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Class Sizes
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answers of 27 July 1999, Official Report, column 185, and 29 October 1999, Official Report, column 1009, concerning class sizes, when he now plans to write to the hon. Member for Hertsmere. [98237]
Ms Estelle Morris: I replied to the hon. Member, as promised, on 4 November. Copies of my letter have also been placed in the Library.
Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures he is taking to reduce class sizes in Northampton South. [98321]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Our pledge is to reduce all infant class sizes to 30 or below by September 2001 at the latest. The number of children in large infant classes in Northamptonshire Local Education Authority has already been reduced from 5,773 in January 1998 to 2,749 in September 1999, reflecting a national fall from 485,000 to 181,000 over the same period. Northamptonshire LEA's approved Infant Class Size Plan will reduce infant class
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sizes to 30 or less in virtually all schools by September 2000. We have already provided revenue funding amounting to £363,000 for 24 teachers and capital funding of £1.25 million for 15 new classrooms to enable Northamptonshire to carry out its plan. We will shortly agree further funding so that the Authority can implement in full next year.
Mr. Pike:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have benefited from the New Deals in (a) the north-west and (b) Lancashire. [97612]
Ms Jowell:
I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Ms Shipley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many young people who have been in local authority care have completed the New Deal Gateway and left for (a) unsubsidised employment, (b) subsidised employment, (c) education or training, (d) an environmental task force, (e) the voluntary sector, (f) other benefits, (g) other known destinations and (h) unknown destinations. [97303]
Ms Jowell:
I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Ms Shipley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many young people who have been in local authority care have entered the New Deal; and what proportion this represents of care leavers aged 18 to 24 years who are unemployed. [97305]
Ms Jowell:
I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the information technology projects undertaken by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies, including the (a) start date, (b) planned completion date, (c) expected completion date, (d) planned cost and (e) estimated cost; and if he will make a statement. [98021]
Mr. Wills:
I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy in the Library.
Mr. Stinchcombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps the Government have taken to implement EU Directive 94/33/EC on the protection of young people at work in relation to the safety of the working conditions of personnel under the age of 18 years in the armed services. [96589]
Mr. Spellar:
I have been asked to reply.
I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales for what reasons an extra £35 million was allocated to his Department in addition to the block grant during the financial year 1998-99. [98020]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
The £35 million was allocated to the Welsh Office as a call on the Reserve in 1998-99, to meet inescapable expenditure in that year.
Mr. Denzil Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of the work force in Wales was employed in the public sector at the latest available date. [98041]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
According to the Summer 1999 Labour Force Survey, between June and August 1999 an estimated 27 per cent. of people in employment in Wales were working in the public sector.
Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales concerning how funding approved under Objective 1 criteria is to be spent. [98193]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
The content of the plan setting out the strategic priorities for use of Objective 1 funding in West Wales and the Valleys is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Structural Funds partnership. The exact nature of schemes to be approved for funding will depend on projects which come forward from sponsors within the priorities set out in the plan once approved by the European Commission. However, I take a keen interest in seeking to ensure that a wide range of good quality projects come forward from a range of partners and have discussed this with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales and other interested parties.
Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales regarding obtaining matched funding for Objective 1 funding; and what assessment he has made of the sources this funding will come from. [98194]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
The First Secretary and I meet frequently and discuss a range of issues, including Objective 1. There are many potential sources of match funding, both private and public sector, but it is a matter for regional partners and project sponsors to identify match funding for projects.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to set targets for the recycling of waste (a) paper, (b) cardboard, (c) glass, (d) metal, (e) plastic
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and (f) other products created by his Department and its agencies; and if he will make a statement. [98232]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
My Department's approach to waste management is based on the three "R"s, with "Recovery" (i.e. recycling, composting and energy recovery) following "Reduce" and "Re-use" as the preferred options for reducing waste sent to landfill. This should help us to achieve the Green Ministers' target for Government Departments of recovering a minimum of 40 per cent. of total office waste, with at least 25 per cent. of that recovery coming from recycling or composting, in 2000-01, as published in "Greening Government: First Annual Report of the Green Ministers Committee 1998-99".
My Department has a staff of 34 and a correspondingly small production of waste. We have, therefore, set no individual targets for paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic and other materials, and we do not keep formal records of waste recycled. We recycle paper as a matter of routine.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total number of vehicles used by his Department and its agencies fuelled by (a) petrol, (b) diesel and (c) liquid petroleum gas; and what plans he has to increase the rate of conversion of those vehicles to liquid petroleum gas. [98198]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
This Department uses two cars from the Government Car Service which are both fuelled by petrol.
It is the policy of the Government Car Service to offer models fuelled by liquid petroleum gas when cars are due for renewal, and this matter will be considered then.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the expenditure per head on health services in Scotland for the current financial year and each of the two previous financial years. [97966]
Dr. Reid:
Planned net expenditure on the National Health Service in Scotland in 1999-2000 was £964 per head. Actual expenditure per head in 1997-98 and 1998-99 was £850 and £901 respectively. Responsibility for the National Health Service in Scotland is now a matter for the Scottish Executive.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the expenditure per head for each Scottish health board area estimated for the current financial year and for each of the previous two financial years. [97965]
Dr. Reid:
The identifiable net cash expenditure per head of population for each Health Board in 1997-98 and
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1998-99 and the planned expenditure for 1999-2000 is set out in the table.
| (20)1997-98 | (20)1998-99 | (21)1999-2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argyll and Clyde | 818 | 861 | 872 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 817 | 858 | 880 |
| Borders | 824 | 876 | 892 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 833 | 877 | 911 |
| Fife | 810 | 866 | 869 |
| Forth Valley | 843 | 889 | 899 |
| Grampian | 859 | 914 | 922 |
| Greater Glasgow | 859 | 885 | 910 |
| Highland | 855 | 893 | 896 |
| Lankarkshire | 818 | 865 | 887 |
| Lothian | 889 | 911 | 922 |
| Orkney | 975 | 1,082 | 961 |
| Shetland | 979 | 1,013 | 1,022 |
| Tayside | 886 | 939 | 945 |
| Western Isles | 970 | 1,024 | 986 |
(20) Outturn
(21) Plan
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