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Education Action Zones
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans the Government have to announce a third bidding round for Education Action Zones; and if he will make a statement. [125960]
Ms Estelle Morris: We have no current plans for a third bidding round for Education Action Zones.
Pupils (Expenditure)
Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list for (a) Great Britain and (b) each local education authority the real terms expenditure per pupil for (i) 1979, (ii) 1990 and (iii) each year since 1992 for which figures are available. [126177]
Ms Estelle Morris: The information requested is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Member when I am able to reply and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Leeds LEA
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the statutory functions that will remain with Leeds Local Education Authority under the new arrangements for education services announced on 14 June. [126823]
Ms Estelle Morris: The announcement on 14 June of a new joint venture company to deliver education services to schools in Leeds, set out the broad framework for the way forward. Detailed discussions will continue as to precisely which statutory functions will transfer to the new company to allow it effectively to discharge its responsibilities for service delivery and increasing attainment.
Computers for Teachers Scheme
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many applications he has received under the Computers for Teachers scheme from schools in Bury, North; and how many refund payments have been made within one month of the submission of the application; [124770]
- (2) how many applications he has received under the Computers for Teachers scheme; how many refund payments have been made within one month of the application; how many refund payments are still pending; and what is the current average length of time for making refund payments. [124771]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 14 June 2000]: Data relating to the number of applications from constituency areas are not held centrally.
The Computers for Teachers scheme has been very popular and early indications are that over 27,000 computers have been purchased under the scheme from the authorised suppliers. The scale of the response has unfortunately meant that there have been delays in processing payments. The Department very much regrets these delays and has taken urgent action to put in place measures which will ensure that:
- Any teacher who submitted a claim which was received in the Department before 12 May will either have their claim cleared for payment or have been contacted to resolve any issue related
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- to their claim, by 23 June. It should be noted that "cleared for payment" means that the payment will have been entered into the BACS system and will then take between three and 10 days to clear into an individual's bank or building society account.
- Any teacher whose claim was received in the Department between 13 and 31 May will have their claim cleared for payment or will be contacted by 30 June.
- Any teacher whose claim was received in June will have their claim cleared for payment or will be contacted within the four week timescale originally anticipated.
Music Colleges
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the (a) Royal Academy of Music, (b) Royal College of Music, (c) Trinity College of Music, (d) Royal Northern College of Music, (e) Birmingham Conservatoire, (f) Guildhall School of Music and Drama and (g) Leeds College of Music has its own concert hall. [126034]
Mr. Wicks: Trinity College of Music performs at a variety of venues including the South Bank Centre, and St. Johns, Smith Square, London but will have its own concert hall when it moves to the Old Naval College Greenwich. Leeds College of Music also performs at a number of venues.
All the other named institutions have their own concert halls.
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much capital investment the (a) Royal Academy of Music, (b) Royal College of Music, (c) Trinity College of Music, (d) Royal Northern College of Music, (e) Birmingham Conservatoire, (f) Guildhall School of Music and Drama and (g) Leeds College of Music has received in each of the last five years for which information is available. [126050]
Mr. Wicks: The funding for these institutions comes from a variety of sources both public and private. Information on the total amount of capital investment received by each of the specified institutions is not available centrally.
Further Education Funding Council
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will publish the Treasury rules on economic appraisal of projects as they apply to the Further Education Funding Council's capital programme. [126049]
Mr. Wicks: The Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) assesses applications for capital support for projects submitted by further education colleges against a range of criteria based on the Treasury's guide for Government departments. The Guide is called "Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government Departments--A Treasury Guide" and is a published document available from the HMSO.
British Association for Early Childhood Education
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much grant his Department has paid to the British Association for Early Childhood Education in each of the last four years; and how much is being paid in the current year. [125974]
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Ms Hodge [holding answer 15 June 2000]: The Department has provided the following financial support to the British Association for Early Childhood Education (BAECE) since 1996:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 44,180 |
| 1997-98 | 51,413 |
| 1998-99 | 51,300 |
| 1999-2000 | 59,112 |
| 2000-01 | 90,000 |
| Total | 296,005 |
Learning and Skills Council
Mr. Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that schools and colleges are represented on learning and skills councils. [126278]
Mr. Wicks: Appointments to the Learning and Skills Council and its local councils will be merit-based following open competition. We intend to appoint members who have understanding and experience of the wide variety of interests in post-16 education and training, including people with experience in a senior capacity in schools and further education.
Nursery Education
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many nursery schools have closed in each of the last three financial years in each local education authority; and how many closures of nursery schools are currently being proposed by local education authorities. [119491]
Ms Hodge [holding answer 17 April 2000]: The maintained nursery schools that have closed in the financial years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are listed in the tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library. There are no proposals for nursery school closure currently under consideration as far as the Department is aware. All the nursery school closures were linked to the establishment of alternative nursery units at other schools except one where the nursery school was closed as there were surplus nursery places in the area.
The nursery schools that have closed over the three years represent 4.6 per cent. of the total number of nursery schools in England. Since 1997, four new nursery schools have been established. An extra 8,297 four-year-old places have been created since 1997.
HEALTH
Meat Hygiene Service
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Meat Hygiene Service takes to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest affecting the work of Official Veterinary Surgeons. [122046]
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Ms Stuart [holding answer 15 May 2000]: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that, all official veterinary surgeons (OVSs) working on behalf of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) are contractually obliged to avoid any conflicts of interest. Any allegations of potential conflicts will be fully investigated by the MHS and appropriate action taken.
In addition to this, all OVSs have to be Members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and as such are bound by the stringent ethical obligations placed upon them by their professional Codes of Practice.
Vaccinations
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what childhood vaccinations have been withdrawn on safety grounds since childhood vaccinations were started. [122159]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 15 May 2000]: The childhood vaccination programme predates the modern licensing system for medicines. Comprehensive records are not available for this entire period.
In the last decade no vaccines have had their licences withdrawn owing to safety issues. However, in September 1992, following concerns of a possible association between the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccines which contained the Urabe mumps vaccine strain, and aseptic meningitis, all vaccines containing this strain were replaced in the vaccination programme. Vaccines containing this strain were recalled and no further vaccine has been supplied to the National Health Service.
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence his Department has evaluated on a causal link between routine vaccination and brain-damage. [122911]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 19 May 2000]: The Medicines Control Agency and Committee on Safety of Medicines continuously monitor the safety, quality and efficacy of all medicines including vaccines. For vaccinations, the independent expert advisory committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation also considers issues relating to vaccination policy, including safety and efficacy. The evidence evaluated includes data from spontaneous reports from the yellow card scheme, the published medical literature, pre- and post-marketing clinical trials and epidemiological studies.
Evidence does not support a causal association between any of the recommended childhood vaccines and long-term damage other than the risk of vaccine--associated paralytic polio which occurs in one out of approximately every million immunisations.
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have suffered brain damage following a routine vaccination in each year since 1990; and if he will break this figure down by the vaccine given in each case. [124763]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 7 June 2000]: Since 1990, there has been one case of brain damage and one case of mental handicap reported to the Medicines Control Agency/Committee on Safety of Medicines following vaccination in United Kingdom children aged 12 years or under.
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The case of brain damage was reported in association with measles, mumps and rubella in 1996. The case of mental handicap was reported in 1995 following polio immunisation.
Spontaneous reports are of suspected adverse drug reactions: they do not necessarily mean that the drug is the cause of the reaction.
Ms Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the health authority areas in the UK where the MMR vaccine can be administered in single doses. [125804]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 13 June 2000]: Delivery of Measles, Mumps and Rubella as three separate vaccines has never been recommended in the UK. Single antigen measles and mumps vaccines are not licensed in the UK. The importation of unlicensed single antigen measles and mumps vaccines is restricted by Medicines Control Agency under the Medicines Act. As a result the Department is not aware of any health authority which either recommends or gives MMR as three separate vaccines.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the procedures for trials of new vaccines. [126256]
Yvette Cooper: Before new vaccines can be studied in human subjects in the United Kingdom, approval should be sought from the Medicines Control Agency by submitting relevant scientific data to the Agency for evaluation. Applicants are obliged to report any serious unexpected adverse reaction associated with the administration of the product.
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