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Nagorno-Karabakh

Mr. Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has hadwith representatives of the Minsk group and Azerbaijan in respect of Nagorno-Karabakh; and if he will make a statement. [61599R]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in frequent contact with representatives of the Minsk group. The French ambassador in Baku briefed EU embassies on 17 May about the Prague meeting on 13–15 May between the personal representatives of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister, Araz Azimov (who has been appointed as President Aliev's special representative on Nagorno

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Karabakh) visited the UK in February. His Armenian counterpart, Armen Martirosian, visited in March. They both had discussions in the Foreign Office, including with the then Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw).

Counter Terrorism

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 24 May 2002, Official Report, column 605W, on counter terrorism, if he will place in the Library a copy of the additional information submitted to the UNSC Counter Terrorism Committee by the United Kingdom. [62003]

Mr. MacShane: Yes.

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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average pupil-teacher ratio was within maintained (a) nursery schools, (b) primary schools and (c) secondary schools in (i) St. Helens South constituency, (ii) St. Helens metropolitan borough council area, (iii) Liverpool, (iv) Manchester, (v) the north-west, (vi) the south-east, (vii) England and (viii) Scotland in (1) 1991, (2) 1997, (3) 1998, (4) 1999, (5) 2000, (6) 2001 and (7) the quarter to March 2002. [50007]

Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 24 April 2002]: The available information is shown in the table.

Maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools: Pupil:teacher ratios by type of schoolPosition in January each year⁽³⁹⁾

	1991	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	(40)2002
	Maintained Nursery Schools
England	19.1	18.9	18.6	18.4	18.1	17.7	15.6
Scotland(41)	25.7	24.7	23.1	31.3	28.9	33.9	n/a
North-west	19.3	19.6	19.3	19.0	18.7	18.1	16.8
South-east	18.1	16.3	16.5	16.4	16.3	15.9	13.8
Liverpool	17.9	18.7	16.7	16.9	16.2	13.7	12.6
Manchester	14.8	17.3	16.7	15.9	11.8	11.6	7.8
St. Helens	17.9	20.5	21.3	21.6	22.0	19.4	18.9
St. Helens South	(42)—	21.8	25.3	(43)—	24.8	25.0	(44)—
	Maintained primary schools(45)
England	22.2	23.4	23.7	23.5	23.3	22.9	22.5
Scotland	19.5	19.6	19.9	19.4	19.1	19.0	n/a
North-west	22.8	23.9	24.0	23.9	23.4	22.9	22.3
South-east	22.8	23.2	23.6	23.6	23.2	22.9	22.3
Liverpool	22.4	23.6	23.5	23.1	22.7	22.3	21.6
Manchester	22.3	23.4	24.7	24.6	24.0	22.7	21.8
St. Helens	23.0	23.3	23.2	23.6	23.2	22.9	22.4
St. Helens South	(42)—	23.2	23.2	23.7	23.1	22.9	(44)—
	Maintained secondary schools(45)
England	15.7	16.7	16.9	17.0	17.2	17.1	16.9
Scotland	12.2	13.0	13.2	13.0	12.9	13.0	n/a
North-west	15.4	16.6	16.7	16.8	16.8	16.6	16.3
South-east	16.2	16.7	16.9	17.1	17.3	17.4	17.2
Liverpool	14.9	16.7	16.7	16.8	16.7	16.2	15.5
Manchester	14.1	15.9	16.1	16.1	16.0	16.0	15.6
St. Helens	15.0	15.6	16.0	15.9	16.1	16.1	15.8
St. Helens South	(42)—	15.7	16.2	16.2	16.1	16.0	(44)—

⁽³⁹⁾ September of previous year for Schools' Census in Scotland

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Provisional

⁽⁴¹⁾ Figures for Scotland from 1998–99 include pre-school education centres (including those in partnership with local authorities).

⁽⁴²⁾ Date is not available by parliamentary constituency prior to 1997.

⁽⁴³⁾ No schools of this type in 1999.

⁽⁴⁴⁾ 2002 data are not yet available by parliamentary constituency.

⁽⁴⁵⁾ Includes middle schools as deemed.

Note: n/a—Not available

Source:

Annual Schools Census in England; Schools Census/Pre-school Census/Pre-school and Daycare Census in Scotland.

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Intermediate GNVQs

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received urging the retention of intermediate GNVQs. [60878]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Ministers have met a number of heads of schools and colleges, and other interested parties, to hear their views on the timing of the withdrawal of the 6-unit GNVQ. In addition, a number of letters have been received. We are currently considering all these representations.

Advertising Campaigns

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on press and advertising campaigns in 2001–02; and what the planned expenditure is for 2002–03. [60899]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: In respect of 2001–02, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) on 17 April 2002, Official Report, column 963W and 964W.

Planned expenditure from the Department's central advertising and publicity budget for 2002–03 is £14.35 million. Departmental advertising spend may be subject to alteration during the year.

Small Schools

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many small schools in the UK have been amalgamated since 1997. [61199]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 13 June 2002]: Since 2000 the number of small schools in England that have been amalgamated is as follows:

	Number
2000	17
2001	25
2002	5

The Department only holds data on schools in England. It does not have reliable data on the number of small schools that were amalgamated before 2000.

Educational Institutions (Governors)

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to ensure that educational institutions in receipt of public funds publish a full list of governors. [61781]

Mr. Miliband: Maintained schools are already required to publish a list of governors, including each governor's category and the date their current term of office ends, in their annual report.

City academies are required to notify the Charity Commission and Companies House of their trustees (governing body), and public access is through these bodies. For city technology colleges, the same applies to trustees. A list of governors is generally available through the governors annual report to parents. Although there is no specific requirement on further and higher education colleges to do so, public access requirements to FE college minutes mean that this information is in the public

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domain and most HE institutions publish the names of governing body members in their annual reports or elsewhere.

Computer Literacy

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are being taken to increase computer literacy at (a) adult and (b) adolescent levels. [61902]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for Education and Skills aims to create, implement and support a dynamic framework for information and communications technology (ICT) skills. It has initiated a range of measures to increase computer literacy and widen access to the skills required for a modern knowledge economy.

(a) For Adults: By the end of 2002 there will be over 6,000 UK online centres throughout England with access points in public libraries, colleges, local community centres and elsewhere. Older people are one of the key client groups for this initiative. In addition there are over 1,600 learndirect centres, which along with Further Education colleges and adult and community learning centres, offer many opportunities for adults to improve their ICT skills.

(b) For adolescents: The national curriculum for ICT prepares pupils to participate in a rapidly changing world, in which work and other activities are increasingly transformed by access to varied and developing technology. Reforms to the national curriculum in England have ensured that all pupils aged five to 16 are taught ICT, either as a separate subject or through other subjects. We have also set challenging national targets for pupils' achievements in ICT at the end of Key Stage 3.

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