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Road Surfaces

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the (a) construction, (b) cost and (c) environmental criteria which determine where and when low noise, open-textured, road surfacing should be used on trunk roads or motorways instead of, or as a replacement for, concrete or standard bituminous construction. [6615]

Mr. Watts: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. David Chidgey, dated 2 December 1996:

The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question asking what are the (a) construction, (b) cost and (c) environmental criteria which determine where and when low noise, open textured, road surfacing should be used on trunk roads or motorways instead of, or as a replacement for, concrete or standard bituminous construction.

Low noise surfaces may be considered for new roads, or those which are being substantially altered, where these pass through noise sensitive areas. Their environmental benefits are considered during the development of the detailed design of a new road scheme and balanced against the additional costs of their use compared with

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alternative means of reducing the impact of traffic noise. The need to replace the surface of an existing road is determined solely by criteria relating to its residual life and skidding resistance.
Porous asphalt is the best known of low noise, open textured, surfacing. It has been subjected to extensive trials and we have established technical criteria for ensuring acceptable durability. Guidance on the criteria for construction is provided in the HMSO publication The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Volume 7: Pavement Design and Maintenance. The guidance includes advisory limits on traffic intensity and other factors affecting the practicality of its use. It is not Highways Agency policy to use porous asphalt as an overlay for existing roads partly because the surface drainage arrangements need to be altered, but also because the substantial additional costs cannot be accepted without any offsetting saving on other necessary noise mitigation measures or financial compensation.
Other types of open textured surfacing are being developed such as thin bituminous overlays. Examples have been approved for limited use in trunk road and motorway maintenance to restore skidding resistance. These products appear to offer promise through reduced noise levels when compared with conventional road surfaces, but have not yet demonstrated their ability to withstand heavy traffic. It is too soon to say whether or not these products will provide an economical alternative to conventional bituminous asphalt overlays.
There are particular difficulties with thin overlays on jointed concrete roads because of the tendency for the joints to be reflected as cracks in the surface material, causing a line of weakness. The trials with the new thin surfacing products include techniques to address this problem and are being monitored as part of the Highways Agency's continuing programme of research and development.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Public Defender Systems

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what research he has undertaken in the last three years on public defender systems. [5198]

Mr. Streeter: No new research on public defender systems, whereby salaried staff provide legal services in criminal cases, has been commissioned by this Department in the last three years. Officials from this Department recently made a fact finding visit to north America to see how both criminal and civil legal aid are delivered in the USA and Canada. Among other services, they saw public defender systems in action and spoke to those responsible for running them.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Student Loans

Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the contracts awarded to (a) NM Rothschild for advice on the sale of student loan debt and (b) Shreeveport for advice on the contracting out of the work of the Student Loans Company, indicating (i) their costs and (ii) their duration. [6941]

Mr. Forth: We expect the duration of the contracts to be between nine months to a year. Costs are dependent on the daily fee rates charged and the use made of those

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companies by the Department. Individual fee rates negotiated between the Department and the advisers are confidential.

Grants for Education Support and Training

Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list (a) the breakdown of the allocations under each separate title of the grants for education support and training in 1996-97, (b) the planned breakdown for 1997-98, and (c) the change in numbers and percentage between the two years for each element and the total allocations for the above periods. [6937]

Mr. Robin Squire: The following table sets out allocations under the grants for education support and training--GEST--programme for 1996-97. GEST allocations for 1997-98 will be announced in December.

Grants for education support and training 1996-97

Number	Grant	Programme £ million
1a	School Effectiveness	131.7
1b	School Improvement Initiatives	2.3
2a	NC Assessment--audit	8.4
2b	NC Assessment--supply cover	16.8
3a	Primary Teachers' Subject Knowledge	16.7
3b	Training for KS2 Teacher Assessment	2.9
4	Training for Special Educational Needs	10.5
5	School SEN Policies	9.9
6	SEN Parent Partnership Schemes	4.0
7	Licensed and Overseas Teachers	0.4
8	Vocational Qualifications	10.9
8b	Vocational Qualifications--pilot Part Ones	3.5
9A and B	Truancy and Disaffected Pupils	13.8
9C	Pupil Behaviour and Discipline	3.7
10	Training in Youth and Community Work	2.2
11	Bilingual Pupils	5.7
12	Training for Careers Teachers	4.0
13a	Drug Prevention and Schools (Formula)	4.5
13b	Drug Prevention and Schools (Bids)	1.4
14	Specialist Schools	6.9
15a	Literacy and Numeracy Centres	3.5
15b	Literacy and Numeracy (Books and Equipment)	1.5
16	Specialist Teacher Assistants	1.2
	Programme total	266.4

Learning Difficulties

Sir John Hannam: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals she has to ensure that newly qualified teachers starting their teaching careers are able to (a) identify and (b) give appropriate teaching to children at risk of specific learning difficulties and dyslexia. [6763]

Mr. Forth: The existing criteria for courses of initial teacher training require that newly qualified teachers should have acquired the necessary foundation to develop the ability to identify and provide for special educational needs and specific learning difficulties. We shall be consulting on revised requirements for initial teacher training in new year.

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Pupil to Teacher Ratios

Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the pupil to teacher ration in (a) 1979 and (b) the last year for which figures are available. [6760]

Mr. Robin Squire: The overall pupil-teacher ratios for maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England were 18.9 in January 1979 and 18.5 in January 1996.

Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average pupil to teacher ratio for (a) grant-maintained secondary schools and (b) local authority secondary schools. [6759]

Mr. Robin Squire: The pupil-teacher ratios in grant-maintained secondary schools and local education authority secondary schools in England in January 1996 were 16.3 and 16.7 respectively.

Teacher Training Agency

Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will give a breakdown of spending on the Teacher Training Agency in 1996-97 and of planning spending for 1997-98. [6936]

Mr. Forth: The latest estimate of the Department's grant to the Teacher Training Agency in 1996-97 is £197.763 million, consisting of £190.090 million recurrent expenditure, £4.473 million on capital expenditure and £3.200 million on administration costs. Subject to parliamentary approval, we plan a total grant of £209.771 million to the TTA in 1997-98, including £204.778 million on programme expenditure and £4.993 million on administration. Decisions on the detailed distribution of these sums are for the TTA itself.

Grant-maintained Schools

Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will give a breakdown

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of spending on the grant-maintained sector in 1996-97 and of planned spending in 1997-98, showing (a) current funding and (b) capital funding and the percentage change between the two years. [6927]

Mr. Forth: The information requested is as follows:

	1996-97	1997-98	Percentage increase
	£ million	£ million
Recurrent	(1)101	116.2	15.0
Capital	138	144.9	5.0
Total	239	261.1	9.6

(1) Funding to the Education Assets Board and Education Associations is not included in the 1997-98 recurrent baseline. It has therefore been deducted from the published recurrent amounts shown for 1996-97 so as to provide comparable figures.

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