| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Capita Managed Services
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) facilities management consortia, (b) private finance initiative bids, (c) management buy-out consortia, (d) contractorisation schemes and (e) market-testing schemes in his Department in respect of which (i) Capita Managed Services and (ii) Lusis Business Solutions are currently involved in bidding. [19899]
8 Mar 1996 : Column: 367
Mrs. Angela Knight: The Treasury has no current dealings with Capita Management Services or Lusis Business Solutions.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
School Leavers
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of school leavers have gone directly into higher education in each year since 1980. [19485]
Mr. Forth: Numbers of school leavers going directly into higher education are not collected centrally. However, the proportion of young people entering full-time higher education has more than doubled since 1980 as shown in the following list.
Academic year beginning in:
1980: 13
1981: 13
1982: 13
1983: 13
1984: 14
1985: 14
1986: 14
1987: 15
1988: 15
1989: 17
1990: 19
1991: 23
1992: 28
1993: 30
1994: 31 1
1 Provisional.
Figures show the number of young--aged under 21 years--home domiciled initial entrants to higher education in Great Britain expressed as a percentage of the averaged 18 to 19-year-old population. Initial entrants are those entering a full-time course of higher education for the first time.
School Buildings
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the budget for repairs and maintenance of school buildings in real terms in each year since 1979. [19448]
Mr. Robin Squire: The following table shows in 1995 prices gross recurrent expenditure by local education authorities in England on repairs and maintenance from 1979-80 to 1994-95.
| 1995 prices | |
|---|---|
| £000 | |
| 1979-80 | 580,003 |
| 1980-81 | 599,060 |
| 1981-82 | 552,319 |
| 1982-83 | 581,652 |
| 1983-84 | 616,316 |
| 1984-85 | 598,008 |
| 1985-86 | 565,595 |
| 1986-87 | 616,805 |
| 1987-88 | 618,385 |
| 1988-89 | 579,596 |
| 1989-90 | 631,736 |
| 1990-91 | 618,283 |
| 1991-92 | 625,818 |
| 1992-93 | 583,974 |
| 1993-94 | 527,906 |
| 1994-95(3) | 534,295 |
(3) Provisional.
8 Mar 1996 : Column: 368
Student Grants
Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is her Department's estimate for the total parental contribution to higher education student maintenance awards. [19360]
Mr. Forth [holding answer 7 March 1996]: The total assessed parental contribution to mandatory awards made by local education authorities in England and Wales for the academic year 1993-94, the latest year for which data are available, was £621 million.
School Inspections (Don Valley)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list for (a) the schools which the Office of Standards in Education plan to inspect in the Don Valley constituency in the next 12 months, (b) the dates during which inspections are to be made, (c) the dates on which inspection contracts were approved and (d) the date by which Ofsted will report the outcome of the inspection. [19689]
Mr. Robin Squire: This is a matter 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.
Capita Managed Services
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the (a) facilities management consortia, (b) private finance initiative bids, (c) management buy-out consortia, (d) contractorisation schemes and (e) market-testing schemes in her Department in respect of which (i) Capita Managed Services and (ii) Lusis Business Solutions are currently involved in bidding. [19913]
Mr. Robin Squire: Capita Managed Services has recently submitted a tender to administer the teachers' superannuation scheme under the contractorisation process of the Teachers' Pensions Agency.
Capita Managed Services and Lusis Business Solutions are not currently bidding for work in any of the other areas.
DEFENCE
Air Accidents
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when (a) the Royal Air Force Harrier GR 7 which crashed on 20 February at Southorpe, near Peterborough, Lincolnshire, (b) the two RAF Tornados which collided on
8 Mar 1996 : Column: 369
10 January above the base at Coningsby, (c) the RAF Tornado which crashed on 11 January at RAF Bruggen, Germany and (d) the RAF Hawk trainer which crashed on take-off in February at RAF Valley, Anglesey last had a major service; by whom each was carried out; and if he will make a statement. [17914]
Mr. Soames: All RAF aircraft are maintained in accordance with the appropriate authorised servicing cycle and approved maintenance procedures.
In addition to first and second line maintenance carried out at operating units by RAF tradesmen at 125, 250, 500 and 1,000 flying hours, RAF Tornado aircraft undergo a major service every 2,000 flying hours. This is carried out by the Maintenance Group Defence Agency at RAF St. Athan. Neither Tornado F3 ZE862 nor ZE166 had received their first major service, which would have become due at 2,000 flying hours. They had, however, been subject to appropriate levels of servicing in November 1995 and August 1995 respectively. Tornado GR1 ZD846's last major service was carried out in 1991, but it had been appropriately serviced in December 1995.
RAF Hawk aircraft undergo a major service every 2,000 flying hours. Hawk XX164's last major service was performed in 1991 at RAF Abingdon. The aircraft has since then received regular servicing, most recently in January 1996 when minor maintenance was carried out by RAF tradesmen at RAF Valley.
The design philosophy of the Harrier does not require it to undergo major servicing in the same way as the Tornado and Hawk. Harrier GR7 ZG476 completed a period of minor scheduled maintenance, the deepest servicing applicable to the Harrier GR7, at RAF Wittering in December 1995. This work was carried out by RAF tradesmen.
The separate boards of inquiry into these aircraft losses are ongoing. A summary of the board's findings will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the circumstances of the accident and involving a Royal Navy Harrier T 4N at RNAS Yeovilton on 27 June 1994; and if this accident is included in the accident rate figure for Royal Navy fixed-wing aircraft published in the 1995 edition of "UK Defence Statistics". [19759]
Mr. Soames:
The circumstances of the accident are as follows. During the final stages of approach for landing, following a general flying practice sortie, the aircraft's rate of descent increased, causing it to land heavily. Subsequent investigation revealed that the aircraft had struck the leading edge of the runway with sufficient force to remove the main undercarriage. Fuller details are given in the "Military Aircraft Accident Summary", copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
I can confirm that this accident was included in the accident rate figures for Royal Navy fixed-wing aircraft published in the 1995 edition of "UK Defence Statistics".
8 Mar 1996 : Column: 370
Mr. Steinberg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel have been dismissed over the last five years for reasons regarding their sexuality. [19449]
Mr. Soames:
During the period 1990-94, 309 service personnel left the armed forces for reasons of their sexual orientation.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) facilities management consortia, (b) private finance initiative bids, (c) management buy-out consortia, (d) contractorisation schemes and (e) market-testing schemes in his Department in respect of which (i) Capita Managed Services and (ii) Lusis Business Solutions are currently involved in bidding. [19914]
Mr. Arbuthnot:
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. David Clark:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions the Arbau-Klaus railhead transfer equipment has been deployed outside the United Kingdom in conjunction with other equipment in the demountable rack offloading and pick-up system logistic supply chain. [19968]
Mr. Soames:
The Arbau-Klaus railhead transfer equipment has been deployed in Germany since 1989. It carries out a range of mechanical handling functions and is regularly deployed with a variety of other systems within the demountable rack offloading and pick-up system--DROPS--logistic supply chain.
Dr. Clark:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Arbau-Klaus railhead transfer equipment has required modification for use as part of the demountable rack offloading and pick-up system logistic supply chain since purchased by his Department. [19969]
Mr. Arbuthnot:
The Arbau-Klaus equipment has not required modification to meet the operational requirement. However, in the current financial year the Ministry of Defence has purchased a further complement of spreader frames to reflect the changed pattern of operational use. This option was provided for in the original contract.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |