asked Her Majesty's Government:How they intend to handle applications from bodies seeking Approved Inspector status under Part II of the Building Act 1984. [HL1024]

We intend to make regulations further amending the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 1985. These amendment regulations will provide that, with effect from a date later this year, applications from corporate bodies seeking approved inspector status shall be made to a designated body, not, as now, to the Secretary of State. We intend that the Construction Industry Council will be designated for this purpose. The CIC is already the designated body for applications from individuals seeking approved inspector status.In preparation for this change, we are arranging for the CIC to undertake assessment of all new applications from corporate bodies received by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), from now on. We will decide such applications in the light of the CIC's advice in cases where the CIC's assessment is complete before the coming into effect of the amendment regulations. In cases where assessment is not complete when the amendment regulations take effect, the decision will become the responsibility of the CIC.There are a number of applications currently with the DETR from companies seeking approved inspector status. We have decided to approve an application from RBC Ltd. This approval will take effect from 1 April 1998. The DETR is notifying local authorities of this approval, in accordance with the Approved Inspectors Regulations. Subject to consultation with the applicants, the DETR will arrange for the CIC to take forward the assessment of some of the remaining applications currently with the DETR on the same sort of basis as for new applications.Wider competition between approved inspectors and local authority building control should be a stimulus to greater efficiency and higher standards of service to the customer. To help bring about this result, we are working to devolve the setting of charges for local authority building control to individual local authorities. We also wish to see arrangements put in place for setting and monitoring compliance with common standards of building control applicable across the public and private sectors. We therefore welcome the establishment by the Local Government Association, the Construction Industry Council and the Association of Corporate Approved Inspectors of a steering group to draw up recommended standards and monitoring arrangements. The steering group will be holding its first meeting shortly.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they propose to continue to have separate Government Offices for the North-West and Merseyside. [HL1023]

We have decided to merge the Government Offices for the North-West and Merseyside. Links between the Government Office and the proposed Regional Development Agency for the North-West will be simpler if they, like those in the rest of England, cover the same geographical area.The intention is to establish the single Government Office by about October 1998. We will consult the unions before the merger takes effect. We intend the new Government Office, whose title will be the Government Office for the North-West, to retain premises in Manchester and Liverpool. The Liverpool office has a particularly important role in the administration of Objective 1 European funding and the associated programmes.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish data for Northern Ireland for secondary schools, grammar schools, independent schools, further education colleges and for all institutions in each of the years 1994 to 1997 giving for each kind of institution the average A-level points obtained per pupil in each of the subjects; mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, English literature, history, geography, French and economics. [HL906]

Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish research into awards of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. [HL1025]

Today we are publishing A Study of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance Awards. We are also publishing First Findings From The 1996–97 Disability Follow-up to the Family Resources Survey, and the Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board will today publish its discussion paper, The Future of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. Copies of these documents have been placed in the Library.The information contained in these documents provide an important insight into these benefits and highlights the need to consider them very carefully in the context of welfare reform. We will discuss the publications with disabled people's organisations and other interested parties.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will consider the merits of a voucher scheme for people requiring artificial limbs, along the lines of the current voucher scheme for wheelchairs. [HL966]

The Government have no plans to introduce a voucher scheme for people requiring artificial limbs. The specification of artificial limbs is highly specialised and complex. Each unit is designed to fit the individual user and the fitting needs to take account of the cause of their amputation, their potential for mobility and their lifestyle needs. The market configuration and the need for expert clinical supervision of the entire surgical, fitting and support process militates against a voucher scheme being an option for artificial limb services.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which organisations and consortia of organisations have received money in the form of a grant or otherwise, or are scheduled to receive such money, to carry out mediation pilots under the provisions of the Family Law Act 1996, stating in each case the amount given or to be given to each organisation or consortium; the purpose of the grant; the starting date of the pilot; and what conditions have been laid down as a prerequisite to applying for or receiving such grants. [HL857]

The 33 organisations listed in the following schedule are contracted to the Legal Aid Board for the purpose of providing legally aided family mediation. Phase I contracts commenced between July and September 1997 and will end between May and July 1998. Before a contract is awarded by the board, the mediation supplier must be able to demonstrate that the mediators have trained with one of the key mediation bodies and that the service is working towards compliance with the requirements of the Draft Family Mediation Franchise Specification. Information about the amounts paid to organisations under contracts must remain confidential at present, as negotiations are continuing with further mediation suppliers and disclosure of these details would be likely to affect the Legal Aid Board's negotiating position with the organisations concerned.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which organisations and consortia of organisations have received money in the form of a grant or otherwise, or are scheduled to receive such money, to carry out information meeting pilots under the provisions of the Family Law Act 1996, stating in each case the amount given or to be given to each organisation or consortium; the purpose of the grant; the starting date of the pilot; and what conditions have been laid down as a prerequisite to applying for or receiving such grants. [HL858]

The following organisations have received grant-in-aid funding to conduct information meeting pilot exercises under the provisions of the Family Law Act:

• Cambridge Family and Divorce Centre; commenced 11 June 1997;
• Relate Leicestershire; commenced 12 June 1997;
• South Yorkshire Family Mediation; commenced 16 June 1997;
• Relate Birmingham Marriage Guidance; commenced 17 June 1997;
• Family Mediation Cardiff; commenced 23 June 1997;
• Relate Northumberland and Tyneside; commenced on 13 October 1997;
• NCH Action for Children London; commenced 12 January 1998;
• Greater Manchester Probation Committee; commenced 13 January 1998;
• Wiltshire Probation Committee; will commence 30 March 1998.

All grants-in-aid were made in accordance with the terms and conditions laid down by HM Treasury, following an application by each organisation.Information about the amounts of grant-in-aid paid must remain confidential at present, as negotiations are continuing in relation to further pilots and disclosure of costings would be likely to affect my department's negotiating position with potential pilot providers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have evaluated the number of members of the ethnic minorities replying to advertisements for public appointments since the new procedures under Lord Nolan's recommendations have come into force. [HL914]

All departments encourage applications from under-represented groups using various methods, including advertising, to establish a field of candidates. In accordance with the guidance issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, individual departments keep information about the selection process undertaken for appointments to executive NDPBs and NHS bodies. This includes equal opportunities data on gender, ethnic origin and disability.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which Minister or Ministers carry special responsibility for ethnic minority issues in the Cabinet. [HL915]

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary carries special responsibility for community relations issues. In addition, all members of the Cabinet are responsible individually for ensuring that their policies impact fairly on and address the needs of members of ethnic minority communities.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish data for Wales for comprehensive schools, independent schools, further education colleges and for all institutions in each of the years 1994 to 1997 giving for each kind of institution the average A-level points obtained per pupil in each of the subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, English literature, history, geography, French and economics. [HL905]

Information on the average point score per pupil by subject is not available centrally and could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost. The following table shows the average point score per A-level (or AS equivalent) examination entry. For most subjects, where there is only one examination available, this is likely to approximate closely the average score per pupil. However, for mathematics, where pupils can sit more than one examination in a year, there may be some differences.

Average A-level (or AS equivalent) point score per examination entry for schools and colleges in Wales (a)
	1994	1995	1996	1997
Comprehensive schools (b)
Mathematics (c)	5.5	5.7	5.4	6.0
Physics	4.7	5.1	5.1	5.5
Chemistry	4.7	5.1	5.2	5.6
Biology (d)	4.3	4.6	4.9	5.4
English literature	5.0	5.5	5.6	5.9
History	5.2	5.2	5.5	5.9

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish data for Wales showing for all state schools, independent schools and all schools taken together, the percentage of all 11 year-old pupils in each of the years 1994 to 1997 passing National Curriculum tests at level 4 or better together with the average level attained per pupil and the corresponding average subject age of pupils, calculated using the relationship between expected National Curriculum level and actual pupil age published by the Department for Education and Employment, in the following subjects: mathematics, English and science, showing separately for state schools the percentages and averages for local education authority schools, voluntary schools (including together voluntary controlled, voluntary aided, and special agreement schools) and grant-maintained schools showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of 11 year-old pupils. [HL879]

Industrial action by teachers severely affected Key Stage 2 testing arrangements in Wales in 1994 and to a lesser extent, in 1995. As a result, no reliable figures can be compiled for 1994. Participation was higher in 1995 and national figures for Wales were published for all subjects apart from Welsh. The information requested is shown in the following tables. These figures do not attempt to define an average level of pupil performance. There would be no correspondence between any such average and the National Curriculum level descriptions, which are designed to be rounded descriptions of performance. Average subject ages have not been calculated as a disproportionate cost would be incurred.The Key Stage 2 results figures relate to children assessed at Key Stage 2: most, but not all, of these children will have become 11 years old during the school year.

Numbers of schools for which Key Stage 2 task/test results were available:
Type of School	1995	1996	1997
Local Education Authority (LEA) (excluding voluntary) maintained primary and special schools	864	1,211	1,214
Voluntary maintained primary schools	197	241	240
Grant Maintained (GM) primary schools	4	5	5
Independent schools	11	13	16

Key Stage 2 test results in Wales, 1995–1997, by type of school
	Year	Number of pupils assessed	Percentage at Level 4 or above
LEA (excluding voluntary) maintained primary and special schools
English
Boys	1995	12,890	40
	1996	16,950	47
	1997	16,510	56
Girls	1995	12,380	55
	1996	15,800	64
	1997	15,460	69
All pupils	1995	25,260	47
	1996	32,750	55
	1997	31,970	62
Mathematics
Boys	1995	13,810	45
	1996	16,780	55
	1997	16,530	62
Girls	1995	13,000	49
	1996	15,820	56
	1997	15,470	63
All pupils	1995	26,810	47
	1996	32,600	55
	1997	32,000	63

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish data for Wales showing for comprehensive schools, independent schools and all schools taken together, the percentage of all 14 year-old pupils in each of the years 1994 to 1997 passing National Curriculum tests at level 6 or better together with the average level attained per pupil and the corresponding average subject age of pupils, calculated using the relationship between expected National Curriculum level and actual pupil age published by the Department for Education and Employment, in the following subjects: mathematics, English and science, showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of 14 year-old pupils. [HL883]

Industrial action by teachers severely affected Key Stage 3 testing arrangements in Wales in 1994 and, to a lesser extent, in 1995. As a result, no reliable figures can be compiled for 1994. Participation was higher in 1995 and national figures for Wales were published for all subjects apart from Welsh. The information requested is shown in the following tables. These figures do not attempt to define an average level of pupil performance. There would be no correspondence between any such average and the National Curriculum level descriptions, which are designed to be rounded descriptions of performance. Average subject ages have not been calculated as a disproportionate cost would be incurred.The Key Stage 3 results figures relate to children assessed at Key Stage 3: most, but not all, of these children will have become 14 years old during the school year.

Numbers of schools for which Key Stage 3 task/test results were available
Type of school	1995	1996	1997
Comprehensive	199	225	225
Independent	6	7	9

Key Stage 3 test results in Wales, 1995–1997, by type of school
	Year	Number of pupils assessed	Percentage at level 6 or above
Comprehensive Schools
English
Boys	1995	15,730	14
	1996	17,820	19
	1997	17,630	19
Girls	1995	15,330	26
	1996	17,320	32
	1997	17,190	33
All pupils	1995	31,070	20
	1996	35,140	26
	1997	34,820	26
Mathematics
Boys	1995	16,080	29
	1996	17,840	31
	1997	17,700	35
Girls	1995	15,640	29
	1996	17,360	32
	1997	17,220	34
All pupils	1995	31,720	29
	1996	35,200	31
	1997	34,930	35
Science
Boys	1995	16,160	26
	1996	17,910	22
	1997	17,710	32
Girls	1995	15,650	23
	1996	17,380	20
	1997	17,220	29
All pupils	1995	31,810	24
	1996	35,290	21
	1997	34,930	30

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will publish data for Wales showing for comprehensive schools, independent schools and all schools taken together, the percentage of all 14 year-old pupils in each of the years 1994 to 1997 passing National Curriculum tests at level 6 or better together with the average level attained per pupil and the corresponding average subject age of pupils, calculated using the relationship between expected National Curriculum level and actual pupil age published by the Department for Education and Employment, in the following subjects: mathematics, English and science, showing separately for state schools the percentages and averages for local education authority schools, voluntary schools (including together voluntary controlled, voluntary aided, and special agreement schools) and grant-maintained schools showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of 14 year-old pupils. [HL901]

Industrial action by teachers severely affected Key Stage 3 testing arrangements in Wales in 1994 and, to a lesser extent, in 1995. As a result, no reliable figures can be compiled for 1994. Participation was higher in 1995 and national figures for Wales were published for all subjects apart from Welsh. Figures for all schools are included in a reply I have given today. The other information requested is shown in the following tables. These figures do not attempt to define an average level of pupil performance. There would be no correspondence between any such average and the National Curriculum level descriptions, which are designed to be rounded descriptions of performance. Average subject ages have not been calculated as a disproportionate cost would be incurred.The Key Stage 3 results figures relate to children assessed at Key Stage 3: most, but not all, of these children will have become 14 years old during the school year.

Numbers of schools of which KS3 task/test results were available
Type of school	1995	1996	1997
Maintained Comprehensive Schools:	199	225	225
of which: LEA (excluding voluntary aided or controlled)	171	197	197
Voluntary aided or controlled	17	17	17
Grant maintained	11	11	11