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Judicial Vacancies
36. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of judicial vacancies were advertised in 1995. [21928]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: Over half the appointments to the full-time professional judiciary in 1995 were made following either advertisement or notice to eligible candidates where eligibility is restricted. The equivalent figure for the part-time professional judiciary was about 20 per cent.
Magistrates Courts
38. Mr. Viggers: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent representations he has received on the working of the magistrates courts. [21930]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: I receive frequent representations on the working of the magistrates courts.
Public Interest Immunity Certificates
39. Mr. Cohen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what advice he has given to judges in respect of dealing with cases in which a public interest immunity certificate relating to the suppression of evidence has been issued. [21931]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: None. Decisions on such claims are matters solely for the courts.
Family Law Bill
41. Sir Michael Neubert: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what have been the principal issues which were raised in representations to him about the Family Law Bill during March. [21933]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: I received representations on the Family Law Bill on a number of issues during March. The principal issues were: reconciliation and support for marriage, the use of allegations of fault, the professional competence of mediators, the influence of conduct on financial settlements and the timing of finance and property orders.
Advice and Representations to HM the Queen
42. Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what are his responsibilities in respect of (a) giving advice and (b) making representations to Her Majesty the Queen in her private capacity. [21934]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 4 March 1996, Official Report, column 73.
Community Care Policy
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what information his Department collates on judicial reviews of community care policy. [24155]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
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Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 1 April 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to the above question about judicial reviews of community care policy.
Statistics on judicial review relate only to the total number of cases. No separate information is collated on judicial review of community care policy.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Sickness Rates
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of regional variations in sickness rates (a) in the civil service, (b) elsewhere in the public sector and (c) in other employment. [22377]
Mr. Robin Squire: The following table gives an assessment of regional variations in sickness rates in the civil service. The Department has not made an assessment of sickness rates for elsewhere in the public sector or in other employment.
| Region | Unadjusted | Adjusted | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 1994 | 1993 | 1994 | |
| North West | 11.8 | 11.2 | 10.5 | 10.6 |
| Scotland | 11.7 | 10.1 | 10.9 | 10.0 |
| Wales | 11.2 | 10.0 | 9.4 | 9.3 |
| North East | 11.2 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 8.9 |
| West Midlands | 9.4 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 8.5 |
| Northern Ireland | 9.2 | 9.4 | 8.5 | 8.4 |
| South East | 8.9 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.3 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 9.3 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.1 |
| East Midlands | 9.2 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.0 |
| South West | 8.3 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| East Anglia | 8.5 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 7.3 |
| Civil Service average | 10.1 | 8.9 | -- | -- |
Having adjusted for the factors affecting sickness absence which have been considered earlier in this Report (age, gender and grade level), there remain substantial differences between regions. The North West has the highest rate of absence of all Regions, followed by Scotland and Wales. East Anglia and the South West were clearly the regions of lowest absence.
Information Technology
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much money has been made available for each year since 1990 for information technology initiatives (a) for initial teacher training and (b) in schools; and if she will make a statement. [22556]
Mr. Robin Squire: The Department has given a central lead to the development of information technology in schools since the early 1980s. It is not possible to isolate the initial teacher training element.
The main source of the Department's financial support is provided through the grants for education support and training programme. The specific GEST
1 Apr 1996 : Column: 24
allocations for IT in schools in the five years from 1990-91 to 1994-95 were: £19.8 million, £30.4 million, £30 million, £30 million, and £21.9 million.
In 1995-96 and 1996-97 support for IT in schools continues to be available through the school effectiveness GEST programme. Eligible expenditure, which attracts grant at the rate of 60 per cent., includes IT equipment, upgrades and software, the installation of networking, the cost of teacher training provision and the employment of IT advisory teachers.
Over the period from 1990-91 to 1995-96, the Department has also separately made available funding in excess of £22 million to pilot new technologies; to stimulate software development focused on the needs of the national curriculum; to provide additional funding to equip many schools with multimedia technologies, and to support the development of the effective use of IT in individual curriculum subjects, the primary phase and with children with special educational needs.
In addition, the Department has made an annual grant available, in the region of £5 million per annum, to support the work of the National Council for Educational Technology to help schools use IT effectively for curriculum and administrative purposes.
Mr. Chris Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in what circumstances unemployed benefit recipients who are engaged in community self-build housing schemes from October 1996, will be required to limit their self-build participation to (a) 21 hours and (b) 16 hours in a week; and if the figures will be the same for (i) those carrying out self-build work on a voluntary basis, (ii) self-builders participating in training and enterprise council-funded training programmes and (iii) those participating in European social fund-funded programmes. [23058]
Mr. Forth:
The Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996 make no special provisions for people who participate in self-build housing schemes. To be entitled to JSA all jobseekers must be available for and actively seeking employment, and not in remunerative work for 16 hours or more per week as defined in the JSA regulations. The current approach in income support that those involved in self-build schemes will not usually be treated as engaged in remunerative work will be carried forward into JSA. Each claim from a jobseeker who participates in a self-build scheme will be considered on the individual facts of the case.
Mr. Llwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number of students in further and higher education in the United Kingdom; and what is the current ratio of school leavers to the number entering higher education. [23249]
Mr. Forth:
The numbers of enrolments in further--excluding adult education centres--and higher education in the UK in 1994-95 are provisionally estimated to be 2,573,000 and 1,701,000, respectively.
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| Age(10) | Number of entrants(11) to HE in UKs in 1994-95 (000) |
|---|---|
| 18 years and under | 154 |
| 19 years | 87 |
| 20 years and over | 561 |
| All ages | 802 |
(10) Age at 31 August.
(11) Provisional. Includes Open university.
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