| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many times the United
26 Mar 2002 : Column 893W
Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator held meetings with members and officials of the United States Government between 18 February 2000 and 3 August 2001; when and where each of these meetings took place; and which (a) United States Government departments and (b) members and officials of the United States Government were involved in each meeting; [43447]
- (2) how many times the United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator has held meetings with members and officials of the United States Government since 3 August 2001; when and where each of these meetings took place; and which (a) United States Government departments and (b) members and officials of the United States Government were involved in each meeting. [43446]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Between 18 February 2000 and 3 August 2001 the former United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator held meetings in his office with members and officials of the United States (US) Government on three occasions as follows:
- On 18 February 2000 he met Wendy Chamberlain, Principal Deputy Assistant for International Narcotics Law Enforcement Affairs in the US together with Mike McManamon, Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) Attache and George Dragnich, Counsellor for Labor and Social Affairs from the US Embassy in London;
- on 23 August 2000 he met Congressman John Mica, together with Mike McManamon and Sharon Pinkerton, Mr Mica's assistant;
- on 6 March 2001 he met George Dragnich and Su Zann Lamb, Justice and Home Affairs Liaison Officer at the US Embassy London.
Following the election last year, responsibility for delivering the National Drugs Strategy transferred to the Home Secretary. Since 3 August 2001, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary has met with John Ashcroft, United States (US) Attorney General (11–12 December 2001) and James Sensenbrenner, Chair of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (17–18 January 2002). Both meetings took place in London.
Keith Hellawell, who is now employed part time as the Home Secretary's expert adviser on drugs, has met only one official from the United States Government since 3 August 2001. The official was Keith Eddins who is employed as the US First Secretary covering Justice and Home Affairs issues at the US Embassy in the Czech Republic. The meeting took place at the British Embassy in Prague on Wednesday 20 February 2002.
Court Attendance
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days are lost annually by professional health staff required to attend court to give evidence of injury incurred by pensioners who have been subjected to physical assault; and what the estimated cost of this is to the public service in each of the last three years. [38768]
Mr. Hutton: I have been asked to reply. The information requested is not collected centrally.
26 Mar 2002 : Column 894W
WALES
Human Rights Act
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases have been brought against his Department under the Human Rights Act 1998; and what has been the cost in (a) legal fees to defend cases and (b) compensation payments. [45073]
Creche Facilities
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what creche facilities are provided by his Department; and at what cost. [44863]
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Publicity Expenditure
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the total real terms expenditure of her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on publicity in each of the years (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 2000–01 and (e) 2001–02, (i) to date and (ii) as estimated for the whole of the present year; and if she will break these figures down to indicate expenditure on (A) advertising and (B) press and public relations. [36159]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Expenditure from the Department's central advertising and publicity budget is as follows (in real terms):
| # million | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 11.9 |
| 1998–99 | 14.3 |
| 1999–2000 | 10.3 |
| 2000–01 | 15.0 |
| 2001–02 (to end January) | 6.0 |
| 2001–02 (estimated) | 11.7 |
In addition to expenditure from this central budget, expenditure from budgets allocated to individual programmes will also include spend on publicity related activity. It is not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to separately identify all such publicity related expenditure. It is possible to identify expenditure on advertising and on public relations drawn from all budgets and this is as follows (in real terms):
| Advertising (#m) | Public relations (#m) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 11.0 | 0 |
| 1998–99 | 16.8 | 0.6 |
| 1999–2000 | 12.4 | 0.1 |
| 2000–01 | 29.7 | 0.8 |
| 2001–02 (to end January) | 17.7 | 0.6 |
| 2001–02 (estimated) | 17.7 | 0.6 |
Information on expenditure by agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally.
26 Mar 2002 : Column 895W
Celebrations
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements her Department has made to celebrate (a) St. Patrick's Day, (b) St. George's Day, (c) St. Andrew's Day and (d) Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee; and how her Department celebrated St. David's Day. [42300]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 11 March 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport gave to the hon. Member for Suffolk South on 11 February, Official Report, columns 58–59W.
The Department has made no specific arrangements to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, St. George's Day, St. Andrew's Day or St. David's Day.
Examination Results
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many, and what proportion of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C grades in each year between 1997 and 2001; [45335]
- (2) how many and what proportion of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C grades, where those grades included an A* to C grade in each of English, maths and science, in each year between 1997 and 2001. [45333]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The number and proportion of 15-year-old pupils that achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C grades, including English, mathematics and science in England are in the table:
| Number | As percentage of 15-year-old pupils | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 194,708 | 33.2 |
| 1997–98 | 197,179 | 34.3 |
| 1998–99 | 207,272 | 35.7 |
| 1999–2000 | 214,181 | 36.9 |
| 2000–01 | 226,879 | 37.6 |
The number and proportion of 15-year-old pupils that achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C grades in England are in the table:
| Number | As percentage of 15-year-old pupils | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 264,892 | 45.1 |
| 1997–98 | 266,431 | 46.3 |
| 1998–99 | 278,560 | 47.9 |
| 1999–2000 | 285,727 | 49.2 |
| 2000–01 | 301,521 | 50.0 |
Consultants
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will estimate the number of former teachers and headteachers working for firms of consultants providing services for her Department, local education authorities and schools. [45710]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 25 March 2002]: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect this information. The former occupation of consultants is a matter for individual consultancy companies as employers.
26 Mar 2002 : Column 896W
Connexions
Phil Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the Connexions service will be evaluated. [46325]
Mr Ivan Lewis: The evaluation of the Connexions Service will build on the experience of the pilot studies using a combination of opinion surveys, impact studies and a programme identifying effective practice.
Opinion surveys. These will cover the views of young people including non-users of the Connexions Service and the opinions of the key stakeholders involved with each Connexions Partnership. Run annually, using a standard set of questions, these surveys will make it possible to monitor changes in views towards the Service over time as Connexions is rolled out nationally.
Impact studies. This component of the evaluation strategy will look in detail at Partnership activity to assess how effective the service has been in helping young people. The focus will be on the range of interventions made by a personal adviser and the intention is to track a selected cohort of young people over time to assess outcomes.
Identifying effective practice. The third component of the strategy is to secure prompt feedback about what works operationally and what constitutes effective practice. A rolling programme of studies will be commissioned covering specific issues relevant to the key delivery areas of the Service.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |