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Medicines Act (South Africa)

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on the use

9 Mar 2001 : Column: 351W

by South Africa of compulsory licensing and parallel importing of medicines as TRIPS compliant measures. [152139]

Mr. Caborn: I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him today, column 348W, on the use of compulsory licensing and parallel importing by poor countries.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the European Commission's policy is on the relationship between South Africa's amended Medicines Act and its obligations under TRIPS. [152140]

Mr. Caborn: I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the press release issued by the Delegation of the European Commission in South Africa on 6 March about this issue. I have arranged for copies of this press release to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Surplus Places

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what his policy is on surplus places in schools; and if he will publish the numbers and percentages of surplus places in each local education authority in England. [153208]

Ms Estelle Morris: Raising education standards informs all our policies. Resources which are locked into maintaining surplus places in schools should wherever possible be freed up and directed towards improving standards. In planning school provision, local education authorities should look for opportunities for removing surplus capacity, with a view to bringing supply and demand for school places into better balance. Their initial

9 Mar 2001 : Column: 352W

focus should be on those schools with 25 per cent. or more of their places unfilled, having particular regard to standards at those schools. The overall aim should be to maximise parental preference and to provide good quality education in the most cost-effective way. The Department's annual survey of surplus places allows us to monitor how local education authorities are meeting this challenge.

The table is based on the returns made by local education authorities in respect of all maintained primary and secondary schools in their area. They set out the numbers of surplus places as at January 2000 for each local authority area, listing primary and secondary separately, together with the proportion that these represent of total capacity. They also highlight the numbers of schools which at that date had surplus of 25 per cent. or more, and at least 30 surplus places, together with the proportion that these represent of the total number of schools. The returns from local education authorities indicate that there were 709,989 surplus school places in January 2000, representing 9 per cent. of the total capacity of 7.8 million places. This is an overall reduction of 22,377 places on 1999 figures.

The proportion of all schools with a quarter or more of their places unfilled remains the same at 11 per cent., although actual numbers have increased from 2,391 in 1999 to 2,406 in 2000. This is attributable to falling primary rolls, which also affect the figure for overall surplus capacity in that sector. The number of secondary schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus capacity continues to fall from 461 in 1999 (13 per cent.) to 393 in 2000 (11 per cent.).

The returns also provide the Department with details of the action authorities propose to take on schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus. The returns indicate that in many cases action is being taken, or is planned. Where planning strategies are unclear in areas with particularly high levels of surplus, the Department will be following up with the authorities concerned.

9 Mar 2001 : Column: 351W

Surplus places by local authority area at January 2000

	Primary (3)				Secondary
	Actual surplus (4)		Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more (5)		Actual surplus (4)		Schools with surplus of 25 per cent. or more (5)
LEA	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
301 Barking and Dagenham	1,318	8	3	6	683	6	0	0
302 Barnet	953	4	0	0	737	4	0	0
370 Barnsley	1,863	9	5	6	982	7	1	7
800 Bath and North East Somerset	1,051	8	5	7	837	7	1	8
820 Bedfordshire	3,832	14	23	16	4,157	10	10	18
303 Bexley	831	4	2	3	1,032	6	0	0
330 Birmingham	7,533	7	33	10	5,017	7	8	10
889 Blackburn with Darwen	869	6	2	3	586	6	0	0
890 Blackpool	499	4	1	3	434	6	1	13
850 Bolton	1,971	8	9	9	1,053	6	1	6
837 Bournemouth	280	3	1	4	837	8	1	10
867 Bracknell Forest	1,092	11	5	15	744	11	1	17
380 Bradford	3,484	8	14	9	10,045	21	42	51
304 Brent	1,649	8	5	8	1,212	8	1	8
846 Brighton and Hove	2,191	12	7	12	1,227	10	2	20
801 Bristol, City of	2,821	9	14	12	3,211	16	2	9
305 Bromley	409	2	0	0	339	2	0	0
825 Buckinghamshire	6,343	14	42	22	1,404	4	2	6
351 Bury	887	6	3	4	219	2	1	7
381 Calderdale	1,828	9	12	13	737	5	0	0
873 Cambridgeshire	4,152	9	20	10	1,161	4	1	3
202 Camden	845	8	4	10	868	8	1	10
875 Cheshire	6,961	11	41	14	3,518	7	5	11
201 City of London	6	3	0	0	--	--	--	--
908 Cornwall	3,221	8	20	8	238	1	0	0
331 Coventry	2,415	8	11	12	1,979	9	2	11
306 Croydon	1,542	5	4	4	1,621	9	1	5
909 Cumbria	5,700	12	38	13	4,233	12	9	21
841 Darlington	739	8	6	16	376	6	0	0
831 Derby	1,541	7	3	4	2,362	14	4	29
830 Derbyshire	5,859	9	43	12	4,545	9	8	17
878 Devon	5,284	9	23	7	1,328	3	0	0
371 Doncaster	5,015	16	23	20	1,175	5	0	0
835 Dorset	2,325	9	14	10	2,162	7	2	5
332 Dudley	3,072	10	12	15	970	5	1	5
840 Durham	6,354	13	53	21	2,702	8	4	11
307 Ealing	2,600	10	7	11	218	2	0	0
811 East Riding of Yorkshire	3,011	11	14	10	935	4	1	6
845 East Sussex	2,540	7	10	6	1,113	4	1	4
308 Enfield	865	4	3	5	1,378	7	0	0
881 Essex	10,236	9	41	8	7,719	9	9	11
390 Gateshead	1,771	10	8	11	557	5	0	0
916 Gloucestershire	4,911	10	21	8	2,138	6	2	5
203 Greenwich	2,498	12	8	12	1,477	10	2	14
204 Hackney	2,035	12	6	10	928	11	1	11
876 Halton	3,422	23	20	36	1,034	11	2	22
205 Hammersmith and Fulham	906	10	5	14	557	8	0	0
850 Hampshire	10,135	9	36	8	5,393	7	6	8
309 Haringey	1,131	6	2	3	780	7	0	0
310 Harrow	1,314	7	1	2	819	9	0	0
805 Hartlepool	701	7	2	7	573	8	0	0
311 Havering	2,152	10	6	9	1,317	8	2	11
884 Herefordshire	1,926	12	10	12	1,201	12	3	21
919 Hertfordshire	8,549	9	42	10	9,448	11	12	14
312 Hillingdon	1,340	6	1	1	1,131	7	2	12
313 Hounslow	1,701	9	4	6	410	3	0	0
921 Isle of Wight	419	6	1	2	584	5	0	0
420 Isles of Scilly	92	38	1	25	52	33	1	100
206 Islington	1,747	11	6	12	902	11	1	11
207 Kensington and Chelsea	1,020	14	6	23	662	16	1	25
886 Kent	6,063	5	23	5	8,383	9	10	9
810 Kingston upon Hull, City of	4,965	17	16	20	2,087	12	3	19
314 Kingston upon Thames	382	4	1	3	832	9	1	10
382 Kirklees	3,101	8	14	9	2,220	8	3	9
340 Knowsley	2,919	16	14	23	1,617	14	1	9
208 Lambeth	2,463	13	8	12	1,728	20	2	20
888 Lancashire	11,318	10	72	14	4,870	6	7	8
383 Leeds	10,737	15	50	20	4,205	8	7	16
856 Leicester	4,019	14	16	18	959	5	0	0
855 Leicestershire	2,671	5	13	6	3,694	8	5	9
209 Lewisham	1,116	5	2	3	1,934	15	2	15
925 Lincolnshire	5,306	9	37	13	4,030	9	9	14
341 Liverpool	7,155	15	31	20	3,550	10	2	6
821 Luton	2,340	11	7	11	526	4	0	0
352 Manchester	6,143	14	27	18	3,985	15	6	24
887 Medway	1,748	7	8	9	2,143	10	2	10
315 Merton	796	6	5	10	1,291	15	2	18
806 Middlesbrough	1,594	11	5	11	673	7	1	9
826 Milton Keynes	3,569	14	14	16	1,571	12	3	27
391 Newcastle upon Tyne	3,698	17	23	30	2,128	11	4	19
316 Newham	1,700	6	3	5	1,521	8	1	7
926 Norfolk	5,056	7	21	5	3,533	8	5	10
812 North East Lincolnshire	2,804	16	11	18	814	7	0	0
813 North Lincolnshire	1,586	10	8	12	1,174	10	3	21
802 North Somerset	771	5	1	2	781	6	0	0
392 North Tyneside	2,508	15	13	23	2,486	15	6	26
815 North Yorkshire	5,540	11	37	11	2,126	5	2	4
928 Northamptonshire	5,266	9	27	10	4,569	9	9	15
929 Northumberland	3,388	15	24	17	4,146	12	14	23
892 Nottingham	2,961	11	16	16	4,977	27	8	38
891 Nottinghamshire	6,256	9	29	9	8,489	14	12	21
353 Oldham	1,838	8	4	4	1,241	7	2	13
931 Oxfordshire	4,776	10	25	11	5,124	12	5	11
874 Peterborough	1,843	11	9	16	1,172	8	3	23
879 Plymouth	4,387	18	21	26	1,858	9	3	17
836 Poole	674	6	2	7	482	6	0	0
851 Portsmouth	1,268	8	3	6	133	1	0	0
870 Reading	476	5	1	3	1,001	14	2	25
317 Redbridge	831	4	2	4	853	5	0	0
807 Redcar and Cleveland	1,438	10	6	11	1,427	12	2	15
318 Richmond upon Thames	309	3	0	0	626	8	1	13
354 Rochdale	1,671	8	7	9	1,528	10	2	14
372 Rotherham	2,318	9	7	6	1,494	7	1	6
857 Rutland	710	22	5	28	237	10	1	33
355 Salford	4,661	19	29	34	2,614	18	5	29
333 Sandwell	2,037	7	8	8	2,488	12	3	15
343 Sefton	3,069	11	14	15	1,492	7	2	9
373 Sheffield	4,255	9	17	11	1,718	6	0	0
893 Shropshire	2,694	11	19	13	1,056	6	1	5
871 Slough	800	7	2	6	368	5	1	9
334 Solihull	1,477	7	5	7	540	3	0	0
933 Somerset	2,802	7	11	5	3,428	10	6	15
803 South Gloucestershire	1,757	7	7	7	1,173	7	1	7
393 South Tyneside	1,642	11	8	14	1,112	10	1	9
852 Southampton	2,354	12	11	16	893	7	0	0
882 Southend-on-Sea	913	6	1	2	829	7	1	8
210 Southwark	1,927	8	6	8	589	6	0	0
342 St. Helens	1,986	11	9	15	1,008	8	0	0
860 Staffordshire	6,868	9	35	11	999	2	1	1
356 Stockport	2,885	11	11	11	1,392	8	0	0
808 Stockton-on-Tees	1,239	7	2	3	1,249	9	2	15
861 Stoke-on-Trent	4,308	17	22	25	1,406	9	2	12
935 Suffolk	5,684	11	28	11	4,962	9	4	5
394 Sunderland	4,328	14	24	25	1,304	6	2	12
936 Surrey	10,306	12	54	17	4,222	7	4	8
319 Sutton	561	4	1	2	396	3	0	0
866 Swindon	2,330	12	11	16	1,139	9	1	9
357 Tameside	1,121	5	4	5	1,044	7	2	11
894 Telford and the Wrekin	1,327	8	3	5	937	9	3	23
883 Thurrock	1,466	10	3	6	1,040	12	1	10
880 Torbay	478	5	3	9	163	2	0	0
211 Tower Hamlets	2,715	12	10	14	1,167	8	1	7
358 Trafford	1,544	8	7	9	1,018	6	1	6
384 Wakefield	2,974	9	14	11	1,126	5	2	11
335 Walsall	2,395	9	5	5	1,285	6	1	5
320 Waltham Forest	1,565	7	5	8	979	7	1	6
212 Wandsworth	1,627	10	7	12	526	5	1	11
877 Warrington	2,673	13	16	21	609	4	0	0
937 Warwickshire	4,845	11	22	11	2,843	8	5	14
869 West Berkshire	1,564	12	7	10	405	4	0	0
938 West Sussex	6,493	10	27	11	4,788	10	5	13
213 Westminster	397	4	1	3	758	9	0	0
359 Wigan	2,217	8	10	9	942	5	2	10
865 Wiltshire	4,312	11	33	15	2,167	7	4	12
868 Windsor and Maidenhead	451	5	3	7	891	8	2	14
344 Wirral	4,373	14	20	20	2,144	8	2	9
872 Wokingham	494	4	2	4	103	1	0	0
336 Wolverhampton	3,176	13	18	20	1,428	8	2	11
885 Worcestershire	4,470	10	18	9	4,227	10	10	16
816 York	1,855	12	10	17	1,097	10	1	8
Total	431,650	10	2,013	11	278,339	8	393	11

⁽³⁾ Primary figures show surplus after taking account of any summer entry

⁽⁴⁾ Actual surplus is defined as the difference between capacity and number on roll for all schools where capacity exceeds number on roll

⁽⁵⁾ Schools with less than 30 surplus places are not included

9 Mar 2001 : Column: 355W

9 Mar 2001 : Column: 355W

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