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Full-time Employment
32. Mr. Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans her Department has to increase full-time employment in the United Kingdom; and if she will make a statement. [29126]
Mr. Forth: We shall continue with the policies that have enabled businesses to create more than 350,000 full-time jobs since autumn 1993.
Part-time and Temporary Jobs
34. Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the number of employees who are in part-time and temporary jobs because they can not find permanent work and as to trends in the number; and if she will make a statement. [29128]
Mr. Forth: The labour force survey provides routine information on part-time and temporary work, and shows that the vast majority of part-timers are in permanent employment.
Pupil Exclusions
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils, and for what period of time, have been excluded from schools in the Easington constituency in each year since 1992. [30214]
Mr. Robin Squire: This information is not available centrally.
The Department has this year started collecting figures on permanent exclusions through the annual census returns sent to all schools in January. Data on exclusions in the school year 1994-95 should be available by the early autumn.
22 May 1996 : Column: 257
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what were the recorded rates of truancy in schools in England and Wales (a) at the latest available date and (b) in 1980. [30202]
Mr. Robin Squire:
Rates of unauthorised absence for maintained primary and secondary schools in England for the 1994-95 school year were as follows:
Information on pupil absence rates in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Primary Schools
Percentage of half days missed: 0.5 per cent.
Average number of half days missed per absent pupil: 10
Secondary Schools
Percentage of half days missed: 1.0 per cent.
Average number of half days missed per absent pupil: 22
Equivalent information was not collected centrally in 1980.
Head Teachers
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to reform procedures for the appointment of head teachers; and if she will make a statement. [29107]
Mr. Robin Squire: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked the Teacher Training Agency to establish a national professional qualification for headship--NPQH. The Government anticipate that, in time, those being appointed as head teachers will be expected to have gained the NPQH.
Teacher Training Agency
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the expenditure plans for teacher recruitment by the Teacher Training Agency for (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97 and (c) 1997-98. [30453]
Mr. Robin Squire: This is a matter for the Teacher Training Agency. I will ask the chairman of the agency, Geoffrey Parker, to write to the hon. Member direct.
National Council for Vocational Qualifications
Mr. Merchant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she received a report of the quinquennial review of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications; and if she will make a statement. [30788]
Mr. Paice: The report is being published today and copies are being placed in the Library. The review has informed our recent consultation document, "Building the Framework", on the future of NCVQ and School Curriculum Assessment Authority, in the light of Sir Ron Dearing's recommendations.
EU Trade Talks
Mr. Callaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she plans next to meet
22 May 1996 : Column: 258
European Community Ministers to discuss trade; and if he will make a statement. [30306]
Mr. Lang: I have been asked to reply.
My colleagues and I meet our European Union counterparts regularly to discuss a wide range of trade issues particularly those arising in preparation for the World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Singapore in December.
SCOTLAND
Drug Users (Tayside)
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the level of funding allocation by the national services division to Tayside health board for services for drug users in the current year; and what was the figure in each of the three previous years. [29756]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The level of funding allocated by the national services division to Tayside health board for drug misuse services in the four financial years from 1993-94 to 1996-97 is set out in the table.
1993-94: £265,000 1
1994-95: £850,000
1995-96: £1,091,000
1996-97: £1,090,302
1 The figure for 1993-94 does not include allocations for HIV drugs-related services which, since 1994-95, have been included in the general drug misuse allocations.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information, which has been provided by Tayside health board, is set out in the table.
| 1995-96 | 1996-97 | |
|---|---|---|
| Actual £ | Intended allocations £ | |
| Dundee drugs and AIDS project | (10)220,000 | (12)158,500 |
| Wishart centre | (11)42,000 | 20,000 |
| Body Positive | -- | 15,000 |
| Scottish drugs forum | 60,000 | 42,000 |
(10) This amount includes non-recurrent funding of £82,000.
(11) This amount includes non-recurrent funding of £22,000.
(12) This amount includes non-recurrent funding of £20,500.
Scottish Drugs Forum
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the level of core funding provided by the Scottish Office to the Scottish drugs forum in the current year and in 1995-96. [29731]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The core funding provided by the Scottish Office to the Scottish drugs forum for the two years in question is as follows:
22 May 1996 : Column: 259
| Financial year | Total core grant £ |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 88,000 |
| 1996-97 | 150,000 |
Betaferon
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the arrangements adopted in each health board area in Scotland for the prescription of the drug betaferon to patients suffering from multiple sclerosis; and what estimate he has made of the number of patients in each health board area potentially able to benefit from this drug. [29732]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department's guidance on the use of the drug betaferon for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis is being consistently applied in each health board area in Scotland. [29733]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: NHS circular MEL (1995) 73 issued on 16 November 1995 to all health boards and NHS trusts offering guidance in the context of their responsibilities to develop and plan local arrangements to manage the entry of beta interferon into the NHS.
The use of the drug for the treatment of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis is, in each case, a matter for the clinical judgment of the responsible medical practitioner.
Woodcot and Arduthie Hospitals
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to ensure a full public consultation before the proposed closure of Woodcot and Arduthie hospitals in Grampian, and that the award of the contract for the replacement hospital is announced before the consultation is completed. [29734]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Public consultation carried out by Grampian health board through the local health council between June and September 1995 established strong support for a new hospital in Kincardineshire to replace the two existing old and unsuitable facilities. I look forward to learning the outcome of the tendering exercise currently being undertaken by the health board, and I will wish to be satisfied that any proposals put forward for an alternative model of service provision represent an improvement on what exists at present before I agree to the closure of any hospital.
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