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School Standards

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when (a) heads were able to cease following orders, (b) school performance failure was most recently unchallenged, (c) the school curriculum was most recently not publicly scrutinised and (d) school accountability was weak as stated in Education and Skills: Investment for Reform. [81763]

Mr. Miliband: The Government document Investment for Reform sets out clearly the changes under way in the education system.

Post-16 Students

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on shared delivery of education between schools and sixth form colleges and further education colleges for post-16 students. [81966]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government expects schools, colleges and all providers in the learning and skills sector to work together to raise standards, improve choice and ensure success for all post-16 learners. Improving this collaborative working is a key theme in the Government's ambitious plan for reform of further education and training—Success for All—which was launched on 19 November. We are supporting this reform package with the largest ever investment in the learning and skills sector, which will enable the Learning and Skills Council to reduce substantially the current gap in the core funding rates per qualification it pays to school sixth forms and FE colleges.

A key part of these reforms is the programme of Strategic Area Reviews led by local Learning and Skills Councils, which will commence in April 2003. This process will help build in each part of the country a network of providers working in collaboration to achieve educational and economic success.

We have also begun our pilot of the first sixteen 14 to 19 pathfinder areas. This programme will explore how a coherent 14 to 19 phase can be delivered nationally in a variety of locations with different social circumstances and different mixes of schools and colleges.

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Construction Industry

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his latest estimate is of how many vacancies there are in the construction industry in Leeds. [83488]

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply. The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Battle, dated 28 November 2002:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking for information on the latest estimate of the number of vacancies in the construction industry in Leeds.

The only comprehensive information about current job vacancies analysed by industry is the new monthly enterprise—based ONS Vacancy Survey, which at this stage is being published on an experimental basis. According to this survey there were 20,400 job vacancies in the construction industry on average for the period August to October 2002 for the United Kingdom as a whole. The survey is designed to met users' needs for high quality information about vacancies at national level and, in its present state of development, cannot provide analyses by region or local area.

The most recently available data from the Jobcentre plus administrative system shows 648 unfilled job vacancies in the construction industry of the Leeds travel-to-work area in April 2001. This figure is not comprehensive as only a proportion of vacancies are notified to Jobcentres. There are no more recent data because publication was deferred in May 2001 due to substantial disortions in the data caused by the introduction of Employer Direct by Jobcentre Plus. This was a major change which involved transferring the vacancy taking process from local Jobcentres to regional customer service centres over the period from April 2001 to January 2002.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Hunting

Mr. Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the evidence submitted during the consultation process relating to hunting. [83383]

Alun Michael: The proceedings referred to have been exemplary in terms of being available to everyone who has an interest in the issue. The three full days of hearings held in Portcullis House in September were (a) open to the public (b) available via live webcast and (c) Published in full transcript within days of the event. In addition video recordings of the three days on 9, 10 and 11 September have been placed in the Library of the House. Transcripts of the public hearings and the presentations made by the expert witnesses are available electronically at www.defra.gov.uk. Copies of these documents together with the evidence submitted to me by organisations, including individual hunts, during the consultation process will be available in the Library of the House.

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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

European Common Foreign and Security Policy

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy on the development of a European common foreign and security policy. [83880]

Mr. MacShane: The United Kingdom is committed to a strong EU Common Foreign and Security Policy in order to achieve the objectives set out in Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union, that is to safeguard the common values, fundamental interests, independence and integrity of the Union, to strengthen the security of the Union, to preserve peace and strengthen international security, to promote international cooperation and to develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

EU Structural Funding

Mr. Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much EU structural funding was returned to the Commission, by (a) region and (b) organisational sector, between 1994 and 2001. [82667]

Mr. MacShane: The information requested cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost. Repayments of EU Structural Funds in the period concerned are largely in respect of pre-1994 programmes rather than the 1994–99 programmes which do not have to be closed until mid-2003.

European Arrest Warrant

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the European Arrest Warrant. [81495]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has received various pieces of correspondence on the European Arrest Warrant, which have been passed to the Home Office for reply. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs (Mr. Bob Ainsworth) on 26 November 2022, Official Report, column 246W.

European Union

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Dutch Government proposals to reduce the influence of large member states in the European Union. [83665]

Mr. MacShane: We strongly believe that all member states should have an equal say in shaping the future of Europe. All are equally represented in the convention, as are the accession countries. The ideas produced by the convention will be submitted to an intergovernmental conference for agreement by unanimity.

Gibraltar

Mr. Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when (a)

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Ministers and (b) officials last met their Spanish counterparts to discuss Gibraltar; and when they plan to meet next to discuss Gibraltar. [84006]

Mr. MacShane: The last meeting with Spain under the Brussels Process took place on 4 February 2002. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last discussed Gibraltar with his Spanish opposite number when they met on 27 September. I discussed Gibraltar in the margins of the EU GAERC with the Spanish Minister for Europe. No date has been set for a further meeting.

EU Migrant Workers

Mr. James Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on protection by member states of migrant workers in Europe. [83240]

Mr. MacShane: Various European Union regulations, principally Regulations 1612/68 and Regulation 1408/71, set out the fundamental rules for migrant workers with EU citizenship exercising their rights of free movement within the European Union. My Ministerial colleagues are engaged in continuing dialogue with other Member States and the European Commission in improving the effectiveness of these measures, while ensuring these are consistent with the aims of improving mobility and simplification for the citizen and Member States' administrations.

Turkey

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress towards Turkey's accession to the EU. [83420]

Mr. MacShane: The European Commission's 2002 Regular Report on Turkey described the progress that Turkey has made towards complying with the Copenhagen political criteria, which are a precondition for opening accession negotiations. The Brussels European Council welcomed the important reforms undertaken by the Turkish Government, and said that Turkey's progress had brought forward the prospect of opening accession negotiations. HMG is a strong supporter of Turkey's EU candidature and we look forward to the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey as soon as possible and in accordance with the conditions which all candidates must meet.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with President Erdogan of Turkey since his election to the presidency of Turkey. [83884]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), on 20 November. They discussed the AKP's plans for government and their commitment to reform, particularly in the area of human rights. The Foreign Secretary welcomed the new Turkish Government's ambitious programme and underlined the UK's strong support for Turkey's EU candidature and for the role Turkey played in the wider world. The Foreign Secretary also stressed that there was now a unique opportunity ahead of the Copenhagen Summit in

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December to make progress over European Defence issues, and to resolve the problem of Cyprus on the basis of the UN Secretary-General's recent comprehensive proposals.

The Foreign Secretary will be travelling to Turkey on 3–4 December to continue these discussions with the new Turkish Government.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Turkey regarding the number of Turkish Kurd asylum seekers illegally entering the United Kingdom. [83886]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not raised immigration with the new Turkish Government. However, discussions between UK and Turkish officials have been taking place for some time on asylum and immigration matters.

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