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Sex Offenders
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if her Department keeps a list of suspected sex offenders; [36506]
- (2) if she will list, in respect of those lists of convicted sex offenders held by her Department which may be consulted, (a) the number of names on each list currently, (b) those who have access to each list, (c) what the lists are used for, (d) how long it takes on average to check a reference with such lists, (e) under what circumstances people are placed on the lists, and (f) how the procedure described in (e) above is conveyed to local authorities. [36505]
Mr. Robin Squire: The Department does not keep lists of convicted or suspected sex offenders. It does maintain a list, list 99, which contains details of people who are either barred from teaching and related employment in England and Wales or are subject to restrictions on their employment. Some of these people have been convicted of sex offences, but the list does not contain any explanation of why an individual has been barred.
Teachers (Cheshire)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the number of teachers employed by the Cheshire education authority for each of the last five years. [36503]
Mr. Robin Squire: The full-time equivalent numbers of teachers employed by Cheshire education authority, in the nursery, primary, secondary and special education sector, are shown as follows. Teachers in grant-maintained schools are excluded throughout.
| As at January of: | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|
| 1992(12) | 8,210 |
| 1993 | 8,140 |
| 1994 | 8,040 |
| 1995 | 8,120 |
| 1996 | 8,190 |
(12) Teachers in sixth form colleges are included in 1992 but excluded thereafter.
Class Sizes (Cheshire)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the average class size for schools in (a) Crewe and Nantwich and (b) Cheshire for each of the last five years; and what was the national average. [36501]
Mr. Robin Squire: The available information is shown in the following table:
| Cheshire LEA Area | England | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | |
| 1991 | 28.1 | 20.6 | 26.3 | 20.6 |
| 1992 | 27.6 | 20.7 | 26.4 | 20.9 |
| 1993 | 27.6 | 21.2 | 26.6 | 21.2 |
| 1994 | 27.4 | 21.1 | 26.9 | 21.4 |
| 1995 | 27.3 | 21.3 | 27.1 | 21.5 |
| 1996 | (13)n/a | (13)n/a | 27.3 | 21.6 |
(13) Not available.
10 Jul 1996 : Column: 214
School Security
Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she expects to respond to the recommendations of the working group on schools security published in May in respect of the provision of additional long-term funding specifically allocated for improving school security. [36488]
Mr. Robin Squire: The Government have accepted all the recommendations of the working group on school security. New money earmarked specifically for school security will be provided under the grants for education support and training programme in 1997-98. The DFEE also contributed £2 million to this year's Home Office closed circuit television challenge scheme so that an extra 112 schools can install security cameras.
Higher Education Entrants (Cheshire)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the number of students from Cheshire entering higher education in each of the last five years; and what was the national average. [36504]
Mr. Forth: Centrally held information on student numbers is not available at local education authority level. The following tables show the number of new mandatory awards and discretionary awards made to higher education students by Cheshire local education authority and by all local education authorities in England, for the years 1990-91 to 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available.
| Academic years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | |
| Mandatory awards | 3,347 | 4,516 | 5,692 | 6,036 | 6,157 |
| Discretionary awards | 318 | 238 | 88 | 24 | 43 |
| All new higher education awards | 3,665 | 4,754 | 5,780 | 6,060 | 6,200 |
| Academic years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 | (15)1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | |
| Mandatory awards | 180.9 | 215.8 | 253.8 | 274.0 | 268.4 |
| Discretionary awards | 17.0 | 15.1 | 14.9 | 8.8 | 8.3 |
| All new higher education awards | 197.9 | 230.9 | 268.8 | 282.8 | 276.6 |
(14) National figures have been grossed up to compensate for partial returns.
(15) 1991-92 does not include data in respect of the London residuary body estimated to be 8,600 mandatory awards; an accurate breakdown of these figures is not available.
Bus Passes
Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidelines her Department issues in respect of the issue of bus passes to schoolchildren who live more than three miles away from their secondary school. [36395]
10 Jul 1996 : Column: 215
Mr. Robin Squire: The Department issued guidance on the provision of home to school transport to local education authorities in England in a letter of 21 January 1994, a copy of which is in the Library. This makes it clear that free transport is always necessary for pupils of compulsory school age--five to 16--who attend their nearest suitable school if it is beyond statutory walking distance. LEAs also have a discretionary power to assist pupils whose parents have chosen to send them to a school other than their nearest suitable one, even if it is beyond walking distance, by paying their reasonable travelling expenses either in whole or in part.
School Closures (Cheshire)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the number of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools closed in (i) Crewe and Nantwich and (ii) Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36500]
Mr. Robin Squire: The following table gives the numbers of primary and secondary schools for which closure proposals were approved for implementation in Cheshire for each of the last five years. No closure proposals were approved for the Crewe and Nantwich area. In many cases, schools which are formally closed are amalgamated with other schools or are replaced by new schools.
| Primary | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 10 | 2 |
| 1992 | 18 | -- |
| 1993 | 9 | 1 |
| 1994 | 12 | 2 |
| 1995 | 2 | -- |
| 1996 | 5 | -- |
Assisted Places Scheme
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will update all the information printed in her answers of 27 November 1995, Official Report, column 445, and 30 November 1995, Official Report, columns 854-55, regarding assisted places provision and finance in three named schools in the Manchester, Gorton constituency. [36481]
Mrs. Gillan: Actual expenditure on the assisted places scheme in the 1995-96 financial year was £104.76 million. Provision for 1996-97, when the expansion of the scheme begins, is £117 million.
The figures relating to the three named schools in the Manchester, Gorton constituency remain unchanged from those given on 27 and 30 November 1995 for the current academic year 1995-96, pending receipt of the schools' final claims.
The numbers of assisted pupils at each school in the forthcoming academic year 1996-97, and the amounts spent on them, will depend on parental demand and take-up of places. Under the expansion programme, Manchester grammar school has been allocated 10 additional entry places, Manchester high school for girls, 10 such places, and William Hulme's grammar school, 30 such places.
10 Jul 1996 : Column: 216
18. Mr. Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the comprehensive test ban treaty negotiations. [35178]
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the negotiations in Geneva towards completion of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. [35950]
Mr. David Davis:
The negotiations on a comprehensive test ban treaty adjourned in Geneva on 28 June, without agreement but with the chairman of the ad hoc committee, Ambassador Ramaker of the Netherlands, having tabled a full treaty text. Ambassador Ramaker has asked delegations to study this carefully with a view to reaching agreement when the conference on disarmament reconvenes on 29 July. We are now doing so and shall work for the earliest possible agreement.
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