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Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the cost to the British funds of the construction of the Margaret Thatcher library at Moi university in Kenya.
Mr. Baldry: Construction costs paid for from the British aid programme, including architects' fees, amounted to £4.44 million. The overall project, including the provision of training and books, will be completed within the total agreed allocation of £8.373 million.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which British firms have benefited from the construction of the Margaret Thatcher library at Moi university in Kenya.
Mr. Baldry: Ove Arup and Partners were the project engineers. UBM Overseas Ltd. (UK) supplied the materials. In addition, Triad Architects Planners were involved in the design and supervision work.
Population Control
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on countries in which advertising campaigns are portraying those who do not use artificial contraception or choose to have large families as irresponsible or anti- social; if he will list those countries in which such campaigns are run; and if he classifies such campaigns as coercive.
Mr. Baldry: We do not have comprehensive information on advertising campaigns in this area.
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures his Department takes to monitor population policies in countries in which projects connected with population receive funding from his Department.
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Mr. Baldry: The Overseas Development Administration, or the relevant multilateral organisations to which it contributes, examine national population policies in the course of the design and management of projects which they fund; they will also seek to contribute, where appropriate, to further development of these policies.
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department takes to ensure that projects funded by his Department do not assist coercive population control strategies in countries where the projects are based.
Mr. Baldry: We do not support any population activities in which there is coercion of individuals to practise family planning, or to accept any particular type of contraception. We scrutinise proposals prior to funding and monitor their implementation to ensure that coercive approaches are avoided.
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has regarding countries which tie education, health and development provision to contraceptive use or offer such provision on beneficial terms to contraceptive users; if he will list those countries where he is aware that this occurs; and whether he classifies such practices as coercive.
Mr. Baldry: We do not have detailed information. We believe that the use of contraception should be a matter of free individual choice. Governments were discouraged at the international conference on population and development from either the use of incentives or disincentives in promoting contraception use. We strongly supported this recommendation.
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on projects funded by the core funds of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations fund for population activities and what steps his Department takes to monitor these projects.
Mr. Baldry: The United Nations Population Fund 1993 inventory of population projects and the International Planned Parenthood Federation 1994 annual report supplement contain details of these organisations' activities. Copies of both these publications are in the Library of the House.
We regularly assess the policies and programmes of UNFPA and IPPF in relation to our policies.
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he classifies as coercive methods taken by countries pursuing population policies, where projects are funded by his Department, to create peer pressure to use artificial contraception.
Mr. Baldry: We support activities which help people to be more aware of the choices available to them in family planning. We support the exercise of free individual choice and oppose coercive methods.
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the will list all grants for population policies and initiatives, given by his Department to projects, agencies or Governments giving in each case the amount of the grant, the terms of the project and the country in which the project is based.
Mr. Baldry: We will place in the Library a list of population and reproductive health projects and programmes supported under the aid programme in calendar year 1993.
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Tanzania
Sir Thomas Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current bilateral aid programme for Tanzania, set out by sector.
Mr. Baldry: In 1993 94, we disbursed £20.7 million to Tanzania through the bilateral aid programme. Of this, £10 million was in the form of conditional balance of payments support. The remainder was used to support projects in the following sectors:
|£ million
--------------------------------------------
Natural resources |1.9
Economic infrastructure |3.8
Financial sector |0.2
Public administration |0.7
Education |1.3
Health and population |1.3
Miscellaneous |1.5
Sir Thomas Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the agreement he has entered into in respect of the modernisation of the port of Tanga, Tanzania.
Mr. Baldry: An exchange of letters formalising this project took place on 14 November. Under this agreement, ODA will support rehabilitation and maintenance work at Tanga Port, and provide training and supervision. The cost to the British aid programme will be £4.69 million. The project is expected to be completed in 1997.
EDUCATION
Bullying
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment she has made of the extent of bullying of disabled pupils in schools; and what specific guidance she gives to schools and local education authorities on this matter.
Mr. Forth: Ofsted's framework for inspection requires inspecting teams to obtain the views of pupils, parents and teachers on the incidence of bullying and the school's response to it. Reports should include an evaluation of the measures taken by the school to prevent and eliminate bullying.
The Department's anti-bullying pack, "Don't Suffer in Silence", published in September, included practical guidance on strategies that schools can adopt to combat bullying of pupils, including those with special educational needs. In addition, the Department stressed the importance of effective action against bullying in guidance on pupil behaviour and discipline, sent to local education authorities and all maintained schools in May as part of the "Pupils with Problems" series of circulars.
Disabled People (Access)
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is her estimate of the total cost of making 50 per cent., 75 per cent. and 100 per cent. of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools fully accessible to disabled people, such accessibility to include the provision of appropriate toilet facilities.
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Mr. Forth: The best source of cost information is an independent report from Coopers and Lybrand issued in April 1993. These estimates, based on a large sample of schools, indicated that the costs for providing physical access to all primary schools would be about £400 million and to all secondary schools about £1,300 million. The survey estimated that to make 50 per cent. of secondary schools 100 per cent. accessible would be £251 million; it did not include analogous figures for primary schools. It did not provide full figures for 75 per cent. of schools in either sector. These data include the cost of ramps, lifts and disabled toilets. They do not include corner widening, means of escape or specialist furniture.
Ofsted
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what were the targets for the number of school inspections to be undertaken by Ofsted in (a) 1993 94 and (b) in the current school year; and if she will break the targets down for (i) primary schools, (ii) secondary schools, (iii) special schools and (iv) sixth-form colleges;
(2) how may (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) special schools and (d) sixth-form colleges were inspected by Ofsted in (i) 1993 94 and (ii) in the current school year.
Mr. Forth: These are matters for her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, who heads the independent Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Mr. Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.
Secret Files
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) top secret and (b) secret files her Department holds.
Mr. Boswell: The Department does not hold any files classified as top secret; 78 of the Department's holding of approximately 265,000 files are classified as secret.
Student Loans Company
Mr. Rooker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which right hon. and hon. members have visited the headquarters of the Student Loans Company since it was set up.
Mr. Boswell: This is a matter for the Student Loans Company. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Secret Files
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many (a) top secret and (b) secret files his Department holds.
Mr. Dorrell: My Department currently has in excess of 120,000 files, of which approximately 300 are classified as secret and four top secret.
Indemnity Undertakings
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many indemnity undertakings were given
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by Departments under section 16 of the National Heritage Act 1980 for the six month period ending 30 September 1994; and what is the value of any contingent liabilities in respect such undertakings given at any time which remain outstanding as at 30 September 1994.Mr. Dorrell: The information that my hon. Friend requests is as follows:
In the six-month period ended 30 September 1994, the following undertakings to indemnify were given by the relevant departments for items on loan to national and non-national institutions:
------------------------------------------------------
Department of National Heritage |503
Scottish Office Education Department |108
Welsh Office Education Department |39
Department of Education for Northern Ireland |19
The value of contingent liabilities in respect of such undertakings given at any time and outstanding at 30 September 1994 are:
|£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of National Heritage |1,730,975,529
Scottish Office Education Department |394,655,574
Welsh Office Education Department |36,265,802
Department of Education for Northern Ireland |4,573,154
National Lottery
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what consultations he has had with the Millennium Fund Commission concerning its powers in relation (a) to the choice of schemes for financial support in Wales, (b) to amending any such schemes which are applicants for assistance and (c) to amending the constitutions and personnel of sponsoring bodies of such applications; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 28 November 1994]: The Millennium Commission was consulted on directions issued under section 26(1) of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 concerning matters to be taken into account when considering applications and, under section 26(3), for securing the proper management and control of lottery proceeds. Within this framework, it is for each distributing body to establish their own processes for handling applications and, in my capacity as Secretary of State, I have had no specific discussions with the commission on any of these matters. As chairman of the commission, however, I am directly involved in the development of its policies and procedures. The Millennium Commission issued detailed guidance for applicants on November 28 which will explain how applications for funding should be prepared and submitted.
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make it his policy to ensure an increase of national lottery sales outlets in Montgomeryshire; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 29 November 1994]: This is an operational matter for Camelot Group plc. I have therefore asked Peter Davis, the director general of the national lottery, who is responsible for regulating the
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operation of the lottery, to write to the hon. and learned Gentleman, and to place copies his response in the Libraries of the House.Open Government
Mr. Rooker: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the charging policy of his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible in respect of inquiries under the code of practice on access to Government.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 22 November 1994]: In line with guidance on charging produced by the Office of Public Service and Science, which recognises the diversity of cost and operational structure across the range of bodies implementing the code, my Department has developed the following scheme of charges for information under the code of practice on access to Government information.
My Department and the two agencies for which I am responsible make no charge for responding to straightforward enquiries. Charges will, however, be made where the cost of responding to the inquiry would exceed a threshold--currently £100. This will normally represent half of one day's work charged at an average cost for staff undertaking the work.
Above the £100 threshold, charges may be made according to the average daily rates of the staff undertaking the work. Charges are designed to cover, but not exceed, the cost of processing the request for information and are payable whether or not the request for information can be supplied in full. Where it is proposed to make a charge, the Department and its agencies will write to the inquirer and ask them to pay in advance for the material requested. Those responding to inquiries will at all stages keep applicants informed of the likely charges to be made by providing an estimated charge, which is normally payable before further work is undertaken.
EMPLOYMENT
Christmas Expenditure
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many official Christmas cards he and his Ministers intend to send in 1994; how much these cards will cost (a) to buy, (b) to post and (c) in staff time to sign, address and place in envelopes; and if he will place in the Library a sample copy of the official Christmas card he intends to send this year.
Miss Widdecombe: Ministers intend to send an estimated 480 cards this year. They would cost (a) £330 to buy and (b) £86 to post. The information at (c) is not available. I intend to place a copy of the official card, which supports the Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund, in the Library in the new year.
Employment of Children
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has substantially to increase the penalties for employing children or allowing children who are under age to work in factories or businesses.
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Mr. Oppenheim: Breaches of the Employment of Women, Children and Young Persons Act 1920, which prohibits children from working in factories, already attract a maximum fine of £5,000. Local byelaws which set strict rules on the employment of children provide for a maximum penalty of £1,000.
Industrial Tribunals
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many cases before industrial tribunals in the last year have been heard before a chairman alone.
Mr. Oppenheim: The Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 1993 gave effect as from 16 December 1993 to provisions in the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993 which empower industrial tribunal chairmen to hear certain cases without lay members. From 16 December 1993 until the end of October 1994, 3,148 cases have been heard before chairmen sitting alone.
Unemployment
Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people between the ages of 16 and 25 years in Lewisham, East (a) are registered unemployed and (b) have been unemployed for 12 months or more; and what are these figures expressed as a percentage in that age group in that area.
Mr. Oppenheim: In October 1994 the total number of unemployed claimants aged under 25 years in Lewisham East stood at 1,257 down 6 per cent. on the year, and the number of the latter who were unemployed for over a year stood at 398, down 10 per cent. on the year.
Claimant unemployment rates by age are only available nationally and are publish in table 2.15 of the Employment Gazette, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people between the ages of 16 and 25 years are registered as unemployed in each of the London boroughs; and what the figures are as a percentage of that age group in each borough and in London as a whole; how many have been unemployed for 12 months; and what this figure is expressed as a percentage in that age group in each borough and in London as a whole.
Mr. Oppenheim: Claimant unemployment rates by age are only available nationally and are published in table 2.15 of the Employment Gazette. Information on the numbers of claimant unemployed in each London borough, analysed by age and duration of claimant, is available for the months of January, April, July and October and can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library.
Non-EU Employees
Mr. Robert Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many work permits have been issued in connection with LEAR Seating Corporation in Coventry in the last six months.
Mr. Oppenheim: A total of 18 work permits have been issued to Lear Seating (UK) Ltd. within the last six months.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many work permits were issued to
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residents in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico to undertake temporary work in the United kingdom in each of the last three years.Mr. Oppenheim: The number of work permits issued to nationals of the United States, Canada and Mexico in each of the last three years is shown in the following table:
Year |USA |Canada|Mexico ----------------------------------- 1991 |10,851|742 |51 1992 |11,617|916 |55 1993 |11,633|1,004 |75
Mr. Robert Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received concerning the need to employ temporary labour from outside the European Union from LEAR Seating Corporation in Coventry.
Mr. Oppenheim: I have received no representations concerning this issue other than applications for work permits.
Secret Files
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) top secret and (b) secret files his Department holds.
Miss Widdecombe: The Employment Department group holds (a) 24 top secret files and (b) 1,033 secret files.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Secret Files
Mr. Byers: To ask the Attorney-General how many (a) top secret and (b) secret files his Department holds.
The Attorney-General: The number of current top secret and secret files held in the Departments for which I am responsible is as follows:
|Top Secret|Secret
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers |29 |326
Crown Prosecution Service |2 |14
Treasury Solicitor's Department |10 |101
Serious Fraud Office |- |-
Pergau Dam
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Attorney-General what involvement he had in the Foreign Secretary's defence in the recent Pergau dam court case.
The Attorney-General: By convention, the Law Officers do not normally disclose whether they have been asked to advise on a particular issue or the substance of any advice that they may have given.
Victims Compensation Scheme
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Attorney-General what involvement he had in the Home Secretary's defence in the recent victims compensation scheme court case.
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The Attorney-General: By convention, the Law Officers do not normally disclose whether they have been asked to advise on a particular issue or the substance of any advice that they may have given.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all those instances where contracting out of a function or service, previously provided in-house, has resulted in an identifiable improvement in the quality of the service provided.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: The following list shows functions contracted out under the competing for quality programme in the period from 1 April 1992 to 31 December 1993 where departments have informed the efficiency unit that an improved quality of service has been specified.
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Document Creation Unit (ADAS)
Buildings and Estate Management
Marine Surveillance
Library
Recruitment (up to Grade 7)
Central Office of Information
Catering
Office Services--Custody
Office Services--Cleaning
Central Statistical Office
Catering
HM Customs and Excise
Staff Restaurant, Queens Dock
Catering--Custom House, London
Catering--Dorset House, London
Catering Manchester HQ
Debt Recovery Services
Vehicle Fleet Management
Ministry of Defence
Works Services: Cyprus, Gibraltar, Falklands, Belize
Harrier Support
Helicopter Support: Osprey, Heron, Seah
Tailoring (Northern Ireland)
Ration Delivery (Northern Ireland)
Department for Education
Catering
Department of Employment
Travel Services
Van Service Sheffield-Runcorn
Estates Maintenance
ERC Courses for Disabled (Employment Service)
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