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Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Information on job losses is collected only for the manufacturing sector as a whole.
Available information showing the net change in people employed in the manufacture of transport equipment other than motor vehicles and trailers is provided in the table.
Employees in employment in
manufacturing of other
transport
equipment (SIC92 35) in
Great Britain: August (
thousands)
|Annual
Year |Level |change
----------------------------
1991 |206 |-32
1992 |181 |-25
1993 |168 |-13
1994 |154 |-14
1995 |147 |-7
Source:
CSO
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase British aid to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. [40027]
Mr. Hanley: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh contain a large proportion of the world's poorest people, and have made effective use of British aid. We expect to maintain substantial aid programmes to each country.
Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the United Kingdom's aid to (a) Pakistan, (b) India and (c) Bangladesh in (i) 1994 and (ii) the current year; and what are the projected figures for 1996. [40010]
Mr. Hanley: Figures are collated by financial year. Gross UK bilateral aid disbursements in 1993 94 and 1994 95 were as follows-- disbursements by the Commonwealth Development Corporation are shown in brackets:
£ million
|Pakistan |India |Bangladesh
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1993-94 |48.1 (24.4) |102.2 (22.9)|55.4 (5.4)
1994-95
(provisional) |81.4 (46.9) |100.2 (17.5)|56.3 (9.0)
We expect to maintain substantial aid to all three countries in the current year and beyond. We also assist through our share of aid provided by multilateral agencies.
AIDS
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 23 October, Official Report , column 437 , if he will list the bilateral projects supported and the financial commitment to each. [39975]
Mr. Hanley: The table gives a breakdown by country and region of the projects that the ODA supports to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in developing countries:
|Number of |Total expenditure
Country |projects |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Africa Regional |5 |657,784
Ethiopia |2 |244,122
Ghana |2 |1,259,000
Kenya |4 |13,231,733
Malawi |2 |11,064,500
Nigeria |5 |3,781,549
Tanzania |2 |3,610,021
Togo |1 |300,000
Uganda |6 |2,460,322
Zambia |3 |2,399,136
Zimbabwe |6 |16,314,000
Bangladesh |2 |5,903,821
India |6 |678,195
Sri Lanka |1 |855,000
Nicaragua |1 |226,689
Non Specific<1> |12 |4,431,143
Total |60 |67,417,015
<1> Includes multi-country programmes.
Cash Limit (1995-96)
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made in the 1995 96 cash limit for expenditure by the Overseas Development
Administration. [41142]
Mr. Hanley: Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit on the external assistance vote, class II, vote 5, will be increased by £4,919,000 from £1,759, 074,000 to £1,763,993,000. The increase is in respect of rollover of underspending against the 1994 95 external assistance vote. The increase will be offset by a claim on the reserve and will not, therefore, add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Commonwealth Development Corporation
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what external finance limit has been set for the current financial year for the Commonwealth Development Corporation. [41143]
Mr. Hanley: The external finance limit for CDC for 1995 96 is being increased by £4,000,000, from £15,000,000 to £19,000,000. The limit takes account of an increase in the provision for CDC in class II, vote 5, provision for which is made in the winter supplementary estimate. This increase is being met by transfer of resources within the vote and does not add to the planned total of public expenditure.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Hackney Downs School
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement about Hackney Downs school. [41093]
Mr. Robin Squire: Hackney Downs school was inspected and found to be failing to provide an acceptable standard of education in August 1994. A further monitoring visit by the Office of Standards in Education in March 1995 found that the school continued to fail its pupils. Consequently, after consultation, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State transferred control of the school to an education association with effect from 1 September 1995.
The education association has now made recommendations to the Secretary of State about the future of the school. Its main recommendation is that it should close on 31 December 1995 and that all pupils should transfer to Homerton House boys school in Hackney. The education association also recommends that Homerton House boys school should make special provision for year 11 boys taking GCSEs, and that Ministers should consider making available capital funding for its refurbishment.
My right hon. Friend is minded to agree with the recommendation that Hackney Downs school should close, in which case she is also minded to make available
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the necessary additional funds for the year 11 boys as well as funds for the refurbishment of Homerton House boys school. My right hon. Friend has today written to the director of education of Hackney local education authority and the chairman of governors of Homerton House boys school inviting comments on all the education association's recommendations. She also welcomes views from any other interested party by Friday 10 November. My right hon. Friend will announce her decision shortly after that.A copy of the north-east London education association's report has been placed in the Library.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what she is doing to encourage the private finance initiative in local authority schools. [41094]
Mrs. Gillan: The Department has been working closely with other Government Departments on possible rule changes to encourage the private finance initiative--PFI--on the basis of our contacts with individual local authorities. My hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration is today announcing proposals from the Department of the Environment to increase the scope for upgrading local authority services through increased private sector investment and management expertise.
The proposals to generate more resources for PFI projects, by freeing up the requirement for authorities to set aside capital receipts for debt redemption, open up exciting opportunities to upgrade local authority schools. Disposal of education assets surplus to requirements will be encouraged by a reduction from 50 per cent. to 25 per cent. in the rate of set aside, for a limited period of two years from April 1996. Replacement of operational educational assets will also be made easier.
The proposals should allow both the public and the private sector to benefit from innovative programmes to upgrade the school building stock. They should also encourage local education authorities to rationalise school provision and thus remove expensive surplus places where it seems sensible to do so.
Overtime Working
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimates she has of the amount of overtime that is being worked nationally in (a) the last year for which data are available and (b) 10 years ago. [39374]
Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.
According to the labour force survey in spring, March to May 1995, 91 million hours overtime were worked per week in Great Britain. The current estimate for spring 1985 is 68 million hours overtime per week.
Part-time Posts
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the number of part-time employment posts in each of the past five years. [39974]
Column 142
Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is provided in the table:
Part-time employment in Great Britain: June ( thousands)<1> Year |Level ------------------ 1991 |6,563 1992 |6,576 1993 |6,605 1994 |6,781 1995 |6,974 Note: <1> Includes employees, self-employed and work-related government training participants. Source: CSO.
Building Services Engineering Courses
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals exist to ensure that the Higher Education Funding Council for England is able to provide additional margin funding to institutions providing building services engineering degree courses in respect of the special laboratory and equipment needs of this course. [40146]
Mr. Forth: The Higher Education Funding Council for England's allocations of capital funding for equipment are weighted to reflect the institution's historical patterns of spending in different subject areas. Its allocations of recurrent grant for teaching also reflect the institution's own internal distribution of funding between subjects. Students on laboratory or workshop-based courses also attract a higher tuition fee from their local education authorities.
It is for institutions themselves to determine funding priorities for building services engineering and other courses out of their overall income from grant and tuition fees.
Appointments (South Yorkshire)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the public appointments for which her Department is responsible in the county of South Yorkshire, indicating in each case the duration of the appointment, the date when a new appointment is due and the salary. [39425]
Mr. Robin Squire: The Secretary of State for Education and Employment makes the following public appointments in the county of South Yorkshire:
(a) The Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities (CEPD) (Sheffield and Rotherham).
14 appointments of three years' duration, all due for renewal on 1 April 1997. All are unpaid.
(b) The Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities (CEPD) (Wakefield, Barnsley and Doncaster).
14 appointments of three years' duration, all due for renewal on 1 April 1997. All are unpaid.
(c) The Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) Regional Committee (Yorkshire and Humberside).
12 appointments of three years' duration. The Chairman will be due for reappointment on 1 April 1996 and the 11 members on 1 October 1996. All are unpaid.
Column 143
Employment Service (Resources)
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 18 October, Official Report , column 295 96 , how many additional staff will be employed to support additional places on jobplan, workshop and jobclub/job interview guarantee schemes in 1995 96, 1996 97 and 1997 98. [38996]
Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 31 October 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of additional staff that will be employed to support extra places on the Jobplan Workshop and Jobclub/Job Interview Guarantee schemes to help people leaving Incapacity Benefit (IB). We have allocated the following additional staff for the Job Interview Guarantee Programme:
Year |Additional staff --------------------------------------------------- 1995-96 |100 1996-97 |84 1997-98 |20
Jobplan Workshops and most Jobclubs are delivered by external contractors. For these programmes we have negotiated with existing contractors to provide additional places for the ex-IB clients, and therefore Employment Service staffing has not changed. Full details of the additional places were included in my letter dated 18th October.
I hope this is helpful.
Barnsley and Doncaster Training and
Enterprise Council
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on what date her Department last sent a financial appraisal and monitoring team for a review of the monitoring and sample checking systems of the Barnsley and Doncaster TEC in relation to operating agreement compliance, if the non-vocational qualification claims under output-related funding of training provided by all companies providing training at the Barnsley and Doncaster TEC are verified, and if she will make a statement. [38992]
Mr. Paice: The Government office for Yorkshire and Humberside carried out the first phase of an annual audit of Barnsley and Doncaster training and enterprise council's financial control systems in July 1995, and is returning to complete the audit during November 1995.
In the course of annual audits of this kind, including that at Barnsley and Doncaster TEC, a large sample of claims for every type of output from companies providing training and other training providers is verified.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list by year since
Column 144
its inception how much (a) profit and (b) loss Barnsley and Doncaster TEC has made. [39012]Mr. Paice: Barnsley and Doncaster training and enterprise council's first published accounts were for the year ended 31 March 1991 and covered the period 1 January 1991 to 31 March 1991. Annual results since inception are as follows:
£000
|Surplus/(Deficit)|Surplus (Deficit)
Year ended |before tax |after tax
------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 March 1991 |505 |293
31 March 1992 |2,797 |2,688
31 March 1993 |1,017 |1,012
31 March 1994 |(882) |(821)
31 March 1995 |162 |172
Source:
Barnsley and Doncaster TEC Annual Audited Accounts.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list by year since its inception for Barnsley and Doncaster TEC how many out-of-school child care places were delivered, and how many are planned to be delivered in future years; and at what cost. [39049]
Mr. Paice: The first year of child care funding for Barnsley and Doncaster training and enterprise council was 1994 95.
In 1994 95 the TEC provided 252 child care places at a cost of £127,440. For 1995 96 the TEC has been allocated a target of a further 250 additional places at a contract value of £188,941. There is no funding available for new places in 1996 97 and future years.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will publish a table showing the identifiable (a) capital and (b) revenue or current expenditure by Barnsley and Doncaster TEC, by district council electoral division or on any other geographical basis on which the data are collated or accounted, in each year since its inception; how much in both expenditure categories is (i) legally committed and (ii) planned for fiscal years 1995 96 and 1996 97; what is the pro-rata expenditure in each category for each district council electoral division, expressed as a percentage of the total capital and revenue budgets measured against their respective populations; if she will rank the district council electoral division in descending order by level of expenditure in both categories, and if she will make a statement. [38980]
Mr. Paice: The information requested is operational information on the Barnsley and Doncaster training and enterprise council and the question would be best addressed to the TEC to answer.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the financial reserves held by the Barnsley and Doncaster TEC for each year since its inception. [39248]
Mr. Paice: Barnsley and Doncaster training and enterprise council first published accounts for the year-ended 31 March 1991, covering the period 1 January 1991 to 31 March 1991.
Financial reserves held since inception are as follows:
Column 145
£000
|Land and
|development |General fund|Total
Year ended |fund reserve|reserve |reserves
--------------------------------------------------------------------
31st March 1991 |293 |- |293
31st March 1992 |2,481 |500 |2,981
31st March 1993 |3,288 |705 |3,993
31st March 1994 |1,672 |1,500 |3,172
31st March 1995 |1,844 |1,500 |3,344
Source:
Barnsley and Doncaster TEC Annual Audited Accounts.
Computers in Schools
Sir Wyn Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what statistics she has on the change in the number of computers available to schools in England in the last decade. [38821]
Mr. Robin Squire: The information requested is shown in the following table:
Estimated computers available in maintained schools in England
Primary Secondary
|Average |Total |Average |Total
Year |per school|available |per school|available
------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |1.7 |33,500 |13.4 |58,700
1987-88 |2.5 |48,300 |23.2 |96,300
1989-90 |4.3 |82,400 |41.1 |163,400
1991-92 |7.0 |132,500 |58.0 |233,100
1993-94 |9.9 |185,000 |85.1 |308,800
Source:
DFEE Survey of Information Technology in Schools.
Further infromation on the availability and use of Information
Technology in Schools is published in Statistical Bulletin 3/95,
a copy of which is in the Library.
Unemployment Benefit
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many people in receipt of unemployment benefit sign on by post in each travel-to-work area in England; [38572] (2) how many unemployed people in England in receipt of benefit in each travel-to-work area in England live more than six miles from their nearest Employment Service office; [38567]
(3) which categories of unemployed claimant are given the option of signing on by post. [38571]
Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 31 October 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about signing procedures and travel-to-work areas.
The statistics you requested on the number of people claiming benefit and living more than six miles from their nearest Employment Service Jobcentre (ESJ) are not available for travel to work areas. Similarly, no statistics are kept on the number of these people who are postal claimants. We do, however, record figures for the numbers of people claiming by post for each of the ES's seven English regions.
Column 146
In September, the latest month for which figures are available, there were:
|Number of postal
Employment service |claimants
region
----------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |4,466
Yorkshire and Humberside |12,282
East Midlands and Eastern |15,624
London and South East |31,819
South West |15,804
West Midlands |4,330
North West |4,468
The concession for claiming benefit by post is that someone must live more than six miles by ordinary road from their nearest ESJ. This rule can, at the local office manager's discretion, be waived in cases which would involve hardship. Clients who are disabled and those with such inadequate transport facilities that they would be absent from home for more than four hours, are therefore also offered the postal signing facility.
I hope this is helpful.
Special Education
Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the growth in demand for special education requirements in each year since 1990, giving the number of pupils in each year. [38788]
Mr. Forth: The most readily available measure of the demand for special education provision is the number of pupils with statements of special educational needs. The full figures for pupils in England with statements since 1990 are provided in the table.
Year |Number of statements --------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 |139,779 1991 |154,743 1992 |165,095 1993 |176,698 1994 |192,308 1995<1> |198,329 <1> Provisional.
National Vocational Qualifications
Mr. Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to market NVQs. [38799]
Mr. Forth: The Department for Education and Employment has asked the National Council for Vocational Qualifications to provide leadership and co -ordination of NVQ marketing. The Department also supports marketing through the "Free Your Potential" campaign, which promotes the role of NVQs in vocational training for individuals and employers.
Civil Servants (Sheffield)
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the impact of the merger of the Education and Employment Departments on the employment of civil servants in Sheffield. [40033]
Column 147
Mr. Robin Squire: The merger may offer some scope for the rationalisation of activities on the various sites occupied by the new Department for Education and Employment, but it is too early to be precise about details. However, the merger is unlikely to result in any significant loss of posts in Sheffield.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the relative costs of employing civil servants within her Department in (a) London and (b) Sheffield. [40034]
Mr. Squire: The average annual salary and accommodation costs for staff of the Department for Education and Employment in London and Sheffield are £37,100 and £24,800 respectively. Accommodation costs account for £9,600 of the difference.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make it her policy to relocate further civil servants from London, including those in the education part of her Department, to join those currently based in Sheffield. [40035]
Mr. Squire: There are no plans to change the current policy of the Department, which is that staff should be located wherever they are best able to support the efficient and effective conduct of the Department's activities. The merger may offer some scope for rationalisation of activities on the various sites occupied by the new Department for Education and Employment, but it is too soon to be precise about details.
Derwent System Schools
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what credit approvals have been given to date for the repair and replacement of Derwent system schools; [40289]
(2) if she will make a statement on the future of Derwent system schools; [40290]
(3) what representations she has received on the need to replace Derwent system schools; and what bids for credit approval have been received; [40291]
(4) if she will make a statement on the current condition of Derwent system schools; [40292]
(5) how many Derwent system schools there are; and in which local authorities they are located; [40293]
(6) if she will make a statement about the replacement of Derwent system schools. [40294]
Mrs. Gillan: Information about the number, location and condition of Derwent system schools is not held centrally. A small number of applications for credit approval have been made specifically referring to systems buildings, but the type of construction is not always identified.
In 1987, the Department advised all local education authorities of problems which had been found with certain Derwent system buildings, and in 1988 recommended that
Column 148
certain timber-framed and prefabricated buildings, including Derwent system buildings, should be checked.Local education authorities and governing bodies are responsible for the maintenance of the fabric of their school buildings.
TREASURY
Government Expenditure
Mr. Denham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total expenditure on (i) health, (ii) education, (iii) social security, (iv) transport, (v) defence and (vi) housing in 1979, 1984, 1989 and 1994 expressed as (a) the percentage of total Government expenditure and (b) the percentage of total Government tax revenue. [38258]
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 23 October 1995]: The information is given in the tables.
(a) Expenditure as a percentage of
General Government
Expenditure excluding privatisation
proceeds
|1979|1984|1989|1994
-----------------------------------------
Health |10.6|11.2|12.5|13.2
Education |12.0|11.3|12.3|12.3
Social Security |24.5|28.2|28.4|33.6
Transport |4.0 |3.5 |3.6 |3.6
Defence |10.4|11.4|10.4|8.2
Housing |6.2 |3.4 |2.4 |1.9
(b) Expenditure as a percentage of total
General Government
Receipts
|1979|1984|1989|1994
-----------------------------------------
Health |13.4|13.3|13.4|16.7
Education |15.2|13.4|13.2|15.6
Social Security |30.9|33.5|30.4|42.4
Transport |5.0 |4.1 |3.8 |4.6
Defence |13.2|13.6|11.1|10.3
Housing |7.9 |4.0 |2.6 |2.4
Wine Import Duty
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 24 October, Official Report , column 535 , when the EU agreement was approved to require wine import duty to be levied in terms of ecu per hectolitre; when this agreement was approved by Parliament; when Customs and Excise commenced the new import tariffs; and on which day, in relation to the day of import, the value of the ecu is assessed to determine the amount of duty payable. [40219]
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