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by the United Kingdom in November 1993 following enactment of the European Economic Area Act 1993.The right of European economic area nationals to enter the United Kingdom on this basis was implemented administratively prior to formal incorporation in United Kingdom law by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Order 1994.
Visas
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Her Majesty's Government advised the Economic Union that it would agree to the mutual recognition of visas issued by European Union states; what was the legislative basis for such a commitment; and if he will make a statement. [34426]
Mr. Nicholas Baker: A form of mutual recognition of short-stay visas issued by other member states is provided in the draft external frontiers convention, which was agreed in substance in June 1991 but has remained unsigned owing to objections by Spain to its application in Gibraltar. The draft convention was drawn up under the ad-hoc arrangements for co- operation on immigration matters which preceded the treaty on European Union, TEU.
Following the entry into force of the treaty, a revised text of the draft convention was published by the Commission in December 1993, the legal basis for which is article K3.2(c) TEU. Discussions on this text are continuing. My right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary has undertaken that the final text of the convention will be brought back before Parliament before it is signed and that the Government will not ratify the convention before the necessary legislation has been enacted by Parliament in accordance with the normal procedures.
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Frontier Controls
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek the opinion of the European Court of Justice on the legislative standing of the declaration attached to the Single European Act on British border controls; and if it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to seek to have the declaration transformed into a treaty clause at the 1996 inter-governmental conference. [34424]
Mr. Nicholas Baker: No, but as we have consistently made clear, we will take whatever steps are necessary to maintain our frontier controls.
Unfair Dismissal
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unfair dismissal cases were brought against his Department during the last 12 months; how many were successful; and what were the total costs including legal fees and
compensation. [34602]
Mr. Howard: In the non-prisons Home Office there were 12 appeals to the Civil Service Appeal Board and industrial tribunals. Of these, three were successful and five decisions are pending. In the Prison Service, there were 25 appeals to the Civil Service Appeal Board, of which four were successful. The total cost of legal fees and compensation in completed cases was £40,909.
Information about industrial tribunal cases involving the Prison Service is not readily available. The Director General of the Prison Service will provide these details shortly.
Computer Suppliers
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to his Department and its agencies in the last five years, indicating the total value of the contracts received. [34555]
Mr. Howard: My Department has awarded contracts for computer equipment to the value of £95,438,000 in the last five years. The following table shows the top 10 suppliers:
|£ thousand
---------------------------------------
TRW Inc. |25,000
ICL |18,834
Bull |13,330
Dell |13,063
Siemens Nixdorf |10,738
Apricot |3,308
Dec |2,735
Data Sciences |2,580
Misys Integrated |2,528
Computacenter |2,044
Sickness Absence
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days were lost in sickness in the last 12 months by employees in his Department (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the number of days worked; and what was the cost of this absence. [34603]
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Mr. Howard: Data for the number of days lost through sickness over the last 12 months is not readily available. The total number of working days lost through sickness in 1994 in the Home Office, including its agencies, was 499,242. This was approximately 4.5 per cent. of the total number of days worked. information on the cost of this absence is not available.
Scott Inquiry
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants are currently employed in dealing with matters related to the Scott inquiry; and what has been the total cost to date. [34641]
Mr. Howard: Work on matters related to the Scott inquiry is undertaken by staff in my Department as part of their normal duties. It is not, therefore, possible to estimate the overall cost.
Prison Operating Costs
Mr. Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the operating costs of (a) privately managed prisons and (b) prisons directly managed by the Prison Service. [35207]
Miss Widdecombe: Comparison of the costs per prisoner place at privately managed prisons with similar publicly managed ones indicates that costs of the privately managed prisons were 15 to 25 per cent. lower in 1993 94 than their nearest public sector counterparts. This indicates annual savings to the taxpayer of £5 million to £10 million a year for the four privately managed prisons currently operating. Further analyses will be conducted on the basis of more extended private sector experience.
Prisoners (Police Cells)
Mr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Prison Service prisoners are currently held in police cells. [35180]
Miss Widdecombe: I am pleased to announce that since 16 June there have been no Prison Service prisoners in police cells.
The necessary use of police cells in the north of England, mainly in the Manchester area, was brought about by population pressures in that area and the lack of appropriate accommodation, The opening of Buckley Hall and the refurbishment of accommodation at Manchester have helped us to cease the use of police cells. Their use in the future cannot be ruled out but every effort will be made to avoid this.
Trial Arrangements
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to mode of trial arrangements in respect of offences triable either way. [35181]
Mr. Howard: I have today published a consultation document, copies of which have been placed in the Library. The closing date for comments is 2 October 1995.
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Remand Prisoners (Teenagers)
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average and the minimum and maximum length of time which teenagers were held in prison awaiting trial in each of the last five years (a) in London and (b) nationally. [33806]
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 12 July 1995]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 14 July 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what was the average and the minimum and maximum length of time for which teenagers were held in prisons awaiting trial in each of the last five years (a) in London and (b) nationally.
Information is not available in the form requested, but information is available on the period spent on remand in a Prison Service establishment in England and Wales. Table 1 shows the number of 15-19 year olds on remand in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales by length of time since first reception on 31 December 1994. Table 2 shows the average completed time spent in custody. The historical information and separate information for London could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Corresponding information for all remand prisoners is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (Tables 2.3 and 2.4 of the 1993 edition, Cm2893) a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
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Table 1: Remand prisoners aged 15-19 years in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales by length of time since first reception<1> on 31 December 1994<2> Time since first |<3>31 December 1994 remand ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Less than 3 months |1,300 Over 3 months up to 12 months |680 Over 12 months |<4>8 <1> Awaiting trial or sentence. Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. <2> Provisional figures. <3> Rounded estimates. <4> One of which was held in an establishment in London on 31 December 1994.
Table 2: Estimated average time spent in custody for Untried and
Convicted Unsentenced prisoners, aged 15-19, in Prison Service
establishments in 1994<1>
|<4>estimated
|average
|number of
|Receptions in |days in
Type of custody |1994 |custody
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Untried<2> |13,056 |44
|Convicted
Unsentenced<3> |8,052 |33
<1> Provisional figures.
<2> Time spent in custody before conviction.
<3> Time spent in custody after conviction before sentence.
<4> Estimated from number of receptions and population in 1994 (as measured by
population on 30 June).
HEALTH
Title of "Doctor"
Mr. Stern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to provide statutory protection for the title "doctor" as used in the fields of medicine and the professions allied to medicine in order to distinguish between those medical practitioners who are legally entitled to use the term, and those for whom it is an honorific. [33476]
Mr. Malone: No. I am satisfied that the matter is adequately covered under section 49 of the Medical Act 1983.
Single Sex Wards
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of patients who have asked to be treated in single sex wards in accordance with the January 1995 revised patients charter; and what effect that has had on their waiting time for treatment. [33345]
Mr. Malone: This information is not available centrally.
Waiting Times
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish at six monthly intervals total waiting times from general practitioner referral to hospital admission, including and identifying the waiting time from GP referral to first out-patient appointment; and if he will make a statement. [33631]
Mr. Malone: No. We already publish information on waiting times for in-patient treatment on a summary basis each quarter and for individual trusts every six months. Information on waiting times between general practitioner written referral and first out-patient appointment is published in summary form each quarter and will be published for individual trusts for the fist time shortly and at regular intervals thereafter.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that any patient on a waiting list for any elective surgery who is forced by circumstance to change general practitioners or move to a new district health authority should not have to rejoin the waiting list as a new referral; and if he will make a
statement. [33671]
Mr. Malone: Patients who move house or general practitioner while waiting for hospital admission may choose to stay on their original waiting list. If they choose to be treated at a different hospital the new consultant would need to assess them on an out-patient basis before deciding whether to admit, and if so, placing them on a waiting list. We would expect GPs and health authorities to try to arrange the shortest possible waiting time for such patients taking account both of clinical need and the time they have already waited.
General Medical Services, Manchester
Mr. Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he intends to take in response to the decision of the High Court of the result of the case brought by Manchester local medical
committee. [35320]
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Mr. Malone: A recent decision by the High Court ruled that departmental guidance in relation to cash-limited general medical services allocations to health authorities constituted a binding direction. Such sums could therefore be set only on the reimbursement of certain general practitioner expenses. Manchester family health services authority had misapplied some cash limited GMS allocations by using them to support wider primary care developments. The Department is satisfied that Manchester FHSA acted in good faith in an attempt to improve services to patients and the court found no evidence to dispute this. Her Majesty's Treasury has given approval for any such payments to be made on an extra statutory basis and to be noted as such in FHSA accounts. Guidance will soon be issued to all FHSAs following the court's ruling and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Edgware General Hospital
Mr. Dykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will re-examine the decision by his predecessor announced on 5 April to confirm and accept the regional health authority's endorsement of Barnet district health authority's recommendation to close the accident and emergency department of Edgware general hospital by April 1997; [34086]
(2) if he will make a statement on the Government's response to the local public petition against the closure of the Edgware general hospital accident and emergency department, delivered to his Department and No. 10 Downing street on Wednesday 5 July. [34085]
Mr. Malone: No. Consultation was thorough and the changes will improve services for patients.
Patients Charter
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that the service volumes and quality standards defined by contracts with health care providers and the standards and rights defined by the patients charter are binding on the providers and commissioners of health services; and if he will make a statement. [33675]
Mr. Malone: Health authorities and fundholding general practitioners are required to deliver patients charter standards and guarantees through their contracts with providers. National health service contracts should provide for arbitration in cases of non-compliance and this applies equally to service levels and quality standards agreed locally. The NHS and Community Care Act 1990 provides a formal mechanism for disputed cases to be referred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
Operations
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hip replacements, (b) pacemaker operations and (c) cataract operations were carried out in Great Britain and Northern Ireland respectively in the last year; and what was the average waiting time for each operation in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland. [33823]
Mr. Bowis: The information for 1993 94 is shown in the table:
Finished Consultant Episodes
Great Britain Northern Ireland
|Number of |Average waiting|Number of |Average waiting
|operations |time (days)<1> |operations |time (days)<1>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Hip replacement and other arthroplasty
of the hip<2> |67,571 |192 |1,660 |184
(b) Pacemaker sytem operations<2> |18,939 |27 |418 |-<3>
(c) Cataract and other eye lens operations<2> |152,355 |193 |3,766 |292
Notes:
<1> Waiting list and booked admission cases, excluding emergency admissions.
<2> Operation procedure codes (a) W37-W39 and W46-W48, (b) K60 and K61, (c) C71, C72, C74 and C75.
<3> 35 per cent. of these cases were either emergencies or did not have a recorded decision to admit date. Any calculation of
average waiting time for this operation would therefore be unreliable.
Sources:
Estimates from, for England, Hospital Episode Statistics; for Scotland, SMR1; for Wales, Welsh Office Health Statistics; and
for Northern Ireland, Hospital Inpatient System.
Disabled People (Direct Payments)
Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress he has made towards implementing his pledge to introduce direct payments to disabled people to arrange, in appropriate circumstances, their own care. [34303]
Mr. Bowis: We announced in November 1994 our intention to introduce the necessary legislation to allow direct payments as soon as practicable. This remains our intention. There are a number of complex issues to be resolved before legislation can be introduced and my Department has set up a technical advisory group to consider these.
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Car Park Charges
Mr. Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the hospital trusts which levy a charge for car parking at trust units; and if he will list them. [34573]
Mr. Bowis: This information is not available centrally.
Testicular Cancer
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many men died from testicular cancer in each year for the last 10 years, by region. [34633]
Mr. Bowis: The information is in the table.
Numbers of deaths from testicular cancer (ICD<1> 186) Regional health |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 authorities -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northern |10 |6 |9 |12 |9 |6 |10 |5 |10 |8 Yorkshire |14 |8 |10 |10 |11 |18 |6 |9 |10 |10 Trent |13 |11 |13 |18 |18 |9 |9 |14 |13 |11 East Anglian |4 |1 |5 |6 |3 |8 |4 |5 |7 |2 North West Thames |6 |14 |7 |1 |8 |2 |5 |4 |7 |6 North East Thames |6 |6 |7 |7 |8 |6 |8 |9 |5 |4 South East Thames |17 |7 |10 |16 |8 |9 |11 |2 |7 |5 South West Thames |12 |10 |6 |10 |11 |5 |4 |7 |4 |4 Wessex |7 |6 |5 |8 |6 |4 |10 |6 |7 |4 Oxford |5 |4 |4 |3 |12 |8 |7 |9 |9 |3 South Western |15 |9 |9 |9 |6 |6 |10 |7 |13 |8 West Midlands |20 |9 |7 |15 |16 |15 |15 |11 |9 |11 Mersey |6 |8 |13 |7 |9 |3 |10 |4 |6 |8 North Western |14 |8 |11 |9 |9 |9 |8 |12 |10 |10 Wales |7 |3 |9 |14 |4 |3 |10 |6 |6 |8 <1> International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision.
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unfair dismissal cases were brought against his Department during the last 12 months; how many were successful; and what were the total costs including legal fees and compensation. [34599]
Mr. Bowis: In the period 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1995, six cases of unfair dismissal were lodged with the industrial tribunal against the Department of Health. Of these, one case was successful, resulting in compensation of £9,032.88. Of the remaining five cases, one was successfully defended, one application was ruled out of time and three cases are still to be heard by the tribunal.
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Details of legal fees incurred for unfair dismissal cases are not recorded separately.Sickness Absence
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days were lost in sickness in the last 12 months by employees in his Department (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the number of days worked; and what was the cost of this absence. [34600]
Mr. Bowis: The estimated number of days lost through sickness in the Department of Health and its agencies during the 1994 95 financial year was 69,363. This represents 6.23 per cent. of the total working days in that financial year.
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The figures have not been adjusted to exclude bank holidays, nor has any allowance been made to account for the working patterns of part-time staff. The sickness absence data is not analysed by cost.Tendering
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 July at column 440 , on tendering, (1) if he will estimate the total value of contracts under (a) market testing and (b) compulsory competitive tendering; [34382]
(2) how many contracts have been notified under (a) market testing and (b) compulsory competitive tendering; and what has been their value. [34380]
Mr. Bowis: The total value of the 3,927 NHS service contracts currently logged on the NHS executive market testing database is £964 million. Of these 1,404 contracts were for catering, laundry and domestic services, with a contract value of £694 million.
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 July at column 440 , on tendering if he will place in the Library a copy of all contracts notified to the NHS executive. [34381]
Mr. Bowis: No. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost, some is commercially sensitive and some could be released only with the permission of the parties concerned.
Chronic Disease Management Programmes
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness for asthma sufferers of the chronic disease management programme; and if he will make a statement. [34379]
Mr. Bowis: Over 90 per cent. of general practitioners are running organised programmes of high-quality care for patients with asthma.
Departmental Redundancies
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancies occurred in his Department over the last 12 months; how many were voluntary; and what was the total sum spent on redundancy payments. [34601]
Mr. Bowis: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State gave the hon. Member for Barking (Ms Hodge) on 25 May at column 759 .
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Computer Suppliers
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to his Department and its agencies in the last five years, indicating the total value of the contracts received. [34554]
Mr. Bowis: For the period from April 1991, the earliest date for which figures are available, to April 1995, the main suppliers of computer equipment to the Department and its agencies were:
|£
-----------------------------------------------------
Siemens Nixdorf |13,771,522
P and P Corporate Systems Ltd. |13,589,832
Bull Information Systems |304,193
These amounts include not only computer equipment but computer software and some implementation costs. It is not possible to separate out these amounts except at disproportionate cost. There were a number of smaller contracts with other companies, none of which exceeded £100,000 in the period.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Departmental Officials
Mr. Riddick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many officials worked within (a) her Department and (b) the Department of Employment on 5 July; and how many she estimates will be working within the new Department once the merger has been completed.
Mr. Forth: At 5 July 1995 the Department for Education employed 2, 170 civil servants, of whom 432 were based in the Teachers Pensions Agency. The Employment Department group employed some 54,450 staff. The merger entails some 6,200 staff joining other Government Departments, while some 48,250 join the new Department for Education and Employment, giving the new Department a total staff figure of some 50,420.
Computer Suppliers
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to her Department and its agencies in the last five years, indicating to total value of the contracts received. [34551]
Mr. Robin Squire: The information requested could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what additional funding will be provided for the training of special educational needs co-ordinators to ensure they fulfil their widely extended role in identifying and assessing special educational needs. [34506]
Mr. Forth: The grants for education, support and training programme in 1995 96 includes support for £10.5 million to help schools develop their policies on
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special educational needs, SEN. Eligible expenditure under this programme includes the cost of providing training or professional advice to SEN co-ordinators in schools.Education Standard Spending Assessment
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list, by order of the sum involved, the figure per child represented by the 1995 96 education standard spending assessment (a) primary and (b) secondary school children in each local education authority in England and Wales. [34484]
Mr. Robin Squire: The allocations per pupil for the 1995 96 education standard spending for each English local education authority are set out in the table. Figures for Welsh authorities are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Unit Allocations for 1995-96 SSAs
Sorted in descending order of primary unit
allowances
|Primary |Secondary
|(£) |(£)
|per 5-10 |per 11-15
LEA |pupil |pupil
-----------------------------------------------------
Isles of Scilly |3,347 |4,381
Hackney |3,076 |4,359
Lambeth |3,066 |4,463
Tower Hamlets |3,035 |4,034
Southwark |2,947 |4,090
Hammersmith and Fulham |2,904 |3,777
City of London |2,901 |9,055
Camden |2,900 |3,648
Islington |2,888 |3,963
Kensington and Chelsea |2,852 |4,071
Lewisham |2,777 |3,778
Westminster |2,750 |3,637
Greenwich |2,711 |3,589
Wandsworth |2,683 |3,617
Haringey |2,589 |3,583
Newham |2,581 |3,439
Brent |2,500 |3,448
Waltham Forest |2,434 |3,261
Ealing |2,350 |3,224
Hounslow |2,260 |2,959
Manchester |2,258 |3,072
Croydon |2,243 |3,050
Enfield |2,234 |2,941
Barking and Dagenham |2,231 |2,951
Barnet |2,197 |2,883
Knowsley |2,186 |2,986
Merton |2,184 |2,904
Redbridge |2,164 |2,884
Harrow |2,147 |2,898
Hillingdon |2,133 |2,838
Liverpool |2,110 |2,821
Sutton |2,093 |2,722
Birmingham |2,083 |2,794
Kingston upon Thames |2,064 |2,720
Bexley |2,064 |2,734
Newcastle upon Tyne |2,045 |2,717
Havering |2,023 |2,686
Isle of Wight Council |2,016 |2,696
Richmond upon Thames |2,015 |2,635
Bromley |2,013 |2,678
Hertfordshire |2,010 |2,663
East Sussex |2,000 |2,672
Surrey |1,998 |2,679
Bedfordshire |1,995 |2,664
Wolverhampton |1,995 |2,691
Essex |1,989 |2,647
Berkshire |1,988 |2,664
Bradford |1,986 |2,679
Sandwell |1,986 |2,642
Coventry |1,984 |2,648
Salford |1,975 |2,652
Kent |1,968 |2,620
Buckinghamshire |1,966 |2,630
Wirral |1,948 |2,606
Cleveland |1,940 |2,589
Gateshead |1,937 |2,601
Doncaster |1,934 |2,572
Oxfordshire |1,933 |2,575
Rochdale |1,932 |2,608
West Sussex |1,932 |2,571
South Tyneside |1,932 |2,562
Hampshire |1,930 |2,575
Sheffield |1,922 |2,565
Oldham |1,919 |2,530
Sunderland |1,919 |2,549
Kirklees |1,900 |2,539
Calderdale |1,896 |2,527
Walsall |1,894 |2,501
Cornwall |1,893 |2,522
Humberside |1,891 |2,509
Durham |1,884 |2,512
Nottinghamshire |1,883 |2,506
Norfolk |1,881 |2,508
Devon |1,879 |2,506
Lancashire |1,877 |2,502
Cambridgeshire |1,876 |2,508
Sefton |1,875 |2,492
Lincolnshire |1,873 |2,483
Rotherham |1,871 |2,462
Barnsley |1,869 |2,489
Bolton |1,866 |2,488
Leicestershire |1,864 |2,483
Leeds |1,864 |2,480
Shropshire |1,862 |2,479
Cumbria |1,856 |2,470
Somerset |1,846 |2,489
North Tyneside |1,845 |2,483
St. Helens |1,845 |2,467
Avon |1,838 |2,460
Gloucestershire |1,836 |2,435
Northamptonshire |1,836 |2,448
Wiltshire |1,835 |2,451
Dorset |1,833 |2,440
Tameside |1,831 |2,428
Trafford |1,830 |2,420
North Yorkshire |1,827 |2,422
Hereford and Worcester |1,827 |2,439
Wakefield |1,825 |2,421
Northumberland |1,825 |2,421
Warwickshire |1,822 |2,433
Suffolk |1,820 |2,422
Cheshire |1,817 |2,408
Bury |1,813 |2,405
Dudley |1,813 |2,408
Derbyshire |1,812 |2,415
Wigan |1,809 |2,391
Staffordshire |1,805 |2,398
Solihull |1,798 |2,376
Stockport |1,775 |2,374
England average |1,981 |2,630
Inner London average |2,890 |3,894
Outer London average |2,242 |2,973
Metropolitan average |1,945 |2,589
Shire average |1,895 |2,525
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was for each school term since September 1994 (a) the number of primary schools informed by Ofsted they were to be inspected and (b) the number where inspections were actually carried out.
Mr. Robin Squire: These are matters for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, who heads the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.
Education (School Premises) Regulations
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will announce the conclusions of the review of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981. [35179]
Mr. Robin Squire: My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Employment and for Wales have concluded that the regulatory burden placed on school by the Education (School Premises) Regulations should be significantly reduced.
We therefore propose to consult on a revised set of school premises regulations which will dispense with the statutory area standards for teaching accommodation and recreation area. The change will give local education authorities and school governors more flexibility to manage school land and buildings in the interests of pupils and in the light of the facilities available.
To take account of public concern that playing fields should be preserved, however, we propose to retain minimum area standards for school playing fields. We have taken the view that these restrictions should be maintained because there may be a temptation to dispose of playing fields that schools need. That temptation does not arise in the same way in the case of teaching accommodation or recreation area.
We also intend to retain the central core of requirements in the existing regulations which are aimed at safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of pupils. In particular, we propose to retain the general health and safety requirements of the 1981 regulations and the specific requirements relating to washrooms, medical accommodation, boarding accommodation, fire safety, acoustics, lighting, heating, ventilation, water quality and drainage. The Department will be consulting soon on a revised set of draft regulations with those in schools and local authorities who will be responsible for implementing them. Subject to the outcome of that consultation and to the approval of Parliament, we intend that a revised set of regulations reflecting the changes I have set out will enter into force from the beginning of January 1996.
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To assist local education authorities and schools in interpreting and applying the regulations, my Department will continue to provide advice and guidance on the design and use of school premises.Black Economy
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to reduce the size of the black economy. [32094]
Mr. Forth: I have been asked to reply.
Employment in the black economy is minimised by reducing regulatory and administrative burdens on employers; keeping down tax and other non-wage labour costs; and by effective action against fraud. The regulatory burden on employers in the UK is lower than in the other EU countries, and non- wage cost as a proportion of total hourly labour costs are among the lowest in the OECD. The Employment Service aims to protect taxpayers' money from abuse by conducting fraud drives in areas of the economy where experience has shown fraud to be prevalent.
Advertising
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been spent on outside advertising agencies for each year since 1979; and if he will list the specific advertising campaigns undertaken by his Department, their purpose and their cost. [32477]
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