---

Diplomatic Staff

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 20 July 2001, Official Report, column 485W, on diplomatic staff, what reference is made in setting pay levels of locally engaged civilian staff to the local poverty datum line; whether the pay levels can fall below local poverty datum lines; and if he will make a statement. [22778]

Mr. Bradshaw: Pay scales and other conditions of service for our locally engaged staff in each country are set in comparison with the generality of responsible employers in that country. Typically the comparators are other western diplomatic missions, international agencies and major private companies. Our missions pay what is required to recruit, retain and motivate suitable staff. Normally we expect to be in the middle range of rates of pay: neither leading the market nor poor payers. We also meet the requirements of local employment law. Accordingly we are confident that pay levels for our local staff will be above poverty datum lines.

Zimbabwe

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations the Government have made to the South African Government in respect of the situation in Zimbabwe. [23596]

Mr. Bradshaw: Ministers and officials have regular contact with all levels of the South African Government on the full range of international concerns about the situation in Zimbabwe.

17 Dec 2001 : Column: 50W

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU General Affairs Council with respect to the middle east. [23116]

Peter Hain: There was intensive discussion of the middle east at the 10 December General Affairs Council. The Council adopted the following conclusions:

At a time when the situation in the middle east is extremely serious, we cannot be inactive.

We are convinced that only determined and concerted action by the European Union, the United Nations, the United States and the Russian Federation can help the parties to break the cycle of violence and commit themselves once again to the search for peace. This requires:

the reaffirmation and full recognition of Israel's irrevocable right to live in peace and security within internationally recognised borders;


the establishment of a viable and democratic Palestinian state and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories.

As a first step, the following pledges must be given:

by the Palestinian authority: the dismantling of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist networks, including the arrest and prosecution of all suspects; a public appeal in Arabic for an end to the armed intifada;


by the Israeli Government: the withdrawal of their military forces and stop to extrajudicial executions; the lifting of closures and of all restrictions imposed on the Palestinian people; a freeze on settlements.

On the basis of this EU position and in the light of the discussions which took place on 10 December in Brussels with Mr. Shimon Peres and Mr. Nabil Shaath, we have asked Javier Solana, SG High Representative for the CFSP, to go to the region and report back to the Laeken European Council.

The aim is to contribute, in concertation with the United Nations, the United States and Russia, to a speedy resumption of negotiations, without preliminaries.

Greece

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will issue fresh advice to UK citizens travelling to Greece on the activities that may lead to arrest. [23317]

Mr. Bradshaw: The FCO travel advice for Greece was updated on 30 November 2001 to include the following advice:

"Do not take photographs near military or official installations. Seek permission before photographing individuals".

Scottish Executive

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on how arrangements are made between the Scotland Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Scottish Executive to facilitate Scottish Executive officers working internationally. [23604]

17 Dec 2001 : Column: 51W

Mr. Straw: The conditions for arrangements are detailed in the Memorandum of Understanding and concordat on International Relations between the UK Government and the devolved Administrations.

Correspondence

Mrs. Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 18 June from the right hon. Member for South-West Norfolk concerning Manwai Ahmed. [23104]

Mr. Bradshaw: The right hon. Member's correspondence did not reach the Joint Entry Clearance Unit until 11 December 2001.

I will send a reply as soon as we have consulted the overseas Post.

17 Dec 2001 : Column: 52W

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Teacher Numbers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers there are, broken down by age, school results and local education authorities. [9883]

Mr. Timms: The information is not available in the form requested. The percentage of full-time regular teachers in the maintained schools sector in each age band in March 2000, and the total of all regular full and part-time teachers in the maintained schools sector January 2001 ^{1 3 , 1 4} , were as follows:

Percentage of full-time regular teachers March 2000

	Under 25	25–29	30–34	35–39	40–44	45–49	50–54	55–59	60 and over	All full-time regular	All regular teachers January 2001 fte
Darlington	3.6	13.3	10.1	9.4	12.4	25.7	19.1	5.3	1.0	100	780
Hartlepool	5.6	13.6	10.7	8.1	15.4	23.5	18.8	3.9	0.3	100	840
Middlesbrough	3.1	13.1	9.4	8.1	15.2	22.6	21.4	5.9	1.3	100	1,270
Redcar and Cleveland	4.8	14.3	9.9	6.8	14.1	24.0	19.4	6.1	0.6	100	1,280
Stockton on Tees	4.4	13.0	9.7	9.0	14.1	20.7	21.5	6.9	0.7	100	1,740
Durham	4.9	11.7	9.4	9.1	14.5	24.0	19.1	6.3	1.0	100	4,240
Northumberland	3.5	11.8	9.9	9.5	15.2	24.1	20.4	4.7	0.9	100	2,620
Gateshead	4.9	14.7	11.9	9.8	11.9	24.5	16.6	4.9	0.6	100	1,670
Newcastle upon Tyne	4.2	12.3	9.0	10.6	14.2	25.5	18.4	5.1	0.7	100	2,180
North Tyneside	3.9	13.9	8.8	10.2	14.5	23.6	18.1	6.1	0.8	100	1,820
South Tyneside	3.1	11.5	9.5	9.2	15.0	23.3	18.2	8.8	1.3	100	1,440
Sunderland	3.8	12.3	10.0	9.1	15.4	22.8	19.3	6.7	0.6	100	2,670
Blackburn and Darwen	4.2	10.6	10.9	11.7	16.5	20.8	18.6	6.0	0.7	100	1,310
Blackpool	6.2	16.2	11.4	9.8	13.4	23.5	14.5	4.7	0.3	100	1,100
Halton	4.8	14.3	13.0	11.6	13.9	20.6	16.8	4.6	0.5	100	1,140
Warrington	4.7	18.7	11.9	10.2	13.3	20.3	16.6	3.7	0.6	100	1,680
Cheshire	4.3	15.0	11.6	9.0	14.1	21.0	18.4	5.9	0.8	100	5,600
Cumbria	3.0	12.7	11.4	8.6	15.3	23.4	20.0	5.2	0.5	100	4,180
Bolton	5.3	13.5	14.0	10.0	13.3	19.7	17.9	5.4	0.9	100	2,500
Bury	4.5	13.4	11.1	10.7	13.4	22.1	19.0	5.0	0.7	100	1,480
Manchester	3.8	14.0	14.0	11.7	11.5	19.7	18.0	6.0	1.2	100	3,790
Oldham	4.4	14.4	12.9	11.5	13.5	21.5	15.9	5.3	0.7	100	2,280
Rochdale	5.3	15.7	10.9	8.8	15.1	22.7	16.1	4.9	0.6	100	1,870
Salford	4.9	16.7	12.7	9.6	13.0	22.6	15.2	4.6	0.7	100	1,920
Stockport	3.7	14.1	12.8	10.0	13.3	19.6	18.8	7.0	0.7	100	2,330
Tameside	3.9	15.3	10.0	9.8	12.0	23.0	18.8	6.7	0.7	100	1,930
Trafford	4.2	14.3	13.6	9.6	11.7	21.7	17.6	6.9	0.6	100	1,900
Wigan	3.8	11.8	9.2	8.6	17.2	23.3	19.2	6.2	0.6	100	2,590
Lancashire	3.6	12.8	10.3	10.1	15.0	22.1	19.7	5.6	0.7	100	9,710
Knowsley	5.2	15.9	11.9	11.6	12.3	21.5	16.0	5.0	0.6	100	1,530
Liverpool	2.4	12.2	10.5	9.5	13.4	25.8	19.4	5.9	1.0	100	4,320
Sefton	3.7	13.9	11.6	10.3	13.2	21.7	16.8	7.9	0.8	100	2,520
St. Helens	3.2	13.0	12.4	11.6	11.6	25.1	17.0	5.8	0.4	100	1,670
Wirral	3.3	11.0	10.6	11.4	14.2	24.0	18.4	6.6	0.7	100	3,020
East Riding of Yorkshire	4.6	12.2	9.4	8.4	14.6	24.2	20.4	5.6	0.5	100	2,530
Kingston-Upon-Hull	5.5	11.9	8.1	6.8	15.8	25.9	19.5	5.9	0.8	100	2,110
North East Lincolnshire	5.0	11.9	7.9	8.7	14.4	27.8	18.5	5.7	0.3	100	1,360
North Lincolnshire	3.8	12.5	8.5	7.2	15.5	27.8	18.7	5.5	0.4	100	1,340
York	4.5	13.0	13.4	9.4	12.6	19.7	20.9	6.2	0.4	100	1,380
North Yorkshire	3.5	13.4	10.8	10.2	14.2	20.3	19.6	7.2	0.9	100	4,940
Barnsley	4.0	13.3	8.9	10.2	16.5	24.0	17.1	5.1	0.9	100	1,640
Doncaster	4.4	13.3	10.2	8.1	13.4	23.4	21.0	5.6	0.5	100	2,690
Rotherham	3.5	12.1	9.6	10.0	14.6	23.9	18.6	6.4	1.3	100	2,500
Sheffield	2.6	11.0	10.1	9.3	13.4	25.4	21.0	6.7	0.5	100	4,190
Bradford	2.5	10.2	10.9	11.3	16.7	23.9	18.9	4.6	1.1	100	4,400
Calderdale	3.9	14.6	11.9	10.1	14.6	20.9	18.3	5.2	0.4	100	1,840
Kirklees	3.4	11.8	10.1	11.0	15.5	23.9	18.5	5.1	0.7	100	3,370
Leeds	4.2	13.8	10.7	10.7	12.6	21.6	19.6	5.9	0.9	100	6,040
Wakefield	4.1	14.7	11.0	8.7	15.3	22.2	18.1	5.5	0.5	100	2,700
City of Derby	4.4	12.7	10.0	11.3	16.2	21.8	17.9	4.7	0.8	100	1,980
Leicester City	4.3	14.1	11.3	10.8	15.0	19.3	18.7	5.9	0.5	100	2,760
City of Nottingham	3.8	13.7	12.0	11.1	13.1	22.1	18.4	5.2	0.6	100	2,110
Rutland	1.7	13.7	7.7	9.4	12.4	23.5	21.8	8.1	1.7	100	240
Derbyshire	4.4	11.9	8.6	9.7	14.9	22.6	21.0	6.3	0.6	100	5,760
Leicestershire	3.7	14.1	10.5	9.0	14.1	22.3	18.6	7.1	0.7	100	5,020
Lincolnshire	5.3	15.3	9.9	9.3	12.9	21.2	19.0	6.3	0.8	100	5,300
Northamptonshire	5.2	15.6	10.8	10.3	13.8	21.1	16.9	5.6	0.6	100	5,330
Nottinghamshire	3.6	12.0	11.0	9.8	13.6	24.9	19.5	5.2	0.5	100	5,970
Herefordshire	3.4	12.7	9.0	8.1	16.3	20.3	21.9	6.9	1.3	100	1,300
Stoke-on-Trent	4.7	13.9	9.5	9.2	13.9	24.8	17.5	5.8	0.6	100	1,920
Telford and Wrekin	3.9	13.8	10.9	10.6	15.3	21.1	19.6	4.4	0.4	100	1,410
Shropshire	3.3	13.4	11.4	10.3	14.6	23.3	17.7	5.2	0.8	100	2,110
Staffordshire	4.3	14.0	9.6	8.7	15.2	22.7	18.6	6.5	0.5	100	6,800
Warwickshire	5.1	15.9	9.8	8.3	12.6	22.5	19.0	6.1	0.8	100	4,150
Birmingham	4.4	15.7	13.0	9.5	13.3	20.8	16.6	5.9	0.8	100	10,220
Coventry	3.9	13.4	9.8	9.3	13.4	24.2	17.8	7.1	1.0	100	2,870
Dudley	4.7	15.1	10.9	10.2	15.2	21.2	15.8	6.2	0.7	100	2,780
Sandwell	4.7	16.6	10.0	9.7	16.7	22.6	15.0	3.9	0.7	100	2,620
Solihull	6.5	16.5	11.9	9.2	13.0	20.7	16.9	4.8	0.5	100	2,050
Walsall	3.6	13.0	9.8	9.9	16.2	23.7	17.9	5.1	0.9	100	2,570
Wolverhampton	4.0	12.0	10.9	9.1	17.8	23.8	15.8	5.6	1.0	100	2,290
Worcestershire	4.2	13.3	10.9	9.0	14.3	23.4	18.7	5.6	0.7	100	4,270
Luton	4.4	14.5	10.1	10.4	13.3	20.6	18.5	6.6	1.6	100	1,660
City of Peterborough	6.9	16.8	12.5	8.9	12.2	20.9	15.9	5.3	0.6	100	1,510
Southend	5.3	15.9	9.4	10.8	14.1	21.1	15.8	6.2	1.3	100	1,410
Thurrock	8.2	17.0	11.0	9.1	12.0	18.3	17.4	6.3	0.9	100	1,180
Bedfordshire	3.5	12.3	9.3	9.5	14.6	22.2	19.7	8.0	0.9	100	3,250
Cambridgeshire	5.3	15.9	11.3	9.1	13.6	20.9	17.8	5.5	0.6	100	4,040
Essex	5.4	16.2	10.4	9.6	14.5	20.1	16.6	6.2	0.9	100	10,520
Hertfordshire	6.4	18.5	11.4	9.0	12.4	17.9	17.1	6.4	0.9	100	9,170
Norfolk	3.5	12.1	8.7	9.2	13.7	23.4	20.6	7.8	1.1	100	6,050
Suffolk	4.5	13.6	9.1	8.2	15.2	22.3	19.3	6.9	0.9	100	5,490
Camden	3.4	20.9	19.3	14.4	10.7	12.0	12.0	5.2	2.0	100	1,430
City of London	0.0	28.6	21.4	21.4	0.0	14.3	14.3	0.0	0.0	100	20
Hackney	0.3	4.6	8.4	10.2	18.4	25.5	21.2	9.2	2.2	100	1,480
Hammersmith	4.9	23.7	16.5	11.9	10.8	14.3	12.1	4.6	1.2	100	1,000
Haringey	2.8	14.7	17.0	16.4	14.8	14.3	12.7	5.8	1.4	100	1,850
Islington	3.2	17.5	19.0	16.7	12.2	14.0	10.8	5.6	1.0	100	1,300
Kensington and Chelsea	0.8	10.2	18.6	13.4	12.9	15.2	18.4	8.7	1.8	100	660
Lambeth	2.9	14.0	17.0	15.3	13.9	17.9	13.5	3.8	1.6	100	1,580
Lewisham	3.4	14.3	15.2	13.6	13.6	18.8	14.8	5.6	0.7	100	1,980
Newham	7.4	23.3	16.8	11.6	12.1	13.8	11.1	3.4	0.6	100	2,420
Southwark	3.5	17.2	15.3	13.5	13.8	17.3	13.3	4.1	1.8	100	1,960
Tower Hamlets	3.4	14.6	15.8	16.0	14.9	16.1	13.2	4.8	1.2	100	2,180
Wandsworth	4.6	21.2	17.9	11.4	11.1	15.8	11.8	4.9	1.3	100	1,730
Westminster	4.2	25.1	18.1	11.9	10.1	11.4	11.7	5.6	2.0	100	1,250
Barking	8.1	20.4	14.8	11.0	12.9	14.8	13.4	3.6	0.9	100	1,480
Barnet	5.5	19.7	15.7	12.4	11.6	14.5	13.8	5.4	1.5	100	2,740
Bexley	5.9	16.4	12.2	9.8	14.4	17.8	16.2	6.2	1.1	100	2,030
Brent	4.4	15.4	13.1	11.7	14.2	17.0	15.1	7.0	2.0	100	2,110
Bromley	4.9	17.3	13.7	10.2	12.5	16.9	17.9	5.8	0.9	100	2,540
Croydon	4.9	17.7	13.0	9.9	12.5	17.9	15.6	7.2	1.3	100	2,820
Ealing	6.4	21.2	16.7	10.0	11.7	13.6	13.8	5.5	1.0	100	2,220
Enfield	5.2	19.9	13.3	11.9	14.3	16.5	13.3	4.7	0.8	100	2,670
Greenwich	4.8	16.0	14.3	10.7	13.0	20.3	14.4	5.4	1.2	100	2,030
Harrow	5.5	17.1	14.2	10.1	12.6	16.9	15.0	7.3	1.2	100	1,490
Havering	6.1	14.6	12.4	10.8	14.3	19.4	14.4	6.7	1.2	100	1,950
Hillingdon	7.6	23.0	14.7	9.6	12.2	15.0	12.8	4.4	0.7	100	2,180
Hounslow	6.1	20.1	17.5	11.1	10.5	14.5	13.0	6.2	1.1	100	2,020
Kingston upon Thames	6.2	22.2	12.8	10.4	10.5	17.7	14.1	4.9	1.2	100	1,070
Merton	4.7	19.6	14.0	10.6	13.1	16.7	13.7	6.6	1.1	100	1,210
Redbridge	7.1	21.2	13.4	10.3	13.9	15.0	13.3	4.8	0.8	100	2,370
Richmond upon Thames	5.1	20.4	15.4	9.2	12.0	19.4	12.3	5.3	0.8	100	1,040
Sutton	4.8	21.3	13.0	8.3	10.0	19.2	16.0	6.1	1.3	100	1,530
Waltham Forest	3.2	14.6	14.3	13.7	14.3	19.2	13.5	5.7	1.6	100	1,940
Bracknell Forest	5.7	17.9	10.5	7.6	13.0	19.4	19.1	6.0	1.0	100	760
Brighton and Hove	2.4	14.4	16.2	12.4	13.8	20.1	15.5	4.6	0.8	100	1,730
Isle of Wight	2.8	12.5	10.1	9.4	14.1	23.3	20.6	6.4	0.8	100	1,100
Medway	3.8	16.4	10.5	9.9	13.7	19.6	18.3	7.1	0.6	100	2,180
Milton Keynes	5.2	15.6	12.6	11.7	15.0	21.2	13.6	4.4	0.7	100	1,760
Portsmouth	3.8	16.3	11.9	9.9	13.2	21.2	15.9	7.1	0.8	100	1,480
Reading	6.8	17.1	11.9	7.8	12.3	20.1	16.0	6.9	1.2	100	990
Slough	6.1	17.7	13.7	8.3	13.4	16.6	16.4	6.4	1.4	100	1,090
Southampton	5.8	17.1	12.8	9.8	12.3	19.3	16.5	5.1	1.2	100	1,640
West Berkshire	5.1	19.1	12.7	9.1	13.1	18.7	14.7	6.5	1.0	100	1,330
Windsor and Maidenhead	5.3	15.6	11.2	9.6	12.1	19.9	16.8	8.4	1.1	100	990
Wokingham	3.6	16.6	9.7	8.2	13.6	20.6	19.3	6.3	2.1	100	1,280
Buckinghamshire	5.6	17.8	10.4	8.2	11.9	20.9	18.2	6.0	0.9	100	3,900
East Sussex	4.6	13.8	13.1	11.1	15.0	20.5	16.3	4.6	0.9	100	3,610
Hampshire	5.8	16.8	11.4	8.9	12.5	20.4	17.1	6.3	0.7	100	8,970
Kent	5.3	15.0	10.1	9.1	14.9	21.2	16.9	6.4	1.0	100	11,320
Oxfordshire	4.4	16.1	12.8	10.6	12.3	18.4	18.2	6.2	1.0	100	4,790
Surrey	6.7	20.5	15.0	8.6	10.8	16.6	14.8	6.1	1.0	100	7,310
West Sussex	3.7	15.8	11.7	10.5	14.7	20.3	16.9	5.5	0.9	100	5,610
Bath and NE Somerset	3.6	17.7	12.0	9.8	12.9	19.8	17.3	6.0	0.9	100	1,390
Bournemouth	3.3	14.8	9.7	9.3	13.1	23.9	18.2	6.4	1.4	100	1,110
City of Bristol	4.9	15.8	13.7	11.2	12.3	19.8	17.0	4.7	0.6	100	2,790
North Somerset	4.0	14.6	11.8	10.4	14.1	19.3	18.9	6.0	0.9	100	1,420
City of Plymouth	3.1	13.5	12.2	12.8	14.8	19.2	17.2	6.5	0.5	100	2,210
Poole	4.5	14.4	11.1	8.9	14.4	20.9	19.5	5.9	0.4	100	1,030
South Gloucestershire	4.6	16.4	12.4	10.6	13.4	19.0	16.9	5.9	0.8	100	2,120
Swindon	6.9	16.7	11.9	9.1	12.1	19.7	15.7	7.2	0.7	100	1,440
Torbay	4.2	14.1	11.5	9.2	12.4	20.6	20.8	6.3	0.8	100	970
Cornwall	2.2	10.9	9.7	10.5	15.3	23.4	20.4	6.6	1.2	100	3,800
Isles of Scilly	0.0	0.0	15.8	15.8	15.8	26.3	15.8	5.3	5.3	100	20
Devon	3.4	11.8	11.4	9.9	14.0	23.1	19.1	6.5	0.9	100	5,030
Dorset	4.5	15.3	10.8	10.1	15.0	20.5	17.8	5.3	0.7	100	2,880
Gloucestershire	4.3	15.6	12.3	9.8	12.6	21.3	18.3	5.2	0.6	100	4,680
Somerset	3.7	12.6	9.0	10.0	15.9	22.4	19.9	5.9	0.6	100	3,770
Wiltshire	4.2	16.5	11.2	11.0	12.9	21.5	16.8	5.5	0.5	100	3,340
England	4.5	14.9	11.5	9.9	13.8	21.0	17.6	5.9	0.9	100	410,170

17 Dec 2001 : Column: 55W

^{1 3} Totals may not appear to equal the sum of their component parts due to rounding.

^{1 4} Estimates of part-time teachers by age have not been given because about 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. of part-time teachers are not recorded on the Teachers Pension Scheme, from which the data are obtained.

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