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Veterinary Schools

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the cost of fees and charges for students at veterinary schools. [129275]

Mr. Wicks: There is no special treatment in terms of fees and charges for students at university veterinary schools in England and Wales.

Post-16 Education

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the major changes set out in his second update of the transition plans for post-16 education and training. [129274]

Mr. Wicks: The latest version of the joint DfEE/DTI National Transition Plan was published in June 2000. The early part of the plan sets out the considerable progress made since the plan was last updated in November. The most significant changes are reflected in the plans for the Learning and Skills Council and the Inspectorates, where the plans now set out in much greater detail the steps that need to be taken over the next nine months.

Architects

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action he is taking to improve disability awareness in the professional training of architects. [129309]

Mr. Wicks: The design and content of higher education courses leading to professional qualifications in architectural studies is a matter for the professional bodies which accredit and the institutions which offer that training and education. The Royal Institute of British Architects is involved in a number of initiatives aimed at increasing knowledge of disability issues among their members. Architects also undertake Continuing Professional Development and disability awareness training which includes preparation for the full implementation of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in October 2004.

Common Clearance Systems

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the benefits of introducing common clearance systems for school applications. [127942]

Ms Estelle Morris: None. Under admissions legislation any parent can state a preference for any school. Local education authorities have a duty to ensure that a school place is provided if the parent wants one.

Universities

Paddy Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the universities which were established in England and Wales within the last five years with their dates of establishment; what plans he has to establish new universities over the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [128789]

6 Jul 2000 : Column: 280W

Mr. Wicks: No universities have been established in the last five years. As far as the establishment of new universities is concerned, it is for the higher education funding councils to offer advice to the Government in the light of representations made locally.

Pupil Costs

Paddy Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the annual levels of full fees were at independent schools in England and Wales which participated in the former assisted places scheme in the last year of its operation; what the average per capita funding was of pupils in maintained schools in the same year; and if he will make a statement. [128790]

Ms Estelle Morris: The last year in which children could take up assisted places was academic year 1997-98. Existing assisted pupils will continue to hold their places until the end of their current phase of education. The average day tuition fee charged by schools in England for assisted pupils in 1997-98 was £4,598. The average cost to my Department of an assisted place in that year was £4,082 when parental contributions are taken into account. The unit cost of a maintained secondary place in England in 1997-98 was £2,359.

Figures for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

HEALTH

Influenza Immunisation

Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 21 February 2000, Official Report, column 778W, on influenza immunisation for healthcare workers, when he expects the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation will publish their recommendations on influenza immunisation of healthcare workers for the coming winter; and if he will make a statement. [124206]

Yvette Cooper: The Department's guidelines on influenza immunisation for healthcare workers for the coming winter are set out in Health Services Circular 2000/016, which was issued on 23 May 2000. A copy of the circular can be found in the Library.

Meningitis C (Immunisation)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue new advice to practitioners who are immunising against Meningitis C to take account of possible adverse reactions. [126254]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 19 June 2000]: The Deputy Chief Medical Officer wrote to all practitioners immunising against Meningitis C on 13 June 2000, with further advice about possible adverse reactions; a copy is in the Library.

The safety of all new medicines, including vaccines, is continuously monitored by the Medicines Control Agency. Advice is sought from the independent expert advisory committees, the Committee on Safety of Medicines and Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, when appropriate. Advice to prescribers is contained in the

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Summary of Product Characteristics and to patients in the Patient Information Leaflet. Product information is updated as necessary.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he is taking in his evaluation of the Meningitis C immunisation programme to ensure that he receives an accurate assessment of the numbers of individuals who may be suffering an adverse reaction. [126255]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 19 June 2000]: In October 1999 a letter from the Chief Medical Officer advised doctors and pharmacists to report all suspected adverse reactions to the new meningococcal C vaccine to the Medicines Control Agency via the yellow card scheme. In December 1999, following the Committee on Safety of Medicines' advice, nurses were also invited to report suspected adverse reactions to this vaccine via the yellow card scheme. The Medicines Control Agency continuously monitors the safety of all medicines including Meningitis C vaccine. Various data sources are used including spontaneous reports of suspected reactions from health professionals, clinical trials, epidemiological studies and regular safety update reports from manufacturers. This post-licensing monitoring follows the detailed safety and efficacy trials of meningococcal C vaccine undertaken before the vaccine was licensed.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will produce a report on the immunisation programme against Meningitis C, including reported incidents of side effects. [126253]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 19 June 2000]: The Department intends to produce a report of the meningitis C campaign after the catch-up programme is complete. The report will cover all aspects, including adverse reactions. A report along these lines was produced after the last major immunisation campaign in the United Kingdom, the measles/rubella (MR) campaign of 1994, when about 8 million children in the UK aged five to 16 were immunised.

HIV-AIDS

Sir Norman Fowler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total financial allocation in respect of HIV/AIDS (a) is in the current financial year and (b) was in each of the previous three years, broken down into the amounts devoted to (i) treatment and care, (ii) prevention, (iii) AIDs support grants, (iv) Section 64 grants, (v) public education and (vi) research. [127014]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 20 June 2000]: The information requested is given in the table.

£ million

	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Treatment and care	199.6	228.1	233.1	(11)184.2
HIV prevention	51.9	53.4	53.4	54.7
AIDS Support Grant	13.7	13.7	15.5	16.0
Section 64	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.3
Public education	4.3	4.4	5.0	3.6
Research	15.4	16.2	(13)20.4	(12)--

(11) We have introduced a new funding formula for the treatment and care budget in 2000-01. The HIV/AIDs allocation was brought in line with actual spending as part of the introduction of residence based funding.

(12) We have not yet committed all Department of Health/National Health Service research and development expenditure for 2000-01, so figures for 2000-01 are not yet available.

(13) Estimate

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Cancer Services

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for (a) breast cancer (b) cervical cancer and (c) cancer of the prostate, (i) the number of cases diagnosed, (ii) the number of recorded and (iii) the amount of Government money spent on research in the financial year 1999-2000. [128117]

Yvette Cooper: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of breast, cervical and prostate cancer in 1993 in England and Wales are as follows:

	Number
Breast cancer	30,495
Cervical cancer	3,302
Prostate cancer	17,208

The estimated figures for Government spend in 1999-2000 on research supported through the Medical Research Council and the Department are as follows:

	£ million
Breast cancer	9.02
Cervical cancer	1.53
Prostate cancer	1.52

These figures do not include:

Department of Health/National Health Service support for research commissioned by the research councils and research charities taking place in the NHS (with the exception of the Royal Marsden Trust/Institute of Cancer Research). The Department spends £63 million a year of this support on cancer research. Management of budgets is devolved and details of spend at project level are not collected routinely by the Department.

Departmental and Medical Research Council expenditure on research projects relevant to all cancers, for example on the biological basis, causes, prevention, services, psychosocial issues and palliative care.

Government spend via the higher education funding councils to universities (from the Department for Education and Employment)

Government spend via research councils other than the MRC (from the Department of Trade and Industry).

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