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Local Education Authorities
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the future of local education authorities. [117511]
Ms Estelle Morris: Local education authorities have four key functions related to schools: school improvement, special education needs, access and strategic management.
We believe that LEAs should be held accountable by regular inspections, which is why Ofsted has a programme of inspections in place--and why we introduced legislation allowing intervention and outsourcing where necessary.
We believe that as far as possible schools should manage themselves and their budgets. That is why we are delegating far greater resources to schools than the previous Administration.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what (a) number and (b) percentage of properties in his charge are empty; and what steps are being taken by her Department to reduce the number of such properties. [116911]
Mr. Wills:
There are currently eight Departmental headquarters properties and 53 Employment Service (ES) properties that are either fully or partly vacant. Using the standard measure of square metreage, these figures represents 3.19 per cent. of vacant space against the total headquarters property for DfEE and 4.9 per cent. against the total for ES. Both ES and DfEE use the services of external estates surveyors, under contract, who advise on the best method of achieving a speedy and cost effective disposal. This will include assignment, sub-letting or surrender. The option pursued will depend upon, for example, the terms of the lease, the wishes of the landlord and market conditions. In line with usual practice, retained estates surveyors employ local estate agents who market vacant premises.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many external assessors for the performance-related pay scheme for teachers have been recruited and how many remain to be recruited; and by what date they will be recruited. [117510]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The actual numbers of external assessors to be deployed will depend on the number and distribution of teachers who apply to cross the threshold. Numbers are likely to peak in the first two years of the new arrangements when very large numbers of teachers will be eligible for assessment. The maximum requirement in year one will be in the region of 520 full-time equivalents. The recruitment process for external assessors is nearly complete.
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Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is (a) the breakdown for the financial year 1999-2000 and (b) the forecast breakdown for 2000-01, of funding for schools between the Standards Fund, local education authority expenditure, and other Government grants. [117506]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The following table sets out: (a) Education Standard Spending, which is the amount the Government assume local authorities will spend for the purpose of setting Standard Spending Assessments; (b) Standards Fund Grant; and (c) Other Government Grants, which include Nursery Grant for three and four-year-olds, Class Size Grant, and Special Grants to be paid under the Local Government Act 1988.
| 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | |
|---|---|---|
| Education Standard Spending | 20,414 | 21,479 |
| Standards Fund Grant | 563 | 1,077 |
| Other Government Grants | 247 | 877 |
| Total | 21,224 | 23,433 |
DEFENCE
Weapons Failures
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the figures are for the mean time between failure for the British Army Light Support Weapon (a) modified and (b) unmodified, and for other Light Support Weapon equivalents used by other armed forces tested by the British army. [114214]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 13 March 2000]: The mean time between failure expressed as mean rounds between failure for modified Light Support Weapon as tested on recent trials, firing a Battlefield mission of 960 rounds in 37 minutes, is greater than 2,500 rounds in all climates and with all NATO qualified ammunition types. Of the other Light Support Weapon systems tested, the mean rounds between failure range from 398 to 2,008 rounds.
I am withholding details of the performance of the unmodified LSW under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent field trial report on (a) SA80 and (b) LSW. [114215]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 13 March 2000]: The report to which the hon. Member refers is classified and is withheld under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice for the release of Government Information.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what are the figures for the mean time between failures for (a) the SA80 as modified, (b) the G36, (c) 5IG (Swiss Army), (d) DEMAR. Co, (e) M16 and (f) other personal weapons recently tested by the Army; [114217]
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Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 13 March 2000]: The mean time between failure expressed as mean rounds between failure for the modified SA 80 Individual Weapon (IW) as tested on recent trials, firing a Battlefield mission of 150 rounds in eight minutes 40 seconds, is greater than 2,500 rounds in all climates and with all NATO qualified ammunition types.
The mean round between failure for G36, Diemaco and SIG is commercially sensitive. However only one Weapon system was considered comparable to the modified SA80 1W.
The reliability tests for all the Weapons systems have been based on the firing of 21 Battlefield missions.
Mr. Maclennan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the expenditure incurred by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on (a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics covered, (ii) the average number of hits per month and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [115090]
Mr. Spellar:
The information requested by the right hon. Member is not held centrally or in the form requested. I will write to the right hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what aircraft was used to take Puma helicopters to Mozambique; how long the journey took; and what estimate he has made of how long it would have taken for an equivalent number of helicopters to have arrived in a complete state had Boeing C-17 aircraft been used for the transportation. [116599]
Mr. Spellar:
An An-124 aircraft was used to carry four Puma helicopters to Heudspruit, South Africa. The journey time from Brize Norton to Heudspruit took 16 hours 50 minutes; the flight time was 14 hours ten minutes. Two C-17 aircraft would have been required to transport the four Pumas and, as the cruise speeds are similar, the flight times would have been similar to the An-124. It was necessary to remove the rotors and rotor head for the Pumas to be transported in the An-124. It is assessed that the same degree of dismantlement would have been necessary had C-17 been used.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long it would take for an Antonov 124, if purchased by his Department, to be placed on the British Military List; and what impact this would have on protecting its operation from interference by foreign powers. [116598]
3 Apr 2000 : Column: 300W
Dr. Moonie:
Details of our assessment of these issues forms part of the current decision making process on options to meet our short-term strategic airlift requirement. I am withholding information under Exemption 2 (internal discussion and advice) of the Code of Practice on access to Government Information.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the unit cost for the purchase of (a) an Antonov 124 and (b) a Boeing C17. [116560]
Dr. Moonie:
This information is commercially sensitive. I am withholding it under Exemption 13 (third party's commercial confidences) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many aircraft would be available under (a) the Antonov 124 package and (b) the Boeing C17 package. [116497]
Dr. Moonie:
A final decision on aircraft numbers has yet to be reached and will form part of our overall decision on airlift requirements.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long it would take for (i) an Antonov 124, and (ii) a Boeing C17 to carry 40 battle tanks to the Balkans. [116502]
Dr. Moonie:
That information is not available and could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the C-17 was chartered by the Ministry of Defence from the USAF during the Kosovo conflict; and what the payload was which was offered. [116562]
Dr. Moonie:
A request for airlift assistance to move the vehicles of a High Velocity Missile Battery was submitted to the USAF on 29 March 1999. The move involved seven C-17 flights using two aircraft flying from Hanover to Skopje. The lift commenced on 1 April and was completed on 4 April 1999.
(2) what reliability tests the armed forces have carried out on personal weapons used by other armed forces, with particular reference to (a) G.36, (b) S/G (Swiss Army), (c) DEMAR. Co (upgraded M16) and (d) M16. [114216]
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