1 |- |10 |4 |4 |4 |-
Kirklees |158 |- |2 |- |2 |34 |2 |5 |3 |2
Knowsley |68 |- |- |- |- |11 |1 |3 |1 |2
Lambeth |77 |5 |8 |8 |- |10 |5 |5 |5 |-
Lancashire |605 |2 |5 |3 |2 |106 |8 |16 |9 |7
Leeds |249 |1 |3 |1 |2 |46 |1 |3 |1 |2
Leicestershire |334 |- |2 |- |2 |79 |5 |10 |5 |5
Lewisham |72 |1 |1 |1 |- |13 |- |2 |- |2
Lincolnshire |293 |23 |31 |27 |4 |63 |24 |30 |29 |1
Liverpool |198 |- |- |- |- |36 |3 |7 |4 |3
Manchester |174 |- |- |- |- |28 |- |1 |- |1
Merton |49 |- |1 |- |1 |11 |- |2 |1 |1
Newcastle upon Tyne |82 |- |1 |- |1 |22 |- |1 |- |1
Newham |67 |- |- |- |- |14 |1 |1 |1 |-
Norfolk |397 |13 |21 |17 |4 |52 |12 |16 |12 |4
North Tyneside |61 |- |2 |1 |1 |26 |1 |3 |2 |1
North Yorkshire |394 |- |3 |1 |2 |59 |- |2 |- |2
Northamptonshire |270 |9 |14 |10 |4 |65 |12 |21 |14 |7
Northumberland |143 |- |- |- |- |61 |1 |3 |1 |2
Nottinghamshire |426 |- |1 |- |1 |82 |3 |9 |4 |5
Oldham |104 |- |- |- |- |15 |- |1 |- |1
Oxfordshire |241 |1 |1 |1 |- |44 |- |2 |- |2
Redbridge |56 |- |- |- |- |14 |1 |2 |1 |1
Richmond upon Thames |39 |- |- |- |- |8 |- |- |- |-
Rochdale |76 |4 |8 |5 |3 |14 |1 |3 |1 |2
Rotherham |115 |- |- |- |- |18 |- |- |- |-
Salford |88 |- |- |- |- |18 |1 |4 |1 |3
Sandwell |112 |- |- |- |- |20 |1 |5 |2 |3
Sefton |94 |- |- |- |- |22 |- |1 |- |1
Sheffield |164 |6 |17 |15 |2 |32 |2 |8 |6 |2
Shropshire |214 |1 |5 |5 |- |37 |5 |7 |7 |-
Solihull |70 |1 |1 |1 |- |13 |- |2 |1 |1
Somerset |229 |2 |5 |3 |2 |39 |1 |3 |2 |1
South Tyneside |58 |- |- |- |- |11 |- |- |- |-
Southwark |75 |5 |5 |5 |- |14 |5 |5 |5 |-
St. Helens |72 |- |1 |1 |- |12 |- |1 |- |1
Staffordshire |414 |2 |4 |3 |1 |85 |5 |11 |5 |6
Stockport |110 |- |- |- |- |14 |- |2 |- |2
Suffolk |255 |- |- |- |- |77 |- |1 |- |1
Sunderland |105 |- |- |- |- |17 |- |- |- |-
Surrey |372 |13 |23 |21 |2 |51 |13 |16 |15 |1
Sutton |43 |3 |4 |3 |1 |14 |8 |8 |8 |-
Tameside |82 |- |1 |- |1 |18 |3 |5 |3 |2
Tower Hamlets |73 |- |- |- |- |15 |1 |2 |1 |1
Trafford |78 |- |- |- |- |16 |4 |6 |4 |2
Wakefield |130 |- |2 |2 |- |38 |- |- |- |-
Walsall |106 |2 |3 |2 |1 |21 |6 |11 |7 |4
Waltham Forest |61 |- |1 |- |1 |16 |2 |2 |2 |-
Wandsworth |72 |2 |5 |3 |2 |10 |6 |8 |7 |1
Warwickshire |244 |- |5 |3 |2 |37 |8 |9 |8 |1
West Sussex |246 |- |1 |1 |- |41 |- |3 |- |3
Westminster |42 |- |- |- |- |8 |- |1 |- |1
Wigan |125 |- |- |- |- |21 |- |1 |1 |-
Wiltshire |294 |12 |21 |18 |3 |44 |16 |24 |16 |8
Wirral |106 |- |- |- |- |21 |2 |4 |2 |2
Wolverhampton |101 |- |1 |- |1 |20 |3 |6 |5 |1
Notes:
1. Numbers of schools are derived from the latest available Index of Educational Establishments which relates
to Spring Term 1994.
2. "All Schools" comprise maintained primary and secondary schools eligible for grant-maintained status.
3. "Total Ballots" includes a small number at schools which have held more than one ballot.
Column 112
Science and Technology
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to encourage students to study science and technology.
Column 113
Mr. Boswell : The introduction of general national vocational qualifications in engineering and science will provide high-quality alternatives to GCE A-levels and additional routes for students wishing to acquire scientific skills. Changes in the fee structure for universities and colleges offer an incentive to offer relatively more places in science and technology. Fees for laboratory and workshop-based courses will continue to be significantly higher than those for classroom-based courses. We are also introducing an engineering bursary scheme which will provide an additional £500 a year to those entering accredited engineering degree courses in autumn 1994, 1995 and 1996 who have achieved grades AAB at A- level or its equivalent.
Undergraduates
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of current undergraduate university students attend universities within 20 miles of their home.
Mr. Boswell : Information is not collected centrally about the distance that students travel to their university or college. In the academic year 1992-93, 35 per cent.--195,500--of English domiciled students on higher education undergraduate courses in English institutions were either attending a new university or further education college in the LEA or region in which they were domiciled, or were attending a former Universities Funding Council--funded institution and living in parental, marital or student-owned accommodation.
Internet
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has (a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information which the public may wish to have access to and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of his Department.
Mr. Forth : The Department's press releases issued electronically through the Central Office of Information are accessible to users of the Internet via Data-Star Dialog (Europe) or Mead/Lexis/Nexis. They are also available to subscribers to FT Profile, Reuters Textline and to POLIS.
The Department's press releases are also made available through the COI's fax retrieval service, details of which can be provided by its distribution service.
I have no further plans to use the Internet directly.
Mr. David Jamieson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will list the private and independent schools that have been inspected by Her Majesty's inspectors of schools or OFSTED in the past five years, giving the date of the inspection, where the inspection led to a published report.
Mr. Robin Squire [pursuant to his reply 15 March 1994, c. 626-27] : Those independent schools which received an HMI inspection between 1 September 1989 and 31 August 1992 which led to published reports are listed. This corrects the information given in the earlier reply.
Column 114
School name |Date of visit
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nanhurst School |30 October 1989
Wells Cathedral School |27 November 1989
Hyland House School |12 March 1990
Summerhill School |12 May 1990
Hilsea College |18 June 1990
Small School at Red House |2 October 1990
Oaktree House School |11 June 1990
Small school, Winestead |4 December 1990
Covenant School |8 October 1990
Madina Tul Uloom Al Islamiya |8 May 1990 and
|19 July 1990
Darul Uloom Islamic School |26 November 1990
Christ The King School |4 February 1991
Duke of York's Military School |25 February 1991
Hounslow College and Hounslow College Prep School |21 May 1991
Stonely Grange School |14 October 1991
Rodney School |3 June 1991
ENVIRONMENT
Compulsary Purchase Orders
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities are using compulsory purchase orders to purchase private sector houses which are standing empty.
Sir George Young : Since 1 January 1993, 31 local authorities have submitted compulsory orders for the acquistion of empty houses. This does not include local authorities who have submitted clearance compulsory purchase orders.
Housing
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what precautions have been taken to ensure that under the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994 minority groups are not discriminated against in the event of a hostile majority taking over management of tenancies.
Sir George Young : Minority groups are protected under the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994 and associated guidance in a number of ways.
Any tenant affected by the right to manage proposal notice may become a member of the tenant management organisation--TMO. The TMO must, in the conduct of its affairs, avoid discrimination against any person on grounds of racial origin, gender, sexuality, disability or religion.
The approved agent who carries out the initial feasibility study under the right to manage is charged with ensuring that the TMO option is not pursued for discriminatory purposes. If, in his opinion, the TMO is not operating in accordance with its constitution, or is pursuing tenant management in order to exclude certain sections of the community, or if its committee or board is not reasonably representative of the community it serves and has no plans to remedy this, the agent is expected to submit an early report which brings the feasibility study to an end.
The approved person is required to submit, within two years of his appointment, a report of the full feasibility study to the Secretary of State. This report sets out, inter alia, the agent's assessment of the TMO's competence to carry out the management responsibilities it wishes to take on from the local authority. The TMO must be able to
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satisfy the agent that its committee is representative of the community it serves. Any TMO aspiring to take on the allocation of tenancies must do so within the framework of the local authority's policies and procedures, including those on equal opportunities. Local authorities have responsibility for monitoring the performance of TMOs, including their performance on equal opportunities.Building Materials
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what has been the value of imports of building materials into the United Kingdom for each of the past three years ; (2) what percentage of building materials used in the United Kingdom is imported ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The value, in current prices, of imports of building materials into the United Kingdom are :
|Imports
|£ billions
---------------------------------
1990 |4.70
1991 |4.03
1992 |4.04
1993 |<1>3.01
<1> First three quarters only.
The information used by the Department to derive imports is not yet available for the fourth quarter of 1993.
Available data indicate that the value of imports are about a fifth of the total used by the construction industry. This excludes the DIY market and the black economy whose usage of building materials cannot be readily be quantified. The value of imports compares with exports of £2.31 billion during 1992 and £1.93 billion during the first three quarters of 1993.
I am, however, concerned at the level of United Kingdom imports of high value construction products. The Department is currently working closely with the industry-led construction procurement group on a series of measures to improve competitiveness in building products.
Planning Applications
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provision exists for objectors to a planning application to appeal against planning approval for the application.
Rent Assessment Panels
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how a person applies, and to whom, to be considered as a member of a rent assessment panel.
Sir George Young : Candidates for membership may propose themselves to the Department, or to the president or vice-president of the panel. They may also be proposed by friends or colleagues, or identified by my Department, the Lord Chancellor's Department, the public appointments unit, or by panel presidents.
Column 116
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what reviews have taken place as to the workings of rent assessment panels since the scheme was introduced.
Sir George Young : Since the formation of the rent assessment panels in 1965, they have been subject to the normal cycles of departmental administrative reviews applied to non-departmental public bodies. The most recent of those have been an internal audit report in 1990 and a financial management and policy review in 1991. Their adjudicative role was also considered within the context of the wider based civil justice review of 1988, undertaken by the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the term of office that a member serves on a rent assessment panel.
Sir George Young : A new member is appointed for a period of up to three years, so as to terminate on the general review date for a similar class of member in that panel. Thereafter, the appointment is reviewed at three-yearly intervals. Members retire automatically in their 70th year.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what salary and allowances are paid to a member of a rent assessment panel.
Sir George Young : The daily fees payable to members of rent assessment panels when sitting on committees and tribunals are as follows :
|£
-----------------------------
Chairmen |221
Professional Members |177
Lay Members |113
Presidents and Vice-Presidents of panels are salaried and part-time and are paid an appropriate proportion of the following full-time annual rates according to their individual time commitment :
|£
-----------------------------------------
London President |55,910
London Vice-Presidents |53,000
Provincial Presidents |53,730
Provincial Vice-Presidents |50,810
Travel and subsistence allowances are paid, when appropriate, at civil service rates.
Light Pollution
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he now has to combat pollution of the night sky by ground light ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : I am aware of the concerns, particularly of astronomers, about the adverse effects of "skyglow", which is caused when artificial light from the ground is scattered by dust particles and water droplets in the atmosphere.
Light can be reflected upwards from a variety of sources, including street lighting and flood and security lighting of industrial, commercial and domestic premises.
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Given the legitimate desire for roads and public areas to be well lit for security and amenity reasons, there is a limit to how much of this reflected light can be eliminated. However, significant improvements can be achieved by lowering the intensity of, and redesigning, some existing lighting schemes and encouraging the sensitive design of new ones. Useful guidance on this subject has been issued by Government Departments and a number of professional organisations.We are keeping under review whether other measures might usefully be taken to minimise excessive lighting, taking account of the recent findings of an informal survey of local authorities' handling of complaints about light pollution, but it seems that many of those problems are most appropriately tackled through education and guidance, rather than regulation.
This Common Inheritance"
Mrs. Lait : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the third report on the White Paper "This Common Inheritance" will be published.
Mr. Gummer : As I said in my reply to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) on 20 April 1994, Official Report , column 867 , the report is being published today. I have placed copies in the Library of the House.
Sheltered Housing
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the mechanisms for (a) registering and (b) inspecting the care provided to residents of sheltered housing schemes.
Mr. Bowis : I have been asked to reply.
There is no requirement for the registration and inspection of the care provided to residents of sheltered housing schemes, unless they provide residential accommodation, board and personal care for residents. Any such establishments providing all those services would count as a residential care home and be subject to registration and inspection by the social services authority in the same way as other such homes.
EMPLOYMENT
Banking Industry
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of redundancies that have been announced by the banking industry in each of the last three years ; what is the total work force of the industry for each of the last three years ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The number of redundancies announced by the banking industry alone is not available. However, the labour force survey provides estimates of redundancies that took place in the three months prior to interview for the broad industry group--SIC 8--of banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing for Great Britain. These are as follows :
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Redundancies (not
seasonally adjusted):
Labour force survey
Great Britain
Spring |Number
---------------------
1991 |45,000
1992 |34,000
1993 |29,000
Figures from the labour force survey of the number of employees employed in banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing--SIC 8--are shown in the table along with figures for the more specific class of banking and finance--SIC 81.
Numbers of Employees (Not Seasonally
Adjusted):
Labour Force Survey, Great Britain
|(SIC 8) |(SIC 81)
------------------------------------------
Spring 1991 |2,455,000|643,000
Spring 1992 |2,356,000|607,000
Spring 1993 |2,443,000|625,000
An alternative source of employment estimates is available from the quarterly survey of employers for March of each year. These figures differ from those derived from the LFS in that they are a count of jobs rather than people and also rely on industry classification from the employer rather than from the employee as in the LFS. Estimates from this employer survey source for banking, finance, insurance, business services and leasing--SIC--and the banking and finance industry class--SIC 81--are as follows :
Employees in Employment (Not Seasonally
Adjusted):
Employer Survey, Great Britain
|(SIC 8) |(SIC 81)
-----------------------------------------
March 1991 |2,660,100|616,500
March 1992 |2,595,800|588,700
March 1993 |2,631,600|568,000
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 14 January, Official Report, column 302, referring to inter-TEC comparison tables, if he will extend the tables to give details for each training and enterprise council in Greater London of the figures for youth training cost per output point, employment training cost per output point, national vocational qualifications per 100 youth training leavers, positive outcomes per 100 employment training leavers, NVQs per 100 employment training leavers, youth training guarantee and investors in people.
Miss Widdecombe : I am unable to give the information for which the hon. Member is asking. The first publication of the comparative data was intended to give a broad indication of the range of relative training and enterprise council performance, not to make fine distinctions between TECs. The Department is continuing to refine the comparisons.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) male full-time workers, (b) male part-time workers, (c) female full- time workers, (d)
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female part-time workers, (e) self-employed males and (f) self-employed females had a second job as (i) an employee and (ii) self-employed in each year since 1984.Miss Widdecombe : The information is available from the labour force survey and can be obtained via the Quantime LFS service available in the Library.
Unemployment
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of unemployed people in May 1979 ; and what the figure is at the present time.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 9 May 1994] : On the consistent, seasonally adjusted basis, there were 1,086,800 claimant unemployed persons in May 1979 and 2,722,600 in March 1994.
TRANSPORT
M11 Link Road
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on which European directive the environmental assessment for the M11 link road was based ; what are the current requirements relating to environmental assessment of such schemes ; and what are the differences between the assessment carried out for the M11 link road and current requirements.
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