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Schools Expenditure

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the capital expenditure for each of the past five years in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary and grammar schools in (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) Strangford constituency. [26963]

Mr. Ancram: Capital expenditure by education and library boards on controlled schools and grants paid by the Department of Education on approved capital expenditure incurred by voluntary and grant-maintained integrated schools for each of the financial years 1989-90 to 1993-94 is set out as follows.

Year	Primary schools	Secondary and grammar schools
Northern Ireland
1989-90	9.517	27.494
1990-91	11.689	41.317
1991-92	11.534	44.043
1992-93	15.635	45.754
1993-94	17.585	42.786
Strangford constituency
1989-90	0.491	1.482
1990-91	0.360	3.670
1991-92	0.484	4.101
1992-93	0.512	0.914
1993-94	0.589	1.130

Belfast Gazette

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the circulation of the Belfast Gazette; and if this figure is confirmed by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. [26861]

Sir John Wheeler: The weekly subscription to the Belfast Gazette is 208. It is also available from HMSO Northern Ireland.

The circulation figure is not confirmed by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

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Ballywalter Primary School

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the enrolment in each of the past five years at Ballywalter primary school; what is the expected enrolment of the school in each of the next five years; what proposals there are to provide additional accommodation at the school; how many places in primary one will be available in the next academic year; how many applicants there are for places in primary one at the school for the next academic year; how many pupils there have been per teacher for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement. [26964]

Mr. Ancram: The enrolments in each of the past five years are as follows:

Year	Number of pupils enrolled
1991-92	138 (at January 1991)
1992-93	135 (at October 1992)
1993-94	141 (at October 1993)
1994-95	141 (at October 1994)
1995-96	153 (at October 1995)

It is not possible to project accurately an enrolment figure for each of the next five years. However, the Department has approved a temporary variation to increase the enrolment number of the school to 161 for the 1996-97 school year.

Provision of controlled primary schools places in Ballywalter is the responsibility of the South-Eastern education and library board. The provision of a temporary classroom at Ballywalter primary school is currently under consideration by the South-Eastern education and library board.

The Department has approved a temporary variation to the school's admissions number from 21 to 25 for the 1996-97 school year. The school has received 27 applications.

The number of pupils per teacher--the pupil: teacher ratio--over the last five years are:

Year	Pupil: teacher ratio
1991-92	23.0
1992-93	19.9
1993-94	21.2
1994-95	20.9
1995-96	21.0

Police White Paper

Mr. Maginnis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to publish the White Paper on policing structures. [27629]

Sir Patrick Mayhew: Following wide consultation, I have today published a White Paper setting out proposals for the reform of the tripartite structure for policing governance in Northern Ireland.

The proposals seek to build on the consensus which has been shown to exist for a police service which upholds and is seen to uphold the law fairly with rigorous impartiality, efficiency and effectiveness, which:

1 May 1996 : Column: 557

is accountable both to the law, and through a strong and independent Police Authority, to the community; and
is responsive to the community, accordingly commanding widespread confidence and support.

To this end, the proposals would:

enhance and render transparent the accountability of the police to the community through the Police Authority;
safeguard the operational independence of the police, so ensuring that the law is enforced impartially without partisan political interference;
enable the community, through the Police Authority, to engage meaningfully in shaping the future direction of policing through the provision of statutory objective setting and police planning processes; and
achieve greater efficiency in the use of resources devoted to policing by removal of bureaucracy and duplication of effort.

The White paper offers proposals for the basis of future legislation. Such legislation would, however, be informed by the forthcoming discussions on policing in the all-party political talks that are due to take place on an open agenda, and it would be shaped to reflect any agreements which emerge.

Small and Medium Businesses

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on procurement from small and medium enterprises in 1995-96. [27525]

Sir John Wheeler: Within the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments, the information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Police Complaints Report

Mr. Hargreaves: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will lay before parliament the 1995 annual report of the Independent Commission for Police Complaints for Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [28060]

Sir Patrick Mayhew: I have today arranged for the 1995 annual report of the Independent Commission for Police Complaints to be laid before Parliament.

The report, which follows the format of last year's, comments on the work of the commission in 1995 including the supervision of the investigation of complaints against the police and the commission's role in disciplinary procedures arising from those complaints. It also contains details from a public attitudes survey conducted for the commission on the extent of public awareness of its work and confidence in its procedures.

For the first time, the report covers a year under conditions of declared terrorist ceasefires. This has led to some interesting changes in the number of complaints in certain categories and also to the way in which complaints arise. We will have to see whether or not the Provisional IRA's actions on 9 February alter these new trends.

The number of complaints fell overall by 12 per cent. from the 1994 level; a greater reduction in the number of complaints in the early part of 1995 was offset by a significant rise in August and September. The commission supervised its highest-ever proportion of complaints--

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15.7 per cent. The percentage of cases informally resolved continued to rise, with 18.3 per cent. in 1995 compared to 15.7 per cent., 10 per cent. and 7.6 per cent. in the previous three years.

The report shows that the commission and its staff had another busy year. I would like to record by my thanks to them for their continued dedication and commitment.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Upper Earnings Limit

Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans there are to index link the upper earnings limit. [27385]

Mr. Heald: The upper earnings limit for class 1 national insurance contributions is, in effect, already index linked. Section 5(3) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 links it to the weekly rate of the basic category A retirement pension, which is increased each year as part of the annual uprating of benefits. We have no plans to change these arrangements.

Small and Medium Businesses

Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on procurement from small and medium enterprises in 1995-96. [27522]

Mr. Burt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave her on 27 November 1995, Official Report, column 512.

Pensions

Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 757, what is the Government Actuary's assumption of the numbers of pensioners receiving and likely to receive a state earnings-related pension in 1994-95, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2010-11, 2020-21 and 2030-31. [26449]

Mr. Heald: The estimated number of recipients of the state-earnings-related pension was 4.2 million in 1994-95 rising to 4.6 million in 1995-96.

Estimates of the number of future recipients are not available.

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.
Source: The Government Actuary's Department.

Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 757, what was the estimated total cost of (a) flat rate retirement pensions and (b) state earnings-related pensions for the United Kingdom in 1995-96, in pounds sterling and as a percentage of gross domestic product; and what is the Government Actuary's estimate of these costs, allowing for the provisions of the Pensions Act 1995 in respect of pensionable ages for women, at 1995-96 prices, assuming (i) price uprating and (ii) earnings uprating of flat-rate benefits and the earnings limits in (1) 2000-1, (2) 2010-11, (3) 2020-21 and (4) 2030-31. [26452]

1 May 1996 : Column: 559

Mr. Heald: The information is not available in the format requested. The information given in the table is for Great Britain, but includes the cost of pensions paid to persons residing overseas.

The tables give the expenditure figures and the Government Actuary's estimates of future costs allowing for all the provisions of the 1995 Pensions Act.

Table 1: 1995-96 expenditure

	Total cost £ billion	Percentage of GDP
Basic pension	27.9	3.9
State earnings-related pension (SERPS)	2.3	0.3

Notes:

1. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion and percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent.

2. The underlying GDP figure is that shown for 1995-96 in table 6A.1 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1996-97.

Source:

Social Security Departmental Report, March 1996-Cm 3213.

Table 2: Basic pension: estimated future expenditure at 1995-96 prices£ billion

	2000-1	2010-11	2020-21	2030-31
(i) Prices uprating	30.4	34.3	36.0	42.8
(ii) Earnings uprating	33.3	43.5	52.9	73.2

1. Costs are based on the assumptions underlying the Government Actuary's report on the effects of the Pensions Bill 1994 on the national insurance fund, Cm 2714.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.

Table 3: SERPS: estimated future expenditure at 1995-96 prices£ billion

	2000-1	2010-11	2020-21	2030-31
(i) prices uprating	4.3	8.6	11.1	12.3
(ii) earnings uprating of lower and upper earnings limits for SERPS accrual	4.2	8.5	10.9	11.8

1. Costs are based on the assumptions underlying the Government Actuary's report on the effects of the Pensions Bill 1994 on the national insurance fund, Cm 2714.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.

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