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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
No-smoking Policy
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on (a) the effectiveness of her Department's no-smoking policy and (b) the proportion of her Department's offices that do not allow smoking. [125161]
Mr. Foulkes: Our smoking policy, which allows smoking in designated areas only, has been very effective. We have two offices in London and East Kilbride where smoking is permitted only in five designated areas which account for between 1 per cent. and 2 per cent. of the total available space.
Croatia
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if Know How Fund aid to Croatia has been increased since the election of the new Government; and if she will make a statement. [125376]
Clare Short: Our bilateral allocation to Croatia is £1 million in the current financial year, increasing to £1.5 million in each of the two following years. Our share of the EU programme to Croatia in 2000 is just over £2 million.
Our aim is to complement the funding available through the EU and the international financial institutions to which we contribute. Since the election of the new Government we have discussed with the Croatian authorities several areas of possible support to their reform programme. Where our current funding allocations are insufficient to support good proposals put to us by the Croatian authorities, I shall consider transferring uncommitted funds from within the overall allocation for Central and South Eastern Europe.
Mangrove Swamps
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid is being given towards the preservation of mangrove swamps in (a) the West Indies and (b) the Indian Ocean. [123245]
Clare Short: My Department supports a number of programmes and activities related to the sustainable use and conservation of coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs and seagrass as well as mangrove swamps. Current programmes at least in part related to the preservation of mangrove swamps in the West Indies and the Indian Ocean include: the Turks and Caicos Islands Coastal Resource Management Project to develop institutional capacity; support to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) for capacity building in coastal resource management; promotion of participatory natural resource management through the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI); the State Forest Management project in Grenada; rehabilitation of coastal mangroves in Bangladesh as part of a project to increase fish and shrimp production; and development of community management of coastal ecosystems at Mafia Island in Tanzania.
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Other on-going activities we support include the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and preparatory work for the African Partnership Conference on the Development and Protection of the Coastal and Marine Environment of Africa.
In addition, recently completed work includes support to the preparation of the South Africa White Paper on Sustainable Coastal Development containing provisions for the protection of degraded and threatened ecosystems, and research on the coastal lagoons of Sri Lanka. I will send my hon. Friend a copy of the findings and recommendations of this research project on participatory approaches to natural resource management.
This answer does not include any assistance which may be given by other Government Departments.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
SSA (Leeds)
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the standard spending assessment for education in Leeds in (a) 1998-99, (b) 1999-2000 and (c) 2000-01 and the actual spending and planned spending by the local authority on education in those years. [125425]
Ms Estelle Morris: The following table sets out, for Leeds Local Education Authority, the Education Standard Spending Assessment for (a) 1998-99 (b) 1999-2000 and (c) 2000-01; the planned spending by the local authority on education for each of these years; the actual spending on education for 1998-99, the latest year for which such information is available; and the total resources available per pupil (5-15) through SSA and special and specific grant for all three years.
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education SSA (£ million) | 278.7 | 292.4 | 306.6 |
| Budget (£ million) | 297 | 306.6 | 315.2 |
| Net revenue expenditure (£ million) | 292.6 | -- | -- |
| SSA + Special and Specific Grant per pupil (5-15) (£) | 2,505 | 2,683 | 2,937 |
Note:
Budget figures are based on education budgeted net revenue expenditure taken from information reported by the authority on the RA and RA(SG) forms. The comparable outturn figure is based on information on the RO1, RS and RG Outturn forms. Net revenue expenditure figures include an estimate of education CERA made centrally, based on information in the forms.
Key Stage 2 (Marking)
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many end of Key Stage 2 (a) mathematics and (b) science test papers were returned for a review of marking in each of the past four years. [124894]
Ms Estelle Morris: Information on the number of end of Key Stage 2 mathematics and science test papers returned for a review of marking is available only for the past three years.
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The number of tests papers returned for review of marking were:
| Mathematics | Science | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,658 | 1,870 |
| 1998 | 1,283 | 3,967 |
| 1997 | 1,563 | 2,577 |
Allington School Site
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he will announce a decision about the sale of the Allington School site in Chippenham. [125716]
Jacqui Smith: The application from Wiltshire County Council to sell the former Allington School site has been put on hold, at the request of the County Council, pending further discussions between the County Council, North Wiltshire District Council and Chippenham Town Council over the provision of additional playing fields in Chippenham.
Early-years Education
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many additional free early years education places would be required to meet the Government's target of free places being available for 66 per cent. of three-year-olds by 2002 for (a) England and (b) each local education authority in London. [122710]
Ms Hodge [holding answer 19 May 2000]: 190,000 additional new free early years education places for three-year-olds will be made available over the next three years using the £390 million allocated by the Government. This will allow us to meet the national target of providing 66 per cent. of all three-year-olds in England with a free place.
We are seeking to target those children in most social need. To this end different targets have been set with different local authorities to reflect their position on the Government's Index of Local Deprivation.
The following table shows the estimated number of new places required in the local education authorities in London to contribute to taking the national figure to 66 per cent. It also shows our estimate of the percentage of three-year-olds in each area who will have a free place by April 2001.
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Pre-school Learning
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what financial support his Department has given to the Pre-school Learning Alliance in each year since April 1997. [123102]
Ms Hodge: The Department has provided the following Financial Support to the Pre-school Learning Alliance (PLA) since 1997:
| Marketing, quality and training infrastructure | Section 64 grant: core funding | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 1,578,000 | 420,000 | 1,998,000 |
| 1998-99 | 1,585,000 | 420,000 | 2,005,000 |
| 1999-2000 | 1,590,000 | 420,000 | 2,010,000 |
| 2000-01 | 1,600,000 | 450,000 | 2,050,000 |
| Total | 6,353,000 | 1,710,000 | 8,063,000 |
During the same period £640 million has been made available to fund places for three and four-year-olds--around 50 per cent. went to the voluntary sector. I am encouraged that over 80 per cent. of new free nursery places for three-year-olds created during 1999-2000 were in the voluntary and private sectors.
In March, I announced that, for the third year running, we are making available £500,000 for a further round of small grants for pre-schools and playgroups facing financial difficulties. This will give groups breathing space in which to consider their longer term plans.
In recognition of the challenges facing the sector we have announced the provision of £250,000 for specific projects to help pre-schools and playgroups develop and grow, as the early years sector expands.
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