| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Civil Servants
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants there are on each pay band in his Department. [8942]
Dr. David Clark: This answer covers the Cabinet Office--Office of Public Service--and its executive agencies. Staff below the senior civil service are employed by grade and are shown as such. The figures at 1 July are as follows:
21 Jul 1997 : Column: 392
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidelines exist to ensure that civil servants cannot work on a party political basis. [9071]
Dr. Clark: Civil servants are under a duty, laid down in the civil service code, to conduct themselves with integrity, impartiality and honesty, and in such a way as to deserve and retain the confidence of Ministers and to be able to establish the same relationship with those whom they may be required to serve in some future Administration. Ministers are also under a duty not to use public resources for party political purposes, to uphold the political impartiality of the civil service, and not to ask civil servants to act in a way that would conflict with the civil service code. In their private lives, civil servants must comply with restrictions on their political activities as set out in the civil service code and the civil service management code.
CABINET OFFICE
Millennium Exhibition
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what research has been carried out into the number of visitors likely to attend the millennium experience. [6466]
Mr. Mandelson: Consultants to the Millennium Commission and the New Millennium Experience Company Ltd. have produced a broad range of estimates of visitor attendance. The limit on capacity is 17.7 million visits, a National Opinion Polls survey in December 1996 predicted 14 million visits by United Kingdom residents and the target in the current business plan is 12 million.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister without Portfolio how much money from private sector sponsorship has been raised for the millennium exhibition at Greenwich. [8028]
Mr. Mandelson: This information is currently commercially confidential. The New Millennium Experience Company Ltd. will publish a full account in due course.
Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what contingency plans exist for the millennium experience budget in the event that ticket sales fail to reach £135 million. [6906]
Mr. Mandelson
[holding answer 7 July 1997]: As already announced, we are extending the life of the Millennium Commission to enable it to meet its existing commitments to the millennium experience. Should these commitments unavoidably increase in the future, we will take further steps to ensure--through the lottery--that the commission is able to meet them. But it is our firm resolve that such action should not prove necessary; the Millennium Commission shares this resolve.
21 Jul 1997 : Column: 393
Class Sizes
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of (a) the average class size in schools in Warrington, North and (b) the number of primary school children in Warrington, North being taught in classes of more than 30 pupils. [9211]
Mr. Byers: For maintained primary schools in the Warrington, North parliamentary constituency in January 1997, the provisional estimates of the average class size and the number of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils taught by one teacher were 27.9 and 3,822 respectively.
Jobcentres
Ms Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the Government's response to the second report of the Education and Employment Committee "Security of Staff in Jobcentres", HC 149, Session 1996-97. [10248]
Mr. Andrew Smith: A Command Paper outlining the Government's response has been published today and copies have been placed in the Library.
Welfare to Work
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to announce the pilot areas for welfare to work. [9877]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The Secretary of State will announce the pathfinder areas for the new deal for 18 to 24-year-olds shortly.
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if public sector bodies will be eligible for the wages subsidy element of his Department's welfare-to-work proposals. [9817]
Mr. Alan Howarth: The success of the new deal will depend on effective partnerships in which all sections of local communities, including the private, public and voluntary sectors, play a full and relevant part. The precise role of the public sector in the employment option of the new deal is one of a number of issues we are currently considering. We will announce the outcome shortly.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will examine the potential role of horticultural training within the welfare-to-work programme; and if he will make a statement. [8486]
Mr. Howarth:
In our new deal for young and long-term unemployed people, we intend to offer the widest possible range of opportunities for people to gain skills and improve their employability. Education and training will be guaranteed for all those participating in any of our four options of help. We want organisations from all sectors to join in our crusade to get people off benefits and into jobs, and I hope that the horticultural sector, like all others, will respond to this challenge. It is also possible under current arrangements to train to national vocational qualification level 2 and above in horticulture, under training for work.
21 Jul 1997 : Column: 394
Mr. Fitzpatrick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people in the boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets will benefit from the welfare-to-work initiative. [9006]
Mr. Smith:
It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the number who will benefit from the new deal over the period of its implementation. All young people who are eligible, or who become so, will be offered opportunities to participate in a job, training or useful work experience.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children with statements of special educational needs were permanently excluded from schools in England in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95; and what each figure was as a proportion of the total number of children permanently excluded from schools. [8725]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Returns to the Department recorded a total of 1,287 pupils with statements of special educational needs as having been permanently excluded from mainstream schools during the 1994-95 school year; a further 477 pupils with statements were excluded from special schools. These figures represent 12.6 per cent. of the exclusions from mainstream schools and 96.8 per cent. of the exclusions from special schools.
Information on how many pupils with a statement of special educational needs were permanently excluded in 1993-94 is not available.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the time scale for the establishment of the university for industry; what is the process for evaluation of bids; if it will be a single or multi-site operation; and which officials in his Department are charged with bringing it into effect. [9912]
Dr. Howells:
I hope to make an announcement shortly about our plans for developing the university for industry. The process for taking forward the development work, including any possible bidding procedures, has yet to be determined. The university for industry is a virtual institution and will not have a headquarters in the conventional sense. It is likely to have a core administrative centre, but it is too early to say where this might be located. Responsibility for work on the university for industry rests with my individual learning division.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list for each of the last five years the standard spending assessment per pupil for education for each local education authority. [7366]
Mr. Byers:
The information requested is contained in a number of tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library.
21 Jul 1997 : Column: 395
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |