asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is satisfied that, in view of the increasing clinical demands of the National Health Service, academic medical staff have adequate time to pursue their research work as well as their teaching duties.

The Government are aware of the pressures on senior clinical staff in the universities, who have a threefold commitment to teaching, research and patient care. In our guidance to universities and to the National Health Service we have urged close co-operation in the planning of staffing and other resources.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his first appearance at the Dispatch Box, where he so clearly belongs. May I draw his attention to recommendation No. 11 of the Select Committee on Social Services, which looked into the problem of AIDS? In that recommendation we invited my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to take a much firmer line in ensuring that moneys allocated from his budget for clinical, academic research are not abrogated for the purpose of providing clinical care by default.

This matter has been raised by the Select Committee on Social Services in its report on AIDS. The Government are considering their recommendation on that report and will reply as soon as possible.

Does the Minister accept that it is high time that we stopped the pretence? Many of the academic appointments that are being made are hardly being used for academic work or research at all, but are being used to cut down waiting lists.

It is difficult to strike a balance to try to ensure that the tripod of responsibilities for teaching, research and patient care is maintained. The Government are concerned to ensure that each of the different legs of the tripod is sustained.

It is good to see my hon. Friend continuing the tradition of fellows of All Souls in the Department of Education and Science. Following the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Sir D. Price), is my hon. Friend aware that the 4,000 students studying medical practice who are seconded to general practice as part of their studies are now facing under-funding? As there is no equivalent of the NHS support scheme known as SIFT—Special Increment for Teaching—will he talk to his counterpart at the Department of Health and Social Security to ensure that, between them, the two Departments cover this responsibility?

I will certainly talk to my counterpart at the DHSS. I thank my hon. Friend for drawing my attention to the MacKenzie report. I shall have to write to him further about the matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about when he expects the review of student grants to be completed.

The Government hope to publish proposals for consideration early in 1988.

I wish the Minister well in his new appointment. Is he an enthusiast for loans or for partial loans? Is a bid being put into next year's public expenditure consideration so that the outcome of the review can be implemented a year next September?

The review is being conducted with an open mind. It will take account of all the arguments that are for and against loans and of the experience in other countries. Whether provision must be made next year will depend upon the review group' findings.

Will my hon. Friend take this opportunity to comment on the charge that the introduction of a students' loans scheme might deter potential students from higher education?

That is an important aspect of the inquiries that are being conducted by the review group.

Will the Minister comment on the impact in the coming year of the growing number of EEC students coming here and our requirement to provide tuition for them? How does that affect outgoing students and the availability of funds to give higher grants to our students?

It is essential that we observe the provisions of the EC law that we have accepted. That is being done, and we will have to take care of the consequences in terms of the allocation of resources for higher education.

Is my hon. Friend aware that although there has been a significant increase in the number of part-time students, they have great problems because no financial aid is available to them? Is the review group considering a loan scheme for part-time students? If not, why not?

My hon. Friend will have noticed the important commitment in the Conservative party's election manifesto to increase higher education places by 50,000 by 1990. One aspect of that is part-time students, and that will be an important part of the work of the review committee.

While the review is taking place, what steps will the Minister take to restore the level of student grant in real terms to that of 1979?

The hon. Gentleman will know that that matter is reviewed every year in the public expenditure arrangements. I cannot anticipate the conclusions of that review.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to publish the Education Bill; and if he will make a statement.

The Education Bill, which will provide the legislative base for important improvements in the quality and efficiency of education at all levels, will be introduced as soon as possible following the summer adjournment.

In relation to the part of the Bill that will deal with schools opting out of local authority control, will there be a postal ballot of parents with children at that school, will it include parents whose children are about to go to that school, and will those parents have the benefit of an inspector's report on the school before they make the fundamental decision as to whether my right hon. Friend or the local authority should fund the school?

On my hon. Friend's first question, we envisage a secret postal ballot of the parents who have children at the school. An inspector's report may be available, depending upon whether an inspector has recently visited the school. But other records will be available, because nowadays schools publish a great deal of information about their performance.

Will examinations at ages 7, 11 and 14 form part of the Bill? If so, who will set the examinations?

I shall be issuing a consultative document in the next two to three weeks on the arrangements for establishing a national curriculum, and I shall want to consult widely on that. I shall include in that consultative document the procedures——

Before the House rises for the recess?

I would hope so. I shall include in that consultative document the procedures for the determination of assessments and tests and programmes of work. Later this week, or early next week, I hope to appoint two working parties of experts in mathematics and science, which will be asked to report within the next few months on those two subjects.

Will the Bill make provision for children to go to the school of their parents' choice where the headmaster is willing now to take them in?

I assure my right hon. Friend that the Bill will introduce a system known as open enrolment to allow much greater choice for parents. In my talks yesterday with the Education Secretary from the United States, where the system has been tried in some of the most depressed and rundown inner cities, I discovered that it has led to a distinct improvement in the quality of schools by involving the voice of the parents. Parents know which are the good schools.

With respect to the opting out proposals, will the Minister say whether, apart from an occasional group of parents who may want to take advantage of those proposals, some for good reasons and others for bad, there is any other respected voice in education—head teachers, the Confederation of Parents, teachers, administrators, experts or any group—that supports his proposal? Is it not the case that all those who have commented on it, including many Conservatives, recognise these crackpot proposals as damaging, divisive and dangerous?

The proposals to which the hon. Gentleman refers are designed to break up the producer domination in the education service. Therefore, I am not in the least surprised that the spokesmen for the producer groups want to keep the status quo. I assure him that pressure for change does not come from above; it comes from below. It comes from individual governors, individual heads, individual teachers and individual parents.

In view of the likelihood that schools will have an opportunity to opt out of local education authority control, what will be the approach of my right hon. Friend to section 12 cases where a local education authority may be seeking to amalgamate two schools, and where one of those schools might wish to remain independent?

This will be set out in the consultative document that I shall be issuing on grant-maintained schools. It will set out the arrangements that we envisage and the arrangements that will be operating after the full statutory powers exist, which I hope will be in the summer of next year.

Will the Secretary of State tell the House how the new opt-out schools will be able to choose their pupils? In particular, will they be able to use the new national test at ages 7, 11 and 14 to select the pupils that they want?

I have made this clear in the past. When schools decide to opt out they will retain the character and status that they had when they were within the maintained system. If a grammar school decides to opt out, it will remain a selective school—a grammar school. If a comprehensive school decides to opt out, it will remain a comprehensive school, with the same range of ability. I would not envisage that they would be able to use the new national tests as a process of selection. The House should be aware that schools have to make selections today. Where a school is over-subscribed, as in the case I quoted of a comprehensive in Birmingham, the authority and the head have to select now.

When my right hon. Friend brings forward his Bill, will he make it quite clear that it refers only to England and Wales, because during the general election my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath) came to Scotland and made a speech on education, which caused enormous confusion as it had no relevance whatever to the Scottish scene?

My hon. Friend is correct. I, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, am responsible for the education system in England and Wales. I am not responsible for education in Scotland, but I have a very high regard for it.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received concerning the future of the University of Wales or of its constituent colleges.

Since the autumn Ministers have held three meetings with deputations from the university and its colleges. My predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (Mr. Walden), visited University college, Swansea, on 30 April. Letters have been received in the Department from individuals and groups in each of the colleges.

Is the Minister aware that considerable damage has been done to the University of Wales over uncertainty about its future, so much so that students who want to do clinical medicine in Cardiff may be farmed out to other colleges or even other universities and that those who want to do education in Bangor have a big question mark over them? Will he ensure that in future the University of Wales is treated as one unit for classification purposes, thereby enabling it to get a class 1 status? Will he also ensure that there are adequate resources to enable colleges to link up so that a wide spectrum of courses can be offered throughout the Univesity of Wales as a whole?

Rationalisation between courses and between colleges is for the colleges to make proposals about. There is a national university system, with a national policy of allocation of resources between institutions, which is handled by the University Grants Committee. I am sure that it will have noted the points made by the hon. Gentleman.

Will the Secretary of State undertake to speak to Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, the chairman of the University Grants Committee, before the committee next meets on Thursday of this week and ask him to withdraw the unprecedented threat that he made two months ago to discourage students from undertaking courses at University college, Cardiff? I ask him to do this in the light of the acceptance last week by the council of University college, Cardiff, and of the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology to agree to the merger proposals in the new plan.

The negotiations that are taking place surrounding the future of University college, Cardiff, and UWIST are at a delicate stage. The hon. Gentleman referred to the meeting that is to take place on Thursday. and I think that it would be unwise of me to anticipate the course of that meeting.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total amount of extra funding that has been provided for the GCSE to date.

The Government have provided for expenditure on GCSE non-teaching costs and in-service training of over £145 million in the financial years 1986–87 and 1987–88. Of this, some £55 million is supported by earmarked grants for books, equipment and in-service training. In addition, continuing improvement in the planned pupil-teacher ratio is allowing more teacher time for the GCSE.

Is it correct that more new money from the Government has been made available for the GCSE than perhaps for any other like initiative, and that the schools and teachers who have been working hard on the GCSE are now starting to produce good and exciting results? Does my hon. Friend agree that much of the bad press about the GCSE has been peddled by some teachers and some teachers' unions which are never prepared to accept that anything good can happen in our state schools?

My hon. Friend is correct to say that the GCSE is the most generously funded examination ever to be produced. In addition to the £100 million planned expenditure for non-teaching costs, an additional £15 million has been earmarked this year for in-service training. That is on top of the £10 million that was earmarked last year for in-service training. As it was the teaching profession that urged and argued most vehemently for the introduction of the GCSE—the urging and arguing continued for about 10 years—it seems a pity that some of the teachers' unions are carping slightly about it now. This important examination has been wlecomed by teachers, pupils, potential employers and parents, and I hope that it gets off to a good start.

Does the Minister accept that although the entire education world agreed with the Government and wanted the GCSE examination, a vast section of it is deeply worried that it came about a year too soon? The National Confederation of Parent-Teacher Associations has engaged in research and has recently stated that only 3 per cent. of schools which welcomed the examination have received the necessary equipment to conduct it properly.

The hon. Gentleman will know that local authorities have received the moneys for which they asked in this year's planned expenditure. The hon. Gentleman says that a part of the education world considers that the GCSE was introduced a year too soon, but I suspect that it would have been a year too soon whenever it was introduced.

I welcome the Government's support for the GCSE and the vast amounts of money that have been made available for the examination. Does my hon. Friend accept, however, that there are ways in which the funding can go astray on its route from the Department to the schools and that individual schools are facing considerable administrative difficulties, even after cutting and paring, to meet the added cost of the introduction of the new syllabus?

It is true that there has been some delay in some authorities. That is due partly to schools being uncertain about the amount of money that they require. It is not entirely the fault of authorities. We shall be conducting a survey of how GCSE moneys are reaching the schools, and we hope to publish the results by the beginning of next year.

Is the Minister aware that, despite what she says, many parents are having to purchase equipment and books out of their own pockets because of the lack of funding for the GCSE?

The examination has been extremely well funded in terms of equipment and books. It is still possible to use much of the equipment and books for the examination that were in the schools previously. For example, 1066 remains the same date and Shakespeare remains the author of the Shakespearean plays.

Does my hon. Friend accept that the examination has not only been welcomed but welcomed with a considerable degree of excitement within the education system? Will she give an assurance that employers, who are frequently extremely confused by the meaning of various examinations, are actually prepared to evaluate what the examination result tells them about potential employees?

I hope that my hon. Friend will be greatly reassured by the fact that we are carrying out a number of regional conferences which are specifically designed to reassure employers and to explain to them the content of the GCSE and how it works. I trust that that will allay many of their fears.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on his policy on education charges in schools.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received about payments by parents in relation to the education of their children in state schools.

A number of parents, local education authorities, and the local authority associations have asked my Department for clarification of the present law. It is important to proceed in a way which will not threaten the principle of free education, but will preserve the valued provision made possible only by authorities' current charging practices. I shall be consulting in due course on how this might best be achieved.

How will the Government's declared aim of achieving freedom of choice be realised if pupils are debarred from undertaking courses because they cannot afford the cost?

I ask the hon. Member, who follows these matters, and followed them closely during the election, to bear in mind that many authorities—by no means Conservative authorities—and his own authority make some charge, as I understand it, for accommodation on field study trips. I emphasise the fact and assure him that it is no part of the Government's policy to impose charges. In consultation with local government, we want to preserve its freedom to continue with long-standing practice.

Does the Minister understand that local authorities are forced into imposing charges when the Government do not provide basic essential education resources and that it is a travesty and a disgrace, especially for disadvantaged schools and areas, that parents should have to pay for books, sports, visits, music and for what well-off people regard as normal essentials of education? That is the great divide that the Government are forcing upon our school system.

The hon. and learned Gentleman should appreciate that the issue first arose as soon as the Education Act 1944 was on the statute book. The first circular on charging was issued then to try to clarify what were extra curriculum charges. This has not cropped up in the past two or three years. In fact, the practice of charging for certain extras has been established between many authorities for 20 or 30 years.

On the broader matter of charges and costs, will my right hon. Friend tell the House whether he has any proposals to transfer costs, particularly teacher salaries, from LEAs to the Exchequer?

I see massive difficulties in moving the cost of all or a substantial part of local education authorities' expenditure to my Department. If, for example, the amount of teachers' salaries, which local authorities provide, were moved to my Department, it would be at a cost of about £3·9 billion. It would certainly totally distort the relationships between central and local government and education. That money would have to be found from the national Exchequer. That amount of money roughly represents 3p on income tax or 3·5 per cent. on VAT.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that for years pupils have paid for activities which many times they have initiated, such as field trips and the rest, but that all schools have always covered children who, for any reason at all, were unable to pay? The problem was that charging fees was illegal, and many excellent activities that were suggested by staff and children could not take place. My right hon. Friend's Bill will put that right.

I confirm what my hon. Friend has said. These are long-established practices and in some cases go back to the 1944 Act. I assure the House that in no way will I lay down a compulsory national system for charges.

Will the Minister say what steps he will take to impose controls on charging in opted-out centrally controlled schools to ensure that the practice of charging does not develop into de facto fee paying which some parents cannot afford?

I want to make it clear, as I have made it clear several times recently, that the grant-maintained schools will not be allowed to charge fees. As a result of the consultation process on charges which I shall launch, the grant-maintained schools will have to abide by the general principles laid down for the state-maintained schools.

To put this matter in perspective, can my right hon. Friend say what proportion of existing schools' expenditure is now met from charging and by how much he estimates this might go up under his proposal?

I cannot give the precise figure, but I shall seek it out and either reply in answer to a question or write to my hon. Friend. In our first discussions with local authorities we have discovered that there is a wide variety of practice between authorities and depends on the political complexion of the authorities. It appears that in one way or another all authorities charge for some extra activities. As I have said, we want to be guided to ensure that their freedom to continue with long-standing practice is preserved.

Will the Secretary of State consider his previous statement to the effect that he is seeking discussions with local authorities so that they will be free to continue their long-standing practice? If he does not have other charges in mind, and if there has been a longstanding practice, what will the discussions be about?

The long-standing practice has been questioned legally in terms of whether certain charges can or cannot he made. I am responding to requests from local authorities and from local authority associations to clarify the position.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the only universally unfair charges in education relate to school transport? Will he ensure that this is tackled in his new Bill, especially with regard to rural areas, so that the schools themselves, when they assume more financial responsibility, can be responsible for their own community bus services and mini-bus services?

This issue will be covered in the consultative document that I hope to issue next week on local financial management and the delegation of school budgets. The way that school transport is managed in future presents quite difficult problems.

Can the Secretary of State tell the House how his proposals to enable local authorities to charge for essentials such as music, sport and field trips are compatible with the commitment of the 1944 Act to free education? In this connection, has he noted the warnings by his right hon. Friend the Member for Shropshire, North (Mr. Biffen), whom we are delighted to welcome to education questions, about the dangers of privatisation? I think that he was referring particularly to parents having to pay for books and basic equipment.

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that there is no question of wishing to impose a system of national charges and certainly not for basic equipment. The standard of music in schools has never been higher and we are helping to sponsor, for example, a national choral competition next week at the Festival Hall. The success of choirs, school orchestras and individual performers derives from the existing practices of local authorities. I want to ensure that no damage is done and I assure hon. Members that I shall do everything to maintain this honourable tradition. I am glad that the hon. Gentleman mentioned the speech of my right hon. Friend the Member for Shropshire, North (Mr. Biffen). It was a most distinguished speech, in which he said that the Government's education proposals are in the long tradition of Tory social policy.

Following his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key), will my right hon. Friend give a clear commitment on charges for school transport? Is he aware that the present system militates against the Conservative policy of choice by denying to rural parents the opportunity to exercise that choice?

School transport is again largely at the discretion of local authorities—apart from certain national mandatory standards that they have to meet. As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key), this is a most complicated matter and we shall consult widely about it with local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any proposals for improving the education of children with impaired hearing.

Special schools for children with impaired hearing are being reorganised in accordance with plans drawn up in consultation with local education authorities and the governing bodies of schools. Since April the in-service training of teachers to acquire qualifications to teach deaf children has been one of the national priority areas that attract 70 per cent. grant from my Department. We shall seek further ways to improve this area of education.

Bearing in mind the tragic fact that two full-time permanent teaching posts will not be filled in Cornwall this September simply because there are not enough qualified teachers to fill them, will the Minister outline how many teachers he expects to complete such training during the 1987–88 academic year?

I am concerned about the long-term supply of teachers of the deaf and about those who are concerned with teachers of the deaf. We have responded positively to the advice that we received some time ago from the Advisory Committee on the Supply and Education of Teachers. However, we shall take every step to monitor the situation, as suggested by the hon. Gentleman.

Will my hon. Friend confirm that fewer children are born today either with hearing defects or profoundly deaf? Will he assure the House that that fact will not mean that less money is spent in this important area of education?

I agree with my hon. Friend and ban assure the House that we shall continue to ensure that local education authorities bear in mind the special needs of those with hearing difficulties to ensure that they are integrated into mainstream education as often as possible. I welcome my hon. Friend's point.

Is the Minister aware that the reading age of the average deaf school leaver is only that of a child of 8½years and that that is a shocking indictment of a failed education system, because those children lack learning rather than intelligence? Will he ensure that every deaf child has access to all forms of communication so that the most appropriate form can be used? Will he also ensure that every training course for teachers of the deaf has provision for the teaching of sign language, which is of great importance for the deaf child?

This is a complicated issue, as the right hon. Gentleman will know. The methods of communication that are used by schools for hearing-impaired children are matters for individual local education authorities. However, I assure the right hon. Gentleman that officials from my Department are soon to meet representatives of the National Union of the Deaf to discuss a recent report issued by it. I am sure that the point that he raised today will be on the agenda of that meeting.

In the light of the gap that may possibly develop during the next couple of years as the ACSET proposals work through and the teaching gap that may emerge at schools such as Elmfield school in my constituency, will my hon. Friend confirm that full use will be made of the speech therapists who are available to the education authorities and the surrounding health authorities to help to fill that gap?

I am ready to discuss that matter with counterparts at the Department of Health and Social Security, as suggested by my hon. Friend.

Following the question raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ashley), may we at least have an assurance that in public examinations pupils who are deaf can have questions put to them in the sign language which, for many, is their native language? Does the Minister agree that if those facilities are not provided the hard work that has been done by many deaf pupils will be jeopardised?

I thank the hon. Lady for her question on a serious point. I shall certainly undertake to raise that matter with the examination boards.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science by how many he intends to increase the numbers attending polytechnics.

The Government are planning for a further increase of 50,000 in the number of higher education students by 1990. Actual numbers, and where they study, will depend on various factors, in particular on the recruitment decisions of individual institutions.

Is that not a recognition of the vital part that polytechnics have come to play in the provision of higher education during the past two decades, especially in vocational and technological courses and their links with industry? What benefits does my hon. Friend expect from his proposals to reform the administration of polytechnics?

As my hon. Friend has said, the polytechnics are booming and are educating more students than ever before. There were 220,000 students in 1985, which is 60,000 more than in 1979. Our new proposals for the governing of polytechnics and other colleges will strengthen those institutions links with local business, ensure a strong and direct voice for the employers on the courses that are offered and the research that is undertaken, help to foster entrepreneurial attitudes and make available skills and experience to those institutions so that they can govern themselves more efficiently and achieve better value for money.

Is the Minister aware that the Iraqi embassy has written to the heads of all polytechnics and other education institutions asking for information about Iraqi students who are privately funded? Will he take urgent steps to ensure that no information is given to the Iraqi embassy about such students, and will he tell the Iraqi embassy that trying to intimidate those students who oppose the regime in Iraq is quite unacceptable?

I was not aware of the circumstances to which the hon. Gentleman referred, but I am sure that the Foreign Office will have noted his points.

What steps is my hon. Friend taking to improve quality in the polytechnics that he is supporting so lavishly? Does he think that his new regime will expand the quality and the resources available to those institutions?

The Government's aim is to improve quality in all institutions of higher education and the White Paper set out proposals for doing so. Institutions can play their own part by establishing systematic arrangements for staff training and appraisal. We look to the validating bodies and HMI, through its activities, to act as guardians of standards. As my hon. Friend knows, resources are decided annually.

How much extra money will there be for the extra students? We welcome it, but we are worried that there will be insufficient money to pay for the expansions about which the Minister is talking.

Resources are reviewed annually as an element of the public expenditure process and this is bound to take account of all the relevant factors, including the number of students in the system.

Will my hon. Friend confirm that selected institutions of higher education can expect to benefit equally from his welcome proposals?

As my hon. Friend knows, the list of polytechnics and colleges that will benefit from these proposals was published in the White Paper. We shall look forward to legislating on that point later this year.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will provide additional resources to implement the academic plan for Dundee university.

The distribution of funds between individual universities is a matter for the University Grants Committee, which is currently considering the academic plan and financial forecast drawn up by Dundee university in the light of new funding levels.

The Minister will know that on 18 June the UGC complimented Dundee university on getting its act together so quickly and providing this academic plan. Does the Minister not see that he has the responsibility to ensure that the work that has been carried out so quickly and efficiently in Dundee is rewarded, and that an early reply comes to Dundee so that it knows exactly where it is going? Will he congratulate the new principal of Dundee university, who takes up his post in October, and wish the retiring principal, Adam Neville, a long and happy retirement?

I pay tribute to the work of Adam Neville, who is retiring as principal. The future funding of Dundee university is a matter for the UGC. How it spends the funds allocated to it is a matter for Dundee university itself.

Has the Minister noted that no fewer than eight Scottish Members have today tabled questions about university funding, either at specific universities or in general terms? Therefore, does he accept that this reflects the widespread concern throughout Scotland about the future of Scottish university education? Can we expect an early statement on funding?

We are running a national system of support for universities and this has been placed on a rational basis by the UGC so that funds are allocated on the basis of a standard unit of resource for each different course for teaching purposes, and with regard to the quality of research and other factors. That policy is applied across the board nationally, but inevitably and it has different implications for different institutions in different parts of the country.

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what will be the criteria for entry to the grant-maintained schools.

Grant-maintained schools will retain the character they had as local authority schools. A comprehensive school will remain comprehensive. A selective school will remain selective. Admissions arrangements will have to be agreed with me. As with local authority schools, there will have to be criteria for choosing between applicants if a school is over-subscribed.

Although I welcome the extension of choice that this change is likely to bring, may I ask whether my right hon. Friend is aware that there is a certain amount of concern being expressed by parents who presently live within the catchment area of a specific comprehensive school that, in the event of that school becoming a grant-maintained school, their sons or daughters may be unable to attend that school? I ask my right hon. Friend whether he can assure those parents and the parents of a child not yet of an age to attend that school that they will be able to send their child to that school if they so choose?

I can say to my hon. Friend that, in determining the admission arrangements, we would want to follow the admission arrangements of the existing local education authority, especially as regards catchment areas, and also as regards existing policy for brothers and sisters to go to the schools that their elder brothers and sisters attended.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

Is the Prime Minister aware that the recent report from the Energy Select Committee agreed with the chief nuclear inspector that there was serious understaffing in the inspectorate, and that that was likely to cause a nuclear accident at Sellafield? Does the right hon. Lady agree that that understaffing is tantamount to putting people's lives at risk?

I am aware that there was understaffing in the Nuclear Inspectorate. I am aware that that was because some of the salaries offered were not sufficient, bearing in mind the alternative jobs available to those people. That matter has been dealt with and increased salaries offered to attract the full complement of staff that we want and need.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Will my right hon. Friend take time during the course of her busy day to note the recent reduction in gas prices? Will my right hon. Friend comment on whether that reduction is a result of privatisation? Does she agree that it is certainly extremely good news for old-age pensioners?

Yes. Domestic gas prices have already gone down by 8 per cent. in real terms since 1983. The recent further reduction is very welcome. It is good news for everyone, especially for pensioners, and it owes a good deal to our privatisation policy.

In view of the strong hostility towards the poll tax from members of the Prime Minister's party in the House, and from diehard supporters outside the House—[Interruption.]. In view of that strong hostility, is the right hon. Lady for turning?

We considered this matter very carefully. The present system is unfair and discredited, and I believe that the right hon. Gentleman agrees with that. I noted from his own manifesto that he was going to abolish the Rates Act, and I noticed that he intended to replace it with capital valuation and to continue revaluations. We believe that the proposals we have put up have been very widely considered and are the best possible for the way forward.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the principle of the community charge is absolutely right, but, before it is introduced, should not the total cost of education be transferred to central Government?

No. I see no possibility of transferring the entire cost of a service to the taxpayer and leaving its total administration to the local authorities. There is no way in which the Department of Education and Science could take over the whole administration of education, and nor should it. To take it away from the local authority under those circumstances would be to reduce its expenditure temporarily. Very soon many councils would put up that expenditure and we would all be left paying far more taxes and far more local charges.

Can the Prime Minister confirm what the Secretary of State for the Environment said on the radio this morning about the poll tax, which is that it will cost twice as much to collect as the rates? Does that calculation include the cost of paying back the tax to those on supplementary benefit?

I happened to hear my right hon. Friend on the radio this morning—I do not always have it on—and he explained that that was because it would be collected from a considerably larger number of people. If one of the problems is that the base of the rates is too small, inevitably, in the interests of wider equity, the base of the community charge will be wider and it will be payable by more people.

In her continuing discussions with other European Heads of Government about the cost of the Community budget, will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that there are a great many European taxpayers who are just as disenchanted with the ridiculous costs of the common agricultural policy as the taxpayers in this country and that they see her Government's fight for fundamental CAP reform as being as much in Europe's interest as in Britain's?

It is in Europe's interests as well as our own. It is also in the interests of Europe's consumers, because the original CAP was meant to strike a fair balance between the rights of producers and the rights of consumers. It would also release considerable resources which, if they were made available, could go to creating more jobs in the Community. Therefore, it is in the interests of the whole of Europe as well as ourselves.

If the poll tax is so marvellous for Scotland, England and Wales, why not introduce it in Northern Ireland?

As the right hon. Gentleman has occasion to be well aware, local government in Northern Ireland is not able to get back to a normal basis, and he knows the reason why.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her offical engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, contrary to the misleading impression given by the Opposition, the proposed community charge will not affect the right to vote and that it is a policy upon which every Conservative candidate fought the general election?

Yes. It has always been made clear that there will be a separate register for the community charge and it will not affect the right to vote in any way. I believe that the way forward that we have proposed is the best one. It will give greater local accountability and, in the matter of the business rate, it will help many northern cities a great deal,.

When the Prime Minister sees Sid, will she tell him that she and her Government spent £40 million of taxpayers' money last year telling the people about the politically motivated sale of British Gas and that last night she introduced legislation forbidding all local authorities in Britain from spending ratepayers' money to give their people any information at all? What is she, a democrat, or a dictator?

The sale of British Gas was a good thing for all the people of this country, both in terms of the receipt of capital sums that came into the Exchequer and in terms of the future efficiency of British Gas. I believe that it was money well spent.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is a widespread concern throughout the country about the number of late abortions that are being carried out? Does she recognise that, with advances in medical science, the stage at which a child is capable of being born alive is being reduced all the time? When will the House give effective protection to the unborn child?

I fully understand my hon. Friend's concern about this matter. He will be aware that administratively we have done all we can to see that abortions are not carried out after 24 weeks. We have circulated a report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to all hospitals and we have made it a condition for the licensing of private clinics that abortions are not carried out after 24 weeks. Therefore, we have done everything we can. I do not see the possibility of Government legislation at the moment, but private Members' legislation is appropriate for that.

Will the Prime Minister find a few minutes today to reflect upon the reasons that she gave for signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which are that she believed that it would bring peace, stability and reconciliation to the Province? In view of the fact that the situation has deteriorated to the level where someone is being killed almost every other day in Northern Ireland, what evidence has she to show that after 20 months any progress is being made towards those desirable objectives?

We are getting increased cooperation across the border, as the hon. Gentleman is aware. I had hoped, when I saw the hon. Gentleman rising, that he would mention that some of his right hon. and hon. Friends might wish to come and talk in the light of a recent report that has been published. I am sorry that my hopes were not upheld. If he wishes to come and talk, he will be very welcome.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the only effective way to achieve urban regeneration in our inner cities is to have a much greater involvement of private industry and capital? In that connection, does she agree that the remarks made yesterday in the House by the hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr. Grant) were most unhelpful and regrettable?

I agree with my hon. Friend that while we can do a good deal with regard to housing, education, clearing derelict land and many other things in inner cities, we cannot succeed in achieving our aim unless we get more private enterprise into the areas, unless the local authorities and people welcome private enterprise, and the people are motivated to do more for themselves. That is a constructive way forward. I agree with my hon. Friend that anything inflammatory is destructive of that objective.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Is the Prime Minister concerned, as many of us are, about the growing level of child abuse, as shown in data produced by the National Children's Home and from many local authorities'? If so, what steps is she taking to ensure that local authorities are adequately staffed, funded and equipped to deal with this tragic, if regrettably over-publicised, subject?

I do not believe that there is necessarily a need for more staffing or more money to deal with this matter. I believe much more that sensitive use must be made of the available powers.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the immense dissatisfaction in the country with the services provided by British Telecom? When does she expect her policies on competition to be extended into that area so that good telephone services can be provided in the home, and other companies can provide telephone boxes that actually work?

OFTEL's 1986 survey found that British Telecom's quality of service had been at least constant and perhaps improving over the past few years. British Telecom recognises that there is some way to go and its high investment, running at more than 35 per cent. above pre-privatisation levels, will improve the service further. There is some competition from Mercury, but the service that we get now is a great deal better than that which we received before and I believe that it is British Telecom's intention to continue to improve it.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

During her busy day, will the Prime Minister agree to veto any proposals to place VAT on children's clothing and shoes?

Is the hon. Gentleman asking that if the EEC comes in with a proposal to change our capacities—[Interruption.] If he is asking about those particular things, I repeat exactly what I have said——

Veto.

Veto is a European Community word.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Will my right hon. Friend join me in condemning the decision taken by certain teachers to take further strike action'? Does she agree that that decision brings more shame on the teaching profession and its only certain consequence will be to damage the interests and education of the children in the schools affected?

I totally agree. The teachers have had a very fair, indeed generous, deal from the taxpayer in pay increases. They know that the present arrangements are only temporary. We are trying to achieve permanent negotiating arrangements as soon as possible. I agree with my hon. Friend that children have rights as well—a right to a good education and the right to have teachers who set an example to them.

asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 7 July.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave some moments ago.

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that the financial controls operated by the Civil Aviation Authority over tour operators remain adequate to minimise the risk of their financial failure? As this matter is of such interest to millions of people at this time of year, will my right hon. Friend consider having a word with the CAA's chairman to reassure herself and the House that the controls remain adequate for the purposes for which they were installed?

As far as I am aware, they are. I know that my hon. Friend is concerned about recent events. I shall therefore consult my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport with a view to meeting my hon. Friend's request.