To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the average cost of each place at maintained secondary schools since 1988–89 in each English local education authority.

Spending per pupil by each English LEA in secondary schools in 1988–89 to 1991–92, the latest year for which figures are available, was as shown in the table.

Net institutional expenditure per secondary pupil 1988–89 to 1991–92
	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
	£	£	£	£
ILEA	2,505	2,725	—	—
Camden	—	—	2,290	2,430
Greenwich	—	—	2,385	2,295
Hackney	—	—	2,705	2,800
Hammersmith	—	—	2,665	2,740
Islington	—	—	2,440	2,940
Kensington	—	—	2,905	3,200
Lambeth	—	—	2,585	2,980
Lewisham	—	—	2,430	2,375
Southwark	—	—	2,350	2,460
Tower Hamlets	—	—	2,490	2,945
Wandsworth	—	—	2,520	3,275
Westminster	—	—	2,580	2,445
Barking	1,970	2,200	2,305	2,255
Barnet	1,820	1,925	2,110	2,325
Bexley	1,685	1,820	1,965	2,060
Brent	2,305	2,225	2,360	2,490
Bromley	1,770	1,955	2,220	2,440
Croydon	2,040	1,935	2,080	2,375
Ealing	2,145	2,345	2,575	2,835
En field	1,715	1,815	2,080	2,320
Haringey	n/a	2,850	2,590	2,650
Harrow	1,740	1,975	2,325	2,375
Havering	1,860	1,990	2,135	2,255
Hillingdon	1,870	2,010	2,340	2,625
Hounslow	1,895	1,995	2,075	2,160
Kingston-upon-Thames	1,900	2,120	2,240	2,475
Merton	1,660	1,925	1,990	2,620
Newham	2,140	2,310	2,410	2,470
Redbridge	1,735	1,855	2,120	2,310
Richmond-upon-Thames	1,640	1,790	1,985	2,115
Sutton	1,630	1,750	2,075	2,160
Waltham Forest	2,435	2,490	2,650	2,620
Birmingham	1,640	1,800	2,050	2,150
Coventry	1,940	2,180	2,340	2,115
Dudley	1,840	1,915	2,095	2,125
Sandwell	1,885	2,115	2,295	2,275
Solihull	1,650	1,835	2,085	2,125
Walsall	1,885	1,995	2,255	2,110
Wolverhampton	1,745	1,975	2,120	2,355
Knowsley	1,990	2,105	2,225	2,295
Liverpool	1,905	2,060	2,250	2,355
St. Helens	1,710	1,970	1,960	2,105
Sefton	1,600	1,715	2,030	2,015
Wirral	1,755	1,975	2,110	2,115
Bolton	1,635	1,795	1,990	2,130
Bury	1,730	1,860	1,810	1,900
Manchester	n/a	2,190	2,145	2,285
Oldham	1,590	1,765	1,940	2,260

	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92
	£	£	£	£
Rochdale	1,700	2,050	2,135	2,135
Salford	1,860	2,140	2,185	2,190
Stockport	1,730	1,860	2,030	2,135
Tameside	1,660	1,770	1,945	2,100
Trafford	1,710	1,920	2,075	2,105
Wigan	1,845	2,000	2,095	2,290
Barnsley	1,645	1,795	1,820	2,045
Doncaster	1,655	1,805	1,860	1,995
Rotherham	1,635	1,810	1,960	2,150
Sheffield	1,810	1,920	2,155	2,180
Bradford	1,605	1,635	1,775	1,795
Calderdale	1,665	1,665	2,095	2,010
Kirklees	1,620	1,765	1,920	2,055
Leeds	1,545	1,715	1,920	1,980
Wakefield	N/A	1,800	1,940	2,115
Gateshead	1,770	1,865	2,080	2,115
Newcastle Upon Tyne	1,870	1,980	1,990	2,065
North Tyneside	1,780	1,885	1,940	2,075
South Tyneside	1,825	2,010	2,135	2,040
Sunderland	1,665	1,845	1,935	2,045
Isles of Scilly	N/A	3,805	4,385	4,160
Avon	1,630	1,800	1,945	2,050
Bedfordshire	1,635	1,815	1,875	2,035
Berkshire	1,570	1,735	1,950	2,155
Buckinghamshire	1,715	1,850	2,050	2,095
Cambridgeshire	1,480	1,640	1,880	2,025
Cheshire	1,545	1,715	1,955	2,105
Cleveland	1,770	1,915	2,085	2,110
Cornwall	1,525	1,690	1,885	1,955
Cumbria	1,685	1,845	2,030	2,175
Derbyshire	1,755	1,975	2,110	2,200
Devon	1,535	1,705	1,950	2,005
Dorset	1,485	1,635	1,805	1,920
Durham	1,575	1,735	1,900	2,020
East Sussex	1,565	1,765	1,985	2,020
Essex	1,635	1,800	1,955	2,275
Gloucestershire	1,545	1,735	1,910	1,755
Hampshire	1,580	1,790	1,965	2,130
Hereford and Worcester	1,440	1,635	1,840	1,960
Hertfordshire	1,745	1,900	2,065	2,235
Humberside	1,690	1,760	1,910	2,065
Isle of Wight	1,495	1,575	1,755	1,935
Kent	1,475	1,565	1,805	2,075
Lancashire	1,620	1,810	1,950	2,225
Leicestershire	1,770	1,900	2,095	2,255
Lincolnshire	1,475	1,630	1,905	2,080
Norfolk	1,585	1,810	1,990	2,115
North Yorkshire	1,595	1,760	2,025	2,150
Northamptonshire	1,545	1,685	1,795	1,970
Northumberland	1,630	1,645	1,805	1,965
Nottinghamshire	1,745	1,955	2,220	2,490
Oxfordshire	1,665	1,810	2,155	2,110
Shropshire	1,695	1,855	2,105	2,350
Somerset	1,570	1,745	1,855	1,950
Staffordshire	1,610	1,790	1,925	2,045
Suffolk	1,485	1,820	2,025	1,700
Surrey	1,635	1,675	2,105	2,200
Warwickshire	1,635	1,770	1,895	2,090
West Sussex	1,530	1,745	1,910	2,085
Wiltshire	1,555	1,700	1,890	1,945

Notes to the table1. Figures are in outturn prices and are derived from local education authorities' returns of their net institutional expenditure to the Department of the Environment and of their pupil numbers to the Department for Education.2. Net institutional expenditure covers the direct costs in schools of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. It does not include the costs of school meals, home to school transport, LEA central administration and financing costs of capital expenditure. Figures for 1990–91 and 1991–92 include unspent balances held by schools at the year end under local management of schools schemes.3. "N/A" indicates that a return has not been received from the LEA. Corporation of London LEA has no secondary schools. Figures are rounded to the nearest £5.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers in state-maintained schools receive a gross salary of £30,000 per year.

On the basis of departmental projections of teacher numbers and data from the recent pay survey conducted by the School Teachers Review Body we estimate that in England and Wales approximately 9,700 full-time teachers in the maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special sectors, including 5,900 heads and 3,100 deputies, were being paid salaries of £30,000 per annum or more on 1 September 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that pupils who transfer from grant-maintained schools to local authority-maintained schools take a proportion of funds with them.

The predominantly pupil-led funding arrangements for both grant-maintained and local authority maintained schools allow movements of pupils between the two sectors, in either direction, to be reflected in school budgets on an annual basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assumption he makes within the standard spending assessment for appropriate expenditure on education for each local education authority for their expenditure on optional nursery education; and to what extent this varies between authorities.

The local government finance settlement takes account of the broad range of pressures on local authorities, including the projected number of pupils aged under five in maintained schools, as published in the Department's annual report. The component of standard spending assessments which is notionally attributed to under-fives is allocated according to the population aged under five in each local authority area. This is adjusted by the additional educational need allowance which reflects the additional costs of providing a standard level of service in areas of relative deprivation, and by the area cost adjustment which reflects higher labour costs in the south-east.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimates he has made of the additional costs for training those qualified nursery teachers to the standards now in force for each additional 100 nursery school pupils receiving half-time nursery education.

On the basis of current recommended staffing ratios and assuming that two half-time classes could be accommodated within a normal school week and with the same staff, 100 half-time nursery school pupils would require 2.5 full-time equivalent teachers. The average cost of initial training of a qualified early years teacher is approximately £6,350 per year, inclusive of student maintenance payments. The majority of early years teachers are at present trained on four-year BEd courses. These figures take no account of any requirement for nursery assistants in addition to teachers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what formal statements he expects to make concerning the policies of Her Majesty's Government for nursery education which have been indicated informally; and when, and by what means, he plans to make them;(2) what consultations he has had, or expects to make, prior to further announcements or distribution of circulars or advice concerning his plans for expanding nursery education.

As my right hon. Friend indicated in his speech to the North of England conference on 7 January, the Government's policy is to promote choice, diversity, quality and cost-effectiveness in the provision of pre-school education, and to extend the amount of such education available. Over half of three and four-year-olds already attend maintained nursery and primary schools, and more than 90 per cent. receive some form of pre-school provision. We are exploring ways of adding still further, as resources allow, to the choice already available to parents from all sources—public, private and voluntary. When we have any proposals to make, we will announce them in the usual way. There will then be an opportunity for those concerned to express their views.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what have been the costs incurred in training teachers in relation to assessing those areas which have now been dropped as a result of the Dearing review.

It is impossible to isolate and cost the elements of initial and in-service teacher training relating solely to those aspects of assessment that will change following the Dearing review. Such training generally has wider objectives that will remain relevant regardless of the changes that will be made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total cost of production and distribution of the leaflet to be issued about the parents charter; how much of this cost is attributable to distribution; and how many of the leaflets will go to homes with children of school age.

The cost of distributing the revised parents charter to every household in England is estimated at £500,000. The total cost of producing and distributing the charter is expected to be some £2 million. Raising standards in schools, and supporting what has already been achieved, are matters of national importance. The charter will therefore be relevant to all citizens, and not simply to the estimated 6.75 million households with children under the school leaving age.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many copies of his Department's grant-maintained schools folder, containing the fifth edition of "How to become a grant-maintained school", "Questions parents ask", "Questions staff ask", "Experiences during the first year", and a copy of circular 18/93, have been distributed; and what was the cost of (i) the folders, (ii) each of the booklets, (iii) the circulars, (iv) the padded bags in which they were sent and (v) the distribution itself.

Some 22,500 copies of the Department's grant-maintained schools folder were distributed to chairmen of governors of maintained schools in England to ensure that they had publications reflecting the relevant provisions in the Education Act 1993 which came into effect from 1 January. Further copies are being distributed in response to requests. The unit costs for printing and design were as follows:

	Pence
(i) folders	31
(ii) booklets:
How to Become a Grant-Maintained School	63
Questions Parents Ask	8
Questions Staff Ask	22
Experiences during the First year	9
(iii) circular 18/93	23

For the initial distribution to all schools, the cost of packaging was £8,178, and the cost of postage was £20,106.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of new grant-maintained schools received an allocation for expenditure on named capital projects in the financial years (i) 1993–94 and (ii) 1994–95.

Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 0–4 working days
School	LEA	Approval	Incorporation
Bishop Challoner RC School	Birmingham	28 September 1993	1 October 1993
Convent of Jesus and Mary GM HS	Brent	24 March 1993	1 April 1993
Queens Park Community School (GM)	Brent	24 March 1993	1 April 1994
Hayes Road Primary School	Devon	23 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. George's RC School	Hampshire	24 August 1993	1 September 1993
Harlington Community School	Hillingdon	22 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Peter and St. Paul RC HS	Lincolnshire	26 August 1993	1 September 1993

Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 5–9 working days
School	LEA	Approval	Incorporation
Ashmole School	Barnet	20 August 1993	1 September 1993
Bishop Douglass RC Comprehensive	Barnet	20 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Joseph's RC Primary School	Berkshire	16 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Columba's RC Boys School	Bexley	18 March 1993	1 April 1993
Oakington Manor Primary School	Brent	19 August 1993	1 September 1993
Cardinal Hinsley High School	Brent	23 August 1993	1 September 1993
The Radcliffe School	Buckinghamshire	18 March 1993	1 April 1993
Holy Trinity CE Senior School (GM)	Calderdale	23 March 1993	1 April 1993
Soham Village College	Cambridgeshire	18 August 1993	1 September 1993
La Sainte Union Convent School	Camden	19 August 1993	1 September 1993
Appleby County Primary School	Cumbria	21 September 1993	1 October 1993
Repton Primary School	Derbyshire	24 March 1993	1 April 1993
Redhill County Primary School	Derbyshire	21 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Mary's High School	Derbyshire	21 December 1993	1 January 1994
Dunmow County Infant School	Essex	21 December 1993	1 January 1994
Dunmow CE VC Junior School	Essex	22 December 1993	1 January 1994
The Coopers' Co. & Coborn (GM)	Havering	23 March 1993	1 April 1993
Mount Grace School (GM)	Hertfordshire	24 March 1993	1 April 1993
Chancellor's School	Hertfordshire	22 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Joan of Arc RC School	Hertfordshire	22 December 1993	1 January 1994
Grange Park Junior School	Hillingdon	19 March 1993	1 April 1993
Grange Park Infant School	Hillingdon	19 March 1993	1 April 1993
Abbotsfield School	Hillingdon	19 March 1993	1 April 1993
Swakeleys School	Hillingdon	19 March 1993	1 April 1993
St. Andrew's CE Primary School	Hillingdon	17 August 1993	1 September 1993

Ninety-five per cent. of schools which entered the grant-maintained sector in 1992–93 and bid for capital grant on named projects received an allocation for the financial year 1993–94.Seventy per cent. of schools which joined the sector between April and September last year and bid for funding have so far received allocations for 1994–95. The allocations are either to carry out a named project or for extra design work to place them in a priority position for support in 1995–96. In addition, grant-maintained schools which have entered the sector since September 1993 have been invited to submit their named project bids for 1994–95 by 28 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education in how many cases the interval between his approval of grant-maintained status for a school and its incorporation date has been less than (a) five working days, (b) 10 working days, (c) 15 working days and (d) 20 working days; and, in category, whether he will list the schools and give the relevant dates.

The interval between the approval of grant-maintained status for a school and its incorporation date has been less than five working days in seven cases, less than 10 working days in 47 cases, less than 15 working days in 75 cases and less than 20 working days in 128 cases. The schools and relevant dates are listed by category in the table.

School	LEA	Approval	Incorporation
Howden CE Infant School	Humberside	16 December 1993	1 January 1994
Cranbrook School	Kent	17 December 1991	1 January 1992
Hayesbrook High School	Kent	16 December 1993	1 January 1994
Northfleet School for Boys	Kent	21 December 1993	1 January 1994
Tower Road County Primary School	Lincolnshire	21 December 1993	1 January 1994
Great Yarmouth High School	Norfolk	18 March 1993	1 April 1993
Sir Christopher Hatton School (GM)	Northamptonshire	16 December 1992	1 January 1993
Wrenn School (GM)	Northamptonshire	16 December 1992	1 January 1993
Cannock Chase High School (GM)	Staffordshire	18 March 1993	1 April 1993
Park Hall County Infant School	Walsall	17 December 1993	1 January 1994
Park Hall County Junior School	Walsall	17 December 1993	1 January 1994
The Commonweal School	Wiltshire	22 October 1993	1 November 1993
Studley Green Primary School	Wiltshire	20 December 1993	1 January 1994
South Wilts Girls' Grammar School	Wiltshire	20 December 1993	1 January 1994
Calday Grange Grammar, West Kirby	Wirral	22 March 1993	1 April 1993

Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 10–14 working days
School	LEA	Approval	Incorporation
Osidge Primary School	Barnet	11 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. James' Catholic High School	Barnet	11 November 1993	1 December 1993
Reading School	Berkshire	13 March 1991	1 April 1991
Priory School	Berkshire	14 September 1992	1 October 1992
George Tomlinson School	Bolton	16 March 1993	1 April 1993
Kingsbury High School	Brent	16 March 1993	1 April 1993
Longsands Community College	Cambridgeshire	11 March 1993	1 April 1993
Bowness-on-Solway Primary School	Cumbria	15 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. John Fisher RC Primary School	Essex	9 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Giles CE Primary School	Hertfordshire	16 August 1993	1 September 1993
Charville Primary School	Hillingdon	12 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. Laurence CB Junior School	Hillingdon	13 August 1993	1 September 1993
Gunnersbury Catholic Boys' School	Hounslow	11 March 1993	1 April 1993
Senacre Technology School	Kent	11 December 1991	1 January 1992
Holy Trinity CB Primary School	Kent	12 August 1992	1 September 1992
Holy Cross Convent School	Kingston-on-Thames	11 March 1993	1 April 1993
Archbishop Temple School	Lancashire	15 March 1993	1 April 1993
Abbey Grange CE High School (GM)	Leeds	16 September 1993	1 October 1993
The Giles School	Lincolnshire	9 December 1993	1 January 1994
Lancaster County Infant School	Lincolnshire	9 December 1993	1 January 1994
Our Lady of Fatima RC High School	Liverpool	10 September 1993	1 October 1993
St. James CE Primary School	Rochdale	17 March 1993	1 April 1993
Yattendon Middle School	Surrey	10 August 1993	1 September 1993
Stanley Park Infants' School	Sutton	14 December 1993	1 January 1994
Stanley Park Junior School	Sutton	14 December 1993	1 January 1994
John Bentley School	Wiltshire	13 August 1993	1 September 1993
Kingsdown School	Wiltshire	16 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. Joseph's RC Comprehensive	Wiltshire	13 October 1993	1 November 1993

Interval between approval of grant-maintained status and incorporation date 15–19 working days
School	LEA	Approval	Incorporation
St. Michael's Catholic GS	Barnet	4 August 1993	1 September 1993
Finchley Catholic High School	Barnet	6 August 1993	1 September 1993
Holy Family RC School	Berkshire	8 December 1992	1 January 1993
Whitelocke Infant and Nursery School	Berkshire	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
St. Mary and St. Joseph's School (GM)	Bexley	9 March 1993	1 April 1993
Wibsey Middle School	Bradford	5 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. Gregory's RC High School	Brent	9 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. John Rigby School	Bromley	2 December 1992	1 January 1993
Stanground College (GM)	Cambridgeshire	9 March 1993	1 April 1993
Jews Free School	Camden	6 August 1993	1 September 1993
The Merrill Community School	Derbyshire	8 December 1992	1 January 1993
St. Walburga's RC Primary School	Dorset	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
Enfield Grammar School	Enfield	2 December 1993	1 January 1994
The Colne School	Essex	3 December 1993	1 January 1994
Broomfield County Primary School	Essex	3 December 1993	1 January 1994
Hadleigh Nursery and Infants School	Essex	6 December 1993	1 January 1994
The Stanway School	Essex	7 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Gregory the Great Catholic School	Gloucestershire	7 December 1993	1 January 1994
Blue Coat CE Primary School (GM)	Gloucestershire	4 March 1993	1 April 1993
St. Peter's RC Primary School	Hampshire	3 August 1993	1 September 1993
Dame Alice Owen's School	Hertfordshire	5 March 1993	1 April 1993

School	LEA	Approval	Incorporation
Bushey Meads School (GM)	Hertfordshire	8 March 1993	1 April 1993
Queen's School	Hertfordshire	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
Bushey Hall School	Hertfordshire	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
St. Michael's RC School	Hertfordshire	9 August 1993	1 September 1993
Gumley House Convent School	Hounslow	8 March 1993	1 April 1993
Mascalls School	Kent	4 March 1993	1 April 1993
Newington Junior School	Kent	9 August 1993	1 Septebmer 1993
Richard Challoner School	Kingston-on-Thames	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
Archbishop Tenison's School	Lambeth	9 March 1993	1 April 1993
St. Andrew's RC Primary School	Lambeth	6 December 1993	1 January 1994
St. Mary's High School	Lancashire	3 December 1993	1 January 1994
Lady Elizabeth Hastings CE Primary School	Leeds	3 August 1993	1 September 1993
Uppingham Community College	Leicestershire	8 March 1993	1 April 1993
William Robertson School	Lincolnshire	3 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. Wulfram's CE High School (GM)	Lincolnshire	3 August 1993	1 September 1993
St. Hugh's CE VC Comprehensive	Lincolnshire	8 December 1993	1 January 1994
Marshland High School	Norfolk	9 March 1992	1 April 1992
St. George's CE VC Middle School	Norfolk	6 December 1993	1 January 1994
Woodnewton Way Junior School	Northamptonshire	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
Woodnewton Way Infant School	Northamptonshire	3 December 1993	1 January 1994
Astley High School	Northumberland	3 September 1993	1 October 1993
Shenington CE Primary School	Oxfordshire	10 March 1993	1 April 1993
Handsworth St. Joseph's RC School	Sheffield	3 December 1993	1 January 1994
The Manor County First School	Surrey	9 March 1992	1 April 1992
Hawkedale First School	Surrey	9 March 1992	1 April 1992
De Stafford School	Surrey	10 March 1992	1 April 1992
Heathside Secondary School	Surrey	10 March 1992	1 April 1992
Wallington High School for Boys	Sutton	4 March 1993	1 April 1993
Chingford School	Waltham Forest	3 August 1993	1 September 1993
Burntwood School	Wandsworth	3 December 1991	1 January 1992
St. John's School	Wiltshire	3 August 1993	1 September 1993
Brandon Forest School	Wiltshire	8 October 1993	1 November 1993

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will identify all the specific purpose grants School given to each grant-maintained school in South Yorkshire for each financial year since 1991–92; and if he will give the purpose of each grant.

The following self-governing schools in South Yorkshire have received special purpose grants, SPGs:

	Amount paid (£)for each financial year
School	1992–93	1993–94
Clifford C E First School, Sheffield
SPG (Transitional)1	21,834	—
SPG (Development)2	2,915	4,985
SPG (Restructuring)3	11,136	—
SPG (VAT)4	1,044	4,141
SPG (Premises)5	—	920
All Saints RC School, Sheffield
SPG (Transitional)1	—	59,640
SPG (Development)2	—	24,2490
SPG (VAT)4	—	30,402
Notre Dame School, Sheffield
SPG (Transitional)1	—	51,610
SPG (Development)2	—	22,436
SPG (Restructuring)3	—	8,652
SPG (VAT)4	—	26,262
St. John Fisher RC (VA) Primary, Sheffield
SPG (Transitional)1	—	24,338
SPG (Development)2	—	4,863
SPG (VAT)4	—	4,298
Handsworth St. Josephs RC Primary, Sheffield
SPG (Transitional)1	—	17,599
SPG (Development)2	—	1,678
SPG (VAT)4	—	1,711

	Amount paid (£)for each financial year
School	1992–93	1993–94
St. Annes RC Primary, Sheffield
SPG (Transitional)1	—	38,250
SPG (Development)2	—	1,497
SPG (VAT)4	—	1,703

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the cost of the printing, publishing and distribution of Sir Ron Dearing's interim report; and what are the estimated costs in respect of the final report.

The printing and distribution costs of the interim report were £200,000. Comparable costs for the final report are estimated at £460,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education for each key stage and curriculum area, what are the pilot and development costs; and if he will identify those items of expenditure incurred in respect of those aspects now withdrawn as a result of the Dearing review.

Most of these costs were incurred by the National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council and date from the passing of the Education Reform Act 1988. Both councils have now been dissolved and it is not possible to identify the items of expenditure requested from their published accounts. Further work to identify the expenditure would incur disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the cost, since the enactment of the Education Reform Act 1988, of the development and implementation of the national curriculum and of the associated assessment of children.

Expenditure by the Department on the development and implementation of the national curriculum and the associated assessment of children for the years 1988–89 to 1992–93 inclusive was £469 million. This mainly comprises grant in aid to the National Curriculum Council, the School Examinations and Assessment Council and the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and funding under the grants for education support and training programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what have been the costs of external assessors in evaluating the various stages of the national curriculum and its assessment.

There has been a variety of external evaluations of the national curriculum and its assessment, carried out under the auspices of the National Curriculum Council, the School Examinations and Assessment Council, and its successor, the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority. The Office for Standards in Education has also evaluated various aspects of the national curriculum. Information on the expenditure incurred is not held centrally by the Department and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what were the total operating costs of (a) the National Curriculum Council and (b) the School Examinations and Assessment Council from their inception until their winding up.

The total operating costs of the National Curriculum Council and the School Examinations and Assessment Council, as recorded in their published accounts, from their inception on 15 August 1988 to 31 March 1993 were £36.3 million and £69.6 million respectively. Their final accounts for 1993–94 are not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are the operating and staffing costs to date of the Dearing inquiry.

The operating and staffing costs of the Dearing review of the national curriculum are estimated at £95,000, excluding the cost of printing and distributing the interim and final reports, which is estimated at £660,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education on which dates copies of circular 18/93 were dispatched to (i) chairs of governors of schools and (ii) chief education officers.

Distribution of circular 18/93 to schools and to local education authorities and others was handled by two separate contractors. I understand that the former distribution was completed by 31 December 1993 and the latter by 12 January 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the value placed on the former Fitzherbert school site in Brighton, prior to the City Technology Colleges Trust selling it to the Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust; and if he will make a statement.

This site was owned by the CTC Trust which was responsible for its valuation and disposal. The site was sold in November 1993 for a price which is commercially confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps will be taken to introduce competition into the provision of electricity supply in Northern Ireland.

The Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern Ireland has responsibility for the development of competition in the supply of electricity. He reported on his plans for this on 16 December and a copy of his report can be obtained from the Office of Electricity Regulation, Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what was the total number of claims for injury compensation on Action for Community Employment schemes in each year since 1988;(2) what were the yearly global sums paid by way of compensation to those injured on Action for Community Employment schemes since 1988;(3) how many injury claims were

Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. S. Crozier. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to provide a Union flag for the premises of the Department of Agriculture at 2 Newry road, Armagh; what arrangements have been made to fly the Union flag at these Government premises on the designated dates; why it was not flown on 1 January; and if he will make a statement.

A Union flag is available at the premises of the Department of Agriculture at 2 Newry road, Armagh, for use on designated dates.The Union flag is normally flown at the premises on designated dates, although I regret that it was not flown on Saturday 1 January 1994 as no staff were available on that day to carry out the task.In future, when the designated date falls on a weekend or a public holiday the Union flag will be raised on the afternoon of the last working day prior to the designated date and lowered on the morning of the next working day.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the number of households with negative equity for the third quarter of 1993; and what this figure represents as a proportion of total owner-occupied households.

I am unaware of any households in Northern Ireland with negative equity resulting from fluctuations in the housing market.

To ask the Prime Minister whether he will make arrangements for the Data Protection Registrar to inspect relevant contracts with suppliers of IT services that involve the use of personal data held by his Department in order to check whether all appropriate arrangements in relation to the Data Protection Act 1984 have been made, and whether such contracts make provisions for the registrar to make random inspections in order to check the suppliers' compliance in with the eighth data protection principle.

My office has not placed any contracts with suppliers of IT services that involve the use of personal data held by my office.

To ask the Prime Minister what is the annual financial value of the inflation-proofing built into the civil list; and by what amounts that has exceeded the sum required for annual indexation based on the actual cost of living in each year since the new civil list was introduced.

There is no inflation-proofing built into the civil list. While the £7.9 million axed annual payment took account of the average rate of inflation for the years 1979–1989, if actual inflation falls below this level the household is not in a position to spend the surplus but is expected to carry it forward to the end of the 10-year period. This was made quite clear in paragraph 12 of the 1990 report of the Royal Trustees—HC 629—which reads:

"If cost inflation is lower in overall terms than the rate assumed in paragraph 11, the Royal Trustees would expect the Royal Household to carry forward a surplus at the end of the decade, for use in the next period."

Civil list expenditure to date under the new arrangements has fallen well below the actual rate of inflation.

To ask the Prime Minister what account is taken of the inflation-proofing element in the annual refund of civil list money relating to those who have been removed from the civil list.

As set out in the report of the Royal Trustees—paragraphs 21 to 23 of HC464, 11 February 1993—Her Majesty the Queen now reimburses the Consolidated Fund for the full cost of all the parliamentary annuities paid to members of the royal family except the Queen Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh. The reimbursement for 1993 has already been received. The annuities are fixed sums and the question of inflation does not arise.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether he has provided Lord Justice Scott with all documents requested for use by the inquiry;(2) what documents he has submitted to Lord Justice Scott in advance of his appearance before the inquiry.

The only request I have received is for a written statement, which I submitted on 12 January.

To ask the Prime Minister what guidelines he has issued to Ministers in regard to which questions on the involvement of the United Kingdom in arms and military equipment exports to Iraq since 1985 may be substantively answered while the Scott inquiry is still sitting.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Warley, West (Mr. Spellar) on 7 June 1993, Official Report, column 14.

To ask the Prime Minister what record he has of telephone calls made by Mr. Frank Machon of Glasgow to officials at 10 Downing street between September and the end of December 1993.

None.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a transcript of his interview with "The World this Weekend" broadcast on Radio 4 on 2 January.

No, it is not my policy to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister whether he intends to make it his policy that the county of Cambridgeshire, or any other similar area in England, Scotland or Wales, will be permitted to secede from the Union should the majority of the residents of that county agree freely and concurrently with a majority of the residents of any other foreign country that they wish to do so; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 12 January 1993]: For my own part, I whole-heartedly support the continuation of the Union in its present form. The question of secession arises only in the context of nations rather than areas within the different jurisdictions. The majority of people in each of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom wish to maintain the Union.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a table showing how many York-based British Rail employees were employed by each division of British Rail at the latest date for which figures are available and at the same date in each of the previous three years.

As at 1 January 1994, the number of York-based British Rail employees by division was as follows:

	Number
Central Services	532
British Rail Property Board	45
Trainload Freight	69
Inter City	988
British Transport Police	10
Regional Railways	601
British Rail Telecom	71
Group HQ	38
Total	2,354

Information for the previous three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Hasquad study.

I announced on 4 January my decision not to pursue further the proposals for new road and rail infrastructure put forward by the consultants in their report on the Hasquad study.The consultants' proposals would be very. costly, amounting to more than £800 million in total. At a time when public spending is under severe pressure, there has to be a very strong case for taking these proposals forward. When there is an overriding need for a transport scheme, whether road or rail, difficult decisions cannot be avoided. But in this case the consultants were concerned with problems within the study area, and proposed options mainly to benefit local residents and town centres. In these circumstances, we would want to take the proposals forward only if they had been strongly supported by the community. If the proposals are unwelcome in the area, I see no reason for the Government to adopt them.Of the large number of comments we have received from local residents since publication of the Hasquad report, the overwhelming majority have been opposed to the proposals. These have caused anxiety about the possible effects on property in the area and I therefore decided to end the uncertainty now rather than wait until the end of the consultation period.The problems of travel and traffic congestion in the area identified by the consultants do, however, remain and are likely to get worse. My Department will therefore be ready to consider a package of more limited measures which the local authorities may wish to bring forward, in consultation with transport operators, with proposals for funding them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps were taken by the Metropolitan police, his maritime accident investigation branch, or any other body or person respectively to (a) obtain statements from and (b) provide information concerning their opportunity to give voluntary evidence to the maritime accident investigation branch inquiry, to Simon Hook and Dino Pereira, surviving passengers from the last cruise of the Marchioness.

Statements from both Mr. Hook and Mr. Pereira were taken by the Metropolitan police and copies were given to the inquiry. By means of press advertisement, anyone who wished to contribute to the inquiry was invited to do so; neither of the two gentleman named responded.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the number of households with negative equity for the third quarter of 1993; and what this figure represents as a proportion of total owner-occupied households.

Information on households with negative equity is not available for Wales as the samples in relevant surveys are too small to produce reliable estimates.

To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee on how many occasions during 1993 the electricity supply to 7 Millbank was interrupted; on how many of these occasions the House authorities were warned of the interruption; and when he expects a reliable supply to be available.

This is a matter for the Director of Works and I shall ask him to write to my hon. Friend.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each London borough the number of households and the proportion of all households claiming income support for each year since 1989.

The information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each London borough the number of households and the proportion of all households claiming family credit for each year since 1989.

This information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The number of families receiving Family Credit in the DSS regions2 is:
	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993
London North	28,100	35,200	38,700	43,400	56,400
London South	24,700	28,000	30,100	36,600	48,000
Midlands	50,100	57,300	64,000	71,500	90,300
Northern	49,600	56,100	61,200	68,900	87,600
North Western	49,700	53,300	57,600	63,400	79,400
Scotland	34,200	37,100	41,000	45,400	57,100
Wales and South Western	42,100	47,000	48,700	54,800	68,100
Total	278,500	314,000	341,300	384,000	486,900

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a regional breakdown of the figures published in "Personal Pensions 1993" by his Department.

People with a personal pension in the year ending 5 April 1992 by region and recknnable earnings
Ad-hoc 10 Thousands
Amount of reckonable earnings	All cases	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	East Anglia	South East	South West	West Midlands	North West	Wales	Scotland
Men and Women
Total cases	5,198.1	274.7	477.6	408.1	207.5	1,643.6	413.9	525.3	566.2	225.4	455.8
Mean earnings (£pa)	8,266	7,677	7,810	8,182	8,435	9,220	7,721	7,861	7,735	7,323	7,743
Zero	917.2	44.3	79.9	64.8	35.5	315.8	77.8	89.9	95.5	41.1	72.6
1–2,703	375.0	21.4	35.9	28.8	12.4	100.4	32.0	37.0	49.9	19.4	37.8
2,704–4,999	425.0	27.7	44.3	37.5	14.7	103.7	34.9	45.1	51.3	20.3	45.5
5,000–7,499	699.9	47.4	74.2	59.0	26.9	155.3	60.7	81.9	84.1	38.3	72.1
7,500–9,999	793.6	41.8	80.3	63.4	34.1	205.3	69.9	90.5	96.6	37.3	74.7
10,000–12,499	656.3	34.4	58.9	56.9	31.7	202.7	49.9	66.8	67.8	28.1	59.1
12,500–14,999	485.9	23.3	44.6	41.5	22.4	169.8	35.2	46.4	46.6	18.2	37.9
15,000–17,499	333.5	16.3	28.0	23.9	12.5	132.0	21.4	30.4	33.9	10.6	24.5
17,500–19,999	246.6	12.2	17.4	18.0	8.6	110.8	15.2	19.8	20.2	6.9	17.5
20,000 and over	265.1	5.9	14.1	14.3	8.7	147.8	16.9	17.5	20.3	5.2	14.4
Men
Total cases	3,291.1	180.1	316.4	267.1	136.1	992.6	264.8	336.8	359.5	149.6	288.1

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for the United Kingdom and by standard region, including Greater London, the number of households and the proportion of all households claiming family credit for each year since 1989.

The information is not available in the form requested.

The number of families with dependent children in 19911 in Great Britain by standard region is:
Region	1991
North	379,000
Yorkshire and Humberside	585,000
East Midlands	486,000
East Anglia	238,000
South East	2,034,000
South West	530,000
West Midlands	630,000
North West	787,000
Wales	353,000
Scotland	616,000
Total	6,638,000

A regional breakdown of all the tables in "Personal Pension Statistics 1991–92" could be produced only at disproportionate cost.However, summary regional analyses are available and are in the tables.