asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what new steps are being taken to ensure freedom of speech and greater security regarding the protection of visiting speakers on university and polytechnic campuses.
Section 43 of the Education No. 2 Act 1986, which places a duty on all concerned in the government of institutions of further and higher education in England and Wales to take all reasonably practicable steps to secure freedom of speech within the law for members, students and employees of the institution and for visiting speakers, is to be brought into force on 1 September 1987. By then governing bodies should have issued the codes of practice required by the section to facilitate the discharge of the duty imposed on them. The Department and the Welsh Office will be writing to
| (b) Applicants for undergraduate study by region were: | |||||||||
| 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | |
| London | 6,888 | 6,114 | 6,605 | 5,990 | 6,248 | 5,771 | 5,892 | 7,222 | 8,079 |
| South | 4,080 | 3,884 | 4,552 | 4,126 | 4,354 | 3,959 | 3,693 | 4,729 | 5,466 |
| South West | 2,684 | 2,671 | 2,974 | 2,918 | 3,119 | 2,816 | 2,697 | 3,263 | 3,745 |
| West Midlands | 3,475 | 3,244 | 3,376 | 3,207 | 3,722 | 3,252 | 3,278 | 3,730 | 4,057 |
| East Midlands | 2,437 | 2,250 | 2,486 | 2,519 | 2,883 | 2,789 | 2,614 | 2,949 | 3,486 |
| East Anglia | 4,360 | 4,094 | 4,561 | 4,150 | 4,453 | 4,146 | 3,776 | 4,453 | 5,153 |
| Yorkshire | 2,913 | 2,532 | 2,901 | 2,791 | 2,944 | 3,051 | 2,739 | 3,130 | 3,298 |
| North West | 4,292 | 4,059 | 4,844 | 4,209 | 4,832 | 4,864 | 4,315 | 4,689 | 5,312 |
| North | 1,929 | 1,930 | 2,081 | 2,034 | 1,972 | 1,946 | 1,909 | 2,188 | 2,484 |
| Wales | 1,685 | 1,642 | 1,863 | 1,686 | 1,862 | 1,726 | 1,785 | 2,060 | 2,411 |
| Scotland | 3,819 | 3,608 | 4,275 | 4,399 | 4,731 | 4,408 | 4,523 | 6,168 | 6,704 |
| Northern Ireland | 986 | 1,000 | 1,120 | 956 | 1,008 | 1,213 | 1,037 | 1,162 | 1,195 |
| South East | 3,285 | 3,207 | 3,487 | 3,388 | 3,539 | 3,391 | 3,237 | 3,948 | 4,687 |
| Total | 42,833 | 40,235 | 45,125 | 42,373 | 45,667 | 43,332 | 41,495 | 49,691 | 56,077 |
| (c) offers made to applicants for undergraduate study by region were: | ||||||
| 11981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | |
| London | 3,912 | 5,580 | 5,176 | 4,315 | 3,997 | 4,109 |
| South | 2,560 | 3,703 | 3,614 | 2,958 | 2,812 | 2,801 |
| South West | 1,934 | 2,648 | 2,571 | 2,471 | 2,071 | 2,150 |
| West Midlands | 2,334 | 3,361 | 2,982 | 3,229 | 2,711 | 2,758 |
| East Midlands | 1,778 | 2,457 | 2,582 | 2,421 | 2,079 | 2,023 |
| East Anglia | 2,641 | 3,714 | 3,724 | 3,322 | 2,921 | 2,860 |
| Yorkshire | 2,091 | 2,695 | 2,790 | 2,707 | 2,459 | 2,605 |
| North West | 3,056 | 4,135 | 4,448 | 4,196 | 3,493 | 3,519 |
| North | 1,563 | 1,806 | 1,756 | 1,877 | 1,650 | 1,616 |
| Wales | 1,252 | 1,737 | 1,548 | 1,735 | 1,335 | 1,407 |
| Scotland | 2,929 | 4,129 | 4,014 | 3,355 | 3,281 | 3,124 |
| Northern Ireland | 742 | 933 | 1,095 | 1,045 | 901 | 840 |
| South East | 2,114 | 3,024 | 3,045 | 2,771 | 2,373 | 2,508 |
| Total | 28,906 | 39,922 | 39,345 | 36,402 | 32,083 | 32,320 |
institutions shortly to offer some guidance on these provisions. The Government will continue to seek reports from institutions on any incidents before the section comes into force in which visiting speakers are prevented from speaking or in which violence occurs.