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School Meals
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been spent on subsidising school meals in Derbyshire in each of the last 10 years. [14200]
Ms Estelle Morris: This information is not collected centrally in the form requested. The following table shows Derbyshire local education authority's total net expenditure on its school catering service from 1986-87 to 1995-96, the latest year for which data are available.
4 Nov 1997 : Column: 162
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been spent on subsidising school meals in each shire county over the last 10 years, arranging the counties in descending order of expenditure. [14199]
Ms Estelle Morris: This information is not collected centrally in the form requested. The following table shows in descending order each shire county's total net expenditure on its school catering service between 1986-87 and 1995-96, the latest year for which outturn figures are available.
| LEAs | £000s |
|---|---|
| Derbyshire | 150,168 |
| Lancashire | 132,156 |
| Humberside | 129,490 |
| Nottinghamshire(25) | 99,096 |
| Avon | 95,627 |
| Cleveland | 92,944 |
| Hampshire | 88,751 |
| Essex | 71,106 |
| Leicestershire | 69,166 |
| Devon | 65,969 |
| Cheshire | 64,996 |
| Staffordshire | 64,356 |
| Hertfordshire | 63,476 |
| Kent | 61,902 |
| Durham | 59,873 |
| Norfolk | 50,028 |
| Bedfordshire | 42,253 |
| East Sussex | 40,523 |
| Surrey | 39,502 |
| Cambridgeshire | 38,877 |
| Cumbria | 35,797 |
| North Yorkshire | 35,724 |
| Northamptonshire | 33,530 |
| Warwickshire | 33,349 |
| Oxfordshire | 31,499 |
| Wiltshire | 31,430 |
| Cornwall | 30,757 |
| West Sussex | 28,525 |
| Shropshire | 28,345 |
| Suffolk(26) | 28,158 |
| Somerset | 26,848 |
| Northumberland | 24,798 |
| Gloucestershire | 23,083 |
| Buckinghamshire | 21,712 |
| Berkshire(27) | 17,734 |
| Dorset | 17,397 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 16,199 |
| Lincolnshire | 15,073 |
| Isle of Wight | 9,491 |
(25) Excludes net expenditure for 1991-92.
(26) Excludes net expenditure for 1989-90.
(27) Excludes net expenditure for 1987-88.
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Computers (Century Date Change)
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will publish the action plan, due by 1 October 1997, for resolving the computer millennium problem in his Department, its agencies and other public bodies for which he is responsible; if such was fully completed on time; and if he will make a statement; [13577]
- (2) what is his latest estimate of the total cost of resolving the computer millennium problem in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) other public bodies for which he is responsible; if he will state in each case (i) expenditure incurred to date, (ii) expenditure planned for 1997-98, (iii) expenditure planned for 1998-99 and (iv) expenditure planned for 1999-00; and if he will make a statement; [13578]
(3) if he will make a statement on what funding provision has been made to accommodate the expenditure needed to resolve the computer millennium problem; and if he expects to have sufficient funding to pay for the work necessary to achieve complete millennium compliance by 1 January 2000; [13579]
(4) when his Department, its agencies and other public bodies for which he is responsible completed the millennium computer compliance audits of systems; and if he will make a statement; [13580]
(5) which (a) Minister and (b) civil servant has overall responsibility for ensuring millennium computer compliance in his Department and its associated public bodies. [13581]
Dr. Howells:
My Department has assessed carefully and systematically the extent to which its processes and outputs would be vulnerable to disruption from the computer millennium problem. We have defined the scope of the problem and realistically assessed the risks; planned for the effective testing of solutions; initiated the preparation of contingency plans and are taking steps to strengthen contracts with suppliers. Compliance audits of
4 Nov 1997 : Column: 164
the Department's IS/IT systems were completed in August 1997: those for the Employment Service were completed in September 1997. Steps have been taken to ensure that all of the agencies and non-departmental public bodies that are answerable to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment are adopting a comparably rigorous approach.
The estimated cost of securing full millennium compliance of DfEE's IS/IT is £4.55 million, of which £1.08 million will be spent in 1997-98 and the remainder in 1998-99. The current comparable estimate for the Employment Service is £23.15 million--£0.95 million in 1997-98, £20.7 million in 1998-99 and £1.5 million in 1999-2000. The cost of securing millennium compliance of embedded chips in the Department's building control and associated systems is estimated at £0.25 million, which will be spent in 1998-99. The necessary funding is being found from existing financial provision.
I am the Minister with overall responsibility for the Department's year 2000 compliance programme. The civil servant with overall responsibility in DfEE is Mr. Kenneth Jordan, the head of procurement and contracting who is also responsible for assessing the extent of the vulnerability to year 2000 problems in the key parts of the Department's supply chain. The civil servant with overall responsibility in the Employment Service is Mr. Ray Phillips, the director of policy and process design.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average time taken by his Department to give full answers to letters received from hon. Members. [13948]
Dr. Howells:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to a similar question from my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 3 November, Official Report, column 5.
4 Nov 1997 : Column: 163
4 Nov 1997 : Column: 165
Mr. Hunter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many six-month entry visas to the United Kingdom were granted by the entry clearance section in Bangkok in each of the last two years for which statistics are available; and how many applications were rejected. [12574]
Mr. Fatchett:
The majority of visas for the UK are valid for presentation at a port within six months of date of issue. It is then for an immigration officer to determine the period of stay. The total number of visas including settlement visas issued in Bangkok was as follows:
Of these, the total number of non-settlement visas issued and refused was:
1995: 50,433
1996: 50,696
| 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Granted | 49,863 | 50,253 |
| Refused | 830 | 1,138 |
| 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Granted | 7,830 | 8,927 |
| Refused | 72 | 116 |
Cuba
Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Britain's relations with Cuba. [12763]
Mr. Tony Lloyd: We have normal diplomatic relations with Cuba and support normal trade relations in civil goods and services. UK firms are encouraged to exploit the growing civil market opportunities which arise as Cuba undergoes a process of economic liberalisation. We continue to urge the Cuban Government to reach an early settlement of outstanding debt to ECGD and UK firms.
We and EU partners share the goal of a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. We favour constructive engagement not isolation. The EU adopted a common position on Cuba on 2 December 1996, reaffirming the EU's commitment to promoting political, economic and human rights reform in Cuba. This was presented to the Cuban Government on 21 July and we look forward to furthering this dialogue.
Israeli Service Men
Dr. Vis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will endeavour to locate the Israeli service men Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman and Ron Arad, to obtain news of their welfare and to negotiate for their release from captivity. [13111]
4 Nov 1997 : Column: 166
Mr. Fatchett:
Efforts to establish the fate of missing Israeli service men have been hindered by the lack of information about which organisations are holding them.
Nevertheless, we support all efforts to obtain information on their fate. This message was underlined when I took part in a satellite link-up with members of the Knesset in May to mark Ron Arad's birthday. I also raised the case when I visited Syria later that month.
We shall continue to raise the cases of these service men whenever the opportunity arises.
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