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Tax Documents
Ms Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish the next Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs document; and if he will make a statement. [98160]
Dawn Primarolo: The Treasury will today be publishing a booklet containing the estimate of the effects of various illustrative tax changes on tax receipts in 2000-01 and 2001-02 (plus 2002-03 for indirect taxes) and estimates of the costs of the main tax reliefs in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. Copies are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Income Tax
Mr. Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what head voluntary contributions to HM Treasury as a supplement to income tax are classified; and how much was received under this head in the last financial year. [97493]
Dawn Primarolo: Voluntary contributions as a supplement to income tax are included in the published figures for income tax receipts. Reliable figures for this sub-category are not readily available.
Mr. Michael J. Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the amount of income tax paid was per resident taxpayer in each county in England for the latest year for which data are available. [96412]
Dawn Primarolo: The latest available estimates of income taxpayer numbers and the average income and income tax liability by region and county are published in Table 3.13 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1999" which is available in the Library of the House.
Household Incomes
Mr. Michael J. Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average gross weekly household income was for each county in England for the latest year for which data are available. [96413]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
9 Nov 1999 : Column: 517
Source:
Regional Accounts part 2, Table 9, Economic trends no. 535, June 1998
9 Nov 1999 : Column: 518
Departmental Assets
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of (a) fixed assets, property and land and (b) moveable assets owned by the Government and its agencies (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in Scotland. [97296]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Office for National Statistics recently estimated the market value of United Kingdom public sector, tangible, non-financial assets at 31 December 1998 to be £483.3 billion. Of this, £450.3 billion represents land and property and £33 billion represents movable assets (including stocks). These estimates are published in the November edition of Economic Trends (pages 53-68). The figures are provisional and not yet formally part of the National Accounts but updated numbers are expected to be published in the 2000 edition of the National Accounts Blue Book. Separate figures for Scotland are not available.
In addition, the National Asset Register, published in November 1997, lists all central government owned assets by Department, including the then Scottish Office, without valuations. Departments are preparing balance sheets as part of the move to Resource Accounting and Budgeting.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Class Sizes
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils in Key Stage 2 were in classes of 41 or more taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools (a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) according to the most recent available figures. [94923]
Ms Estelle Morris:
We do not have information for May 1997 but in January 1997 there were 1,020 pupils in Key Stage 2 in classes of 41 or more, in January 1998 there were 2,390, and in January 1999 there were 1,690. Primary class sizes, including those at Key Stage 2, rose consistently under the previous administration from 1988 to 1998, reflecting the spending decisions and priorities of the time. Between January 1998 and January 1999, reflecting the first budget of this administration, the number of primary pupils in classes over 30 fell from 1,411,366 to 1,278,607 and new figures for Key Stage 1 will be published shortly. The proportion of children in Key Stage 2 classes over 30 fell from 40 per cent. to 39 per cent. between January 1998 and January 1999. This information was published in the statistical volume "Statistics of Education Schools in England" earlier this year, copies of which have been placed in the Library.
9 Nov 1999 : Column: 519
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the local education authorities with pupils in classes of 41 or more taught by one teacher (a) in maintained secondary schools and (b) in Key Stage 2 in maintained primary schools, indicating how many such pupils there are in each case. [94926]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The available information is shown in the tables.
| LEA | Number of pupils |
|---|---|
| Blackpool | 41 |
| Bradford | 41 |
| Durham | 41 |
| Nottinghamshire | 41 |
| City of Bristol | 42 |
| Manchester | 42 |
| Northumberland | 42 |
| City of Plymouth | 44 |
| Lincolnshire | 45 |
| Warwickshire | 45 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 45 |
| Wigan | 48 |
| Redbridge | 51 |
| Bolton | 56 |
| Gloucestershire | 57 |
| Milton Keynes | 57 |
| Wolverhampton | 64 |
| Wiltshire | 66 |
| Bracknell Forest | 78 |
| Hertfordshire | 78 |
| Leicestershire | 99 |
| Herefordshire | 129 |
| Kent | 153 |
| Cumbria | 175 |
| England | 1,580 |
| LEA | Number of pupils |
|---|---|
| Blackburn with Darwen | 41 |
| City of Kingston-upon-Hull | 41 |
| City of Nottingham | 41 |
| Derby | 41 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 41 |
| Leicestershire | 41 |
| North East Lincolnshire | 41 |
| Northumberland | 41 |
| Oldham | 41 |
| Sefton | 41 |
| Staffordshire | 41 |
| Stockport | 41 |
| Cambridgeshire | 42 |
| Hertfordshire | 42 |
| Nottinghamshire | 42 |
| Wiltshire | 42 |
| Devon | 43 |
| Norfolk | 43 |
| Wirral | 43 |
| Havering | 54 |
| Bolton | 83 |
| Dorset | 83 |
| St. Helens | 83 |
| Halton | 87 |
| Lancashire | 124 |
| Derbyshire | 387 |
| England | 1,690 |
9 Nov 1999 : Column: 520
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many pupils were in classes of 41 or more taught by one teacher in maintained secondary schools (a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) according to the most recent available figures; [94925]
(2) how many pupils were in classes of 31 or more pupils taught by one teacher in maintained schools (a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [95328]
Ms Estelle Morris: We have published the following information on numbers of pupils in maintained schools in England taught by one teacher in classes of over 31 pupils and of over 41 in the statistical volume "Statistics of Education Schools in England", copies of which have been placed in the Library. We do not have information for May 1997, so we have given in the table the position in both January 1997 and January 1998. Primary and secondary class sizes rose consistently under the previous Administration from 1988 to 1998, reflecting the spending decisions and priorities of the time. The fall in the number of pupils in large classes in 1999 follows the first budget of this Administration.
| Year | Number pupils in secondary schools in classes of 41 | Number pupils in classes of 31 in primary and secondary schools |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 470 | 1,589,651 |
| 1998 | 1,630 | 1,693,999 |
| 1999 | 1,580 | 1,591,581 |
The average secondary class remains 6 smaller than the average primary class. Most secondary classes are subject related and these figures do not reflect the varied size of different sets and subject related classes. The Government, in line with Ofsted evidence and most experts, believe that they should concentrate resources on reducing infant class sizes where the numbers in classes over 30 are expected to have fallen from 477,000 in 1997 to below 200,000 in September 1999.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils were taught in classes of 41 or more in nursery classes (a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) according to the most recent figures available. [94927]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The information requested for May 1997 is not available. In 1999, there were a total of 309 pupils in nursery classes of 41 or more where the Annual School Census reported there was one teacher and no other adult. In all cases, they were involved in activities such as PE, games, drama, music, watching TV or listening to the radio. There were no cases of normal nursery classes with a single teacher in charge of more than 40 pupils.
| Year | Child:adult ratio for all nursery classes with one teacher |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 11.4 |
| 1998 | 11.3 |
| 1999 | 11.3 |
9 Nov 1999 : Column: 521
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his letter of 27 October to the hon. Member for Hertsmere on infant class sizes, if he will break down the figure of 6,000 extra teachers according to type of school indicating the overall net change in the number of teachers taking account of teachers who leave the profession. [96771]
Ms Estelle Morris: Revenue grant is allocated to Local Education Authorities on condition that it is used to employ the additional teachers set out in their approved class size plans. It is for LEAs, in consultation with their schools, to draw up their plans and to determine exactly how they should be implemented. We do not therefore hold precise information breaking down the additional teachers by type of school, but approximately 60 per cent. of teachers will be employed in Community schools, 25 per cent. in VA schools, 2 per cent. in Foundation schools and the remainder in VC schools: broadly in line with the number of primary schools in each category.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to the answer of 3 November 1999, Official Report, column 201, on class sizes in primary schools, what factors underlay his decision to restrict the collection of data to classes for five, six and seven-year-olds. [97932]
Ms Estelle Morris: The September Class Size Count is designed specifically to monitor the implementation of our Infant Class Size Pledge. It also keeps to a minimum any data collection burden placed on schools and local education authorities at a very busy time of year for them.
Good quality monitoring information is essential to the effective implementation of the Pledge, to ensure that local education authorities are carrying out their class size plans as agreed, to enable the Government to support local education authorities effectively as they do so, to inform the allocation of funding and to help to ensure that good value for public funds is achieved. The results of the count also enable us to take further action quickly at the start of the school year to promote the implementation of the pledge, if this is necessary. Since more comprehensive
9 Nov 1999 : Column: 522
information from the Annual School Census is not generally available until April, it does not serve these immediate purposes.
Partly as a result of effective monitoring of the pledge, the Government is on target to achieve its target that no 5, 6 or 7 year old should be in an infant class of more than 30 children in virtually all schools by September 2000--18 months ahead of schedule. This September, there were 181,000 children in large infant classes, as compared to 354,000 in September 1998.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he plans to answer the questions of 21 October from the hon. Member for Hertsmere regarding nursery class sizes, secondary school class sizes of 41 or more, classes of 31 or more in maintained schools and lists of local education authorities with classes of over 41 at Key Stage 2 and secondary level. [97885]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Replies to all of these questions have been given today, at columns 518-522.
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