| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Departmental Staff (Redundancy)
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many members of his staff have been made redundant in the last 12 month period (a) voluntarily and (b) compulsorily; if his Department has retained outplacement consultants to advise staff made redundant; what is the average expenditure per member of staff advised on outplacement; in what circumstances his Department makes payments above the statutory minimum to members of staff made redundant (i) voluntarily and (ii) compulsorily; and if he will make a statement on his policy on such payments. [3131]
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 50
Dr. Howells:
No members of staff have been made either voluntarily or compulsorily redundant from this Department (including the Employment Service) over the last 12 months. However, during that period 2,089 people have taken voluntary early retirement or voluntary early severance. Outplacement consultants were retained to advise them on starting a new beginning. The average expenditure per member of staff advised was £325.
All payments made to staff were fully in accordance with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme provisions of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. Similar provisions would have applied, should staff had been made redundant, in accordance with their terms and conditions of employment.
Mr. Fabricant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 22 May, Official Report, column 127, on education funding, when he expects to complete the review of SSA methodology for 1988-99; and when he expects to publish the conclusions. [3433]
Mr. Byers:
I refer the hon. Member to my reply on 11 June 1997, Official Report, column 460, to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster).
Mr. Luff:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment his Department has made of the savings from the abolition of the assisted places scheme and the reduction of primary class sizes to 30 pupils; and in each case what is the overall implication for public expenditure. [3542]
Mr. Byers:
The previous Government's published expenditure plans for the assisted places scheme in England for the years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-00 are £140 million, £160 million and £180 million respectively. The Education (Schools) Bill currently before Parliament provides for no new assisted places to be awarded after the start of academic year 1997-98 and savings will therefore begin to accrue in financial year 1998-99. The Government's spending plans for 1998-99 onwards will be announced in due course and will take account of the savings progressively released from phasing out the scheme. Those savings will amount to about £100 million in total by the year 2000. We will be discussing with LEAs and others the implementation of our policy on class sizes following publication of the forthcoming White Paper on education.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his reply policy document on nursery education, on what criteria the calculation of £366 per term per four-year-old place has been based. [3981]
Mr. Byers:
The level of nursery education grant per four-year-old for the autumn 1997 and spring 1998 terms
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 51
corresponds to the value of a termly voucher under the nursery education voucher scheme.
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidelines (a) his Department and (b) Ofsted have issued on the tone, style and content of Ofsted reports; and if he will make a statement. [3805]
Mr. Byers:
The Department has issued no such guidelines. This is a matter for the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked the Chief Inspector to write to the hon. Member.
Rev. Martin Smyth:
To ask the Attorney-General what guidance is issued to Crown Prosecutors considering prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act 1959.[3395]
The Attorney-General:
The decision whether to prosecute under the 1959 Act is taken in accordance with evidential and public interest criteria set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors which is issued under section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. Those criteria govern all categories of case.
In deciding whether the evidence is sufficient to justify proceedings in a particular case, consideration will be given to the statutory definition of obscenity and the manner in which is has been applied by the courts in cases involving comparable material. Where proceeding may be appropriate a representative sample of the material is submitted to Central Casework at Crown Prosecution Service Headquarters where it is assessed by experienced staff to ensure a consistent approach. The Director of Public Prosecutions does not publish the detailed operational guidance given in relation to particular categories of offence.
In determining whether a prosecution would be in the public interest, the principal factors include:
The above is not however an exhaustive list of relevant factors.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the average amount owed by further education (a) students and (b) mature students in Scotland to (i) the Student Loans Company and (ii) personal banks as a result of and at the end of their period of study, broken down into local authority areas; and if he will make a statement. [2745]
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 52
Mr. Wilson:
The amount owed to the Student Loans Company Limited is an operational matter for the Company.
I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member, although the information may not be available in the precise format requested.
Information is not held centrally on the extent of borrowing from personal banks.
Mr. Hood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to bring forward proposals to reform the Scottish land laws and the feudal system. [2472]
Mr. McLeish:
The Scottish Law Commission has been asked to consider the law on leasehold casualties and has published a discussion paper. It aims to report by March 1998. The Commission will also issue a report on the law of the tenement later this year, and expects to make recommendations and issue its report on the abolition of the feudal system by the end of 1999. It will consider wider aspects of the law of leasehold tenure thereafter. We will consider the options for legislation in these areas as soon as possible after the Commission's reports are received.
Mr. David Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to tackle unemployment, especially youth unemployment, in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [2726]
Mr. Wilson:
The Government attach a high priority to helping unemployed people into work. Under our initiative Welfare to Work we intend to help young people aged 18 to 24 who have been unemployed for over six months move off benefit and into work. There will also be help for people over the age of 25 who have been unemployed for two years or more.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of (a) how many and (b) what percentage of mature students studying for (i) undergraduate degrees and (ii) equivalent vocational qualifications in Scotland currently (1) are entitled to and (2) claim grants for (A) teaching fees and (B) maintenance, broken down into local authority areas; and if he will make a statement. [2743]
Mr. Wilson:
The information is not available in the form requested.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of (a) how many and (b) what percentage of those studying for (i) undergraduate degrees and (ii) equivalent vocational qualifications in Scotland are mature students; and if he will make a statement.[2742]
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 53
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 54
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 53
the degree and type of obscenity together with the form in which it is presented;
the type and scale of any commercial venture;
whether publication was made to a child or the possibility that such publication would be likely to take place.
Mr. Wilson: There are no direct equivalences between undergraduate degrees and vocational qualifications. An undergraduate degree (incorporating first degrees, HNDs,
HNCs and other Advanced non-postgraduate activity in FE institutions) is approximately equivalent to SVQ levels 4 and 5. The available data are set out in the table.
| Higher Education Institutions(4) | Further Education Institutions(5)(6) | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mature(7) students | Total students | Percentage mature(7) | Mature(7) students | Total students | Percentage mature(7) | Mature(7) students | Total students | Percentage mature(7) | |
| Other undergraduates | 61,797 | 119,861 | 52 | 35,675 | 54,584 | 65 | 97,472 | 174,445 | 56 |
| SVQ Level 4 | 56 | 56 | 100 | 220 | 292 | 75 | 276 | 348 | 79 |
| SVQ Level 5 | 0 | 0 | -- | 31 | 106 | 29 | 31 | 106 | 29 |
| All undergraduates | 61,853 | 119,917 | 52 | 35,926 | 54,982 | 65 | 97,779 | 174,899 | 56 |
(4) Provisional DATA: Source HESA 1996-97 December record.
(5) Provisional DATA: Source FES 1996-97 Autumn data.
(6) Missing ages are excluded from analysis.
(7) Mature students are aged 21 and over.
16 Jun 1997 : Column: 53
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the average maintenance (a) grant and (b) loan awarded to mature students in Scotland in each year of study; and if he will make a statement. [2744]
Mr. Wilson: The information available on student awards does not enable us to identify separately the amounts actually received by mature students as a group. It will vary according to individual circumstances.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |