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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 14 June, 1991
TRANSPORT
Tyres
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations govern the manufacture of re-mould tyres used on commercial vehicles.
Mr. Chope : The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1984 require all re-mould tyres to comply with British Standard BS AU 144b : 1977.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations govern the use of re-mould tyres fitted to commercial vehicles.
Mr. Chope : There are no regulations which refer specifically to the use of re-mould tyres, but all tyres are required by the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to be suitable for the use to which a vehicle is put.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving commercial vehicles were attributable to defective re- mould tyres during the years 1989 and 1990.
Mr. Chope : Statistics are not available for 1989 or 1990 on accidents attributable to failure of tyres on commercial vehicles. However, the Department is co-ordinating research into the incidence and causes of tyre failures among heavy goods vehicles on motorways.
Supplementary Grants
Mr. Soames : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much transport supplementary grant was made available to West Sussex county council for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Chope : Before 1985-86 transport supplementary grant was given for capital and current expenditure. Since then current expenditure has been subsumed in revenue support grant, so figures before 1985-86 are not comparable with later figures. Transport supplementary grant for the last 10 years has been :
Settlement year |£ million ------------------------------------------------ 1982-83 |3.908 1983-84 |3.475 1984-85 |3.719 1985-86 |3.241 1986-87 |3.622 1987-88 |3.089 1988-89 |2.730 1989-90 |1.526 1990-91 |4.532 1991-92 |4.126
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Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to receive the Atkins report on the channel tunnel rail link and when he does so, if he will place a copy in the Library.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail sent us a copy of the report yesterday. We shall study it alongside all the other material it has sent us. The report and other key documents will be published in due course when we are ready to announce our conclusion.
DVLA Information Technology Directorate
Mr. Moss : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the future of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's information technology directorate.
Mr. Chope : I have recently reviewed the status of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's directorate of information technology, known as DVOIT (Drivers, Vehicles and Operators Information Technology). This is a separate unit within the agency, comprising some 500 staff, which provides IT support to DVLA and to a number of other customers within the Department of Transport.
As a first step DVOIT will be established as a separate executive agency from next April. This will allow it to develop a more commercial style of operation and in particular to establish more formal contractual relationships with its customers. I hope this will pave the way for eventual privatisation in a few years' time.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Bromley and Kingston Education Authorities
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to introduce amending legislation in the light of the recent High Court decision concerning Bromley and Kingston education authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Fallon : My right hon. and learned Friend is aware of the recent court cases involving the school admissions policies of Bromley and Kingston education authorities. He will be looking at the pattern of school admissions this September before deciding whether legislation to amend the law on admissions would be appropriate.
Public Appointments
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the full-time and part-time public appointments for which his Department was responsible for each of the past five years together with the salary and the date when each appointment is due for renewal.
Mr. Eggar : Until June 1990 information on public appointments was not held centrally within the Department, but is available in "Public Bodies" which is published annually and gives details of all such appointments together with salary details. Current appointments together with salary details and the date when each appointment is due for renewal are as follows :
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Name of body |Appointment and date of renewal|Salary
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business and Technician |Chairman and all 12 members |Chairman part-time
Education Council | in December 1992 | £10,000
|Members part-time unpaid
Centre for Information on |Chairman in 1993 |All part-time unpaid
Language Teaching and |3 members in 1991
Research |4 members in 1992
|3 members in 1993
Central Bureau for Educational |Chairman in March 1994 |All part-time unpaid
Visits and Exchanges |4 members in August 1991
|1 member in December 1991
|4 members in August 1992
|1 member in January 1993
|2 members in December 1993
Education Assets Board |Chairman and all 6 members in |Chairman part-time
| July 1992 |£20,515
|Members £111 sessional
| fee.
National Council for |Chairman in March 1994 |All part-time unpaid
Educational Technology |4 members in March 1992
|5 members in March 1993
|8 members in March 1994
Council for National Academic |Chairman in April 1994 |Chairman part-time £6,000
Awards |25 members in September 1991 |Members part-time unpaid
Further Education Unit Board |Chairman in April 1993 |All part-time unpaid
of Management |11 members in December 1991
Advisory Board for the |Chairman in March 1993 |Chairman full-time £65,575
Research Councils<1> |1 member in March 1992 |Members part-time £4,340
|2 members in March 1993 | honorarium
|1 member in September 1993
|2 members in March 1994
|1 member in September 1995
|1 member in December 1995
Council for the Accreditation of |Chairman in June 1993 |Chairman £19,000 part-
Teacher Education |9 members in December 1991 |time
|10 members in December 1992 |Members part-time unpaid
Computer Board for |Chairman and all 10 members |Chairman £4,100
Universities and Research |in 1991 | honorarium
Councils | in 1991
| fee £65
Polytechnics and Colleges |Chairman in November 1991 |Chairman part-time
Funding Council |13 members in March 1992 |£14,000
|Members part-time £2,300
| honorarium
School Examinations and |Chairman and Chief<2> |Chief Executive £54,900
Assessment Council |Executive in August 1993 |Members part-time unpaid
|5 members in August 1991
|5 members in August 1992
|2 members in August 1993
|1 member in August 1994
Sports Council |Chairman and Vice-chairman in |Chairman part-time
| May 1992 | £17,362
|6 members in October 1991 |Members part-time unpaid
|1 member in November 1991
|1 member in December 1991
|1 member in November 1992
|1 member in December 1992
|2 members in March 1993
|1 member in May 1993
United States/United Kingdom |2 members in December 1991 |Members part-time unpaid
Educational Commission |1 member in December 1992
(Fulbright Commission) |2 members in December 1994
Universities Funding Council |Chairman in October 1991 |Chairman part-time
|8 members in March 1992 | £14,000
|4 members in March 1994 |Members part-time £2,300
| honorarium
Agricultural and Food |Chairman in August 1995 |Chairman part-time
Research Council |Secretary in December 1995<3> |£11,580
|5 members in July 1991 |Secretary £61,920 full-time
|3 members in July 1992 |Members part-time £4,340
|7 members in July 1994 | honorarium
Economic and Social Research |Chairman in September 1992 |Chairman full-time £59,020
Council |4 members in July 1991 |Members part-time £4,340
|5 members in July 1992 | honorarium
|5 members in July 1993
|5 members in July 1994
Medical Research Council |Chairman in September 1994 |Chairman part-time £5,790
|6 members in July 1991 |Members part-time
|3 members in July 1992 | honorarium £4,340
|2 members in July 1993
|4 members in July 1994
Natural Environment Research |Chairman in September 1993 |Chairman full-time £59,020
Council |6 members in July 1992 |Members part-time £4,340
|3 members in July 1993 | honorarium
|6 members in July 1994
National Curriculum Council |<2>Chairman and Chief Executive|Chief Executive full-time
| in August 1995 | £69,120
| Deputy Chairman in August |Deputy Chairman and
| 1991 | Members part-time
|6 members in August 1991 | unpaid
|4 members in August 1992
|3 members in August 1993
Science and Engineering |Chairman in September 1995 |Chairman full-time £76,600
Research Council |2 members in July 1992 |Members part-time £4,240
|8 members in July 1993 |-£5,790 honorarium
|4 members in July 1994
<4>Inner London Staff |Chairman and 2 members in |Chairman part-time
Commission | April 1993 | minimum 5 day fee at
| £118 per day.
|Members part-time
| minimum 2.5 days at
| £102 per day.
Yehudi Menuhin School |2 members in July 1991 |Unpaid
Governing Body
Visiting Committee of Cranfield |Chairman in September 1991 |All part-time unpaid
Institute of Technology |4 members in July 1991
|2 members in November 1992
|1 member in September 1993
Visiting Committee of the |Chairman in June 1991 |All part-time unpaid
Royal College of Art |1 member in June 1991
|1 member in July 1991
|1 member in June 1992
|2 members in November 1992
|1 member in March 1994
The Staff College (FE) Staff |Chairman in November 1991 |All part-time unpaid
College Governing Body |4 members in December 1991
|4 members in December 1992
|3 members in December 1993
|3 members in December 1994
Visiting Committee of the Open |2 members in January 1992 |Part-time unpaid
University |3 members in January 1993
|2 members in January 1994
University Commissioners |Chairman in July 1991 |Chairman part-time
|4 members in July 1991 | £383 daily fee
|Members part-time
| £198 daily fee
Teaching as a Career Unit |Chairman in March 1993 |All part-time unpaid
Board |Joint Secretaries in March 1993
|8 Members in March 1993
School Management Task |Leader in March 1992 |Leader and Members
Force |5 members in March 1992 | part-time paid<5>
National Youth Agency |Chairman and 7 members |All part-time unpaid
Management Committee | in March 1994
<1>Includes the heads of the 5 research councils, who are also listed under their respective councils.
<2>The present chairman is also chief executive. The post of chairman is unpaid.
<3>The secretary of AFRC is also deputy chairman.
<4>The work of the commission will be concluded in April 1993.
<5>The Department makes a contribution towards salary costs.
Schools (Budgetary Delegation)
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those local education authorities which, in the most recent year for which information is available (a) had introduced full budgetary delegation to (i) all primary schools and (ii) all secondary schools and (b) had introduced school funding (i) fully in accordance with their published formula, (ii) partly in accordance with the formula and partly in accordance with historical principles and (iii) only in accordance with historical principles.
Mr. Fallon : The following table lists those local education authorities whose primary or secondary schools have full delegated management as of 1 April 1991.
With regard to formula funding, the vast majority of LEAs have taken advantage of the transitional arrangements which allow for the change from historic to pure formula funding to take place gradually in the period up to 1 April 1994.
The detailed information on each LEA is not immediately available. I shall write to my hon. Friend.
(1) Fully delegated budgets to primary schools by 1991-92
(2) Fully delegated budgets to secondary schools by 1991-92 Barking |Berkshire Barnet |Buckinghamshire Brent |Cambridgeshire Bromley |Cheshire Croydon |Cornwall Ealing |Cumbria Haringey |Devon Harrow |Dorset Hillingdon |Durham Hounslow |East Sussex Kingston |Essex Merton |Gloucestershire Redbridge |Hampshire Richmond |Humberside Sutton |Isle of Wight Coventry |Kent Knowsley |Lancashire Sefton |Lincolnshire Wirral |North Yorkshire Bolton |Nottinghamshire Manchester |Oxfordshire Doncaster |Somerset Sheffield |Suffolk Bradford |Surrey Gateshead |Warwickshire South Tyneside |West Sussex Isles of Scilly |Wiltshire
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list local education authorities from which a secondary school has (a) voted for and (b) achieved grant-maintained status showing what proportion of its secondary provision such schools represent.
Mr. Eggar : The table gives the number and proportion (in percentage terms) of secondary schools within a local education authority which have : (a) voted in favour of seeking
grant-maintained status ; (b) voted in favour of seeking grant-maintained status and been approved for GM status.
---------------------------------------------------------
Hammersmith |1 |10 |1 |10
Kensington |1 |20 |1 |20
Southwark |1 |6 |1 |6
Tower Hamlets |1 |7 |1 |7
Wandsworth |3 |25 |0 |-
Barnet |2 |9 |2 |9
Brent |3 |20 |1 |7
Bromley |7 |37 |1 |5
Croydon |1 |4 |0 |-
Ealing |6 |46 |0 |-
Hillingdon |10 |56 |4 |22
Newham |1 |7 |1 |7
Sutton |2 |14 |2 |14
Waltham Forest |1 |6 |1 |6
Birmingham |4 |5 |4 |5
Dudley |2 |8 |1 |4
Sandwell |1 |4 |1 |4
Solihull |1 |7 |0 |-
Wolverhampton |2 |10 |2 |10
Bolton |1 |6 |1 |6
Liverpool |1 |3 |1 |3
Tameside |1 |5 |1 |5
Wigan |1 |4 |0 |-
Bradford |1 |1 |1 |1
Calderdale |2 |12 |2 |12
Kirkless |2 |5 |2 |5
Avon |2 |3 |2 |3
Bedfordshire |1 |1 |1 |1
Berkshire |4 |7 |3 |5
Buckinghamshire |3 |7 |3 |7
Cambridgeshire |1 |2 |0 |-
Cheshire |1 |1 |1 |1
Cumbria |4 |9 |1 |2
Derbyshire |2 |3 |2 |3
Devon |1 |1 |1 |1
Dorset |5 |8 |2 |3
Essex |5 |5 |2 |2
Gloucestershire |6 |14 |4 |9
Hampshire |3 |3 |2 |2
Hertfordshire |6 |6 |3 |4
Kent |22 |15 |5 |3
Lancashire |4 |4 |4 |4
Leicestershire |1 |1 |1 |1
Lincolnshire |12 |19 |7 |11
Norfolk |6 |11 |1 |2
Northamptonshire |5 |8 |3 |5
Nottinghamshire |1 |1 |0 |-
Shropshire |1 |3 |1 |3
Somerset |1 |3 |1 |3
Surrey |7 |12 |1 |2
Warwickshire |3 |8 |1 |3
Wiltshire |1 |2 |1 |2
|-------|-------|-------|-------
Total |167 |85
Notes:
(1) Column (a) lists the total number of schools in an
authority which have voted in favour of seeking
grant-maintained (GM) status. Some of these schools have
yet to publish proposals, others have published
proposals which Ministers will be considering soon or
which they have already either approved or rejected.
(2) Column (b) lists the number of schools whose
proposals have been approved. This includes schools
which are already operating as GM schools and those
which were approved for incorporation in September.
School Premises
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in England do not meet the requirements laid down in the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981.
Mr. Fallon : This information is not held centrally. It is the duty of LEAs and others directly responsible for schools to ensure that school premises conform to the standards prescribed in the regulations.
Higher Education (Salaries)
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total number of teaching staff and the total salary bill, exclusive of the employers' insurance and superannuation contributions (a) for English universities, and (b) for polytechnics and colleges under the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council for 1984-85 and 1989-90.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Information on the numbers of universities' teaching staff and salaries inclusive of employers' insurance and superannuation contributions is contained in the annual volume "University Statistics Volume Three--Finance" table 9 published by the universities' statistical record. The latest edition is for financial year 1988-89. Copies of this publication are in the Library. Data on polytechnics and colleges are not available in the requested form.
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OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Bangladesh
Mr. Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what have been the annual grants made to Bangladesh by the Bangladesh Aid Consortium in each year since 1972 ; what has been the United Kingdom's contribution within the same period ; and what have been the sums devoted by the Bangladesh Aid Consortium to programmes designed (i) to protect coastal areas from cyclone damage and (ii) to prevent flooding within Bangladesh.
Mrs. Chalker : Total net official development assistance to Bangladesh from all donors, and from the United Kingdom, is as follows :
Total Net Official UK Net Bilateral Official
Development AssistancDevelopment Assistance
from all donors
|£ million |£ million
--------------------------------------------------
1972 |89.45 |1972 |2.53
1973 |171.98 |1973 |2.67
1974 |208.09 |1974 |6.44
1975 |430.47 |1975 |14.30
1976 |288.49 |1976 |13.72
1977 |334.41 |1977 |21.99
1978 |501.06 |1978 |43.97
1979 |533.61 |1979 |33.77
1980 |512.96 |1980 |42.57
1981 |494.45 |1981 |33.31
1982 |766.20 |1982 |22.17
1983 |691.51 |1983 |23.92
1984 |898.30 |1984 |34.77
1985 |888.37 |1985 |40.28
1986 |992.11 |1986 |37.43
1987 |998.12 |1987 |33.96
1988 |893.85 |1988 |41.08
1989 |1098.73 |1989 |51.96
In the period 1972-81 the figures for the donor group include DAC donors and multilateral institutions. From 1982 the totals also include assistance from Arab donors.
We do not maintain statistics on the sectoral breakdown of other donor countries' aid programmes and cannot therefore give details of financial support for cyclone protection and flood prevention.
British Council
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those countries, and the towns or cities in these countries, where Overseas Development Administration work is sub-contracted to the British Council.
Mrs. Chalker : The ODA has engaged the British Council to act as its agent in providing certain services in 106 countries. These services are normally available in the main towns and cities of these countries, which are as follows :
HEALTH
Dental Health
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the water supply in England and Wales is now fluoridated artificially ; and what is his policy for ensuring the optimum level of fluoridation in the interests of securing better dental health.
Mr. Dorrell : Some 12 per cent. of the population in England and Wales receive water where the fluoride content has been artificially increased. It is for health authorities to decide whether or not to ask water authorities to increase local fluoride levels. Where arrangements are made the Water (Fluoridation) Act 1985 requires that they should include provisions to ensure that, as far as reasonably practicable, the concentration of fluoride is maintained at 1 milligram per litre which is the optimal level for reducing dental caries.
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy for improving the dental health of children in the ethnic minitory communities ; what specific steps he is taking to ensure that children receive regular dental examinations and treatment and are encouraged to use toothpaste containing fluoride ; what specific resources are being devoted by regional and district health authorities to implement any such programmes ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Dorrell : It is the responsibility of district health authorities to monitor the dental health of all age and ethnic groups in the population, to provide dental health education and preventive programmes and to screen the teeth of children in state-funded schools at least three times in each child's school life. Any advice on oral hygiene would include a description of the benefits of regular brushing of teeth and the use of toothpastes, the majority of which now contain fluoride.
To meet these objectives district health authorities through the community dental services will need to monitor levels of dental health throughout the population, to identify special needs, to encourage the use of the general dental service and to provide a safety net service of treatment for those whose needs cannot be met in the general dental service.
The resources devoted by any particular regional or district health authority to any programme will be a matter for the authority concerned ; there will inevitably be variations between regions and districts reflecting the differences in the dental health of the population.
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish in tabular form details of the average number of decayed, missing or filled permanent teeth in 12-year-old children in England in each district health authority.
Mr. Dorrell : The most recent dental caries prevalence surveys by health districts of 12-year-old children were carried out during 1988-89. Not all health districts were represented in the surveys, which were co- ordinated by the British Association for Community Dentistry (BASCD). The average number of decayed, missing or filled permanent teeth (DMFT) in each district surveyed is shown in the table.
Table: Survey of 12-year-old children by health district 1988-89 District |DMFT ------------------------------------------------------- Burnley et al |3.09 Tameside and Glossop |2.73 St. Helens and Knowsley |2.70 Salford |2.69 Oldham |2.63 Central Manchester |2.60 North Manchester |2.49 Blackburn et al |2.21 Lancaster |2.16 Pontefract |2.14 Liverpool |2.14 Wigan |2.11 Airedale |2.09 Bolton |2.03 Blackpool et al |2.03 Bury |2.02 Barnsley |2.02 Halton |2.01 South Sefton |1.98 York |1.96 Sheffield |1.95 Cornwall |1.93 Trafford |1.92 Leeds Eastern |1.92 Ealing |1.88 Preston |1.87 Exeter |1.86 South Cumbria |1.82 Bradford |1.81 South Tees |1.80 West Lancashire |1.79 Wirral |1.77 Rotherham |1.77 Chester |1.77 Leeds Western |1.74 South Manchester |1.73 North Staffordshire |1.72 Stockport |1.71 Sandwell |1.71 Hounslow and Spelthorne |1.71 Walsall |1.69 Richmond and Twickenham |1.69 Wakefield |1.65 Plymouth |1.64 North Tees |1.64 Macclesfield |1.64 North Derbyshire |1.62 Chorley and South Ribble |1.59 Wolverhampton |1.58 Nottingham |1.58 Northumberland |1.55 Rochdale |1.54 East Cumbria |1.53 Swindon |1.52 Bassetlaw |1.52 Leicestershire |1.52 West Berkshire |1.51 Scarborough |1.50 Herefordshire |1.48 Hillingdon |1.47 Mid Staffordshire |1.46 Central Nottinghamshire |1.43 East Berkshire |1.43 Cheltenham and Gloucester |1.42 Basildon and Thurrock |1.41 Crewe |1.40 Mid Surrey |1.40 Torbay |1.39 Darlington |1.39 South Tyneside |1.38 East Yorkshire |1.38 Durham |1.38 South Derbyshire |1.37 South West Durham |1.36 North West Surrey |1.35 Winchester |1.34 Dudley |1.34 Somerset |1.33 West Cumbria |1.32 Tower Hamlets |1.32 North West Durham |1.32 Coventry |1.32 West Dorset |1.31 Hull |1.31 Sunderland |1.30 Aylesbury Vale |1.29 Avon |1.29 Harrow |1.28 Merton and Sutton |1.28 Huddersfield |1.28 Islington |1.27 Warrington |1.26 South Lincolnshire |1.26 North Tyneside |1.25 Bath |1.25 Wandsworth |1.25 East Surrey |1.24 Calderdale |1.24 North West Hertfordshire |1.23 Hampstead |1.23 Scunthorpe |1.22 Newcastle |1.22 Northampton |1.21 Medway |1.20 East Birmingham |1.20 Shropshire |1.19 South West Surrey |1.19 Newham |1.19 North Warwickshire |1.19 Kidderminster |1.17 East Dorset |1.17 Southampton |1.16 South East Staffordshire |1.16 Kettering |1.16 Worcester |1.16 South Bedfordshire |1.15 West Surrey and North East Hampshire |1.14 Bloomsbury |1.13 Salisbury |1.11 Milton Keynes |1.11 Central Birmingham |1.11 Portsmouth |1.09 Camberwell |1.06 North Lincolnshire |1.06 North Hertfordshire |1.05 Grimsby |1.04 West Birmingham |1.03 Wycombe |1.01 Barking et al |1.01 Isle of Wight |0.99 Northallerton |0.98 Croydon |0.97 Bromsgrove and Redditch |0.97 South Warwickshire |0.95 North Birmingham |0.94 Harrogate |0.94 Solihull |0.93 Barnet |0.93 East Hertfordshire |0.92 Gateshead |0.91 South Birmingham |0.89 Rugby |0.88 West Essex |0.82 North Bedfordshire |0.71 Hartlepool |0.71
Training
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the amounts allocated in England by each regional health authority in 1991- 92 for (a) the training of managers in the national health service, (b) postgraduate medical education and (c) continuing medical education.
Mr. Waldegrave : This information is not at present held centrally. Separate budgets for postgraduate and continuing medical education will operate for the first time this year.
Adoption
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will review the current policies of social services departments regarding the upper age limits for prospective inter-country adoptive parents ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There is no policy which places an upper age limit on prospective adoptive parents.
Age is one of many factors considered by social services departments in each case before making their recommendation about the suitability of people to become adoptive parents.
Juvenile Offenders
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what security grading is given to establishments in England and Wales providing secure accommodation for juvenile offenders in care ; and if he will publish details of those which have the highest rating ;
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(2) if he will publish in tabular form a list of establishments in England and Wales providing secure accommodation for juvenile offenders in care together with the number of beds in each establishment.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Secure accommodation provided by local authorities in community homes is for all children in care, both offenders and non-offenders. All such establishments are required to comply with the Department's design guidance in terms of safety and security.
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Details of all local authority-provided secure units as at 31 March 1991 are given in the table.The same standards are applied administratively to the two youth treatment centres directly provided by the Department. The two youth treatment centres are at St. Charles, Brentwood (30 secure beds) and Glenthorne, Birmingham (30 secure beds).
Information about secure accommodation in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Column 687
Secure accommodation by social service inspectorate regions 31 March 1991
Regions |Location |Local authorities |Number of
|places<1>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |New Aycliffe (Royston |Durham |14M
| House)
|Aycliffe Special Unit |Durham |36M
|Netherton Park |Northumberland
Yorkshire and |Kepples View |Rotherham |4M
Humberside |East Moor |Leeds |9B
|East Moor |Leeds |18B
North Western |Red Sands |Cheshire |6M
|Red Bank (Vardy House) |Lancashire |4B
|Red Bank Special Unit |Lancashire |26B
|Blackbrook House |Liverpool |5G
|Briars Hey (Orchard |Lancashire |8G
| House)
|Dyson Hall |Liverpool |8B
|Barton Moss (Park House)|Salford |7B
West Midland |Stoke House |Coventry |8M
|St. Johns |Birmingham |4M
East Midlands |Moorfield |Derby |2M
|Kesteven |Lincoln |4M
|Greenacres |Derby |5M
Thames/Anglia |Salters |Cambridgeshire |6G
|Woodside Young People's |Hertfordshire |2M
| Centre
|Thornbury House |Oxfordshire |3B
|Brookside |Berkshire |4M
London |Middlesex Lodge |Hillingdon |9G
|Little Heath Lodge |Newham |6B
|Orchard Lodge |Southwark |8B
|Frant Court |Greenwich |3G
|Stamford House |Hammersmith |16B
Southern |Landsdowne |East Sussex |5M
|Beechfield |West Sussex |6M
|Fairfield |Hampshire |3G
|Glen House |Hampshire |8B
South Western |Atkinson Unit |Devon |12M
|Kingswood |Avon |20B
Note:
<1> G = Girls; B = Boys; M = Mixed Sex.
Correspondence
Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he can expect to receive a reply to his letter of 31 January to the Under- Secretary of State about proposed charges by the Public Health Laboratory Service.
Mr. Dorrell : Unfortunately the original correspondence went astray. I wrote to the hon. Member with a full reply including an apology for the delay yesterday.
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Disabled Clothing Workshops
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he received the report on disabled clothing workshops from Ms. Sally Guttrie ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The report was received by the Department on 31 May. We expect to respond later in the summer.
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Mile End Hospital
Mr. Shore : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultations he has had about the proposed use of wards in the Mile End hospital by a private drug company ; and if he will ensure that no decision will be made before the current consultation on the future of the hospital has been completed.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Any decision will be a matter for the trust ; the trust has given an assurance that under no circumstances would it undertake any agreement which would prejudice its services to patients.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date NHS trusts were required to submit their business plans to the NHS management executive ; and how many trusts submitted their plans by the date.
Mr. Waldegrave [pursuant to his reply, 11 June 1991, c. 490] : I regret that the number of business plans quoted as having been submitted to the NHS management executive by 8 March 1991 was incorrect. Four NHS trusts submitted their plans by this date and a further nine by 11 March.
PRIME MINISTER
Japanese Cars
Mrs. Currie : To ask the Prime Minister if he will oppose the views expressed in the European Parliament that Japanese marque cars should be subject to a quota whether imported into the European Community or manufactured within its borders ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Cars manufactured in the European Community are European whatever the nationality of the manufacturer. I strongly oppose any attempt to restrict the circulation of such cars within the Community, for example, by incorporating them in a single quota with imports from Japan as suggested in the European Parliament debate. The Government's position on this question has been made quite clear to the EC Commission.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Prisoners
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of (a) males and (b) females who are serving sentences on conviction of murder under the age of (i) 14 years, (ii) 16 years and (iii) 18 years in England and Wales.
Mrs. Rumbold : The numbers of young people in those age groups serving sentences for murder on 31 May this year were as follows :
|Males |Females
--------------------------------------
Aged under 14 |0 |0
Aged under 16 |1 |0
Aged under 18 |<1>4 |0
<1> Excluding the one under 16.
Hospitality
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the expenditure by his Department's hospitality fund for the financial year (a) 1989-90, (b) 1990-91 and (c) 1991-92 to date.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Following is the information about my Department's expenditure on hospitality :
Year |£ ------------------------------- 1989-90 |28,630 1990-91 |<2>29,447 <1>1991-92 |6,665 <1> To 12 June. <2> Provisional figure.
Bail
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an estimate of the number of offences committed in the Metropolitan police area during the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available by persons after they have been released on bail either by the courts or by the police.
Mr. John Patten : The information requested is not available. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 30/90 "Reasons for refusing unconditional bail January to February 1989" estimates that 19 per cent. of those remanded in custody had previously reoffended on bail. A copy of this bulletin is in the Library.
Interpol
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what constraints the Data Protection Act 1984 imposes on information about convictions sustained by British citizens being passed to Interpol ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The police national computer is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act. Under these provisions, information on convictions held on the PNC may be disclosed to member countries of Interpol for policing purposes.
Refugees
Mr. Wells : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for political refugee status there have been in each year and from which countries of birth since 1980 ; how many were admitted in each year ; how many rejected and how many left the country ; and how long it took to process each application on average.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on asylum applications and decisions, by nationality, is contained in tables 2-5 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 22/90 "Refugee Statistics, United Kingdom 1989", and in the provisional estimates for 1990 provided to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on 22 April. Copies of both these documents are in the Library of the House. The 1990 estimates are likely to understate because of delays in recording. Information on the average length of time between the receipt of an application and the decision, for total decisions in each of the years 1983-90, is given in the
Column 691
table. A reliable analysis of this information by nationality, and corresponding data for 1980-82, are not available.Estimated average length of time between the receipt of an application for refugee status or asylum, and the decision, for cases decided in the years 1983-90.<1> Years in |Months which decision made ------------------------------------------ 1983 |6 1984 |8" 1985 |12" 1986 |14 1987 |14 1988 |17 1989 |12 <2>1990 |12 <1> Excludes south-east Asian refugees given settlement on arrival. <2> Provisional.
Prisoners (Northern Ireland Conflict)
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the figures for each year since 1980 of the numbers of prisoners convicted in England and Wales for offences arising out of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Mrs. Rumbold : The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of prisoners serving sentences in Britain for offences arising out of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Column 692
Mrs. Rumbold : Readily available information on the number of prisoners in England and Wales whose offences were related to terrorism in the quoted context is limited to those classified as category A. Thirty- eight such prisoners were in custody on 7 June 1991.
Prisoners (Transfers)
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what has been the number of requests by prisoners for permanent transfer to Northern Ireland and the outcome of these requests in each year since 1985 ; and whether these requests came from loyalists, republicans or prisoners whose offences were unconnected to the Northern Ireland conflict ;
(2) what are the figures for each year since 1985 of the number of requests by prisoners for transfer to Northern Ireland for accumulated visits and the outcome of these requests ; and whether these requests came from loyalists, republicans or prisoners whose offences were unconnected to the Northern Ireland conflict ; (3) what are the figures of the number of requests by prisoners for transfer to Northern Ireland which he notified to the Northern Ireland Office in each year since 1980 broken down on the basis of permanent and temporary transfers.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information is not kept on the political background of inmates seeking transfers to Northern Ireland. The other information requested is given in the tables.
Column 691
Table A
Permanent transfers to Northern Ireland<1>
|Number |Number |Number |Withdrawn |Outstanding|Others<2>
|Requests |Transferred|Refused
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |35 |3 |23 |2 |- |-
1986 |17 |2 |17 |1 |- |-
1987 |7 |3 |5 |1 |- |-
1988 |56 |6 |33 |1 |- |2
1989 |55 |15 |40 |3 |- |1
1990 |59 |3 |36 |6 |24 |2
1991 (to 31 May) |31 |- |18 |2 |11 |-
Totals |260 |32 |172 |16 |35 |5
Table B
Temporary transfers to Northern Ireland<1>
|Number |Number |Number |Withdrawn |Outstanding|Others<2>
|Requests |Transferred|Refused
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |11 |1 |7 |1 |- |-
1986 |4 |1 |3 |1 |- |-
1987 |6 |2 |2 |- |- |-
1988 |19 |7 |7 |2 |- |-
1989 |18 |2 |15 |- |- |2
1990 |26 |12 |6 |- |11 |2
1991 (to 31 May) |11 |- |2 |- |9 |-
Totals |95 |25 |42 |4 |20 |4
<1>Requests made in any given year may have been decided in a later year.
<2>Includes requests where inmates have been released on appeal or on parole etc. before a decision
was reached on the transfer request.
Table C
Number of requests referred to the Northern
Ireland Office<3>
|Permanent|Temporary
|transfer |transfer
-----------------------------------------------
1980 |2 |2
1981 |6 |2
1982 |1 |2
1983 |6 |4
1984 |3 |3
1985 |6 |6
1986 |2 |-
1987 |14 |6
1988 |17 |10
1989 |24 |2
1990 |28 |11
1991 (to 31 May) |12 |8
<3> Referrals made in any given year may
include requests made in previous years.
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether requests by prisoners from Northern Ireland for permanent transfer are initially processed by the prison governor and may be rejected at this stage ;
(2) whether requests by prisoners from Northern Ireland for temporary transfer to take advantage of accumulated visits are initially processed by the prison governor and may be rejected at this stage.
Mrs. Rumbold : No. All such requests are referred to prison service headquarters for consideration.
Trespass
Mr. Aspinwall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision exists for compensating landowners who incur costs in obtaining repossession orders against trespassers.
Mr. John Patten : It is open to a landowner who incurs costs in obtaining a repossession order against a trespasser to apply to the court for an order for costs against the trespasser.
Mr. Aspinwall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of the Avon and Somerset constabulary on enforcing section 39 of the Public Order Act 1986 to deal with unlawful occupation of land by travellers.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : It is entirely an operational matter for the police to decide, in the light of all the circumstances, whether or not to exercise the powers available to them under section 39 of the Public Order Act 1986.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 22 May at columns 487- 88 that guidance on the use of section 39 had been issued to the police. A copy is available in the Library.
Mr. Aspinwall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about trespassers at Charmy Down, near Bath and other sites in the area.
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