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Class Sizes
Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children aged five to seven years in (a) Bath and North-East Somerset and (b) South Gloucestershire were in classes of more than 30 pupils in each year from 1992 to date. [88217]
Ms Estelle Morris: The available information is shown in the following table.
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Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many classes for pupils aged five to seven years in (a) Bath and North-East Somerset and (b) South Gloucestershire had more than 30 pupils in each year from 1992 to date. [88218]
Ms Estelle Morris: The available information is shown in the table.
The Government have pledged to reduce infant class sizes so that no 5, 6 or 7-year-old is in an infant class of more than 30 pupils. The number of infants in classes larger than 30 has already been reduced by some 130,000 between January 1998 and January 1999.
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| Bath and North East Somerset | South Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|---|
| January 1996 | 34 | 103 |
| January 1997 | 29 | 114 |
| January 1998 | 37 | 103 |
| January 1999 (provisional) | 31 | 43 |
Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many classes for pupils aged five to seven years in (a) South Gloucestershire and (b) Bath and North-East Somerset had 30 or fewer pupils in each year from 1992 to date. [88213]
Ms Estelle Morris: The available information is shown in the following table.
| Bath and North East Somerset | South Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|---|
| January 1996 | 146 | 211 |
| January 1997 | 161 | 205 |
| January 1998 | 166 | 226 |
| January 1999 (provisional) | 165 | 308 |
Teaching Consultation
Mr. Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to announce the results of his consultation on teaching. [88165]
Ms Estelle Morris: An announcement following the consultation exercise on the Green Paper, "Teachers: meeting the challenge of change" will be made shortly.
Correspondence
Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent dated 24 April about the definition of a parent in a ballot on grammar schools. [88196]
Mr. Mudie: A reply has been issued today, Monday 28 June 1999.
TREASURY
Brazil
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the United Kingdom's contribution to Brazil's financial rescue package, with particular reference to the impact of the adjustment policies required of the Brazilian Government on Brazilian citizens. [87882]
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Ms Hewitt:
Financial tensions in Brazil have eased significantly following the IMF-led international financial support package agreed last year, and this has allowed Brazilian interest rates to fall. The UK Government directly contributed $1¼ billion to the financial support package. The UK will continue to play an active role in monitoring Brazil's performance under its IMF programme. Continued adherence under the IMF programme is essential if the recovery in investor confidence is to be maintained.
The IMF programme requires Brazil to narrow its large fiscal deficit. This fiscal adjustment will have a negative impact on growth in the short term but it is necessary if stability is to be restored. Macroeconomic stability is an important precondition for a sustainable economic recovery which will raise living standards and should benefit all sections of society. The Brazilian Government, the IMF and the World Bank have worked together closely to ensure that the impact of the adjustment programme on the poor and vulnerable is minimised. The World Bank have undertaken a number of projects in Brazil with a social dimension.
Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the women's organisations which have been consulted over proposed legislation by his Department during this session; and if their responses have been published. [86990]
Ms Hewitt:
The Government are committed to making sure that policies are inclusive and take full account of the needs and experience of all those affected by them. Guidelines on Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment published in November 1998 commit policy makers to assessing how proposals affect different groups of people.
The Treasury encourages a wide-ranging consultation, in particular through the Pre-Budget consultation process. The Pre-Budget Report sets out the direction of economic policy and outlines measures under consideration in the run-up to the Budget. A range of organisations have submitted responses to the Pre-Budget and other consultations. Some individual groups have published responses to the Pre-Budget Report and Budget 99, including the Women's Budget Group. Treasury Ministers and officials also consult regularly with the Women's Budget Group on a range of issues, through a series of meetings and seminars.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the impact of (i) a 20 per cent. withholding tax (a) with and (b) without, an exemption on interest earnings abroad and (ii) a requirement for the provision of information on capital income to the tax authority of a relevant country, on (A) levels of fraud, (B) money-
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laundering, (C) reduced bank transparency and (D) the movement of funds to overseas tax havens; and if he will make a statement. [88399]
Dawn Primarolo:
We are doing a great deal of detailed work on an assessment of the impact of the draft European Commission Directive on the taxation of interest from savings--in close co-operation with the City of London. We have made it clear that we will not agree to any
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Directive which damages our financial markets or which would require the United Kingdom to introduce a withholding tax.
The government strongly support international initiatives, through the EU, OECD, the G7 and the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering, to improve the international sharing of information relevant to inquiries into financial crime, tax evasion and avoidance.
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Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what respect the Safe Harbour proposal on personal data transfers differs from the rules that will apply under the 1995 EC Data Protection Directive. [88107]
Mr. George Howarth:
Consistent with the Directive's requirement for "adequate" rather than "equivalent" protection in third countries, the draft "safe harbour" proposals do not reproduce all the Directive's detailed provision. However, they contain the key components of the data protection regime created by the Directive: provision for individuals to be informed; restrictions on the use and disclosure of individuals' data without consent; requirements for data security and data quality; individuals' rights of access and rectification and enforcement arrangements. The proposals are still under discussion.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since 1994 and in which police authority areas, section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 has been used; and if he will make a statement. [88093]
Mr. Boateng:
The use of powers to direct trespassers to leave land under section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an operational matter for the senior officer present at the scene. Records are not maintained centrally on the numbers of occasions on which such powers are used.
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