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Education, South London

Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (1) church-aided and (2) non-denominational secondary schools which are located within 15 miles of Southwark are (a) grant-maintained and (b) maintained by local authorities. [11937]

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Mrs. Gillan: The information requested is shown in the following table:

Maintained secondary schools within 15 miles of the centre of Southwark Local Education Authority (LEA) area November 1995

Denominational(18)Non-denominational
LEA maintained schools68210
Grant-maintained schools5063

(18) Includes Church of England, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Methodist and other religious denominations.


Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will institute a public inquiry into the quality of secondary education provision in the London boroughs of Islington, Southwark and Lambeth. [11938]

Mr. Robin Squire: No.

Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will hold discussions with the Lambeth and Southwark education committee chairmen on whether their education policies are meeting the needs of local parents. [11939]

Mr. Robin Squire: I have had no request for such a meeting nor is there any current intention of Ministers to seek one.

Employment Service (Safety of Staff)

Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what has been the number of attacks on Employment Service office staff in each of the last five years; what assessment she has made as to the causes of such attacks; and if she will make a statement; [11933]

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 Mike Fogden to Mr. John McAllion, dated 29 January 1996:


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    include upgrading the security arrangements, better training in customer handling, introducing more effective and efficient working procedures and improving the layout of the office to provide better traffic flow and more accessible escape routes for my people.
    The figures of actual assaults on my people in each of the last five years are:-
    1991: 152
    1992: 203
    1993: 258
    1994: 268
    1995: 234
    A systematic risk assessment, by competent Risk Assessors, to identify and recommend measures to reduce incidents to the minimum practical level has been made of all our Jobcentres in preparation for the introduction of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Trade Union Health and Safety representatives were fully consulted as part of the risk assessment process. Their views were fully taken into account by risk assessors.
    Safety and security measures will receive priority funding and I anticipate no difficulties in implementing the agreed recommendations of Risk Assessors.
    I hope this is helpful.

Jobseekers (Project Work Scheme)

Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her oral statement of 16 January, Official Report, column 610, if she will place in the Library a copy of all correspondence and other data evaluated by her Department relating to the decision to pilot the project work scheme in the Hull and Medway travel-to-work areas. [12156]

Mr. Forth [holding answer 26 January 1996]: The information requested is either data about the labour market, which is publicly available, or pre-existing documents. It would not be appropriate specifically to provide this information in the form requested. However, it may be helpful if I explain the way in which the choice of pilot areas was made. Hull and Medway and Maidstone were two of a number of travel-to-work areas of the right size to mount a manageable pilot at a reasonable cost, while still producing a sample large enough for proper evaluation. They were also relatively self-contained, which minimised the potential for distortion, and they represented two different sorts of labour market. The respective rates of unemployment and very long-term unemployment in the two travel-to-work areas is shown in the following table, compared with the national averages.

Pilot areaUnemployment rateVLTU(19) as percentage of total unemployedVLTU(20) as percentage of total workforce
Per cent.
Medway and Maidstone8.213.71.1
Hull9.918.81.9
National average8.021.61.7

(19) Very long-term unemployed, i.e., over 2 years.

(20) Seasonally adjusted, and provisional.


Equal Opportunities Commission

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made

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of the effects on the workings of the Sex Discrimination Acts and Equal Pay Act 1970 of the reduction in funding for the Equal Opportunities Commission. [12398]

Mrs. Gillan: I expect that the Equal Opportunities Commission will continue to use its resources efficiently and effectively to carry out its statutory duties.

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to restore funding to the Equal Opportunities Commission. [12396]

Mrs. Gillan: We consider annually the funding requirements of the Equal Opportunities Commission, alongside other calls on public expenditure.

EU Funding

Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how much in (a) ecus and (b) pounds by standard region and in total the United Kingdom received under the European Leonardo programme and its predecessor schemes over the last available five-year period; [11649]

Mr. Forth: The main predecessors of the Leonardo programme were the Comett, Force and Petra programmes. The following tables relate to funding received in the United Kingdom as a whole under these programmes; regional allocations are not available. No financial details of funds received within the Leonardo programme in 1995, its first year of operation, have yet been published by the European Commission.

Table 1: Figures in 000 ECU

YearComettForcePetra
1990(21)------
19913,048 (22)1,055
19926,411 7,380 2,796
19933,871 3,866
19943,677Not available3,274

(21) Figures not available for 1990.

(22) Excludes placement/exchange activity.


Table 2: Figures in £000
Exchange rate 1 ECU=£0.8472

YearComettForcePetra
1990(23)------
19912,582 (24)894
19925,432 6,252 2,369
19933,280 3,275
19943,115Not available2,774

(23) Figures not available for 1990.

(24) Excludes placement/exchange activity.


Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how much in (a) ecus and (b) pounds by standard region and in total the

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United Kingdom received from the European Socrates programme and its predecessor schemes over the last available five years. [11652]

Mr. Forth: The main predecessors of the Socrates programme were the Erasmus and Lingua programmes. The following table relates to funding allocated to the United Kingdom as a whole under these programmes; regional allocations are not available. No financial details of grants awarded under the Socrates programme in 1995, its first year of operation, have yet been published by the European Commission.

ERASMUS(25) LINGUA
YearECU000£000(26)ECU000£000(26)
19905,3724,551n/an/a
19916,8225,780(27)2,156(27)1,827
19929,2497,836(28)4,210(28)3,567
19939,5828,118(28)4,769(28)4,040
199410,3288,750(28)5,283(28)4,476

(25) Includes LINGUA Action II.

(26) At 1 ECU = £0.8472.

(27) LINGUA Actions I, III, IV and VB only.

(28) LINGUA Actions I, III, IV and V only.

n/a not available.


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Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much in (a) Ecus and (b) pound sterling by standard region and in total the United Kingdom received under the European social fund over the last available five years. [11660]

Mr. Forth: Information by standard region is not available except at disproportionate cost. The following table shows the amounts of European social fund as allocated to the United Kingdom in the years 1991-95.

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European Social Fund Allocations 1991-95
1994 prices using an exchange rate of £1 = 1.2 ecu Community initiatives are included between 1991-93 and excluded for 1994 and 1995

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Total
Mecu£ millionMecu£ millionMecu£ millionMecu£ millionMecu£ millionMecu£ million
Objective 1
Northern Ireland75538059786149405042332255
Merseyside(29)------------463950429681
Highlands and Islands(29)------------87971714
Total7553805978611038610991445350
Objective 2
North-East England25172921272124202621131100
East England(30)241728202621--------7858
East Midlands(29)------------65761311
West Midlands1913221620163025312612296
North West England51366044564431263327231177
West Cumbria32323222221310
West Scotland1813211620162017211710079
East Scotland64757588873629
South Wales141017121612151216137859
North East Wales(30)212222--------65
Yorkshire and Humberside(29)------------252126225143
East London and Lea Valley(29)------------65651210
Thanet(29)------------111122
Plymouth------------222244
Total162113189138177139170144179149877683
Objectives 3 and 4 Total(31)3142623713095484574213515544622,2081,841
Objective 5b
South West England43222243541714
Rural Wales43222243541714
Highland and Islands(30)432222--------87
Dumfries and Galloway(29)------------111122
The Marches(29)------------111122
Northern Uplands(29)------------224466
Lincolnshire(29)------------111122
East Anglia------------111122
Borders of Scotland(29)------------111122
Central Scotland/Tayside(29)------------111122
Grampian(29)------------111122
Total1296666171521196255
Grand total5634376465128096637115968637213,5922,929

(29) These programmes commenced in 1994.

(30) These programme areas were redefined from 1994.

(31) Objectives 3 and 4 are national programmes not divided regionally. 1991-93 figures cover both objectives which were amalgamated into Objective 3 from 1994 onwards.


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