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Pupil Numbers

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils were enrolled in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last five academic years in (i) England and (ii) Kent. [139479]

Ms Estelle Morris: The information requested is shown in the table.

Number of pupils⁽²²⁾ in maintained primary and secondary schools

	Number of pupils in maintained primary schools	Number of pupils in maintained secondary schools
	Kent Local Education Authority
1996	135,598	103,769
1997	137,962	104,812
1998	139,328	105,900
1999	115,004	88,966
2000	114,835	91,288
England
1996	4,389,364	3,010,416
1997	4,429,043	3,041,584
1998	4,460,646	3,072,822
1999	4,460,171	3,121,901
2000	4,435,346	3,181,813

⁽²²⁾ Full-time and part-time pupils

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Unruly Pupils

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to consult teachers and parents on his proposed guidelines on the legitimate use of physical restraint on unruly pupils. [139480]

Jacqui Smith: We have undertaken an extensive consultation exercise on the draft of the guidance to help schools and local education authorities plan their strategies for managing the behaviour of children with severe behavioural difficulties referred to in my reply to the hon. Member's question on 30 October 2000, Official Report, column 288W.

Those consulted included all the teacher unions, a wide range of other professional bodies (including the National Association Of Schools For Children With Emotional And Behavioural Difficulties and the Association of Workers for Children With Emotional And Behavioural Difficulties), bodies representing parents and individual parents and teachers who expressed an interest in the issue.

School Teachers' Pay

Mr. Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on school teachers' pay. [140119]

Mr. Blunkett: I have today made an order under the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Act 1991 to give statutory force to the new pay arrangements for teachers entailing assessment against a performance threshold for those who wish to have access to a pay increase of £2,001 and an upper pay scale. This follows consultation on detailed provisions further to my acceptance of recommendations made by the independent School Teachers' Review Body in its special report published on 20 October. Threshold assessment, which has been suspended since the High Court ruled on 14 July that it had to be covered by an order under the 1991 Act, will restart as soon as possible. The main elements of the threshold procedures are as follows:

The threshold standards remain the same as those my Department promulgated in March;

Teachers in England who have applied to cross the threshold will be assessed on their original applications--this means no extra work for teachers or headteachers in the initial stages of the threshold process;

Teachers in Wales have until 16 March 2001 to submit threshold applications; headteachers in England may accept late applications up to 16 March 2001 in specified exceptional circumstances;

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Teachers can be called upon to assist heads with assessments of other teachers for whom they have management responsibility;

Headteachers must give written feedback to all unsuccessful applicants. Teachers who feel they have been wrongly assessed will be able to seek a review.

Cambridge Education Associates, who manage the external assessors, have started to contact schools in England to arrange external assessor visits and aim to complete these as soon as possible. Headteachers in England who have not already done so should complete their assessments and send them to CEA by 26 January 2001. Headteachers in Wales should complete their assessments by 18 May 2001. All teachers who successfully meet the standards will get their pay increases as soon as possible after being notified of their success. These pay increases will be backdated to 1 September 2000. In England a new special grant will cover the extra pay costs of teachers crossing the threshold. In Wales the National Assembly has made extra funding to cover these costs available to local education authorities.

TREASURY

US Tax System

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the impact of the tax system in the United States on encouraging small business start-ups. [136406]

Mr. Timms: The Government keep under review the tax regimes of other major countries and their respective impacts on business competitiveness and entrepreneurship. The tax system in the United States is perceived to be generally supportive of the creation and growth of small businesses.

Non-departmental Public Bodies (Scotland)

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the non-departmental public bodies responsible to him which have duties relating to Scotland, indicating their budget and staffing in Scotland, the number of Scottish board members and their emoluments. [137625]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The following non- departmental public bodies, sponsored by the Treasury, have a remit which covers the United Kingdom:

Bank of England

Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the Design of Coins, Medals, Seals and Decorations

Statistics Commission

Policyholders Protection Board

Financial Services Tribunal.

The remaining information is not held centrally in the form requested but general information on expenditure, staffing, board members and levels of remuneration is published annually in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies" and, with respect to the Bank of England, in the Bank's Annual Report. Copies of "Public Bodies 1999" and of the Bank of England's Annual Report 2000 have been placed in the Libraries of the House and "Public Bodies 2000" is due to be published next month. Information on board

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membership and remuneration can also be downloaded from the Cabinet Office Public Appointments Directory website (www.cabinet-office.gov.uk).

Ultra-low Sulphur Fuel

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Cm 4917, what estimate he has made of the cost of reducing the tax on ultra low sulphur petrol by (a) 2p per litre and (b) 2p per litre for each of the three financial years from 2001-02 onwards; and if he will make a statement. [138462]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 15 November 2000]: Estimates of the cost in 2001-02 of reducing the duty on Ultra Low Sulphur Petrol by 2p per litre and of reducing the duty on Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel by 3p were published in the pre-Budget Report of 8 November 2000. If these cuts are implemented in Budget 2001, estimates of their cost in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 will be published in the Financial Statement and Budget Report.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if diesel vehicles commonly used by farmers on public highways will be able to benefit from the reduction of duty on ultra low sulphur diesel. [139630]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Yes.

Building Repairs (VAT)

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has sought approval from the European Commission for the changes to VAT on repairs on empty buildings. [139113]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr. Loughton) on 15 November 2000, Official Report, column 760W.

Stamp Duty

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has sought approval from the European Commission for his proposed changes to stamp duty. [139112]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government will work with the European Commission to ensure that the stamp duty relief for disadvantaged communities announced in the pre-Budget report can be implemented in Budget 2001. Formal notification will be sent to the Commission in due course.

Savings Accounts

Mr. Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of savings in ISA accounts over the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [139418]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The provisional value of funds held in ISAs on 5 April 2000 was £28.7 billion, and a further £9.2 billion had been invested by 5 July 2000. The value of funds in future years will depend on a large number of factors including levels of subscriptions, transfers from matured TESSAs, interest rates, share price movements, and withdrawals. The Chancellor announced in the pre-Budget report that to build on the success of

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ISAs, the higher £7,000 contribution limit (including the higher £3,000 contribution limit for cash ISAs) will be retained for a further five years until April 2006.

Mr. Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many ISA accounts have been opened; how much has been invested in total in ISA accounts to date; how much was invested in (a) PEPs and (b) TESSAs in the same introductory period; and if he will make a statement. [139417]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Individual Savings Accounts have attracted £37.6 billion in their first year and a quarter. Almost 9.3 million accounts were opened in 1999-2000.

There were some 3.1 million TESSAs after their first year and a quarter, in which £10.4 billion had been invested. A similar comparative figure for PEPs is not available, but PEPs attracted only £480 million in their first year from 270,000 investors, and a further £200 million from 120,000 investors in their second year.

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