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Niaz Ahmed

Mr. Max Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the application by Mr. Niaz Ahmed (Ref: IMM/C8853) to join his wife in the United Kingdom was referred to his Department for inquiries to be made in the United Kingdom; on what date the request was received by his Department; when he expects to make a recommendation; and if he will make a statement. [18469]

Mr. Kirkhope [holding answer 4 March 1996]: I have been asked to reply.

I understand that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office informed the hon. Member on 7 February that this application has not been referred to the Home Office. That remains the case.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Enterprise and Higher Education Initiative

Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the total expenditure in (a) actual and (b) current prices on the enterprise and higher education initiative in each year since 1988; how many higher education institutions have participated in the initiative; and what was the total funding per higher education institution. [17661]

5 Mar 1996 : Column: 174

Mr. Forth: The total figure for expenditure on the enterprise in higher education initiative in Great Britain is £60 million. It is not possible at this time to give year on year figures for Great Britain but those for England and Wales are given.

All prices £000

Year	Cash prices	Current prices(23)
1988-89	600	800
1989-90	2,300	2,960
1990-91	5,500	6,550
1991-92	8,700	9,750
1992-93	11,500	12,390
1993-94	9,300	9,740
1994-95	7,730	7,940
1995-96	(24)4,650	4,650
Totals	(25)50,280	54,780

(23) Calculated using the GPD Deflators.

(24) This is the budget for the year.

(25) This excludes the six Scottish universities which participated for whom responsibility and funds were transferred to the Scottish Office.

54 higher education institutions in England and Wales were involved and the average funding per institution was £931,000 at cash prices or £1,014,000 at current prices.

Special Educational Needs Tribunals

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average length of time between the lodging of an appeal to a special education needs tribunal and the hearing of the appeal by the tribunal. [18068]

Mrs. Gillan: The average length of time between the lodging of an appeal to the special educational needs tribunal and the hearing of the appeal is five months.

Further details are in the SEN tribunal president's annual report, a copy of which is in the Library.

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many appeals which have been lodged with the special educational needs tribunal are currently pending. [18093]

Mrs. Gillan: I understand that some 800 appeals which have been lodged with the special educational needs tribunal are currently pending.

I have asked the president of the tribunal to write to the hon. Member with up-to-date figures for appeals.

Local Education Authorities (Costs)

Mr. Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what were (a) the numbers of staff and (b) the administrative costs incurred by each education authority in England for the year 1994-95. [18855]

Mr. Robin Squire: The following table shows for each local education authority (a) the latest available full-time equivalent number of teaching and non-teaching staff as at June 1995; and (b) provisional administrative expenditure for 1994-95.

5 Mar 1996 : Column: 175

LEAs administration costs Gross expenditure 1994-95

LEA	Teaching and non-teaching staff	Administration costs (provisional) £000
Corporation of London	492	n/a
Camden	n/a	7,705
Greenwich	4,125	n/a
Hackney	n/a	8,062
Hammersmith and Fulham	n/a	4,010
Islington	2,223	n/a
Kensington and Chelsea	1,284	2,735
Lambeth	3,503	11,588
Lewisham	3,499	n/a
Southwark	n/a	8,401
Tower Hamlets	n/a	n/a
Wandsworth	2,045	4,396
City of Westminster	1,974	n/a
Barking	2,695	3,281
Barnet	3,772	3,150
Bexley	n/a	3,731
Brent	n/a	4,304
Bromley	2,021	3,802
Croydon	3,889	3,929
Ealing	3,061	6,602
Enfield	3,355	6,379
Haringey	n/a	4,617
Harrow	2,489	n/a
Havering	n/a	3,096
Hillingdon	n/a	5,014
Hounslow	3,045	n/a
Kingston upon Thames	1,525	2,144
Merton	1,818	n/a
Newham	3,927	5,202
Redbridge	3,186	2,935
Richmond upon Thames	1,843	2,405
Sutton	1,836	4,744
Waltham Forest	3,178	8,935
Birmingham	15,406	18,724
Coventry	5,092	6,967
Dudley	n/a	3,808
Sandwell	4,283	4,726
Solihull	3,043	2,628
Walsall	4,504	4,563
Wolverhampton	4,009	n/a
Knowsley	2,607	3,541
Liverpool	n/a	n/a
St. Helens	2,806	2,309
Sefton	n/a	4,258
Wirral	5,171	5,457
Bolton	n/a	5,558
Bury	2,608	2,779
Manchester	8,518	8,420
Oldham	3,795	4,595
Rochdale	3,298	n/a
Salford	4,113	7,086
Stockport	3,718	3,659
Tameside	2,968	3,615
Trafford	3,007	1,733
Wigan	3,942	3,957
Barnsley	3,422	n/a
Doncaster	4,892	n/a
Rotherham	3,504	3,958
Sheffield	6,162	7,665
Bradford	8,087	7,736
Calderdale	n/a	n/a
Kirklees	6,192	8,631
Leeds	11,192	10,728
Wakefield	4,814	4,304
Gateshead	3,056	3,954
Newcastle upon Tyne	n/a	5,352
North Tyneside	n/a	1,583
South Tyneside	2,398	2,826
Sunderland	4,435	n/a
Isle of Scilly	(26)--	33
Avon	13,207	14,014
Bedfordshire	8,015	6,908
Berkshire	n/a	7,270
Buckinghamshire	7,328	14,029
Cambridgeshire	8,557	8,383
Cheshire	13,083	11,470
Cleveland	n/a	4,750
Cornwall	6,006	5,012
Cumbria	5,654	4,554
Derbyshire	12,822	5,518
Devon	n/a	9,226
Dorset	6,119	7,209
Durham	8,437	7,458
East Sussex	n/a	9,907
Essex	13,161	8,301
Gloucestershire	4,903	6,934
Hampshire	18,412	n/a
Hereford and Worcester	9,620	n/a
Hertfordshire	12,022	12,275
Humberside	15,607	14,307
Isle of Wight	1,647	3,636
Kent	n/a	30,198
Lancashire	19,599	22,798
Leicestershire	14,962	12,779
Lincolnshire	5,534	8,234
Norfolk	9,085	5,916
North Yorkshire	n/a	8,609
Northamtonshire	n/a	6,886
Northumberland	5,374	6,505
Nottinghamshire	13,464	n/a
Oxfordshire	7,477	8,848
Shropshire	5,349	n/a
Somerset	5,871	5,651
Staffordshire	15,358	3,310
Suffolk	9,213	6,992
Surrey	n/a	13,251
Warwickshire	6,585	n/a
West Sussex	8,795	10,950
Wiltshire	6,274	8,276

n/a = not yet available.

(26) Within Cornwall.

5 Mar 1996 : Column: 176

Higher Education (Funding)

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the level of funding allocated by the Government to the Higher Education Funding Council for England in respect of indirect costs relating to research projects for each of the financial years from 1990-91 to 1994-95. [18661]

Mr. Forth: The Government notify the Higher Education Funding Council for England of a total figure for funding for teaching and research. The funding council advises on the split between resources for teaching and research and allocates block grant to institutions. Funding for research from the funding council is intended to contribute to the indirect costs associated with specific projects funded by the research councils and to support basic research undertaken at institutions' direction. Universities are expected to charge full costs to industrial and other sponsors of research.

5 Mar 1996 : Column: 177

The funding council was established under the provisions of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and assumed responsibility for paying grant to institutions on 1 April 1993. In the academic year 1993-94, it allocated a total of £618,150,500 for research. In 1994-95, that figure was £626,664,907. It is not possible to identify an element in respect of indirect costs.

Nursery Voucher Scheme

Mr. Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils aged three and a half will lose their reception places under the Government's nursery voucher scheme. [18798]

Mr. Robin Squire: No three-year-old should lose a school place as a result of the nursery voucher scheme because there will be no deduction from resources local education authorities are currently making available for such places.

Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is (a) the estimated number of four-year-olds eligible, (b) the number of full-time equivalent places already available for (i) each existing category of provider and (ii) in total, (c) the additional number of full-time equivalent places expected from existing and new providers by category and total and (d) the estimated deficit or surplus number of places, in each of the areas of local education authorities participating in the voucher scheme for early age education. [19109]

Mr. Squire: The best estimates of the number of four-year-olds in January 1995, with and without a place in the maintained sector in each of the phase 1 local education authorities are given. Estimates of participation are less reliable when broken down by both year group and LEA area. The Department does not hold information on the number of places in the private and voluntary sectors.

LEA	Estimated number of 4 year olds	Estimated number of 4 year olds without a place in the maintained sector in January 1995	Estimated number of 4 year olds in maintained provision at January 1995
Wandsworth	3,300	700	2,600
Westminster	1,900	800	1,100
Kensington and Chelsea	1,650	850	800
Norfolk	9,300	3,000	6,300

Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 24 January, Official Report, column 280, if she will estimate the shortfall in places available relative to the number of children whose parents require places under the nursery voucher scheme. [18942]

Mr. Squire: Based on estimated population and participation figures, some 145,000 four-year-olds in England were not in nursery education places in the maintained sector in January 1995. Many of these have places in the voluntary or private sectors.

5 Mar 1996 : Column: 178

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