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Shotguns

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had since 1 October 2000 with the Association of Chief Police Officers and representatives of shooting organisations, on the criteria for having a good reason for possessing shotguns; and if he will make a statement. [153970]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government believe that it is right in principle that a person wishing to own a shotgun should have a good reason for doing so. However, we acknowledge that this is a complex area of law and practice and we would wish to consult widely on this issue.

For this reason I have asked the Firearms Consultative Committee (FCC), the independent statutory body that advises the Government on firearms matters, to consider this matter further and to report back later this year. The FCC itself includes members of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and of the main shooting organisations. The FCC in turn has sought the views of a wide variety of shooting and other organisations and convened a working group to discuss this issue in detail.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Offenders Centre Rules (Northern Ireland)

Ms Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what use has been made of the power in Rule 5(1) of the Prison and Young Offenders Centre Rules (Northern Ireland) 1995 to vary the list of prisons set out in the schedule to these Rules. [154822]

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Mr. Ingram: The power has been exercised on one occasion to remove Belfast and Maze prisons from the list and to extend the boundaries of Maghaberry Prison to include these two sites. In practice, these sites have been under the control of the Governor of Maghaberry Prison for some time and the variation simply regularises the situation.

Logos and Branding

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by his Department on departmental and agency logos and associated branding since 1 May 1997. [152654]

Dr. Reid: The Northern Ireland Office accounts structure does not record expenditure in a way that would allow spending on departmental and agency logos and associated branding to be easily identified.

Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much certified timber has been purchased by his Department over the past six months; and what proportion of total timber purchases this represents. [152107]

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Dr. Reid: The Northern Ireland Office does not have a system in place to provide data on the proportion of certified timber purchased.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if his Department's annual report on timber procurement to the Committee of Green Ministers will be published. [152148]

Dr. Reid: The key information on timber procurement will be published in the Green Minister's annual report.

SCOTLAND

Further and Higher Education

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what proportion of young people in each constituency in Scotland went on to further and higher education in each year since 1997. [152466]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 12 March 2001]: The information is not available in the format requested. The table details for each local authority area in Scotland the number of young people, also shown by proportion, who have entered into vocational further and higher education in 1997-98 to 1998-99. Further and higher education in Scotland have been devolved since July 1999.

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Scottish domiciled entrants, aged under 21, to vocational further and higher education in Scotland, 1997-98 to 1998-99(19)

Students at HEIs and FECsTotalHEFEPopulation of 16-21 year olds(20)Percentage in HE and FE
1997-98
Total141,09140,734100,357384,00937
Aberdeenshire7,3272,4654,86217,25742
Angus3,4881,4102,0787,35447
Argyll and Bute1,8967801,1166,33130
City of Aberdeen5,3171,7973,52017,86730
City of Dundee5,1204384,68212,85640
City of Edinburgh13,0932,55310,54034,83038
City of Glasgow17,0974,10112,99648,12236
Clackmannanshire1,6804161,2643,30351
Dumfries and Galloway2,7009031,7979,19629
East Ayrshire2,4447751,6698,19030
East Dunbartonshire2,6881,3521,3368,75031
East Lothian2,3624701,8925,78441
East Renfrewshire1,7098758346,61026
Falkirk4,5861,0883,4989,99746
Fife12,3723,1419,23126,75346
Highland5,4341,7993,63514,34838
Inverclyde2,5498241,7256,22041
Midlothian2,6525192,1336,08544
Moray2,0775561,5216,38933
North Ayrshire3,3271,2172,11010,51832
North Lanarkshire6,6712,2654,40625,85726
Orkney6721685041,17657
Perth and Kinross3,3461,0422,3048,70738
Renfrewshire5,9131,6054,30812,86246
Scottish Borders3,7146853,0296,48257
Shetland4741713031,71328
South Ayrshire2,5449791,5658,33231
South Lanarkshire5,9782,6813,29723,47125
Stirling2,0936921,4017,77227
West Dunbartonshire1,4035039007,21919
West Lothian5,8571,0434,81411,55251
Western Isles1,4173321,0852,10667
Scotland Unknown1,0911,0892n/an/a
1998-99
Total141,77541,618100,157383,64837
Aberdeenshire7,0502,5654,48516,27443
Angus3,3701,6021,7687,35246
Argyll and Bute1,7247409846,16728
City of Aberdeen5,1931,9593,23417,70329
City of Dundee4,8244984,32612,47839
City of Edinburgh14,0592,79111,26835,68939
City of Glasgow18,1174,42713,69050,67436
Clackmannanshire1,3674079603,12144
Dumfries and Galloway2,8698342,0359,02432
East Ayrshire2,3518491,5028,18929
East Dunbartonshire2,3511,2651,0868,58527
East Lothian2,6605002,1605,85445
East Renfrewshire1,8839499346,55229
Falkirk3,4181,0472,37110,07834
Fife13,7793,12010,65926,46252
Highland5,5721,8973,67513,89340
Inverclyde2,7787791,9996,22845
Midlothian2,8955042,3916,12047
Moray2,1806321,5486,30935
North Ayrshire3,3681,2272,14110,57232
North Lanarkshire6,8122,5214,29125,94726
Orkney7211765451,19560
Perth and Kinross2,9161,0761,8408,56634
Renfrewshire6,3721,5784,79412,66950
Scottish Borders3,2278542,3736,32351
Shetland4572032541,71527
South Ayrshire2,2889691,3198,37027
South Lanarkshire5,8602,6963,16423,11125
Stirling1,9897011,2887,78726
West Dunbartonshire6523862667,3839
West Lothian6,8381,1325,70611,38560
Western Isles1,4483471,1011,87377
Scotland Unknown3873870n/an/a

(19) A student may be enrolled on more than one course

(20) Taken from 1996 GRO population projections

(21) Taken from 1998 GRO population estimates


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Non-powered Craft

Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions she has had with the Scottish Parliament about plans to increase access to water for non-powered craft; and if she will make a statement. [153683]

Mrs. Liddell: I understand that the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is currently out to public consultation, contains provisions for creating a right of responsible access to inland waters for non-powered craft.

This is a devolved matter and, while I have seen the Scottish Executive's consultation paper on the draft Bill, this is not a matter within my responsibility.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Higher Education Entrants

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of pupils left secondary school to take up university courses in (a) 1971, (b) 1977, (c) 1987, (d) 1997, (e) 1998, (f) 1999 and (g) 2000. [152160]

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Mr. Wicks: The available data, showing the proportion of under 21-year-olds who enter higher education, are shown in the following table. There was an increase in the index in 1997-98 related partly to changes in the funding arrangements for higher education, with students choosing to enter HE rather than wait until 1998-99. There was a corresponding reduction in 1998-99 before the entry rates started to increase again in 1999-2000. Between 1996-97 and 1999-2000, total HE students in English universities and colleges rose by 76,000.

Age participation index (API)(22)

Academic yearPercentage
1971-7214
1977-7813
1987-8815
1997-9833
1998-9931
1999-200032
2000-01(23)32-34

(22) The API is defined as the number of home domiciled initial entrants to full-time and sandwich undergraduate HE aged under 21, expressed as a percentage of the average number of 18 and 19-year-olds in the population.

(23) Projected: data on initial entrants are not yet available.


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