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Scott Inquiry

Mr. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to paragraphs D1.27 and D1.28 of the Scott report, if he will list those matters relating to the work of his Department since 1979 classified as matters about which successive administrations have refused to answer. [17418]

Mr. Lang [holding answer 26 February 1996]: The Principal Clerk to the Table Office gave evidence in 1972 to a Select Committee appointed

"to consider the practice and procedure in relation to Questions and Question Time", giving a list of matters about which successive Administrations have refused to answer. This list is referred to in the current edition of "Erskine May." Subjects listed under the Department of Trade and Industry are as follows:
Commercial activities of the Overseas Marketing Corporation
Trade Statistics for Scotland
Financial support for trade fairs in the UK
Relations between ECGD and individual exporters
Reasons for refusal to refer mergers to monopolies Commission
Names of complainants about companies
Day to day matters for the English Tourist Board
Details of defence research establishments
Details of research contracts
Forecasts of price movements
Advice from Economic Planning Councils
Details of financial assistance to individual companies
Individual applicants for IDCs
Details of export licenses
Details of air miss inquiries
Individual transactions between National Film Finance Corporation and Customers.

11 Mar 1996 : Column: 426

Some of these subjects no longer fall within the responsibilities of my Department.

On 9 November 1979, the then Secretary of State for Trade and the Under-Secretary of State for Industry stated that it was not possible to provide an exhaustive list of subjects on which they would decline to answer and that each question would be considered on its merits, Official Report, columns 365 and 338. This is still the case.

Warren Springs Laboratory

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the research projects relating to the aviation industry undertaken by the Warren Springs laboratory in the five years prior to its closure. [19086]

Mr. Ian Taylor: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Equipment and Furniture

Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the cost and number of items of equipment and furniture that (a) have been stolen and (b) are otherwise unaccounted for from his Department and its agencies in each of the past five years, listing by name any such items valued at £5,000 or more, and showing information technology material separately. [19040]

Mr. John M. Taylor: Details of equipment stolen or otherwise unaccounted for from the Department during the last five years are set out.

All incidents involving losses exceeding £5,000 are listed individually, to the nearest £1,000.

	Value (£)
1991-92
It equipment incidents: 24	30,000
Other equipment incidents: 46	66,000
Items over £5,000: Theft of chairs	49,000
1992-93
It equipment incidents: 11	15,000
Other equipment incidents: 5	1,000
Items over £5,000: Theft of personal computers	7,000
1993-94
IT equipment incidents: 20	59,000
Other equipment incidents: 35	9,000
Items over £5,000: Theft of computer chips	42,000
1994-95
It equipment incidents: 35	69,000
Other equipment incidents: 26	17,000
Items over £5,000: Theft of vehicle	5,000
Theft of computer components	26,000

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Nursery Education

Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will place in the Library for each of the local education authority areas participating in her scheme for early years education, the names of the providers who have agreed to supply

11 Mar 1996 : Column: 427

existing, or new places, for the scheme together with the number of full-time equivalent places offered and the nature of their settings. [17869]

Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 28 February 1996]: A list of providers classified by type has been placed in the Library of the House. The estimated number of four-year-olds in the maintained sector in each of the phase 1 authorities is listed below.

LEA	Estimates number of four year-olds in maintained provision at January 1995
Kensington and Chelsea	800
Wandsworth	2,600
Westminster	1,100
Norfolk	6,300

Travel to Interview Scheme

Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what factors underlay her decision to extend the qualifying period of unemployment to be eligible for assistance under the travel to interview scheme from four to 13 weeks. [19101]

Mr. Forth: From April 1996, the travel to interview scheme will form part of a package of measures for people who have been unemployed for 13 weeks. It will support jobseeker's who are required to widen their search for jobs after they have been unemployed for 13 weeks and who, after the introduction of jobseeker's allowance, will be interviewed and expected to review their jobseeker's agreement at that point.

Youth Training (South Yorkshire)

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many eligible young people in (a) Doncaster and (b) the Mexborough area of South Yorkshire are currently unable to obtain a place on a youth training scheme; and what this figure was 12 months ago. [19350]

Mr. Paice: The information is not available in the format requested.

In the Barnsley and Doncaster training and enterprise council area, no young person within the youth training guarantee group was awaiting a place on youth training at January 1996. At the same time last year only one young person in the guarantee group had been waiting more than eight weeks for a training place.

Computers

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list all cases since 1987 where his Department has bought computer capacity from (a) other Departments and (b) the private sector, giving the value of each contract and the name of the private sector contractors. [19466]

Mr. Robin Squire: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

11 Mar 1996 : Column: 428

Access to Work

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Hamilton) of 14 December 1995, Official Report, column 738, what research her Department has undertaken into how many people will not be able to participate in the access to work scheme as a result of the priority setting; and if she will review the possibility of making available extra funding for the scheme. [19321]

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. Frank Field, dated 11 March 1996:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about research into the number of people participating in the Access to Work programme; and about funding for the programme.
We have not undertaken research into how many people will not be able to particpate in the programme as a result of the priority setting announced by the secretary of state on 14 December; although we know that about 80% of new applicants were employed.
The report of major research on Access to Work overall after its first year of operation will be published imminently.
By the end of January 1996 12,749 people (of whom 8,799 were new applicants) had been helped by Access to Work compared to 10,394 in the whole of 1994/5. Significant extra funds have been provided to make this possible.
I hope this is helpful.

Executive Agencies

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on how many occasions in each of the past five years Ministers in her Department have passed (a) hon. Members' letters and (b) hon. Members' questions to agencies for response; and what this figure is as a percentage of the total number of letters and questions received. [19427]

Mr. Robin Squire: The information requested is a matter of public record, but it could be extracted in the form requested only at disproportionate cost.

Assisted Places Scheme

Mr. Devlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what additional assisted places are to be made available, by school, in the north of England. [19622]

Mrs. Gillan: The information requested for schools already participating in the assisted places scheme is given in the table:

	Number of additional entry places in September 1996
North-east
Barnard Castle school	10
Central Newcastle high school	5
Dame Allan's boys' school	7
Dame Allan's girls' school	7
King's school, Tynemouth	28
Newcastle upon Tyne church high	30
Polam Hall school	10
Royal Grammar school	5
Teeside high	7
Yarm school	10
North-west
Arnold school	25
Austin Friars school	8
Belverdere school	20
Birkenhead high school	5
Birkenhead school	5
Bolton school boys' division	10
Bolton school girls' division	10
Bury Grammar school (boys)	10
Bury Grammar school (girls)	10
Casterton school	8
Cheadle Hulme School	5
Hulme Grammar school for boys	5
Hulme Grammar school for girls	5
King Edward VII school	5
King's school Chester	4
King's school Macclesfield	35
Kirkham Grammar	5
Manchester Grammar school	10
Manchester High school for girls	10
Merchant Taylors' boys' school	20
Merchant Taylors' school for girls	15
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar school	20
Queen Mary school	10
Sedbergh school	15
St. Ambrose college	22
St. Bede's college	25
St. Bees	4
St. Edward's	25
Stockport Grammar school	5
Stonyhurst college	29
Westholme school	40
William Hulme's Grammar	30
Withington Girls' school	3
Yorkshire and Humberside
Ashville college	13
Batley Grammar school	30
Bootham	12
Bradford Girls' Grammar school	3
Bradford Grammar school	20
Giggleswick school	10
Harrogate Ladies' college	14
Hymers college	5
Leeds Girls' high school	5
Leeds Grammar school	15
Mount school	13
Queen Elizabeth Grammar school	10
Scarborough college	33
Sheffield High school for girls	12
St. Peter's school	5
Wakefield girls' high school	10
Woodhouse Grove	5

11 Mar 1996 : Column: 429

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will announce shortly the allocation of a further 1,100 entry places in September 1996 at 60 or so schools in England not currently participating in the scheme.

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