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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress has been made towards cutting energy consumption in Government buildings for which she has responsibility, in each year since 1990. [1455]
Mr. Robin Squire: Prior to their merger in July 1995, energy consumption was reported separately for the former Employment Department group and the former Department for Education. The percentage changes, as issued by the energy and environment advisory division of the Department of the Environment, for each of the two former Departments, are as follows:
| 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Department Group | +1 | +4 | +2 |
| Department for Education | +20 | +82 | +95 |
The substantial increase in energy consumption in DFE beginning in reporting year 1991-92 resulted from the transfer of London-based staff from a naturally ventilated building to a new building with heating and air conditioning plant, with a smaller floor area. The baseline for the energy-saving exercise applied to the old building.
Raw data for 1994-95 have been reported by both former departments to the energy and environment advisory division. Corrected figures are not yet available.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the correlation between grades obtained at A-level and performance in higher education degree examinations. [1267]
Mr. Forth:
My Department has not commissioned any research on this topic. There have been a number of such studies, usually small scale, and these have tended to show that there is a positive correlation between individuals' A-level score and degree class but this is small. It is for universities to determine the suitability of applicants for degree courses.
27 Nov 1995 : Column: 439
Dr. Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools catering for children with severe learning difficulties have invoked the national curriculum disapplication procedure, by local education authority, in each of the last three years. [1816]
Mrs. Gillan:
Information is available only for 1994 and does not distinguish disapplication from modification of national curriculum requirements. The following table shows, for each local education authority in England, the number of maintained special schools approved to cater for pupils with severe learning difficulties which reported pupils for whom the national curriculum had been modified or disapplied in January 1994.
| Local education authority | Number of schools |
|---|---|
| City of London | -- |
| Camden | -- |
| Greenwich | 1 |
| Hackney | 1 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | -- |
| Islington | -- |
| Kensington and Chelsea | -- |
| Lambeth | 1 |
| Lewisham | 1 |
| Southwark | 1 |
| Tower Hamlets | 1 |
| Wandsworth | 1 |
| Westminster | -- |
| Barking | -- |
| Barnet | -- |
| Bexley | -- |
| Brent | -- |
| Bromley | -- |
| Croydon | 1 |
| Ealing | 1 |
| Enfield | -- |
| Haringey | -- |
| Harrow | -- |
| Havering | -- |
| Hillingdon | -- |
| Hounslow | -- |
| Kingston upon Thames | 1 |
| Merton | -- |
| Newham | -- |
| Redbridge | -- |
| Richmond upon Thames | -- |
| Sutton | -- |
| Waltham Forest | -- |
| Birmingham | 3 |
| Coventry | -- |
| Dudley | 2 |
| Sandwell | 3 |
| Solihull | -- |
| Walsall | 2 |
| Wolverhampton | 2 |
| Knowsley | 1 |
| Liverpool | 2 |
| St. Helens | 1 |
| Sefton | 1 |
| Wirral | -- |
| Bolton | -- |
| Bury | -- |
| Manchester | -- |
| Oldham | 2 |
| Rochdale | 1 |
| Salford | 1 |
| Stockport | 1 |
| Tameside | -- |
| Trafford | 1 |
| Wigan | -- |
| Barnsley | 1 |
| Doncaster | 3 |
| Rotherham | 1 |
| Sheffield | -- |
| Bradford | 1 |
| Calderdale | -- |
| Kirklees | 1 |
| Leeds | 1 |
| Wakefield | -- |
| Gateshead | -- |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | -- |
| North Tyneside | 1 |
| South Tyneside | 2 |
| Sunderland | -- |
| Isles of Scilly | -- |
| Avon | 3 |
| Bedfordshire | 2 |
| Berkshire | -- |
| Buckinghamshire | 2 |
| Cambridge | 2 |
| Cheshire | -- |
| Cleveland | 2 |
| Cornwall | 3 |
| Cumbria | 3 |
| Derbyshire | 5 |
| Devon | -- |
| Dorset | 1 |
| Durham | 2 |
| East Sussex | 1 |
| Essex | 1 |
| Gloucestershire | 2 |
| Hampshire | 4 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 3 |
| Hertfordshire | 2 |
| Humberside | -- |
| Isle of Wight | -- |
| Kent | 1 |
| Lancashire | 7 |
| Leicestershire | -- |
| Lincolnshire | 6 |
| Norfolk | 4 |
| North Yorkshire | 3 |
| Northamptonshire | 1 |
| Northumberland | -- |
| Nottinghamshire | 1 |
| Oxfordshire | 2 |
| Shropshire | 2 |
| Somerset | -- |
| Staffordshire | 6 |
| Suffolk | -- |
| Surrey | 1 |
| Warwickshire | 2 |
| West Sussex | 3 |
| Wiltshire | -- |
| England | 121 |
27 Nov 1995 : Column: 440
Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidance she has issued as to the circumstances in which a school for children with severe learning difficulties should apply for the disapplication of national curriculum procedure. [1818]
Mrs. Gillan: The revised national curriculum statutory documents state that study material may be selected from earlier or later key stages where this is necessary to enable
27 Nov 1995 : Column: 441
individual pupils to progress and demonstrate achievement. This flexibility should reduce the necessity for formal disapplication or modification of the requirements.
Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the disadvantages for a school catering for children with severe learning difficulties of applying for national curriculum disapplication for some of its pupils. [1817]
Mrs. Gillan: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made no such assessment. Pupils should be allowed to benefit from the national curriculum to the extent of their abilities, but it is not always possible to reconcile the difficulties of certain children with an entitlement to the full national curriculum. In these cases disapplication or modification may be appropriate.
Research and Development
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what were the indicative contributions to the EU budget in respect of research and development for her Department in 1993-94. [1908]
Mr. Forth: Table 2.1 of the statistical supplement to the "Forward Look of Government-funded Science, Engineering and Technology" contains indicative figures for the United Kingdom's contributions to the EC budget in respect of research and development. Departments' policy responsibilities are subject to change and can vary from year to year. The former Education and Employment Departments had responsibility for 1.5 per cent. of the Community's R and D budget.
Capital Expenditure, Derbyshire
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will set out the outturn figures for capital expenditure in each Derbyshire school for the last 10 years. [2215]
Mrs. Gillan: This information is not collected centrally.
Teleworkers
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action she intends to take to extend existing employment and health and safety regulations to protect teleworkers. [2117]
Mr. Forth: Teleworkers are covered by existing employment and health and safety regulations in the same way as other workers. The Employment Department published "A Manager's Guide to Teleworking" in May 1995 which contains information and advice on existing regulations. The Government at present see no need for special regulations on teleworkers.
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