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5 Nov 2003 : Column 705W—continued
Teaching Assistants
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are being taken to ensure that the phrase teaching assistants includes (a) supervisors working with classes of children without the presence of a teacher and (b) others employed under paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 to Statutory Instrument 1663 employed to undertake specified work and that these are recorded separately from those who already appear in the teachers tables of the school workforce statistics when these figures are next collected from schools and local education authorities. [136303]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 4 November 2003]: Guidance to LEAs completing the Annual Survey of Teacher Numbers and Vacancies (618G) in January 2004 will make clear that support staff who may be providing cover supervision, or who may be carrying out specified work without a teacher present under the conditions set out in the regulations, should continue to be counted separately from teachers. We would expect most of these to be counted as teaching assistants in the Annual Schools Census, but often support staff in schools undertake more than one role. We are also considering what further categorisation we might introduce for the 2005 school census.
The Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group will continue to monitor developments in the strategies used by schools to deal effectively with teacher absence as part of its wider role in overseeing the implementation of the National Agreement on raising standards and tackling workload.
Trainee Teachers
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the additional financial support offered to trainee teachers since 1997. [136432]
Mr. Miliband: Since 1998, full tuition fee remission has been available to most postgraduate trainee teachers in England. In 1999, the Government announced a
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further package of support which consisted of a payment of £2,500 for people taking Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses in mathematics and science and a further £2,500 payable on appointment to a relevant post in the same subjects.
These payments were superseded in September 2000 when the Government introduced £6,000 training bursaries for eligible postgraduate trainee teachers and £4,000 Golden Hellos for those going on to teach one of five priority subjects in a maintained school in England. These incentives have been reinforced by the Repayment of Teachers' Loans pilot scheme, introduced in September 2002 for new teachers of priority subjects.
These measures have contributed to an increase of over 5,000 in the number of recruits to courses of Initial Teacher Training between 1998/99 and 2002/03.
Student Finance
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he has commissioned on the principal alternative models for (a) university finance and (b) student funding. [136454]
Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 30 October 2003, Official Report, column 429, in which I cited the work the Government had done on the principal alternative options considered in the Higher Education Review for student finance and university funding—namely, an increase in flat-rate fees, a graduate tax and real rates of interest on student loans.
In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills wrote a letter on this issue to my hon. Friend for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly) on two separate occasions, on 11 April and 3 June 2003; both copies are placed in the House Library.
Work Placement
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what reports he has received on health and safety related to trainees on placement; and how experience is disseminated among learning and skills councils. [134279]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer29 October 2003]: The Secretary of State receives individual accident reports on trainees injured while on work placement. The Learning Skills Council also report on health and safety issues as part of regular performance reviews with Ministers. They have their own internal arrangements for sharing information with local offices. Mark Haysom, the Chief Executive of the LSC, will write to my hon. Friend with further details of these arrangements and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Cemeteries
Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing the Government response to the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee Report on Cemeteries. [133899]
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Paul Goggins: We are planning to publish a public consultation document on reform of the burial laws shortly. We have now completed a pilot survey of burial grounds, and expect to launch the main survey soon. We are also currently considering the publication of a report on the research carried out last year. Guidance on cemetery management and memorial safety is well in hand.
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Anti-social Behaviour Orders
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted in each district council within County Durham. [134649]
Ms Blears: Information is given in the table on the number of notifications, as reported to the Home Office, of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) applied for and issued within the County of Durham from 1 April 1999 up to 30 June 2003 (latest available).
| Applications by complainant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local authority area | Total applications | Local authority | Police | Total issued | Total refused |
| Durham | 24 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 0 |
| of which: | |||||
| from 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 by pfa | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | n/a |
| from 1 June 2000 to 30 June 2003 by local authority area | 24 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 0 |
| Chester-le-Street DC | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Darlington BC | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Derwentside DC | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Durham CC(18) | (18)4 | 0 | (18)4 | (18)4 | 0 |
| Easington DC | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Sedgefield BC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Wear Valley DC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
(18) Order also includes prohibitions in Wear Valley DC
n/a = Not available (Note: Between 1 April 1999—31 May 2000 data available on number issued by police force area (pfa) only)
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been refused support by the National Asylum Support Service under section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and what reports he has received about the length of time these people had been in the United Kingdom before claiming support. [135452]
Beverley Hughes: Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 came into force on 8 January 2003, restricting the availability of National Asylum Support Service (NASS) support to those asylum seekers who make an asylum application as soon as reasonably practicable.
Of the total (4,365) cases referred to NASS for a Section 55 decision in the first quarter of 2003, 2,850 were refused NASS support on the grounds that their claims were not made as soon as reasonably practicable.
Of the total (3,110) cases referred to NASS for a Section 55 decision in the second quarter of 2003, 1,830 were refused NASS support on the grounds that their claims were not made as soon as reasonably practicable.
Information on how long these applicants had been in the United Kingdom before making an asylum claim is not held centrally.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) local authorities and (b) service providers about the provision of housing for asylum seekers when the current contracts expire; and if he will make a statement. [135461]
Beverley Hughes: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate is in the process of developing a strategy which will determine the procurement of accommodation post 2005 when the majority of its current accommodation contracts expire. Local authorities, private sector accommodation providers, voluntary sector agencies, lobby groups and a number of Government Departments are all being consulted about the development of this strategy.
Cannabis
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce his decision on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. [136220]
Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has yet to complete its evaluation of the safety, quality and effectiveness of the medical preparation of a cannabis-based drug developed and tested by GW Pharmaceuticals.
Once marketing approval has been received, we will move without delay to seek Parliament's agreement to any necessary changes to the misuse of drugs legislation. Our aim is to ensure ready and early availability of the drug as a prescribed medicine.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the sources of cannabis entering the UK; and what has been done to combat the amounts of cannabis imported. [136266]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
Current assessments of the source of cannabis entering the EU and UK are contained in 'The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Annual Report 2003'; 'Tackling
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Drugs Communications and Campaign Pack' published by the Home Office and 'Cannabis—An Update 1999–2002' by Professor D. J. Nutt and Dr. J. R. Nash. Copies of these are published at
www.emcdda.eu.int and www.drugs.gov.uk.
Customs enforce the import prohibition which applies to cannabis and seizure data is published annually in their Annual Report. In 2001–02 Customs seized over 67 tonnes of cannabis.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy on declassifying cannabis; and what assessment he has made of the impact of declassification on cannabis consumption. [136269]
Caroline Flint: The Government believe that all controlled drugs, including cannabis, are harmful and that no one should take them. But our drug laws and our educational messages to young people must reflect the relative harms of drugs, in accordance with the available scientific and medical advice, if they are to be credible, convincing and, ultimately, effective.
The Government's proposal to reclassify cannabis to Class C—in line with the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and of the Home Affairs Select Committee—will help us to convey a more open, honest and balanced educational message—to young people in particular—about the dangers of misusing illegal drugs.
Reclassification of cannabis is also designed to continue to deter use of the drug, because of its continued illegality, while enabling the police to put in place a consistent regime for policing cannabis, in line with the Association of Chief Police Officers' cannabis enforcement guidance. This will allow the police to redeploy resources to tackling more serious offences, including dealing in Class A drugs, like heroin and crack cocaine, which do the most harm.
The Government will seek to make an impact on the current level of cannabis use by launching an educational and advertising campaign in January aimed at young people, making it clear how the law will operate in practice and seeking to dissuade them from experimenting with cannabis. We are also taking a tough line with dealers.
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