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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 9 March 1990
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
General Certificate of Secondary Education
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make representations to the examining boards to return the start of General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations to the end of May.
Mrs. Rumbold : My right hon. Friend has asked for a meeting with the joint council for the General Certificate of Secondary Education to discuss this matter, among others.
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consultations took place with him on the decision of the examining boards to bring forward to mid-May the start of the General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The General Certificate of Secondary Education examining groups, which are independent bodies and collectively set the timetable for examinations, have not so far held discussions with my right hon. Friend about this, though contacts have taken place at official level. My right hon. Friend has made clear to the joint council for the General Certificate of Secondary Education his concerns about the timetable and looks forward to an early discussion with them.
School Places (Bath)
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, in the light of the High Court judgment in the case of Beechen Cliff school in Avon, he will now reconsider Avon county council's plans for the number of overall places in the Bath area.
City Technology Colleges
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, under the terms of the model funding agreement for city technology colleges, he is precluded on termination of the agreement from requiring the repayment specified in paragraph 23(iv), so that the college continues to operate on a private fee-paying or any other basis with the characteristics set out in paragraph 4 of the model agreement.
Mrs. Rumbold : I refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 54 to 59 of the model funding agreement which set out the course of action which the Secretary of State shall take in the event, inter alia, of the CTC/CCTA company not meeting the conditions and requirements of payment of grant to the CTC/CCTA by the Secretary of State. If, in
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these circumstances, the Secretary of State is not satisfied by responses sought and received from the CTC/CCTA company, paragraph 58 of the agreement provides that he shall give 12 months written notice of his termination of the agreement and that "He shall also give notice that the provisions of section 105(5) (of the Education Reform Act 1988) shall apply, and set out how the CTC/CCTA is to comply with them". Section 105(3) of the Education Reform Act provides that the conditions and the requirements in the agreement include that no charge is made for admission to the CTC/CCTA.Pre-school Education
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will review the availability and quality of pre-school education in England and Wales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Pre-school education in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. It is for local authorities in England to determine the most appropriate patterns of pre- school provision for their area. A committee of inquiry under my chairmanship is considering the quality of the educational experience offered to three and four-year-olds across various settings.
TRANSPORT
Medway (Dredging)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Medway Ports Authority sought his approval under sections 60 or 73 of the Port of London Authority Act before commissioning dredging and associated works in the Medway approach channel ; on what date approval was given ; and whether he imposed any conditions or restrictions relating to the deposit or laying down of dredgings and spoil.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Secretary of State's approval has not been sought to dredging in the Medway approach channel. I understand that the Port of London Authority granted a licence for such dredging to the Medway Ports Authority on 18 September 1989 under section 73 of the Port of London Authority Act 1968.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Medway Ports Authority sought his approval, under section 36 of the Medway Ports Authority Act 1975, before dumping dredgings in the area known as Lappel Bank in the Medway approach channel ; on what date approval was given ; and whether he imposed any conditions or restrictions.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Medway Ports Authority sought the Secretary of State's approval on 6 February 1990 under section 36(2) of the Medway Ports Authority Act 1973 to deposit 26,000 cu m of dredged spoil from within the port below the level of mean high water springs at Lappel Bank, Sheerness.
The authority had already sought the Secretary of State's approval on 5 July 1989 under section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949 to reclaim 120.34 acres of the Lappel Bank foreshore, using 2.6 million cu m of spoil dredged from the Medway approach channel.
The authority was advised on 22 September 1989 that there were no navigational objections to the proposed
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works. Approval under section 36(2) of the 1973 Act was granted to deposit material, as specified in the authority's application of 6 February, on 2 March without any conditions or restrictions.Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the importance of the Medway approach channel and Lappel Bank for wildlife and its fulfilment of the criteria for protection under the European Community Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
Mr. McLoughlin : None. The responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Transport in relation to the works on these sites were limited to considering their effects on safety of navigation.
National Bus Company
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department received the draft report from the National Audit Office on the sale of the National Bus Company.
Mr. Portillo : The draft report on the sale of the National Bus Company was submitted to the accounting officer by the Comptroller and Auditor-General on 12 February 1990.
Speeding Traffic
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce further measures to curb speeding traffic ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert Atkins : As I stated in my reply to my hon. Friend on 5 March, Official Report, column 165, I hope to introduce the new road hump regulations to come into force before Easter. In addition, we shall shortly be consulting on proposals to facilitate the introduction of 20 mph speed- limited zones in residential areas.
ENVIRONMENT
Local Government Finance
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list (a) for May 1989 and (b) to date the establishment for the (i) Hereford, (ii) South Yorkshire, (iii) Worcester and (iv) Humberside valuation and community charge tribunals ; and if any changes are envisaged for the near future ; (2) if he will list for (a) 1980, (b) 1985 and (c) 1987 the establishment for the (i) Humberside, (ii) South Yorkshire, (iii) Worcester and (iv) Hereford local valuation panel.
Mr. Chope : The establishments of the three valuation and community charge tribunals are as follows :
|Hereford and|South |Humberside
|Worcester |Yorkshire
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |6 |5 |3
1985 |6 |5 |4
1987 |6 |4 |4
May 1989 |7 |5 |7
March 1990 |7 |5 |7
The establishments of all valuation and community charge tribunals are to be kept under review in relation to the volume of appeals that they handle.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date he made the Community Charge Transitional Relief Report (England) available in the Vote Office.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 7 March 1990] : The report was laid on 15 February and copies were placed in the Library. I understand that the Vote Office made the normal arrangements to obtain copies of the report and that 500 copies were made available on 17 February.
Capital Allocations
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the amount of capital allocations which have been issued to each class of local authority for the years 1981-82 to 1989-90 for (a) housing, (b) personal social services, (c) education, (d) transport and (e) other services.
Mr. David Hunt : I have today laid tables giving the information requested in the Library.
Blind and Deaf-blind People
Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements his Department has made to inform the blind and the deaf-blind about the community charge.
Mr. David Hunt : I have today announced that the Department of the Environment is providing funding of £60,000 to enable the Royal National Institute for the Blind to produce Government information leaflets on the community charge in forms accessible to blind and partially sighted people.
Two key information leaflets will be produced on compact cassette tape and in braille and Moon writing. A further two leaflets will be produced, on tape only.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Health Service Expenditure
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give for Northern Ireland for each year since 1974-75 (i) total National Health Service expenditure, (ii) current expenditure on the hospital and community health services, (iii) capital expenditure on the hospital and community health services, (iv) expenditure on the family practitioner services, (v) expenditure on centrally funded National Health Service services, and (vi) expenditure on personal social services, giving each in (a) cash terms, (b) adjusted using the relevant pay and prices index and (c) adjusted using the gross domestic product deflator ; and if he will place in the Library details of the methods used to make these adjustments.
Mr. Needham : The information requested is contained in the tables.
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Table A
Gross expenditure (Northern Ireland) in £ million (cash)
Total Hospital and comFamily Central Other hePersonal
excludinhealth services practitihealth aservice social services
personal services miscellaneous
social services services<1>
|Current|Capital |Current
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974-75 |134.8 |93.5 |7.8 |26.7 |6.7 |0.1 |19.4
1975-76 |186.8 |131.6 |12.4 |34.7 |7.9 |0.2 |27.4
1976-77 |221.7 |153.7 |14.4 |40.6 |12.7 |0.3 |31.1
1977-78 |242.9 |169.9 |15.1 |47.0 |10.8 |0.1 |37.8
1978-79 |279.8 |195.5 |17.5 |54.1 |12.3 |0.4 |46.8
1979-80 |338.2 |240.0 |20.8 |63.4 |13.6 |0.4 |58.9
1980-81 |429.0 |308.5 |20.4 |80.4 |19.2 |0.5 |74.0
1981-82 |483.2 |344.7 |22.3 |93.0 |22.2 |1.0 |83.8
1982-83 |521.2 |368.4 |21.5 |105.7 |24.6 |1.0 |92.1
1983-84 |561.0 |395.1 |22.0 |116.8 |26.4 |0.7 |99.8
1984-85 |592.0 |415.0 |22.4 |123.2 |30.5 |0.9 |103.4
1985-86 |616.5 |435.2 |21.2 |127.4 |31.5 |1.2 |111.5
1986-87 |664.8 |463.2 |24.8 |139.2 |36.2 |1.4 |116.5
1987-88 |723.0 |502.9 |26.0 |156.0 |36.8 |1.3 |122.2
1988-89 |794.3 |547.8 |31.0 |174.9 |39.5 |1.1 |133.7
1989-90 (plan) |860.3 |591.1 |31.5 |191.3 |44.4 |2.0 |144.4
<1> Includes Departmental Administration.
Table B
Gross expenditure (Northern Ireland) in £ million (purchasing power at
1988-89 prices)
Total Hospital and comFamily Central Other hePersonal
excludinhealth services practitihealth aservice social services
personal services miscellaneous
social services services<1>
|Current|Capital |Current
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974-75 |617.2 |434.7 |30.5 |117.70 |- |0.4 |74.7
1975-76 |664.1 |474.9 |37.1 |119.30 |- |0.6 |87.6
1976-77 |696.1 |487.5 |38.5 |125.60 |- |0.8 |87.7
1977-78 |699.8 |496.3 |35.3 |133.90 |- |0.2 |97.3
1978-79 |730.3 |521.0 |36.6 |136.40 |- |0.8 |111.2
1979-80 |734.9 |530.6 |36.1 |135.20 |- |0.7 |118.7
1980-81 |735.7 |533.1 |28.1 |140.40 |- |0.7 |124.0
1981-82 |763.9 |550.5 |29.8 |146.80 |- |1.3 |124.9
1982-83 |771.9 |552.2 |28.3 |154.00 |- |1.3 |128.1
1983-84 |791.6 |563.4 |28.3 |161.09 |- |0.9 |131.7
1984-85 |788.0 |559.4 |27.7 |159.40 |- |1.1 |131.1
1985-86 |779.9 |557.9 |24.8 |157.10 |- |1.4 |133.9
1986-87 |790.4 |555.4 |27.6 |163.10 |- |1.6 |133.5
1987-88 |796.0 |555.7 |17.5 |171.00 |- |1.4 |130.4
1988-89 |794.3 |547.8 |31.0 |174.90 |- |1.1 |133.7
1989-90
(plan) |n/a |n/a |n/a |n/a |- |n/a |n/a
<1> These figures have not been calculated because the heading covers
such a wide variety of items (eg. training, grants to voluntary bodies,
welfare foods, welfare foods, research) that a single inflation factor
would be meaningless.
Note: Specific inflation figures are not available, and HCHS (capital)
figures have been used.
Table C
Gross Expenditure (Northern Ireland) in £ million (real terms at 1988-89
prices) (expenditure adjusted using GDP deflator)
Total Hospital and comFamily Central Other hePersonal
excludinhealth services practitihealth aservice social services
personal services miscellaneous
social services services<1>
|Current|Capital |Current
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974-75 |532.3 |369.2 |30.8 |105.4 |26.5 |0.4 |76.6
1975-76 |586.6 |413.3 |38.9 |109.0 |24.8 |0.6 |86.0
1976-77 |614.3 |425.9 |39.9 |112.5 |35.2 |0.8 |86.2
1977-78 |591.3 |413.6 |36.8 |114.4 |26.3 |0.2 |92.0
1978-79 |615.3 |429.9 |38.5 |119.0 |27.0 |0.9 |102.9
1979-80 |636.8 |451.9 |39.2 |119.4 |25.6 |0.8 |110.9
1980-81 |682.6 |490.8 |32.5 |127.9 |30.5 |0.8 |117.7
1981-82 |700.2 |499.5 |32.3 |134.8 |32.3 |1.4 |121.4
1982-83 |704.4 |497.9 |29.1 |142.9 |33.2 |1.4 |124.5
1983-84 |724.4 |510.2 |28.4 |150.8 |34.1 |0.9 |128.9
1984-85 |728.3 |510.5 |27.6 |151.6 |37.5 |1.1 |127.2
1985-86 |719.8 |508.1 |24.8 |148.7 |36.8 |1.4 |130.2
1986-87 |750.8 |523.1 |28.0 |157.2 |40.9 |1.6 |131.6
1987-88 |775.4 |539.4 |27.9 |167.3 |39.5 |1.4 |131.1
1988-89 |794.3 |547.8 |31.0 |174.9 |39.5 |1.1 |133.7
1989-90 (plan) |804.0 |552.4 |29.4 |178.8 |41.5 |1.9 |134.7
Home Help Service
Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the annual expenditure incurred by the Eastern health and social services board is accounted for by the home help service.
Mr. Needham : The answer is 2.86 per cent. of the revenue expenditure in the year ended 31 March 1989.
Family Benefits
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many families in Northern Ireland were in receipt of (a) family credit and (b) income support in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.
Mr. Needham : The available information is as follows :