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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday, 6 June 1995.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Intervention Stocks
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which items from the national food stockpile remain to be liquidated. [26973]
Mr. Jack: Flour is the only commodity remaining in the stockpile. We expect that remaining stocks will be disposed of before the end of September.
Departmental Performance
Ms Hodge: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what performance indicators and performance targets there are for measuring the performance of his Department in (a) answering letters from members of the public and (b) answering telephone calls from members of the public; how performance is monitored; and what are the latest figures for performance measured against the target set. [26242]
Mr. Jack: In accordance with the citizens charter initiative customer service standards have been published for the MAFF regional organisation, inspectorates, most agencies and public facing non- departmental public bodies. These standards include target times for responding to correspondence; they also make reference to the prompt answering of telephone calls.
On performance, I refer the hon. member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Cleethorpes (Mr. Brown) on 23 May 1995, Official Report, column 508, and also to the reply given to my hon. Friend the member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on20 July 1994, Official Report, column 356.
Performance data on answering telephone calls are not currently held by MAFF and could not be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.
Tobacco Fraud
Mr. Marlow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by what date he expects the Italian and Greek authorities will have concluded their inquiries into alleged tobacco fraud related to the suicide of the former head of the tobacco sector. [26121]
Mr. Jack: This is a matter for the Italian and Greek authorities who, we understand, are liaising closely with the Commission.
Central Science Laboratory
Mrs. Angela Knight: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to make a statement on the future organisation and location of his Central Science Laboratory. [26964]
Mr. Waldegrave: The Central Science Laboratory currently occupies five major sites at Slough, Berkshire; Worplesdon, Surrey; Harpenden, Hertfordshire; Norwich,
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Norfolk and Torry, Aberdeen and a number of smaller sites including those at Luddington, Warwickshire and Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. CSL provides essential services within Great Britain to MAFF and other Government Departments to promote the safe and efficient supply of food and to protect the environment. In order to ensure that it continues to do so on a cost-effective basis and to overcome serious shortcomings in the buildings on the older CSL sites, a new laboratory complex is under construction near York. This will be available for occupation in the summer of 1996. It has been known for some time that the staff and facilities at the CSL sites apart from Norwich and Torry would relocate to York with the subsequent closure of the sites.I have announced today the financial and other targets that I have set for CSL in 1995 96. The CSL will not achieve cost recovery in 1995 96 and action needs to be taken to ensure that a deficit does not occur in future years.
Accordingly, it is my intention that the CSL Torry laboratory will also relocate to York in September 1996. Unfortunately, the Torry site has very high overheads and the laboratory there has not been able to compete successfully in the research and development market and will operate at a loss in 1995 96.
I have agreed with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland to transfer to the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, responsibility for a range of work on the monitoring of algal toxins in shellfish and water and the analytical capability for hydrocarbons, both areas of particular relevance to Scotland. I will also ask my officials to explore with the business, academic and research community in Aberdeen any future opportunities for the site. Much of the work which my Department commissions at CSL Torry is subject to open competition and I would welcome interest from scientific establishments in Scotland as well as elsewhere. Officials will explore the further in the light of any interest which emerges. All mobile staff at the Torry site will have the opportunity to relocate to York, and some are likely to be transfer to the Scottish Office marine laboratory at Aberdeen. I am hopeful therefore that closure can be managed without any compulsory redundancies among these staff. Arrangements for seeking job opportunities for non-mobile staff among other Government establishments in the area will be operated in the usual way.
There are no plans to relocate the CSL Norwich laboratory which is competing successfully on a national and EU basis for science funding.
Overall, my aim is to ensure that these changes will mean no diminution in the service provided to all parts of Great Britain, including Scotland.
Mrs. Angela Knight: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what targets have been set for the Central Science Laboratory in 1995 96. [26962]
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Mr. Waldegrave: I have set the Central Science Laboratory the following strategic targets for 1995 96:
Financial:
--97 per cent. recovery of full costs after allowing for relocation costs
--1 per cent. improvement in utilisation of productive time --1 per cent. improvement of ratio of overhead to total costs Service delivery:
--at least 90 per cent. of work completed to time and within budget
--achieve a mean score of three on a scale of zero to five for the assessment of customer satisfaction using the established methodology.
These are demanding targets which challenge the agency but reflect the considerable planning and disruption likely to arise from the relocation to a new purpose built laboratory in Yorkshire which will occur during 1996.
Agriculture Council
Mrs. Angela Knight: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 29 and 30 May; and if he will make a statement. [26961]
Mr. Waldegrave: This meeting of the Council, at which I represented the United Kingdom, concentrated mainly on a proposal from the Commission for changes to the agri-monetary arrangements and on rules for the welfare of animals in transport.
No decisions were reached. The Council will return to both subjects at its next meeting on 19 and 20 June, when it will also aim to decide farm prices and related measures for 1995 96.
The Commission's proposal on agri-money would reduce the cost and scope of the compensatory measures accompanying any green rate revaluation that took place in 1995. It is the present rules on compensation which have led the Council and Commission to delay green rate revaluations that should have taken place, resulting in distortion of trade and excessive levels of support in the Community as a whole. I strongly supported the Commission's proposal. The German Minister, with some support from others, suggested alternative changes that would lead to permanent differences in payments to farmers in different member states. I made it clear that this would be wholly unacceptable.
The discussion on animal transport showed that member states are broadly agreed on the main lines of new arrangements, but still differ on the key questions of maximum journey times and the length of breaks between journeys. I welcomed the assurance from the French presidency that it gives high priority to this issue, and urged all parties to make great efforts to reach an agreement in June. The Council formally adopted by majority vote, with Germans and Netherlands opposing, the measures necessary to implement the compromise decision on Italian, Spanish and Greek milk quotas, reached at the October meeting of the Economic and Finance Council. It also adopted unanimously a proposal fixing support prices for certain fruits and vegetables for June 1995.
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International Whaling Commission
Mrs. Angela Knight: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the International Whaling Commission held in Dublin from 29 May to 2 June 1995; and if he will make a statement. [26963]
Mr. Jack: The International Whaling Commission's 47th annual meeting was held in Dublin from 29 May to 2 June. The UK delegation was composed of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, assisted by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of the Environment and representatives of environmental organisations. For the UK, the meeting was a satisfactory one, and we achieved virtually all our objectives. The meeting confirmed that the IWC remains the only effective international body for the conservation and protection of whales. I am pleased to report that the moratorium on commercial whaling, which has been in force since 1985 86, remains in force and unweakened. A request by Japan for an interim quota of 50 minke whales, to be taken by its coastal communities, was once again rejected.
At last year's IWC meeting doubts were raised about the estimate of minke whale numbers in the north-east Atlantic produced by Norwegian scientists, and endorsed by the IWC's scientific committee as the best figures available. Detailed discussions on this complex issue took place over the year, but this year's meeting of the scientific committee was unable to resolve the differing views and concluded that there was currently no valid estimate for this stock. Despite this uncertainty about the number of minke whales present in the north-east Atlantic, Norway restarted its commercial whaling operations on 2 May.
At the meeting of the IWC itself, Norway's behaviour was widely condemned. A strongly-worded resolution was adopted calling on Norway to reconsider its objection to the moratorium, under which it is legally able to continue commercial whaling, and to halt its whaling activities immediately. In supporting this resolution, we made it clear that we deplored Norway's continued refusal to observe the moratorium, which in our view weakened the credibility of the IWC. At the meeting, very widespread concern was also expressed about scientific whaling. A resolution was adopted calling for all scientific whaling within IWC sanctuaries and, in particular, the southern ocean sanctuary, to be halted. The IWC also adopted a general resolution on scientific whaling, initiated and introduced by the UK, which called for research on whales to be conducted, in principle, by non-lethal means, with the killing of whales for research purposes permitted only in the most exceptional circumstances. The resolution also requested the IWC's scientific committee to review all existing, and future, programmes for research involving the killing of whales against these criteria. This resolution received a very wide measure of support. Although it will not prevent countries from authorising scientific whaling, since this is expressly provided for under the IWC's parent treaty, it will enable the IWC in future to reach clear conclusions on whether it considers any lethal research to be justifiable and to condemn unnecessary scientific whaling.
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Little progress was made on the revised management scheme, which is being devised to regulate all aspects of any future commercial whaling which might be permitted in the future. Discussion concentrated on the inspection and observation scheme which will be needed, as part of the RMS, to ensure that any new rules are properly observed. Positions on this scheme remain far apart; we are continuing to insist that the RMS must include a fully effective, comprehensive and enforceable inspection and observation scheme. The IWC meeting was preceded by a workshop on whale killing methods. The UK has consistently argued that if whales are to be killed, this is to be done humanely, and we were represented at the workshop by a strong team of scientists and veterinarians. The workshop agreed to a revision of the humane killing action plan agreed by the IWC in 1992, and this was subsequently adopted by the IWC itself.A particular topic of discussion at the workshop was secondary killing methods and, most notably, the use of the electric lance to kill whales wounded, but not killed, by explosive harpoons. Papers presented to the workshop indicating that the electric lance is ineffective and inflicts unnecessary suffering received considerable support, although the workshop was not able to reach definitive conclusions on this issue. In these circumstances, we did not seek a vote on a proposal to ban the use of the electric lance, which would have required a three quarters majority to pass, which UK and New Zealand had put forward earlier; instead we introduced a resolution calling on the IWC to re-examine the issue next year, with a view to reaching a decision and urging all countries to suspend the use of the electric lance in the meantime. This was adopted with widespread support.
The UK delegation also put forward a resolution on killing methods used in the Faroese pilot whale drive hunt; this was adopted by consensus. This followed a discussion on this drive hunt in the workshop. The resolution encouraged the Faroese Government to continue work on introducing alternatives to the gaff and on other ways of improving the humaneness of the hunt. It is particularly helpful to have secured the commitment of the Faroese authorities to these improvements. Introducing this resolution, we emphasised our continuing concern at the welfare aspects of the drive hunt, and said that we hoped alternatives to the gaff would be introduced as soon as possible and the use of the gaff banned.
Environmental threats to whales and other cetaceans again received attention. The scientific committee reviewed the results of a workshop held in March on the possible effects of pollution on cetaceans, and confirmed arrangements for the forthcoming workshop on the possible implications of climate change. In the IWC meeting itself, we helped promote a resolution carrying forward the recommendations of the pollution workshop and urging Governments to send experts to the climate change workshop. This is an important new topic for the IWC, and we look forward to making further progress at next year's meeting.
At the meeting, the IWC made further progress on devising guidelines for whalewatching, another issue to which it will return next year, and adopted a resolution, following up the one it agreed last year, for improving mechanisms to prevent illegal trade in whale meat. This calls for stockpiles of whalemeat predating the moratorium to be disposed of domestically in the near
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future, and encourages the development and use of DNA testing of whalemeat to establish the species of origin.The IWC's 48th annual meeting will be held in Aberdeen next June. The UK will, once again, be playing an active role, and I believe that, as a result of this year's meeting, we are well placed to make further progress on a wide range of issues.
Spanish Fishing Subsidies
Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much subsidy has been given to Spain in each of the last three years from the European Community for fishing; and what is the forecast of funding to Spain for each of the next three years. [24681]
Mr. Jack [holding answer 17 May 1995]: Prior to 1994, European Community aid to the fishing industry was financed under both the guidance and guarantee sections of the budget. Figures for 1992 and 1993 in the table relate only to certain parts fisheries guidance expenditure-- these were extracted from the European Court of Auditor's annual report, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Those for guarantee expenditure are set out in reply to my hon. Friend's related question about subsidies to Spanish agriculture.
From 1994 onwards, the financial instrument for fisheries guidance came into force, amalgamating the various fisheries structures and marketing and processing regulations. The figures in the table for the years 1994 1998 show the amount of Community funding available for the fishery investment set out in the relevant Spanish programmes for objectives 1 and 5a.
In addition, Spain is eligible to benefit from certain payments relating to third country fishery agreements, although we do not currently have detailed information about the allocation between member states.
Elements of European Community financial assistance to the Spanish fishing industry ( fisheries guidance only) Year |Mecu |£m ----------------------------- 1992<1> |11.20 |7.93 1993<1> |12.80 |10.06 1994 |154.13|119.07 1995 |165.28|133.41 1996 |175.92|146.11 1997 |186.92|155.25 1998 |201.64|167.48 <1> Figures exclude fisheries guidance expenditure on redeployment, adaption and modernisation of fishing vessels, and restructuring of small scale fishing as well as fish marketing and processing awards under EC regulation 355/77, the majority of which were paid prior to 1994 and financed under the agriculture guidance fund.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
R. v . Field and Ghiassi
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the cost to public funds of the case R. v . Field and Ghiassi, at Liverpool Crown court in respect of which the defendants were acquitted on 22 May. [27192]
Mr. John M. Taylor: It is too early to say how much has been spent from public funds in respect of the prosecution and the defence of this case. Costs to the legal
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aid fund and to the prosecution will not be known until final bills have been submitted. It is not possible to identify separately the cost to the Court Service.Hale v . Wilson Dyer Gough
Mr. Steen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for South Hams of 5 May regarding the case of Hale v . Wilson Dyer Gough. [27357]
Mr. John M. Taylor: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 25 May.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, when the judgment will be given in the case of Hale v. Wilson Dyer Gough; and if he will make a statement. [27356]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from Michael Huebner to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 6 June 1995:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Question about the judgment in the case of Hale v Wilson Dyer Gough. I can confirm that judgement in respect of the hearing on 28 November 1994 has now been given. A copy of the judgment has been sent, by first class post, to the solicitor for both parties today.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps are being taken to recover for public funds the legal aid funds made available to the Wilson Dyer Goughs, following the withdrawal of their legal aid certificate. [27358]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The administration of the civil legal aid scheme is the responsibility of the Legal Aid Board. In cases where the board has a right to recovery, the board's debt recovery unit takes such steps as are appropriate and justified, after the amount owed to the legal aid fund has been established.
EDUCATION
Surplus Land
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list those sales involving surplus land and property in which her Department has inserted a clause in the sale contract allowing her Department to obtain a share of any future development gain; and if she will make a statement. [26321]
Mr. Boswell: All land and property occupied by the Department forms part of the civil estate and is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
Assisted Places
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what studies have been conducted on the educational effect on schools of losing students to other schools under the assisted places scheme. [26430]
Mr. Robin Squire: There have been a number of independent studies on the assisted places scheme which caters for about 1 per cent. of the total secondary school population in England. None of the studies has demonstrated any significant adverse effect on educational provision in maintained schools which
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assisted pupils might otherwise have attended. On the contrary, the scheme helps to promote academic standards, choice and diversity; and it is the responsibility of maintained schools to seek the highest educational standards from and for their pupils.Retired Teachers
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will investigate the reasons behind changes in the numbers of teachers retiring on the grounds of infirmity. [26723]
Mr. Robin Squire: No. Teachers themselves take the initiative in applying for ill health retirement. It is granted if they submit satisfactory medical evidence to the Teachers Pensions Agency. Any detailed investigation into the reasons why teachers apply for ill health retirement would require specialist medical research into the background to each case. That would be expensive and, given the average of likely causes and the diverse nature of the teaching force, would probably not reach firm conclusions.
Social Development Summit
Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when she intends to issue a report on the implications for the United Kingdom of the commitment to the goals of universal and equitable access to education agreed at the world summit for social development in Copenhagen in March. [26761]
Mr. Forth: My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.
Engineering Degree Course Funding
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals exist to extend engineering levels of course funding to apply to building services engineering degree courses in order to recognise the special laboratory and equipment needs; and if she will make a statement. [26769]
Mr. Boswell: Funding for courses is a matter for the Higher Education Council for England and I am asking the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
School Quality
Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when she will issue proposals for the improvement of the quality of schools in low- income communities in conformity with the declaration and action programme agreed at the world summit for social development in Copenhagen in March. [26762]
Mr. Forth: Following on from the introduction of the national curriculum, the inspection cycle and performance tables, my right hon. Friend announced on 25 May a comprehensive programme of measures designed to improve the quality of schools throughout the country.
Teachers (Sexual Offences)
Mrs. Golding: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how long it takes to have a name added to list 99 after conviction of a person for child abuse. [26753]
Mr. Forth: The time taken varies. Under the Education (Teachers) Regulations 1993 the person concerned must be given an opportunity to make representations, and each case must be considered on its individual merits. My right hon. Friend is consulting on an amendment to the
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regulations which would enable those convicted of sexual offences against children under 16 years of age to be barred from teaching as soon as the conviction is notified.Nursery Education Vouchers
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list the names of those organisations that have made representations to her favouring the introduction of vouchers for nursery education. [27108]
Mr. Robin Squire: I refer the hon. Member to the replies that my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Education gave to the hon. Member for City of Durham (Mr. Steinberg) on 7 February, Official Report, columns 145 49 The concept of a voucher scheme was among the wide range of issues mentioned by the organisations listed there, and by others subsequently.
Pre-school Education
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Eduction, pursuant to her answer of 18 May, Official Report, columns 307 308, what definition of participation in education by under-fives was used in the calculation of the figures shown in the answer. [26563]
Mr. Forth: The under-fives participation rates, for which the United Kingdom rate was 53 per cent., were based upon the number of pupils in schools who were aged three and four at 31 December in the 1991 92 academic year expressed as a percentage of the population aged three and four at that date. The UK rate of 68 per cent., also for 1991 92, quoted by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education in her reply of23 May, Official Report, column 691, was higher because, as requested, those aged five were also included.
In both cases, children attending playgroups or other forms of day care provision only, but not school, were excluded. International comparisons of nursery school provision only or of publicly funded provision only are not available. Both answers therefore covered pupils in all types of schools whether public or private.
Free School Meals
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the percentage of pupils entitled to free school meals in each year since 1989 in Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex, East Sussex and Wiltshire.
Mr. Robin Squire: The available information is shown in the table. Information prior to 1993 is not available on a comparable basis.
Percentage of pupils in maintained
schools who are known to be
eligible for free school meals
Position in
January each year
LEA area |1993 |1994
---------------------------------------
Hampshire |14 |15
Dorset |9 |10
West Sussex |12 |13
East Sussex |19 |21
Wiltshire |13 |13
University Teachers
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the change in earnings in real terms for university teachers since 1986; and what is the actual average change for all occupations. [26534]
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Mr. Boswell: Between April 1986 and April 1994, university lecturers' pay rose by approximately 16 per cent. in real terms, and actual pay for all occupations increased on average by £155 per week, a real term increase of approximately 18 per cent. as measured by the new earnings survey.
School Expenditure
Mr. William Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list each school in Northamptonshire for which capital spending approval has been granted in each year since 1987 88 together with the sum approved. [26372]
Mr. Robin Squire: This information is not held centrally. It is for local education authorities to decide how capital resources are used for individual county and voluntary-controlled schools.
Grants for Education Support and Training
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her answer of 19 April, Official Report , column 171 , what is the average GEST funding for (a) local education authorities and (b) grant- maintained(i) primary schools, (ii) secondary schools and (iii) special schools.
Mr. Robin Squire: This information is not available for local education authorities' maintained schools. GEST funding for LEAs is not allocated by different types of school.
For grant-maintained schools, GEST activities are supported through the payment of a special purpose grant development. The calculation and payment of a special purpose grants is now the responsibility of the Funding Agency for Schools and I have asked the chairman of the funding agency to write to the hon. Member.
School Tests
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what were the projected annual costs of assessing pupils of too low an academic standard to take the formal tests; and what have been the actual costs. [25958]
Mr. Forth: The projected and actual printing and distribution costs of the national curriculum tasks for less able pupils are as follows:
£000
|Projected|Actual
|1994-95 |1994-95
-------------------------------------------
7-Year-olds |138.4 |135.3
11-Year-olds |390.0 |379.5
14-Year-olds |185.0 |167.6
Totals |712.4 |682.4
The costs of developing the tasks are not separately identifiable.
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much the total projected cost of funding supply cover during standard assessment test was(i) nationally and (ii) in Nottinghamshire schools for (a) seven- year-olds and (b) 11-year-olds. [25944]
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Mr. Forth: The projected costs for supply cover for teachers administering the national curriculum tests to seven-year-olds and tasks to seven and 11-year-olds are as follows:
(i) (a) around £11 million (b) around £4 million
(ii) (a) around £250,000 (b) around £90,000
Each local education authority is responsible for apportioning its total allocation to its schools.
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the actual cost of funding supply cover during standard assessment tests (i) nationally and (ii) in Nottinghamshire schools for (a) seven-year -olds and (b) 11-year-olds. [25945]
Mr. Forth: This information is not available. Final figures on actual expenditure are not available until after the end of the financial year when the Department receives an audit certificate from local education authorities confirming expenditure for that year.
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total amount that has been accepted in Government grants by schools to subsidise the cost of standard assessment tests. [25959]
Mr. Forth: This information is not available at present. Under the GEST programme, allocations are made to LEAs. Under GEST grant 2 for 1995 96, LEAs have accepted £15.3 million expenditure for supply cover of which 60 per cent. is payable in Government grant.
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total amount that has been offered in Government grants to subsidise the cost of standard assessment tests. [25957]
Mr. Forth: The Department will provide about £9 million--60 per cent.-- of the estimated £15 million needed for supply cover to support teachers administering the national curriculum tests to seven-year- olds and tasks to seven, 11 and 14-year-olds.
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