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Supply Teachers

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures are in place to replace supply teachers from Australia and New Zealand. [125130]

Ms Estelle Morris: The Government welcome the contribution which teachers from Australia and New Zealand have made, particularly since the 1980s, and continue to make in English schools. However, they do not seek to replace teachers from particular countries who leave. Rather, we have introduced a range of measures to attract people into teaching, and to encourage those with Qualified Teacher Status who have spent time away from the profession to return. Since we announced £6,000 training salaries and £4,000 new-style "golden hellos" on 30 March, 1,119 more people have applied for postgraduate teacher training than in the same period last year. We are also introducing additional funding to help schools take people onto the Graduate Teacher

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Programme. Alongside the improvements we are making to teachers' pay, school leadership and the support and continuing professional development available to teachers, these initiatives will make it much easier for schools to attract the number and quality of teachers they need and so reduce the need for supply teachers generally in the longer term.

LEA Funding

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the expenditure per pupil was in (a) primary and (b) secondary education in the London boroughs of (i) Kensington and Chelsea and (ii) Westminster in 1996-97 and 1999-2000; and what is his estimate for 2000-01. [125416]

Ms Estelle Morris: The following table sets out the funding per primary and secondary pupil through Standard Spending Assessment and special and specific grants for each of the years requested.

	Primary	Secondary
	Kensington and Chelsea
1996-97	2,664	3,647
1999-2000	3,559	4,404
2000-01	3,907	4,766
	Westminster
1996-97	2,703	3,497
1999-2000	3,489	4,127
2000-01	3,801	4,422

New Deal

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people (a) in the greater Portsmouth area and (b) nationally are using the New Deal for partners; and if he will make a statement. [124552]

Ms Jowell: By the end of April 2000, 2,622 partners of unemployed people nationally had attended an initial interview to discuss their participation in New Deal for Partners of Unemployed People.

We do not collect information on the greater Portsmouth area specified.

We are pleased to be able to provide targeted help to assist members of workless households back to work through the New Deal for Partners of Unemployed People.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

BNFL

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the reports prepared by external advisers in relation to BNFL since 1 January. [125585]

Mrs. Liddell: Since 1 January my Department has received advice and reports from its advisers in relation to BNFL. This material, which is commercially confidential, covers a range of issues including accounting and contractual topics relating to BNFL's business operations.

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Gas and Electricity Consumer Council

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his policy is on regional offices for the proposed Gas and Electricity Consumer Council; and if he will make a statement. [125584]

Mrs. Liddell: Proposals for the structure of the new Gas and Electricity Consumers' Council (GECC) were the subject of an extensive consultation exercise undertaken by Ann Robinson, the Chairman designate of the new organisation. I shall make a further statement once decisions are taken on the outcome of that exercise.

ECGD

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will publish the results of his review of the Export Credit Guarantees Department. [125586]

Mr. Caborn: The review of ECGD's Mission and Status, which was announced last July, is nearing completion. The public consultation exercise and a number of independent studies into certain aspects of ECGD's operations have provided valuable evidence. These inputs will enable Ministers to determine the right way forward for ECGD, and I expect an announcement of the outcome of the Review to be made in the House shortly.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Department is responsible for commenting on the human rights aspects of applications for ECGD support in the case of (a) those countries qualifying for overseas development assistance and (b) those countries which do not qualify for such assistance. [125202]

Mr. Caborn: Responsibility for assessing all the risks and issues connected with applications for ECGD support lies with ECGD. For countries which are only eligible for highly concessional International Development Association (IDA) loans from the World Bank, we would seek the views of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development as part of ECGD's procedure for assessing whether Productive Expenditure criteria have been met. Applications for ECGD support in countries which are not eligible for IDA only loans would be referred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for advice on human rights where ECGD has concerns about the issue.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Department had responsibility for scrutinising the human rights aspects of the request for ECGD assistance for the Ilisu dam project; and what comments were made. [125203]

Mr. Caborn: Responsibility for assessing the risks and issues connected with the application for ECGD support lies with ECGD. However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provided advice to ECGD which was reflected in the statement made regarding the project on 21 December by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. ECGD is in regular contact with FCO regarding this project.

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Limited Liability Partnerships

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what restrictions he proposes to place on limited companies re-incorporating as limited liability partnerships. [125427]

Dr. Howells: Part II of the Companies Act 1985 provides a mechanism by which a company may alter its status by way of re-registration. There is no similar provision in the Limited Liability Partnerships Bill.

If, therefore, the members of a limited company decide that they wish to cease to trade through their current vehicle--the limited company--and to commence trading through a limited liability partnership, they will have to go through a three stage process. First, they will have to set up the limited liability partnership complying with the conditions set out in the LLP Bill and regulations. Second, they will have to transfer the assets and liabilities of the company to the LLP. This may give rise to transaction and taxation charges; the LLP Bill and regulations do not provide any tax exemptions for such a transfer, nor do they facilitate the transfer in any other way, e.g. by providing for an automatic transfer of assets. Finally, the members of the company would either have to keep the company in being in parallel to the LLP, and so continue to comply with the regulatory requirements set out in the Companies Act 1985, or they would need to seek to wind up the company by a members' voluntary winding up.

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates he has made of the number of public and private limited companies likely to re-incorporate as limited liability partnerships as a result of the provisions of the Limited Liability Partnerships Bill [Lords]; and what consultations he has had with the Treasury about the tax revenue consequences of such changes. [125429]

Dr. Howells: No estimates have been made. I would refer my hon. Friend to replies to two of his earlier written questions. The first is my reply on 9 June 2000, Official Report, column 385W to his question asking what estimate had been made of the number of plcs likely to register as limited liability partnerships which gave the reasons why we would be surprised if plcs converted to LLPs. The second is the reply made by my hon. Friend the Paymaster General on 5 June 2000, Official Report, column 77W, to the question asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations he has had with the DTI on this subject. My hon. Friend the Paymaster General confirmed that officials at the DTI have been in close contact with Inland Revenue officials, and went on to note that because of the possibility that some LLPs might be set up solely because of their taxation of LLPs. Depending on what this work finds, consideration will be given to bringing forward further tax legislation in due course.

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