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Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses (a) entered the profession as students, (b) completed their training and (c) have left the profession or ceased to practice in each year since 1990. [2426]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested in parts (a) and (b) is shown in the table. The information requested in part (c) is not held centrally and would have to be obtained from individual employers both within and outwith the NHS.
Fiscal year | (a) Number entering training during specified year | (b) Number completing training during specified year |
---|---|---|
1990-91 | 2,983 | 2,641 |
1991-92 | 2,230 | 2,522 |
1992-93 | 2,380 | 2,492 |
1993-94 | 2,404 | 2,356 |
1994-95 | 2,196 | 2,069 |
1995-96 | 2,213 | 1,808 |
Source: NBS annual reports 1990-91 to 1992-93. NBS statistical supplement to annual report 1993-94 to 1995-96.
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what will be the impact on local authority contracted-out
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services of the restrictions placed by Customs and Excise on the ability of organisations to recover VAT retrospectively; and if he will make a statement. [2621]
Mr. Kynoch: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him yesterday.
Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the Scottish Office research on a rough sleepers initiative will be published; and when he will initiate measures arising from the conclusions of the research. [2474]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The report on this research study, which was commissioned by the Scottish Office and Scottish Homes from the university of Wales to investigate the prevalence of rooflessness, is currently being finalised. The results of the research will be given careful consideration.
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of children aged five, six and seven years were in classes of 31 or more in 1995 and provisionally for 1996 (a) per authority and (b) in Scotland as a whole. [2476]
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Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Statistics on class size are collected biennially. The available information, which relates to pupils in P1, P2 and P3 single stage classes and P1/P2 and P2/P3 composite stage classes, as at September 1995, is given below.
Education authority(16) | Number of pupils | Percentage of pupils |
---|---|---|
Scotland | 31,019 | 17.7 |
Borders | 254 | 8.0 |
Central | 1,991 | 21.2 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 731 | 17.0 |
Fife | 1,366 | 11.0 |
Grampian | 2,568 | 14.6 |
Highland | 409 | 6.6 |
Lothian | 6,372 | 25.0 |
Strathclyde | 14,698 | 17.9 |
Tayside | 2,568 | 20.3 |
Orkney | -- | -- |
Shetland | 31 | 4.1 |
Western Isles | 31 | 6.0 |
(15) Excludes pupils in P3/P4 composite classes and multi-stage classes.
(16) Includes grant-aided and self-governing schools.
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of primary school children were in classes of 31 or more for each year since 1990 (a) per authority and (b) in Scotland. [2477]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Statistics on class size are collected biennially. The available information is given in the table.
6 Nov 1996 : Column: 575
As at September | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | 1993 | 1995 | |||||||
Education authority(18) | Number of pupils | Percentage of pupils | Number of pupils | Percentage of pupils | Number of pupils | Percentage of pupils | |||
Scotland | 72,638 | 16.5 | 75,286 | 17.2 | 79,655 | 18.1 | |||
Borders | 448 | 5.3 | 544 | 6.3 | 857 | 9.8 | |||
Central | 3,954 | 16.9 | 3,972 | 17.1 | 4,612 | 19.8 | |||
Dumfries and Galloway | 2,137 | 16.8 | 2,052 | 16.0 | 2,016 | 15.6 | |||
Fife | 4,944 | 15.9 | 5,387 | 17.3 | 4,704 | 15.2 | |||
Grampian | 6,900 | 15.6 | 6,556 | 14.6 | 7,138 | 15.8 | |||
Highland | 1,503 | 7.7 | 1,996 | 10.4 | 1,795 | 9.4 | |||
Lothian | 11,318 | 20.1 | 11,885 | 20.7 | 13,909 | 23.4 | |||
Strathclyde | 34,697 | 16.8 | 35,104 | 17.4 | 37,403 | 18.6 | |||
Tayside | 6,580 | 20.3 | 7,536 | 23.1 | 7,032 | 21.5 | |||
Orkney | 157 | 8.7 | 64 | 3.5 | 33 | 1.8 | |||
Shetland | -- | -- | -- | -- | 31 | 1.4 | |||
Western isles | -- | -- | 190 | 7.2 | 125 | 4.8 |
(17) Excludes pupils in P3/P4 composite classes and multi-stage classes.
(18) Includes grant aided and self-governing schools.
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Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland from which budget he took the £30 million of health capital expenditure announced on 9 October 1996. [2479]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The distribution of £30 million to enable NHS trusts in Scotland to carry out
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a number of capital projects will be funded from the capital budget.
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what revisions have taken place to official publications of health and safety reports covering the activities of the Dounreay nuclear plant since 1975; and if he will make a statement. [2364]
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Mr. Page [holding answer 4 November 1996]: I have been asked to reply.
I am assured by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority that, apart from updating the contents, the only revisions made to Dounreay health and safety reports prior to their formal issue were to remove commercially sensitive data and information that could compromise the security of nuclear materials.
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to monitor the market in the sale of landed estates, and if he will make a statement. [530]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The Government do not monitor the market in the sale of landed estates. Information on sales of agricultural land in Scotland over 5 hectares is obtained for statistical purposes to allow estimates to be made of the overall value of land and buildings used for agriculture in Scotland.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what quantity of organic food has been imported into the United Kingdom for each year since 1992; what percentage these imports constitute of the total amount of organic produce sold each year in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [2356]
Mr. Boswell: Specific figures for imports of organic food are not collected. Estimates made several years ago with the co-operation of several large supermarket chains indicated that about three-quarters of organic food on sale in those shops was imported.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for each year since 1994 (a) the estimated number of organic farms or holdings in England, (b) what administrative procedures are required for the acquisition of money under the organic aid scheme, (c) how much money was earmarked for the organic aid scheme and (d) what percentage of the money annually earmarked has now been received by farmers for that year; and if he will make a statement. [2327]
Mr. Boswell: (a) The total area on which organic methods were practised in England as at February 1995 was 21,896 hectares. This had increased to 24,543 hectares by the end of December 1995. Currently there are 688 registered organic holdings in England representing an area of 25,993 hectares. Details of the number of organic farms/holdings in England--as opposed to the UK--are not available for earlier years.
(b) To obtain organic aid a farmer must register the land in a conversion with the UK Register of Organic Food Standards, (UKROFS), or a body approved by UKROFS, and undertake to convert to organic agriculture in accordance with the rules of the scheme and UKROFS organic production standards.
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(c) At the time of its launch in August 1994, budgetary provision for the organic aid scheme in England was set at £0.8 million for 1994-95 rising to £1.5 million in 1995-96 and 1996-97. Scheme budgets are constantly revised in the light of scheme uptake and provision for 1996-97 is now £455,000.
(d) For 1994-95 and 1995-96, 3.3 per cent. and 17.4 per cent. respectively of the original budgets were actually paid to farmers. For 1996-97, our current forecast show that about 89 per cent. of the revised budget will be paid to farmers by the end of this financial year.
Our research shows that the organic aid available should be sufficient to attract a greater number of applicants, but it is apparent that aid rates are not the only factor which determines whether a farmer will go organic. We believe lack of knowledge is a major reason and I was therefore pleased to launch the organic conversion information service last July. The service provides a telephone helpline and a free advisory visits to would be organic farmers. Interest has been strong and we hope that more farmers will be encouraged to convert as a result of this initiative.
Mr. Jones:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the countries from which the United Kingdom imports organic food stating for each the (a) tonnage and (b) relative percentage of overall organic food imports that it constitutes; and if he will make a sttaement. [2351]
Mr. Boswell:
Specific figures for imports of organic food are not collected. The UK Register of Organic Food Standards grants authorisations for the sale, as organic, of food from countries outside the European Community. In the past 12 months, authorisations have been granted with respect to the following countries: Chile, two authorisations; Egypt; Ghana; Slovakia; South Africa; Turkey; and USA, four authorisations.
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