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Beaufort's Dyke

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to receive the report of the survey by the marine laboratory of the north channel around Beaufort's dyke; what arrangements he proposes to make for the publication of the report; and if he will make a statement. [5460]

Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 12 December 1995]: The initial results of the survey will be in the new year. The report setting out the results will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Political Advisers

Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many political advisers worked for the Secretary of State for Scotland in (a) 1978, (b) 1987, (c) 1992 and (d) 1995; and what was the annual cost of these posts in each year. [6082]

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 816

Mr. Michael Forsyth: The number of special advisers employed by my Department in each of the years referred to is as follows:

1978: None
1987: 1
1992: 2
1995: 2

Salaries for special advisers are negotiated individually in relation to previous earnings, and are confidential. They are, however, normally paid on a special advisers salary spine of 34 points ranging from £19,503 to £67,609. Appointments are non-pensionable, and the salary spine reflects this.

Gourock Ropeworks

Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Inverclyde district council, Historic Scotland, Renfrewshire Enterprise and other interested parties about the proposed demolition of Gourock Ropeworks in Port Glasgow; and if he will make a statement. [5494]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend has had no recent discussions on the matter of demolition. However, as the question relates to matters undertaken by Historic Scotland, I have asked the agency's director and chief executive, Mr. Graeme Munro, to write to the hon. Member.

Letter to Dr. Norman Godman from Graeme N. Munro, dated 14 December 1995:

You tabled a Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Scotland for written question on 12 December asking what recent discussions he has had about the demolition of the Gourock Ropeworks building. The question relates to operational matters undertaken by Historic Scotland and I have been asked to reply. The terms of this letter will be reproduced in the Official Report and a copy of it will also be deposited in the Library of the House.
I would refer you to the letter I wrote to you dated 5 April of this year which was published in the Official Report of the House (Vol.257, 86 part 2 Cols 1167-68) of the same date. In the letter I explained the position on demolition. In order to demolish a listed building such as the Gourock Ropeworks building, listed building consent is required. In relation to a demolition the Secretary of State has to be consulted on any application for consent. To date no application for listed building consent has been received by Historic Scotland for the Secretary of State's consideration.

Departmental Payments

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of bills to his Department were paid in accordance with agreed contractual conditions or, where no such contractual conditions existed, within 30 days of receiving goods and services or the presentation of a valid invoice in the last year for which figures are available. [5698]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Details of the Scottish Office payment performance are as follows:

Year	Percentage of payments paid early or on time
1991-92	82
1992-93	85
1993-94	89
1994-95	96

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 817

DNA Technology

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what discussions his Department has had with the chief constables of Scottish police forces concerning the provision of a database allowing for the collation and use of DNA samples taken under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995; [5782]

(2) if he will make available funding for a pilot project to provide a DNA database in Scotland on a comparable basis with the Forensic Science Service study commissioned by the Home Office; [5783]

(3) what assessment his Department has made of the need for a database in Scotland for the collation and use of DNA samples taken in accordance with the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995. [5784]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made clear in his statement on 11 December, we have made funds available for the Scottish police to make full use of the new DNA technology. We have just received a report from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland; and the Scottish Office Home Department is having detailed discussions as to the best way of using the powers under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995, after they come into effect on 1 April.

We do not see any need for a pilot project: we expect that the Scottish police will be able to proceed as soon as possible to make full use of DNA technology.

Assisted Places Scheme

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many schools covered by the assisted places scheme received (a) more than £1 million, (b) over £750,00, (c) over £500,000 and (d) over £250,000

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 818

under the assisted places scheme for each academic year since 1981. [5818]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Under the assisted places scheme, grant is paid to parents of assisted pupils. Schools administer the allocation of grant to parents. The amounts distributed to schools for this purpose are set out in the table.

Academic year	Over £1 million	£750,001 to £1,000,000	£500,001 to £750,000	£250,001 to £500,000
1981-82	--	--	--	--
1982-83	--	--	--	1
1983-84	--	--	1	--
1984-85	--	--	1	--
1985-86	--	1	--	1
1986-87	1	--	--	2
1987-88	1	--	--	3
1988-89	1	--	--	4
1989-90	--	--	2	5
1990-91	--	--	3	4
1991-92	--	1	2	6
1992-93	--	1	3	7
1993-94(27)	--	1	3	8
1994-95(27)	--	2	2	9

(27) Provisional.

Until school session 1988-89, Edinburgh Merchant schools--EMC--administered Stewart's Melville college, Mary Erskine school for girls and George Watson's college and one grant total was allocated to EMC to fund assisted places in each of these schools. From session 1989-90, grant was paid separately to George Watson's college.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for the academic year 1994-95 in descending order the independent schools by the proportion of their school rolls made up of pupils covered by the assisted places scheme and the total number of pupils on the school roll; what proportion of the school roll at each school was covered by the scheme; how many pupils were covered by the scheme at each school; how many pupils were on the roll of each school; what level of fees was charged for pupils under the scheme at each school; and what sums were received by each school under the scheme. [5870]

Mr. Robertson: The information requested for the 1994-95 school session is set out in the table:

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 817

School	Total school roll	Number of assisted places	Percentage of assisted places	Assisted place fees charged	Total grant paid
				£	£
Kilquhanity(28)	27	11	41	2,430	34,082
Keil	207	69	33	4,479	239,782
Morrisins(28)	584	140	24	3,351	417,900
Park(28)	284	68	24	3,708	247,987
Rudolf Steiner	266	62	23	3,594	191,526
Kilgraston	267	54	20	4,161	184,177
St. Denis and Cranley	165	31	19	4,203	128,276
Laurel Bank(28)	354	63	18	4,014	232,914
Merchiston Castle(28)	393	69	18	6,480	333,381
H.S. of Dundee(28)	1,143	194	17	3,608	591,342
Glenalmond	245	41	17	7,575	257,408
George Heriot's(28)	1,512	250	17	3,624	699,790
Kelvinside	546	87	16	4,135	318,494
St. Aloysius(28)	1,082	168	16	2,978	472,009
Rannoch	250	38	15	5,490	175,887
Wellington(28)	354	53	15	4,290	202,604
Crawfordton	45	6	13	4,542	22,853
George Watson's(28)	2,033	248	12	3,876	751,969
St. Margaret's [Edinburgh](28)	664	74	11	3,895	271,812
Stewart's Melvill and Mary Erskine School(28)	2,556	282	11	3,912	900,020
St. Leondard's	329	36	11	5,682	164,382
Lomond	504	54	11	4,119	183,741
Sthrathallan(28)	495	46	9	7,485	299,342
Fernhill(28)	326	30	9	2,850	78,155
Craigholme(28)	493	45	9	3,330	134,235
Hutcheson's(28)	1,813	163	9	3,389	478,942
Glasgow Academy	1,010	90	9	4,014	329,362
Loretto	378	33	9	7,235	198,443
Butterstone(28)	58	5	9	4,930	23,817
Aberlour(28)	112	9	8	4,875	33,255
Fettes(28)	475	35	7	7,305	204,576
Gordonstoun(28)	456	31	7	6,690	182,064
Belmont(28)	382	25	7	3,570	78,623
Dollar	1,111	69	6	3,719	209,028
Edinburgh Academy	902	53	6	4,935	229,807
Albyn(28)	415	24	6	3,536	69,591
St. Columba's(28)	571	33	6	3,690	117,233
Robert Gordon's(28)	1,353	70	5	3,548	204,100
Clifton hall	120	6	5	4,827	28,452
HS of Glasgow	989	49	5	3,987	143,797
Croftinloan	81	4	5	5,475	20,768
St. Margaret's [Aberdeen]	415	20	5	3,353	53,433
St. George's	877	42	5	4,097	122,151
St. Mary's	93	4	4	4,536	15,992
Craigclowan	240	10	4	3,495	23,450
Lathallan	145	6	4	4,622	28,244
Ardvreck	147	6	4	4,588	22,589
Beaconhurst	249	10	4	4,095	31,815
New Park	128	4	3	3,951	15,839
Belhaven	74	2	3	5,039	9,789
Cargilfield	192	4	2	5,695	12,897
Hamilton College	757	14	2	2,273	27,095
Drumley House	115	2	2	4,415	7,069
Park Lodge	0	0	n/a	n/a	Nil

(28) Provisional figures. Final audited claims for 1994-95 schools session yet to be submitted.

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 819

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 819

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many independent sector schools have had (a) more than 25 per cent., (b) more than 50 per cent. and (c) less than 5 per cent. of their school rolls made up of pupils covered by the assisted places scheme for each academic year since 1981. [5794]

Mr. Robertson: The information requested was not collected centrally for school sessions 1981-82 to 1992- 93. Information for school sessions 1993-94 and 1994- 95 is set out in the table.

School session	Assisted pupils over 25 per cent. but not more than 50 per cent. of school roll	Assisted pupils more than 50 per cent. of school roll	Assisted pupils less than 5 per cent. of school roll
1993-94	2	Nil	11
1994-95	2	Nil	14

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made by his Department in taking forward proposals for the expansion of the assisted places scheme; and how much his Department estimates this will cost in the future

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 820

financial years for which figures are available when this has been achieved. [5820]

Mr. Robertson: Consultation on ways of expanding the assisted places scheme are currently underway with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools and a statement will be made in due course. The estimated cost of the scheme in the current financial year will be around £11 million. An additional £9 million in total is being made available for expansion of the scheme over the next three years.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which independent sector schools charged (a) and highest and (b) the lowest level of fees to pupils covered by the assisted places scheme in the academic year 1994-95; and what charges were levied. [5828]

Mr. Robertson: The highest tuition fee charged to pupils covered by the assisted places scheme in academic year 1994-95 was at Glenalmond college at £7,575 per annum. The lowest fees were charged at Hamilton college--£2,273 per annum for pupils aged 12 to 18 years.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on the operation of the assisted places scheme in each year since

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 821

1981; how many (a) pupils and (b) institutions were covered by the scheme; and what was the overspend on the budget allocated to the scheme. [5789]

Mr. Robertson: The information requested is set out in the table. Expenditure on the assisted places scheme is cash limited each year and there have been no overspends on the budget allocated in any year since the scheme commenced.

School session	Total expenditure	Pupils covered	Schools covered
	£
1981-82	799,203	790	39
1982-83	1,718,485	1,450	41
1983-84	2,454,386	1,900	42
1984-85	3,298,461	2,265	42
1985-86	4,217,234	2,620	42
1986-87	4,861,150	2,626	41
1987-88	5,310,061	2,680	41
1988-89	5,758,542	2,695	41
1989-90	6,681,213	2,841	59
1990-91	7,641,895	2,861	59
1991-92	8,706,443	2,911	58
1992-93	9,755,844	3,038	58
1993-94(29)	10,127,276	3,058	55
1994-95(29)	10,456,738	3,042	55

(29)Provisional.

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