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6 May 2004 : Column 1777W—continued

Teacher Recruitment/Vacancies

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress with the recruitment of teachers; and how many new teachers have been appointed as a direct result of his Department's initiatives. [169954]

Mr. Miliband: Although difficulties persist in some individual schools and areas, the overall teacher supply position is continuing to improve. Recruitment to courses of initial teacher training in England fell for eight years in a row from 1992/93, but has risen for four successive years since the introduction of training bursaries and Golden Hellos in September 2000. This is having an impact on the numbers of teachers in schools. National Statistics published by my Department on 29 April showed that there were 427,800 full-time equivalent regular teachers working in maintained schools in England in January 2004. That is 28,600 more than in 1997 and more than at any time since 1981. The teacher vacancy rate is now 0.7 per cent., down from 0.9 per cent. the previous year. There were 2,670 full-time teacher vacancies in January 2004, compared to 3,410 in January 2003.

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in Oldham, West and Royton on the latest date for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce them. [170909]

Mr. Miliband: Information on teacher vacancies is not available by constituency as it is collected at local education authority level. In January 2003, the latest information available, there were 19 full-time teacher vacancies in Oldham local education authority.

Like other areas, since 1997 Oldham, West and Royton has benefited from the initiatives that the Government have put in place to recruit and retain teachers and to increase the number of staff supporting them in schools. Since 1997, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in maintained schools in Oldham LEA has risen from 2,240 to 2,250 in 2003. Over the same period, the number of full-time equivalent school support staff in the area has grown by 520 from 720 to 1,240 in 2003.

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there were in schools in Oldham, West and Royton (a) in each of the last seven years and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [170910]

Mr. Miliband: The following table gives the full time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in maintained schools in Oldham, West and Royton constituency in each January between 1997 and 2003, the latest year for which data are available.
 
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	Number
1997	200
1998	210
1999	230
2000	250
2001	290
2002	310
2003	350

Source:
Annual School Census.

Unexplained Infant Deaths

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many civil cases relating to unexplained infant deaths have been reviewed since the statement on 20 January 2004, Official Report, column 1215; what the outcome was of each; and if she will make a statement. [167813]

Margaret Hodge: I refer the hon. Member to the statement that I made on 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 37, and the answer given in the other place by my right hon. Friend Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 30 March 2004, Official Report, column WA153.

University Fees (EU Enlargement)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the cost to United Kingdom universities of the changed fee obligations of students from the accession countries after EU enlargement. [166735]

Alan Johnson : In 2002–03 around 3,400 full-time undergraduate students in UK higher education institutions came from countries about to join the EU. Assuming that international students pay upwards of £6500 in 2004–05 in tuition fees, the likely loss of that direct fee income to higher education institutions—the difference between the "overseas" and the "home" fee rate—from those students would be at least 18 million.

From the start of the 2004–05 academic year, higher education institutions will be eligible for funding from the HE funding councils in respect of students from the accession countries, on the same basis as other EU students and home students. The exact amount will depend on the course of study. The students themselves will generally pay a means-tested fee contribution. Higher education institutions have been aware of this change for some years and of the need to budget accordingly.

University Science Departments

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will list in the last five years, universities which have closed science departments, broken down by subject; and if he will make a statement; [165526]

(2) how many chemistry departments have been closed in UK universities since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [169936]

 
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Alan Johnson: Information on the closure of particular university departments is not collected by either the Department for Education and Skills or the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Higher Education Institutions are autonomous bodies and any decisions on closures of departments are made by the institutions themselves and not Government or the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

However, I am aware of two recent chemistry course closures; one at Kings College London and one at Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London). These closures were largely due to lack of demand for the undergraduate Chemistry courses. Sir Gareth Robert's Review into the supply of people with Science Technology Engineering and Maths Skills made a number of recommendations concerning this issue and we are making good progress in their implementation.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asthma

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of occupational asthma there were in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) England in each of the last five years. [170236]

Jane Kennedy: Information on estimated numbers of new cases of occupational asthma reported in Great Britain, and in England by consultant chest physicians and occupational physicians in each of the last five years for which data are available is in the table.
Occupational asthma: estimated number of cases reported by chest physicians and occupational physicians, 1998 to 2002

	Great Britain	England
1998	808	665
1999	1,128	887
2000	785	688
2001	649	524
2002(29)	670	596

⁽²⁹⁾   Provisional data
Source:
The Health and Occupation Reporting (THOR) network.




 
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Cases of occupational asthma may not be seen by consultant physicians and may go undiagnosed. It has been estimated that the actual number of new cases may be around 5,500 per year.

Information regarding Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.

Chemical Plants

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time was for the Health and Safety Executive to produce reports on leaks at chemical sites in 2003; and if he will make a statement. [165639]

Mr. Pond: HSE only prepares publicly available reports on the most serious incidents (including significant leaks) at chemical sites. The length of time for their publication is dependent on the nature and complexity of the incident and the action that was taken. If there were a prosecution, a report would not be published until that had concluded.

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many gas leak incidents have occurred at chemical plants in the UK in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [165640]

Jane Kennedy: The number of releases from chemical plants in Great Britain reported to the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR ¹ since 1996–97 is as follows:

¹ Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations

	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04(30)
Pipeline defect	12	15	7	6	10	12	4	7
Release of flammable substance	58	63	55	45	33	3.1	26	36
Release of other substance	112	91	84	80	62	74	57	48
Totals	182	169	146	131	105	117	87	91

⁽³⁰⁾   (provisional only)
Note:
Information is not readily available prior to 1996–97 and the statistics include all reported chemical releases.

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