To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what money has been allocated to the United Kingdom aid programme to cover the cost of the United Kingdom contribution to the International Monetary Fund enhanced structural adjustment facility.

Her Majesty's Government have agreed to provide up to £327 million for the IMF enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) during the period up to 2002. Under the 1987 public expenditure survey the aid programme was credited with the following additional amounts in respect of United Kingdom contributions to the subsidy account of the IMF ESAF:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what money has been allocated to the United Kingdom aid programme to cover the expected cost of Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer's debt initiative.

It is impossible accurately to predict the cost of the Toronto concessions. This will depend on factors such as which countries reach agreement with the IMF and seek rescheduling from the Paris Club, the date at which they come to the club, creditors' decisions on eligibility for the concessions and which debts are to be rescheduled. It is planned to finance the interest reduction by an aid grant to the country concerned which will be paid directly by the Overseas Development Administration to ECGD. I expect these sums to be paid in each financial year following the year in which the costs are incurred. The amount added to the aid programme to cover these costs is £2·5 million in 1990–91 and £14 million in 1991–92. These figures are expected to build up quickly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of the aid provided to Nicaragua by Her Majesty's Government in response to damage caused by hurricane Joan; what additional aid requests have been received; what representations have been received urging more assistance; and what information sources he relies upon to provide details of hurricane damage.

Including our contribution to the European Community's programme, we have provided £413,000 in emergency aid. This has been channelled through voluntary agencies largely to the Atlantic coast region. No specific further aid requests have been made although I have received a number of representations from groups and individuals in this country urging that further assistance be given. We use all available information sources on any disaster, including British diplomatic posts, voluntary agencies, international organisations and especially the office of the United Nations disaster relief co-ordinator.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if consideration has been given to sending military assistance from British forces based in Belize to aid the civilian authorities in Nicaragua with repair work arising from damage caused by hurricane Joan; and if he will make a statement.

No request for the assistance of the British garrison in Belize has been received from the Government of Nicaragua.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been offered to the Government of Turkey for the Iraqi Kurdish refugees; and how much has been accepted.

We made a contribution of £250,000 to the Turkish Red Crescent earlier this month for its work in caring for these refugees. This contribution has been accepted with gratitude.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he intends to issue any guidance on the admission criteria and procedures, especially relating to the use of interviews, that may be used in selecting pupils to attend city technology colleges.

Pupils admitted to CTCs will have demonstrated their aptitude to benefit from the particular type of education to be offered, will represent a wide range of abilities and, so far as practicable, a cross section of the community of the area in which the college is situated. It will be for CTCs themselves to decide how to give effect to these criteria in their admission arrangements, which may include the use of interviews.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether he has established or intends to establish any guidance or standard requirements regarding the curriculum to be taught in city technology colleges;(2) in which respects it is anticipated that the curriculum laid down for a city technology college will differ or add to the requirements of the national curriculum; and which elements would be compulsory in the curriculum for students attending such city technology colleges beyond the age of 16 years.

As a condition of grant CTCs will offer a curriculum which is broad and balanced with an emphasis on science and technology, including the applications of information technology across the curriculum. We shall expect the curriculum for all pupils in years one to five to cover all the core and foundation subjects of the national curriculum, national arrangements for assessments will apply, and provision will be made for the teaching of religious education and for collective worship. A wide range of courses will be available for post-16 pupils.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has established criteria or formulae for determining the levels of private and/or public funding that can be made available for the establishment of individual city technology colleges, either as revenue or capital.

The basis of our recurrent grant to CTCs will be an average of equivalent expenditure by local education authorities on maintained schools in similar areas. Capital costs will vary according to individual circumstances, including for example the cost of acquiring a site and whether any refurbishment or additional building works are needed. In each case sponsors will be required to make a significant contribution to those costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will issue guidance to local education authorities on the availability of lists of parents' names and addresses to parents of children in schools which are currently state schools but are considering opted out or city technology college status.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Mrs. Rumbold) gave her on Monday, 7 November at column 3.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the latest figure for the percentage of under-fives in (a) nursery schools, (b) nursery classes and (c) primary classes, by local education authority, in England and Wales.

The number of children under five attending maintained nursery schools, nursery classes and infant classes in primary schools as a percentage of the estimated three and four-year-old population in each local education authority in England in January 1988 is given in the following table. Figures for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average per capita expenditure for (a) primary and (b) secondary pupils, by local education authority, in England and Wales.

I refer the hon. Member to "The Handbook of Education Unit Costs 1985–86"; a copy of which is in the Library. Table 4 provides the latest data on local education authorities in England. Data for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the latest figures for average class sizes in (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) nursery schools, by location education authority, in England and Wales.

Information on the average size of classes in nursery schools is not collected centrally. The average class size in maintained primary and secondary schools in each local education authority in England in January 1988 is given in the following table: The analyses relate to classes taught by one teacher during a selected period the day the schools census is carried out and do not necessarily represent the pattern of classes over the academic year as a whole. Information for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers recruited in Ireland in the past year to cover vacancies in London, have been given Department of Education and Science registration; how many have not; and if he will make a statement.

The information is not available in the form requested. Between 1 October 1987 and 30 September 1988, 327 applications for qualified teacher status were considered under paragraph 2(b) of schedule 5 to the Education (Teachers) Regulations 1982 (SI 1982/106) in respect of teachers who had trained in the Republic of Ireland. To be approved under this provision, the course of training must be comparable in terms of length, content and depth of study to one available in England and Wales at the same time. Thirteen of these applications were accepted.In addition, during the same period, ILEA recommended six teachers with qualifications obtained in the Republic of Ireland for qualified teacher status under paragraph 2(e) of schedule 5. All of these cases were accepted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what levels of funding from central Government will be available to inner London authorities following their assumption of education responsibility when the Inner London Education Authority is abolished.

In 1990–91 a fixed total of central Government grant will be made available for distribution among local authorities. Each authority's entitlement will be determined by the Government's assessment of its need to spend on all services including education. Specific grant funding will also be available from a number of Government Departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what actions he intends to take to ensure the adequate funding of non-statutory education in inner London after the abolition of the Inner London Education Authority.

In the annual grant-related expenditure assessment the Government take account of each local education authority's need to spend on various statutory and non-statutory aspects of provision. It is however for each LEA to determine its budget in accordance with its own priorities and the resources available to it. The same will apply to inner London boroughs when they become education authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amount paid by each local authority in England and Wales in the years 1986–87, 1987–88 and a best estimate for 1988–89, to all institutes of advanced, further and higher education; on what basis in the future such institutions will receive the £8,000 minimum withdrawn from the rate support grant, as detailed in his Department's consultation paper dated 11 November; and if he will make a statement.

In each of the years specified the net recurrent costs of advanced further education (AFE) have been shared between local education authorities (LEAs) by means of a capped pooling arrangement. My right hon. Friend is empowered to determine the size of the pool and, in the light of the advice of the national advisory body for public sector higher education (NAB), the distribution of the pool between local education authorities in respect of the polytechnics and colleges which they maintain or assist. A full list of the allocations determined by my right hon. Friend for the years 1986–87, 1987–88 and 1988–89 is set out in the table. LEAs may pass onto their colleges amounts below or in excess of the allocations but information about precise payments to each institution is not available.Under the provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988 the 29 English polytechnics and 32 other colleges maintained or assisted by LEAs will transfer from local authority control and from 1 April 1989 will become the funding responsibility of central Government which will channel grants to the sector through the new Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC). The council will be responsible for allocating the funds made available by my right hon. Friend.