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Student Loans

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment for what reasons student loans will not be available to applicants over 50 years of age; and if she will make a statement. [24181]

Mr. Forth: The loans scheme provides students with additional resources from the taxpayer in anticipation of their repaying that loan out of future earnings. Students over 50 generally do not have the same expectations of future earnings as younger people and they are more likely to have access to other sources of finance.

Teachers' Superannuation Scheme

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to make a decision about the proposed contractorisation of the Teachers' Pensions Agency. [24365]

Mr. Robin Squire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe), Official Report, column 31.

Remploy

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what targets Remploy has been set in its 1996-97 annual performance agreement. [24588]

Mr. Paice: My noble Friend the Minister of State has written to the chairman of Remploy approving the 1996-97 annual performance agreement between the Department and the company. This agreement covers the year from 1 April 1996. It has been negotiated by the chief executive of the Employment Service, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. The targets are:

the average number of disabled people employed by Remploy Ltd. will be at least 9,400;
the average number of disabled people employed under the interwork scheme will be at least 2,400;
at least 175 disabled employees will move from Remploy factories to interwork having been employed there for at least one year, or from interwork or factories to open employment;
Remploy Ltd. will keep within a total unit cost target (operating deficit per disabled worker) of £10,170;
the unit cost of interwork should be no more than £4,540;
Remploy Ltd. will keep within an operating deficit of £99 million (including reorganisation costs).

The text of the annual performance agreement is being placed in the Library.

2 Apr 1996 : Column: 143

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Torture Equipment Exports

Mr. Cohen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what reports he has received alleging that the ban on the sale of torture equipment to certain countries has not been complied with; and if he will make a statement. [20354]

Mr. Oppenheim: I have not received any such reports. However, the Government deeply deprecate the export of any equipment knowingly to be used as an instrument of torture and would never themselves knowingly support such activity. In cases where export licences were required, no such licence would be granted if there was reason to believe that the goods would be misused for such purposes.

Mr. Cohen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the allegations in the Channel 4 "Dispatches" programme of Government knowledge or approval of the export of torture equipment. [20351]

Mr. Oppenheim: I assume the programme to which the hon. Member refers is "The Torture Trail", originally screened on 11 January 1995. The Government deeply deprecate the export of any equipment knowingly to be used as an instrument of torture and would never themselves knowingly support such activity. In cases where export licences were required, no such licence would be granted if there was reason to believe that the goods would be misused for such purposes.

Mr. Wareing: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the offshore sale of arms and instruments of torture by British companies; what plans he has to prevent such sales; and if he will make a statement. [22293]

Mr. Oppenheim [holding answer 22 March 1996]: I am not specifically aware of any such sales. However, in respect of goods licensable under the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989 the Government are considering whether to cover this issue in forthcoming public consultation on a range of export control matters following Sir Richard Scott's recent report.

Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information his Department has evaluated in respect of the sale of electro-shock weapons or equipment from the United Kingdom. [22323]

Mr. Oppenheim: I am aware of allegations made in a recent television programme. The export of electro-shock weapons from the United Kingdom is controlled under the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989 and there have been no allegations of any breaches of export controls. I am not specifically aware of any such sales organised off-shore by UK resident companies. However, in respect of goods licensable under the Export of Goods (Control) Order the Government are considering whether to cover this issue in forthcoming public consultation on a range of export control matters following Sir Richard Scott's recent report.

2 Apr 1996 : Column: 144

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions he has acted to prevent the export of electro-shock batons in the last three years. [21542]

Mr. Oppenheim [holding answer 18 March 1996]: With the exception of the one transhipment licence referred to by my hon. Friend the Minister for Science and Technology in his letter of 3 August 1995 to the hon. Member in response to her question tabled on 17 July 1995, my Department has not received any applications for the export of electro-shock batons during the period in question.

Aerospace Technology

Ms Rachel Squire: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken to establish new university-linked applied research schemes for dual-use and civil aerospace technology requirements since the 1995 report from the technology foresight panel. [23693]

Mr. Eggar: A joint working forum on civil and defence collaboration in science and technology--the "civil/defence forum"--was established in June 1995, involving officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of Science and Technology to improve the co-ordination of dual-use civil and defence science and technology. The forum has been investigating mechanisms and potential areas for collaboration--the latter being based on technology foresight outputs--involving participants from academia, industry and defence.

Ms Squire: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken to develop a national strategy for aerospace technology since the 1995 report from the technology foresight panel. [23689]

Mr. Eggar: My Department is continuing its partnership with industry to maintain a common approach to the recommendations of the defence and aerospace panel of technology foresight. The panel is continuing its work with the full support of my Department. As part of this process, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade met the Society of British Aerospace Companies and they subsequently met me and the Government's chief scientific adviser. Also, under a joint DTI-SBAC initiative, co-ordinators have been consulting DTI and industry to determine civil aircraft research and demonstration programme priorities in discrete technology areas, addressing the long-term competitive needs of the industry.

Ms Squire: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken to support collaboration between the Civil Aviation Authority, industry and academics to maximise market opportunities arising for European programmes. [23686]

Mr. Eggar: There are a number of programmes supporting work in air traffic management and aviation safety that are of interest to the Civil Aviation Authority. These are run by European bodies such as the European Civil Aviation Conference, the European Commission and Eurocontrol. They are concerned with longer-term research and as such are some distance away from market exploitation. My Department maintains a dialogue with

2 Apr 1996 : Column: 145

the CAA and its parent Department, the Department of Transport, on research and other related issues.

Ms Squire: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what increase in funding has been made for industrial applied research in civil aerospace through the civil aircraft research and demonstration scheme since the 1995 report from the technology foresight panel. [23694]

Mr. Eggar: The civil aircraft research and demonstration programme supports research in aeronautics rather than space. There has been no increase in funding for industrial applied research in civil aeronautics through CARAD since the 1995 report for the technology foresight panel--published in April 1995.

Ms Squire: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what increase in funding has been made for technology demonstrator programmes for civil aerospace since the 1995 report from the technology foresight panel. [23696]

Mr. Eggar: There has been no increase in funding for civil technology demonstrator programmes since the 1995 report for the technology foresight panel--published in April 1995.

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