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Written Answers
Friday, 24th July 1998.
FCO: Secondments
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether any of the firms lending members of staff to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are wholly
- or in part foreign-owned; and, if they are in part foreign-owned, in which country that ownership is legally based.[HL2776]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): The firms who are currently seconding staff to the FCO are registered in either England or Wales. Their exact status is shown in the table. In addition to these, the FCO has two staff seconded from Coopers & Lybrand, London, now known as Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which is a global organisation operating world-wide partnerships.
| Company Name | Registration Status | Registration Number | Ownership Status | Country of Ultimate Holding Company |
| Amec plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 01675285 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| Barclays Bank plc--subsidiary of Barclays plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 01026167 | A subsidiary of a public company | United Kingdom |
| Barclays plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00048839 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| British Nuclear Fuels plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 01002607 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| British Petroleum Company plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00102498 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| British Telecommunications plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 01800000 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| Midland Bank plc--subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00014259 | A subsidiary of a public company | United Kingdom |
| HSBC Holdings plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00617987 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| National Westminster Bank plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00929027 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| Quantel Group Ltd.--subsidiary of Carlton Communications plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 01666566 | A subsidiary of a public company | United Kingdom |
| Carlton Communications plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00348312 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| Rolls-Royce plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 01003142 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| Standard Chartered plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00966425 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
| Taylor Woodrow plc | English or Welsh Company incorporated under Part 1 of the Company's Act | 00296805 | An ultimate holding company | -- |
Former Soviet Republics: Dismantling of Nuclear Infrastructure
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, as reported in the BBC Monitoring Service Summary of World Broadcasts in July 1997, Japan is helping Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan to dismantle nuclear weapons inherited by those countries from the former Soviet Union; and, if so, whether this activity is being supervised by the International Energy Authority or any other international body.[HL2775]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: As far as Her Majesty's Government are aware, all nuclear warheads
from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan were returned to Russia by the end of 1996. All of Kazakhstan's delivery systems were destroyed by the end of 1997, and all of Belarus' delivery systems similarly removed. Only Ukraine has remaining delivery systems in place. We are not aware of any Japanese aid to Ukraine to remove these.Higher Education Institutions: Projected Staff Requirement
Lord Wallace of Saltaire asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are their current estimates of demand for academic posts in science, humanities and social
- science in British higher education institutions over the next 10 years, resulting from retirements of current staff and other changes.[HL2862]
Baroness Blackstone: The Government do not make estimates of demand for academic posts in higher education institutions. It is for universities and colleges themselves to decide on the number of staff to employ and their deployment across subjects.
Postgraduate Students
Lord Wallace of Saltaire asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many British students they estimate are currently working towards higher degrees in British higher education institutions, in science, humanities and social science.[HL2863]
Baroness Blackstone: The latest data available on the number of UK students working towards postgraduate degrees in UK higher education institutions in science, humanities and social science are set out in the table.
| Subject | Postgraduate degree students(1) |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 8,910 |
| Subjects allied to Medicine | 11,327 |
| Biological Sciences | 13,208 |
| Veterinary Science | 331 |
| Agriculture and related subjects | 1,486 |
| Physical Sciences | 12,985 |
| Mathematical Sciences | 2,313 |
| Computer Sciences | 9,075 |
| Engineering and Technology | 14,996 |
| Architecture, Building and Planning | 4,389 |
| Total Science | 79,020 |
| Social, Economic and Political Studies | 17,812 |
| Law | 3,822 |
| Business and Administrative Studies | 26,722 |
| Librarianship and Information Science | 2,761 |
| Languages | 7,775 |
| Humanities | 9,605 |
| Creative Arts and Design | 6,200 |
| Education | 17,590 |
| Combined | 6,569 |
| Total | 177,876 |
(1) Provisional.
Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office (Lord Sewel): The results of the following reviews may be published during the Parliamentary summer recess:
How many of the reviews currently being undertaken by the Scottish Office will be published during the parliamentary summer Recess.[HL2793]
Comprehensive Review of the Food Related Scientific Services in Scotland;
24 Jul 1998 : Column WA146
Working Group on Community Education;
Stage 2 of the Policy and Financial Management Review of Highlands and Islands Enterprise;
Review of Criminal Justice Social Work;
Quinquennial Review of the Scottish Records Advisory Council.
Genetically Modified Salmon
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What advice was taken from scientific and environmental bodies on the implications of releasing genetically modified salmon, which grew at 10 times the normal rate and were able to tolerate much colder sea water, into the oceanic environment, before permission, which had been refused in Canada, was given for these salmon to be bred in Scotland.[HL2842]
Lord Sewel: In 1995-96 the Health and Safety Executive authorised a trial on genetically modified salmon at Otterferry, Loch Fyne.
The trial was authorised following the submission of an Environmental Risk Assessment and a series of exploratory visits by the HSE, Department of Environment and the Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department.
The trial was conducted in land based facilities under strict supervision and subject to rigorous quarantine conditions. The trial was concluded prematurely and all fish destroyed.
Scotland: Sixth Year Pupils
Lord Selkirk of Douglas asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish a table showing:
(a) the numbers of pupils in Scotland who stayed on for an extra and final year at school for each of the last 10 years; and
(b) these numbers as a percentage of all pupils who had been at school the year before.[HL2806]
Lord Sewel: The information is set out in the table below, which relates to publicly funded schools only. Information about school staying on rates for school pupils is also published annually in the bulletin Scottish School Leavers and Their Qualifications. In that bulletin the rates are calculated in relation to the appropriate third year cohort, therefore the percentages shown in the bulletin are different to those shown here.
| Year | Numbers in sixth year | Numbers in sixth year as a percentage of the numbers in fifth year the previous year | Numbers in fifth year (excluding Christmas leavers) | Numbers in fifth year as a percentage of the numbers in fourth year the previous year |
| 1988-89 | 19,909 | 40.7 | 38,580 | 54.4 |
| 1989-90 | 19,872 | 42.1 | 35,748 | 55.0 |
| 1990-91 | 19,516 | 44.5 | 36,078 | 57.9 |
| 1991-92 | 21,642 | 49.4 | 36,268 | 60.8 |
| 1992-93 | 22,533 | 52.3 | 36,560 | 65.2 |
| 1993-94 | 23,682 | 56.6 | 37,692 | 68.2 |
| 1994-95 | 23,840 | 56.0 | 39,853 | 69.0 |
| 1995-96 | 24,541 | 55.2 | 41,479 | 67.9 |
| 1996-97 | 26,103 | 55.7 | 42,383 | 67.4 |
| 1997-98(2) | 26,460 | 54.5 | 41,701 | 67.6 |
(2) Provisional.
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