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Geoffrey Chaucer School, London

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list each of the (a) educational, (b) physical and (c) other improvements which must be made before Geoffrey Chaucer School, London SE1, ceases to be designated as a school needing special measures; and what is the earliest date by which he may end the designation of this school. [6813]

Mr. Byers: Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools is statutorily responsible for determining when a school no longer requires special measures. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.

Teachers (Early Retirement)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (i) headteachers, (ii) deputy headteachers and (iii) teachers took early retirement on the grounds of ill health in (a) 1995-96 and (b) 1996-97, (1) in total and (2) in each LEA; and if he will make a statement. [6831]

Mr. Byers: The table shows the number of teachers in service at 31 March 1995 awarded ill-health retirement in financial year 1995-96 and those awarded ill-health retirement in 1996-97 whose last day of reckonable service was 31 March 1996 or later. The table covers the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special education sector in England.

7 Jul 1997 : Column: 352

Ill-health retirements(8) in financial year

	1995-96			(9)1996-97
	Heads	Deputies	Classroom teacher	Heads	Deputies	Classroom teacher
City of London	0	0	0	0	0	0
Camden	0	*	19	*	*	14
Greenwich	*	0	16	*	0	19
Hackney	*	*	9	0	0	5
Hammersmith	*	0	17	7	*	6
Islington	*	*	5	*	0	7
Kensington and Chelsea	*	0	9	*	0	5
Lambeth	0	0	17	0	*	13
Lewisham	*	0	9	*	0	12
Southwark	*	0	13	*	*	8
Tower Hamlets	0	0	11	0	*	12
Wandsworth	0	*	11	*	0	14
Westminster	*	*	8	*	0	*
Barking	*	*	8	0	0	8
Barnet	*	0	18	*	0	11
Bexley	*	*	9	*	*	12
Brent	0	*	10	*	*	10
Bromley	7	0	12	*	*	14
Croydon	*	0	17	*	*	13
Ealing	0	*	11	*	*	5
Enfield	*	0	16	*	*	14
Haringey	6	*	7	*	*	22
Harrow	0	*	13	0	0	11
Havering	*	*	18	*	0	11
Hillingdon	0	*	9	0	*	*
Hounslow	*	*	19	0	*	14
Kingston upon Thames	*	*	13	0	*	*
Merton	*	*	*	*	*	6
Newham	0	0	11	0	*	21
Redbridge	*	0	7	*	0	*
Richmond upon Thames	*	0	8	0	0	6
Sutton	0	*	13	*	*	13
Waltham Forest	*	*	19	*	*	17
Birmingham	6	9	94	6	*	89
Coventry	0	*	26	0	*	27
Dudley	*	*	23	*	*	23
Sandwell	5	*	22	*	*	23
Solihull	0	*	12	*	*	20
Walsall	*	*	29	*	*	30
Wolverhampton	0	*	19	*	*	28
Knowsley	*	0	15	*	*	7
Liverpool	*	*	42	*	11	49
St. Helens	*	*	13	*	0	18
Sefton	*	*	25	*	*	29
Wirral	*	*	26	0	*	26
Bolton	*	*	20	*	*	21
Bury	*	*	17	*	*	20
Manchester	*	*	36	*	5	49
Oldham	*	*	18	*	0	37
Rochdale	5	*	28	*	0	19
Salford	0	*	21	*	*	25
Stockport	*	*	32	*	6	31
Tameside	*	*	22	7	*	17
Trafford	*	*	23	*	*	23
Wigan	*	5	23	*	5	30
Barnsley	0	5	16	*	*	21
Doncaster	*	*	25	*	*	21
Rotherham	*	*	14	*	*	18
Sheffield	6	*	32	*	*	41
Bradford	7	5	39	6	5	67
Calderdale	*	*	20	5	*	18
Kirklees	*	*	39	5	9	48
Leeds	*	6	72	*	6	59
Wakefield	5	*	42	*	*	23
Gateshead	*	*	26	*	*	25
Newcastle upon Tyne	0	0	18	*	*	26
North Tyneside	*	*	9	*	0	19
South Tyneside	*	*	15	0	*	11
Sunderland	*	*	33	*	*	40
Isles of Scilly	0	0	0	0	0	0
Former Avon(10)	12	8	57	10	6	45
Bedfordshire	*	5	34	*	*	41
Berkshire	*	*	55	7	9	42
Buckinghamshire	5	*	44	6	*	45
Cambridgeshire	*	5	37	5	6	52
Cheshire	12	7	74	15	14	67
Former Cleveland(10)	5	11	76	*	5	86
Cornwall	12	7	35	15	7	44
Cumbria	5	9	34	*	5	30
Derbyshire	14	9	47	8	5	57
Devon	17	9	78	17	11	69
Dorset	6	0	50	6	*	59
Durham	6	11	85	6	7	67
East Sussex	8	5	37	8	*	50
Essex	9	14	110	12	8	116
Gloucestershire	5	*	32	7	*	40
Hampshire	11	12	129	16	18	132
Hereford and Worcester	12	8	59	14	7	66
Hertfordshire	*	*	75	12	12	56
Former Humberside(10)	6	13	86	12	9	123
Isle of Wight	*	0	16	0	*	8
Kent	26	11	131	15	13	119
Lancashire	24	20	175	18	15	129
Leicestershire	6	5	73	8	11	52
Lincolnshire	9	*	41	13	*	65
Norfolk	16	11	58	16	5	58
Former North Yorkshire(10)	7	5	39	7	8	59
Northamptonshire	6	5	68	8	8	44
Northumberland	5	*	26	6	*	16
Nottinghamshire	13	9	78	9	7	77
Oxfordshire	*	*	47	12	*	39
Shropshire	8	*	28	11	*	33
Somerset	15	6	49	13	5	37
Staffordshire	8	11	115	14	6	83
Suffolk	8	*	52	7	9	44
Surrey	7	5	50	9	7	75
Warwickshire	5	*	38	*	7	43
West Sussex	8	*	26	*	5	53
Wiltshire	5	*	38	9	6	44
England	483	381	3,753	520	393	3,778

(8) In order to avoid sensitive information about individuals being identified, numberS less than 5 are shown as asterisks.

(9) A small number of pensioners, probably less than 100, who retired in 1996-97, entered service after 31 March 1996.

(10) Includes the unitary authorities created as a result of Local Government Reorganisation.

7 Jul 1997 : Column: 354

NORTHERN IRELAND

Tourism and Hospitality Training

Mr. Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action she proposes to ensure that Government funding for tourism and hospitality training in Northern Ireland matches that provided in Great Britain. [6137]

Mr. Worthington: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Ian Walters. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Ian Walters to Mr. Roy Beggs, dated 4 July 1997:

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency, to reply to your question about Government funding for tourism and hospitality training in Northern Ireland.

I regret I am unable to provide information which could be used to make a meaningful comparison between funding for tourism and hospitality training in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Because of the very different arrangements which apply in the regions, the information could only be made available at a wholly disproportionate cost.
I can assure you however that the Training and Employment Agency is fully committed to supporting training within the tourism and hospitality industry which is treated as a top priority. Evidence of the Agency's commitment lies in the £7.2m which was spent during 1996/97 on a wide range of training programmes. This support included European Social Fund assistance amount to £2.4m administered by the Agency. Support was also made available through the Agency's Jobskills programme (£4m), the Company Development Programme (£0.5m), the Priority Skills Initiative (£0.24m) and the Sectoral Development Programme (£0.07m). In addition, over £3 m is being made available over two years from the European Union's Special Programme for Peace and Reconciliation.
I feel sure you will agree that the total level of assistance represents a very generous measure of support by any standard.

Inward Investment

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to review the prioritisation of areas of special need in Northern Ireland in terms of targeting inward investment. [5978]

Mr. Ingram: The recent report by the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights on employment equality included recommendations on job location. These will be considered carefully Government.

7 Jul 1997 : Column: 355

Freedom of Information

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will publish her Department's submissions relating to freedom of information legislation. [6037]

Mr. Paul Murphy [holding answer 2 July 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my Right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on Friday 4 July 1997, Official Report columns 293-94.

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