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Rule 43 Prisoners
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women were serving prison sentences and being held under Rule 43 in prisons in England and Wales on 30 April. [83584]
Mr. George Howarth: The most recent available provisional information is for 31 March 1999. On that date, the number of inmates held on Prison Rule 43 or Young Offender Institution Rule 46 were:
| Good order and discipline | Own protection | |
|---|---|---|
| Males | 305 | 982 |
| Females | 5 | 17 |
| Total | 310 | 999 |
Green Transport Plan
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the introduction of a green transport plan for his Department. [82833]
Mr. Straw: Since last July's Integrated Transport White Paper, which set targets for the introduction of green transport plans for Government Departments, we have completed four plans covering all our headquarters and main buildings.
We are developing plans for all other key buildings in line with the target for March 2000, set in the Integrated Transport White Paper.
Road Safety (Lancashire)
Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of Lancashire Constabulary's proposal to pilot the Victoria Initiative to improve road safety. [83782]
Mr. Boateng:
Proposals from Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire County Council are under consideration and we expect to reach a conclusion shortly.
11 May 1999 : Column: 77
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public money was spent in the latest year for which figures are available on experimentation involving animals. [83498]
Mr. George Howarth:
Each year, the Home Office makes available to the Animal Procedures Committee a budget to sponsor work aimed at developing or promoting the use of alternatives (which replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used in particular procedures or refine the protocols involved to minimise suffering). Work aimed at improving the environmental conditions in which laboratory animals are kept and transported is also sponsored.
In developing replacement alternatives, animals do sometimes have to be used to produce comparative data that can be used to assess and validate the alternative. Reduction and refinement alternatives will still use animals, but will use fewer animals or cause less suffering to those animals.
Of a total budget of £259,000 for 1998-99, £63,000 was allocated to programmes that involve the use of animals. In each case, the aim of the work was the development of reduction, refinement or replacement alternatives.
We do not have information on the public money spent on animal experimentation by other Government Departments.
Mr. Opik:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list those purposes for which her Department and its executive agencies require a birth certificate to be provided by (a) employees, (b) contractors, (c) those applying for employment or contracts and (d) other persons. [83357]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
The Northern Ireland Office, Northern Ireland Government Departments and their respective executive agencies may ask individuals to provide their birth certificate in a range of circumstances. An individual's birth certificate is used for the purpose of providing evidence of their date of birth or identity.
Mr. McNulty:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make a statement about the Northern Ireland Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies 1998 Report. [83946]
Marjorie Mowlam:
I have today published the NI Executive NDPB 1998 Report (CM 4334) which has been laid before both Houses. This is the first report covering the activities of all Northern Ireland Executive NDPBs with the exception of those which are the responsibility of the NIO, which are covered in the recently published Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies 1998 Report (Command Number 4157). These reports demonstrate the Government's policy of making public bodies more efficient, transparent and accountable.
11 May 1999 : Column: 78
The Northern Ireland Executive NDPB 1998 Report brings together performance and trend data on the 40 Executive NDPBs sponsored by Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments. Between them these NDPBs have expenditure budgets amounting to £1.3 billion and employ almost 24,000 staff. They provide a range of important services to the public in Northern Ireland and it is appropriate that their performance is reported upon in the same way as for large executive NDPBs in Great Britain.
The individual entries covering key performance measures and business summary data show that some NDPBs are performing well in terms of meeting stretching performance targets and delivering more efficient and effective services. There are some areas of weakness however: not all NDPBs have adequate performance measures in place and, in particular, proper measures of efficiency. While many of the bodies are small both in terms of staff numbers and the amount of taxpayers' money they receive, it is important that all should develop measures of performance and efficiency which demonstrate how well they are working for the community they serve. I trust that the publication of this report will encourage all NDPBs in Northern Ireland to address shortcomings in performance measurement and consider initiatives to secure improvements in overall performance.
Mr. Coleman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will investigate the reasons for New Deal for Young People participants who joined in July 1998 still being in the Gateway six months later; and if he will make a statement. [82738]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
There have been a number of factors contributing to young people staying on the Gateway for longer than four months. In the majority of cases young people have had significant breaks from New Deal or are the subject of sanctions. Reasons for breaks include sickness and short-term employment; if a young person leaves the Gateway and subsequently returns within 13 weeks, they re-enter the Gateway at the point at which they left. Young people who are the subject of sanctions are currently classified as being on the Gateway.
We have taken a concerted series of initiatives with New Deal Personal Advisers and partner organisations designed to reduce further the number of young people staying more than four months on the Gateway, when this is not due to breaks in their participation. We will also be using the provision announced in the budget to pilot more intensive Gateway measures and to enable the fourth month of Gateway to focus more sharply on a job or option-outcome.
Mr. Reed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students on initial teacher training are specialising in PE as part of their course. [83246]
11 May 1999 : Column: 79
Ms Estelle Morris:
There are currently 3,570 secondary physical education initial teacher training (ITT) students and 29,748 primary ITT students in England. Primary ITT students are trained to deliver the whole national curriculum including physical education. Information on the numbers of primary ITT students specialising in physical education is not held centrally.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of school budgets were spent on teachers' salaries in 1998-99 in (a) Northumberland and (b) Slough. [83542]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Information about actual, as opposed to budgeted expenditure on teachers' salaries in 1998-99 will not be available until April 2000.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will list the funding made available in the 1999-2000 standard spending assessment for each (a) primary and (b) secondary pupil in (i) Northumberland and (ii) Slough; [83544]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The table sets out the information requested. Slough receives more education SSA funding per pupil than Northumberland mainly because of three factors--area costs, the proportion of children entitled to free school meals and the proportion of children from ethnic minorities.
(2) what factors account for the differences in standard spending assessment funding in 1999-2000 between (a) Northumberland and (b) Slough. [83545]
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| LEA | Primary SSA per pupil | Secondary SSA per pupil |
| Northumberland | 2,240 | 2,877 |
| Slough | 2,739 | 3,603 |
Technology Colleges
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to announce the latest round of successful bids for technology college status. [83467]
Ms Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to announce the new Technology and Language Colleges in mid-June.
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