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Rainham Marsh, Havering
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the basis for the statement in the application and associated papers that the Employment Service supports the amended planning application made by Havering Borough Council for development on a site of special scientific interest at Rainham Marsh in Havering. [65906]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Tom Brake, dated 14 January 1999:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question in which you asked for information on what is the basis for the statement in the application and associated papers that the Employment Service supports the amended planning application made by Havering Borough Council for development on a site of special scientific interest at Rainham Marsh in Havering. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
The Employment Service has made no formal response to the planning application. However, I understand that Havering Borough Council asked the manager of our Dagenham Jobcentre in November for information on numbers of Jobseekers and skill levels/shortages within the Rainham area and for an assurance that, in the event of a Business Park being built on Rainham Marsh, the Employment Service would support the Council in recruiting construction and other workers for this project. Such an assurance of help was given on the understanding that it would apply only if the planning application was approved.
I hope this is helpful.
Nurses
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many non-EEA nurses have been given work permits for UK hospitals in each of the last five years; and how many of these are (a) for one year only and (b) for longer than one year. [66053]
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 350
Ms Hodge:
The specific information requested is not available as work permit records do not identify the type of employer. The numbers of non-EEA nurses for whom work permits were issued in the last five years were as follows:
| Year | 12 months or less | More than 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 88 | 413 |
| 1995 | 74 | 573 |
| 1996 | 148 | 759 |
| 1997 | 363 | 475 |
| 1998 | 583 | 636 |
Special Needs
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidance his Department gives on the maximum time which local education authorities should take to produce a statement of special educational needs; and what procedures are in place to measure compliance with this guidance. [65785]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Local education authorities are required by law to serve a draft statement on the parents of a child with special educational needs within eighteen weeks of first proposing to carry out an assessment of the child's needs. The Audit Commission monitors LEAs' compliance with this requirement, and publishes annual statistics for England and Wales showing the proportion of draft statements produced by each LEA within eighteen weeks. These statistics show that in 1996-97 only 48 per cent. of all draft statements were prepared within the statutory deadline. The Programme of Action on special educational needs published by the Department last November made it clear that the Government regard this figure as unacceptably low, and that they are committed to achieving a significant improvement. The Department has recently provided LEAs with advice on good practice in this area, and has challenged the worst-performing LEAs to improve.
Arts and Humanities Research Board
Mr. Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to extend grants given by the Arts and Humanities Research Board to institutions other than those receiving grants from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Department of Education (Northern Ireland). [66234]
Mr. Mudie:
The Arts and Humanities Research Board currently receives grants for its research activities, other than postgraduate awards, only from the HEFCE and DENI; and it therefore makes research grants to institutions within their areas of funding responsibility. The provision of additional funding for the AHRB to extend its research grants to institutions in Scotland and Wales is a matter primarily for the Scottish and Welsh Higher Education Funding Councils, taking into account guidance from my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales.
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 351
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidance he has issued to local education authorities on good practice in providing time off for officers of teaching unions. [65752]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
No such guidance has been issued to local education authorities. The statutory entitlement to reasonable time off for employee representatives to perform their functions as such representatives is a general entitlement and it is for individual employers to decide their practice in meeting their legal obligations.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the members of his Department's working Group on Reducing the Bureaucratic Burden on Teachers, the date on which it was set up and the number of meetings it has held. [65946]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The membership of the Working Group on Reducing the Bureaucratic Burden on Teachers and the date on which it was set up are detailed in my reply to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 16 December 1998, Official Report, columns 556-57.
The Group met six times in preparing its report to Ministers, which was published on 16 January 1998. A copy of the report is in the Library.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what criteria are used to determine how many and which schools will be involved in those consultation exercises which are conducted with a random selection of schools. [65944]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
For most purposes, a sample of 500 schools is sufficient. A sample will be larger only if it is important to analyse responses from different types of school. Schools are selected using systematic sampling from a list in area and phase of school order. The system ensures that any one school will be selected infrequently, thereby minimising the burden of consultation.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on how many occasions over the past year his Department has given recipients 10 weeks, excluding school holidays, to respond to consultation documents. [65940]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Between January and December of 1998 this Department gave a response time of 10 weeks or more for 27 consultation documents.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what criteria are used to determine which consultation documents should be sent to a limited number of schools rather than all schools. [65943]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Only consultations on major changes affecting schools are sent to all schools. Normally, consultation papers are sent only to a small sample of about 500 schools.
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 352
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the sums of money that have been paid, to date, into each Education Action Zone by the businesses involved in those zones. [65945]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The 25 Education Action Zones have so far raised some £5 million towards the £6 million target for business contribution in the first year.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 11 January 1999, Official Report, column 97, if he will list the estimated costs for each of the proposed functions of the Commission which formed the basis of the estimated annual running cost of the Commission. [66029]
Ms Hodge:
It will be for the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), when it is established, to decide how to allocate its resources.
Mr. John M. Taylor:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will up-date last October's List of Ministerial Responsibilities. [65773]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
A revised edition of the "List of Ministerial Responsibilities including Agencies" is currently being prepared and I shall publish it shortly. Copies of the new edition will be made available to Members free of charge from the Vote Office.
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