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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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(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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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.
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.
Academic year | Percentage |
---|---|
1971-72 | 14 |
1977-78 | 13 |
1987-88 | 15 |
1997-98 | 33 |
1998-99 | 31 |
1999-2000 | 32 |
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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