To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure and the breakdown of

£ million
	Financial year
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
PR Marketing and business support service	0.733	0.502	0.844	1.114	2.834
Central PR Services	2.243	2.267	2.328	2.741	2.183
National Employers Liaison Committee (Tri- Service Reserve Forces)	1.098	1.089	1.055	0.877	1.000
Scholarships	10.730	4.720	4.371	0.751	0.700
Sales Promotion (DESO)	1.408	3.299	1.064	1.819	1.600

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals there are to amend his Department's Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2000–01. [151190]

The Government have decided that, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for Class VI Vote 1 Defence for 2000–01, the following change should apply:

the Ministry of Defence Departmental Expenditure Limit will be increased by £781.341 million from £22,820.341 million to £23,601.683 million.

This will cover additional expenditure incurred by UK forces on operations in Kosovo and Bosnia during the current financial year of £220 million and £100 million respectively and Sierra Leone at just under £8 million. The figure also includes full take-up of the Ministry of Defence's entitlement to end year flexibility of £241 million plus additional funding from the 2000 spending review (£200 million) and for capital and civil service modernisation (£10 million). There are also a number of transfers between MOD, DETR, DfEE, FCO and Cabinet Office.The Supplementary Estimates will also provide for changes in the general pattern of expenditure, including adjustments between the Defence Procurement Agency's equipment programme and operating costs programmes.As the increase in the defence expenditure limit will be met from the reserve, it will not add to the planned total of public expenditure in the current year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving medical officers in each specialty are not fully fit for deployment; for what reasons; and if he will make a statement. [149892]

[holding answers 8 February 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2000, Official Report, column 135W,to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr.Loughton)on a similar subject. The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, excluding recruitment costs, the table gives details of expenditure against areas identified.

[holding answer 13 February 2001]: The medical downgrading categorisation system with the armed forces covers a wide range of different levels of medical downgrading. Personnel recorded as medically downgraded may still, therefore, be capable of undertaking their full duties, albeit with restrictions, for example to their geographical location. To give an indication of this, of the 42 Army personnel included in the totals, only seven are assessed to be undeployable. Against this background, the number of medical officers, including trainees, who are medically precluded from unlimited deployment is shown by speciality. The particular nature of medical downgrading could not be provided without disproportionate effort.

Number of medical officers medically precluded from unlimited deployment
Specialty	Number
Anaesthetics	7
General Medicine	5
Orthodontics	1
Paediatrics	1
Psychiatry	7
Occupational Medicine	10
General Duties Medical Officers	2
General Practice	29
Genito-Urinary Medicine	1
General Surgery	3
Rheumatology and Rehabilitation	1
Public Health Medicine	1
Pathology	1
House Officers	7

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military medical posts in each of the specialties in defence of secondary care are filled by civilian doctors; what percentage of the establishment figure for each specialty this represents; and if he will make a statement. [149893]

[holding answer 13 February 2001]: I will write to the right hon. and learned Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many helicopters, broken down by type, other than Chinooks, were stationed in Northern Ireland in May and June 1994; and where they were based; [150405](2) what other helicopters were available at the base in Northern Ireland from which Chinook DZ 576 departed on its last flight on 2 June 1994; how many of each type there were; and how many passengers each type could have transported from RAF Aldergrove to the destination of ZD 576. [150407]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: Figures for the number of helicopters stationed in Northern Ireland in May and June 1994 are no longer held. However, details of the notional number of helicopters available for tasking in December 1994 are shown. Notional numbers of helicopters available for tasking in May and June 1994 would have been very similar. Figures for the number of passengers which each aircraft can transport are also shown.

• 11 Gazelle (2 passengers)
• 7 Lynx (9 passengers)
• 2 Sea Kings (17 passengers)
• 7 Wessex (6 passengers)
• 7 Puma (12 passengers).

Gazelle and Wessex helicopters would need to refuel during a sortie from RAF Aldergrove to Fort George.All of these aircraft were based at RAF Aldergrove except for the following:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance was given to his Department by the Boeing company in investigating the crash of helicopter ZD 576. [150408]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: The air frame manufacturers, Boeing Helicopters, provided on site assistance to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch Inspector. Subsequently, between June and December 1994 Boeing also provided extensive assistance with the investigation of the wreckage while it was laid out at DRA Farnborough and further specific assistance was provided on items returned to Boeing Helicopters Philadelphia for examination and testing.The RAF Board of Inquiry into the accident consulted Boeing and obtained computer simulations of possible flight paths and associated data concerning flight control parameters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the sound levels in decibels are inside the passenger area of a Chinook helicopter. [150402]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: The noise in the passenger cabin of a Chinook Mk1 aircraft was measured over a series of 25 sorties during August 1993 and the mean levels were 103.5 decibels and 87.8 decibels. Such measurements are not available for the Chinook Mk2 aircraft, but would not be significantly different.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many of the passengers who were killed in the Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre travelled by aircraft to the base from which they departed in Chinook ZD 576; [150404](2) on how many occasions Flight Lieutenants

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: The details requested in these two questions are not known.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Chinook helicopters were flown (a) into and (b) out of Northern Ireland on 2 June 1994; and what their flight times and routes were. [150410]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: No Chinook helicopters flew into Northern Ireland on 2 June 1994. One flew out, that being Chinook ZD 576 which left RAF Aldergrove at 17.42 hours, en route to Fort George.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) (a) when, (b) where and (c) by whom helicopter ZD 576 was fitted with FADEC; and when the aircraft (i) entered service with the armed forces and (ii) was built; [150414](2) if he will list the way points of the flight of Chinook helicopter ZD 576 on 2 June 1994, indicating the altitude which the aircraft was supposed to maintain between each way point. [150412]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how long tasking records of helicopter flights are normally retained; in what form they are stored; how long they are retained in the case of an accident; and if the tasking records of the last flight of helicopter ZD 576 have been retained. [150409]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: Tasking forms recording helicopter flights in Northern Ireland are retained for six years. However in the case of an accident the relevant tasking record for the day it occurred will normally be held as part of the Board of Inquiry papers, for as long as it is necessary to retain the latter. The 2 June 1994 tasking record for Chinook ZD 576 is still retained with the RAF Board of Inquiry report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and which Chinook helicopters were stationed in Northern Ireland in the months of May and June 1994; and from which bases they operated. [150403]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: At that time two Chinook helicopters were detached to Northern Ireland. In May 1994 these were Mk1s until 31 May when ZD 576, the first Chinook Mk2 to operate in Northern Ireland, was delivered to RAF Aldergrove, and one of the Mk1s was flown back to RAF Odiham. All the Chinook aircraft in Northern Ireland operate out of RAF Aldergrove and return there at the end of the day's tasking.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when it was decided, and by whom, that Chinook helicopter ZD 576 would be used on the flight on which it crashed on 2 June 1994. [150411]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: The flight was tasked by the Joint Air Tasking Operations Centre (JATOC) in Northern Ireland on 1 June 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock), of 5 February 2001, Official Report, column 358W, what steps have been taken to recover the depleted uranium munitions test-fired into the Adriatic Sea. [149649]

The Royal Navy uses depleted uranium (DU) in its Phalanx close-in weapon systems fitted to some ships for anti-missile and aircraft defence. Each round contains only a small quantity of DU. We know from our monitoring of substantial quantities of DU fired into the Solway Firth over many years that this has no detectable impact on uranium levels in sediment or marine life. There are significant amounts of natural uranium in seawater, and the firing of a few Phalanx rounds containing small quantities of DU will have minimal impact on the marine environment of the Adriatic.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what medical advice was given to members of the armed forces deployed on Operation Palliser prior to deployment regarding the risks of malaria; what anti-malarial protection precautions were taken with regard to armed forces kit and equipment for Operation Palliser (a) before deployment and (b) in theatre; and if he will make a statement. [149178]

I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department maintains sufficient supplies of anti-malarial and other drugs to provide maximum protection for members of the armed forces who might be deployed at short notice. [149889]

[holding answer 12 February 2001]: The Medical Supplies Agency (MSA) has arrangements in place for the provision of medical supplies in support of operations, across a wide range of contingencies. These arrangements include stock held by the MSA and stock held by private vendor contractors that can be made available at short notice (within 24 hours). There have been occasional problems with some vaccines that have a limited shelf life. Last year, for example, there was a national shortage of Yellow Fever vaccine. Despite this, MSA procurement staff were able to put in place arrangements to meet operational requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy not to send UK forces into tropical areas if they are not adequately protected against malaria and other tropical diseases. [150214]

Medical issues are taken into account during the process of planning for any deployment of UK forces. It is our policy to provide all reasonable protective measures to prevent malaria and other infectious diseases, which troops might be exposed to during an overseas deployment to the tropics.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many press releases were issued by his Department in the financial years (a) 1996–97, (b) 1997–98, (c) 1998–99 and (d) 1999–2000; how many have been issued in the current financial year; and what his estimate is of the total number for the current financial year. [149252]

[holding answer 8 February 2001]: The number of press releases issued by the Ministry of Defence between the financial years 1996 to 2000 are indicated in the table:

Ministry of Defence press releases
	Number issued
April 1996-March 1997	239
April 1998-March 1998	384
April 1998-March 1999	315
April 1999-March 2000	362

Between April 2000 to January 2001 the MOD issued a total of 266 press releases. The current rate of issue is expected to continue to the end of the current financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for children of far east internees to receive compensation in cases where neither parent is alive. [150099]

The ex gratia payment scheme, which I announced in the House on 7 November 2000, Official Report, columns 159–70, is for the surviving members of the British groups who were held prisoner by the Japanese during the Second World War. Where a person who would have been eligible for the scheme has died, his or her surviving spouse is entitled to receive it instead. The children of former prisoners are not eligible for the scheme unless they were themselves interned by the Japanese.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many US military personnel have been stationed at RAF Fylingdales for each of the last three years. [150474]

One.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the costs to the United Kingdom of installing National Missile Defence facilities at RAF Fylingdales. [150478]

None. Any estimate would be made in light of a request from the United States to install facilities at RAF Fylingdales. No such request has been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what restrictions on access to Warcop will result from his Department's plan to buy out the commoners. [150267]

The proposals will lead to some restrictions but greater certainty of access. Mondays would be lost, but there would be guaranteed access on 12 non-firing weekends programmed across the year, linked where possible to public holidays. Furthermore, access will be available each Sunday from 13.00 hours. It is also intended to create new routes in the locality. The proposals are still being developed in discussion with English Nature, the Countryside Agency and local representatives of user groups such as the Rambler's Association.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many days a year his Department closes its land at Warcop for grouse shooting. [150268]

None. Grouse shooting takes place only when the ranges are closed for maintenance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often grouse shooting at Warcop prevents MOD training. [150269]

Grouse shooting at Warcop does not, and never has, prevented the Army from training there.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the proposed refit and repair work for Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, with particular reference to the share of this work, that will be allocated to Rosyth dockyard. [150120]

I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the University of Warwick regarding the university's requirement that students own or lease a computer as a condition of entrance; and what assessment he has made of the implications for the take up of courses of this policy. [150534]

No discussions have taken place with the University of Warwick about this matter. The Department has, however, received a copy of the University's consultation document on their proposed e-strategy and has been invited to comment. The Government have made it clear, in regulations and guidance issued to higher education institutions in August 1999, what charges may be levied without breaching the proscription on top-up fees.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the average expenditure per pupil in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in (a) Halton and (b) Cheshire local education authorities in (1) 1997–98, (2) 1998–99 and (3) 1999–2000; and what the amount is for 2000–01. [148847]

[holding answer 14 February 2001]: The following table sets out the overall resources per pupil made available to Halton and Cheshire local education authorities for compulsory primary and secondary education, in both cash and real terms.

Standard spending assessment and special/specific grants1
£ per pupil
	Primary (5–10) (cash)	Secondary (11–15) (cash)	Primary (5–10) (real terms)	Secondary (11–15) (real terms)
Halton
1997–982	2,160	2,840	2,320	3,050
1998–99	2,280	2,980	2,380	3,110
1999–2000	2,480	3,130	2,530	3,200
2000–01	2,780	3,430	2,780	3,430
Cheshire
1997–982	1,990	2,570	2,140	2,760
1998–99	2,100	2,700	2,190	2,810
1999–2000	2,280	2,840	2,330	2,890
2000–01	2,480	3,050	2,480	3,050
1 Rounded to nearest £10
2 Notional figures assuming an apportionment, in accordance with post April 1998 local government re-organisation

Under this Government, funding per pupil has already increased by over £300 nationally in real terms, and it will increase by a further £150 per pupil for 2001–02. Under the last Government, funding per pupil fell by £60 in real terms between 1994–95 and 1997–98. There will be further increases in funding following the year 2000 spending review, a further £370 per pupil over the three-year period, taking the total increase to nearly £700 between 1997–98 and 2003–04. The following table shows the average net institutional expenditure per pupil in pre-primary/primary and secondary schools in Halton and Cheshire, for the financial years 1997–98 and 1998–99, the latest year for which this information is currently available. These figures are not comparable with the funding figures above. They cover school based outturn expenditure, but not the cost of meals, or of centrally run activities such as home to school transport and certain special educational needs services.Halton local education authority became a local education authority from April 1998. The figures shown here for 1997–98 are for Cheshire prior to the reorganisation.

£ (cash)
	1997–981	1998–991
Halton
Pre-primary/primary	—	1,870
Secondary	—	2,490
Cheshire
Pre-primary/primary	1,710	1,770
Secondary	2,320	2,360
1 Rounded to the nearest £10

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what reasons underlay the delay in presenting the North Southwark Education Action Zone account for 1998–99 to Parliament. [150350]

[holding answer 13 February 2001]: Zone accounts are laid before Parliament by the National Audit Office (NAO) once they are satisfied that they can give a full opinion. The NAO found that North Southwark EAZ had difficulty in providing evidence to support some zone transactions and needed to strengthen financial controls. Once these issues had been successfully resolved the accounts were laid before Parliament.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average value is of the debt owed by a student leaving university. [150422]

The average debt of a borrower with a mortgage-style student loan entering repayment at the start of the financial year 1999–2000, the latest date for which data are available, was £3,210Information on private sector debt such as overdrafts and other commercial loans is not available centrally.

Funding allocations to Cumbria
£000
Programme	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Education Standard Spending Assessment	170,602	170,400	186,100	195,500	205,834
Schools Capital	6,175	4,920	7,680	10,254	19,764
Standards Fund	1,550	1,985	2,884	5,309	11,316
School Standards Grant	—	—	—	—	3,399
School Budget Support Grant	—	—	—	—	571
Nursery Education Grant	—	1,951	557	601	804
Schedule 32 Grant	—	—	—	107	73
Insurance Grant for former GM Schools	—	—	—	28	24
Transitional Grant for former GM Schools	—	—	—	—	199
Teachers Pay Reform Special Grant: Threshold	—	—	—	—	2,604

Schools in the Copeland constituency received £462,000 School Standards Grant (SSG) in 2000–01, with an estimated SSG of £860,000 for Copeland schools in 2001–02. Final allocations for 2001–02 will depend on pupil numbers as reported in the Annual Schools Census.The table shows the schools in the Copeland constituency which have benefited from investment

New Deal for schools—allocations to schools in the Copeland constituency
£
School	Project details	Grant awarded
1997–98
St. Bridget's Primary	Replacement of temporary classrooms	1598,000
Millom Schools	ICT Room
All county and voluntary controlled primary schools which have no fire alarm system	Provision of fire alarm systems
Whitehaven School	Upgrade laboratories

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people aged over 50 years in (a) Yorkshire and Humberside and (b) the city of York are eligible to apply for the New Deal for the over 50s. [149448]

At December 2000, 7,565 JSA recipients in the Employment Service region of Yorkshire and the Humber, and 105 people in the unitary authority area of York, were eligible for New Deal 50 plus. It is not possible to provide figures for eligible people in receipt of non-JSA benefits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will list the additional resources he has made available to schools in Copeland; under which (a) schemes and (b) funds they are provided; and if he will make a statement; [149173](2) if he will estimate the cash resources to be paid directly to Copeland schools in 2001–02 on the basis of his proposals in the pre-Budget report; and if he will list the schools to benefit, giving the sum in each case. [149296]

Most funding for schools is distributed via local education authorities. Many funding allocations can be given only at local education authority level, not constituency level. Listed are the Department's funding allocations for education in Cumbria for each year since 1996–97. The figures for 2000–01 are the total grants currently estimated to be paid.through the New Deal for Schools programme which commenced in 1917–98. This is the only constituency level information for capital expenditure which is readily available. These allocations formed part of the £ 10.877 million investment made so far in schools in Cumbria under the New Deal for Schools programme, and are included in the total schools capital funding allocations for Cumbria already listed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many students he has appointed to Learning and Skills Councils. [148982]

[holding answer 7 February 2001]: The information requested is not available as applicants for positions with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the local LSCs were not asked to declare whether they are currently or have been students.However, we recognise that to be successful, the LSC must be fully responsive to the needs of learners and potential learners. Learning Partnerships are already charged with ensuring that consultative mechanisms are

Leavers 1994–95
	Less than 1 year1,2	One but less than 2 years2	Two but less than 3 years2	All leavers3
Nursery and primary	610	610	600	15,500 (8 per cent.)
Secondary
Mathematics	80	80	70	n/a
English	80	90	80	n/a
Science	80	120	100	n/a
Languages	80	100	100	n/a
Technology and Art	110	130	70	n/a
History	30	30	30	n/a
Geography	10	30	30	n/a

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many newly qualified teachers employed in (a) the primary and (b) the secondary sector, have left their posts within (i) one year. (ii) two years and (iii) three years in each of the past five years, broken down in the case of secondary school teachers by the subject of their qualification. [147636]

[holding answer 29 January 2001]: The number of leavers in each year as a proportion of the appropriate cohort of new entrants has remained reasonably constant throughout the five year period and the proportion of leavers from the overall number of teachers in service fell in 1998–99.New full-time and part-time qualified teachers from the nursery, primary and secondary schools sector in England who left the maintained schools sector in their first three years, and all leavers, are as follows.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which overheads incurred by the Employment Service are attributable to the implementation of the New Deal. [141694]

[holding answer 11 December 2000]: The Employment Service funding for all New Deals is determined on a marginal cost basis on the assumption that these programmes will be delivered through the existing ES infrastructure of offices and IT. The Employment Service overheads which are attributable to the implementation of the New Deals are therefore those specific costs related to project design; implementation; marketing and publicity and limited refurbishment in some offices for the individual New Deals.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what changes will be made to the Departmental Expenditure Limit and Running Costs Limit for her Department in 2000–01. [151103]

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, for Class VIII, Vote 1: Department for International Development, the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) for 2000–01 will be increased by £68,000,000 from £2,121,732,000 to £2,189,732,000 for voted expenditure giving a total of voted and non-voted expenditure of £2,827,768,000. The increase is the net effect of:

an increase of £59,000,000 End Year Flexibility from an underspend against the 1998 EC Attributed Aid:

an increase of £9,000,000 from the Reserve in respect of humanitarian assistance in response to the earthquake in India.

The increase will be met by a claim on the DEL Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) how much the Government Office for London allocated to Wandsworth Council's housing investment programme for (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and if he will make a statement; [148139](2) how much the Government Office for London has allocated to Wandsworth council for major repairs

The allocations made to Wandsworth to support the authority's housing capital programmes in 2000–01 and 2001–02 are as follows:

£ million
	2000–01	2001–02
Housing annual capital guidelines	20.592	11.386
Private sector renewal	1—	1.500
Disabled facilities grants	0.240	0.237
Total housing investment programmes allocations	20.832	13.123
Major repairs allowance (MRA)	1—	14.773
Total	20,832	27.896
1 Not applicable

The MRA, which was introduced for 2001–02, is ring-fenced for works on council housing. The resources allocated through housing annual capital guidelines provide unhypothecated support for authorities' housing capital programmes which cover expenditure on private sector renewal and support for new provision by housing associations as well as work on council housing.Allocations made to Wandsworth doubled between 1997–98 and 2001–02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the special advisers working for him will relinquish their posts on the dissolution of Parliament. [149318]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 13 February 2001,Official Report, column 130W.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many planning appeals were lodged with his Department against decisions of (a) Brentwood council and (b) planning authorities in Essex in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and how many such appeals were dismissed by his Department in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [149811]

The provision of information on planning appeals is the responsibility of the planning inspectorate. I have asked the Inspectorate's chief executive, Mr. Chris Shepley, to write to the hon. Member.