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training, training for work and learning for work in each of the last five years.
|Expenditure
Year |(£ million)
------------------------------------
1989-90 |1,097
1990-91 |1,072
1991-92 |737
1992-93 |630
1993-94 |782
Note: Expenditure up to and
including 1990-91 is for Great
Britain. Expenditure in 1991-92 is
England and Wales. Expenditure from
1992-93 is for England only.
Employment Service Regulation
Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to amend the current regulations that prevent the Employment Service from assisting the unemployed unless they have been registered as unemployed for at least 26 weeks.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 23 November 1994]: The Employment Service assists a large number of jobseekers who have been unemployed for less than six months; between April and September this year it placed 700,000 such people into jobs. As well as vacancy displays, the ES's advisory interview service, and at 13 weeks, job search seminar and job review workshop programmes are available. Some programmes have an eligibility requirement of 26 weeks unemployment in order to focus resources on helping long-term unemployed people, who are at a greater disadvantage in the labour market. There are currently no plans to change the eligibility rules for Employment Department programmes.
Travel to Interview Scheme
Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to amend the travel to interview scheme so that the unemployed can be assisted when the prospective employment will initially not last 12 months.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 23 November 1994]: A revision of the rule is being tested in the Employment Service's north-west region as part of a package of changes to improve the working of the scheme as a whole. The tested revision includes people in scope who may be appointed at first for a trial period with the prospect of an extension beyond if all goes well. The pilot began in October and will run until the end of March next year, after which the changes will be evaluated.
EDUCATION
Quangos
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many quangos her Department was responsible for (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which a number is available.
Mr. Boswell: The number of bodies sponsored by the Department in 1979 was 30, as shown in the "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies"-- Pliatzky Report, Cm 7797, January 1980. In 1993 the figure was 14, as shown
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in "Public Bodies 1993". Copies of these publications are available in the Libraries of both Houses.Mr. Sykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which quangos her Department has abolished since 1979.
Mr. Boswell: Since 1979 the following bodies were dissolved while under the sponsorship of the Department:
Centre for Information and Advice on Educational Disadvantage Youth Service Forum
Kennedy Memorial Trust
Advisory Committee on Business Sponsorship of the Arts
The Cockroft Committee of Enquiry into the Teaching of Mathematics in Schools
Youth Service Review Group
Science Museum Advisory Council
Advisory Council for Adult and Continuing Education
Educational Counselling and Credit Transfer Information Service Steering Committee
Genetic Manipulation Advisory Group
Schools Council
Advisory Committee on the Supply and Education of Teachers Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups
Industrial Scholarships Trust
Advisory Committee for the Microelectronics Educational Programme
Assessment of Performance Unit
Burnham Further Education Committee
Burnham Primary and Secondary Committee
Council for the Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges Council for Education Technology for the United Kingdom Micro-electronics Education Support Unit
National Advisory Body for Public Sector Higher Education National Advisory Council for the Youth Service
University Grants Committee
Voluntary Sector Consultative Council
School Curriculum Development Committee
Secondary Examinations Council
Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils
Co-ordinating Committee on Marine Science and Technology National Youth Bureau
Open University Visiting Committee
Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council
Universities Funding Council
Visiting Committee for Cranfield Institute of Technology Visiting Committee for the Royal College of Art
National Curriculum Council
School Examinations and Assessment Council
Teaching as a Career Unit
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education
Council for National Academic Awards
SuperJANET
Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many institutions and research centres are currently connected to the SuperJANET broadband fibre optic network.
Mr. Boswell: Sixty-eight higher education institutions and research centres are currently connected to the national broadband optical fibre network known as Super JANET. It is intended that all higher education institutions will be connected to the network over the next three years.
Special Advisers
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will make a statement concerning the cost to public
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funds of employing ministerial special advisers in her Department.Mr. Forth: The Department employs one special adviser. Salaries for special advisers are negotiated individually in relation to their previous earnings, and are confidential. They are, however, normally paid on the special advisers' salary spine of 34 points, ranging from £19,503 to £67,609. Appointments are non-pensionable, and the salary spine reflects this.
Column 274
Universities (Academic Staff)
Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will publish a profile of academic staff at English universities in terms of age and department similar to that provided by the Secretary of State for Scotland in his answer of 3 February 1994, Official Report, column 920.
Mr. Boswell: The information requested is shown in the table.
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Full-time non-clinical academic wholly university funded staff in former UFC-funded English universities, 1992-93
|Age
|Under |60 and
Cost centre |25 |25-29 |30-34 |35-39 |40-44 |45-49 |50-54 |55-59 |over |Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education |2 |19 |55 |163 |295 |359 |301 |190 |85 |1,469
Medicine, dentistry and health |14 |104 |247 |354 |393 |422 |299 |166 |106 |2,105
Engineering and technology |23 |156 |382 |425 |488 |544 |526 |419 |237 |3,200
Agriculture, forestry and
veterinary science |5 |39 |44 |67 |71 |92 |55 |38 |30 |441
Biological, mathematical
and physical sciences |29 |314 |649 |764 |765 |1,010 |1,127 |811 |384 |5,853
Administrative, business
and social studies |47 |359 |607 |676 |956 |1,186 |710 |403 |177 |5,121
Architecture and planning |- |13 |26 |39 |46 |54 |61 |27 |21 |287
Language, literature and
area studies |46 |170 |259 |280 |392 |563 |497 |274 |141 |2,622
Other arts |4 |67 |183 |226 |311 |445 |365 |212 |139 |1,952
Libraries, museums, etc
(research only) |- |3 |- |1 |- |1 |5 |1 |1 |12
Total |170 |1,244 |2,452 |2,995 |3,717 |4,676 |3,946 |2,541 |1,321 |23,062
Source:
Universities' Statistical Record.
Full-time non-clinical academic wholly institutionally funded staff in former polytechnics in England, 1992-93
|Age
|Under |60 and
Cost centre |25 |25-29 |30-34 |35-39 |40-44 |45-49 |50-54 |55-59 |over |Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education |4 |19 |52 |137 |250 |356 |242 |137 |42 |1,239
Medicine, dentistry and health |10 |38 |86 |129 |160 |169 |96 |49 |12 |749
Engineering and technology |41 |157 |277 |367 |441 |557 |524 |375 |150 |2,889
Agriculture, forestry and
veterinary science |- |2 |3 |10 |4 |10 |4 |3 |2 |38
Biological, mathematical
and physical sciences |32 |252 |363 |500 |585 |776 |510 |308 |97 |3,423
Administrative, business
and social studies |70 |301 |555 |778 |1,299 |1,276 |684 |383 |165 |5,551
Architecture and planning |4 |15 |40 |63 |102 |148 |95 |51 |23 |541
Language, literature and
area studies |17 |58 |65 |84 |139 |158 |102 |56 |17 |696
Other arts |10 |112 |199 |262 |361 |532 |329 |151 |54 |2,010
Libraries, museums, etc
(research only) |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Total |188 |954 |1,640 |2,330 |3,341 |3,982 |2,586 |1,513 |562 |17,096
Source:
The Academic Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges: PCFC/HEFCE Return.
College Fees
Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what is the amount by which the recurrent grant to each university with recognised collegiate status has been reduced in recognition of college fees payment in the current academic year;
(2) what is the current level of college fees reimbursed through a student's mandatory award in each of the colleges or universities which have recognised collegiate structures.
Mr. Boswell: Reductions to universities' recurrent grant in recognition of college fee payment are
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determined by the Higher Education Funding Council for England--HEFCE. However, I understand that the following adjustments to recurrent grant have been made in the current academic year:
|£
------------------------------------
Cambridge |-10,737,660
Durham |-169,351
Kent |-105,735
Lancaster |-120,578
Oxford |-14,239,512
York |-90,244
The current maximum levels of college fees reimbursed through a student's mandatory award in 1994 95 are shown in the table:
|Fee £
--------------------------------
Cambridge Colleges
Christ's |2,577
Churchill |2,589
Clare |2,595
Clare Hall |2,502
Corpus Christi |2,664
Darwin |2,619
Downing |2,730
Emmanuel |2,607
Fitzwilliam |2,745
Girton |2,646
Gonville and Caius |2,601
Hughes Hall |2,562
Jesus |2,628
King's |2,568
Lucy Cavendish |2,673
Magdelene |2,730
New Hall |2,724
Newnham |2,718
Pembroke |2,721
Peterhouse |2,562
Queens' |2,685
Robinson |2,700
St. Catharine's |2,646
St. Edmund's |2,523
St. John's |2,526
Selwyn |2,718
Sidney Sussex |2,718
Trinity |2,502
Trinity Hall |2,664
Wesley |2,661
Wolfson |2,601
Durham Colleges
University |189
Hatfield |189
Grey |189
Van Mildert |189
Collingwood |189
St. Hild & St. Bede |189
St. Cuthbert's |189
St. Mary's |189
St. Aidan's |189
Trevelyan |189
St. Chad's |960
St. John's |960
Ushaw |960
Kent Colleges
Darwin |165
Eliot |165
Rutherford |165
Keynes |165
Lancaster Colleges
Bowland |175
Cartmel |175
Charlotte Mason |175
The County |175
Furness |175
Fylde |175
Grizedale |175
Lonsdale |175
Pendle |175
Oxford Colleges
Balliol |2,986
Blackfriars |2,867
Brasenose |3,005
Campion Hall |3,183
Christ Church |3,003
Corpus Christi |2,996
Exeter |3,037
Greyfriars |3,060
Hertford |3,168
Jesus |3,009
Keble |3,237
Lady Margaret Hall |3,161
Lincoln |2,952
Magdalen |3,036
Manchester |3,064
Mansfield |3,354
Merton |2,919
New College |3,027
Oriel |3,161
Pembroke |3,012
Queen's |2,970
Regent's Park |3,170
Ripon (Cuddesdon) |2,823
St. Anne's |3,146
St. Benet's Hall |3,129
St. Catherine's |3,061
St. Edmund Hall |3,121
St. Hilda's |3,114
St. Hugh's |3,149
St. John's |2,967
St. Peter's |3,216
St. Stephen's House |3,063
Somerville |3,119
Trinity |2,989
University |3,022
Wadham |3,081
Worcester |3,072
Wycliffe Hall |3,063
York Colleges
Alcuin |160
Derwent |160
Goodricke |160
Langwith |160
Vanburgh |160
Wentworth |160
Next Steps Agencies
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list the salary and other emoluments of the civil servant who did the work of, or work comparable to that of, the chief executive of each next steps agency established by her Department before the agency was established.
Mr. Forth: The Department has established one next steps agency, the Teachers' Pensions Agency. The civil servant carrying out the duties now held by the chief executive was a grade 5 and was paid a salary within the relevant range for the grade, which is currently £36,739 to £54,815 nationally. No other payments or emoluments were made.
Further Education Funding Council
Mr. Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list the current members of the Further Education Funding Council and the remuneration they receive.
Column 277
Mr. Boswell: The information is listed in the table. Except for the chief executive, all members and the chairman are part-time.
|Annual
|remuneration
Name of member |£
-----------------------------------------------------
Chairman:
Mr. Robert Gunn |34,975
Chief Executive:
Sir William Stubbs |91,107
Other members:
Mr. Nicholas Bennett |4,000
Mr. Anthony Cann |4,000
Dr. John Capey |4,000
Mr. Anthony Close |4,000
Mrs. Margaret Davey |4,000
Mrs. Patricia Haikin |4,000
Mrs. Margaret Hobrough |4,000
Mr. Christopher Jonas |4,000
Cllr. Les Lawrence |4,000
Sir Michael Lickiss |4,000
Mr. Michael Rowarth |4,000
Dr. Anne Wright |4,000
Funding Agency for Schools
Mr. Hall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list the current members of the Funding Agency for Schools and the remuneration they receive.
Mr. Robin Squire: The current membership of the Funding Agency for Schools is:
Name
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Christopher Benson |Chairman of the Sun Alliance
|Group plc (Chairman) and
|Costain Group plc.
Mr. Shailendra Adwalpalkar |Finance Director, Gillette
|International, AMEE Group
Sir Robert Balchin |Chairman, Grant-maintained
|Schools Foundation
Canon Gerald Greenwood |Director of Education,
|Southwark Diocesan Board of
1Education
Dr. Arthur Hearnden OBE |General Secretary, Independent
|Schools Joint Council
Mr. Stanley Kalms |Chairman of the Dixons Group
Mr. Lee Karu |Barrister
Mrs. Jacqueline E. Kearns MA |Headteacher, Homewood GM
FRSA |School, Tenterden, Kent
Mrs. Lesley King |Headteacher, St Joseph's RC
|GM Primary School, Aldershot
Mrs Pauline Latham |Chairman of Governors,
|Ecclesbourne GM School, Derbyshire
Cllr. Edward Lister |Leader of Wandsworth Council
Dr. Francis Patterson OBE
|Xavier's College, GM School,
|Liverpool
Mr. Peter Turner OBE |Recently retired Head,
|Whitefield Schools and Centre,
|Waltham Forest
The chairman receives an annual fee of £34,350 for an equivalent of two days per week. Other members of the agency are entitled to claim a fee of £155 for days on which they are transacting agency business. Members
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may also claim travel and subsistence expenses incurred on those days.Higher Education Funding Council
Mr. Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the current members of the Higher Education Funding Council and the remuneration they receive.
Mr. Boswell: The information requested is listed in the table. Except for the chief executive, all members and the chairman are part-time.
|Annual
|remuneration
Name of member |£
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chairman: Mr Brandon Glough |34,974
Chief Executive: Prof. Graeme Davies |87,435
Other members
Mrs. Joan Bingley |4,000
Sir John Cadogan |-
Prof. Colin Campbell |4,000
Mr. Michael Fallon |4,000
Prof. Brian Follett |4,000
Prof Kay-Tee Khaw |4,000
Sir Idris Pearce |4,000
Sir Robert Scholey |4,000
Dr. John Strickson |4,000
Dr. Robert Telfer |4,000
Miss Janet Trotter |4,000
Prof. David Watson |4,000
Lobbying Companies
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list and date those occasions over the last two years when Ministers or officials in her Department have met lobbying companies, prior to a decision being made on the subject of the meeting with the lobbying company.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard: This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list the guidelines issued by her Department to regulate relationships with lobbying companies.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard: The conduct of officials of the Department is regulated by a terms and conditions of service handbook. This incorporates the general principles of conduct that require civil servants not to misuse information which they acquire in the course of their duties; not to make use of their official position to further their private interests or those of others; and not to receive gifts, hospitality or benefits of any kind from a third party, which might be seen to compromise their personal judgment or integrity.
Educational Exchanges
Mr. Radice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will make a statement about educational and youth exchange with the Federal Republic of Germany.
Mr. Boswell: Germany is the most popular destination for young people taking part in United Kingdom youth
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exchange programmes. In 1993 94, over 5,000 young people took part in over 300 United Kingdom German exchanges. The German educational exchange programme is the United Kingdom's second largest. In 1993 94, the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges invested some £1.15 million--13.5 per cent. of gross expenditure--in educational activities with Germany.SOCIAL SECURITY
Quangos
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which quangos his Department has abolished since 1979.
Mr. Hague: The information requested is as follows. For the period 1979 to 1988 the information relates to those social security public bodies for which the then Department of Health and Social Security was responsible.
Advisory Steering Group on Resettlement
Family Fund
Invalid Three-Wheeler and Wheelchair Repair Maintenance Liaison Group
Review of Artificial Limb and Appliance Centres
Supplementary Benefit Appeal Tribunal Advisory Group
Medical Boarding Centres, including Pneumoconiosis Medical Panels
In addition, the attendance allowance board has been replaced by the disability living allowance advisory board; the national insurance advisory committee and the Supplementary Benefits Commission have been replaced by the social security advisory committee; and the national insurance local tribunals and the supplementary benefit appeal tribunals have been replaced by the Social Security Appeal Tribunals.
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many quangos his Department was responsible for (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which a number is available.
Mr. Hague: In 1979, the then Department of Health and Social Security was responsible for 97 non-departmental public bodies, as listed in the "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies"--Pliatzky Report Cmnd. 7797, January 1980--15 of which were concerned with social security matters. At 1 April 1993, the latest year for which data is available, the Department of Social Security was responsible for 12 non-departmental public bodies, as listed in "Public Bodies 1993".
Benefits Agency
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what action is being taken to ensure that Benefits Agency offices meet their charter targets;
(2) if he will list those Benefits Agency offices that have not achieved their charter targets for (a) income support, (b) retirement pensions, (c) sickness and invalidity benefit and (d) social fund crisis loan claims.
Mr. Roger Evans: This is a matter for Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
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Letter from Michael Bichard to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 23 November 1994 :The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Charter targets. I should first of all clarify that the information I have provided for Income Support, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit and Crisis Loans is in respect of the Secretary of State's primary targets as set out in the Benefits Agency's (BA) Business Plan. For Retirement Pension I have provided information relating to the Management target for clearance of claims in District offices. It is these targets that underpin the Charter Standards for the benefits set out in the Agency's Customer Charter.
I have enclosed the information you requested about the Benefits Agency offices that have not achieved these targets at year end 1993 94 and a copy has been placed in the Library.
Since its inception, the Agency has engineered a significant overall improvement in service delivery from 159 District offices. Charter Standards for claims clearance represent only one part of the overall performance of the BA and have to be considered together with other wider aspects of delivering a quality service.
Where there are problems in a particular area, every effort is made to provide support from the BA's Central Services. For example the complementing system, which allocates resources to business units within the Agency, takes account of external factors affecting a District's performance; and a recent initiative has seen an Area Directorate, with low performance, given extra money in the short term under a "contract" for specific improvements in performance in return.
We carefully monitor the range of performance behind the national figures. The importance of steady improvement to attain convergence of performance geographically is one of the key messages in my Strategic Steer to staff this year. I am confident that we have effective monitoring procedures in this area. BA Districts provide reports of their performance on a monthly basis to Area Directors and to Central Services. Central Services provide a monitoring report to the BA Management which highlights any areas of concern and the action being taken to resolve them.
Managers are required to account for the shortfall when targets have not been met and to provide details of action proposed to meet the targets in future.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will change the Child Support Agency form so as to show the detailed breakdown of all relevant finances and arrangements of those assessed.
Mr. Burt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Iain Mills, dated 24 November 1994:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about changes to the Child Support Agency form so as to show the detailed breakdown of all relevant financial information.
The information which the Child Support Officer must provide to the parties to a maintenance assessment is specified under Child Support legislation. The Agency must provide sufficient information to allow clients to decide whether the assessment formula has been applied correctly, whilst respecting the confidential nature of the information which has been supplied by those clients, and ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act. The Agency has no current plans to increase the amount of detailed information provided in the assessment notification.
I hope that this reply is helpful.
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