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Higher Education (Elmet)

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils from the four high schools in the Elmet constituency progressed into higher education in each year since 1995. [123515]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 8 July 2003]: The numbers of students from the four high schools in Elmet accepted for entry through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK is given as follows:

Applicants accepted through UCAS to full-time higher education from the four high schools⁽¹⁾ in Elmet constituency

Year of Entry	Number
1995	226
1996	231
1997	249
1998	226
1999	254
2000	257
2001	239
2002	261

⁽¹⁾ Includes Boston Spa Comprehensive School, Brigshaw High School, Garforth Community College and Wetherby High School

Source:

UCAS

Modern Languages

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will reply to the Question from the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton of 30th April on the estimated number of entrants aged under 21 to modern languages courses at higher education institutions from 2003 to 2008. [121801]

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 July 2003, Official Report, column 800W.

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Students (Home Towns)

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the change in the proportion of students attending university in their home towns over the last five years. [110997]

Alan Johnson: The Department does not hold information on students studying in their home towns. However, several research projects have looked at the influences on choice of institution. Comparisons from the Student Income and Expenditure Survey (SIES) in 1995–96 and 1998–99 show that there has been a slight increase of around 5 per cent. in the overall proportion of students living with their parents, especially among first years. Among the students surveyed in 1998–99, 18 per cent. lived with their parents.

A student living survey carried out by UNITE/MORI in 2003 revealed that the ability to live at home during term time was a factor influencing the choice of university by 35 per cent. of those in the lower social classes compared with 26 per cent. of semi-skilled non-manual workers and 13 per cent. of those in professional and managerial social classes.

A study completed by the Institute of Employment Studies found that the priority when choosing an institution is for the right subject of study and course, however non-traditional applicants, particularly mature applicants and ethnic minorities gave more emphasis to reputation and quality, location and nearness to 'home'.

Universities

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his policy is on the diversity of academic courses and research at universities in the UK. [125138]

Alan Johnson: Universities in the UK are independent, autonomous bodies and are responsible for deciding the range and mode of courses they offer, taking account of student demand and their institutional mission. The Higher Education Funding Council for England and its equivalent bodies in the devolved administrations allocate research funding selectively to universities according to the quality and volume of their research activity.

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he is taking to promote the teaching and research of specialist and emergency subjects at universities in the UK. [125140]

Alan Johnson: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates teaching funding to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England through a formula relating to the number of students and the types of courses they are taking. The HEFCE has also allocated special funding for 'minority subjects' which it deems to be in national interest but which might otherwise be at risk because of the small number of students taking them.

Research funding is allocated to HEIs according to their success in the Research Assessment Exercise. In addition to the main allocations, the HEFCE provides

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research capability funding to emerging subjects where the research base is not as strong as in more established subjects.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Consultants

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has undertaken of the impact of the Department and Business Link on agricultural consultants in the private sector. [125399]

Alun Michael: None.

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants about the work of the Department and Business Link. [125400]

Alun Michael: I attended the Institute's annual lunch last year. I accepted a subsequent offer to me from the Chief Executive of the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants to assist with our work in developing a business support framework for rural areas and Defra officials are discussing this further with the Institute on my behalf.

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department has spent in each of the past five years supporting the work of (a) Business Link and (b) the Farm Business Advice Service; and how many farmers have been advised in the past five years by the Department and Business Link. [125403]

Alun Michael: The following table sets out expenditure and delivery figures for the Farm Business Advice Service since it began in October 2000.

	Number of requests	Number of initial visits	Number of action plans	Expenditure (£ million)
2000–01	4,120	885	6,352	4.1
2001–02	2,393	2,214	2,101	6.85
2002–03	4,067	3,237	3,058	6.76
2003–04(2)	1,085	604	339	0.1
Total	11,665	6,940	11,850	17.81

⁽²⁾ First two months of delivery

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the procedures for the screening of applicants to become Business Link advisers with the Farm Business Advice Service. [125432]

Alun Michael: The Farm Business Advice Service is managed by the Small Business Service (an agency of the DTI) and delivered through a network of Business Link advisers. The Service has adopted the Standards of Professional Competence for Business Link Advisory and Information Services. The Small Business Service intends to enhance the Standards of Professional Competence during 2003–04. Defra's Learning, Skills and Knowledge Programme involves a review of the accreditation requirements for publicly funded advisers, following a recommendation by the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food.

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Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) individuals and (b) firms are registered as Business Link advisers with the Farm Business Advice Service. [125433]

Alun Michael: Across England a total of 522 advisers are contracted to deliver the Farm Business Advice Service. Of these, 43 are contracted directly to a Business Link, 79 are self-employed and 387 are sub-contracted and some of these are employed by agricultural consultancies. The recruitment of advisers is managed directly by Business Link organisations.

Bovine TB

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle were slaughtered because of bovine TB in each year since 1997 in (a) West Derbyshire and (b) Derbyshire. [124011]

Mr. Bradshaw: The number of cattle slaughtered under bovine TB measures in Derbyshire, from 1997 to 2002, is given in the table. The data requested are not available for the parliamentary constituency of West Derbyshire. However, as a guideline, approximately 90 per cent. of confirmed TB breakdowns over the period have occurred in the western part of the county.

Cattle slaughtered in Derbyshire under bovine TB control measures 1997–20021

	Number
1997	61
1998	57
1999	255
2000	59
2001	45
2002	370

⁽³⁾ TB Reactors plus direct contacts

Note:

In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak. Since testing resumed in 2002, resources have been concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also the proportion of high risk herds being tested post-FMD is greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, the number of TB reactors identified and slaughtered in 2002 is not comparable to those identified and slaughtered in previous years.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will update the statistics on her Department's bovine TB website and reconcile them to the data on the incidence of TB collected by the British Cattle Veterinary Association. [124315]

Mr. Bradshaw: Each month Defra publishes provisional cumulative TB statistics for the calendar year on its website, including the number of TB tests carried out, the number of new TB incidents and the number of animals slaughtered in each State Veterinary Service region (SVS).

There is a delay of approximately six weeks before the data appear, to allow sufficient time for data to be returned to the SVS and entered on the Department's computer system. The data are subject to revision over

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a period of several months as additional data are entered. The most recent statistics on the website are for January to April 2003.

National statistics notices are also published on the Defra TB website each month. They are produced after a time lag of approximately three months, and therefore give a more complete and accurate picture than Defra's GB statistics.

We have no plans at the present time to reconcile our data with the data collected by the British Cattle Veterinary Association.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the collection of data on the TB 99 epidemiological survey. [124317]

Mr. Bradshaw: At 24 June 2003, a total of 703 TB99 case reports and 354 control reports had been entered on to the TB99 database for the badger culling trial areas. Defra is working hard to increase the number of reports e.g. by contracting ADAS Ltd. to assist the State Veterinary Service to complete TB99s. The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB has advised that it expects to have sufficient data to complete an initial analysis by the end of 2003.

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