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PRIME MINISTER
Engagements
Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 18 May. [23663]
The Prime Minister: This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
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China
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Prime Minister if the President of the Board of Trade has been asked to raise the issue of human rights on his visit to China [24804]
The Prime Minister: The President of the Board of Trade has been briefed on all aspects of our bilateral relationship, and more generally on conditions in China, including human rights.
Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will discuss with Chancellor Kohl, the letter from the Bundesministerium der Justif to Ms Lisa Mosey, concerning explosive material and baggage handling at Frankfurt, a copy of which has been sent to him by the hon. Member for Linlithgow. [24794]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the reply of 14 March 1995, Official Report, column 498 .
TREASURY
Building Societies
Mr. French: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the risk and extent of speculative movement of funds in connection with possible takeovers or conversions of building societies, and the duties of boards of societies in such circumstances; and if he will make a statement. [23266]
Mr. Nelson: Monitoring the movement of funds within the building society sector is one of the tasks of the Building Societies Commission.
Boards of societies faced with speculative flows can respond in a number of ways. These include varying the rates of interest on offer and withdrawing certain types of accounts. In reacting to proposals for takeovers or conversions which may give rise to such flows, the Building Societies Act requires boards to take account not only of the financial interests of their current members, but of the longer-term objectives of the society.
Rural White Paper
Mr. Colvin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the net annual financial saving, or cost, of his Department's submission for the proposed White Paper on the rural economy. [24332]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Proposals for the rural White Paper remain subject to continuing collective consideration and discussion. The cost of measures contained in the White Paper will be taken into account in the public expenditure survey.
Inheritance Tax
Mr. French: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the yield from inheritance tax arising from United Kingdom securities held by non-United Kingdom residents in each of the last three years. [24713]
(2) how many non-United Kingdom residents incurred an inheritance tax liability arising from their holdings of United Kingdom securities in each of the last three years. [24714]
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Sir George Young: For inheritance tax purposes, it is the country of domicile that determines liability and not the country of residence. I regret that information for estates where the deceased was domiciled outside of the United Kingdom is not held centrally. The information requested could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Tax Allowance Transfers
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of making individual tax allowances transferable between spouses; and if he will make a statement. [24568]
Sir George Young: The full year revenue cost at1995 96 income levels is estimated to be about £3 billion. This estimate does not take into account any behavioural change which could result from such a measure.
Mortgage Protection Policies
Mr. Darling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the review into the taxation of proceeds for mortgage protection policies was set up; what are its terms of reference; who is conducting it; when he expects it to report; and if he will make a statement. [23630]
Sir George Young [holding answer 10 May 1995]: My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor made it clear in the statement he issued on 2 May that benefits under mortgage payment protection policies will be exempt from tax. The decision resulted from a review that had been under way for some months.
Summer Economic Forecast
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the expected publication date for the Treasury's summer economic forecast. [24495]
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 17 May 1995]: We expect to publish the summer economic forecast on a similar date to last year. I will let the hon. Gentleman know the exact date as soon as it is decided.
EDUCATION
Pre-school Education
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of children under the age of five years receive nursery or pre- school public education in each member state of the European Union. [24219]
Mr. Forth: Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. The latest available international comparisons of under-fives participating in public and private education are shown in the table. Separate participation rates for nursery provision only are not available.
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Under fives participation rates<1> in
education, 1992
|Percentages
--------------------------------------------
Austria |47
Belgium |98
Denmark |46
Finland |26
France |100
Former West Germany |49
Greece |30
Ireland |29
Italy<2> |76
Luxembourg |n/a
Netherlands |49
Portugal<3> |36
Spain |67
Sweden |48
United Kingdom |53
Sources:
Education Statistics for the United Kingdom,
1994 edition, HMSO, 1995
Education at a Glance,. OECD, 1995
Notes:
<1> Pupils aged 3 and 4 as percentages of
the population aged 3 and 4.
<2> 1988
<3> 1991
Non-teaching Staff
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education from which schools she has received reports that (a) dinner ladies and (b) school crossing patrol persons have undertaken teaching duties. [24422]
Mr. Robin Squire: My right hon. Friend is not aware of any such cases. Non-teaching staff are widely used to supervise pupils and to support the work of teachers; decisions on their deployment are for headteachers.
Supply Cover
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is her estimate of the cost of supply cover for classroom teachers, while primary schools carry out the standard assessment tests. [24781]
Mr. Forth: The estimated cost of supply cover for teachers administering the national curriculum tests and tasks to seven and 11-year- olds is around £15 million.
Schools, Ealing
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her answer of 15 May, Official Report, column 14 on the educational spending in Ealing, if she will give an expenditure breakdown of the figures of (a) £517.33 and (b) £923.45 for expenditure per primary and secondary pupil in locally-managed schools other than that allocated to schools under the locally managed school budgets; and if she will make a statement. [24878]
Mr. Robin Squire: The following table provides the information requested. It is derived from the planned expenditure totals and pupils numbers shown in the 1995 96 budget statement published by the local education authority under section 42 of the Education Reform Act.
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Item |Primary |Secondary
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Management and Administration
a. Education Department |24.98 |24.85
b. Other Council Departments |31.41 |31.34
Advisory and Inspection Services |2.33 |2.28
Special Needs Support Services including Special Units
a. Pupils with Statements |69.65 |70.21
b. Other Services |19.18 |19.14
Staff Costs (Supply Cover) |8.43 |8.49
Structural Repairs and Maintenance |45.62 |79.74
Home to School Transport |7.81 |69.66
School Meals and Milk
a. Expenditure to be met from income |40.39 |21.09
b. Other Expenditure |98.60 |77.46
Inspection Expenditure to be met by Income from OFSTED |0.00 |13.21
Pupil Support |11.46 |11.56
LEA Initiatives |0.65 |0.66
School Specific Contingencies |20.26 |20.22
Capital Expenditure |21.80 |304.41
Education Welfare Service |8.79 |32.01
Education Psychology Service |3.88 |2.59
Statementing Costs |7.10 |7.16
Premature Retirement Costs |14.34 |36.20
Specific Grant Related Expenditure
a. Expenditure on Section 11 Posts
(i) to be reimbursed by Government Grant |18.36 |18.23
(ii) to be met by LEA |23.62 |23.38
b. Other expenditure to be reimbursed by Government Grant |20.89 |26.52
c. LEA contribution to Grants at b. |17.80 |23.06
EMPLOYMENT
Remploy
Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what alterations he has made to the recruitment criteria for disabled persons employed by Remploy; [24885]
(2) what discussions he has held with the management board of Remploy about changes to the recruitment criteria for disabled people. [24886]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Peter Hain, dated 18 May 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the recruitment criteria for disabled persons employed by Remploy.
There has been no change to the recruitment criteria for disabled persons employed by Remploy. Remploy is part of the Employment Service's Supported Employment Programme. This programme is open to people with severe disabilities who are registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 and who, because of the severity of their disability and its effect on their productivity, are unlikely to be able to obtain of retain jobs in open employment. As there have been no changes to the criteria, we have not held discussions with Remploy management on this subject.
I hope this is helpful.
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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Maxwell Brothers
Mr. Byers: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what contributions have so far been made from the legal aid fund towards the defence costs of (a) Kevin Maxwell and (b) Ian Maxwell; and what have been the costs incurred by the defence in carrying out public opinion surveys. [24925]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The total amount of criminal legal aid paid to date to lawyers acting for all six defendants in R v. Kevin Maxwell and Others is £4,745,391. This amount includes final costs in the magistrates' court of £829,377 as well as payments on account, as of 24 January 1995, in the Crown Court of £3,916,014. All payments include VAT and disbursements, such as expert witness and accountancy fees, and other expenses necessarily incurred. It would not be appropriate while the case is continuing to give a further breakdown of these figures. Nothing has been paid from the legal aid fund to cover the cost of public opinion surveys conducted by the defence.
Judges
Mr. William Powell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all full-time judges aged over 70 years still sitting on the bench. [23938]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The information requested as at 10 May 1995, is as follows:
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle
Lord Keith of Kinkel
Heads of Division
The President of the Family Division (Sir Stephen Brown) Lord Justices
Lord Justice Beldam
Lord Justice Glidewell
Lord Justice Neill
High Court Judges
Mr. Justice Drake
Mr. Justice Gatehouse
Mr. Justice Knox
Circuit Judges
Judge Allardice DL
Judge Atkinson
Judge Paul Baker QC
Judge David Kt QC, DL
Judge Quentin Edwards QC
Judge Halnan
Judge Harris DSC, QC
Judge Head
Judge Holt
Judge Lownie
Judge Richard Lowry QC
Judge Mildon QC
Judge Phelan
Judge Stroyan QC
Judge Sir Lawrence Verney TD, DL
Judge Ian Webster
District Judges
District Judge Goodman
District Judge Hughes
District Judge Keyes
District Judge Lam
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Mr. William Powell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the names of those judges whose period in office has been extended by the Lord Chancellor beyond their statutory retiring age; and when he now expects each to retire. [23939]Mr. John M. Taylor: The Lord Chancellor exercises the powers available to him under section 26(4) to (6) of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993 where he considers it desirable in the public interest to continue a judge in office for a period, or further period, not exceeding one year, up to the age of 75.
Judge David Kt QC is the only circuit judge in office whose appointment has been continued beyond his statutory retirement date. The continuance expires on 30 April 1996. No district judges in office have been continued beyond their statutory retirement date. There
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are no powers to continue more senior judges in office beyond their statutory retirement date.FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Professional Staff
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the numbers of professional grade officials employed by the United Nations and its agencies who are citizens of (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the United States of America, (c) France, (d) Sweden, (e) India, (f) Canada, (g) the Netherlands, (h) Japan, (i) Ireland and (j) Belgium. [23707]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The numbers of professional staff, including senior officials, employed by the United Nations and its agencies who are citizens of the ten countries listed are given in the following table.
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Number of professional staff<1>
|UN |ILO |WHO |ITU |WMO |UPU |WIPO |IAEA |UNIDO |FAO |WFP |IFAD |ICAO |UNESCO|IMO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom |502 |66 |123 |16 |16 |4 |15 |52 |32 |134 |28 |9 |21 |34 |16
USA |1,087 |72 |258 |17 |11 |1 |9 |129 |46 |164 |49 |13 |18 |45 |4
France |595 |100 |111 |33 |11 |5 |34 |31 |27 |165 |22 |7 |22 |103 |15
Sweden |197 |26 |22 |7 |2 |1 |2 |12 |8 |21 |8 |2 |2 |18 |5
India |223 |28 |36 |14 |2 |3 |3 |12 |25 |55 |9 |3 |4 |14 |3
Canada |330 |27 |48 |10 |4 |3 |3 |24 |6 |61 |36 |3 |62 |24 |1
Netherlands |303 |82 |49 |3 |3 |1 |1 |9 |18 |124 |15 |5 |5 |26 |2
Japan |246 |23 |46 |6 |4 |5 |3 |24 |22 |37 |13 |3 |3 |34 |5
Ireland |70 |5 |11 |1 |1 |0 |0 |1 |5 |14 |5 |0 |3 |6 |2
Belgium |181 |46 |36 |4 |5 |2 |4 |5 |8 |122 |11 |7 |2 |16 |1
<1> UN figures reflecting staff in post on 31 December 1993.
Peaceful Nuclear Explosions
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the policy position taken by Her Majesty's Government in regard to the support for article V, on peaceful nuclear explosions, of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty at the review and extension conference of the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty in New York. [24423]
Mr. David Davis: We expressed the view that there are no useful peaceful applications of nuclear explosions.
Passports (Date-stamping)
Mr. Marlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what circumstances it is permitted within EU laws or other ordnances for Belgium frontier authorities to date stamp the passports of United Kingdom passport holders on entry into Belgium. [24865]
Mr. David Davis: Date-stamping of United Kingdom passports by Belgian immigration authorities would not necessarily be contrary to EC law provided that it could not be construed as an immigration control on a British citizen, and provided that it was not done in circumstances which amounted to discrimination on the ground of nationality. Nevertheless it appears that the few cases reported recently of such date-stamping were the result of administrative error and the Belgian authorities assure us they have taken steps to see that it does not happen again.
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Holy Shrine, Charar-e-Sharief
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Indian and Pakistani Governments regarding the destruction of the holy shrine, Charar- e-Sharief. [24897]
Mr. Baldry: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not had discussions with the Indian and Pakistani Governments regarding the destruction of the shrine at Charar-e- Sharief.
Social Development Fund
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what factors led to the United Kingdom not participating in the Council of Europe's social development fund. [24802]
Mr. David Davis: The cost of the United Kingdom joining the social development fund would be prohibitive. As a major contributor to the Council of Europe, our initial investment would be around £30 million, with annual running costs of about £225,000. This could be met only by diverting aid resources from bilateral and multilateral aid programmes.
Pakistan (Drugs)
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what action Her Majesty's Government are taking (a) directly, (b) through the EU and (c) through other organisations, to assist the
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Government of Pakistan in combating drug trafficking; what assistance is being given to the supply of equipment to combat drug trafficking with particular reference to helicopters; and if he will make a statement. [22306]Mr. Baldry [pursuant to his reply 2 May, Official Report, column 151]: I regret that the last three paragraphs of my answer of 2 Maywere inadvertently omitted. The full answer is as follows: We have given considerable narcotics-related assistance to Pakistan both bilaterally and through multilateral channels. Last financial year, bilateral assistance includes the provision of law enforcement training by HM Customs and Excise. Multilaterally we have pledged over £8 million since 1985 to projects administered by the United Nations drug control programme to strengthen law enforcement control of the Pakistan/Iran/Afghanistan border area and to reduce the supply of opium through rural development.
As part of the programme of assistance, we agreed to fund the purchase of two helicopters to enhance the capacity of the ANF to interdict drugs convoys in the area bordering Afghanistan and Iran. Assistance by EU Governments is co-ordinated through the forum of the Dublin group both locally and in Brussels. Assistance by the European Commission has been mainly directed towards narcotics demand reduction.
HM Customs and Excise works closely with Pakistani law enforcement agencies. We stand ready to provide further assistance and are considering additional requests from the Pakistan Government for training and equipment to enhance their capability to counter drug trafficking.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Management Matters"
Mr. Mike O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the cost of printing, publishing and distributing "Management Matters"; who paid this and what charges were made to private organisations who were allowed to insert looseleaf advertisements in the magazine. [24587]
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