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I would therefore expect institutions to assess any proposals for merger against the principles and criteria set out in the report ; and in considering such proposals I shall look for evidence that this has been done."A copy of the report will be placed in the House Library.
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of students following degree courses in universities and central institutions in Scotland for each of the last five years.
Mr. Lang : The number of students following first degree courses in universities and central institutions is given in the table :
Number of students
Year Universities Central Institutions
|Full-time|Part-time|Full-time|Part-time
------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |40,541 |2,285 |14,675 |717
1987-88 |41,579 |2,194 |15,278 |909
1988-89 |42,055 |1,814 |16,516 |1,180
1989-90 |44,094 |1,655 |17,936 |1,792
1990-91 |46,417 |1,277 |20,147 |2,235
New Legislation
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the proposals in the citizens charter and in the documents the parents charter, the patients charter and the courts charter published by his Department for which new legislation will be required.
Mr. Lang : The following proposals which fall within my responsibilities will require new legislation :
Citizens Charter
(a) to ensure fair competition and extend compulsory competitive tendering to a wider range of local authority services ;
(b) to enable the Commission for Local Authority Accounts to require local authorities to publish common standards of performance ; and
(c) to require local authorities to consider and respond publicly to auditors reports.
Provisions covering these three proposals are included in the Local Government Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 4 November.
Parents Charter
(i) to publish comparable information about schools in a standard format relating to public examination results, truancy rates, the destination of school leavers and school running costs ; and (ii) to provide for the new pupil report card.
Provisions covering these proposals are included in the Education (Schools) Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 6 November.
School Meals Census
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the results of the annual census of school meals in Scotland held in January 1991 ; and what were the corresponding 1990 results.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is set out in the table. The number of pupils taking school meals has continued to increase, despite a fall in the number of pupils present on census day. Almost half the pupils present on census day took school meals with an estimated 17 per cent. bringing their own food to school. Free meals formed 31 per cent. of the total meals provided. Cafeteria style
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meals remain more popular than two course fixed meals although the uptake dropped slightly from 69 per cent. to 67 per cent. of the meals taken.Column 421
Education authority schools (including nursery and special schools)
1991 1990
|Number |As percentage |Number |As percentage
|of pupils present |of pupils present
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pupils present on census day |698,554 |704,357
Pupils taking school meals
-on payment |230,378 |33.0 |230,410 |32.7
-free |101,915 |14.6 |99,303 |14.1
-total |332,293 |47.6 |329,713 |46.8
Pupils bringing own food on school premises<1> |106,110 |16.9 |100,469 |16.0
<1>Excluding Grampian.
A detailed statement of the returns from education authorities from which these national figures are derived is being placed in the Library.
The following table shows, as a percentage of pupils attending their respective sectors, those primary and secondary pupils taking meals or bringing their own food.
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Primary Secondary
|1991 |1990 |1991 |1990
|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pupils taking school meals |52.9 |52.7 |44.2 |42.2
Pupils bringing own food<1> |25.0 |20.6 |6.5 |6.1
<1> Excluding Grampian.
Sixty seven per cent. of all meals are of cafeteria style.
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1991 1990
|Paid |Free |Total |Percentage|Paid |Free |Total |Percentage
|of pupils |of pupils
|present |present
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pupils taking fixed meals |76,252 |33,849 |110,101 |15.8 |71,819 |30,019 |101,838 |14.5
Pupils taking cafeteria meals |154,126 |68,066 |222,192 |31.8 |158,591 |69,284 |227,875 |32.4
Recycling
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many outlets there are in Scotland which deal with the recycling of organic effluents for agricultural land.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Scottish Office is not aware of any industrial operations in Scotland, of a significant size, which recycle such effluents for agricultural use. However, the direct application of such effluents to land, for the purpose of fertilising or otherwise beneficially conditioning the land, is a common agricultural practice which might be considered to be a form of recycling.
Hip Replacements
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give figures showing the current waiting lists for hip replacements for each health board.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information on waiting lists for hip replacement surgery is not collected centrally, but arrangements are in hand to collect this in future in order to monitor the commitments of the patients charter.
Urban Programme
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the total of direct grants to voluntary organisations paid by his Department in the latest year for which figures are available together with other payments to voluntary organisations under the urban programme and through other Government agencies.
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Mr. Lang : The latest figures available for the total of direct grants to voluntary organisations paid by the Scottish Office including the urban programme and agencies were announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 March 1991 at columns 237-38.
Citizens Charter
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total amount of planned expenditure funded by his Department for the production, promotion and advertising of the four documents being published in Scotland in connection with the citizens charter.
Mr. Lang : Expenditure on the production, promotion and advertising of the four documents published in Scotland in connection with the citizens charter is estimated at £320,000.
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what responsibility the citizens charter advisory panel chaired by Sir James Blyth has for the application of the citizens charter in Scotland ; and if Scottish hon. Members will be appointed to that Committee.
Mr. Lang : The citizens charter advisory panel has been appointed by the Prime Minister to advise on the development and application of the citizens charter principles to public services throughout Great Britain. Two of the seven members are Scots. The panel members are appointed on the basis of their professional expertise rather than to represent particular sectional interests.
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