H01 1 <#FLOB:H01\>2.1.29 The counties with the greatest increase H01 2 in the population count falls into two types. One is the H01 3 residential county adjacent to a large urban centre: for example, H01 4 Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and West Sussex in relation to London; H01 5 and Hereford & Worcester and Shropshire in relation to the West H01 6 Midlands. The second type is made up of remoter, mainly rural H01 7 districts, including much of the South West (Cornwall, Dorset, H01 8 Somerset, Wiltshire, and Devon) and East Anglia (Cambridgeshire, H01 9 Norfolk, and Suffolk). A ranking of all counties by the H01 10 proportionate change in their population count during 1981-91 is H01 11 given in Table 5.

H01 12 2.1.30 The district and county patterns make it clear why H01 13 the most rapidly growing regions in 1981-91 were East Anglia, the H01 14 South West, and the East Midlands (see Table A). These are the H01 15 three regions of England which do not include a metropolitan H01 16 county. Furthermore, the fastest growing region - East Anglia - H01 17 lacks a city in the large cities category. (It is the H01 18 metropolitan counties and large cities that experienced H01 19 the biggest fall in population counts). Wales might seem to be an H01 20 exception to this, in that although it also contains no H01 21 metropolitan county its count increased by less than 1/2 per cent H01 22 over the decade. But industrial South Wales has some similarities H01 23 to a metropolitan county.

H01 24 Population density

H01 25 2.1.30 The population density of England & Wales as a H01 26 whole, as measured by the counts of people present on Census night H01 27 1991, was just over 3 persons per hectare. But there is H01 28 considerable variation over the country, and England (3 1/2 persons H01 29 per hectare) is almost three times as densely populated as Wales. H01 30 The most densely populated regions in 1991 were the North West and H01 31 South East, with 8 1/2 and 6 persons per hectare, respectively. No H01 32 English region is as sparsely populated as Wales overall, the least H01 33 densely populated regions being East Anglia, the South West, and H01 34 the North, all with fewer than 2 persons per hectare.

H01 35 2.1.32 The metropolitan counties (including Inner and H01 36 Outer London) were over eight times as densely populated as the H01 37 non-metropolitan counties, with Inner and Outer London the most H01 38 densely populated. Of the four most sparsely populated counties in H01 39 England & Wales, three were in Wales (Powys, Dyfed, and Gwynedd), H01 40 the other being Northumberland.

H01 41 2.1.33 Despite a fall in the population count in the H01 42 1980s, Islington and Kensington & Chelsea remained the most densely H01 43 populated London Boroughs, containing over 100 persons per hectare. H01 44 Outside London, the greatest densities were in Portsmouth and H01 45 Blackpool with over 40 persons per hectare. At the other extreme, H01 46 there were 64 districts with densities below 1 person per hectare, H01 47 predominantly in Wales, the North, East Anglia, and the South H01 48 West.

H01 49 2.1.34 In contrast, population density in terms of the H01 50 count of persons present per household space was remarkably uniform H01 51 across all areas of England and Wales, ranging from 2.5 persons per H01 52 household space in Oxfordshire to 1.9 persons per household space H01 53 in Inner London. (The count of household spaces includes all H01 54 private living accommodation, whether occupied on census night or H01 55 not.)

H01 56 2.1.35 At local government district level, the range of H01 57 population densities is only a little wider: 2.6 persons per H01 58 household space (Tamforth) to 1.4 persons per household space (City H01 59 of London).

H01 60 2.2 1991 Census preliminary counts compared with population H01 61 estimates

H01 62 2.2.1 Each year, OPCS produces mid-year estimates of the H01 63 resident population of England & Wales, of which the mid-1990 H01 64 estimates are the latest available at national level. The current H01 65 series of estimates is based on the 1981 Census results. They have H01 66 been updated annually by adding a year to the age of the H01 67 population, adding births, subtracting deaths, and making allowance H01 68 for migration. Though the 1991 Census will be used as the starting H01 69 point for similar estimates through the 1990s, the preliminary H01 70 Census results presented here have not been, and cannot be used for H01 71 this purpose because of differences in coverage described below. It H01 72 will be important, in due course, to compare estimates rolled H01 73 forward from 1981 with new results based on the 1991 Census to test H01 74 the quality of the estimating procedure, and if necessary make H01 75 adjustments. This cannot be cone properly until full Census results H01 76 for the resident population are available. The H01 77 preliminary counts represent only the population counted as present H01 78 on Census night.

H01 79 2.2.2 There are differences in the treatment of students H01 80 and armed forces between the Census and the population estimates. H01 81 The estimates count students at their term-time addresses, and H01 82 armed forces at their stationed addresses, but the Census question H01 83 on term-time address of students will allow figures for students to H01 84 be produced on both bases. The OPCS population estimates also allow H01 85 for Census under-enumeration, the extent of which will not be H01 86 established until the relevant results from the Census Validation H01 87 Survey are available in Summer 1992.

H01 88 Comparison for England & Wales

H01 89 2.2.3 For the whole of England & Wales, the preliminary H01 90 Census count is a little lower (by about 2 per cent) than the H01 91 1981-based estimate, after making corrections for definitional H01 92 differences between the two figures. The estimated difference is H01 93 about 1 million people. This estimate will change when a comparison H01 94 with the census count of residents is made.

H01 95 2.2.4 Data on births and deaths are considered to be H01 96 reliable; but the international migration figures, based mainly on H01 97 data from the sample based International Passenger H01 98 Survey, are less accurate. However, errors in the estimation H01 99 of migration flows are not expected to be able to account for more H01 100 than about 100,000 people. Other components of the difference H01 101 between estimates and Census results include: the number of H01 102 households where nobody could be contacted (believed to be around H01 103 140,000 when the preliminary counts were compiled), and a change in H01 104 the balance between visitors to England & Wales and absent H01 105 residents since the 1981 Census. This change is estimated around H01 106 -300,000, but this involves a substantial margin of uncertainty. It H01 107 is also likely that under-enumeration in the 1991 Census was H01 108 greater than in the 1981 Census, when around 1/4 million people H01 109 were omitted from the present population. Early indications also H01 110 suggest that not everyone present on census night in hospitals, H01 111 hotels, and other communal establishments was counted. The size of H01 112 the under-enumeration will be estimated when the results of the H01 113 Census Validation Survey are available.

H01 114 Comparison for districts

H01 115 2.2.5 For sub-national areas, the discrepancies between H01 116 rolled forward estimates and the Census preliminary counts are H01 117 proportionately larger. This is because there is no satisfactory H01 118 method of bringing the two sets of figures on to a comparable base H01 119 for small areas. Because of this difficulty, the particular H01 120 analysis presented in Table E of the 1981 Census Preliminary H01 121 Report is not repeated here. Instead, to give an early H01 122 indication of the level of comparability between the Census and the H01 123 estimates, Table E below shows a comparison of intercensal H01 124 changes calculated from the 1981 and extrapolated 1991 H01 125 estimates, and the increases and decreases recorded in 1981 and H01 126 1991 Census preliminary counts (with allowance in both cases for H01 127 boundary changes).

H01 128 2.2.6 The table shows that for 319 of 403 districts the H01 129 direction of population change is the same when calculated from H01 130 both sources, but only 141 districts fall in the same broad band. H01 131 For most districts, the increase of the estimated resident H01 132 population is greater than that of the preliminary count of the H01 133 population present (generally between 2 and 3 per cent). This shows H01 134 up in Table E, where the figures for most districts lie below the H01 135 diagonal row for cells running from top left to bottom right of the H01 136 table. As with the comparison at national level, the reasons for H01 137 this are thought to include:

H01 138 <*_>bullet<*/>a greater number of 'no-contacts' in the 1991 H01 139 Census compared with 1981;

H01 140 <*_>bullet<*/>a changed visitor/absent resident balance H01 141 compared with 1981 (this cannot be corrected for local areas); and H01 142

H01 143 <*_>bullet<*/>an increased amount of under-enumeration (eg H01 144 missed households and persons missed in enumerated households) H01 145 compared with the 1981 Census.

H01 146 All these make the 1981 count larger relative to that of H01 147 1991.

H01 148 2.2.7 A few districts show significantly different changes H01 149 when the Census counts are compared with the estimates. The Census H01 150 counts for those districts growing much faster according to the H01 151 Census Cambridge, and the Isles of Scilly, will be affected by the H01 152 presence of students and visitors respectively - factors which can H01 153 be expected to blur the assessment of change in the resident H01 154 population since 1981. The districts with substantial deviations in H01 155 the other directions are Richmondshire and Purbeck which contain H01 156 considerable armed forces populations, the Vale of Glamorgan, and H01 157 Hackney.

H01 158 3 Future publications

H01 159 Population present on Census night

H01 160 3.1 Following this Preliminary Report, census H01 161 reports and tables will be produced by analysis of the data keyed H01 162 into the computer directly from forms. Census forms received too H01 163 late for the Preliminary Report will be included in the H01 164 final figures. In 1981, the overall difference between the final H01 165 figure for the population present on Census night and the H01 166 preliminary figure was 0.3 per cent, part of which was due to a H01 167 processing error which inflated the final counts.

H01 168 Resident population

H01 169 3.2 The main census results will be based not on the H01 170 population present on Census night, but on the population H01 171 resident in each area. This is because central government, H01 172 local and health authorities, and others generally plan the H01 173 provision of services and the allocation of resources for the H01 174 resident population. The resident population will exclude visitors H01 175 to an area, and include residents who happened to be absent from H01 176 the area on census night. The count of residents will also include H01 177 imputed details for households where nobody could be contacted, but H01 178 where people were believed to live. (An article explaining how this H01 179 is being done was published in the Summer 1991 issue of H01 180 Population Trends - No.64).

H01 181 3.3 Census questions can be divided into those to which H01 182 the responses are relatively easy to process and those which are H01 183 more difficult, and therefore more expensive, to process. In H01 184 general, this division determines whether the question is fully H01 185 processed (a 100 per cent item) or whether it is H01 186 processed only for a ten per cent sample of the household forms and H01 187 a ten per cent sample of persons returned on the forms for communal H01 188 establishments (a 10 per cent item). A detailed list of H01 189 the questions is given in Appendix IV, which also contains a list H01 190 of the topics for which special volumes will be published.

H01 191 3.4 The topic volumes will be preceded by statistics for H01 192 individual local areas where these are sufficiently large to H01 193 maintain the confidentiality of personal census data:

H01 194 <*_>bulletCounty Monitors, pamphlets containing H01 195 about 100 key tabulated counts published with accompanying H01 196 commentary, as an introduction to the local results;

H01 197 <*_>bullet<*/>Local Base Statistics, a set of 20,000 H01 198 tabulated counts, covering all Census topics, released in machine H01 199 readable form for all areas down to ward level;

H01 200 <*_>bulletSmall Area Statistics, a selection of 9.000 H01 201 tabulated counts from the Local Base Statistics, released in H01 202 machine readable form for all areas down to enumeration district H01 203 level; and

H01 204 <*_>bullet<*/>County Reports, printed volumes for H01 205 each county containing the Local Base Statistics for each district H01 206 within the county, and for the county as a whole, with accompanying H01 207 commentary.

H01 208 Appendix IV also contains details of the publication timetable H01 209 for the main sets of local statistics.

H01 210 Evaluating the results

H01 211 3.5 Final results from the census will inevitably still H01 212 contain some inaccuracies, mainly form the following:

H01 213 <*_>bullet<*/>failure to identify all the living accommodation H01 214 in an area;

H01 215 <*_>bullet<*/>incorrect classification of accommodation as H01 216 vacant, and hence failure to include the occupants in the H01 217 census;

H01 218 <*_>bullet<*/>failure to identify all the households in a H01 219 building; and

H01 220 <*_>bullet<*/>incorrect information supplied by people filling H01 221 in forms, perhaps through misunderstanding of the form.

H01 222 3.6 The Census Validation Survey will quantify these H01 223 inaccuracies. Field work for the survey has already been carried H01 224 out in a sample of enumeration districts. In this voluntary survey, H01 225 addresses in the sampled enumeration districts were listed for H01 226 comparison with the enumerators' records; the accuracy of response H01 227 for a sample of 6,000 households was checked by interview; and the H01 228 number of households at each sampled address was investigated. H01 229 H02 1 <#FLOB:H02\>(c) Disease patterns

H02 2 Compared with those in the white population, considerable H02 3 variations in the disease patterns amongst the black and ethnic H02 4 minority groups have been noted. There are also variations between H02 5 the different minority groups. These need to be recognised to H02 6 ensure that appropriate services are provided. It is also important H02 7 to monitor changes that may occur over time. Apart from the H02 8 important implications for the health services needed by the black H02 9 and ethnic minority community, these changes may also provide H02 10 valuable information about the causation of some diseases.

H02 11 Coronary heart disease and stroke

H02 12 Balarajan found an excess coronary heart disease mortality (see H02 13 Figure 3.6) in those born in the Indian Subcontinent of 36% for men H02 14 and 46% for women aged 20-69 years compared with the rates for H02 15 England and Wales as a whole in 1979-83; hospital-based studies H02 16 have shown an even greater excess risk. Furthermore, in this group H02 17 coronary heart disease mortality increased between 1970-72 and H02 18 1979-83, and is predicated to rise further due to the effects of H02 19 demographic change. The causes of these findings are not fully H02 20 understood, but they have important implications for the planning H02 21 of services. Research into the causes may help in the development H02 22 of health promotion strategies and also throw more light on the H02 23 causes of coronary heart disease in general.

H02 24 Ethnic differences in conventional risk factors, such as H02 25 smoking, raised blood pressure and high serum cholesterol, cannot H02 26 adequately explain the data, although other variables, including H02 27 hypothyroidism and stress, have been suggested. It has also been H02 28 argued that Asians may be predisposed to a physiological H02 29 disturbance characterised by insulin resistance that, under certain H02 30 conditions, can lead to both coronary heart disease and H02 31 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. It is interesting that H02 32 both disorders may be more common in urban than in rural parts of H02 33 India, but further systematic research is required. Furthermore, it H02 34 is puzzling that whilst Caribbeans also show abnormalities of H02 35 glucose and insulin metabolism, their rates of coronary heart H02 36 disease are comparatively low.

H02 37 For stroke, on the other hand, Balarajan found that, in those H02 38 born in the Caribbean, there was an excess of deaths of 76% for men H02 39 and 110% for women compared with the rates for England and Wales as H02 40 a whole in 1979-83. There were also increased risks (63% for men H02 41 and 39% for women) for those born in the African Commonwealth. The H02 42 next highest risk was for those born in the Indian Subcontinent, H02 43 with excesses of 53% and 25% for men and women respectively. All H02 44 groups experienced a reduction in mortality from stroke between H02 45 1970-72 and 1979-83, particularly those from Africa and the H02 46 Caribbean. However, those from the Indian Subcontinent experienced H02 47 a comparatively small reduction (3% and 25% for men and women H02 48 respectively).

H02 49 It is not possible to attribute all of the excess deaths from H02 50 stroke in those of African origin in this country to higher levels H02 51 of blood pressure. Similarly it is difficult to explain the low H02 52 levels of coronary heart disease in this group on the basis of the H02 53 known distribution of the conventional risk factors.

H02 54 Communicable disease

H02 55 Immunisation

H02 56 Immunisation uptake data are collected according to District H02 57 Health Authority (DHA) areas, and are not available according to H02 58 ethnic origin. Although Districts with the lowest immunisation H02 59 uptake tend to be those with the greatest socio-demographic H02 60 problems, there are Districts with significant black and ethnic H02 61 communities where immunisation uptake is equal to, or better than, H02 62 the national average.

H02 63 The Asian community has been particularly affected by rubella H02 64 infections in pregnancy. In England in 1991, the lowest ever number H02 65 of laboratory confirmed rubella infections in pregnancy was H02 66 reported. Of the 16 such infections, six (37%) were in Asian women; H02 67 this compares with 19 out of 96 (11%) in the period 1988-90. Of the H02 68 25 Asian women infected in the period 1988-91, seven were recent H02 69 immigrants who were pregnant on arrival in the UK and had H02 70 contracted rubella in their country of origin. Only ten of the 25 H02 71 cases presented during pregnancy, the remaining 15 being diagnosed H02 72 retrospectively following the birth of a congenital H02 73 rubella-affected infant. Immigration into the UK before pregnancy, H02 74 but after the age at which rubella vaccine is offered at school, H02 75 has also contributed to the high rate of susceptibility to rubella H02 76 infection in Asian women. The promotion of selective rubella H02 77 immunisation in the Asian community therefore needs to be H02 78 continued. In the UK the anticipated interruption of rubella H02 79 circulation will prevent rubella-susceptible pregnant women from H02 80 being exposed to rubella, but elimination of all cases of H02 81 congenital rubella will only be achieved when rubella immunisation H02 82 programmes are introduced in developing countries.

H02 83 Tuberculosis H02 84 In the first six months of 1988 nearly 40% of the patients H02 85 notified as having tuberculosis were of Indian, Pakistani or H02 86 Bangladeshi origin. Although, for these groups, the number of H02 87 notifications has declined over the last ten years by an average of H02 88 6% per year, this decline is less than that recorded in the white H02 89 population, in whom the rate of infection is 25 times lower. The H02 90 spectrum of disease also varies with ethnic origin. For example, H02 91 those from the Indian Subcontinent have more non-respiratory H02 92 disease, particularly tuberculous lymphadenitis and abdominal H02 93 tuberculosis.

H02 94 The Department of Health (DH) recommends that people coming H02 95 from countries with a high prevalence of tuberculosis, and their H02 96 children and infants wherever born, should have a Heaf test H02 97 followed by BCG vaccination if indicated. New-born babies should be H02 98 vaccinated within a few days of birth, without having a Heaf test H02 99 performed. There is a need for continuing health education about H02 100 tuberculosis directed at black and ethnic minority groups.

H02 101 Hepatitis B

H02 102 Africa, the Far East and some parts of the Caribbean are areas H02 103 of high edemicity for hepatitis B, and more than 8% of their H02 104 resident populations carry the virus. The Indian Subcontinent is an H02 105 area of intermediate endemicity, and 2-7% of people living there H02 106 are carriers.

H02 107 In the Far East, many children are infected at birth. On the H02 108 other hand, infections in Africa commonly occur in early childhood, H02 109 mainly within the household. The extent to which the latter pattern H02 110 of transmission will survive migration to the UK is not yet clear. H02 111 However, perinatal transmission will continue, because the children H02 112 born to infectious carrier mothers are themselves likely to become H02 113 infectious carriers unless immunised shortly after birth. Antenatal H02 114 clinics in the UK have a screening programme to identify women who H02 115 are carriers of the hepatitis B virus, so that their babies can be H02 116 immunised. The prevention of perinatal transmission leads to H02 117 significant health benefits, as it is people infected as babies who H02 118 are most likely to become carriers and be at risk of chronic liver H02 119 disease.

H02 120 HIV infection and AIDS

H02 121 WHO estimates that, during the 12-month period beginning in H02 122 April 1991, over one million people world-wide will have been newly H02 123 infected with HIV, and that 90% of these infections will have H02 124 occurred in the developing countries. Data on reports of HIV H02 125 infection and AIDS in this country, published each month by DH and H02 126 by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, reflect the nature H02 127 of this global epidemic, a number of the cases reported being of H02 128 people infected in, or by people from, countries where prevalence H02 129 is already high (see pages 83-88). Fortunately the numbers are H02 130 still low, but they underline the importance of the national and H02 131 local educational initiatives that were developed with the black H02 132 and ethnic minorities in 1991, and which are described on page H02 133 92.

H02 134 Blood diseases

H02 135 Haemoglobinopathies, or defects of haemoglobin production, are H02 136 inherited disorders found primarily in the black and ethnic H02 137 minorities. They may be divided into two main groups -those caused H02 138 by abnormal haemoglobins, for example sickle cell disease, in which H02 139 there is a single amino acid change in one of the globin chains, H02 140 and the thalassaemias, in which there is an imbalance in production H02 141 of globin chains.

H02 142 Sickle cell disease primarily affects the Afro-Caribbean H02 143 population, although there is also a low incidence in people from H02 144 the Mediterranean and Arabia. The estimated number of people with H02 145 all types of sickle cell disease in the UK is about 5,000. The H02 146 number of cases of beta-thalassaemia major in the UK is estimated H02 147 to be about 350. This disorder primarily affects people from the H02 148 Mediterranean, the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. In view H02 149 of the uneven distribution of the different black and ethnic H02 150 minority groups across the country (see page 56), there is a H02 151 concentration of people with these blood disorders in some areas. H02 152 Many of these are in inner cities, often in deprived areas.

H02 153 For both sickle cell disease and thalassaemia, the number of H02 154 individuals with the trait (carriers) is well in excess of the H02 155 number of individuals with the disorder. Although individuals with H02 156 the trait do not usually have any clinical problems, if their H02 157 partner also has the trait each of their children has a 1 in 4 H02 158 chance of having the disorder. Screening may be performed before H02 159 at-risk individuals plan to have a family, during the early stages H02 160 of pregnancy, or soon after birth. Some Districts with a high H02 161 proportion of members of the relevant black or ethnic minority H02 162 screen all neonates. Opportunistic screening should be undertaken H02 163 when at-risk individuals are seen in hospital. Cards stating that H02 164 the holder has the disorder or trait are issued to individuals so H02 165 identified.

H02 166 Where it is relevant, some DHAs provide funds for counselling H02 167 centres. These provide advice and education to people who have H02 168 haemoglobinopathies or are at risk. Counsellors, usually nurses or H02 169 health visitors, also arrange contacts with social workers to H02 170 ensure adequate housing, as sickle crises may sometimes be related H02 171 to cold or damp. Management of the many and varied clinical H02 172 problems associated with the haemoglobinopathies is complex, and H02 173 involves not only the patient's general practitioner (GP) but also H02 174 hospital consultants in various specialities. The Standing Medical H02 175 Advisory Committee has set up a Working Party to look at the H02 176 clinical management of sickle cell disease; the first meeting is H02 177 due to be held early in 1992.

H02 178 Mental health

H02 179 There are marked differences in the incidence of mental illness H02 180 in the black and ethnic minority groups. The incidence of H02 181 schizophrenia appears to be 3-6 times higher amongst Caribbean H02 182 people in England compared with that in the general population and H02 183 in Caribbeans living in Jamaica. Misdiagnosis has not been H02 184 confirmed, although it is difficult to exclude entirely cultural H02 185 biases. Alternative explanations include differential psychosocial H02 186 stress through the effects of racism, unemployment and possibly H02 187 biological correlates. Caribbean people are also more likely to be H02 188 admitted to hospital compulsorily, particularly by the police, with H02 189 whom they will have had greater contact prior to admission than H02 190 matched controls.

H02 191 Conversely, studies of hospital admission rates, GP H02 192 consultation rates and community surveys suggest that, in general, H02 193 Asians have rates of psychiatric morbidity that are similar to, or H02 194 lower than, those of the native-born population. However, Ineichen H02 195 has pointed out that some of these findings could be due to H02 196 reluctance on the part of the Asians to present to conventional H02 197 practitioners with mental health problems, or to failure on the H02 198 part of GPs to recognise them if they do. A recent survey of mental H02 199 health provision in Newham also found that, whilst Asians were H02 200 underrepresented amongst those being given mental health care in H02 201 the National Health Service (NHS), they were more likely to be H02 202 found amongst the clients of voluntary agencies that either H02 203 accepted self-referrals or offered a specific service to the Asian H02 204 community. Similar agencies for immigrants in other European H02 205 countries are now operating.

H02 206 Diabetes mellitus

H02 207 The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in England in people of H02 208 Asian and Caribbean origin is twice as high as it is in the general H02 209 population. In Asians alone it is increased fivefold. It is usually H02 210 the non-insulin-dependent type of the disease, which occurs at or H02 211 after middle age, and is associated with insulin resistance and H02 212 central obesity, and with an increased risk of death or disablement H02 213 from complications unless well-controlled. There is some scope for H02 214 the prevention of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus by H02 215 controlling obesity, increasing physical activity, and maintaining H02 216 an appropriate diet and a healthy lifestyle.

H02 217 H02 218 H03 1 <#FLOB:H03\>Children should have early experiences with H03 2 devices, for example, toys, which move and store energy. They H03 3 should experience natural and manufactured forces which push, pull, H03 4 make things move, stop things and change the shape of objects. Such H03 5 experiences could include, for example, road safety H03 6 activities. Children should investigate the factors which H03 7 affect floating and sinking.

H03 8 Children should be made aware of some uses of electricity in H03 9 the classroom and in the home and the dangers of misuse. They H03 10 should experience play activities with a variety of magnetic H03 11 materials and investigate their effects on a range of materials and H03 12 for a variety of uses. They should explore the Earth's magnetic H03 13 field using a compass. They should experience simple activities H03 14 using bulbs, buzzers, batteries and wires. Children should H03 15 investigate those materials which conduct electricity and those H03 16 which do not.

H03 17 Children should have the opportunity to experience the range of H03 18 sounds in their immediate environment and to find out about their H03 19 causes and uses. They should experience the production of echoes H03 20 resulting from the reflection of sound from distant surfaces. They H03 21 should investigate ways of making and experiencing sounds by H03 22 vocalising and striking, plucking, shaking, scraping and blowing, H03 23 for example, using familiar objects and simple musical H03 24 instruments from a variety of cultural traditions. They should H03 25 explore various ways of sorting these sounds and instruments. H03 26 Children should have opportunities to explore a variety of light H03 27 sources and effects related to shadows, reflection and colour.

H03 28 Programme of study

H03 29 Key stage 2: supports attainment targets 1-5; levels 2-5

H03 30 General introduction

H03 31 The abilities to communicate, to relate science to everyday H03 32 life and to explore, are essential elements of a developing H03 33 experience of science.

H03 34 Communication: children should have opportunities to H03 35 continue to develop and use communication skills in presenting H03 36 their ideas and in reporting their work to a range of audiences, H03 37 including children, teachers, parents and other adults. In giving H03 38 an account, either orally or in written form, they should be H03 39 encouraged to present information in an ordered manner. They should H03 40 be introduced to the conventions involved in using diagrams, H03 41 tables, charts, graphs, symbols and models. Children should be H03 42 given opportunities to participate in small group discussions and H03 43 they should be introduced to a limited range of books, charts and H03 44 other sources from which they can gain information. Children should H03 45 use the computer to store, retrieve and present their work and H03 46 extend their understanding of information transfer.

H03 47 Science in everyday life: as children begin to gain H03 48 increasing knowledge and understanding, they should be given the H03 49 opportunity to develop further an awareness of the role and H03 50 importance of science in everyday life including personal health H03 51 and safety and the use of microelectronic devices to control H03 52 appliances in the home. This awareness might be developed through H03 53 investigations or through case studies, secondary sources of H03 54 information, or visits. Industrial contexts should be introduced, H03 55 alongside those of domestic and environmental contexts, as H03 56 starting-points for children's work in science.

H03 57 Scientific investigation

H03 58 Detailed provisions

H03 59 Children should be encouraged to develop their investigative H03 60 skills and their understanding of science in activities which:

H03 61 <*_>bullet<*/> encourage children to use and develop their H03 62 scientific knowledge and understanding.

H03 63 <*_>bullet<*/> promote the raising and answering of H03 64 questions.

H03 65 <*_>bullet<*/> encourage a working and understanding of safety H03 66 and care.

H03 67 <*_>bullet<*/> are set within the everyday experience of H03 68 children and provide opportunities to explore, with increasing H03 69 precision, where appropriate.

H03 70 <*_>bullet<*/> build on their existing practical skills.

H03 71 <*_>bullet<*/> require the deployment of an increasingly H03 72 systematic approach involving the identification and manipulation H03 73 of obvious key variables.

H03 74 <*_>bullet<*/> involve the use of secondary sources as well as H03 75 first-hand observation.

H03 76 <*_>bullet<*/> include the use of computers and simple H03 77 electronic devices, such as digital watches, in their experimental H03 78 work.

H03 79 These activities should:

H03 80 <*_>bullet<*/> involve variables to be controlled in the H03 81 development of a 'fair test'.

H03 82 <*_>bullet<*/> involve problems which may be solved H03 83 qualitatively, but which increasingly allow for some quantification H03 84 of the variables involved.

H03 85 <*_>bullet<*/> encourage the formulation of testable H03 86 hypotheses, drawing increasingly on their developing knowledge and H03 87 understanding.

H03 88 <*_>bullet<*/> develop skills of using equipment and H03 89 measurement, encouraging children to make decisions about when, H03 90 what and how to measure.

H03 91 <*_>bullet<*/> encourage the systematic listing and recording H03 92 of data, for example, in frequency tables and bar H03 93 charts.

H03 94 <*_>bullet<*/> encourage the searching for patterns in data.

H03 95 <*_>bullet<*/> encourage the interpretation of data, and H03 96 evaluation against the demands of the problem.

H03 97 <*_>bullet<*/> involve the capture, transmission, storage and H03 98 retrieval of information using computers and sensors.

H03 99 Knowledge and understanding of science

H03 100 Detailed provisions

H03 101 Children should be introduced to the major organs and organ H03 102 systems of mammals and flowering plants. They should investigate H03 103 some aspects of feeding, support, movement and behaviour in H03 104 relation to themselves and other animals. They should be introduced H03 105 to basic ideas about the processes of breathing, circulation, H03 106 growth and reproduction. They should investigate the effects of H03 107 physical factors on the rate of plant growth, for example, H03 108 light intensity, temperature and the amount of H03 109 fertiliser. Children should study the ways in which microbes H03 110 can affect health and learn about the factors which contribute to H03 111 good health, including the defence systems of the body, diet, oral H03 112 hygiene, and exercise. They should be introduced to the fact that H03 113 while all medicines are drugs, not all drugs are medicines; and H03 114 they should begin to be aware of the catastrophic effect on health H03 115 resulting from an abuse of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.

H03 116 Children should investigate and measure the similarities and H03 117 differences between themselves, accessible plants and animals and H03 118 their fossil counterparts. They should understand that plants and H03 119 animals can be preserved as fossils in different ways. They should H03 120 have the opportunity to develop skills in identifying locally H03 121 occurring species of plants and animals and marking these against H03 122 keys, using observable structural features of organisms. They H03 123 should be introduced to how information is passed from one H03 124 generation to the next.

H03 125 Children should explore and investigate at least two different H03 126 localities and the ways in which plants and animals are suited to H03 127 their location and how they are influenced by environmental H03 128 conditions, including seasonal and daily changes, and by H03 129 competition for scarce resources. They should detect and measure H03 130 environmental changes, using a variety of instruments. They should H03 131 develop an awareness and understanding of the necessity for H03 132 sensitive collection and care of living things used as the subject H03 133 of any study of the environment. They should study aspects of their H03 134 local environment which have been affected by human activity, for H03 135 example, farming, industry, mining or quarrying. They H03 136 should be encouraged to argue for and against particular planning H03 137 proposals in the locality which may affect their environment. They H03 138 should study the effects of pollution on the survival of H03 139 organisms.

H03 140 Children should be introduced to food chains as a way of H03 141 representing feeding relationships. They should be introduced to H03 142 the role of microbes, and to the importance of warmth, moisture and H03 143 air, in the process of decay. They should build on their H03 144 investigations of waste materials to include a study of the H03 145 significant features of waste disposal procedures, decay processes H03 146 and the usefulness of any product(s), for example, in sewage H03 147 disposal and composting.

H03 148 Children should have the opportunity to make regular, H03 149 quantitative observations and keep records of the weather and the H03 150 seasons of the year. This should lead to a consideration of the H03 151 water cycle. They should also consider the role of climate on the H03 152 productivity of agriculture.

H03 153 Children should investigate natural materials (rocks, minerals, H03 154 soils), sort them by simple criteria and relate them to their uses H03 155 and origins. They should be aware of local distributions of some H03 156 types of natural materials (sands, soils, rocks). They should H03 157 observe, through fieldwork, how weather affects their surroundings H03 158 and how soil develops. They should also consider the major H03 159 geological events which change the surface of the Earth and the H03 160 evidence for these changes.

H03 161 Children should investigate changes that occur when familiar H03 162 substances are heated and cooled, and the concepts of 'hot' and H03 163 'cold' in relation to their body temperature. Through simple H03 164 investigations and by using secondary sources, children should H03 165 explore the range of fuels (energy sources) employed, their H03 166 origins, and their combustion products. They should find out about H03 167 the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources H03 168 and the implications of limited global resources for their economic H03 169 and efficient use. They should gradually be introduced to the idea H03 170 that energy is conserved.

H03 171 By making a series of observations children should be given the H03 172 opportunity to investigate changes in the night sky, in particular H03 173 the position of bright planets and the phases of the Moon. Using H03 174 simple equipment to track the path of the Sun and Moon they should H03 175 learn about the relative motions of the Earth, Moon and Sun. H03 176 Children should use this knowledge and a simple model of the solar H03 177 system to explain phenomena such as day and night, year length, the H03 178 phases of the Moon, eclipses and the seasons in relation to the H03 179 altitude of the Sun.

H03 180 Children should work with a number of different everyday H03 181 materials grouping them according to their characteristics, H03 182 similarities and differences. Properties such as mass ('weight'), H03 183 volume, strength and hardness, flexibility, compressibility, and H03 184 solubility should be investigated and related to everyday uses of H03 185 the materials. They should recognise the properties which enable H03 186 classification of materials as solids, liquids or gases. Children H03 187 should test the acidity and alkalinity of aqueous solutions using H03 188 indicators, some of which may be extracted from plants, and they H03 189 should be introduced to the pH scale. They should investigate the H03 190 effect of mixing dilute acid and alkaline materials. Children H03 191 should know about the dangers associated with the use of some H03 192 everyday materials including hot oil, bleach, cleaning agents and H03 193 other household materials.

H03 194 Children should investigate the action of heat on everyday H03 195 materials including those such as baking powder, wood, bread and H03 196 clay which change permanently. They should explore the origins of a H03 197 range of materials in order to appreciate that some occur naturally H03 198 while many are made from raw materials. Children should explore H03 199 chemical changes in a number of everyday materials, such as mixing H03 200 Plaster of Paris, making concrete and firing clay. They should H03 201 explore simple techniques, including evaporation, filtration and H03 202 chromatography, for separating mixtures such as muddy water, sea H03 203 water, ink and food colourings. Children should investigate the H03 204 role of oxygen in combustion. They should have the opportunity to H03 205 write simple word equations to describe reactions.

H03 206 Children should be given opportunities to compare a limited H03 207 range of solids, liquids and gases, to recognise their H03 208 characteristics and explore ideas about matter in simple H03 209 particulate terms. Experiments on dissolving and evaporation should H03 210 lead to developing ideas about solutions and solubility.

H03 211 Children should investigate a variety of models which are H03 212 self-propelled or driven and in which energy can be stored, H03 213 involving motors, belts, levers and gears. They should experience H03 214 different types of forces and use measurements to compare the H03 215 effects of forces in the context of, for example, bridge H03 216 building. They should investigate the strength of a simple H03 217 structure. They should investigate the forces involved in floating H03 218 and sinking. They should explore friction and investigate the ways H03 219 in which the speed of a moving object can be changed by the H03 220 application of forces and the relationship between speed, distance H03 221 and time. This work should be set in everyday contexts, for H03 222 example, road safety, transport (including cycling and H03 223 sailing), balancing systems and hydraulic mechanisms in model H03 224 making.

H03 225 Children should have the opportunity to construct simple H03 226 circuits. They should investigate the effects of using different H03 227 components, of varying the flow of electricity in a circuit and the H03 228 heating and magnetic effects. They should record the construction H03 229 details of a circuit by drawings and diagrams. They should learn H03 230 about the dangers associated with the use of mains electricity and H03 231 know appropriate safety measures. They should investigate the H03 232 properties of magnetic and non-magnetic materials. They should H03 233 begin to investigate simple electronic circuits for measuring, H03 234 switching and control. Children should construct circuits which H03 235 illustrate AND, OR and NOT gates.

H03 236 Children should be made aware of the way sound is heard and can H03 237 travel through different materials. They should understand how H03 238 musical notes are made and the obtrusive nature of some sounds in H03 239 the environment. H03 240 H04 1 <#FLOB:H04\>EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

H04 2 Increasingly stringent demands on UK industry to reduce its H04 3 impact on the environment, usually result in the adoption of H04 4 end-of-pipe pollution abatement technology, which is low cost and H04 5 relatively simple to implement. DTI has, however, recognised that a H04 6 better, longer term solution may be to redesign industrial H04 7 processes such that they are inherently less polluting. This study H04 8 has reviewed the implications of these so called cleaner H04 9 technologies for certain UK sectors which have significant H04 10 environmental impact and are vulnerable to emerging and stringent H04 11 legislation.

H04 12 This study finds that there are many aspects of the H04 13 manufacturing process where industry could, in theory, implement H04 14 cleaner technologies and practices -ranging from the adoption of H04 15 environmentally oriented principles in plant and process design; H04 16 through the use of cleaner feedstocks and the better treatment of H04 17 waste streams; to fundamental redesign of reactions or processes H04 18 such that they produce less waste or use fewer raw materials. In H04 19 addition, certain basic technologies ('hub technologies') such as H04 20 membrane separation and photo(electro)chemistry, which have H04 21 potential for development as cleaner approaches in several of the H04 22 sectors considered, have been identified.

H04 23 Against this background, study findings indicate only moderate H04 24 levels of activity in the conscious development and adoption of H04 25 cleaner technologies by UK companies. This partly results from the H04 26 fact that forces such as legislation, the influence of customers H04 27 and public opinion, which demand environmental responsibility of H04 28 the part of industry, are permissive of end-of-pipe technologies. H04 29 Where activity in cleaner approaches has been found, the H04 30 environmental benefits are rarely either the motivating force H04 31 or recognised by the developer. The aim is usually to H04 32 reduce the costs associated with energy and raw materials use and H04 33 the disposal or treatment of wastes.

H04 34 The concept of cleaner technology is not widely known in UK H04 35 industry, particularly among the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises H04 36 (SMEs), nor is its potential to yield commercial benefits H04 37 recognised. Clarifying this image should be the first stage in H04 38 providing stimulus for the uptake of cleaner technologies by H04 39 industry. However, if cleaner approaches and the hub technologies, H04 40 in particular, are to be developed to provide real benefits to UK H04 41 industry, there is also a need to address the shortages of skills, H04 42 resources and facilities which always create barriers to the H04 43 adoption of unfamiliar technologies by the SMEs.

H04 44 1. INTRODUCTION

H04 45 The increasing demands on many process industries to reduce H04 46 their impact on the environment are frequently met by the H04 47 short-term solution of add-on end-of-pipe pollution abatement H04 48 technology. In many cases, this merely removes the pollution H04 49 substance from one waste stream and transfers it to another. A H04 50 longer term approach is to redesign the process such that it is H04 51 fundamentally less polluting -it is inherently, a 'cleaner H04 52 technology'.

H04 53 The report of a recent study for the Department of Trade and H04 54 Industry -DTI ('A Review Of Cleaner Technology Projects Supported H04 55 By UK Government Departments' by the National Engineering H04 56 Laboratory and Warren Spring Laboratory) gives the narrowest H04 57 definition of cleaner technology as no waste technology. H04 58 More practically, the technologies which today fall into this H04 59 definition are those which are less polluting in terms of the H04 60 energy and raw materials used, the emissions from the production H04 61 processes involved and the environmental impact of the resultant H04 62 products during and after use.

H04 63 As environmental issues gain in importance at national and H04 64 global levels and increasingly stringent controls are placed on the H04 65 polluting activities of many long established industries, cleaner H04 66 technologies will have clear long term strategic value both to H04 67 companies and to the overall competitive position of individual H04 68 countries. In the UK, the Government has been encouraging the H04 69 development of cleaner technology solutions to environmental H04 70 problems for some years. One of the aims of the Department of the H04 71 Environment's (DOE) Environmental Protection Technology scheme, H04 72 launched in 1988, was to promote cleaner technology. Within this H04 73 scheme, a handbook giving examples of cleaner technology in a wide H04 74 range of industries was published in 1989 and grant-aid was H04 75 provided to encourage technical innovation in the area of H04 76 environmental protection generally. This scheme has now been H04 77 broadened with the involvement of the DTI into the Environmental H04 78 Technology Innovation Scheme (ETIS). While the DOE will continue to H04 79 support new technologies which meet a requirement for environmental H04 80 improvements in specific priority areas, DTI will address research H04 81 into innovative technologies across the whole range of H04 82 environmental problems.

H04 83 Responsibility for encouraging and assisting the development H04 84 and diffusion of cleaner technologies in UK industry rests with the H04 85 Environmental Unit of DTI. In doing so, the Unit aims to focus its H04 86 efforts on sectors and processes where the need is most H04 87 <}_><-|>accute<+|>acute<}/> and where greatest scope exists for the H04 88 development of cleaner technology approaches.

H04 89 PA Consulting Group was therefore asked to undertake a study to H04 90 review the work being undertaken by industry in the area of cleaner H04 91 technology, the relevance of this work to the key environmental H04 92 problems and the potential barriers to its uptake and diffusion. H04 93 The study itself lasted for 6 months and employed a total team of H04 94 20 consultants on a full or part-time basis. Representatives of 44 H04 95 research organisations and Higher Education Institutes, 80 H04 96 companies and 30 Trade Associations were interviewed during the H04 97 course of the work undertaken, which reviewed activity taking place H04 98 worldwide, covering a wide range of technologies and sectoral H04 99 issues. Each of the various agencies responsible for the H04 100 implementation of national environmental policies in the most H04 101 advanced countries has also been contacted and information obtained H04 102 about relevant initiatives, studies and legislation through a H04 103 series of 53 interviews. This work has been supported by an H04 104 extensive review of available literature. (See appendix I). This H04 105 report sets out the specific objectives and scope of the work H04 106 undertaken, the methods used to address them, study findings and H04 107 conclusions.

H04 108 4. CLEANER TECHNOLOGY

H04 109 Cleaner technologies have long been recognised by institutions H04 110 as the best long term response to the damage inflicted by industry H04 111 on the environment. They are defined at the most stringent level as H04 112 'no waste technologies', but more practicably are recognised as H04 113 'low waste technologies'.

H04 114 In the context of this study, 'cleaner' or 'low waste H04 115 technologies' are taken to mean technologies which are inherently H04 116 less polluting in terms of energy and raw materials usage, H04 117 emissions (including wastes) from the production processes involved H04 118 and the environmental impact of the resultant products and services H04 119 during and after use. As such they are distinct from the more H04 120 commonly available end-of-pipe technologies which concentrate on H04 121 the treatment of wastes produced, rather than on minimising the H04 122 production of waste at source. Cleaner technologies will, by H04 123 definition, generally involve major changes to the industrial H04 124 processes responsible for causing pollution themselves.

H04 125 In terms of the overall manufacturing process, the distinction H04 126 between the area of application of cleaner technologies and the of H04 127 end-of-pipe technologies is sometimes blurred, as is shown H04 128 schematically in Figure 4.1. As it applies to the reduced use of H04 129 raw materials or energy, or to fundamental process changes to H04 130 reduce waste production, the scope of definition of cleaner H04 131 technology is clear. However, an area of overlap exists in its H04 132 relevance to the handling of wastes which are produced. Wastes H04 133 can be re-used, recycled, treated, detoxified or disposed. H04 134 Recycling and re-use are theoretically means of reducing raw H04 135 materials or energy use and as such have relevance within the H04 136 concept of cleaner technology -although by some definitions they H04 137 are end-of-pipe technologies. For the purposes of this study, the H04 138 search for 'cleaner technologies' has included recycling where the H04 139 product which is recovered and/or treated is re-used within the H04 140 same process from which it was derived. The treatment of wastes and H04 141 their use as feedstocks in different processes has largely been H04 142 excluded.

H04 143 Awareness of the deleterious effect of industry on the H04 144 environment has existed at a high level for over a decade H04 145 worldwide. However, the focus on 'cleaner technology' as a partial H04 146 solution to these problems is a relatively recent development and H04 147 there is only a limited amount of published information currently H04 148 available which deals with this subject.

H04 149 Today, the majority of countries in the developed world have H04 150 recognised the importance of the concept of waste minimisation. H04 151 Many have set in motion a series of initiatives designed to spread H04 152 awareness and information more widely and to support relevant H04 153 developments in this area. Two of the most advanced countries in H04 154 this respect are probably the Netherlands and the US, which in H04 155 addition to maintaining active support individually also cooperate H04 156 with each other significantly in this area. Key goals driving the H04 157 policies and mechanisms of the Netherlands in the area of cleaner H04 158 technology are:

H04 159 - the promotion of the development and demonstration of H04 160 economically feasible cleaner technologies

H04 161 - the promotion of the active transfer of knowledge on cleaner H04 162 technologies to potential users

H04 163 - the stimulation of cooperation in development.

H04 164 Similarly, in the US, the more recent emphasis on 'waste H04 165 reduction at source' rather than on waste treatment and disposal H04 166 technologies, is reflected in a shift in policies of the H04 167 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to encourage 'pollution H04 168 prevention'.

H04 169 There are a wide variety of EPA programmes currently in place H04 170 and directed towards this aim. Elsewhere France, Germany and the H04 171 Scandinavian countries have developed policies with similar aims. H04 172 In Denmark for instance, the government initiated a 3 year DKK90 H04 173 million cleaner technology development programme which has now H04 174 evolved into the Cleaner Technology Action Plan for the country.

H04 175 The European Community currently supports cleaner technologies H04 176 through its research programme STEP and, in the past, through the H04 177 provision of part funding for demonstration projects under the ACE H04 178 scheme. The STEP programme allocates priorities to research H04 179 proposals in the order -cleaner technologies, recycling H04 180 technologies, end-of-pipe technologies, but its main thrust so far H04 181 has been to encourage reductions in the use of energy and raw H04 182 materials. In the environment area the EC has tended to bring in H04 183 fairly detailed and bureaucratic legislation. This is binding on H04 184 the member states and the extra administrative burden required H04 185 often falls on the regulatory authorities.

H04 186 4.1 CLEANER TECHNOLOGY IN UK INDUSTRY

H04 187 The sectors of interest for this study were defined in the H04 188 first instance as:

H04 189 - chemicals

H04 190 - agrochemical products

H04 191 - electrical/electronic engineering

H04 192 - metal manufacturing

H04 193 - metal finishing

H04 194 - textiles

H04 195 - man-made fibre production

H04 196 - food processing

H04 197 - non-metallic mineral products

H04 198 - paper and printing

H04 199 - leather

H04 200 - waste incineration

H04 201 - oil refining.

H04 202 Following analyses carried out in Phase I and described in H04 203 Section 3, two sectors -man-made fibre production and oil H04 204 refining were rejected and of the remainder, chemicals, H04 205 electrical/electronic engineering, metal manufacturing and metal H04 206 finishing were given priority.

H04 207 Prioritisation was decided on the basis of analyses of the H04 208 polluting potential, the vulnerability and importance of each H04 209 sector in the UK. Oil refining was rejected at this stage because H04 210 of the scale and success of effort which has already reduced its H04 211 polluting impact and because this sector tends to be dominated by H04 212 very large multinational organisations which generally fall outside H04 213 the sphere of influence of DTI. Petrochemical manufacture H04 214 is however an area where considerable environmental improvements H04 215 could be made and this has been included within the scope of the H04 216 work carried out on the chemicals sector. The man-made fibres H04 217 sector has similarly been excluded because the most polluting H04 218 activities of relevance also fall within the chemicals sector.

H04 219 Phase I analyses for the remaining sectors identified the most H04 220 polluting sub-sectors or activities within each sector and it is on H04 221 these areas that study reviews of cleaner technology have H04 222 focussed.

H04 223 4.2 THE CHEMICALS SECTOR

H04 224 4.2.1 Background

H04 225 The chemicals industry is one of the UK's major manufacturing H04 226 sectors, employing around 340,000 people. It is a hugely diverse H04 227 sector in terms of the number of products, processes and H04 228 technologies encompassed with its operations. There are for H04 229 instance more than 70,000 known chemicals worldwide and more than H04 230 100,000 processes. A further 1,000 new products are added each H04 231 year. These range in scale from 100,000's tonnes per annum for H04 232 commodity petrochemicals to production quantities measured in H04 233 milligrammes (mg) for high value complex chemicals such as H04 234 peptides. The value of the products similarly varies from as little H04 235 as pounds100/tonne to pounds1,000/mg.

H04 236 The main sub-sectors in the chemicals industry and their H04 237 relationship to each other are depicted in Figure 4.2.

H04 238 4.2.2 Environmental Impact

H04 239 Among all the sectors studied, the chemicals sector, in its H04 240 entirety, is probably the most polluting and also has considerable H04 241 pre-process (cradle) and post-process (grave) impacts (Figure H04 242 4.3).

H04 243 H04 244 H05 1 <#FLOB:H05\>Report by the Government Actuary on the drafts H05 2 of the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 1991 and the Social H05 3 Security (Contributions) (Re-rating) Order 1991

H05 4 CHRISTOPHER DAYKIN

H05 5 Government Actuary's Department

H05 6 February 1991

H05 7 To: The Right Hon. ANTONY NEWTON, O.B.E., M.P., Secretary of H05 8 State for Social Security

H05 9 1. In accordance with Section 63(11) of the Social Security Act H05 10 1986 and Sections 121(1), 123(2) and 123A(6A) of the Social H05 11 Security Act 1975 I submit the following report on the likely H05 12 effect on the National Insurance Fund of the Social Security H05 13 Benefits Up-rating Order 1991 and the Social Security H05 14 (Contributions) (Re-rating) Order 1991. This report also takes H05 15 account of the proposed Social Security (Overlapping Benefits) H05 16 Amendment Regulations and the proposed Social Security H05 17 (Contributions) Amendment Regulations.

H05 18 2. Taken together, the Statutory Instruments provide for the H05 19 changes in benefit rates and contributions described below.

H05 20 3. The Benefits Up-rating Order alters the main H05 21 social security benefits payable from the National Insurance Fund H05 22 from dates in the week beginning 8 April 1991. The standard H05 23 flat-rate retirement and invalidity pensions will be increased by H05 24 pounds5.10 to pounds52.00 a week for a single person and by H05 25 pounds8.15 to pounds83.25 for a married couple, with a similar H05 26 increase of pounds5.10 a week for widows' pensions. Unemployment H05 27 benefit will be increased by pounds4.05 to pounds41.40 for a single H05 28 person and by pounds6.55 to pounds66.95 for a married couple. A H05 29 summary of the principal rates of benefit before and after the H05 30 changes is given in Appendix 1.

H05 31 4. As well as increasing flat-rate pensions, the Order H05 32 increases by 10.9 per cent the earnings-related additional pensions H05 33 of retirement, widow and invalidity beneficiaries who qualified for H05 34 these pensions before 8 April 1990. This increase applies to H05 35 additional pensions before abatement for any guaranteed minimum H05 36 pensions paid from occupational pension schemes where the pensioner H05 37 has been contracted-out. However, where a guaranteed minimum H05 38 pension in payment includes an amount arising from earnings after 5 H05 39 April 1988, such amount is required to be increased by 3 per cent H05 40 by the occupational scheme and the increase in additional pension H05 41 is correspondingly reduced.

H05 42 5. The Contributions Order alters certain H05 43 contribution rates and the earnings brackets for the different H05 44 rates of employers' contributions from the beginning of the H05 45 1991-1992 tax year. It has been assumed that the lower and upper H05 46 earnings limits will be altered by amending Regulations to pounds52 H05 47 and pounds390 as announced. The changes to the Class 1 earnings H05 48 limits and earnings brackets, together with the changes to Class 2, H05 49 Class 3 and Class 4 limits and contributions, are shown in Appendix H05 50 2.

H05 51 6. The Order also alters the Class 1 secondary rates of H05 52 contribution from the beginning of the 1991-92 tax year. The Class H05 53 1 primary rates of contribution are unchanged, as are the H05 54 allocations from the total rate to the National Health Service, H05 55 currently 1.05 per cent from employees and 0.9 per cent from H05 56 employers. The rates are shown in Appendix 3.

H05 57 7. The current Statutory Sick Pay Bill reduces from 1991-92 the H05 58 amount that employers can recover in respect of statutory sick pay H05 59 to 80% of the amount paid to employees. The Bill also abolishes the H05 60 additional compensation paid to employers in respect of their H05 61 liability on statutory sick pay. The financial effect of the Bill H05 62 is included in the estimates for 1991-92.

H05 63 8. Table 1 shows estimates of income and outgo of the H05 64 National Insurance Fund for 1991-92 allowing for the proposed H05 65 changes in benefit rates and contributions on the basis of the H05 66 working assumptions described in paragraph 9 below. The latest H05 67 estimates for the current year 1990-91 are also shown for purposes H05 68 of comparison.

H05 69 caption&table

H05 70 9. The income from contributions and the expenditure on H05 71 benefits in the remainder of 1990-91 and in 1991-92 will depend H05 72 inter alia upon the level of unemployment and the rate of H05 73 increase of earnings. In accordance with the normal practice, H05 74 working assumptions have been given to me by the Government in H05 75 regard to these factors. The assumptions I have been instructed to H05 76 use for the purpose of the above estimates were set out in the H05 77 following terms in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn H05 78 Statement:

H05 79 (i) the number of unemployed (Great Britain) averages 1.62 H05 80 million in 1990-91 and 1.75 million in 1991-92;

H05 81 (ii) the increase in average earnings on a year earlier is 10 H05 82 per cent in 1990-91 and 8 1/2 per cent in 1991-92. Figures for H05 83 settlements are of course lower than these earnings figures in both H05 84 years.

H05 85 10. The estimated surplus of pounds1826 million for 1990-91 may H05 86 be compared with the estimated deficit of pounds1726 million given H05 87 in my report on the Social Security (Contributions) (Re-rating) H05 88 Order 1990 (Cm 948).

H05 89 11. Subsequent to that report, the Social Security Act 1990 H05 90 removed certain liabilities from the National Insurance Fund for H05 91 financial years from 1990-91 onwards. The Act provided for an H05 92 amount equal to the aggregate of all statutory sick pay and H05 93 statutory maternity pay paid by employers to be paid out of money H05 94 provided by Parliament to the National Insurance Fund, thus H05 95 offsetting the corresponding deductions from employers' H05 96 contributions to the Fund. The Act also provided for the cost of H05 97 industrial injuries benefits to be met out of money provided by H05 98 Parliament instead of from the National Insurance Fund. These H05 99 changes improved the financial position of the Fund by pounds1288 H05 100 million and pounds574 million respectively and thus more than H05 101 eliminate the deficit shown in my previous report.

H05 102 12. I have been advised that the transfer of the balance of the H05 103 Redundancy Fund into the National Insurance Fund took place on 31 H05 104 January 1991. The market value of the assets transferred is shown H05 105 in Table 1. Redundancy payments from the date of the H05 106 transfer are included in the estimates of benefit expenditure in H05 107 Table 1 and are shown in detail in Appendix 4.

H05 108 13. Higher earnings and more contributors increase the H05 109 estimated contribution income in 1990-91 by some pounds340 million H05 110 and pounds450 million respectively whilst other miscellaneous H05 111 changes increase income by pounds70 million in aggregate.

H05 112 14. In addition to the effect of the removal of industrial H05 113 injuries benefits from the National Insurance Fund, referred to in H05 114 paragraph 11, estimated benefit expenditure is pounds571 million H05 115 lower than in Cm 948. Unemployment benefit is reduced by pounds161 H05 116 million due to the lower average numbers unemployed now assumed and H05 117 to a lower proportion of the unemployed assumed to be entitled to H05 118 benefit. Retirement pension is pounds258 million lower due partly H05 119 to a reassessment of the distribution of benefit payment dates and H05 120 partly to recent statistics suggesting a smaller take-up of benefit H05 121 following the abolition of the earnings rule than was originally H05 122 estimated. Other changes, mainly in widows' benefits and invalidity H05 123 benefit, reduce estimated benefit expenditure by pounds152 million. H05 124 Taking account of all changes to benefit expenditure and increases H05 125 of pounds6 million in administration costs and pounds45 million in H05 126 parity transfers to Northern Ireland, the overall reduction in H05 127 outgo is pounds1094 million.

H05 128 15. As a result of the changes described in paragraphs 11 to 14 H05 129 above and the consequently higher projected level of the Fund, H05 130 investment income is estimated to be pounds310 million more than H05 131 was shown in my previous report.

H05 132 16. The extra expenditure in 1991-92 as a result of the H05 133 increases in benefit rates from April 1991 is estimated to be H05 134 pounds3221 million. Particulars of the extra cost and of the H05 135 expenditure for individual benefits are given in Appendix 4.

H05 136 17. Table 1 shows that total benefit expenditure is H05 137 estimated to increase by pounds4051 million between 1990-91 and H05 138 1991-92, i.e. pounds830 million in excess of the cost of the H05 139 uprating. Underlying the benefit estimates are increases in the H05 140 numbers of retirement and invalidity pensioners and unemployment H05 141 benefit recipients, though the number of widow pensioners is H05 142 expected to continue to decline. In addition the continuing H05 143 build-up in the numbers of retirement, invalidity and widow H05 144 pensioners qualifying for earnings-related additional pensions, as H05 145 well as the increasing average amounts of benefit to which they H05 146 will be entitled, increases expenditure by about pounds500 million H05 147 between the two years.

H05 148 18. The financial effects of the provisions in the H05 149 Contributions Order which change earnings brackets and H05 150 contribution rates and of the proposed Regulations changing H05 151 earnings limits are summarised in Appendix 5. The changes are H05 152 estimated to result in a decrease of pounds313 million in H05 153 contribution receipts attributable to the National Insurance Fund H05 154 and an increase of pounds10 million in the National Health Service H05 155 allocation.

H05 156 19. The current Statutory Sick Pay Bill reduces the amount of H05 157 statutory sick pay that employers recover by an estimated pounds162 H05 158 million. It also abolishes the additional compensation to employers H05 159 thus increasing contribution income by an estimated pounds58 H05 160 million. The increase in the lower rate of statutory sick pay H05 161 increases employers' recoveries from National Insurance H05 162 contributions by an estimated pounds9 million. The increase in the H05 163 earnings threshold for the higher rate of statutory sick pay is H05 164 estimated to reduce employers' recoveries by pounds20 million. The H05 165 increase in the rate of statutory maternity pay increases H05 166 employers' recoveries by an estimated pounds18 million. In H05 167 accordance with the Social Security Act 1990 as amended by the H05 168 Bill, an amount equal to the aggregate of statutory sick pay and H05 169 statutory maternity pay recovered by employers is payable from the H05 170 Consolidated Fund to the National Insurance Fund; in 1991-92 this H05 171 is estimated to amount to pounds1128 million.

H05 172 20. The reduction in contributions in respect of personal H05 173 pensions in 1991-92 consists of the standard contracted-out rebates H05 174 and the additional 2 per cent incentive relating to the year H05 175 1990-91. The number of personal pensions reached 4.1 million for H05 176 the United Kingdom by the end of 1989-90 of which 4 million relate H05 177 to Great Britain. It has been assumed that the number will grow H05 178 further to 4.4 million for Great Britain by the end of 1990-91. In H05 179 addition, it is assumed that 1 million members of contracted-out H05 180 schemes will be eligible for the 2 per cent incentive in 1990-91. H05 181 Details of the estimated amounts are given in Appendix 7.

H05 182 21. Table 1 shows that the total yield of H05 183 contributions to the National Insurance Fund, after deductions in H05 184 respect of personal pensions, statutory sick pay and statutory H05 185 maternity pay, is estimated to increase by pounds2181 million H05 186 between 1990-91 and 1991-92. The higher yield in 1991-92 is mainly H05 187 due to the assumed increase in the general level of earnings offset H05 188 by a higher contribution reduction of some pounds400 million in H05 189 respect of personal pensions. Appendix 6 shows an analysis of the H05 190 estimated contribution income in 1991-92 by class of H05 191 contributor.

H05 192 22. If the average number unemployed in 1991-92 were to be H05 193 100,000 lower than has been assumed, and if this reduction were H05 194 matched by an equal rise in the number working, then it is H05 195 estimated that contribution income would be pounds130 million H05 196 higher and expenditure on unemployment benefit pounds65 million H05 197 lower. Similarly, if the average number unemployed were to be H05 198 100,000 higher, and the corresponding assumption made, then the H05 199 contribution income in 1991-92 would be pounds130 million lower and H05 200 expenditure would rise by pounds65 million.

H05 201 23. If the actual increase in earnings in 1990-91 or 1991-92 is H05 202 different from that assumed, then the 1991-92 contribution income H05 203 will change by the amounts shown in Table 2. These H05 204 figures show the sensitivity of the estimates to the assumptions H05 205 made regarding earnings changes.

H05 206 caption&table

H05 207 24. For the two years for which estimates are given in this H05 208 report, and for the immediately preceding year, the estimated H05 209 balances in the Fund at the end of each year represent the H05 210 following proportions of the benefit expenditure during the H05 211 year:

H05 212 1989-90 38 per cent

H05 213 1990-91 41 per cent

H05 214 1991-92 33 per cent

H05 215 H05 216 PREFACE H05 217 Under the terms of Section 97 of the Police and Criminal H05 218 Evidence Act 1984 (the Act), the Police Complaints Authority are H05 219 required to make a report to the Home Secretary each calendar year H05 220 on the discharge of our functions. We are also required under the H05 221 same section to keep under review the working of Sections 84 to 96 H05 222 of the Act, which govern the handling of complaints, and to report H05 223 on that, again to the Home Secretary, every three years. H05 224 H06 1 <#FLOB:H06\>FIRST REPORT

H06 2 MICROWAVE OVENS

H06 3 The Agriculture Committee has agreed to the following H06 4 Report:

H06 5 I. INTRODUCTION

H06 6 1. We announced our inquiry into the safety of microwave ovens H06 7 on 16 March 1990. We were concerned at the disclosure by the H06 8 Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), on 4 December H06 9 1989, that a sizeable proportion of microwave ovens had 'failed' a H06 10 standard test; we were also concerned at the manner in which that H06 11 disclosure was handled.

H06 12 2. As this was clearly not a food safety problem of the H06 13 greatest seriousness, we thought it was appropriate to allow MAFF H06 14 and the oven manufacturers time to respond to the events of H06 15 December 1989, and then to examine what steps they had taken to H06 16 protect the consumer interest.

H06 17 3. We have taken evidence from the Government, from the H06 18 manufacturers' trade association and from bodies representing H06 19 consumers and food retailers and manufacturers. A full list of the H06 20 oral and written evidence can be found between pages iv and vi H06 21 above.

H06 22 4. We acknowledge our debt to our specialist adviser, Mr Harry H06 23 Barber, Senior Lecturer in Electronics and Electrical Engineering H06 24 at Loughborough University of Technology, in helping us to H06 25 understand a sometimes complex subject.

H06 26 II. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

H06 27 5. In themselves, microwave ovens are a safe, convenient and H06 28 increasingly popular feature of the modern kitchen. There are about H06 29 11 million ovens in domestic use in the United Kingdom and no H06 30 food poisoning cases have been specifically associated with H06 31 them. It is well known, however, that there is a relationship H06 32 between food safety and good kitchen practice and that pathogenic H06 33 micro-organisms present in food can be destroyed if the food is H06 34 properly cooked - or not destroyed if it is not. The correct use of H06 35 microwave ovens therefore stands on a par with the correct use of H06 36 conventional ovens, with one or two significant differences.

H06 37 6. With conventional cooking, the heat is transferred through H06 38 the surface of the food and is then conducted through the bulk of H06 39 the material. the surface temperature cannot be too high, otherwise H06 40 the food is burnt, and the whole process takes a considerable time. H06 41 long enough for temperature equalisation to take place within the H06 42 product. The emphasis is on warming the food to an acceptable H06 43 eating temperature and the bacteria are eliminated as an incidental H06 44 part of the process. In microwave heating, the electromagnetic H06 45 energy is transferred into the body of the product. This rate is H06 46 also affected by the position of the product within the oven H06 47 cavity, by the characteristics of the oven and by the geometry and H06 48 layout of different food items in the package. The inevitable H06 49 result is selective heating. The temperature will again equalise H06 50 over a period of time but the heating process is much more rapid H06 51 and the margin of error between satisfactory heating and H06 52 overcooking is therefore much narrower. Hence it is important that H06 53 the process be carried out accurately.

H06 54 7. A particular fear relating to microwave ovens was raises by H06 55 the Chief Medical Officer when he described as "plausible, H06 56 but unproven" the theory that the recent growth in H06 57 listeriosis figures was related to the proliferation of H06 58 "cook-chill meals" Cook-chill meals themselves are H06 59 prepared in rigorously hygienic conditions, but special problems H06 60 might arise if they were stored for too long or at the wrong H06 61 temperature. Poor kitchen hygiene might also lead to H06 62 micro-organisms being present in some of the 'do-it-yourself' H06 63 dishes people put in microwaves. We should emphasise that these are H06 64 largely hypothetical problems and that efforts to improve the H06 65 performance of microwave ovens should be regarded as sensible H06 66 precautionary measures rather than a direct response to actual H06 67 lapses in food safety standards.

H06 68 8. In this precautionary spirit, MAFF set up a Microwave H06 69 Working Party in June 1989, bringing together key bodies (oven H06 70 manufacturers, food manufacturers and retailers and consumer H06 71 organisations) in "a forum for sharing expertise and H06 72 developing co-ordinated responses to emerging scientific data on H06 73 the performances of microwave ovens". It was, in some H06 74 respects, an uneasy coalition of interests and it came unstuck in H06 75 acrimonious circumstances a few months later; but we believe that H06 76 MAFF's efforts to approach the problems on a collaborative basis H06 77 were well founded and we are satisfied that the Working Party is H06 78 continuing to play a useful role.

H06 79 III. COOKING FOOD TO A SAFE TEMPERATURE

H06 80 9. To cook food properly calls for different techniques H06 81 depending on what food is involved, but DHSS guidelines stipulate H06 82 that, for pathogenic organisms to be destroyed, food should be H06 83 heated to a minimum of 70<*_>degree<*/>C for two minutes. H06 84 These figures should not be set in tablets of stone. A higher H06 85 temperature for a shorter time or a lower temperature for a longer H06 86 time would yield the same result. Nor should the practical H06 87 realities of kitchen life be forgotten. How many cooks work with a H06 88 thermometer in one hand and a stop-watch in the other? But this H06 89 time-temperature profile provides a valuable bench-mark against H06 90 which the performance of microwave ovens can be judged.

H06 91 10. In the tests undertaken by the Institute of Food Research H06 92 of the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) which sparked H06 93 the controversy of December 1989, a standard amount of energy was H06 94 applied to a standard amount of mashed potato in 70 different H06 95 models of microwave oven<&|>sic!. In 24 of the models, the lowest H06 96 temperature found in the mashed potato after heating was below the H06 97 critical temperature of 70<*_>degree<*/>C.

H06 98 11. MAFF has been at pains to point out that the object of the H06 99 research was "to determine the extent of variability H06 100 of performance in a wide range of ovens, not to test the adequacy H06 101 of any particular model". The mashed potato was not stirred H06 102 or specially positioned as it would have been by a cook in the H06 103 kitchen working to the manufacturer's instructions; and it is very H06 104 likely that, if some different test had been selected, different H06 105 ovens would have performed differently. In MAFF's words:

H06 106 "Ovens were not judged to have 'passed' or 'failed' and H06 107 attempts to use the results in this way are based on a H06 108 misunderstanding of the nature of the research".

H06 109 12. We accept this statement - although we would add that MAFF H06 110 greatly contributed to the public misunderstanding of the situation H06 111 by the clumsy way in which they published the research. We return H06 112 to this point later.

H06 113 13. The research, then, did not demonstrate the existence of H06 114 millions of unsafe microwave ovens. Every functioning H06 115 microwave oven is capable of cooking food to a safe H06 116 temperature, just as every functioning car is capable of H06 117 getting from London to Birmingham. What it did highlight is the H06 118 fact that these aids to fast, convenient food are not quite as H06 119 trustworthy or as simple to operate as is popularly supposed. They H06 120 vary slightly from model to model. They need to be accompanied by H06 121 accurate manufacturer's instructions and similarly accurate H06 122 instructions must accompany any prepackaged convenience foods which H06 123 they are used to heat. How far these two conditions can be H06 124 satisfied was one of the issues we had to address.

H06 125 IV. STANDARDISATION

H06 126 14. There are currently some 799 models of microwave oven in H06 127 use in the UK, some old, some new, some incorporating a turntable, H06 128 some not, each configured slightly differently and each competing H06 129 in a fast growing market. The difficulties of achieving uniform H06 130 standards from such a diverse range of equipment will be H06 131 self-evident.

H06 132 15. Until 1 September 1990, there was no standardisation of the H06 133 declared power output of these ovens. This meant that two different H06 134 650-watt ovens might heat food to different temperatures, which H06 135 made meaningful food labelling instructions extremely difficult. H06 136 Since 1 September 1990 - in response, in part, to the furore of H06 137 December 1989 - new models of microwave oven will be rated for H06 138 power output according to a single method, the International H06 139 Standard IEC 705. Both the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic H06 140 Electrical Appliances (AMDEA) and non-AMDEA oven manufacturers have H06 141 been persuaded to join the IEC 705 power rating system. We welcome H06 142 these developments. they represent a positive step in the right H06 143 direction, if not a definitive solution to the problem.

H06 144 16. As witnesses were quick to point out, the IEC 705 standard H06 145 is anything but perfect. It is based on heating a one-litre water H06 146 load, which is practically the last thing anyone would put in a H06 147 microwave oven, and calibrates power output rather than testing H06 148 temperature measurements in food and their conformity with safety H06 149 standards. The methodology behind it is therefore fundamentally H06 150 different from the methodology used in the AFRC tests referred to H06 151 in the previous section, which was based on re-heating rather than H06 152 heating and was a closer simulation of the tasks microwave ovens H06 153 are most frequently used to perform.

H06 154 17. Other difficulties to which IEC 705 gives rise are:

H06 155 (i) it includes no pass or fail criteria;

H06 156 (ii) it is an international standard and can only be modified H06 157 after extensive international consultations;

H06 158 (iii) there are fundamental problems in applying it to models H06 159 sold before 1 September 1990.

H06 160 18. The IEC 705 standard does, nevertheless, enable important H06 161 progress to be made. The declared power output of new domestic H06 162 microwave ovens can be measured against that standard and the ovens H06 163 'banded' accordingly. MAFF proposed, when announcing the adoption H06 164 of the IEC 705 standard on 7 August, that the spectrum of IEC H06 165 wattages between 425 and 875 watts should be divided into five H06 166 numbered categories - all bands but the first being 75 watts wide. H06 167 Research carried out by the industry indicates that these bands may H06 168 be too wide, while the Retail Consortium and others wanted to see H06 169 fewer bands; discussions are still in progress to determine what is H06 170 the optimum number. But the existence of agreed and standardised H06 171 bands should make the next hurdle easier, which is labelling food H06 172 properly.

H06 173 19. In theory, once a microwave oven had been banded 2, say, it H06 174 would then be possible for cook-chill meals to carry instructions H06 175 indicating how long to cook them in an oven of that type. Simple H06 176 numbering systems work well in the case of other domestic H06 177 appliances like washing-machines and we believe they would prove H06 178 attractive to the consumer in this instance. The National Consumer H06 179 Council maintained that "microwave labelling instructions H06 180 to consumers have improved since December 1989, but there is still H06 181 considerable confusion". We agree with this assessment.

H06 182 VII. MAFF'S PERFORMANCE

H06 183 35. We referred earlier to MAFF's clumsy handling of the H06 184 publicity given to the AFRC's research in December 1989. Although H06 185 we do not wish to dwell on mistakes made so long ago, there are H06 186 clear lessons to be learnt from that experience.

H06 187 36. Details of what took place can be found in our evidence. H06 188 The AFRC research was undertaken at the behest of a MAFF working H06 189 party which contained both oven manufacturers and consumer groups. H06 190 As the research entailed testing a large number of microwave ovens, H06 191 the AFRC borrowed these from manufacturers, rather than purchasing H06 192 them, and MAFF agreed not to name the models used in its eventual H06 193 report. It was felt that such an arrangement would save money H06 194 without giving unnecessary hostages to fortune. As far as the AFRC H06 195 was concerned, the object of the tests was to measure variability H06 196 and not assess the efficiency of individual models.

H06 197 37. The best laid plans can come unstuck, and this was not a H06 198 best laid plan. When the Minister of Agriculture received the AFRC H06 199 report, with its apparently damning evidence of erratic performance H06 200 by microwave ovens, he was placed under immediate pressure from the H06 201 Consumers' Association, who threatened to disclose the report's H06 202 findings unless MAFF did so itself. The Minister accordingly H06 203 published the report on the day he received it without, for the H06 204 contractual reasons referred to in the last paragraph, naming the H06 205 ovens used in the study. There followed an undignified 48-hour H06 206 hiatus while the Minister withheld the names of the models which H06 207 had 'failed' the AFRC test until the manufacturers concerned had H06 208 prepared supplementary instructions for those using their ovens. In H06 209 the resulting confusion, the seriousness of the threat to food H06 210 safety was greatly exaggerated by the media, as could have been H06 211 expected.

H06 212 H06 213 H07 1 <#FLOB:H07\>The main changes are described in paragraphs 4 to 13 H07 2 below.

H07 3 Calculation of affordable loan

H07 4 4. DOE Circular 12/90 indicated that the 'loan generation H07 5 factor' used to calculate the notional 'affordable loan', which H07 6 represents the amount by which grant is reduced, would be uprated H07 7 to reflect changes in the standard national rate. Regulation 2(5) H07 8 accordingly amends Regulation 10 of the principal regulations by H07 9 substituting a new factor of 53.35 for owner-occupiers and of 35.37 H07 10 for tenants.

H07 11 Allowances and premiums

H07 12 5. All the allowances and premiums set out in Schedule 1 to the H07 13 principal regulations are amended to provide an increase in line H07 14 with the annual 'Rossi Index' which is applied for the purpose of H07 15 uprating housing benefit, community charge bendefit and income H07 16 support. The relevant amendments are contained in Regulation 2. The H07 17 increased allowances and premiums are reproduced at Annex A to this H07 18 Circular.

H07 19 6. Regulation 2(13)(d)(vii) also introduces a new premium: the H07 20 carer premium. This is available either where a relevant person H07 21 and/or his partner is in receipt of invalid care allowance or where H07 22 either or both would have been in receipt of that allowance but for H07 23 an overlapping benefit. Overlapping benefits include injury H07 24 benefit, unemployability supplement, industrial death benefit, war H07 25 pension death benefit and training allowance (see the Social H07 26 Security (Overlapping Benefits) Regulations 1979 (SI 1979 No.597). H07 27 In the latter case the claim for invalid care allowance must have H07 28 been made on or after 1 May 1991 and the person in respect of whose H07 29 care the allowance has been claimed must be in receipt of H07 30 attendance allowance. The new carer premium is pounds10.80 H07 31 (Regulation 2(13)(f)).

H07 32 7. In addition to any relevant personal allowances and H07 33 premiums, all applicants are entitled to an additional 'grant H07 34 premium'. Regulation 2(4) amends Regulation 8 of the principal H07 35 regulations to increase the grant premium from pounds20 to H07 36 pounds22. The new figure is based on the increase in the Retail H07 37 Price Index over the same period as the Rossi Index on the basis of H07 38 which other allowances and premiums have been uprated.

H07 39 8. Authorities should note that these regulations introduce H07 40 amendments to Schedule 1 of the principal regulations which make H07 41 disability premium available in a slightly different way from that H07 42 which obtains for housing benefit purposes. The amendments are H07 43 designed to reflect the fact that, whilst either member of a couple H07 44 may be the claimant for benefit, for grant purposes the applicant H07 45 must be a person having the requisite interest in the property H07 46 which is the subject of the grant application. Regulation H07 47 2(13)(d)(iii), (iv) and (vi) accordingly extends eligibility for H07 48 disability premium to cover circumstances where either the relevant H07 49 person or his partner satisfies the conditions of paragraphs H07 50 11(b) and 12(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to the principal regulations. This H07 51 means that, where disability premium is allowed in respect of a H07 52 partner rather than the relevant person himself, it will also be H07 53 available where that partner falls within the rules governing long H07 54 term incapacity for work instead of being confined to circumstances H07 55 where the partner is in receipt of attendance allowance etc.

H07 56 Disregards

H07 57 9. The Regulations introduce a number of new or amended H07 58 disregards in line with recent changes to housing benefit rules. H07 59 These include:

H07 60 (i) an extension of the cross references in regulations 22(2) H07 61 and 24(2) of the principal regulations to include paragraph 12 of H07 62 Schedule 2 in order to ensure that bank charges and commission on H07 63 converting earnings paid in overseas currency are deducted in the H07 64 calculation of an employed person's earnings or a self-employed H07 65 person's net profit;

H07 66 (ii) an increase in the lone parent's earnings disregard from H07 67 pounds15 to pounds25 (this disregard applies also to lone parents H07 68 who are disabled or over 60 who would have qualified for lone H07 69 parent premium were a disability premium of one of the pensioner H07 70 premiums not applicabe);

H07 71 (iii) the introduction of new income and capital disregards in H07 72 respect of regular one-off assistance given towards expenditure on H07 73 National Health Services under the National Health Service H07 74 (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) Regulations 1988 (SI H07 75 1988 No. 551) and its Scottish equivalent (as amended) and on H07 76 payments and repayments providing equivalent assistance (see H07 77 Regulation 2(15)(d) and (16)(g) which insert a new paragraph 44 and H07 78 a new paragraph 38 into Schedules 3 and 4);

H07 79 (iv) the introduction of new income and capital disregards in H07 80 respect of regular or one-off payments made in place of milk tokens H07 81 or the supply of vitamins under the Welfare Food Regulations 1988 H07 82 (SI 1988 No. 536 as amended) and of any payments made by the H07 83 relevant Secretary of State under a scheme to assist relatives and H07 84 others with prison visits (new paragraphs 45 and 46 and 39 and 40 H07 85 are inserted into Schedules 3 and 4 respectively of the principal H07 86 regulations by Regulation 2(15)(d) and (16)(g));

H07 87 (v) a total disregard of regular voluntary and charitable H07 88 payments other than those intended for food, ordinary clothing or H07 89 footwear, houshold fuel, eligible rent, community charges or water H07 90 charges, all of which payments continue to be eligible for a weekly H07 91 disregard of pounds10 subject to an overriding pounds10 limit (see H07 92 the new paragraph 13 of Schedule 3 to the principal regulations H07 93 substituted by Regulation 2(15)(b));

H07 94 (vi) an amendment to the disregard provided in paragraph 5(a) H07 95 of Schedule 4 to the principal regulations in respect of property H07 96 occupied by relatives to ensure that this disregard operates in H07 97 relation to a single relevant person as well as to relevant persons H07 98 who are members of a family (Regulation 2(16)(a));

H07 99 (vii) a disregard of the assets of a business where a H07 100 self-employed relevant person has ceased to trade because of H07 101 illness or injury but intends to return to that business as soon as H07 102 possible (a new sub-paragraph (2) to paragraph 8 of H07 103 Schedule 4 is added by Regulation 2(16)(b));

H07 104 (viii) a total disregard of trust funds (and the value of the H07 105 right to receive any payment under the trust) where the funds are H07 106 derived from a payment made in consequence of personal injury to a H07 107 relevant person except where the value represents funds for H07 108 carrying out works which are the subject of the application for H07 109 grant (Regulation 2(16)(c) which substitutes a new paragraph 14 in H07 110 Schedule 4 to the principal regulations);

H07 111 (ix) a total disregard of any arrears of special war widows' H07 112 payments which fall to be disregarded under paragraph 42 of H07 113 Schedule 3 to the principal regulations (see new paragraph 37 H07 114 inserted by Regulation 2(16)(g));

H07 115 (x) the amendment of the capital disregard contained in H07 116 paragraph 16 of Schedule 4 of the principal regulations to ensure H07 117 that the value of the right to receive earnings payable in a H07 118 country outside the United Kingdom but on which there is a ban on H07 119 transfer of those earnings to the United Kingdom is treated in the H07 120 same way as the value of the right to receive other income from H07 121 such a country (see Regulation 2(16)(d)).

H07 122 Students

H07 123 10. The Regulations also contain amendments relevant to the H07 124 calculation of students' income designed to take into account the H07 125 availability of student loans under the Education (Student Loans) H07 126 Act 1990 or the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order H07 127 1990 and of Access Fund payments made under the provisions of the H07 128 Education (Further and Higher Education Institutes) (Access Funds) H07 129 Regulations 1990. In particular, Regulation 2(12)(c) inserts a new H07 130 regulation 42A to cover the treatment of student loans. Authorities H07 131 should note that not only is any loan actually made to be treated H07 132 as income but in addition any loan for which a student is eligible H07 133 in accordance with arrangements made under the 1990 Act or Order is H07 134 treated as income even though the student may not have acquired the H07 135 loan. For this purpose a student is deemed to be in possession of H07 136 the maximum loan which would be payable. By virtue of Regulation 19 H07 137 of the principal regulations, student loans fall to be apportioned H07 138 on a weekly basis thus ensuring that the disregards operate in H07 139 relation to average weekly income rather than in relation to the H07 140 lump sum paid.

H07 141 11. Regulation 2(15)(c) provides for an additional disregard of H07 142 pounds10 per week in respect of student loan income. This means H07 143 that in many cases student loan income or notional income will be H07 144 entirely disregarded. Authorities should note, however, that H07 145 regular Access Fund payments are to be treated in the same way as H07 146 voluntary payments. The disregard mentioned in paragraph 9(v) above H07 147 will therefore apply in respect of such payments. Where a H07 148 combination of student loan income and income from Access Fund H07 149 payments exceeds pounds10 per week the provisions of paragraph 33 H07 150 of Schedule 3 to the principal regulations will have the effect of H07 151 limiting the total disregard to pounds10.

H07 152 12. There are two other amendments which affect the calculation H07 153 of student income. Regulation 2(12)(a) amends the definition of H07 154 grant to exclude hardship payments paid to students under section H07 155 100 of the Education Act 1944, sections 131 and 132 of the H07 156 Education Reform Act 1988 or section 73 of the Education (Scotland) H07 157 Act 1980. Such payments are therefore not taken into account as H07 158 part of grant income. In addition Regulation 2(12)(b) increases the H07 159 sum to be excluded from the calculation of grant income in respect H07 160 of books and equipment from pounds234 to pounds246.

H07 161 Miscellaneous

H07 162 13. There are also a number of minor amendments of which H07 163 authorities will wish to be aware. Regulation 2(3) amends the H07 164 definition of non-dependant to exclude not only a relevant person's H07 165 landlord/landlady as before but also any members of the H07 166 landlord's/landlady's family who may be living in the dwelling H07 167 concerned. Regulation 2(10) and (11) introduces amendments to the H07 168 provisions on notional income and capital (Regulations 28 and 35 of H07 169 the principal regulations) designed to ensure that payments for H07 170 water charges made to a third party on behalf of a relevant person H07 171 are counted as part of that person's income or capital in the same H07 172 way as payments to third parties in respect of food etc. are H07 173 counted. For the purpose of these provisions a definition of 'water H07 174 charges' is inserted in Regulation 2 of the principal regulations. H07 175 Regulation 16 of the principal regulations is amended to make it H07 176 plain that 'income' includes capital treated as income, notional H07 177 income and acutal or notional income derived from student loans H07 178 (see Regulation2(6)). Finally, the provisions of the Enterprise and H07 179 New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990, which establishes two new bodies H07 180 responsible for training policies and practice, are reflected by H07 181 the inclusion of a reference to that Act in those places where H07 182 there are references to the Employment and Training Act 1973 which H07 183 is no longer relevant in Scotland in relation to certain training H07 184 powers.

H07 185 The Housing Renovation etc. Grants (Prescribed Forms and H07 186 Particulars) (Amendment) Regulations 1991

H07 187 14. These regulations make some minor amendments to the H07 188 prescribed forms used when applying for grant. The amendments to H07 189 the forms used in connection with applications for renovation, H07 190 disabled facilities and common parts grants (Forms 1 to 3) are H07 191 necessary to reflect the amendments discussed in paragraphs 3 to H07 192 13. The amendments to Form 4 (application for HMO grant) correct H07 193 errors in questions 2.9 and 2.11 which result in the applicant H07 194 being guided to the wrong question (see Regulation 2(10) and H07 195 (11)).

H07 196 15. The main amendments are necessitated by the introduction of H07 197 the new carer premium mentioned in paragraph 6 above. This means H07 198 that authorities will need to have information about eligibility H07 199 for invalid care allowance. Since question 3.13 on Form 1 and its H07 200 equivalents on other forms are the main source of information for H07 201 assessing the 'applicable amount' a new question is inserted asking H07 202 about this allowance together with a new note, 30A, which advises H07 203 applicants to answer 'yes' where they would have been in receipt of H07 204 this allowance but for an overlapping benefit. Authorities should H07 205 note, however, that they may need to make some additional enquiries H07 206 to establish eligibility for carer premium where that eligibility H07 207 would depend on the circumstances covered in the new paragraph H07 208 14A(2) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Renovation etc. Grants H07 209 (Reduction of Grant) Regulations 1990.

H07 210 16. Question 3.38 on Form 1 and its equivalents on Forms 2 and H07 211 3 are amended to include a question about student loans. H07 212 H07 213 H08 1 <#FLOB:H08\>INLAND REVENUE: PURPOSE AND AIMS

H08 2 The following statement of the Inland Revenue's purpose and H08 3 aims cover all the work of the Department.

H08 4 The Inland Revenue is responsible, under the overall direction H08 5 of Ministers, for the administration of income tax, corporation H08 6 tax, capital gains tax, petroleum revenue tax, inheritance tax and H08 7 stamp duties; and valuation services for revenue and rating H08 8 purposes and for Government departments.

H08 9 Our purpose is:

H08 10 to collect the proper amount of tax due by law, and to value H08 11 property accurately

H08 12 to advise Ministers on policies for tax and valuation, and when H08 13 required to implement Government policies in those areas

H08 14 We are continually searching for new and better ways to do all H08 15 these things more economically, efficiently and effectively, to H08 16 improve our expertise, and to provide a fair and helpful service to H08 17 the public.

H08 18 In administering the tax system we will aim to:

H08 19 <*_>bullet<*/>advise the public of their rights and duties

H08 20 <*_>bullet<*/>treat people equally under the law

H08 21 <*_>bullet<*/>encourage mutual trust and co-operation between H08 22 the Department and the public

H08 23 <*_>bullet<*/>pursue tax which is properly due under H08 24 <}_><-|>the<+|><}/> the law

H08 25 <*_>bullet<*/>deter and detect evasion

H08 26 <*_>bullet<*/>value property to professional standards

H08 27 In advising Ministers on policy issues we will aim to consider H08 28 a range of factors including:

H08 29 <*_>bullet<*/>estimated cost and yields

H08 30 <*_>bullet<*/>social and economic considerations

H08 31 <*_>bullet<*/>the contribution of tax and valuation proposals H08 32 to the Government's wider policies

H08 33 <*_>bullet<*/>effects on compliance costs for taxpayers, and H08 34 our own costs

H08 35 <*_>bullet<*/>scope for consultation with taxpayers and H08 36 representative bodies

H08 37 We will prepare and publish our overall plans and account fully H08 38 for our use of the resources provided by Parliament. We will, H08 39 whenever possible, set clear objectives, allocate responsibility to H08 40 staff for achieving them, and monitor progress and results.

H08 41 H08 42 HIGHLIGHTS OF 1990/91

H08 43 This is our 133rd Annual Report to Parliament. It covers the H08 44 year ended 31 March 1991. It records the Department's activities H08 45 and performance during the year against the plans and targets we H08 46 set out in our Departmental Statement for 1990/91.

H08 47 The year began with detailed plans, agreed with Treasury H08 48 Ministers, for all the Department's operations, for introducing H08 49 independent taxation, and for continuing to implement our H08 50 strategies for compliance, information technology and staffing the H08 51 Department. Our Management Plan for 1990/91 to 1992/93, published H08 52 in February 1990, gave more information about this work. But the H08 53 Government's decision to abolish the composite rate tax on bank and H08 54 building society interest from 6 April 1991 added a new priority to H08 55 our previous plans, It meant we needed to review existing targets H08 56 and timetables and add new plans to implement this tax reform.

H08 57 The Inland Revenue ended 1990/91 with strong performance and H08 58 its operations although the downturn in the economy meant it was a H08 59 more difficult year for collection of tax debts. The Department H08 60 also made preparations for the abolition of composite rate tax and H08 61 other changes to the tax system, to improve and extend our service H08 62 to customers, and to reshape the way we organise and manage our H08 63 staff and work.

H08 64 We comment here on some of the highlights of the year.

H08 65 CUSTOMER SERVICE

H08 66 During 1990/91 we reviewed, as planned, our service to the H08 67 public. We published in February 1991, as part of our Next Steps H08 68 action plan, a new customer service plan.

H08 69 We have already implemented parts of it. A new version of the H08 70 Taxpayer's Charter was published in August 1991. We are H08 71 increasingly seeking taxpayer's views by means of customer surveys. H08 72 Better measures of performance are being piloted for introduction H08 73 in tax offices in 1992/93.

H08 74 These plans and initiatives are being developed as part of the H08 75 Government's initiatives for improving public services under the H08 76 Citizen's Charter. Collecting tax can never be a popular task, but H08 77 our aim has always been to carry it out accurately, courteously and H08 78 professionally. We owe a responsibility to our customers to give H08 79 them a high level of service. Good service also makes sense: we H08 80 believe that the highest level of voluntary compliance is achieved H08 81 by offering good service to all our customers.

H08 82 ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION

H08 83 The taxes for which we are responsible are assessed and H08 84 collected through the network of local tax and collection offices, H08 85 supported by the two Accounts Offices and the Enforcement Office, H08 86 and through the specialist offices which deal with claims, H08 87 inheritance tax, stamp duties, oil taxation, foreign dividends and H08 88 pension funds. In 1990/91 they handled the affair of over 30 H08 89 million customers (individuals, partnerships, companies and H08 90 trusts).

H08 91 There were, as expected, further increases in the numbers of H08 92 customers we deal with. In particular we received a quarter of a H08 93 million more accounts from businesses than in 1989/90.

H08 94 Detailed objectives and targets for 1990/91 for the operations H08 95 of these offices were agreed and published in the Departmental H08 96 Statement last year.

H08 97 Offices generally achieved their targets for current work, and H08 98 for reducing backlogs, which are vital both for good service to H08 99 taxpayers and for the timely flow of tax revenue to the Exchequer. H08 100 Collection of tax debts fell short of some of the targets we agreed H08 101 last year, largely because of the economic downturn and general H08 102 credit conditions, but there was nevertheless, a further reduction H08 103 in the amount of tax still uncollected three months after the due H08 104 date for payment.

H08 105 We attached particular importance to offices keeping on top of H08 106 work in 1990/91 because of the changes they were implementing, or H08 107 preparing for, in the tax system. Ministers' decisions to introduce H08 108 independent taxation and to abolish the composite rate tax made the H08 109 tax system more evenhanded, but both changes add to the number of H08 110 separate individuals whose tax affairs we have to deal with H08 111 directly in one way or another.

H08 112 INDEPENDENT TAXATION

H08 113 We reported last year the successful completion of the very H08 114 large amount of work to prepare for the introduction of independent H08 115 taxation on 6 April 1990. But this was by no means the end of one H08 116 of the biggest changes since income tax was introduced. The H08 117 successful implementation of the new legislation was one of the H08 118 priorities we set for tax offices for 1990/91.

H08 119 During the year some three quarters of a million tax returns H08 120 were received from married women for the first time. All were H08 121 examined on time.

H08 122 Tax offices were also preparing in 1990/91 for the additional H08 123 repayment claims expected to follow independent taxation.

H08 124 ABOLITION OF COMPOSITE RATE TAX

H08 125 In his Budget speech on 20 March 1990 the then Chancellor of H08 126 the Exchequer, the right hon. John Major MP, announced that the H08 127 composite rate of tax on interest paid by banks and building H08 128 societies would be abolished from 6 April 1991.

H08 129 Ministers decided to implement the change by allowing H08 130 individual investors to claim payment of interest gross if they H08 131 could certify that they did not expect to be liable to tax on their H08 132 interest for the year. Others would receive interest after tax and H08 133 be entitled to reclaim any tax deducted in excess of their true H08 134 liability.

H08 135 This was one of the biggest changes in this part of the tax H08 136 system for many years, not only for the Department but also for the H08 137 financial institutions involved. In 1990/91 over 35 million people H08 138 in the United Kingdom (owning between them about 100 million H08 139 interest-bearing accounts) were liable to composite rate tax at 22 H08 140 per cent. Of these over 15 million were either not liable or only H08 141 just liable to tax.

H08 142 Preparations for the abolition of composite rate tax became our H08 143 top priority for 1990/91. In order to meet Ministers' timetable we H08 144 had to:

H08 145 <*_>bullet<*/>devise detailed procedures for deduction of tax H08 146 from interest and for enabling non-taxpayers to receive payments of H08 147 interest gross by means of a registration scheme

H08 148 <*_>bullet<*/>publicise the new arrangements

H08 149 <*_>bullet<*/>develop computer systems and working procedures H08 150 to support the new arrangements

H08 151 <*_>bullet<*/>recruit and provide accommodation for the extra H08 152 staff required to run the new system

H08 153 Detailed plans for all these areas were drawn up and all of the H08 154 action required was completed by the end of the year.

H08 155 Extensive consultations took place with the British H08 156 Bankers' Association and the Building Societies' Association.

H08 157 Inland Revenue staff staged 45 roadshows in 42 different H08 158 towns throughout the country to explain the scheme to the people in H08 159 the high street branches of banks and building societies who will H08 160 be directly involved in operating it.

H08 161 With the help of market research we designed a simple H08 162 registration form and explanatory leaflet. The forms and H08 163 leaflets were stocked by the banks and building societies, and were H08 164 also sent to every home in the United Kingdom.

H08 165 Television and press advertising was timed to H08 166 coincide with the delivery of the leaflet. Market research H08 167 indicated that by the end of the campaign awareness of the changes H08 168 had increased from 20 per cent to 60 per cent amongst those we were H08 169 aiming to reach.

H08 170 We opened in 1990/91, as planned, 15 of the 24 new H08 171 offices which will deal with the bulk of repayment claims and H08 172 recruited over 1,000 of the staff who will work in them.

H08 173 We developed and introduced a computerised claims H08 174 repayment system in January 1991. This system, which was H08 175 designed for existing claims and those generated by independent H08 176 taxation, will be adapted and extended to deal with the expected H08 177 increase in claims.

H08 178 The abolition of composite rate tax has given us opportunities, H08 179 to explore new and more effective ways of communicating with the H08 180 public and with the organisations that have to operate tax H08 181 procedures; to consider novel staffing arrangements; and to H08 182 investigate developments in new technology.

H08 183 Until we actually receive the claims next year, we cannot be H08 184 sure how many of those entitled to claim repayment of tax on bank H08 185 and building society interest will in practice do so, or how H08 186 quickly they will put in their claims after the beginning of the H08 187 new tax year. The margin of uncertainty is very great. For example, H08 188 if the number of people who actually claim is 10 per cent more or H08 189 less than the number that we have (with Ministers' authority) H08 190 assumed, that will make a difference of something like H08 191 three-quarters of a million claims for repayment of tax - H08 192 representing several hundreds more or less manyears of work. We H08 193 have therefore had to develop and keep up to date flexible H08 194 contingency plans for handling either more or fewer claims than H08 195 expected.

H08 196 COMPLIANCE

H08 197 While encouraging voluntary compliance by giving our customers H08 198 good service we also have a duty to detect and tackle those who, H08 199 either deliberately or through misunderstanding, do not comply with H08 200 their obligations, or do not do so fully. Our strategy for H08 201 detecting and tackling non-compliance requires an active Inland H08 202 Revenue presence in all parts of the tax system. The direct yield H08 203 from this work in 1990/91 was pounds3.9 billion, equivalent to the H08 204 yield from 2 pence on the basic rate of income tax. This was an H08 205 increase of 34% over results in 1989/90, and the largest figure yet H08 206 recorded.

H08 207 RECEIPTS AND COSTS

H08 208 In 1990/91 the Department registered total tax receipts of H08 209 pounds82.5 billion (against a forecast of pounds81.9 billion). We H08 210 also collected, on behalf of the Department of Social Security, H08 211 National Insurance contributions totalling pounds33.4 billion H08 212 (against a forecast of pounds33.1 billion).

H08 213 The costs of collecting this revenue were pounds1402.1 million H08 214 in 1990/91 (pounds1234.3 million in 1989/90). This total includes H08 215 pounds46 million (3.3%) for the new arrangements for taxing bank H08 216 and building society interest.

H08 217 The Department was funded for expenditure of pounds1,408.1 H08 218 million, of which pounds1,3276.6 million was for our running H08 219 costs.

H08 220 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

H08 221 The Department's dependence on, and investment in, information H08 222 technology (IT) continues to grow. Capital investment in the year H08 223 under review was some pounds58 million. The number of terminals in H08 224 use is now some 48,000, an increase of 8,000 since our last report. H08 225 By the end of 1993/94 it is expected to reach 67,000.

H08 226 During the year contracts were signed for a new 'strategic' H08 227 terminal which will improve the resilience of the taxes and H08 228 collection networks and meet the requirements for network offices H08 229 in the 1990s. The new terminal provides local processing power H08 230 which, when fully exploited, will be used for a range of functions, H08 231 including computer based training, on-line instructions, and office H08 232 automation, in addition to the basic work of local offices. H08 233 H09 1 <#FLOB:H09\>Licensed firearms

H09 2 Due to concern at the cost of administering the firearms H09 3 licensing system, a multi-force scrutiny of the subject has been H09 4 conducted. Using this research a Joint Working Group involving H09 5 ACPO, the Home Office and the Inspectorate produced a best practice H09 6 paper, which has been circulated to all forces. It is designed to H09 7 streamline the licensing procedures and ensure that a high quality H09 8 of service is given to firearms users.

H09 9 The use of firearms by police

H09 10 I reported last year that 17 forces had introduced Armed H09 11 Response Vehicles (ARVs). This number has now increased to 24 H09 12 forces. The deployment of specialist officers equipped to respond H09 13 to armed incidents is necessary to match the rise in the criminal H09 14 use of firearms. Apart from operational advantages ARVs:

H09 15 <*_>bullet<*/>restrict the use of firearms to a smaller cadre H09 16 of experienced and better trained officers;

H09 17 <*_>bullet<*/>reduce abstractions for firearms training.

H09 18 During 1991, there were five incidents in which police fired H09 19 shots which resulted in death or injury. All these incidents were H09 20 referred to the Police Complaints Authority who supervised H09 21 investigations into the shootings.

H09 22 In two of these cases, the weapons recovered from those shot by H09 23 police were incapable of firing ammunition. Individuals who H09 24 threaten members of the public or police officers with replica H09 25 firearms place themselves in extreme danger. Even under ideal H09 26 conditions it is often difficult to distinguish between a replica H09 27 and a genuine firearm. At night or in an operational situation it H09 28 is virtually impossible particularly as individuals in these H09 29 circumstances usually act in a way calculated to indicate that the H09 30 weapon is real. I am pleased that the Government are considering H09 31 recommendations for extending the range of offences relating to the H09 32 misuses of replica firearms.

H09 33 Crime H09 34 There has been yet another dramatic increase in the number of H09 35 recorded crimes. Crime in some force areas increased by as much as H09 36 34%. During 1991, approximately 4.2 million offences were recorded H09 37 in the provincial police forces, an increase of some 18% over H09 38 1990.

H09 39 The vast majority of recorded crimes, approximately 94%, was H09 40 against property. Of this 30% involved the theft of or from motor H09 41 vehicles and 24% were burglaries.

H09 42 Crimes involving violence accounted for 5% of the total H09 43 offences and there are wide variations in the frequency of H09 44 different types of violent crime. For example, whilst offences of H09 45 robbery show an increase of 29%, sexual offences, the majority of H09 46 which comprise indecent assaults on females, show a comparatively H09 47 small increase of 1.7%. However such crimes remain of particular H09 48 concern to both the public and the police. This is reflected in the H09 49 high overall clear-up rate for these offences.

H09 50 The Police Service has never done more to ensure that reported H09 51 crime is effectively investigated. This has been achieved by:

H09 52 <*_>bullet<*/>the continued development of crime management H09 53 units;

H09 54 <*_>bullet<*/>the improvement of administrative and crime H09 55 support units;

H09 56 <*_>bullet<*/>the development of crime intelligence systems;

H09 57 <*_>bullet<*/>the increasing targeting of criminals.

H09 58 Staff from the Inspectorate have conducted a study into the H09 59 investigation of offences of domestic burglary in some provincial H09 60 forces. The study addressed a number of issues including the H09 61 quality of the service provided to the victim of crime. It revealed H09 62 discrepancies in the way burglaries were recorded and investigated H09 63 and while generally the standard was already high there was scope H09 64 for improvement. The findings of this research have been prepared H09 65 as a good practice document and circulated to all forces.

H09 66 It has been roughly estimated that car crime in the United H09 67 Kingdom costs something in the order of pounds1 billion per annum, H09 68 although this does not take into account the human cost in terms of H09 69 death and injury which result from these offences.

H09 70 In the outbreaks of disorder that occurred during the year, a H09 71 common factor has often been the criminal use of motor vehicles, H09 72 incuding the unlawful taking of high powered cars. Forces have H09 73 responded by adopting a wide range of tactics including operational H09 74 targeting and the implementation of force wide and inter-regional H09 75 initiatives involving crime squads, traffic task force units and H09 76 helicopter surveillance. Other specific strategies have been aimed H09 77 at developing local authority and inter-agency co-operation to H09 78 divert young people from car crime.

H09 79 In addition, forces have emphasised the importance of vehicle H09 80 security in their crime prevention strategies and many have H09 81 undertaken innovative ideas aimed at combating car crime. An H09 82 example of this is 'Vehicle Watch'. This initiative has been H09 83 adopted by a considerable number of forces throughout the country. H09 84 The four Welsh forces have taken this one step further by H09 85 introducing an all Wales 'Vehicle Watch' scheme. These efforts will H09 86 be continued with national crime prevention strategies being H09 87 targeted towards vehicle offences.

H09 88 Whilst the potential seriousness of car crime is clearly H09 89 recognised by the Service and local initiatives have often proved H09 90 successful in combating it, something more than policing H09 91 initiatives will be necessary if any significant impact is to be H09 92 made in reducing thefts of and from motor vehicles. I welcome the H09 93 wide range of initiatives now being taken forward by the Home H09 94 Office to tackle this problem.

H09 95 Prevention is central to the fight against crime and training H09 96 courses provided to police officers at the Home Office Crime H09 97 Prevention Centre are desigend to increase the penetration of the H09 98 philosophy of crime prevention within the Police Service. In H09 99 addition the Safer Cities initiatives demonstrate how local action H09 100 can effectively combat crime by way of specific crime prevention H09 101 schemes and the development of multi-agency partnerships. I support H09 102 the continuing efforts of the Home Office and the police to make H09 103 the public more aware of the need to take crime prevention H09 104 seriously, although clearly there is still much to be done to H09 105 achieve effective and long term practical improvements.

H09 106 Child abuse

H09 107 The publication 'Working Together' has been revised and updated H09 108 in the light of good practice and difficulties experienced in the H09 109 past three years. It provides an excellent guide to inter-agency H09 110 co-operation for the protection of children from abuse. The joint H09 111 investigation of child abuse can be a complex and difficult H09 112 responsibility and is not one which all officers would choose or H09 113 indeed are suited to undertake. HMIC supports the principle that H09 114 such duties whould, wherever practicable, be undertaken by H09 115 specialist teams of selected officers who have received joint H09 116 training with Social Services. Examination of child abuse H09 117 procedures by HMIC will continue to be a priority and liaison will H09 118 be maintained with the Social Services Inspectorate to ensure that H09 119 the good progress made in inter-agency practice is continued and H09 120 that the best interests of children is ensured.

H09 121 Serious and organised crime

H09 122 Regional Crime Squads, together with their drugs wings, have H09 123 continued to provide an effective response to professional H09 124 criminals whose activities transcend force, regional and national H09 125 boundaries. With the easing of international border controls, the H09 126 Police Service finds itself having to respond more and more to H09 127 international crime and the expertise of the Regional Crime Squads H09 128 in increasingly important.

H09 129 Last year, I referred briefly to the review that had been H09 130 undertaken in relation to Regional Crime Squads. The H09 131 recommendations resulting from this review are intended to provide H09 132 a more effective and efficient investigative force capable of H09 133 tackling the most serious crime and have been the subject of wide H09 134 consultation and comprehensive financial analysis. A tripartite H09 135 steering group is currently considering all the implications, with H09 136 a view to identifying the appropriate way forward.

H09 137 Drugs H09 138 The growth in the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom H09 139 continues to be a very considerable cause for concern with major H09 140 criminals being drawn into the field by the expectation of high H09 141 financial rewards. Whilst some two-thirds of the total drugs H09 142 problem is centred in London and the South East, the majority of H09 143 conurbations now have well-established drugs communities supplied H09 144 by organised distributors.

H09 145 Heroin use remains high and in the period January to September H09 146 1991 the police seized more heroin than in the whole of 1990. The H09 147 increase in the number of seizures of 'Crack' is of particular H09 148 concern with intelligence suggesting that this form of drug is H09 149 becoming more widely available.

H09 150 Seizures of amphetamines confirm them as having the widest H09 151 distribution of all drugs. They are particularly attractive to H09 152 young people and injection, being a fairly common practice, H09 153 presents serious ancillary health risks through intravenous H09 154 infection.

H09 155 Police seizures of the hallucinogenic derivative MDMA (Ecstasy) H09 156 have greatly exceeded those in 1990.

H09 157 Seized Assets Fund

H09 158 During the early part of the year the Home Secretary announced H09 159 the establishment of the Seized Assets Fund financed from the H09 160 proceeds of drug trafficking seized under international H09 161 confiscation agreements. Of the pounds3.2 million received during H09 162 1991/92, pounds1 million has been earmarked to finance H09 163 international drug investigations by Police and Customs and H09 164 pounds2.2 million has been made available for individual projects H09 165 directed against the misuse of drugs. A total of pounds424,000 from H09 166 the fund has been made available to 14 police forces to purchase H09 167 encrypted radios to assist in anti drugs operations with H09 168 pounds81,500 for specialist computer equipment.

H09 169 Terrrorism H09 170 Terrorist outrages throughout Great Britain continued during H09 171 1991, with the IRA displaying no regard for human life in their H09 172 quest to inflict damage on a variety of targets.

H09 173 There were 59 terrorist related incidents in 1991, most of H09 174 which involved the use of incendiary devices. It has been several H09 175 years since the terrorists last employed this method to attack H09 176 property on the mainland. While the more serious incidents included H09 177 the bomb attack at Victoria Station, in which one man was killed, H09 178 and the mortar bomb attack on Dowing Street, all caused serious H09 179 inconvenience to the public and disrupted normal life.

H09 180 Two terrorists were killed while attempting to carry out an H09 181 attack in Hertfordshire, when the bomb they were handling exploded H09 182 prematurely.

H09 183 Notwithstanding the efforts of the IRA, it has been shown that H09 184 incresed vigilance and counter measures have thwarted the H09 185 terrorists on several occasions. The co-ordinated police approach H09 186 to the terrorist campaign has undoubtedly contributed significantly H09 187 to the disruption of IRA activities.

H09 188 Offending on bail

H09 189 My introduction to this report raised the considerable concern H09 190 expressed within the Service about offenders who continue to commit H09 191 crime while on bail

H09 192 Whilst the Police Service acknowledges the pressure that exists H09 193 within our already overcrowded prisons, the abuse of the bail H09 194 system by some hardened and active criminals causes frustration H09 195 both to the public and to the victims of crime.

H09 196 I am pleased the Home Office has announced a range of measures H09 197 intended to improve bail decisions and so reduce the opportunities H09 198 for offending while on bail. Work is also in hand to examine H09 199 aspects of police bail. A new working group, including the police, H09 200 courts and prosecutors, will take this work forward.

H09 201 Victims support

H09 202 The police have continued to work closely with members of H09 203 Victims Support Schemes to provide reassurance and assistance to H09 204 the victims of crime.

H09 205 A commitment to the care of victims is an important part of the H09 206 police investigation of crime. It can do much to alleviate the fear H09 207 and anxieties caused when offences are committed and ensures the H09 208 support and co-operation of the general community. Of particular H09 209 note is the effort now being made to care for the victims of H09 210 domestic violence. Many forces have trained dedicated officers and H09 211 are encouraged to work closely with all agencies to provide a H09 212 comprehensive system of support to those who suffer from crime.

H09 213 Traffic H09 214 The new Road Traffic Act, inter alia, contained provisions for H09 215 detecting motoring offences by use of unmanned cameras. The current H09 216 cost of these cameras is in the region of pounds25,000 and Chief H09 217 Officers will need to consider their priorities carefully when H09 218 contemplating the purchase of this equipment. The indications are H09 219 that the publicity surrounding the installation of these cameras H09 220 reduces road accidents.

H09 221 The use of information technology is essential if expensive H09 222 traffic resources are to be effectively and efficiently used. The H09 223 development of computer packages to analyse in detail the causes of H09 224 accidents will permit force traffic departments and local police H09 225 commanders to work with the local authority and other agencies to H09 226 prepare action plans aimed at reducing accidents.

H09 227 Safety on the roads affects everyone in society. I regard the H09 228 maintenance of road safety and the enforcement of traffic laws as H09 229 being important features in the overall provision of a quality H09 230 policing service.

H09 231 H10 1 <#FLOB:H10\>Expected and reported effects of alcohol

H10 2 Although drivers on the whole recognised the impact of alcohol H10 3 on driving skills, a sizeable minority appeared sceptical about the H10 4 dangers involved. About one in four men drivers and one in seven H10 5 women drivers felt that driving when a little over the legal limit H10 6 did not increase their risk of being involved in an accident. H10 7 Similar proportions agreed that if they felt alright to drive then H10 8 it would be safe to do so even if they were "a bit over the H10 9 limit" (Appendix C: Table VII). Relatively few drivers, on H10 10 the other hand, thought that they could handle more alcohol than H10 11 the average drinker. No more than one in eight drivers took this H10 12 view in any of the four main driver groups (Appendix C: Table H10 13 VIII).

H10 14 The majority of drivers reported what might be described as H10 15 positive effects of drinking alcohol. Feeling more relaxed was H10 16 claimed by at least two-thirds of drivers across each of the four H10 17 groups. Moreover, almost half the younger drivers and one-third of H10 18 older drivers reported that drinking alcohol made them feel more H10 19 impulsive.(Appendix C: Table IX).

H10 20 Attitudes to drinking and driving

H10 21 There was strong evidence that drinking and driving attracted H10 22 widespread condemnation among the friends and families of the H10 23 drivers in the survey. Almost all drivers expected that their H10 24 families would disapprove of drinking and driving. On the other H10 25 hand, men drivers were less likely than women drivers to expect H10 26 that their friends would disapprove of their drinking and driving H10 27 (Appendix C: Table X).

H10 28 The majority of drivers themselves felt it was clearly wrong to H10 29 drive after drinking over the limit. More than four out of five in H10 30 each of the main driver groups agreed that it was morally H10 31 unacceptable to do so. However, the proportion of drivers whose H10 32 attitudes to drinking and driving were more ambivalent was by no H10 33 means insignificant. More than one-third of both men and women H10 34 drivers felt that it was difficult to avoid some drinking and H10 35 driving if they were going to have "any kind of a social H10 36 life". In addition, almost half the younger men drivers H10 37 thought it was likely that they would drive in the next year when H10 38 they were over the legal limit. Even among older women drivers this H10 39 proportion was more than one in five (Appendix C: Table XI). H10 40 Moreover, at least one in four younger male drivers said that H10 41 limiting themselves to one or two standard drinks would seriously H10 42 affect their enjoyment of social occasions (Appendix C: Table H10 43 XII).

H10 44 Overall, men drivers most often gave the risk of legal H10 45 sanctions as the main reason for cutting down their drinking before H10 46 driving. About four out of ten men drivers gave this explanation H10 47 compared with about two out of ten women drivers. For women H10 48 drivers, general concern about the risk of being involved in a road H10 49 accident was the most frequently cited reason for limiting the H10 50 amount of alcohol consumed before driving. Less frequently, drivers H10 51 gave the risk of injury to themselves as their reason for drinking H10 52 less before driving. (Appendix C: Table XIII). Consistent with H10 53 their reasons for reducing alcohol consumption before driving, men H10 54 drivers appeared more concerned about the impact of conviction on H10 55 their personal life than women drivers.

H10 56 About three out of ten men drivers compared with two out of ten H10 57 women drivers thought that a drink-driving conviction would H10 58 "almost ruin" their lives (Appendix C: Table H10 59 XIV).

H10 60 The majority of drivers felt that the breathalyser was a fair H10 61 test of the amount of alcohol in a driver's blood. But about one in H10 62 four men drivers and about one in six women drivers disagreed. A H10 63 greater proportion of drivers felt that the breathalyser was not a H10 64 fair test of whether someone was safe to drive. About one in three H10 65 men drivers and one in five women drivers gave this view (Appendix H10 66 C: Table XV).

H10 67 Knowledge of the law and police powers

H10 68 When asked whether they could state the legal blood alcohol H10 69 limit in milligrams (mg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of H10 70 blood, two-thirds of men drivers but less than half the women H10 71 drivers were able to supply a figure. Overall, only a small H10 72 proportion of drivers thought the legal maximum limit was higher H10 73 than 80 mg/100 ml blood. In contrast to the numbers specifying a H10 74 legal blood alcohol limit, rather more drivers were able to H10 75 indicate what they thought was the most they could drink without H10 76 going over the legal limit. Only about one in twenty men drivers H10 77 and one in ten women drivers were unable to say how many units of H10 78 beer they thought they could drink without going over the legal H10 79 limit. The majority of drivers gave a figure of four units or less H10 80 of beer. But while almost all women drivers gave such an answer, H10 81 about one in five men drivers said they thought they could drink H10 82 five or more units of beer without exceeding the legal limit H10 83 (Appendix C: Table XVI).

H10 84 On the whole, drivers did not appear confident about their H10 85 chances of avoiding detection if they did drink and drive. About H10 86 three-quarters of both men and women drivers estimated that their H10 87 own chances of being caught were one in 100 or greater (Appendix C: H10 88 Table XVII). Similarly, two-thirds of drivers judged that their H10 89 risk of being stopped by the police was greater if they had been H10 90 drinking than when they were sober (Appendix C: Table XVIII). On H10 91 the other hand, about one-third of men drivers, but slightly fewer H10 92 women drivers, agreed with the statement that if they drove H10 93 carefully after drinking they were not likely to get caught by the H10 94 police. (Appendix C: Table XIX). When asked about the penalties for H10 95 a first conviction on a drink-driving offence, the most frequently H10 96 mentioned sanctions were disqualification, fine and licence H10 97 endorsement. Overall, men drivers were more likely to mention H10 98 disqualification than were women drivers, nevertheless, about one H10 99 in four men drivers failed to recall this mandatory consequence of H10 100 conviction (Appendix C: Table XX).

H10 101 The majority of drivers recognised that, under the present law, H10 102 the police can stop any driver without needing a particular reason H10 103 to do so. Although the clear majority of drivers were aware they H10 104 were liable to be stopped at any time while driving, there was a H10 105 sizeable minority, particularly among older men drivers, who H10 106 thought that the police needed to have a specific reason to stop H10 107 someone. Three out of ten older men drivers expressed this view. H10 108 The majority of drivers also felt (mistakenly, since there need to H10 109 be reasonable grounds for suspicion) that the police could H10 110 breathalyse any driver without needing to have a particular reason. H10 111 Again, the proportion who thought that the police needed to have a H10 112 specific reason was highest among older men drivers (Appendix C: H10 113 Table XXI).

H10 114 Apart from older women drivers, most drivers in the survey knew H10 115 personally someone who had been breathalysed at some time and more H10 116 than two-fifths of younger men drivers knew someone who had been H10 117 breathalysed in the past 12 months. Rather fewer drivers had H10 118 themselves ever been breathalysed. Overall, about one in four of H10 119 younger and one in six of older men drivers had been required to H10 120 take a screening breath test compared with no more than one in H10 121 thirty among the corresponding age-groups of women drivers H10 122 (Appendix C: Table XXII).

H10 123 Self-reported drink-driving

H10 124 Analysis of drinking occasions away from home over the H10 125 preceding seven days showed that about one in ten men drivers and H10 126 about one in fifty women drivers in the survey had driven on one or H10 127 more occasions in the previous week after drinking five or more H10 128 units of alcohol. Other survey data indicated that rather higher H10 129 proportions of both men (22 per cent) and women drivers (five per H10 130 cent) had driven after drinking at least five units of alcohol on H10 131 one or more occasions over the previous 12 months.

H10 132 To sum up, the preceding overview of the general survey H10 133 findings provides some grounds for optimism over the extent to H10 134 which drivers limit their alcohol consumption before driving. While H10 135 drinking away from home was a frequent activity, particularly for H10 136 younger male drivers, drivers in general were much less likely to H10 137 drive themselves home after drinking five or more units of alcohol H10 138 than after drinking a lower amount. The effects of alcohol on the H10 139 risks of being involved in an accident were generally H10 140 well-recognised and, on the whole, drivers expressed strongly H10 141 negative attitudes to drinking and driving and were well-informed H10 142 about the legal limit and the number of drinks which would keep H10 143 them on the right side of the law. Drivers also appeared not to H10 144 underestimate police powers and, on the whole, they revealed H10 145 favourable attitudes to the main roadside screening device - the H10 146 breathalyser. Drivers did not appear to underestimate the chances H10 147 of being caught or minimise the consequences of detection and H10 148 conviction.

H10 149 There were, nevertheless, some findings which give rise to H10 150 concern. A minority of drivers, for example, indicated that they H10 151 had driven after drinking five or more units at least once in the H10 152 preceding week. A larger proportion felt safe to drive even if they H10 153 were over the legal limit. More evident still was the belief that H10 154 drinking and driving were necessary aspects of drivers' social H10 155 lives and almost half the younger male drivers in the survey agreed H10 156 that they were likely to drink and drive at least once over the H10 157 coming 12 months. About one in three drivers felt that they were H10 158 unlikely to be caught driving with illegal BACs if they drove H10 159 carefully.

H10 160 The next Chapter examines the relationship between police H10 161 enforcement practices and respondents' reported drink-drive H10 162 behaviour.

H10 163 H10 164 3 Area differences in drink-driving

H10 165 Drivers in the survey were assigned to one of three groups H10 166 according to the location of interview. Nottinghamshire and Gwent H10 167 were combined to form the high-enforcement area. Leicestershire and H10 168 Gloucestershire formed the low-enforcement area. Drivers H10 169 interviewed elsewhere in England and Wales comprised the 'national' H10 170 group. The present and following Chapters examine whether drivers H10 171 in the high-enforcement area were less likely to drink and drive H10 172 than those in the low-enforcement area and, if so, was this because H10 173 they perceived a greater risk of being caught? The extent of area H10 174 differences in driver behaviour provides the focus of the present H10 175 Chapter. The next Chapter addresses whether any such differences H10 176 can be explained by variations in perceived detection risks or H10 177 whether other driver characteristics need to be taken into H10 178 account.

H10 179 Is drink-driving related to police enforcement

H10 180 At the beginning of their interviews, drivers were asked about H10 181 each drinking occasion away from home during the previous seven H10 182 days. Questions covered the numbers and types of drinks consumed as H10 183 well as the means of travel away from the drinking location. The H10 184 survey findings, based on details of more than 3,000 drinking H10 185 occasions, are presented separately for men aged 17-29 and 30-60 H10 186 and for women aged 17-60 in Tables 2, 3 and 4. These Tables show H10 187 how respondents travelled from the drinking location after drinking H10 188 (a) four or fewer units and (b) five or more units of alcohol for H10 189 each of the three survey areas. Table 2 based on men drivers aged H10 190 17-29 shows that the proportion of drinking occasions involving H10 191 five or more units of alcohol followed by driving was eight per H10 192 cent in the high-enforcement area compared with a much higher 18 H10 193 per cent in the low-enforcement area, a statistically significant H10 194 difference (chi-square = 11.78, 1 d.f., p<0.001, one-tailed test). H10 195 The corresponding rate in the 'national' area was 12 per cent.

H10 196 table&caption

H10 197 Table 3 shows that the figures for older men drivers (aged H10 198 30-60) were 11 per cent in the high-enforcement area and again a H10 199 much higher 27 per cent in the low-enforcement area, a H10 200 statistically significant difference (chi-square = 3.45, p<0.05). H10 201 The equivalent rate in the 'national' area was 17 per cent.

H10 202 Table 4 shows that for women drivers in the high-enforcement H10 203 area only four per cent of drinking occasions involving five or H10 204 more units of alcohol were followed by driving, while the H10 205 proportion for the low-enforcement area was higher at 11 per cent. H10 206 H11 1 <#FLOB:H11\>Management should ensure that there is a documented H11 2 training programme encompassing all aspects of QA work including H11 3 the development of auditing and inspection skills and communication H11 4 techniques. The training programme should, where possible, include H11 5 on-the-job experience under the supervision of competent and H11 6 trained staff. Attendance at in-house and external seminars and H11 7 courses may also be relevant. Development should be continuous and H11 8 subject to periodic review.

H11 9 The training of QA personnel must be documented and their H11 10 competence appropriately endorsed. Records should be kept up to H11 11 date and be subsequently archived.

H11 12 To enable QA personnel to function effectively, Management H11 13 should provide appropriate office facilities with sufficient secure H11 14 storage for data and documentation. In addition, where the Testing H11 15 Facility uses computerised methods for data collection and storage, H11 16 QA personnel should have ready, independent, and at least read-only H11 17 access to computer databases.

H11 18 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE QA PROGRAMME

H11 19 (i) The Master Schedule

H11 20 GLP Principles require the Testing Facility to maintain a H11 21 listing of all studies planned, in progress or completed. This H11 22 'Master Schedule' should normally provide the following information H11 23 on each study:

H11 24 Unique study identification.

H11 25 Test substance, test system, and nature of the study.

H11 26 Name of the Study Director.

H11 27 Start and completion dates.

H11 28 The inclusion of further information such as the date of issue H11 29 of the final report and the date of archiving can be useful.

H11 30 The Master Schedule can be used by QA personnel (and by H11 31 Compliance Monitoring Inspectors) to assess the volume of work H11 32 being performed by the Testing Facility and by individuals within H11 33 it and enables them to maintain awareness of studies planned and in H11 34 progress. Management must therefore ensure that QA staff have ready H11 35 access to the Master Schedule. Responsibility for maintaining a H11 36 Master Schedule rests with Testing Facility Management; however, H11 37 this task may be advantageously performed by QA staff.

H11 38 GLP Compliance Monitoring Inspectors will wish to identify H11 39 studies for which GLP Compliance is claimed. The Master Schedule H11 40 should clearly identify these studies. Management are reminded that H11 41 GLP studies must be identified as such before they are initiated. H11 42 This does not prevent Management from subsequently down-grading or H11 43 terminating a GLP study providing its change of status is noted in H11 44 the Master Schedule and any data that have been generated are H11 45 retained in accordance with GLP Principles.

H11 46 (ii) Study Protocol (Plan)

H11 47 Management must ensure that the study protocol (sometimes H11 48 referred to as the Study Plan) is available to QA before a study H11 49 starts. This will permit QA personnel:

H11 50 - to assure compliance of the protocol with GLP Principles;

H11 51 - to assure the completeness, clarity and consistency of the H11 52 protocol;

H11 53 - to identify the critical phases of the study and to plan its H11 54 QA monitoring programme in relation to the study;

H11 55 - to enter the study in the Master Schedule if their H11 56 responsibilities include this function.

H11 57 To facilitate effective study monitoring, protocol amendments H11 58 must be forwarded promptly to QA.

H11 59 (iii) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

H11 60 Where QA has, in addition to QA SOPs, involvement with the H11 61 production of Testing Facility SOPs or with maintenance of the H11 62 Master Schedule this must be detailed in relevant SOPs.

H11 63 It is desirable that QA personnel review Testing Facility SOPs H11 64 before issue in order to assess their clarity and GLP compliance as H11 65 the quality of the documentation has a bearing on the effectiveness H11 66 of the QA function.

H11 67 Management may charge QA with the responsibility for assuring H11 68 that SOPs are periodically reviewed by the relevant personnel; for H11 69 assuring that the production and issue of SOPs is controlled to H11 70 discourage the taking of unauthorised copies; and for ensuring that H11 71 all copies of superseded SOP editions are removed from the working H11 72 areas and a copy of each retained in the archives.

H11 73 QA should be required to keep readily available copies of all H11 74 SOPs relevant to the procedures that it monitors.

H11 75 (iv) Planning and Recording of Inspections and H11 76 Audits

H11 77 QA is responsible for the regular monitoring of the test H11 78 facility's operations and procedures and the periodic monitoring of H11 79 studies.

H11 80 In order to function effectively, QA personnel must document H11 81 the schedule of intended audits and inspections for all studies and H11 82 processes under surveillance and, subsequently, keep records of all H11 83 their activities. It is a Management responsibility to ensure by H11 84 reference to such records that QA personnel are properly meeting H11 85 their commitments. Such records include a list of the phases that H11 86 are to be inspected for each study type or process covered. The H11 87 intended frequency of the inspections should also be defined, but H11 88 this should not preclude additional inspections if unanticipated H11 89 problems arise.

H11 90 (v) Objectives of an Inspection

H11 91 Management should specify for QA personnel the principal H11 92 objectives of their monitoring activities. These will include, but H11 93 may not be limited to, assurance that:

H11 94 - the protocol and approved amendments are available to H11 95 relevant study personnel and that its requirements are being H11 96 followed;

H11 97 - the relevant SOPs are readily available in the operational H11 98 areas; that staff concerned are familiar with their content; and H11 99 that the procedures are being performed in accordance with the SOP, H11 100 or that deviations have been documented, explained and authorised H11 101 by the Study Director or relevant line manager;

H11 102 - all data being generated are recorded in accordance with GLP H11 103 requirements;

H11 104 - the facilities are adequate for the proper conduct of the H11 105 procedure and the equipment properly maintained and calibrated;

H11 106 - all test systems and specimens, test substances, reagents and H11 107 solutions are properly identified and housed or stored to maintain H11 108 their integrity;

H11 109 - documentation exists showing that all personnel involved in H11 110 the study have sufficient training and experience to perform their H11 111 duties.

H11 112 QA should pay particular attention to the flow of information H11 113 and the chain of custody of samples across the interfaces of H11 114 contributing disciplines and work groups.

H11 115 To assist them in conducting inspections and audits, QA H11 116 personnel can prepare checklists to remind them of the specific H11 117 aspects which may need to be examined in each case. However, H11 118 checklists should not be used in such a way as to exclude H11 119 initiative and flexibility of approach.

H11 120 Management should ensure QA personnel are informed of H11 121 developments or proposed expansions within the organisation it is H11 122 monitoring, and of changes in procedures or techniques within H11 123 departments.

H11 124 (vi) Study-based, Process-based and Facility H11 125 Inspections

H11 126 QA personnel should be required by Management to conduct H11 127 inspections which may be study, process or facility based, as H11 128 appropriate.

H11 129 - Study-based inspections are those related to H11 130 specific events occurring during a study; they usually include H11 131 monitoring of 'critical phases' of the study.

H11 132 - Process-based inspections are those unrelated to H11 133 specific studies, and which are carried out periodically. They may H11 134 be applied to aspects of studies that are conducted as repetitive H11 135 (routine) processes, or where a given type of operation or study is H11 136 undertaken in large numbers by the facility and each study is of H11 137 such short duration that monitoring of each individually is H11 138 impracticable. In such cases, monitoring on a random sample basis H11 139 may be appropriate although the basis for such sample monitoring H11 140 should be defined.

H11 141 - Facility inspections are those conducted to cover H11 142 the general facilities and support services, including H11 143 installations, computer systems, staff training, environmental H11 144 monitoring and maintenance.

H11 145 In some testing facilities, Management require the Archive to H11 146 be administered by QA. Where this is so, inspection procedures must H11 147 be laid down which ensure that conflicts of interest are avoided. H11 148 It is essential to avoid situations whereby QA personnel report the H11 149 outcome of Archive inspections only to their own line management or H11 150 monitor their own activities.

H11 151 (vii) Audits of Data and Financial Reports

H11 152 GLP Principles require that Management ensures that raw data H11 153 are reviewed by QA personnel. This can be accomplished in a number H11 154 of ways. For example, the records may be examined by QA personnel H11 155 during process based inspections; during audits of final reports; H11 156 or may be reviewed by them at specially conducted data audits H11 157 during the live phases of the study.

H11 158 Management must ensure that all Final Reports for which GLP H11 159 Compliance is claimed are audited by QA and the findings reported, H11 160 as appropriate, to Management and the Study Director. This audit H11 161 should be conducted at the final draft stage, when all of the raw H11 162 data have been gathered together and no major changes are H11 163 intended.

H11 164 The aims of the final report audit should be to determine H11 165 whether or not:

H11 166 - the study was carried out in accordance with the protocol;

H11 167 - the study has been accurately and completely reported;

H11 168 - the report contains all the elements required by GLP;

H11 169 - the report is internally consistent;

H11 170 - the raw data are complete and compliant with GLP H11 171 Principles.

H11 172 QA may find it useful in any subsequent discussions which they H11 173 may have with Management or the Study Director if their final H11 174 report audit has been recorded in sufficient detail to enable the H11 175 audit to be reconstructed. Procedures must be established to ensure H11 176 that QA personnel are made aware of all additions or changes to the H11 177 study data and study report made during the audit phase.

H11 178 Before signing the Quality Assurance Statement, QA should be H11 179 required to check the Final Report to ensure that all issues raised H11 180 in the QA audit have been appropriately addressed, that all agreed H11 181 actions have been completed and that no changes to the report have H11 182 been made which would require a further audit.

H11 183 Any correction or addition to a fully authorised and signed H11 184 Final Report must be audited by QA. A revised or additional Quality H11 185 Assurance Statement must then be provided.

H11 186 (viii) QA Involvement with Computer Systems

H11 187 GLP Principles require that procedures exist to ensure that H11 188 computer systems that are used in regulatory studies are suitably H11 189 designed, controlled, operated and maintained in order to properly H11 190 accommodate their intended function.

H11 191 Management may consider it desirable to involve QA in an H11 192 advisory capacity during the development of the system to ensure H11 193 that it complies with GLP Principles. However, QA personnel need H11 194 not validate computer systems themselves although they should H11 195 assure themselves that the system has been validated and formally H11 196 accepted. Management should be aware that computer systems H11 197 installed before the facility became GLP compliant must be H11 198 evaluated to demonstrate acceptability for continued use under a H11 199 GLP regime.

H11 200 Once a system has been accepted, QA personnel should be H11 201 required to monitor continued effectiveness, including the H11 202 performance of staff, and to confirm that adequate documents, H11 203 records and procedures exist. This will involve any or all of the H11 204 following:

H11 205 - Confirmation that adequate SOPs exist and that they are being H11 206 followed.

H11 207 - Inspection of the system during operation to check accuracy H11 208 of data capture and effectiveness of back-up procedures.

H11 209 - Inspection of change control procedures for compliance with H11 210 SOPs and to confirm that documentation is adequate.

H11 211 - Inspection of the computer facility to audit maintenance and H11 212 security procedures together with archive procedures and H11 213 maintenance of copies against accidental loss of data.

H11 214 - Confirmation that users and operators have received H11 215 appropriate training and that documentation to that effect H11 216 exists.

H11 217 - Periodical verification of the integrity of the data H11 218 retrieval system.

H11 219 (ix) QA Monitoring of Specialist Disciplines

H11 220 There are no aspects of a GLP regulated study that are exempt H11 221 from the remit of QA. Management must therefore ensure that QA H11 222 monitoring extends to all areas including those that are by H11 223 convention regarded as professional specialisms. That QA personnel H11 224 do not have professional experience in all fields is not relevant H11 225 as it is not part of the role of QA to evaluate or confirm H11 226 professional judgements. Rather, the function of QA is to assure H11 227 that the judgements are made in respect of the correct specimens, H11 228 measurements, or observations, that they are properly recorded and H11 229 accurately reflected in the Final Report.

H11 230 Management must require QA to report to them inconsistencies in H11 231 subjective assessments. Management should consider whether a H11 232 documented peer-review mechanism in addition to QA is appropriate H11 233 or expressly required by a Regulatory Authority for particular H11 234 specialisms; QA should have an involvement in such review H11 235 mechanisms and their role should be documented.

H11 236 5. REPORTING OF AUDIT AND INSPECTION FINDINGS

H11 237 Management should require that the conclusions of QA H11 238 inspections and audits are reported promptly to them in writing. H11 239 The procedures adopted must permit timely and effective corrective H11 240 action on any adverse findings. Management should ensure that for H11 241 study-based inspections and final report audits, the QA reports are H11 242 also sent to the Study Director. H11 243 H12 1 <#FLOB:H12\>SUMMARY H12 2 1. The growing significance of science and technology (S&T) for H12 3 economic growth and the quality of life provides an overwhelming H12 4 argument for increased scientific education for all and greater H12 5 attention to the development of the next generation of highly H12 6 qualified S&T personnel.

H12 7 2. Education in S&T has been the subject of a number of H12 8 reports, many of which have focused on particular stages or H12 9 subjects. In this report we have considered the whole process of H12 10 education in S&T, starting in schools and progressing through H12 11 higher education into employment, recognising the many interactions H12 12 between each of these stages. We have also paid particular H12 13 attention to the potential scope for using new technology to H12 14 improve teaching quality and productivity so that the costs of the H12 15 planned expansion in higher education can be minimised.

H12 16 KEY PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS

H12 17 3. Many young people give up studying science as soon as they H12 18 can. The introduction of the national curriculum and the General H12 19 Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) have improved the H12 20 situation in that they now have to study science for longer and H12 21 courses up to the age of 16 are becoming more attractive. But too H12 22 few students are studying S&T subjects beyond the age of 16.

H12 23 4. Advanced ('A') level courses in S&T subjects are H12 24 unattractive to many young people. They place too much emphasis on H12 25 learning facts at the expense of understanding fundamental H12 26 scientific principles and the development of scientific skills. The H12 27 restricted number of 'A' levels which it is feasible for most H12 28 students to take also reduces the scope for arts students to be H12 29 scientifically educated and for science students to develop wider H12 30 communications and other personal skills.

H12 31 5. Higher education courses in S&T are also becoming less H12 32 popular. For many students they provide an unsatisfactory H12 33 intellectual and educational experience and an inadequate H12 34 preparation for future jobs. The factual content which has been H12 35 added over the years has become excessive leading to rote learning H12 36 and insufficient understanding of fundamental principles.

H12 37 6. Many people who would benefit from higher education in S&T, H12 38 particularly mature students, cannot do so because of the lack of H12 39 recognition given to non traditional qualifications and H12 40 insufficient practical support.

H12 41 7. Despite the many difficulties of achieving an S&T H12 42 qualification, career prospects for scientists and technologists H12 43 including relative pay and career development opportunities are H12 44 generally not as good as in many alternative jobs. S&T graduates H12 45 complain of being bored and under-utilised indicating scope for H12 46 higher productivity and pay. The poor image of careers feeds back H12 47 into schools, colleges and universities and discourages another H12 48 generation of young people from pursuing a scientific education.

H12 49 8. The main constraints to progress relate to the perceived H12 50 unattractiveness of S&T as a subject in schools and as a potential H12 51 career, the rigidities of the 'A' level system, the structure of H12 52 S&T degree courses and the barriers to access to higher education H12 53 for non traditional applicants.

H12 54 PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

H12 55 9. The positive changes introduced into schools need to be H12 56 built upon with improved facilities and technical assistance for H12 57 S&T teachers. Flexibility in teachers' pay needs to be implemented H12 58 more effectively at local level to fill vacancies in S&T H12 59 subjects.

H12 60 10. Post compulsory education should be broadened with H12 61 combinations of S&T subjects with economics, languages and other H12 62 arts subjects being encouraged. The changes proposed by Schools H12 63 Examinations and Assessment Council (SEAC) including the concepts H12 64 of 'common cores' between Advanced Supplementary level ('AS') and H12 65 'A' levels and the development of core skills should be supported H12 66 and implemented as quickly as possible. Success in 'AS' level H12 67 examinations should become a foundation for higher education and a H12 68 more widely used entry qualification.

H12 69 11. Access to higher education in S&T subjects should be H12 70 widened to prevent the current loss of many potential scientists H12 71 and technologists. A number of valuable wider access initiatives H12 72 have already been developed but their scale is insufficient and H12 73 greater efforts are needed.

H12 74 12. A substantial change is needed to the content and structure H12 75 of the majority of S&T degree courses to make them more useful and H12 76 relevant for students. Courses should focus on the development of a H12 77 thorough understanding of fundamental concepts and give more H12 78 emphasis to experimental method and the acquisition of the H12 79 analytical, communications and other crucial skills needed in H12 80 employment. The rote learning of facts should be reduced to provide H12 81 scope for these changes.

H12 82 13. New learning technologies such as inter-active video H12 83 systems, compact discs and computer based learning should be H12 84 introduced to facilitate higher productivity in Higher Educational H12 85 Institutions (HEIs) and the expansion of student numbers. This will H12 86 require pump-priming funds for software development.

H12 87 14. An optional fourth year of specialised study should be H12 88 introduced for chemistry, physics and engineering degrees to H12 89 provide a sound base for those wishing to pursue research.

H12 90 15. Employment practices also need to be improved. This will H12 91 require employers of S&T personnel in both the public and private H12 92 sectors to provide better career and personal development H12 93 opportunities, and a rate of salary progression which maintains H12 94 comparability with other professions.

H12 95 PRIORITIES H12 96 16. We suggest that, of the proposals for change contained in H12 97 this report, priority needs to be given to:

H12 98 <*_>bullet<*/>increasing the attractiveness of science in H12 99 schools by increasing the numbers of qualified S&T teachers and H12 100 generating greater enthusiasm and motivation among science H12 101 teachers. This might be achieved through greater local flexibility H12 102 of pay, better teaching facilities and equipment and the provision H12 103 of more technical assistance for S&T teachers.

H12 104 <*_>bullet<*/>widening post compulsory education by enhancing H12 105 the status and currency of 'AS' levels and making them a more H12 106 widely used entry qualification for higher education.

H12 107 <*_>bullet<*/>making S&T degree courses more attractive and H12 108 relevant by concentrating on the development of a better H12 109 understanding of fundamental concepts, improving analytical and H12 110 problem solving skills and reducing the volume of factual learning. H12 111 The new three year degree course would need to be complemented by H12 112 an optional fourth year leading to a masters degree.

H12 113 <*_>bullet<*/>making greater provision for access to higher H12 114 education for non traditional applicants

H12 115 <*_>bullet<*/>improving prospects and pay for S&T careers

H12 116 17. Our proposals are aimed at shifting the emphasis in H12 117 education from processes that dissuade, sift out and exclude to H12 118 those that attract, encourage and support. Success in widening the H12 119 appeal of S&T education at all levels would generate major benefits H12 120 both for the economy and for our general quality of life.

H12 121 1. INTRODUCTION H12 122 1.1. The significance of S&T for a competitive economy and for H12 123 our quality of life is profound. Education and training in H12 124 scientific and technical subjects is vital to our well being.

H12 125 1.2. This report prepared by the ACOST Manpower and Training H12 126 Committee deals with schools, higher education and employment. It H12 127 examines the inter-actions between the different elements involved H12 128 recognising that changes in one area can affect the system as a H12 129 whole. For example, whether pupils study S&T courses at school may H12 130 be influenced not only by the attractiveness of these courses and H12 131 the quality of the teaching but also by the feedback of information H12 132 from employers about S&T career prospects.

H12 133 1.3. The country needs to improve the scientific and H12 134 technological education of all young people and to increase the H12 135 supply of highly qualified scientists and technologists; both these H12 136 actions are needed for economic success. We welcome the many H12 137 positive steps which the Government, educational institutions and H12 138 employers have already taken in recent years to achieve these H12 139 objectives. There is general agreement on the need to:

H12 140 a. increase the attractiveness, relevance and usefulness of S&T H12 141 courses both in schools and HEIs;

H12 142 b. increase the numbers studying science after the age of H12 143 16;

H12 144 c. widen access to S&T courses in HEIs;

H12 145 d. improve the attractiveness of S&T careers;

H12 146 but the problem is how to achieve these results.

H12 147 1.4. The membership and terms of reference of the Committee are H12 148 given in Annexes A and B. Supporting evidence and arguments can be H12 149 found in the reports of the four Working Groups formed to examine H12 150 detailed aspects of the subject. These working papers are available H12 151 on request (see Annex D).

H12 152 1.5. Working Group A examined schools and education up to age H12 153 18, and the influences on young people affecting their choice of H12 154 whether to study S&T subjects. Working Group B examined higher H12 155 education including access to courses, the content and structure of H12 156 S&T degree courses and the range of skills needed in tomorrow's H12 157 graduates. Working Group C considered the changing practices of H12 158 individual firms in the recruitment and use of S&T graduates, H12 159 focusing in particular on career paths and what might be done to H12 160 encourage best practice by employers. Working Group D considered H12 161 the broader and longer term economic factors affecting the labour H12 162 market for highly qualified S&T personnel. In particular it H12 163 examined the influence of starting salaries and salary prospects on H12 164 career choice.

H12 165 1.6. We have been mainly concerned with the improvement of the H12 166 educational system in England and Wales particularly in relation to H12 167 sixth form education and S&T courses in HEIs. The situation in H12 168 Scotland is different and more satisfactory. We have drawn on some H12 169 Scottish ideas and experience in formulating our proposals.

H12 170 2. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

H12 171 A high proportion of pupils give up science as soon as they can H12 172 legally do so. The introduction of the national curriculum and the H12 173 GCSE has improved the situation in that pupils now have to study H12 174 science for longer and courses up to the age of 16 are becoming H12 175 more attractive. But too few pupils stay in education after the age H12 176 of 16 and of those who do, an insufficient and declining number H12 177 choose to study S&T. For example the numbers taking 'A' level H12 178 physics declined from 44,871 in 1989 to 42,564 in 1990 and those H12 179 taking 'A' level mathematics decreased from 82,987 to 77,277. The H12 180 numbers taking 'A' level chemistry also fell although only very H12 181 slightly from 47,559 to 47,286. There was however an increase in H12 182 those taking 'A' level biology from 42,138 to 44,382. What can be H12 183 done to make S&T more attractive to young people?

H12 184 2.1. Initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of the H12 185 benefits of studying S&T

H12 186 2.1.1. Because of the declining popularity of S&T courses H12 187 various initiatives aimed at making young people aware of the H12 188 benefits of studying science have been introduced. The Committee H12 189 asked some 250 experts on education how successful these H12 190 initiatives have been. The replies are extremely disappointing. H12 191 Respondents in schools almost unanimously thought that the H12 192 initiatives had achieved little with the possible exception of H12 193 Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Technical and Vocational H12 194 Education Initiative (TVEI) and the Engineering Council's H12 195 'Neighbourhood Engineers' Scheme. Many schemes merely reinforced H12 196 the enthusiasm of pupils already interested in S&T and were H12 197 introduced too late in the education process to influence pupils' H12 198 decisions. To be timely and effective, initiatives require H12 199 sustained guidance and counselling from an early age to the point H12 200 of entry to higher education or professional life. Moreover, H12 201 non-government initiatives are fragmented; and even taken together H12 202 they reach only a fraction of the millions of pupils in the target H12 203 age ranges. Television, the one medium that might reach very large H12 204 numbers, remains largely untapped.

H12 205 2.1.2. The Committee received reports of successful examples of H12 206 work experience and work shadowing. However, to be successful, work H12 207 experience must be of a high quality; this involves considerable H12 208 effort both by the companies concerned and by the teachers. H12 209 Speakers from industry and commerce need to be able to convey the H12 210 excitement and challenge of careers in S&T. Small scale local H12 211 initiatives may be productive, but there is a need to avoid H12 212 fragmentation.

H12 213 2.1.3. To provide satisfactory work experience in S&T for all H12 214 of the nation's 750,000 secondary school pupils in each year group H12 215 would be a daunting task. Employers might achieve more by providing H12 216 teachers with scientific resources and project materials and H12 217 helping teachers deliver the national curriculum by assisting in H12 218 the development of attractive and balanced courses.

H12 219 2.1.4. We recommend that the Department of Education and H12 220 Science (DES) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should H12 221 encourage the development of an effective focus for industry/school H12 222 initiatives to provide scope for experiences to be shared, reduce H12 223 fragmentation of effort and ensure a more structured and H12 224 professional approach.

H12 225 H12 226 H12 227 H13 1 <#FLOB:H13\>The intention is that both parents should feel H13 2 that they have a continuing role to play in relation to their H13 3 children.

H13 4 2.24. Section 2(5) provides that more than one person may have H13 5 parental responsibility for a child at the same time and by section H13 6 2(6) a person with parental responsibility for a child does not H13 7 lose it just because some other person subsequently acquires it. H13 8 Thus, the making of a residence order in favour of one parent does H13 9 not take away parental responsibility from the other. Nor do the H13 10 parent or parents of a child lose parental responsibility when a H13 11 third party who is neither parent nor guardian of the child H13 12 acquires parental responsibility, as an individual through the H13 13 making of a residence order in his or her favour (section 12(2)) or H13 14 a local authority, through the making of a care order (section H13 15 33(3)) (although the latter also has the power to determine the H13 16 extent to which a parent or guardian of the child may meet his H13 17 parental responsibility for him once the child is in care (section H13 18 33(3)(b))).

H13 19 2.25. It is provided by section 2(7) that, where parental H13 20 responsibility is shared, each may act independently of the other H13 21 in meeting that responsibility. Thus, although the making of a H13 22 residence order in favour of one parent may curb the other parent's H13 23 ability to act independently to the extent that in practice the day H13 24 to day care of the child is largely controlled by the parent with H13 25 whom the child lives, at least when the child is with the H13 26 non-residential parent he or she may meet his or her parental H13 27 responsibility to the full, without the need for consultation with H13 28 the other parent. The only restrictions on this are that neither H13 29 parent may act independently in matters where the consent of more H13 30 than one person is expressly required by statute (section 2(7)), H13 31 for example under section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984 in H13 32 relation to removal of the child from the United Kingdom or under H13 33 section 16 of the Adoption Act 1976 in relation to agreement to an H13 34 adoption order; nor may either parent act in any way that is H13 35 incompatible with any order made in respect of the child ( section H13 36 2(8)). Thus, for example, one parent may not remove the child from H13 37 the physical care of the parent (or indeed any other person) with H13 38 whom the child is to live by virtue of a residence order but could H13 39 take the same interest as any other parent in his child's H13 40 education.

H13 41 2.26. By section 12(2) the making of a residence order in H13 42 favour of a person who is neither parent nor guardian of a child H13 43 has the effect of conferring parental responsibility on him or her H13 44 while the residence order remains in force. However, he or she, H13 45 like a local authority with a care order in its favour (see section H13 46 33(6)), does not acquire the right to consent or refuse consent to H13 47 the making of an application to free the child for adoption or to H13 48 the making of an adoption order, or the right to appoint a H13 49 guardian. By section 12(1), where a residence order is made in H13 50 favour of an unmarried father the court must also make an order H13 51 under section 4 giving him parental responsibility; under section H13 52 12(4), this must not be brought to an end while the residence order H13 53 concerned remains in force. Indeed, if the residence order is H13 54 subsequently discharged the order giving him parental H13 55 responsibility will continue unless and until it is specifically H13 56 revoked. In such cases it will usually be in the child's interests H13 57 for his father to retain parental responsibility for him in just H13 58 the same way that a married father does.

H13 59 2.27. Another effect of a residence order is that no person may H13 60 cause the child to be known by a new surname nor remove him from H13 61 the United Kingdom without either the written consent of every H13 62 person who has parental responsibility for him or the leave of the H13 63 court (section 13(1)). This does not, however, prevent the person H13 64 in whose favour the residence order has been made from removing the H13 65 child for a period of less than one month (section 13(2)). There is H13 66 no limit on the number of these short trips, however, and if the H13 67 non-residential parent feels that the child is being taken out of H13 68 the United Kingdom too frequently or that there is a danger of H13 69 abduction he or she should seek a prohibited steps order.

H13 70 2.28. A residence order may be made in favour of more than one H13 71 person at the same time even though they do not live together, in H13 72 which case the order may specify the periods during which the child H13 73 is to live in the different households concerned (section 11(4)). A H13 74 shared residence order could therefore be made where the child is H13 75 to spend, for example, weekdays with one parent and weekends with H13 76 the other or term time with one parent and school holidays with the H13 77 other, or where the child is to spend large amounts of time with H13 78 each parent. This latter arrangement was disapproved of by the H13 79 Court of Appeal in Riley v Riley (1986) 2 FLR 429, which H13 80 must now be taken to have been over-ruled by section 11(4), but it H13 81 is not expected that it will become a common form of order, partly H13 82 because most children will still need the stability of a single H13 83 home, and partly because in the cases where shared care is H13 84 appropriate there is less likely to be a need for the court to make H13 85 any order at all. However, a shared care order has the advantage of H13 86 being more realistic in those cases where the child is to spend H13 87 considerable amounts of time with both parents, brings with it H13 88 certain other benefits (including the right to remove the child H13 89 from accommodation provided by a local authority under section 20), H13 90 and removes any impression that one parent is good and responsible H13 91 whereas the other parent is not.

H13 92 Contact orders

H13 93 2.29. Unlike the present access order, which normally provides H13 94 for a parent to have access to the child, the new contact order H13 95 provides for the child to visit or stay with the person named in H13 96 the order. The emphasis has thus shifted from the adult to the H13 97 child. The new order may provide for the child to have contact with H13 98 any person, not just a parent, and more than one contact order H13 99 may be made in respect of a child. 'Contact' may range from long or H13 100 short visits to contact by letter or telephone. It is anticipated H13 101 that the usual order will be for reasonable contact, although the H13 102 court will be able to attach conditions or make directions under H13 103 section 11(7) where necessary. Contact orders, like residence H13 104 orders will lapse if the parents subsequently live together for a H13 105 period of more than six months (section 11(5) and (6).

H13 106 2.30. Contact orders under section 8 must be distinguished from H13 107 orders under section 34 for contact with a child in care. Section 8 H13 108 contact orders cannot be made if the child is the subject of a care H13 109 order, because in this case the local authority has a statutory H13 110 duty to allow the child reasonable contact with his parents H13 111 (whether or not they both have parental responsibility), any H13 112 guardian, and any other person with whom the child was to live by H13 113 virtue of a residence order in force immediately before the care H13 114 order was made. Section 34 contact orders will therefore only be H13 115 made if it is necessary to limit, remove or define such contact, or H13 116 to provide for contact with some other person. In the case of H13 117 private individuals, however, it may sometimes be necessary to H13 118 order them to allow reasonable contact, as well as to define what H13 119 contact is to be allowed in particularly difficult or contentious H13 120 cases. Occasionally, this may be necessary where a child is being H13 121 provided with accommodation under section 20 and a dispute arises H13 122 as to the contact which the foster parent or children's home should H13 123 allow. It should be noted that a section 8 contact order is a H13 124 positive order in the sense that it requires contact to be allowed H13 125 between an individual and a child and cannot be used to deny H13 126 contact. This would require a prohibited steps order.

H13 127 Prohibited steps orders

H13 128 2.31. Both prohibited steps orders and specific issues orders H13 129 are concerned with 'single issues' and are modelled on the wardship H13 130 jurisdiction. The purpose of the prohibited steps order, however, H13 131 is to impose a specific restriction on the exercise of H13 132 parental responsibility instead of the vague requirement in H13 133 wardship that no 'important step' be taken in respect of the child H13 134 without the court's consent. It could, for example, be used to H13 135 prohibit a child's removal from the country where no residence H13 136 order has been made and therefore no automatic restriction on H13 137 removal applies or to prevent the child's removal from his home H13 138 before the court has had time to decide what order, if any, should H13 139 be made. A prohibited steps order may be made against anyone but H13 140 can only prohibit "a step which could be taken by a parent H13 141 in meeting his parental responsibility" for the child. It H13 142 could not therefore be used, for example, to restrict publicity H13 143 about a child since this is not within the scope of parental H13 144 responsibility.

H13 145 Specific issue orders

H13 146 2.32. Specific issue orders may be made in conjunction with H13 147 residence or contact orders or on their own. The aim, however, is H13 148 not to give one parent or the other a general 'right' to make H13 149 decisions about a particular aspect of the child's upbringing, for H13 150 example his education or medical treatment, but rather to enable a H13 151 particular dispute over such a matter to be resolved by the court, H13 152 including the giving of detailed directions where necessary.

H13 153 2.33. Although wardship will still be an available option in H13 154 private disputes, the intention is that its use by individuals will H13 155 be greatly reduced by the introduction of prohibited steps and H13 156 specific issues orders. Local authority use of wardship has been H13 157 severely restricted by section 100, which provides that the H13 158 jurisdiction cannot be used for the purpose of placing a child in H13 159 care, or in local authority accommodation, or under the supervision H13 160 of a local authority (section 100(2) and paragraph 3.98 below). H13 161 Local authorities will, like anyone else, be able to apply for H13 162 specific issue and prohibited steps orders, provided that they H13 163 first obtain the court's leave (see paragraph 2.43 below). This H13 164 will enable them to resolve certain issues which at present can H13 165 only be resolved by making the child a ward of court, such as H13 166 whether or not he should have a particular operation. They may H13 167 arise where a child is accommodated voluntarily by the authority, H13 168 is felt to be in need of a particular course of treatment urgently H13 169 and the parents cannot be contacted. If, in all the circumstances H13 170 of the case, the decision is likely to cause controversy at some H13 171 future date, the local authority should seek a section 8 specific H13 172 issue order. Local authorities will not, however, be able to do H13 173 this if the child is subject to a care order, as the only section 8 H13 174 order which may be made in such cases is a residence order. Nor can H13 175 they apply for a prohibited steps or specific issue order as a way H13 176 of obtaining the care or supervision of a child, nor to obtain an H13 177 order that the child be accommodated by them, nor can a prohibited H13 178 steps or specific issue order confer any aspect of parental H13 179 responsibility upon an authority (section 9(5)(b)).

H13 180 2.34. Similarly, a prohibited steps or specific issue order may H13 181 not be made "with a view to achieving a result which could H13 182 be achieved by making a residence or contact order" H13 183 (section 9(5)(a)). This is to avoid either of these orders being H13 184 used to achieve much the same practical results as residence and H13 185 contact orders but without the same legal effects.

H13 186 H13 187 H13 188 H14 1 <#FLOB:H14\>AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED H14 2 KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF H14 3 THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC CONCERNING MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN RELATION TO H14 4 TRAFFIC IN NARCOTIC DRUGS OR PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES AND RESTRAINT H14 5 AND CONFISCATION OF THE PROCEEDS OF CRIME

H14 6 The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and H14 7 Northern Ireland and the Government of the Italian Republic,

H14 8 Desiring to provide the widest measure of mutual assistance in H14 9 the investigation, restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of H14 10 crime;

H14 11 Recognising the need to intensify their collaboration in the H14 12 fight against traffic in narcotic drugs or psychotropic H14 13 substances;

H14 14 Have agreed as follows:

H14 15 ARTICLE 1

H14 16 Obligation to Grant Assistance

H14 17 (1) The Parties shall, upon request and in accordance with the H14 18 provisions of this Agreement, grant each other assistance in H14 19 investigations and proceedings in respect of traffic in narcotic H14 20 drugs or psychotropic substances and in the tracing, restraint and H14 21 confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

H14 22 (2) This Agreement shall not derogate from other obligations H14 23 between the Parties whether pursuant to other Treaties or H14 24 arrangements or otherwise, nor prevent the Parties providing H14 25 assistance to each other pursuant to other treaties or H14 26 arrangements.

H14 27 ARTICLE 2

H14 28 Definitions

H14 29 For the purposes of this Agreement:

H14 30 (a) "traffic in narcotic drugs or psychotropic H14 31 substances" means any such activity referred to:

H14 32 (i) in article 3.1 of the United Nations Convention against H14 33 Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances; H14 34 or

H14 35 (ii) in any international agreement binding upon both Parties, H14 36 when such activity shall be treated as an offence pursuant to that H14 37 agreement;

H14 38 (b) proceedings are instituted:

H14 39 (i) in the United Kingdom, when an information has been laid H14 40 before a justice of the peace, when a person is charged with an H14 41 offence, when a bill of indictment is preferred, or when a petition H14 42 warrant is granted;

H14 43 (ii) in Italy, when a person is notified, in accordance with H14 44 article 369 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, that a H14 45 prosecution against him is in progress, or when a proposal for the H14 46 application of a preventative measure ('misura di H14 47 prevenzione') is laid before a court;

H14 48 (c) "proceeds of crime" means any property H14 49 derived or realised directly or indirectly, by any person as a H14 50 result of criminal activity, or the value of any such property;

H14 51 (d) property includes money and all kinds of moveable or H14 52 immoveable and tangible or intangible property, and includes any H14 53 interest in such property;

H14 54 (e) "the restraint of property" means any H14 55 measure for the prevention of dealing in or transfer or disposal of H14 56 property.

H14 57 ARTICLE 3

H14 58 Central Authorities

H14 59 (1) The Parties shall each appoint a central authority to H14 60 transmit and receive requests for the purposes of this Agreement. H14 61 Unless the relevant Party designates another authority, the central H14 62 authority for the Italian Republic shall be the Ministry of Justice H14 63 and the central authority for the United Kingdom shall be the Home H14 64 Office, London.

H14 65 (2) The central authority of the requested Party shall take H14 66 whatever steps it considers necessary to give effect to requests H14 67 from the requesting Party.

H14 68 ARTICLE 4

H14 69 Contents of Requests

H14 70 (1) A request under this Agreement shall include a statement H14 71 of:

H14 72 (a) the name of the competent authority conducting the H14 73 investigation or proceedings to which the request relates;

H14 74 (b) the matters, including the relevant facts and laws, to H14 75 which the investigation or proceedings relate;

H14 76 (c) the purpose for which the request is made and the nature of H14 77 the assistance sought;

H14 78 (d) details of any particular procedure or requirement the H14 79 requesting Party wishes to be followed;

H14 80 (e) any time limit within which compliance with the request is H14 81 desired;

H14 82 (f) the identity, nationality and location of the person or H14 83 persons who are the subject of the investigation or proceedings.

H14 84 (2) If the requested Party considers that the information H14 85 contained in the request is not sufficient to enable the request to H14 86 be dealt with, that Party may request that additional information H14 87 be furnished.

H14 88 ARTICLE 5

H14 89 Refusal of Assistance

H14 90 (1) Assistance shall be refused if:

H14 91 (a) the action sought is contrary to principles of the law of H14 92 the requested Party;

H14 93 (b) the request seeks restraint or confiscation of proceeds of H14 94 an activity, not being an activity referred to in Article 2(a) of H14 95 this Agreement, which, had it occurred within the jurisdiction of H14 96 the requested Party, would not have been an offence, or would not H14 97 have been an activity in respect of which a confiscation order H14 98 could have been made; or

H14 99 (c) the request relates to an offence in respect of which the H14 100 person has been finally acquitted or pardoned, or has served any H14 101 sentence imposed and any order made as a result of the conviction H14 102 has been satisfied.

H14 103 (2) Assistance may be refused if:

H14 104 (a) the requested Party is of the opinion that the request, if H14 105 granted, would seriously impair its sovereignty, security, national H14 106 interest or other essential interest; or

H14 107 (b) provision of the assistance sought could prejudice an H14 108 investigation or proceeding in the territory of the requested H14 109 Party.

H14 110 (3) Before refusing to grant a request for assistance, the H14 111 requested Party shall consider whether assistance may be granted H14 112 subject to such conditions as it deems necessary. If the requesting H14 113 Party accepts assistance subject to these conditions, it shall H14 114 comply with the conditions.

H14 115 ARTICLE 6

H14 116 Executions of Requests

H14 117 (1) The requested Party shall provide assistance in response to H14 118 the request as soon as practicable. The action sought shall be H14 119 carried out in accordance with the domestic law of the requested H14 120 Party and with any requirements specified in the request so far as H14 121 not incompatible with that law.

H14 122 (2) The requested Party shall promptly inform the requesting H14 123 Party of any circumstances which are likely to cause significant H14 124 delay in responding to the request.

H14 125 (3) The requested Party shall promptly inform the requesting H14 126 Party of a decision of the requested Party not to comply in whole H14 127 or in part with the request for assistance and the reason for that H14 128 decision.

H14 129 (4) The requesting Party shall promptly inform the requested H14 130 Party of any circumstances which may affect the request or its H14 131 execution or which may make it inappropriate to proceed with giving H14 132 effect to it.

H14 133 ARTICLE 7

H14 134 Information and Evidence

H14 135 (1) For the purpose of an investigation or a proceeding in the H14 136 territory of the requesting Party in respect of traffic in narcotic H14 137 drugs or psychotropic substances, or for the purpose of tracing H14 138 proceeds of crime, the requested Party shall:

H14 139 (a) provide to the requesting Party information, documents, H14 140 records or other material;

H14 141 (b) take the evidence of witnesses and transmit it to the H14 142 requesting Party;

H14 143 (c) search for and seize and deliver to the requesting Party H14 144 any relevant material and provide such information as may be H14 145 required by the requesting Party concerning the place of seizure, H14 146 the circumstances of seizure and the subsequent custody of the H14 147 material seized prior to delivery.

H14 148 (2) A request made under this Article shall include, in H14 149 addition to the statements listed in Article 4 of this H14 150 Agreement:

H14 151 (a) a description of any information, documents, records, H14 152 statements or evidence or other material sought;

H14 153 (b) any other indication necessary or useful for the execution H14 154 of the request, in particular the identity and, if possible, the H14 155 location of the witness or of any other person to be involved in H14 156 such execution;

H14 157 (c) any confidentiality requirements.

H14 158 (3) When the request concerns the transmission of documents, H14 159 the requested Party may transmit copies thereof unless the H14 160 requesting Party expressly requests the original.

H14 161 (4) The requested Party may postpone the delivery of original H14 162 documents or other material requested if such documents or material H14 163 are required for proceedings in respect of criminal or civil H14 164 matters in its territory.

H14 165 (5) Where required by the requested Party, the requesting Party H14 166 shall return material provided under this Agreement when no longer H14 167 needed for any investigation or proceeding.

H14 168 ARTICLE 8

H14 169 Restricting use of Evidence and Information

H14 170 (1) In cases of assistance pursuant to Article 7 of this H14 171 Agreement the requesting Party shall not use for purposes other H14 172 than those stated in the request evidence or information obtained H14 173 as a result of it, without the prior consent of the requested H14 174 Party.

H14 175 (2) Information made public in the territory of the requesting H14 176 Party in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article may be used H14 177 for any purpose.

H14 178 ARTICLE 9

H14 179 Confidentiality

H14 180 (1) The requested Party shall, to any extent requested, keep H14 181 confidential a request for assistance, its contents and any H14 182 supporting documents, and the fact of granting such assistance. If H14 183 the request cannot be executed without breaching confidentiality, H14 184 the requested Party shall so inform the requesting Party which H14 185 shall then determine the extent to which it wishes the request to H14 186 be executed.

H14 187 (2) The requesting Party shall, if so requested, keep H14 188 confidential any evidence and information provided by the H14 189 requesting Party, except to the extent that its disclosure is H14 190 necessary for the investigation or proceeding described in the H14 191 request.

H14 192 ARTICLE 10

H14 193 Restraint of Property Liable to Confiscation

H14 194 (1) In accordance with the provisions of this Article a Party H14 195 may request the restraint in the territory of the requested Party H14 196 of property in order to ensure that it is available for the H14 197 enforcement of a confiscation order which has been or may be H14 198 made.

H14 199 (2) A request made under this Article shall include:

H14 200 (a) a certificate to the effect that proceedings have been or H14 201 are to be instituted against a specified person;

H14 202 (b) either:

H14 203 (i) a summary of the facts of the case including a description H14 204 of the activity in respect of which the confiscation order may be H14 205 made, where and when such activity occurred, a reference to the H14 206 relevant legal provisions, the grounds on which the suspicion is H14 207 based and a copy of any relevant order; or

H14 208 (ii) where a confiscation order has been made, a copy of that H14 209 order;

H14 210 (c) a description of the property to be restrained and its H14 211 connection with the person specified under sub-paragraph (a) of H14 212 this paragraph, and in so far as possible its whereabouts.

H14 213 ARTICLE 11

H14 214 Enforcement of Confiscation Orders

H14 215 (1) This Article applies to an order, made by a court of the H14 216 requesting Party, for the purpose of confiscating the proceeds of H14 217 crime, including:

H14 218 (a) in relation to the United Kingdom, a confiscation order H14 219 made as a result of a conviction for an offence;

H14 220 (b) in relation to Italy, a confiscation order made as a result H14 221 of a conviction for an offence, or as a preventive measure H14 222 ('misura di prevenzione') in respect of a H14 223 person involved in criminal activity.

H14 224 (2) A Party may request the assistance of the other Party in H14 225 enforcing an order to which this Article applies.

H14 226 (3) A request made under this Article shall be accompanied by H14 227 the following:

H14 228 (a) an authenticated copy of the order;

H14 229 (b) an authenticated statement that neither the order nor any H14 230 conviction to which it relates is subject to appeal;

H14 231 (c) a description of the property in relation to which H14 232 assistance is sought and its connection with the person subject to H14 233 the proceedings in which the order was made, and any available H14 234 information about other persons' interests in the property; and

H14 235 (d) where appropriate, a statement of the amount which it is H14 236 desired to realise as a result of the assistance.

H14 237 (4) Proceeds confiscated pursuant to this Agreement shall be H14 238 retained by the requested Party unless otherwise mutually H14 239 decided.

H14 240 (5) Nothing in this Article 10 or in Article 10 of this H14 241 Agreement shall prejudice the rights of third parties.

H14 242 ARTICLE 12

H14 243 Authentication and Legislation

H14 244 (1) Any documents or other material transmitted in response to H14 245 a request for assistance under Article 7 of this Agreement or H14 246 attached to a request under Article 10 or 11 of this Agreement H14 247 shall be deemed as authenticated for the purposes of this Agreement H14 248 if they purport to be signed or, as appropriate, to be certified by H14 249 a judge, magistrate or other officer of the Party sending them.

H14 250 (2) Legalisation will not be required for any document H14 251 transmitted under this Agreement.

H14 252 ARTICLE 13

H14 253 Costs

H14 254 The requested Party shall bear any costs arising in its H14 255 territory in executing a request. If expenses of a substantial or H14 256 extraordinary nature may be incurred in fulfilling the request, the H14 257 Parties shall consult to determine the terms and conditions under H14 258 which the request will be executed as well as the manner in which H14 259 the costs shall be borne.

H14 260 H14 261 H15 1 <#FLOB:H15\>Mr. A.J. Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed): I H15 2 would like to be clear about what the Chancellor is saying. Is he H15 3 saying that the Government will accept a single currency on H15 4 conditions that he can now define?

H15 5 Mr. Lamont: The Government have made it clear that we H15 6 are not prepared to give a commitment to move to a single currency. We H15 7 believe that, if monetary union happens, it should be on an H15 8 evolutionary basis, driven by the market. This is and always has H15 9 been our position. It is the position of the Opposition that is H15 10 shrouded in obscurity. When we listened to the right hon. H15 11 Gentleman, we heard that he wants to give a commitment to a single H15 12 currency without any conditions whatsoever. That appears to be his H15 13 position.

H15 14 Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman (Lancaster): Would my H15 15 right hon. Friend make it clear to the Opposition that their H15 16 illusion of a regional policy in an enlarged EC may be a different H15 17 kettle of fish from what it used to be. Few, if any, of our regions H15 18 would qualify for assistance under regional criteria, and H15 19 Opposition Members ought to know that.

H15 20 Mr. Lamont: My hon. Friend makes a shrewd point and H15 21 is precisely right. Any expansion of regional policy is not likely H15 22 to be to the benefit of this country, and I am grateful to her for H15 23 drawing our attention to that fact.

H15 24 Yesterday, I announced our public spending plans for the next H15 25 three years. Once again, we have shown that there is no H15 26 contradiction between our prudent policies and high-quality public H15 27 services. We have honoured our commitments and allowed expenditure H15 28 to rise to meet the unavoidable consequences of the recession. But H15 29 neither spending nor the PSBR will rise to the heights of previous H15 30 recessions. Government expenditure will peak at 42 per cent. of H15 31 GDP, compared to 47.5 per cent. in 1982-83 and a skyscraping 49.25 H15 32 per cent. - very nearly half the nation's income - under Labour.

H15 33 We remain committed to balancing the budget over the economic H15 34 cycle. In 1987-88, we repaid debt equivalent to 3 per cent. of GDP, H15 35 comparable to our assumption next year of a 3 per cent. PSBR. H15 36 Compare that with Labour's peak of 9.5 per cent. - the equivalent H15 37 of pounds55 billion today.

H15 38 Our objective remains to balance the budget over the cycle. H15 39 Just imagine how preposterous a goal that would be for the right H15 40 hon. and learned Gentleman to state. Even yesterday, he wanted more H15 41 money for training, for transport and for industry. Now that he has H15 42 had a day to reflect, the whole House will be waiting for his H15 43 answer to some vital questions. Does he accept the pledges made by H15 44 Opposition spokesmen to spend more than we plan to? How would he H15 45 pay for them? [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."]

H15 46 Let us start with the National Health Service. I announced an H15 47 increase in plans of pounds1.5 billion for the NHS - pounds1.5 H15 48 billion which will help the NHS upgrade buildings and hospital H15 49 equipment. Spending on hospital and community health services will H15 50 rise by more than 5 per cent. in real terms between this year and H15 51 next, bringing the total real increase in NHS spending since 1979 H15 52 to well over 50 per cent. We could not have made our commitment to H15 53 the NHS clearer. What a contrast with the Labour party - the party H15 54 that cut nurses' pay and, in one year, cut NHS capital spending - H15 55 hospital building - by 22 per cent. Fine words but poor action from H15 56 the Labour party. So would the right hon. and learned Gentleman H15 57 spend more? Now is his chance to tell us how much. [HON. MEMBERS: H15 58 "Answer."]

H15 59 We also announced an extra pounds1.4 billion for British Rail H15 60 and London Transport. Next year they will invest more than three H15 61 times as much as they did in 1979. If the right hon. and learned H15 62 Gentleman were standing here, would he spend more? His hon. Friend H15 63 the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) would like H15 64 to, but would he? Now is his chance to tell us how much. [HON. H15 65 MEMBERS: "Answer."]

H15 66 What about education? We have more students in higher education H15 67 than ever before. Pupil-teacher ratios in our classrooms are at H15 68 their lowest ever, and spending per pupil is up more than 40 per H15 69 cent. The leader of the Opposition plucked a figure H15 70 <}_><-|>our<+|>out<}/> of the air and said that he would spend H15 71 pounds2.6 billion more. We he licensed to do that?<&|>sic! Would H15 72 the right hon. and learned Gentleman give him the money? If he H15 73 would, how much? [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."]

H15 74 Next year, the aid budget will increase by 2 per cent. in real H15 75 terms. Again that is not good enough for the hon. Member for Cynon H15 76 Valley (Mrs. Clwyd). She wants to put it up in a single Parliament H15 77 by more than pounds3 billion. Would the right hon. and learned H15 78 Gentleman give her the money? Now is his chance to tell us. How H15 79 much? [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."]

H15 80 In April, the right hon. and learned Gentleman published what H15 81 he called a shadow Budget. Why does not he publish a shadow autumn H15 82 statement? Then he could give us the answers. He must tell us this; H15 83 is the level of spending that we have announced too high, too low H15 84 or just about right? Is the level of borrowing too high, too low or H15 85 just about right? We have set out our expenditure plans for the H15 86 next three years, on which we shall fight the election. The country H15 87 wants the same from the Labour party.

H15 88 In the document 'Meet the Challenge, Make the Change' the H15 89 Labour party promised that it would publish its detailed spending H15 90 plans at the time of the election. <}_><-|>now<+|>Now<}/> that the H15 91 election is a little closer, the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. H15 92 Cunningham) tells us that it will not publish its plans. What is H15 93 the Labour party hiding? We know what it is hiding: the cost of H15 94 unaffordable spending plans and the massive increases in taxation H15 95 that it knows are needed to pay for them.

H15 96 We have costed the hundreds of pledges made by the right hon. H15 97 and learned Gentleman and his colleagues, and we know that they add H15 98 up to pounds35 billion. The right hon. and learned Gentleman has H15 99 never quarrelled with the detail of any of our estimates. The H15 100 pounds35 billion of extra spending means pounds35 billion of extra H15 101 tax - perhaps not right away. Perhaps he would try to borrow some H15 102 more, but he could not delay the evil day for long. Eventually, it H15 103 would mean skyscraping taxes, not only for the better-off, but for H15 104 everybody. The right hon. and learned Gentleman always forgets that H15 105 what the Government give, they first must take away, and a Labour H15 106 Government would take away a lot from the British people.

H15 107 The right hon. and learned Gentleman claims that he would get H15 108 the money from growth. We have heard that one before. That is what H15 109 Labour Oppositions always say, but Labour Governments always fail H15 110 to deliver, because their policies of intervention and regulation H15 111 throttle recovery. Growth would peter out under Labour.

H15 112 Even if Labour could somehow spend the growth created by H15 113 Conservative policies, the right hon. and learned Gentleman still H15 114 would not have the money. He clearly has not read the public H15 115 expenditure plans any more carefully than he has read the forecast. H15 116 The plans that we have published for the next three years already H15 117 take account of growth. Those plans are consistent with our H15 118 objective of balancing the budget over the medium term. If the H15 119 right hon. and learned Gentleman wants to spend more, he must H15 120 either borrow more, or tax more, or both.

H15 121 The British people have seen through Labour's deceit. They know H15 122 what a Labour Government would mean. Since the war, living H15 123 standards have risen half again as fast under Conservative H15 124 Governments as under Labour. Since 1979, living standards have H15 125 risen by almost 37 per cent. We have cut income tax rates. The H15 126 plans that I announced yesterday show that, even when times are H15 127 difficult, we will continue to improve public services and to H15 128 honour our commitments.

H15 129 It is this argument that leads to the right hon. and learned H15 130 Gentleman's increasing desperation - a desperation that manifests H15 131 itself in his peculiar determination never to have one consistent H15 132 policy when he can have two contradictory ones. He thinks that we H15 133 should cut interest rates further and faster; but at the same time H15 134 says that we should stay in the exchange rate mechanism. We know H15 135 that it is our cautious approach that has enabled us to cut H15 136 interest rates and keep the pound stable. He wants to increase H15 137 spending; but he claims that he will not put up taxes: We know that H15 138 it is our firm control of public spending that has enabled us to H15 139 cut tax rates. He says that we should improve competitiveness and H15 140 strengthen the supply side; but he wants to introduce a minimum H15 141 wage and bury business under a mountain of bureaucracy. We know H15 142 that low inflation and a more flexible labour market is the way to H15 143 create wealth and jobs. He says that there is no recovery. A few H15 144 weeks ago on the radio, he said that the recovery would be weak and H15 145 faltering. His right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition has H15 146 told us that the recovery is heading for an inflationary boom. We H15 147 know we are headed for sustained, non-inflationary growth.

H15 148 A Labour Government would bring higher taxes, higher inflation, H15 149 higher interest rates and higher unemployment. Their policies would H15 150 leave the nation with no prospect of economic recovery and no hope H15 151 of improving the public services. This Government are dedicated to H15 152 a sustainable, economic recovery based on stable, low inflation.

H15 153 We are dedicated to a tax system that gives people the H15 154 incentive to work and the opportunity to save. We are dedicated to H15 155 using the fruits of these policies to improve the public services H15 156 of the nation - not only providing our health, education and H15 157 transport systems with increased resources, but securing improved H15 158 performance from them.

H15 159 This Government's objectives are shared by the nation, and the H15 160 economic policy which serves those objectives deserves the support H15 161 of this House. I ask the House to reject the amendment and to H15 162 support the Loyal Address.

H15 163 5.18 pm

H15 164 Mr. A.J. Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed): There could H15 165 hardly be more of a contrast between this year's debate on the H15 166 Loyal Address and our debate last year. Hon. Members may have H15 167 forgotten in the interval what happened.

H15 168 Last year's debate was marked by a speech by the right hon. and H15 169 learned Member for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe), who was in the H15 170 Chamber a moment ago, rather like Banquo's ghost, but has H15 171 disappeared, in rather the same way. That speech was probably one H15 172 of the most dramatic and remarkable, although it was quiet in H15 173 delivery, that many of us have heard in the whole of our time in H15 174 this House, because it was the undoing of a Prime Minister.

H15 175 The speech pointed to the impossibility of papering together H15 176 deep divisions over Europe by the use of sophisticated language. It H15 177 blew open those divisions, but did not stop the present Prime H15 178 Minister saying, when he spoke as Chancellor in that debate:

H15 179 "I believe that they will vote for the consistency, H15 180 courage and conviction with which my right hon. Friend the Prime H15 181 Minister has led this country so successfully for so long." H15 182 - [Official Report, 14 November 1990; Vol. 180, c. H15 183 599.]

H15 184 Conservative Members did not wait to find out whether people H15 185 would vote for that courage and conviction, but bundled out the H15 186 then Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. H15 187 Thatcher) pretty quickly once they had had the encouragement of a H15 188 Liberal Democrat by-election win and the exposure of the divisions H15 189 by the right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East.

H15 190 In the same debate, the then Chancellor forecast the same H15 191 growth that has been forecast today - a growth that did not happen. H15 192 It was the beginning of the protracted end of the Government. The H15 193 next stage in that process has been a Gracious Speech full of H15 194 apologies. H15 195 H15 196 H15 197 H16 1 <#FLOB:H16\>Mr. Gummer: I refer my hon. Friend to the H16 2 reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Fulham H16 3 (Mr. Carrington).

H16 4 Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Minister of H16 5 Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a further statement H16 6 on the recent agreement in the Farm Council on the transport of H16 7 horses and other animals.

H16 8 Mr. Maclean: The directive on protection of animals H16 9 during transport has now been adopted formally by the Council and H16 10 will be published shortly. The agreement reflects the deep public H16 11 concern in this country over the transport of horses and other H16 12 animals and the Government are grateful to all those who gave H16 13 support in the negotiations by making their views known to the H16 14 Commission and throughout the Community.

H16 15 Fishing Grounds (Pollution)

H16 16 28. Dr. Kim Howells To ask the Minister of H16 17 Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures are being taken to H16 18 safeguard fishing grounds from pollution originating offshore.

H16 19 Mr. Curry: This Ministry works closely with other H16 20 Departments in operating a comprehensive range of measures under H16 21 the Prevention of Oil Pollution Act 1971 and the Food and H16 22 Environment Protection Act 1985 to protect fisheries, and the H16 23 marine environment generally, from pollution originating H16 24 offshore.

H16 25 State Veterinary Service

H16 26 Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 27 Fisheries and Food when he last met the British Veterinary H16 28 Association to discuss the future of the state veterinary H16 29 service.

H16 30 Mr. Maclean: My right hon. Friend the Minister has H16 31 not met the British Veterinary Association specifically to discuss H16 32 the future of the state veterinary service.

H16 33 However, Ministers and officials have regular contact with the H16 34 association and its representatives on a wide range of issues.

H16 35 Agriculture Council

H16 36 Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 37 Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the outcome of H16 38 the Agriculture Council held on 18 and 19 November.

H16 39 Mr. Gummer: I represented the United Kingdom at this H16 40 meeting of the Council together with my hon. Friend the Member for H16 41 Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry), the Parliamentary Secretary in my H16 42 Department.

H16 43 There was a discussion of the significant progress that has H16 44 been made recently in the discussions towards an agricultural H16 45 agreement in GATT. I stressed that genuine reform required H16 46 reductions in support over time whatever form such support took, H16 47 with only genuine environmental and similar measures being exempted H16 48 from the process of reduction. I urged the Commissioner to H16 49 negotiate accordingly. Unfortunately he seems to take the view at H16 50 present that only direct price support need be subject to reduction H16 51 and in particular that any compensation for such reductions need H16 52 not be reduced. We shall continue to press our view.

H16 53 There were detailed discussions on the arable, tobacco and H16 54 sheepmeat dossiers included in the proposed reforms of the common H16 55 agricultural policy. On the arable dossier I stressed that payments H16 56 on set-aside land must not discriminate against larger producers. H16 57 On tobacco we urged the need to scale down support significantly H16 58 consistent with the Community's position on health issues. On H16 59 sheepmeat, I said that the proposed reductions in headage limits - H16 60 maximum payments per producer - were unacceptable to the United H16 61 Kingdom and urged that savings be made instead by price cuts or H16 62 other means. Discussion will resume at the next meeting on 11-12 H16 63 December.

H16 64 Veterinary Products

H16 65 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 66 Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the technical H16 67 competence of the Veterinary Products Committee and of the EC H16 68 Veterinary Products Committee to judge the safety and human health H16 69 aspects of the use of veterinary products.

H16 70 Mr.Gummer: Members of the Veterinary Products H16 71 Committee are expert in a number of scientific disciplines relevant H16 72 to the consideration of the safety, quality and efficacy of H16 73 veterinary medicines. When aspects falling outside their specific H16 74 fields of expertise arise, they take advice from the Department of H16 75 Health and other suitably qualified experts. Apart from the H16 76 Medicines Commission, we are satisfied that no other body of H16 77 equivalent competence exists in this country.

H16 78 Members of the EC Committee on Veterinary Medicinal Products H16 79 are officials from member states. They are not required to have H16 80 personal scientific expertise in the same way as VPC members, but H16 81 draw on expertise available in all member states, including that of H16 82 the Veterinary Products Committee.

H16 83 Poultry (Rare Breeds)

H16 84 Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 85 Fisheries and Food if he will amend the poultry regulations to H16 86 ensure that rare breeds, housed and kept separately for breeding H16 87 purposes, are defined as individual flocks.

H16 88 Mr. Curry: I have no plans to do so.

H16 89 Milk Production

H16 90 Mr. Strang: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 91 Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the total volume H16 92 of United Kingdom milk production last year; and what proportion H16 93 this represents of total EC milk production.

H16 94 Mr. Curry: Total United Kingdom milk production, H16 95 including milk fed directly to calves, was estimated at 15,212,000 H16 96 tonnes during 1990, 13 per cent. of the EC total. Deliveries to H16 97 dairies amounted to 14,574,000 tonnes, 13.75 per cent. of the EC H16 98 total.

H16 99 Animals and Birds (Imports)

H16 100 Mr. Cohen: To ask the Minster of Agriculture, H16 101 Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken in the light of H16 102 recommendations by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to H16 103 restrict the number of United Kingdom ports through which live H16 104 animals and birds may be imported.

H16 105 Mr. Maclean: The recommendation to consider H16 106 restricting the number of ports through which live animals may be H16 107 imported was one of a number of recommendations made by the Joint H16 108 Nature Conservation Committee in its recent report on trade in H16 109 wildlife. As the wildlife trade raises many complex issues which do H16 110 not affect the United Kingdom alone, my hon. Friend the H16 111 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment and I H16 112 wrote recently to the European Commissioners for agriculture and H16 113 the environment drawing the JNCC report to their attention and H16 114 pressing for stricter Community-wide controls over international H16 115 trade in wildlife. A Commission proposal for a new regulation on H16 116 the wildlife trade is expected to be published soon and we shall H16 117 take full account of the JNCC advice in the subsequent H16 118 discussions.

H16 119 Bovine Somatotropin

H16 120 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 121 Fisheries and Food what tests have been carried out by his Ministry H16 122 concerning the safety of bovine somatotropin and food products H16 123 derived from it for humans; and if he will make a statement.

H16 124 Mr Gummer: It is for licence applicants to undertake, H16 125 in accordance with internationally accepted rules of good H16 126 laboratory practice, all tests which are considered necessary to H16 127 satisfy the licensing authority.

H16 128 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 129 Fisheries and Food how many applications for the use of bovine H16 130 somatotropin he has received in each of the last three years and to H16 131 date in 1991; if he will indicate in each case whether the H16 132 applications have been refused, and how many are going through H16 133 appeal; and if he will make a statement.

H16 134 Mr Gummer: No product licence applications were H16 135 received during this period. One application for an animal test H16 136 certificate was received in 1988: that application is currently the H16 137 subject of an appeal to the Veterinary Products Committee which is H16 138 minded to advise that it should not be granted.

H16 139 In addition, applications to renew ATCs granted before 1988 H16 140 were received in each of the years identified, and were granted. H16 141 Applications to vary these ATCs were received in 1988, two; 1989, H16 142 nine; 1990 seven; and 1991 to date, four; and have been granted.

H16 143 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 144 Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the H16 145 discussions in the EC about the continuation of the moratorium on H16 146 the use of bovine somatotropin after 31 December; and when he H16 147 expects a decision to be taken about its continuation.

H16 148 Mr. Gummer: Progress made by the Commission with its H16 149 report on the future use of BST was raised under other business at H16 150 the Agriculture Council on 18-19 November. The Commission indicated H16 151 that it expects to report to the Council within the next few H16 152 weeks.

H16 153 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minster of Agriculture, H16 154 Fisheries and Food if he will list the research that has been H16 155 considered by the Veterinary Products Committee concerning the H16 156 effect of food produced by the use of bovine somatotropin on human H16 157 health; and if he will make a statement.

H16 158 Mr. Gummer: The Committee has seen the results of H16 159 research into the composition of milk from treated and untreated H16 160 cows which identified minute differences in the average content of H16 161 lipids, biotin, IGF1 and BST. It has also seen the results of H16 162 research into the effect of these four substances on humans and has H16 163 taken advice from nutritional experts. It is satisfied that the H16 164 widespread use of BST to increase milk yields would not adversely H16 165 affect the health of consumers.

H16 166 Mr Ron Davies: To ask the Minster of Agriculture, H16 167 Fisheries and Food what is his policy on the possible extension of H16 168 the present EC ban on bovine somatotropin; and when he expects the H16 169 matter to be further discussed at the Council of Ministers.

H16 170 Mr. Maclean: The Commission has made no proposals for H16 171 arrangements to apply after the current moratorium on the use of H16 172 BST expires. If it does, my right hon. Friend will determine his H16 173 policy according to the merit of the proposals. Progress made by H16 174 the Commission with its report on the future use of BST was raised H16 175 under other business at the Agriculture Council on 18-19 November. H16 176 The Commission indicated that it expected to report to the Council H16 177 within the next few weeks.

H16 178 Fishing Vessels

H16 179 Mr. Cohen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 180 Fisheries and Food whether he will state the number of draft H16 181 proposals he has received from sea fisheries committees to regulate H16 182 the use of fixed engines and the number he rejected in respect of H16 183 the last 12 months for which data are available.

H16 184 Mr. Curry Ministerial confirmation has been sought H16 185 for three byelaws made by sea fisheries committees to regulate the H16 186 placing or use of fixed engines. One needs to be re-advertised and H16 187 we are in active correspondence with the relevant SFC on the other H16 188 two on drafting and procedural points respectively. None has been H16 189 rejected.

H16 190 'Our Farming Future'

H16 191 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 192 Fisheries and Food how he intends to distribute copies of 'Our H16 193 Farming Future' to individual farmers; mad if he will make a H16 194 statement.

H16 195 Mr. Gummer: Copies of 'Our Farming Future' are H16 196 available to farmers on request from the Ministry, particularly H16 197 through its regional and divisional offices. Copies have also been H16 198 provided to the National Farmers Union.

H16 199 Dr. David Clark: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 200 Fisheries and Food when he intends to publish the follow-up to 'Our H16 201 Farming Future'; and if he will make a statement.

H16 202 Mr. Gummer: Decisions on any future statements of H16 203 Government policy on agriculture will be taken in the light of the H16 204 outcome of negotiations on CAP reform and on the Uruguay round.

H16 205 Environmental Health

H16 206 Ms. Walley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, H16 207 Fisheries and Food if he will meet the Institution of Environmental H16 208 Health Officers to discuss whether meat inspection should remain a H16 209 local authority function.

H16 210 Mr. Maclean: Our officials and those of the H16 211 Department of Health are in regular contact with representatives of H16 212 the institution, and have on a number of occasions discussed with H16 213 them the future arrangements for meat hygiene enforcement. In H16 214 addition, the institution has submitted written evidence to the H16 215 review of meat hygiene enforcement in Great Britain and was H16 216 represented on the review consultative panel. The views of the H16 217 institution will be taken fully into account by the Agriculture and H16 218 Health Ministers when a decision is reached on future meat hygiene H16 219 enforcement arrangements.

H16 220 Dairy Industry

H16 221 Mr. Geraint Howells: To ask the Minister of H16 222 Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the present H16 223 state of the dairy industry; and if he will make a statement.

H16 224 Mr. Curry: Dairy farming remains a relatively H16 225 profitable sector of United Kingdom agriculture, sustained by H16 226 support prices substantially above world market levels. Despite the H16 227 existence of quotas limiting production, more than 20 per cent. of H16 228 EC milk production in 1990 required subsidised disposal. H16 229 H17 1 <#FLOB:H17\>Access is another important principle of the H17 2 citizens charter. Services should be run to suit the convenience of H17 3 customers, not of staff. Services should be easy to find and to H17 4 use. That means flexible opening hours to suit local users, H17 5 telephones that are answered promptly, inquiry points that are H17 6 helpful, informative and efficient in directing the caller to the H17 7 person best placed to help him or her, and signposts to help the H17 8 citizen locate whatever he or she wants.

H17 9 Inevitably, there will be times when things do not go right. H17 10 When that happens, it is not a question of simply saying that money H17 11 should be poured into the organisation as a remedy. One of our H17 12 primary responsibilities as a Government is to the taxpayer, and we H17 13 will not neglect that responsibility. When things go wrong, the H17 14 citizen wants to be told fully, honestly and, preferably, there and H17 15 then why it has gone wrong.

H17 16 For example, most people will not mind waiting a few extra H17 17 minutes in a hospital waiting room if they know that the doctor has H17 18 been called away to deal with an emergency. They will not put up H17 19 with simply being left without being told the reason for being H17 20 apparently let down. When things go wrong, people want an apology H17 21 properly expressed, and they should be entitled to one. There H17 22 should be a well-publicised and readily available complaints H17 23 procedure. Lessons should be learned from complaints, so that H17 24 mistakes are not repeated.

H17 25 People want to have the sense, when things go wrong, and they H17 26 complain legitimately, that the system about which they are H17 27 complaining is taking some notice of what they are saying. No one H17 28 wants to see money diverted from service improvement to the H17 29 detriment of the existing service, but where compensation can be H17 30 made to increase rather than detract from efficiency, compensation H17 31 procedures should be set out.

H17 32 I make no apology for setting out in such detail the charter's H17 33 principles. They are important, and together they form the charter H17 34 standard. How are the public to know who has adopted those H17 35 principles and is improving services as a result? Organisations H17 36 that can prove that they are living up to the charter standard and H17 37 are providing high-quality services that put the customer first H17 38 will become eligible for the Charter Mark award. This voluntary H17 39 scheme will be an acknowledged and easily recognisable sign of H17 40 quality. It will provide an incentive to staff and management alike H17 41 to bring about a progressive improvement in the delivery and H17 42 quality of their services and to provide value for money through H17 43 progressive improvements in service.

H17 44 Every public sector organisation that serves the public H17 45 directly will be able to apply for the Charter Mark. So, too, will H17 46 privatised utilities, such as the water companies or similar H17 47 regulator regimes. The award will be within every organisation's H17 48 reach, but not necessarily within immediate grasp. It will not be a H17 49 soft or easy option. I look forward to announcing the details of H17 50 the scheme before long.

H17 51 The implementation of the charter is an ambitious task. It is a H17 52 programme which has set a lead. No programme so ambitious or H17 53 comprehensive has ever been attempted anywhere in the world. Great H17 54 interest in the charter has been shown in Europe, north America, H17 55 Australia, and elsewhere. We are determined to implement it H17 56 successfully. I pay tribute to Sir James Blythe and his fellow H17 57 members of the advisory panel for their energetic and imaginative H17 58 work in driving the programme forward.

H17 59 The real results are the improvements that take place on the H17 60 ground locally. It is in the local tax office, the local hospital H17 61 and the local school that the citizen will look for improvements H17 62 and judge whether the charter is a reality.

H17 63 Much has already happened. The next steps programme has played H17 64 an important part. In the case of the Benefits Agency, for example, H17 65 more telephone calls than previously have been handle in five H17 66 languages with specialist help lines, and waiting times have been H17 67 reduced by half. The Employment Service achieved more than 95 per H17 68 cent. accuracy in its benefits payments in 1990-91. It is H17 69 integrating its local office network with benefit offices, to offer H17 70 users a one-stop shop. For example, at the Driving Standards H17 71 Agency, waiting times for driving tests have been reduced.

H17 72 Another example of what has started to happen and will happen H17 73 under the citizens charter programme is that, in the national H17 74 health service, there will be fixed-time appointments for patients H17 75 from April next. No patient should have to wait more than 30 H17 76 minutes. We want to say a final goodbye to the old arrangement H17 77 whereby 50 patients were called for appointments at 9 o'clock in H17 78 the morning but many of them were not seen until well into the H17 79 afternoon. That is no way to treat people. The patients charter H17 80 will put an end to it.

H17 81 There will also be guaranteed waiting times for NHS treatment. H17 82 Each district health authority will set maximum waiting times for H17 83 each specialty, and none of the maximum times can be more than two H17 84 years. Once again, waiting times should come down and people should H17 85 know they can expect, what standard the local provider of that H17 86 service has undertaken to deliver.

H17 87 All parents will receive school reports on their child's H17 88 progress at least once a year. In the utilities, to take two H17 89 examples, East Midlands Electricity has introduced fixed-time H17 90 appointments for customers, and SEEBoard has introduced a new, H17 91 simple, flat-rate compensation system for its customers.

H17 92 We have also taken steps to introduce legislation, where H17 93 needed, to take forward work on the charter. The Competition and H17 94 Services (Utilities) Bill, published last week, will give customers H17 95 a better deal by giving tougher powers to the regulators - allowing H17 96 them, for example, to set guaranteed service standards for H17 97 individual customers, such as fixed appointment times - no more H17 98 waiting for the gas man.

H17 99 The regulators will also be able to ensure that compensation is H17 100 paid where those service standards are not met, that each utility H17 101 has satisfactory procedures for handling customer complaints and H17 102 that those procedures are published. As the utilities operate in H17 103 the private sector, they are already going fast down that track of H17 104 improving customer services. We want that to continue.

H17 105 The Local Government Bill, published on 4 November, will H17 106 require local authorities to publish information showing what H17 107 standard of service they are providing and at what cost. The Audit H17 108 Commission and its Scottish equivalent will have powers to report H17 109 on the performance of local authorities both individually and H17 110 collectively, to which all local authorities would have to respond H17 111 publicly.

H17 112 The Education (Schools) Bill sets up a framework to implement H17 113 the main proposals of the parents charter, published in September. H17 114 It will ensure regular and independent inspection of schools, and H17 115 that the inspection report is made available to parents. It will H17 116 empower the Secretary of State to collect and publish information H17 117 about schools. That will be published annually by region and will H17 118 include public examination and national curriculum test results, H17 119 truancy rates and the first destinations of school leavers. That is H17 120 all vital information that parents are entitled to have. Under the H17 121 legislation, in future they will have it.

H17 122 I shall shortly publish a White Paper entitled, 'Competing for H17 123 Quality' which sets out the Government's commitment to improving H17 124 public services by expanding choice and competition. That is a key H17 125 element of the citizens charter programme. It sets out how, in H17 126 setting targets and freeing managers to buy services in open H17 127 competition, public services can respond better and more H17 128 efficiently to the wishes of their users. Buying services in open H17 129 competition is good news for the taxpayers, who will get better H17 130 value for money, and for managers and their staff, who can work H17 131 together to achieve the best deal for customers. Last, but by no H17 132 means least, it is good news for local businesses, giving private H17 133 firms new opportunities to market their services in free and open H17 134 competition.

H17 135 Other legislation will be needed, too, to take forward the H17 136 proposals outlined in the charter White Paper. When we are returned H17 137 to government, we shall introduce legislation to give the citizen a H17 138 right to challenge unlawful industrial action affecting public H17 139 services, and legislation to privatise the railways and to H17 140 deregulate London buses. We also plan to limit the Post Office H17 141 monopoly, to establish a new regulator for postal services, and to H17 142 give the Secretary of State powers to set standards and targets for H17 143 the Post Office. We plan to extend delegation in the civil service H17 144 and to deal with the problems of technical redundancy.

H17 145 Mr. Malcolm Bruce (Gordon): Am I to read into what H17 146 the Minister says that the Government intend to put more and more H17 147 services out to arm's-length agencies which are not effectively H17 148 accountable to Ministers, and certainly not accountable to Members H17 149 of the House? Does he not think that the citizens of Britain H17 150 wouldbe better served if Ministers were more prepared to answer the H17 151 questions asked by the House, rather than avoiding them by putting H17 152 everything out to agencies?

H17 153 Mr. Maude: The hon. Gentleman betrays a woeful H17 154 ignorance of how the process works. I am also interested to hear H17 155 the devotion of the new-style modern Liberal Democrats to H17 156 old-fashioned bureaucracy.

H17 157 I commend to the House the programme of putting all the H17 158 executive operational parts of the public service of central H17 159 Government out to executive agencies under professional chief H17 160 executives who are directly accountable to Ministers who are H17 161 themselves directly accountable to the House. That will provide H17 162 even-better services to the public, because they are accountable H17 163 and because they have the freedom to manage. I make no apology for H17 164 that programme. I am sorry to hear once again that the Liberal H17 165 Democrats seem to be devoted to the process of reaction and H17 166 opposition to any progressive improvement or reform.

H17 167 Mr. Harry Barnes (Derbyshire, North-East): Do we not H17 168 need a Members of Parliament charter, so that, when we send letters H17 169 to benefit agencies, instead of their taking ages to answer, we H17 170 will begin to get some response? It is said that the citizens H17 171 charter allows more information to be generally available to H17 172 individuals, but less and less information is available to Members H17 173 who ask questions in the House, as areas are hived off to agencies H17 174 and privatised, so that the service providers are no longer H17 175 democratically accountable. Democratic socialism adds parliamentary H17 176 accountability and parliamentary avenues.

H17 177 Mr. Maude: Once again, I say that there will be no H17 178 reduction in accountability. There is an improvement in H17 179 transparency, and we are moving away from the old bureaucratic H17 180 culture to which the Opposition, whether Labour or Liberal H17 181 Democrat, seem devoted. We can achieve much greater accountability, H17 182 efficiency and effectiveness and delivering real and good services H17 183 to citizens by moving in the direction of open and accountable H17 184 executive agencies than by saying that the man in Whitehall knows H17 185 best, and that we shall have a nice pyramid of bureaucracy in which H17 186 everyone is concerned about what happens inside the organisation, H17 187 but fewer people are concerned with what happens when the service H17 188 is delivered to the citizen.

H17 189 Mr James Arbuthnot (Wanstead and Woodford): One of H17 190 the agencies that serves my constituency is the social security H17 191 office at Wentworth house. I have to admit that, even before that H17 192 office became an agency, it was extremely good, and answered my H17 193 letters within seven days. Its benefit service was exceptional. H17 194 Since becoming an agency it has got even better. Payments now go H17 195 out within four days of a request being received. That means that H17 196 the office deals with the paper work, the calculation, checking and H17 197 the provision of a cheque within four days. That is staggering. The H17 198 carping from Labour Members should be put down to sour grapes, H17 199 because this is something that they did not think of for H17 200 themselves.

H17 201 Mr. Maude: My hon. Friend's experience of the H17 202 improved service provided by the new agencies reflects similar, H17 203 widespread experience. I make no apology for saying that the H17 204 Government propose to press ahead full steam with the process of H17 205 transfering services - the operational parts of central Government H17 206 - to executive agencies.

H17 207 H17 208 H18 1 <#FLOB:H18\>Mr. Illsley: I support new clause 1 and, H18 2 in view of what I said in Committee, I hope to keep my remarks H18 3 brief.

H18 4 It is not that some authorities are profligate and overspend; H18 5 it is simply that the Government have imposed on them standard H18 6 spending assessments which are deliberately low to force them into H18 7 a situation where they can easily be charge-capped under the H18 8 Government's current criteria. In Committee, the Opposition showed H18 9 clearly that the SSAs bore no relation to the needs of any H18 10 particular authority.

H18 11 I was interested to hear the comments of the hon. Member for H18 12 Torridge and Devon, West (Miss Nicholson) about a newspaper H18 13 published by the National and Local Government Officers Association H18 14 which I think she said was produced last September. Barnsley is H18 15 still making cuts as a result of last year's charge capping of H18 16 which the newspaper probably would not be aware.

H18 17 New clause 1 requires the Secretary of State to estimate losses H18 18 that are likely to be carried forward for the forthcoming year. The H18 19 formula as it stands in the Bill simply passes the result of any H18 20 charge capping on to the poll tax payer in the following financial H18 21 year, and no account is taken of the shortfall despite the fact H18 22 that that information is available at the time of the charge H18 23 capping. It is nonsense that the Government should force H18 24 authorities to issue bills which the Government and the local H18 25 authorities know are ridiculous because they do not take account of H18 26 the information that is available to the authority at the time. The H18 27 public do not want that shortfall being stored up for the following H18 28 year.

H18 29 For example, in 1990-91 Barnsley allocated 6 per cent. of its H18 30 poll tax bill to cover any shortfall in the collection of the tax, H18 31 and that was detailed on the bill. There is considerable resentment H18 32 among charge payers in my authority because they are expected to H18 33 pay pounds16.97 to cover what they look upon as defaulters. H18 34 Complaints to me and in the local press are now building up from H18 35 people who refuse to pay that sum. They will pay the rest of the H18 36 poll tax bill, but they are not prepared to pay for someone who H18 37 defaults. They do not realise that similar problems existed under H18 38 the rating system. This is causing problems for the local H18 39 authority.

H18 40 It is not just ordinary working people who object, but the H18 41 business community as well - perhaps more so. They tend to look on H18 42 people who are unable to pay as shirkers, just as Conservative H18 43 Members do, although that is not necessarily the case. One can H18 44 imagine the disgust of charge payers in my local authority if they H18 45 had to make up a shortfall of more than 6 per cent. That is simply H18 46 increasing the number of refusals to pay the poll tax and placing H18 47 an extra burden on the local authority. People are deciding to pay H18 48 simply a proportion of the poll tax and to withhold the H18 49 pounds16.97. Therefore, my local authority is having to send out H18 50 extra bills, obtain court orders and all the rest simply because H18 51 people are refusing to pay that 6 per cent. It shows that people do H18 52 not want such sums stored up for the forthcoming year but would far H18 53 rather have their bills sorted out logically in the current year H18 54 when the capping is implemented.

H18 55 If the Secretary of State is required to lay such an estimate H18 56 of losses, the local authority can identify what it will be H18 57 required to make up in the following year. It is obviously sensible H18 58 for a local authority which knows that it will be short on its H18 59 collection funds to take that into account at the time of capping. H18 60 It is crazy simply to tell local authorities that, although it is H18 61 known that they have a 10 per cent. shortfall in their collection H18 62 funds, nothing can be done about it in June, July, August or H18 63 September, and it must wait till the following year.

H18 64 Again, that reflects on the SSAs, which appear not to have been H18 65 altered to any great extent this year compared with last year. My H18 66 authority still has the same problems and we shall have similar H18 67 problems with capping. All we are doing is building up problems for H18 68 the future. We are simply creating a situation in which authorities H18 69 that were capped originally will be capped in the future.

H18 70 New clause 1 requires the Secretary of State to specify the H18 71 proposed increase in the charge. I have some sympathy with that H18 72 because charge payers coming to my surgeries do not want to hear H18 73 about aggregate external finance or increases in revenue support H18 74 grant which, incidentally, are about 1.9 per cent. Most of the H18 75 pounds3 billion spoken about this year is coming through H18 76 non-domestic rating, not through increases in Government grant. H18 77 What they want to know is what the increase will be in pounds, not H18 78 in percentages here, there and everywhere.

H18 79 New clause 1 also requires a schedule of reductions in H18 80 services. Again, I have considerable sympathy with that. I have to H18 81 laugh when I hear stories about whisky bottles in cupboards and all H18 82 the rest. It is obvious that some Conservative Members are living H18 83 in a dream world. My authority comes under the Audit Commission and H18 84 is regulated by the same legislation as are all other authorities. H18 85 My authority is a diligent one, which abides by the rules and H18 86 regulations laid down. Authorities referred to by Conservative H18 87 Members do not seem to come under the same legislation. Why are not H18 88 complaints made about those profligate authorities? Some of the H18 89 stories related by Conservative Members are incredible.

H18 90 When an authority sets a sensible budget and when treasurers, H18 91 heads of department and all the rest have spent considerable time H18 92 determining their budget for the coming year, agonising over it for H18 93 two or three months, how can they simply cut pounds10 million off H18 94 it, as Barnsley was required to do? Which services should be cut? H18 95 My area was not guilty of high spending and there was no waste, yet H18 96 cuts had to made in every department - small cuts here, there and H18 97 everywhere, except in education, where the cuts were massive. The H18 98 hon. Member for Torridge and Devon, West, who is no longer in her H18 99 place, referred to authorities that had not had to make employees H18 100 redundant as a result of charge capping. I assure her that some H18 101 education centres in Barnsley were closed as a direct result of H18 102 charge capping.

H18 103 It is not good enough for the Government simply to tell a local H18 104 authority that it is being capped and that, say, pounds10 million H18 105 must be taken out of its budget. The Government should be obliged H18 106 to indicate to the authority how the pounds10 million might be H18 107 saved. But they do not do that. They know that some local H18 108 authorities, such as the one in my area, simply cannot cut spending H18 109 without reducing services. They know that authorities, in setting H18 110 their budgets, have acted responsibly.

H18 111 It should be remembered that the Manchesters, the Bradfords, H18 112 the Wandsworths and the Westminsters get double the amount of money H18 113 that Barnsley gets to provide services at the same level. Why does H18 114 Manchester get twice as much as the local authority in my area to H18 115 provide the same services? It is absolutely ridiculous.

H18 116 The Government are abdicating their responsibility. They do not H18 117 know where the cuts could be made. They themselves could not do the H18 118 job. The whole idea of charge capping is a sham, because it is H18 119 based on the sham standard spending assessment.

H18 120 5 pm

H18 121 Ms. Dawn Primarolo (Bristol, South): I shall try to H18 122 make my comments brief, as other hon. Members wish to take part in H18 123 the debate. I shall confine myself to the new clause.

H18 124 The hon. Member for Torridge and Devon, West (Miss Nicholson) H18 125 said that those who take decisions should be made accountable. That H18 126 is exactly what new clause 1 seeks to do. It seeks to make the H18 127 Government accountable for what they are forcing upon local H18 128 authorities. If the hon. Lady and her colleagues are so keen on H18 129 this mechanism, it is odd that they are resisting this new clause, H18 130 which specifically addresses the fact that the Bill provides the H18 131 Secretary of State with strengthened powers by giving him the H18 132 right, in effect, to decide a local authority's poll tax as well as H18 133 its budget. That is true of all local authorities that the H18 134 Secretary of State chooses to charge-cap.

H18 135 This is an ironic twist, bearing in mind what the present H18 136 Secretary of State for the Environment wrote to The Times H18 137 in May 1990:

H18 138 "Local authorities should be free to set and H18 139 account for their own budgets."

H18 140 But the Government are seeking to take that right away from the H18 141 local authorities. They know that the task that has been set is H18 142 impossible, and they do not wish themselves, as the Government, to H18 143 be held accountable for extremely difficult decisions.

H18 144 New clause 1 refers specifically to difficulties in respect of H18 145 the collection fund. It would oblige the Secretary of State to H18 146 specify the services that a local authority area was likely to H18 147 lose. If he was unable or was not prepared to identify the cuts, he H18 148 would be required to specify the deficit that would have to be H18 149 carried forward and would result in an increase in poll tax in the H18 150 following financial year. The Government are not prepared to give H18 151 an estimate or to take into consideration the difficulties that H18 152 local authorities have to face.

H18 153 In Bristol, whose council is one of the authorities that the H18 154 hon. Lady quoted, the Government are requiring a cut of pounds21 H18 155 million in the expenditure for next year. Bearing in mind the fact H18 156 that the total expenditure figure is pounds62 million, anybody who H18 157 believes that a reduction of pounds21 million will be achieved H18 158 without loss of services and loss of jobs is clearly living in H18 159 cloud cuckoo land. Let us look at the experience in Bristol this H18 160 year. Let us consider the information that we should wish the H18 161 Secretary of State to take into account when identifying cuts. The H18 162 poll tax is proving to be almost impossible to collect. The Audit H18 163 Commission, when studying collection and looking at the collection H18 164 fund, investigated a number of authorities, of which Bristol city H18 165 council was one. Thus we have up-to-date information on the H18 166 problems of that local authority.

H18 167 In Bristol, administration of the poll tax costs pounds18.22 H18 168 per head of the adult population. The Audit Commission estimated H18 169 that the figure should be pounds14. The difference is accounted for H18 170 by the fact that the council had to find new offices for the H18 171 increased number of staff needed to deal with the poll tax. That H18 172 has been carried forward. In addition, the authority has to pay the H18 173 collection charge and giro costs. The administration charge for the H18 174 rates was pounds7.35 per head. In addition, as a result of charge H18 175 capping, court appeals and the endless rebilling that has been H18 176 necessary -

H18 177 Mr. Holt: Would the hon. Lady care to say whether she H18 178 has paid her own charge this year? If not, by how much does she H18 179 estimate she has burdened other people as a result of failure to H18 180 conform with the law?

H18 181 Ms. Primarolo: I intend to apply to myself the H18 182 discipline of sticking to the new clause, even if other hon. H18 183 Members cannot do so. I should be happy, at another time and in a H18 184 relevant debate, to discuss with the hon. Gentleman the invidious H18 185 effects of the poll tax on my constituents and on many others who H18 186 are unable to pay. Pensioners, despite an increase in their H18 187 pensions, are worse off because they have lost even the small H18 188 amount of relief that was available.

H18 189 Mr. Holt: Will the hon. Lady give way?

H18 190 Ms. Primarolo: No. It is well known in this House H18 191 that I am not frightened by the bullying of hon. Members on the H18 192 Government Benches. I intend to persist with the speech on new H18 193 clause 1 that I rose to make. H18 194 H19 1 <#FLOB:H19\>STRATEGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT H19 2 COMMITTEE

H19 3 This Committee has three primary responsibilities. First, it H19 4 will commission special studies to increase the awareness and H19 5 practical understanding of issues related to training, vocational H19 6 education and enterprise development. Second, it will review the H19 7 Department's existing research and development priorities and give H19 8 views on how best these funds should be applied in future to secure H19 9 national policy objectives. Third, beginning this summer, it will H19 10 sponsor small seminars to examine emerging issues which will have a H19 11 bearing on future policy and practice. These events will bring H19 12 together top business leaders, academics and opinion formers who H19 13 have an interest in training, education, enterprise and economic H19 14 development.

H19 15 Over the next two years, the National Training Task Force is H19 16 committed to serving as an independent, employer-led advisory body H19 17 which can be the standard-bearer for the TEC movement and, more H19 18 broadly, for education, training and enterprise development in H19 19 Britain. We believe we must be strategic in our thinking and H19 20 challenging in our quest for excellence. We must set high standards H19 21 and measure our national progress towards securing a workforce H19 22 equal to the best in the world. And we must contribute to the H19 23 leadership needed to create a public climate in which training and H19 24 education are seen as the natural conditions for economic and H19 25 environmental well-being.

H19 26 We believe that the work which we plan to undertake with TECs H19 27 and other relevant organisations over the coming months will both H19 28 inform and develop future national goals which are established for H19 29 TECs and the training and enterprise system at large. It should H19 30 give us the knowledge and expertise to contribute significantly to H19 31 the Secretary of State's Strategic Guidance and to national H19 32 policy-making more generally.

H19 33 The Task Force has a serious and challenging job to do. By H19 34 working together with individual TECs, the Group of 10, employer H19 35 organisations and other interested parties, I believe we can make a H19 36 significant contribution towards enhancing the skills of our people H19 37 and the economic prosperity of our communities.

H19 38 13 June 1991

H19 39 Examination of Witness

H19 40 SIR BRIAN WOLFSON, Chairman, National Training Task H19 41 Force, was examined.

H19 42 Chairman H19 43 289. Sir Brian, welcome to our proceedings this afternoon. We H19 44 are very pleased to see you. Could you tell us something of your H19 45 relations vis-<*_>a-grave<*/>-vis the group of 10 TEC H19 46 chairmen? Sometimes it is suggested there is an overlap in H19 47 responsibilities. Could you clear that up for us please?

H19 48 (Sir Brian Wolfson) Yes, I can. The Group of 10 is H19 49 the representative body chosen by the TEC chairs on a revolving H19 50 basis, that is to say they agree informally from a region that one H19 51 person will represent that region, with an alternative, for H19 52 approximately one year, and then it revolves all the time. Its H19 53 purpose is to deal with those matters which affect the operational H19 54 side of the TEC programme with Government. Where the Task Force is H19 55 to do with strategy, quality, measuring and fiduciary H19 56 responsibilities, the G10 works on a hands-on, detailed H19 57 administrative level, and of course from time to time propositions H19 58 for areas of change if they feel it necessary to do so.

H19 59 290. You are responsible for objectives and strategy, they are H19 60 responsible for the mechanics and the delivery?

H19 61 (Sir Brian Wolfson) Correct.

H19 62 291. I believe your remit has been extended recently, could you H19 63 tell us in what way? How have you met your remit to date and what H19 64 are your new responsibilities? Do you see your Task Force being set H19 65 up for a period of four years? Is that still the case?

H19 66 (Sir Brian Wolfson) Yes. The extended remit is in the H19 67 area of broadening the way we tackle the whole training issue. We H19 68 do not consider it enough just to have the TECs up and running. H19 69 Firstly, they are all pretty new and have a lot of evolution to get H19 70 through before we get to where we are going, and there is a lot of H19 71 monitoring to be done and new ideas to be tested and looked at as H19 72 well. We decided the best way we could involve ourselves in that H19 73 exercise was to take three separate parts. The first part was to do H19 74 with the oversight of the development of the TECs themselves, and H19 75 that would involve visits from Task Force members and other H19 76 involvements and checks and balances to see how they were H19 77 performing. The second area was to do with the Investors in People H19 78 programme, because in a sense we will begin to have accomplished H19 79 our mission when the majority of companies in this country are H19 80 investors in people companies, when they have signed up to that H19 81 degree of commitment to the development of their people. We felt H19 82 that was a key area for the Task Force and it was the other side of H19 83 the quality of the programme and how it handles those national H19 84 companies which cannot be handled in the first instance by the TECs H19 85 themselves. The final area is the strategic area where there are H19 86 still comparisons and lessons to be learned from what is going on H19 87 in other countries. For example, in France and Germany the great H19 88 bulk of managers when questioned, if you put them against a wall, H19 89 say - and I think this is very significant, particularly in Germany H19 90 where 63 per cent of the managers say this is so - the most H19 91 important thing in their company is the skill of their workforce. H19 92 That says it all when you get down to what comes from the German H19 93 Federal Republic. So in the strategic area there are visions still H19 94 to be fashioned as to where we need to be in the year 2000, where H19 95 we believe this whole programme is going. That is how we broadened H19 96 the interaction of the Task Force and made three separate committee H19 97 chair-people - Tony Cleaver of IBM takes the TEC part, Allen H19 98 Sheppard of Grand Met is doing Investors in People, and Bob Reid, H19 99 who should have been with us today, is doing a strategic over-view. H19 100 I chair the whole thing with them. So far as your point on time is H19 101 concerned, the end of this year will be in fact three years, so we H19 102 are 2 1/2 years old now. The great proportion of that 2 1/2 years H19 103 was taken up with a people consultation process and the initial H19 104 impetus of the whole TEC establishment. We are now moving into a H19 105 far more thoughtful - I would not say reflectful but thoughtful - H19 106 monitoring phase from which we can learn by some of the mistakes we H19 107 shall certainly make, and at the same time begin to put new H19 108 leadership positions on the table for the movement to respond to. H19 109 So I doubt whether four years will be sufficient. I think if we are H19 110 going to have an impact we need the Task Force around yet awhile. H19 111 This links back to who is going to own the TEC movement eventually. H19 112 Does it belong to the local communities or who? What should the H19 113 final relationship be between that movement and Government, which H19 114 is still its principal customer?

H19 115 292. What has been happening in London? Quite a few of the H19 116 London offices do not seem to be up and running yet, do they? Is H19 117 there any reason for that?

H19 118 (Sir Brian Wolfson) No, not in any direct fault H19 119 sense, there is no reason. There is a background reason which I H19 120 will share with you. It was felt by those of us involved that one H19 121 of the reasons London has always been very difficult to work in and H19 122 make resolutions of problems possible was because it is such a H19 123 large and complex entity, and that if we should err on the side of H19 124 caution we should go for more TECs in the area rather than less. In H19 125 fact the more areas we could break it down to, the more handleable H19 126 the problem becomes for the individual TECs concerned. In fact all H19 127 the London TECs are now on stream or coming in a few months. So H19 128 because of the complexities, it took that much longer.

H19 129 293. You mentioned the Investors in People programme. As you H19 130 know, with the industrial training boards companies achieved H19 131 exemption from the levy if they had good training programmes. How H19 132 does the IIP differ from that? Is it roughly the same?

H19 133 (Sir Brian Wolfson) No, it is not. It is a much H19 134 deeper and more total element. It is even more extensive than BS H19 135 5750. If I can digress for a moment, one of the great problems with H19 136 what we are doing at the moment is whether we are getting value for H19 137 money out of what is going on in training which is done by H19 138 companies. Only one out of two companies which do have training has H19 139 a company plan, and only one in seven which has a company plan has H19 140 a feed-back measure, to measure how well they do their training. So H19 141 there is a great deal of improvement possible, and the Investors in H19 142 People programme goes very deeply into companies' commitment to H19 143 training at every level - the measurement of the training, the H19 144 effect of the training so you get a feed-back system worthy of the H19 145 name and you can see whether you are spending your money wisely and H19 146 measuring the individual training growth of all the employees. It H19 147 is much broader than any of the industrial training boards are H19 148 now.

H19 149 294. Do you have the resources to audit all of these companies H19 150 adequately?

H19 151 (Sir Brian Wolfson) The resources are not yet in H19 152 place but we think we will have the resources and that is going to H19 153 be very much a 'user pay' scheme. TECs will be charging for the H19 154 auditing of the Investors in People programme and at the national H19 155 level we will also be charging for the certification that is H19 156 carried out under the aegis of the Task Force.

H19 157 295. So firms will be charged a fee for the pleasure of being H19 158 audited?

H19 159 (Sir Brian Wolfson) They will be charged a fee, not H19 160 for the pleasure of being audited, but for the pleasure of the H19 161 respect and regard that they will have in their communities for H19 162 being an Investors in People company.

H19 163 296. Are you confident that in times of recession they are H19 164 going to come forward in sufficient numbers?

H19 165 (Sir Brian Wolfson) Yes. We have done a great deal of H19 166 research. The committee that was actually set up was not just H19 167 members of the Task Force. It included members of the TUC, it H19 168 included members of the CBI, it included members of Chambers of H19 169 Commerce. It was a very wide remit that was examined and H19 170 consultants were put to work and we have done sample studies of the H19 171 whole thing and we are in fact very encouraged indeed by the H19 172 response from commerce and industry to the programme.

H19 173 297. You will be publishing reports, will you, of these H19 174 audits?

H19 175 (Sir Brian Wolfson) You mean in the sense of the H19 176 report of a company?

H19 177 298. Of all the companies - your activity in auditing IIP.

H19 178 (Sir Brian Wolfson) We have been publishing gross H19 179 numbers but I do not think we will be publishing the dialogue which H19 180 takes place between company and the audit individual, because the H19 181 idea is that if a company does not pass first time round they will H19 182 be counselled as to what they have to do to make sure they get H19 183 through next time, and they will be re-checked every two, three or H19 184 four years, according to how they feel about it, to monitor how H19 185 progress is being made.

H19 186 299. How will the public and Parliament know of what progress H19 187 is being made in this respect?

H19 188 (Sir Brian Wolfson) Because we will be publishing H19 189 numbers of those companies who have been qualified to be IIP H19 190 companies.

H19 191 300. The numbers of companies and the numbers - ?

H19 192 (Sir Brian Wolfson) The number of employees that are H19 193 fully covered, exactly.

H19 194 301. You have an oversight of the TECs. What about the H19 195 non-statutory industry training organisations? Do you look at them? H19 196 There are a very large number of them. How do they fit in to all H19 197 this?

H19 198 H20 1 <#FLOB:H20\>EIGHTH REPORT

H20 2 The Committee of Public Accounts has agreed to the following H20 3 Report

H20 4 THE ELDERLY: INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPPORTING THE H20 5 ELDERLY AND IMPLICATIONS OF PERSONAL PENSIONS FOR THE NATIONAL H20 6 INSURANCE FUND

H20 7 INTRODUCTION

H20 8 1. There are some ten and a half million people over pension H20 9 age in Great Britain. Financial support provided by the Department H20 10 of Social Security for elderly people cost about pounds26 billion H20 11 in 1989-90. In the same year, the cost to the National Insurance H20 12 Fund of rebates and incentives for employees opting out of the H20 13 state earnings related pension scheme and taking out personal H20 14 pensions instead was about pounds2 billion.

H20 15 2. On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor H20 16 General (C&AG), we examined the Department of Social Security on H20 17 the adequacy of their information base on the elderly and on their H20 18 role in the introduction, monitoring and evaluation of the rebate H20 19 and incentives provided for personal pensions. We have considered H20 20 the evidence given and our main conclusions and recommendations are H20 21 as follows:

H20 22 On the Department's information needs about elderly H20 23 people

H20 24 (i) We note the Department's concern to develop and improve H20 25 their data base. We endorse the areas for improvement set out in H20 26 the C&AG's Report, and the criteria he has suggested (paragraph H20 27 9).

H20 28 (ii) We believe that the Department would be right to attach a H20 29 high priority to implementing an appropriately designed income H20 30 survey without further delay (paragraph 10).

H20 31 (iii) We recommend that, in the light of the outcome of their H20 32 current study, the Department should examine what further surveys H20 33 may be needed to enable them to estimate the extent to which H20 34 elderly people leaving residential or institutional care are being H20 35 assisted by the Social Fund to live in the community (paragraph H20 36 11).

H20 37 (iv) We are glad to note that, through their new computer H20 38 systems, the Department are seeking improvements to their data base H20 39 on existing beneficiaries (paragraph 12).

H20 40 On the information needs of elderly people about financial H20 41 support available

H20 42 (v) We recommend that the Department should give further H20 43 attention to tailoring publicity about benefits, and other forms of H20 44 financial assistance funded by the Department, to the particular H20 45 information needs of elderly people (paragraph 16).

H20 46 (vi) We welcome the efforts the Department are making to H20 47 improve the publicity given to the Social Fund. The limited H20 48 publicity so far provided by the Department about the Independent H20 49 Living Fund is, however, unsatisfactory in our view and we H20 50 recommend that, as a minimum step, information about the Fund H20 51 should be given to all recipients of Attendance Allowance eligible H20 52 to apply to the Fund for assistance (paragraph 17).

H20 53 On the Department's appraisal of the likely take up of H20 54 personal pensions

H20 55 (vii) We are glad to note that the Department entirely accept H20 56 the scope of the Comptroller and Auditor General's study and we H20 57 also accept their apology for not raising their reservation about H20 58 the actuarial calculations when agreeing to the draft report H20 59 (paragraph 27).

H20 60 (viii) We are concerned that, in taking as their main working H20 61 assumption the lowest figure in the Government Actuary's H20 62 illustrative range, the Department focused on their own staffing H20 63 needs, rather than on the potentially much more significant H20 64 implications for the National Insurance Fund. In such H20 65 circumstances, in our view, estimates need to be made which take H20 66 account of the possible financial implications on a range of H20 67 assumptions (paragraph 28).

H20 68 On the Department's monitoring and evaluation of the take H20 69 up of personal pensions

H20 70 (ix) We note that as a result of the higher than expected cost H20 71 of the rebate and incentive, and other costs, expenditure on H20 72 certain non-contributory benefits has been transferred to the H20 73 Consolidated Fund. The effect was that for 1989-90 expenditure of H20 74 pounds1,806 million which would otherwise have been borne by the H20 75 National Insurance Fund was covered by general taxation, equivalent H20 76 to about 1.5p on the basic rate of income tax (paragraph 33).

H20 77 (x) We welcome the fact that the Department are commissioning H20 78 research into people's attitudes to personal pensions and that they H20 79 are asking the government Actuary to advise on the long- and H20 80 short-term implications of personal pensions for the National H20 81 Insurance Fund (paragraph 34).

H20 82 (xi) We recommend that the Department should re-appraise and H20 83 update such calculations at frequent intervals, to monitor the H20 84 current and projected cost, and the expected long-term savings to H20 85 the state pension scheme, and likely consequences of these for the H20 86 National Insurance Fund and the taxpayer (paragraph 34).

H20 87 THE DEPARTMENT'S INFORMATION NEEDS ABOUT ELDERLY H20 88 PEOPLE

H20 89 3. To assess whether the financial support they provide for H20 90 elderly people is effective, and to evaluate the extent to which H20 91 legislation is meeting policy objectives, the Department seek to H20 92 obtain adequate information about the expenditure, living standards H20 93 and financial circumstances of the elderly people concerned.

H20 94 4. The Department have taken several initiatives in recent H20 95 years to improve their information about elderly people, but they H20 96 recognise that a number of problems remain. They had difficulty in H20 97 estimating the number of elderly people likely to benefit from H20 98 three new measures of support, namely improved Income Support H20 99 Pensioner premiums, the Social Fund, and the Independent Living H20 100 Fund. To date, they have only limited information about the impact H20 101 of these measures on elderly people. And they have difficulty in H20 102 estimating the number of elderly people eligible for Attendance H20 103 Allowance.

H20 104 5. The Department told us that their data base was very large H20 105 and comprehensive and that they were probably better placed than H20 106 many other social security schemes in this respect because theirs H20 107 is a large, directly administered system. They are working to H20 108 improve their surveys and hoping to replace their data on H20 109 claimants, which are currently derived from manual counts in local H20 110 offices, with better information held on computers. The Department H20 111 are seeking, through their new computer systems, to obtain H20 112 information on the movement of people on and off benefits, and to H20 113 link information about individuals receiving various benefits H20 114 through their National Insurance number.

H20 115 6. The Department told us that it would be unrealistic, as well H20 116 as enormously expensive, to try to build up a data base which would H20 117 answer every sort of question about every sort of group quickly and H20 118 before new policies were introduced.

H20 119 7. In view of the limitations in the Family Income Survey as an H20 120 information source for Social Security purposes, we asked the H20 121 Department why they were not supplementing the general information H20 122 available from the Family Expenditure Survey with a national income H20 123 survey geared to their specific information needs. The Department H20 124 told us that they were working hard to make a case for such a H20 125 survey, which is estimated to cost some pounds2.9 million a year to H20 126 run.

H20 127 8. We also asked the Department why their local offices did not H20 128 record the number of elderly people, among others, helped by the H20 129 Social Fund on leaving residential or institutional care to live in H20 130 the community. The Department told us that this was not a priority, H20 131 given the pressures on their local offices, but that they had set H20 132 up a study of the number of people leaving residential care who H20 133 might have need for Social Fund community care grants.

H20 134 Conclusions H20 135 9. We note the Department's concern to develop and improve H20 136 their data base. We recognise that they face a difficult task in H20 137 addressing some of the limitations in their current information H20 138 about elderly people. But it is important for these shortcomings to H20 139 be tackled so that the Department can be as clear as possible about H20 140 what they are trying to achieve through benefit expenditure and how H20 141 successful they are in meeting theses objectives. We endorse the H20 142 areas for improvement set out in the C&AG's Report, and his opinion H20 143 that an adequate information base should include sufficient, H20 144 reliable and timely data. In our view, these criteria are perfectly H20 145 reasonable and do not amount to the pursuit of unrealistically H20 146 comprehensive data, which we are not recommending.

H20 147 10. We believe that the cost of an incomes survey geared to the H20 148 Department's specific information needs has to be seen in the H20 149 context of expenditure of pounds26 billion for the elderly alone. H20 150 We believe that the Department would be right to attach a high H20 151 priority to implementing an appropriately designed incomes survey H20 152 without further delay.

H20 153 11. We believe that the Department should be in a position to H20 154 estimate the extent to which elderly people leaving residential or H20 155 institutional care are being assisted by the Social Fund to live in H20 156 the community. We recommend that, in the light of the outcome of H20 157 their current study, the Department should examine what further H20 158 surveys may be needed to provide information about elderly people's H20 159 requirements in these circumstances. The Department would then be H20 160 better able to assess the extent to which the Fund is achieving its H20 161 objectives.

H20 162 12. We are glad to note that, through their new computer H20 163 systems, the Department are seeking improvements to their data base H20 164 on existing beneficiaries.

H20 165 INFORMATION NEEDS OF ELDERLY PEOPLE ABOUT FINANCIAL SUPPORT H20 166 AVAILABLE

H20 167 13. Elderly people require information about the support H20 168 measures available to help meet their needs. The qualitative study H20 169 of elderly people commissioned by the National Audit Office H20 170 revealed ignorance or misunderstanding on the part of those elderly H20 171 people interviewed about some of the financial support available. H20 172 In particular, apart from those receiving help from the Independent H20 173 Living Fund, none of the elderly people taking part in the study, H20 174 including those receiving Attendance Allowance, had heard of that H20 175 Fund.

H20 176 14. The Department told us that the existence of the H20 177 Independent Living Fund was drawn to the attention of new H20 178 recipients of Attendance Allowance on their award notices, but that H20 179 more widespread publicity posed problems because the Fund had been H20 180 set up on a temporary basis and on a very small scale.

H20 181 15. The Department told us that they were planning to improve H20 182 the information provided on the availability of Social Fund H20 183 community care grants, through the production of a new leaflet. H20 184 They are also looking to the results of research currently in hand H20 185 to identify what further publicity might be needed.

H20 186 Conclusions H20 187 16. The provision of information about the availability of H20 188 financial support is especially important for elderly people, many H20 189 of whom have mobility problems and other disabilities, and so may H20 190 have difficulty in obtaining information for themselves. We H20 191 recommend that the Department should give further attention to H20 192 tailoring publicity about benefits, and other forms of financial H20 193 assistance funded by the Department, to the particular information H20 194 needs of elderly people, as illustrated in the National Audit H20 195 Office study.

H20 196 17. We welcome the efforts the Department are making to improve H20 197 the publicity given to the Social Fund. The limited publicity so H20 198 far provided by the Department about the Independent Living Fund H20 199 is, however, unsatisfactory in our view, giving rise to the danger H20 200 that many people who may be eligible for help from the Fund may not H20 201 hear about it. Consequently, taxpayers' money may not be H20 202 distributed in an even-handed manner. This limited publicity is not H20 203 acceptable and we recommend that, as a minimum step, information H20 204 about the Fund should be given to all recipients of Attendance H20 205 Allowance who are eligible to apply to the Fund for assistance.

H20 206 THE DEPARTMENT'S APPRAISAL OF THE LIKELY TAKE UP OF H20 207 PERSONAL PENSIONS

H20 208 18. Since 1988 employees have been entitled to contract out of H20 209 the state earnings-related pension scheme and take out a personal H20 210 pension from an insurance company, unit trust, bank, or other H20 211 approved body. Those who take out such a personal pension, or who H20 212 join a newly contracted out occupational pension scheme, benefit H20 213 from a flat rate rebate of National Insurance contributions. For H20 214 the period to April 1993, the rebate has been set at 5.8 per cent H20 215 fo their relevant earnings. For the same period, there is also a H20 216 special incentive of 2 per cent of relevant earnings.

H20 217 19. In 1986, the Government Actuary advised that there was no H20 218 basis for making a firm estimate of the likely number of people H20 219 contracting out as a result of the rebate and incentive offered. H20 220 But he published illustrative calculations of the possible H20 221 long-term savings to the National Insurance Fund based on half a H20 222 million, two million and five million contracting out. H20 223 H20 224 H21 1 <#FLOB:H21\>One-year 'access' courses provide a foundation and an H21 2 appropriate test before enrolment on a course of higher education H21 3 for prospective students who lack the standard entry H21 4 qualifications. Polytechnics have close links with commerce and H21 5 industry, and many polytechnic students have jobs and attend on a H21 6 part-time basis. Similar provision is made in Scotland in the 15 H21 7 central institutions and a number of further education colleges, H21 8 and in Northern Ireland by the University of Ulster.

H21 9 Institutes and colleges of higher education, formed by the H21 10 integration of teacher training with the rest of higher education, H21 11 account for a significant proportion of higher education students, H21 12 and other further education colleges run some, usually specialised, H21 13 higher education courses.

H21 14 Council for National Academic Awards

H21 15 An increasing number of students on higher education courses in H21 16 Great Britain outside the universities take courses leading to the H21 17 qualifications of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). H21 18 The Council awards degrees and other academic qualifications H21 19 comparable in standard with those granted by the universities. The H21 20 courses range from science and technology to the arts, social H21 21 studies, business studies and law, but the proportion of H21 22 technology, business or other broadly vocational courses is much H21 23 higher than in universities.

H21 24 Since 1987 institutions running CNAA-approved courses have been H21 25 able to apply to have delegated responsibility for approving and H21 26 reviewing their own courses. By August 1990 a total of 40 H21 27 institutions had been accredited by the CNAA for taught degree H21 28 courses.

H21 29 Vocational Qualifications

H21 30 The National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) was H21 31 set up in 1986 to reform and rationalise the vocational H21 32 qualifications system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The H21 33 Council aims to make qualifications more relevant to the needs of H21 34 employment by basing them on standards of competence set by H21 35 industry. It is establishing a new framework of National Vocational H21 36 Qualifications (NVQs) based on defined levels of achievement to H21 37 which qualifications in all sectors can be assigned or accredited. H21 38 By January 1990 nearly 200 qualifications drawn from 40 different H21 39 employment sectors had been accredited. The aim is to have the H21 40 framework for levels 1 to 4 (from the most basic level to the H21 41 management supervisory level) fully operational by the end of 1992, H21 42 and eventually it is expected to extend the framework to cover all H21 43 occupational levels up to and including the professions.

H21 44 The competence-based system is being extended in Scotland H21 45 (which already has its own modular system) through a new system of H21 46 Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) along the lines of NVQs. H21 47 SVQs will be accredited by the Scottish Vocational Education H21 48 Council (see below).

H21 49 Other Examining Bodies

H21 50 The Business & Technician Education Council (BTEC) plans and H21 51 administers a unified national system of courses at all level for H21 52 students in industry, commerce and public administration in H21 53 England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Courses leading to BTEC awards H21 54 are available at polytechnics, colleges of further and higher H21 55 education, and in some schools. The Scottish Vocational Education H21 56 Council (SCOTVEC) is the principal examining and awarding body in H21 57 the field of further education in Scotland. SCOTVEC is responsible H21 58 for administering and developing the non-advanced SCOTVEC National H21 59 Certificate and the advanced level Higher National Certificate and H21 60 Higher National Diploma.

H21 61 Qualifications in a wide range of occupational areas are H21 62 offered by the City and Guilds of London Institute, and a variety H21 63 of qualifications in commercial and office practice are awarded by H21 64 the Royal Society of Arts.

H21 65 Teacher Training

H21 66 Courses and Qualifications

H21 67 Almost all entrants to teaching in maintained and special H21 68 schools in England and Wales complete a recognised course of H21 69 initial teacher training. Such courses are offered by university H21 70 departments of education as well as by many polytechnics and H21 71 colleges. Non-graduates usually qualify by taking a four-year H21 72 Bachelor of Education (BEd) honours degree. There are also H21 73 specially designed two-year BEd courses - mostly in subjects where H21 74 there is a shortage of teachers at the secondary level - for H21 75 suitably qualified people. Graduates normally take a one-year H21 76 Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE), and two-year PGCE H21 77 courses are available in the secondary shortage subjects for those H21 78 whose first degree in an associated subject included at least one H21 79 year's study of the subject they intend to teach.

H21 80 Articled teacher courses, offering school-based teacher H21 81 training for graduates, were introduced in September 1990. H21 82 Trainees, who receive a bursary, take on a progressively greater H21 83 teaching load, and formal training is provided both in initial H21 84 teacher-training institutions and in school by college tutors and H21 85 school teachers. In 1989 the Government introduced a licensed H21 86 teacher scheme in England and Wales to assist entry into the H21 87 profession for people who may not have formal teacher-training H21 88 qualifications but who have relevant qualifications and experience. H21 89 Participants generally have to complete a period of two years as a H21 90 licensed teacher before achieving qualified teacher status. Support H21 91 is also offered for local initiatives to encourage mature people to H21 92 return to teaching. In addition, the Government has made it easier H21 93 for teachers trained abroad to take up posts in English and Welsh H21 94 schools.

H21 95 In Scotland all teachers in education authority schools must be H21 96 registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland. It is H21 97 government policy that all entrants to the teaching profession in H21 98 Scotland should be graduates. New primary teachers qualify either H21 99 through a four-year BEd course or a one-year postgraduate H21 100 course of teacher training at a college of education. Teachers of H21 101 academic subjects at secondary schools must hold a degree H21 102 containing two passes in the subject which they wish to teach. In H21 103 certain subjects, a relevant specialist diploma has been acceptable H21 104 in place of a degree, but this provision is being phased out. H21 105 Secondary teachers must undertake a one-year postgraduate training H21 106 course. For music and technology, four-year BEd courses are also H21 107 available, and for physical education all teachers take BEd H21 108 courses.

H21 109 In Northern Ireland teacher training is provided by the two H21 110 universities and the two colleges of education. The principal H21 111 courses are BEd Honours (four years), BA Honours (Education) and H21 112 the one-year postgraduate Certificate of Education.

H21 113 Measures to Improve Standards

H21 114 The Government has taken steps to improve the quality of H21 115 teaching by revising selection, training and placement procedures H21 116 for new teachers, and by making available more in-service training H21 117 opportunities. Management training courses for head teachers are H21 118 also being provided. The Government believes that more systematic H21 119 planning is required by schools and local education authorities to H21 120 match in-service training to both the career needs of teachers and H21 121 to the curricular needs of schools. A major new in-service training H21 122 programme to improve the quality of teaching in schools and H21 123 institutions of further education was introduced under the H21 124 Education (No 2) Act 1986 (see p 178).

H21 125 Measures to strengthen initial teacher training in England, H21 126 Wales and Northern Ireland have included the issuing of criteria H21 127 which courses must meet and the establishment of the Council for H21 128 the Accreditation of Teacher Education to review courses against H21 129 the criteria. The Government intends to establish a national H21 130 framework allowing teachers' employers in England and Wales to H21 131 appraise the performance of teachers. Local education authorities, H21 132 voluntary-aided schools and grant-maintained schools will be able H21 133 to decide whether and how quickly to introduce appraisal.

H21 134 In Scotland all courses have been revised following H21 135 recommendations of working parties on teacher training. All new H21 136 pre-service and major in-service courses provided by colleges of H21 137 education must be approved by the Scottish Education Department and H21 138 a validating body. Local education authorities are to be asked to H21 139 implement national guidelines for the introduction of systematic H21 140 schemes of staff development and appraisal for teachers. The H21 141 Government has taken reserve powers requiring authorities to H21 142 operate schemes prescribed by it in the event of a breakdown of H21 143 voluntary agreements.

H21 144 Adult and Continuing Education

H21 145 The scope of adult and continuing education has widened in H21 146 recent years. In addition to the development of the individual H21 147 through cultural, physical and craft pursuits, it now covers basic H21 148 education (for example, in literacy and numeracy); education for H21 149 disadvantaged groups and those with special needs, such as ethnic H21 150 minorities or disabled people; consumer education; health H21 151 education; and pre-retirement education. Continuing education also H21 152 includes training for those in employment to enable them to keep H21 153 pace with technological change.

H21 154 The Government has taken a number of initiatives to improve H21 155 opportunities for both adult and continuing education. In 1982 it H21 156 launched the Professional, Industrial and Commercial Updating H21 157 Programme (PICKUP), designed to help colleges, polytechnics and H21 158 universities to meet the need to up-date and broaden the skills of H21 159 those in mid-career in industry, commerce and the professions. By H21 160 1992 the Government aims to have one in ten of Britain's workforce H21 161 attending job skills updating courses every year under PICKUP.

H21 162 The availability of open learning opportunities has been H21 163 extended with the formation in 1987 of the Open College, an H21 164 independent company set up with government support. The College H21 165 brings together broadcasters, educationists and sponsors, and H21 166 provides vocational education and training courses below degree H21 167 level. Over 150,000 people have taken courses since 1987 and the H21 168 College has delivered training for about 1,000 firms. Up to H21 169 pounds12 million is being allocated by the Government for the H21 170 College's commercial activities as well as pounds6 million for H21 171 broadcasting. The Open College of the Arts, also launched in 1987, H21 172 offers an art foundation course to those wishing to study at H21 173 home.

H21 174 Apart from provision for mature students at universities, H21 175 courses are offered by the Open University, further education H21 176 colleges, adult education centres, residential colleges, H21 177 extra-mural departments of universities and other bodies such as H21 178 voluntary organisations. Most of the provision is made by the local H21 179 education authorities in a wide variety of establishments, H21 180 including schools used for adult evening classes and 'community H21 181 schools', which offer educational, social and cultural H21 182 opportunities for the wider community. A majority of courses are H21 183 part time. Local authorities also maintain or aid many of the H21 184 short-term residential colleges or centres which run courses H21 185 lasting between a weekend and a fortnight. Long-term residential H21 186 colleges, grant-aided by central government departments, have H21 187 courses of one or two years and aim to provide a liberal education H21 188 for adults with few or no formal academic qualifications. Most H21 189 students admitted are entitled to full maintenance grants.

H21 190 University extra-mural departments and the Workers' Educational H21 191 Association, the largest recognised voluntary educational body in H21 192 Britain, offer extended part-time courses of liberal studies. They H21 193 also run short courses for special (including vocational) interest. H21 194 Various kinds of education and training are provided by many other H21 195 organisations, for example, the National Federation of Women's H21 196 Institutes, the Young Men's Christian Association and the H21 197 Pre-Retirement Association.

H21 198 The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education is a H21 199 centre of information, research, development work and publication H21 200 for adult and continuing education. It also acts as a channel of H21 201 co-operation and consultation for the many interested organisations H21 202 in England and Wales. The Institute administers with government H21 203 funding the Unit for the Development of Adult Continuing Education, H21 204 which undertakes research and development work. The Institute's H21 205 counterpart in Scotland is the Scottish Institute of Adult and H21 206 Continuing Education.

H21 207 The Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) is the central H21 208 focus for adult literacy, numeracy and communications skills in H21 209 England and Wales. A three-year literacy and numeracy initiative H21 210 was launched in 1989 as a joint venture between the Government and H21 211 the BBC. It involves the use of television and radio and specially H21 212 printed material to improve the communications skills of an H21 213 estimated 6 million adults. New nationally recognised H21 214 qualifications in communication and numeracy are being developed, H21 215 and a referral service is being created to put people in contact H21 216 with 60 new open-learning centres and other local learning H21 217 facilities.

H21 218 In Scotland the Scottish Community Education Council advises H21 219 the Government and promotes all community education matters, H21 220 including adult literacy and basic education, and the youth H21 221 service.

H21 222 In Northern Ireland the Council for Continuing Education H21 223 advises the Department of Education on adult and continuing H21 224 education matters. The role of the Council is under review.

H21 225 Teaching Methods

H21 226 The general pattern of teaching and learning on full-time H21 227 courses of higher education remains a mixture of lectures; H21 228 prescribed or suggested reading; seminars and tutorials; essays, H21 229 exercises and tests; and, where appropriate, practical work or work H21 230 experience. Educational aids are widely used.

H21 231 H22 1 <#FLOB:H22\>In correspondence with us, the Department of the H22 2 Environment set out the reasoning behind the proposal and the way H22 3 in which they saw it being implemented. The new power was to be H22 4 aimed specifically at minimising the occasions on which a planning H22 5 inquiry or hearing was held when, they said, the written H22 6 representations procedure would suffice to ensure that the issues H22 7 were properly examined and a correct decision reached. There was no H22 8 intention to limit or inhibit the 'reasonable' exercise of the H22 9 right to be heard and the new power was not intended as a general H22 10 deterrent to the exercise of that statutory right, although it H22 11 would encourage a greater public awareness of the resource H22 12 implications of the exercise of the right. Policy guidance would H22 13 set out the categories of cases which might initially be regarded H22 14 as suitable for the written representations procedure, and these H22 15 categories would include many of the planning appeals in which a H22 16 hearing was offered in response to a party's exercise of the right H22 17 to be heard. In addition, the Department proposed to introduce an H22 18 'early warning' system for appeals where an appeal party was at H22 19 risk of being ordered to pay costs. If one of the parties notified H22 20 the Department of their intention to seek their costs because they H22 21 considered an inquiry unnecessary, or in certain other cases where H22 22 the Department themselves considered an inquiry unnecessary, the H22 23 other party would be warned that they might be at risk of an award H22 24 of costs if they continued to insist upon the exercise of the right H22 25 to be heard. The Department pointed out that, initially, the H22 26 provision would apply only to the exercise of the right to be heard H22 27 by way of an inquiry, since section 322 of the Town and Country H22 28 Planning Act 1990 (the '1990 Act'), giving the power to award costs H22 29 at hearings (as distinct from inquiries), was not yet in force. H22 30 However, the policy was that section 322 should be brought into H22 31 force as soon as practicable.

H22 32 1.60 Our views

H22 33 Our fundamental objection to clause 24 was that it would, in H22 34 our view, act as a strong and general deterrent to the exercise of H22 35 the statutory right to be heard. We thought that there might be a H22 36 (possibly small) number of cases where, on the documentation H22 37 available before the commencement of the inquiry, it would be H22 38 feasible to take the view that they could be dealt with H22 39 satisfactorily by means of the written representation procedure. H22 40 But this did not in our view justify the new provision, the effect H22 41 of which we thought would be, and would certainly be perceived to H22 42 be, to put every party appealing who insisted on the right to be H22 43 heard at risk of being condemned in costs on the basis of H22 44 conclusions drawn after the event. While a general discretion to H22 45 award costs such as the Secretary of State at present has in H22 46 respect of planning inquiries was acceptable, it was wrong in H22 47 principle for a statute effectively to confer a right to be heard H22 48 with one hand and to attempt to limit its exercise by the proposed H22 49 means with the other. The Government's intention not to deter the H22 50 'reasonable' exercise of the right to be heard was belied by what H22 51 we thought would be the actual effect of their proposals, since, H22 52 whether or not that exercise was reasonable, it appeared to us that H22 53 nothing could save a party from being condemned in costs if, after H22 54 the event, an Inspector had the power to conclude that that party H22 55 was mistaken, and that the hearing did not add to what would have H22 56 been available to him on the papers.

H22 57 1.61 H22 58 Moreover, the Departmental information relating to the way in H22 59 which the proposal was to be implemented accentuated our H22 60 misgivings. Their proposals for a warning to be given to parties in H22 61 all cases where the other party to proceedings made an application H22 62 for costs, or where the Department considered of their own motion H22 63 that such an application might be made, could only be regarded as H22 64 an extra deterrent in the nature of a threat against the exercise H22 65 of the right to be heard. We thought that the unconstrained H22 66 expression of the power in the legislation, together with these H22 67 glosses upon it, would act as a particular deterrent to small H22 68 developers, who, perhaps in some instances without the expertise or H22 69 the professional advice available to express themselves fully on H22 70 paper, prefer to put their case to an Inspector in person. We H22 71 pointed out that no parallel power was proposed for Scottish H22 72 legislation because, as we understood, it was not thought to be H22 73 needed: there the bringing into force of the provision equivalent H22 74 to section 322 of the 1990 Act (power to award costs in respect of H22 75 hearings) had been considered sufficient for the purpose.

H22 76 1.62 The Government's change of policy

H22 77 Our views were conveyed to the Department through interchanges H22 78 of correspondence with them, including a letter from our Chairman H22 79 to the Minister of Housing and Planning. Our own misgivings about H22 80 clause 24 were paralleled by those expressed by both the Bar and H22 81 The Law Society. During the Committee stage of the Bill in the H22 82 House of Lords, the expressions of concern voiced by some members, H22 83 which to a substantial degree reflected our own concern, let to the H22 84 Government's undertaking to review the clause in the light of our H22 85 observations and the views expressed by members. In the event, the H22 86 Government announced their intention at the Report stage not to H22 87 proceed with the clause. We were pleased and encouraged that the H22 88 Government had listened to criticism of clause 24 and responded in H22 89 this way.

H22 90 1.63 Award of costs for late cancellations of H22 91 inquiries

H22 92 In place of the withdrawn proposals, the Government brought H22 93 forward a new provision to enable appeal costs to be awarded, at H22 94 the Secretary of State's discretion, where the behaviour of either H22 95 of the two main parties in appeal proceedings resulted in H22 96 cancellation of a local inquiry or hearing after formal notice of H22 97 the opening date had been given to the parties. This provision was H22 98 designed to enable other appeal parties to recover their abortive H22 99 expenditure in preparing for an inquiry or hearing which had had to H22 100 be cancelled because one of the principal party's actions. As the H22 101 Government put it, the proposal would remedy the absence of H22 102 anything in the planning legislation enabling the Secretary of H22 103 State to order that 'wasted' costs be recovered from the party H22 104 responsible.

H22 105 1.64 H22 106 In principle we welcomed this new provision (now in section 30 H22 107 of the Act, inserting a new section 322A in the 1990 Act). But we H22 108 thought that its implementation would require great care; for H22 109 example, there are cases where it is only at a late stage in the H22 110 proceedings that the full strength of a local authority's case is H22 111 revealed to an appellant, and in such circumstances late withdrawal H22 112 could not be described as unreasonable behaviour. The Department H22 113 assured us that they were aware of these dangers and that revisions H22 114 to the Costs Circular, upon which we would be consulted, would make H22 115 clear that an award of costs would only be made if there had been H22 116 'unreasonable' behaviour in the particular circumstances of the H22 117 case.

H22 118 1.65 Conclusion

H22 119 The changes in the legislation in passage recorded in the H22 120 preceding paragraphs came about because our representations, in H22 121 common with representations from other interested bodies, had the H22 122 requisite effect and we record this, therefore, as an appropriate H22 123 example of the exercise of our advisory function. But the H22 124 principal reason for setting out in some detail our views on these H22 125 legislative proposals is that it enables us to emphasise the value H22 126 of the right of an appellant against an administrative decision to H22 127 have his case heard if he so wishes and the need for vigilance in H22 128 maintaining the unimpaired effectiveness of that right.

H22 129 1.66 Other changes

H22 130 A substantial number of matters in the Bill were of interest to H22 131 us and will involve the exercise of new regulation-making powers H22 132 upon which we expect future consultation. However, our comments H22 133 here are confined to those items where we found the need to make H22 134 detailed observations to the Department.

H22 135 1.67 Simplified Planning Zones

H22 136 A provision which caused us some concern stemmed from proposals H22 137 put forward in a consultation paper entitled "Simplified Planning H22 138 Zones: Streamlining of Procedures", issued by the Department of the H22 139 Environment and the Welsh Office in August 1990. Provision for H22 140 simplified planning zones (SPZs) was introduced by the Housing and H22 141 Planning Act 1986, and is now contained in the 1990 Act. In brief, H22 142 an SPZ is an area where an SPZ scheme is in force. Where such a H22 143 scheme has been adopted, or approved by the Secretary of State, the H22 144 effect is that planning permission is deemed to be granted for H22 145 development specified in the scheme or for any development of any H22 146 class so specified. An SPZ scheme ceases to have effect at the end H22 147 of a period of 10 years after its adoption or approval. The H22 148 procedure leading up to the creation of an SPZ had hitherto, under H22 149 the 1990 Act, involved the holding of a public local inquiry or H22 150 hearing to consider objections in cases where objectors wish to be H22 151 heard by an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State. The H22 152 Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971 applies to such inquiries or H22 153 hearings.

H22 154 1.68 H22 155 SPZs have not so far proved very attractive to authorities and H22 156 developers. According to research H22 157 <}_><-|>commisioned<+|>commissioned<}/> by the Department of the H22 158 Environment, received before but published after issue of the H22 159 consultation paper, SPZ procedures were widely perceived as H22 160 cumbersome and time-consuming, and it was thought that this might H22 161 be dissuading some authorities and developers from embarking on H22 162 schemes. The Department nonetheless still saw SPZs as a potentially H22 163 valuable mechanism for encouraging inner city regeneration. The H22 164 consolation paper accordingly put forward proposals for H22 165 streamlining the procedures. The salient features were:

H22 166 <*_>bullet<*/>making public participation before deposit of a H22 167 scheme optional;

H22 168 <*_>bullet<*/>removing the requirement to hold a local inquiry; H22 169 and

H22 170 <*_>bullet<*/>earlier publication of notice of intention to H22 171 adopt a scheme.

H22 172 1.69 H22 173 Our main concern with the proposals was that which would remove H22 174 the requirement to hold a local inquiry where objectors wish to be H22 175 heard. We thought that strong justification would be needed for H22 176 such a proposal, bearing in mind particularly the major H22 177 implications of SPZ designation, which opened to question the H22 178 relaxation of safeguards at the time of initial consideration. The H22 179 grant of permission by an adopted scheme can have very wide social, H22 180 visual and other environmental impact without the public or any H22 181 affected person having a right to object or to a public inquiry H22 182 after the scheme has been adopted. We did not consider that the H22 183 interest in urban regeneration should be allowed to override H22 184 genuine planning objections. Under the new proposals, subject to H22 185 the Secretary of State's powers of intervention to direct an H22 186 inquiry or to call in a scheme for his own decision, it would be H22 187 entirely at the discretion of the authority whether to hold an H22 188 inquiry. Their only obligation would be to consider objections and H22 189 to publish a reasoned statement of their decisions on objections H22 190 and of any modification they proposed. This would leave objectors H22 191 with scant redress if they had continuing objections and no H22 192 opportunity to air them further. We also H22 193 <}_><-|>questoned<+|>questioned<}/> whether it was right in H22 194 principle that the decisions whether or not to hold a public H22 195 inquiry should lie (subject to the Secretary of State's powers of H22 196 intervention) with the authority, since when the authority was H22 197 itself the landowner, it would have the major interest in the H22 198 proposal for an SPZ and might be thought to have an interest in H22 199 avoiding the opportunity for independent scrutiny at a public H22 200 inquiry.

H22 201 1.70 H22 202 The Department sought to allay our concerns. While they H22 203 remained of the view that there would be cases in which neither the H22 204 volume nor the weight of objection justified an inquiry, in the H22 205 light of our comments they decided that it would be advisable for H22 206 the Secretary of State to issue guidance to planning authorities on H22 207 the circumstances in which it would be desirable for a public H22 208 inquiry to be held to consider objections to a draft scheme: for H22 209 example, where a scheme constituted a substantial departure from H22 210 the development plan or raised strategic planning issues; where a H22 211 scheme was the subject of substantial local controversy; or where H22 212 it involved a substantial area of land in the authority's ownership H22 213 and there were objection to the authority's proposals. H22 214 H23 1 <#FLOB:H23\>After I had taken up the complaint they reconsidered H23 2 and, accepting that they had not explained their policy and H23 3 decision to the man, agreed to meet to discuss the matter with H23 4 him.

H23 5 72. A final case concerned the sea and not the land. A group H23 6 who provided a voluntary search and sea rescue facility off part of H23 7 the south coast of England complained that they had been unfairly H23 8 treated by HM Coastguard, an operational directorate within DTp. H23 9 The Coastguard had cancelled an operational agreement under which H23 10 the group's main boat was regarded as having the status of H23 11 auxiliary Coastguard afloat and was permitted to use VHF channel H23 12 zero, the Coastguard's private frequency, when assisting them in H23 13 rescue operations. I did not uphold the main complaint but found H23 14 shortcomings, for which DTp offered apologies, in the way in which H23 15 the Coastguard had handled matters.

H23 16 73. This is a convenient point at which to record that two H23 17 legislative changes in 1991 had an effect on my jurisdiction. The H23 18 Road Traffic Act 1988 was amended by the Road Traffic (Driver H23 19 Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989. The change meant that, H23 20 as from 1 April 1991, the Traffic Commissioners, who are outside my H23 21 jurisdiction, ceased to be the licensing authority responsible for H23 22 the issue of heavy goods vehicle licences but became statutory H23 23 advisers to the Secretary of State for Transport, who took on that H23 24 responsibility, on all matters concerning lorry and bus drivers' H23 25 conduct. The effect as far as I am concerned is to bring some H23 26 vehicle licensing matters which were formerly outside my H23 27 jurisdiction within it. Secondly, the Road Traffic Act 1991 H23 28 provides that the Traffic Director for London is subject to my H23 29 jurisdiction, though I have not yet had a complaint referred to H23 30 me.

H23 31 74. The first full year following the introduction by the Home H23 32 Office of a new requests/complaints system on 25 September 1990 has H23 33 resulted in no obvious change in the numbers of complaints from H23 34 prisoners referred to me by Members of the House of Commons. The H23 35 number increased slightly over the year before but I only felt H23 36 justified in accepting five of them for investigation. The others H23 37 were rejected either because there was a lack of any evidence of H23 38 maladministration or because the complaint made was one outside my H23 39 jurisdiction.

H23 40 75. I completed four investigations in 1991, three into H23 41 complaints from prisoners in England. One of them was a H23 42 particularly wide-ranging complaint, alleging maladministration on H23 43 the part of the prison authorities over such matters as the H23 44 prisoner's confinement in a segregation unit, a change to his H23 45 security classification, the removal of two newspaper cuttings from H23 46 his personal property, the disclosure of personal information about H23 47 him to fellow prisoners, the denial for more than six months of a H23 48 request he had made to receive accumulated visits at a prison H23 49 closer to his family, delay in arranging his transfer to another H23 50 prison, the mislaying of a petition, and interference with his H23 51 property, private cash, earnings and mail. I upheld some parts of H23 52 the complaint and the Home Office offered an appropriate remedy. H23 53 The two other cases both involved delay in dealing with petitions H23 54 submitted by the prisoners concerned. I upheld one of them and H23 55 found elements of maladministration in the other. The fourth H23 56 complaint was made by a prisoner in Scotland who alleged unfair H23 57 treatment by the Scottish Home and Health Department, part of the H23 58 Scottish Office, and inaccuracies in a Ministerial letter. I did H23 59 not uphold that complaint.

H23 60 76. As has been the consistent pattern in recent years, there H23 61 was again a steady inflow of complaints about immigration and H23 62 related matters. One of the complaints on which I reported during H23 63 the year was submitted by the same firm of immigration consultants H23 64 as were mentioned in paragraph 63 of my Annual Report for 1990. H23 65 This time the consultants contended that, as their client's H23 66 passport had been endorsed to give him leave to remain in the H23 67 United Kingdom until 31 November 1988, a date which could never H23 68 arrive, the client had been granted indefinite leave to remain. I H23 69 upheld the complaint of unreasonable delay by the Home Office H23 70 before they accepted that the client should be regarded as having H23 71 been granted indefinite leave to remain, but found no evidence to H23 72 support an accusation of "calculated and malicious H23 73 delay" made by the consultants, an allegation which I H23 74 castigated as unworthy.

H23 75 77. In another case an Israeli citizen complained after an H23 76 interval that he had been kept waiting for excessive periods H23 77 between interviews by immigration officers; that an immigration H23 78 officer had ignored his request for sustenance; that, following H23 79 refusal of leave to land, he had been kept overnight in inadequate H23 80 and dirty accommodation, that security staff had ignored his need H23 81 for medical attention and that immigration staff who had examined H23 82 documents in his baggage had retained two music scores and five H23 83 letters from his friends. My investigation revealed conflicting H23 84 evidence on nearly all aspects of the complaint, which I did not H23 85 find made out, though the Home Office tendered apologies if, as H23 86 seemed possible, the complainant had not been offered an evening H23 87 meal. In a further case, I did not uphold the main complaint that, H23 88 while investigating a man's application for indefinite leave to H23 89 remain in the United Kingdom, immigration officers had used racist H23 90 and abusive language and had accused the man's wife of lying. H23 91 However, I found that in omitting to interview the couple once they H23 92 had complained about the officers' conduct to the Home Office, the H23 93 Home Office's own investigation had been less thorough than it H23 94 should have been. The Home Office have since revised their practice H23 95 and the Immigration Service now interview a person who makes a H23 96 serious complaint where that is practicable and they judge it right H23 97 to do so.

H23 98 78. I also completed investigations into two cases in each of H23 99 which it was alleged that the Home Office (and also the Foreign and H23 100 Commonwealth Office) had mishandled an application for entry H23 101 clearance to the United Kingdom made by the spouse of a British H23 102 citizen living here. In each case I identified various shortcomings H23 103 in the performance of both Departments, for which apologies were H23 104 offered. Another type of complaint which I regularly encounter H23 105 concerns delays in dealing with applications from persons living in H23 106 this country for naturalisation as British citizens. I found H23 107 elements of maladministration in each of the two cases on which I H23 108 reported in 1991.

H23 109 79. Two further reports which I made in 1991 concerned other H23 110 areas of the Home Office's very wide-ranging responsibilities. In H23 111 the first of them, I found that the Prisons Department had failed H23 112 to consult the Department of the Environment and English Heritage, H23 113 before erecting additional accommodation at a young offenders' H23 114 institute located in an area scheduled as an ancient monument. I H23 115 also found that, despite the strong criticism directed at them by H23 116 one of my predecessors in 1981 for an earlier failure of this kind H23 117 on the same site, the Home Office did not have in place effective H23 118 guidance to staff and systematic checks to ensure that such cases H23 119 were not mishandled. I strongly criticised the Home Office who H23 120 confirmed they were taking various measures to improve and H23 121 strengthen their procedures.

H23 122 80. The second case concerned alleged delay on the part of the H23 123 Home Office in processing a claim for compensation for firearms H23 124 surrendered under the Government Buy-In Scheme and the adequacy of H23 125 the compensation offered for one of the weapons. I found no undue H23 126 delay or material procedural errors on the part of the Home Office H23 127 in their processing of the claim. However, as it seemed that one of H23 128 the complainant's weapons might have been worth considerably more H23 129 than the value suggested by the independent valuation which a H23 130 registered firearms dealer had provided to the Home Office I myself H23 131 took the trouble to obtain three further paper valuations - the H23 132 weapon itself having earlier been destroyed in line with the H23 133 requirements of the Scheme. Although those valuations tended to H23 134 support the valuation originally tendered by the complainant, the H23 135 Home Office declined to give him the benefit of the doubt because H23 136 the condition of the weapon, an important factor in reaching the H23 137 valuation, could no longer be positively established. As the H23 138 destruction of the weapon had made it impossible for me to resolve H23 139 the conflicting evidence as to its condition, I was unable to H23 140 pursue the matter further on the complainant's behalf.

H23 141 81. In my last year's report I referred to an investigation I H23 142 had carried out into the mishandling of a couple's concessionary TV H23 143 licence application. Responsibility for issuing TV licences and H23 144 collecting the revenue was transferred from the Home Office to the H23 145 BBC on 1 April 1991 under the provisions of the Broadcasting Act H23 146 1990. As the BBC are outside my jurisdiction, complaints about H23 147 administrative actions taken on such matters after that date will H23 148 no longer be subject to an independent investigation by me. There H23 149 have been numerous such complaints over the years and one is still H23 150 under investigation.

H23 151 82. In my last Annual Report I referred to an investigation I H23 152 had made into the actions of the Scottish Legal Aid Board. In 1991 H23 153 the administration of legal aid south of the border has engaged my H23 154 attention. The Legal Aid Board have been within my jurisdiction H23 155 since they took over responsibility for the administration of legal H23 156 aid in England and Wales in April 1989. I have encountered a small H23 157 but steady flow of complaints. Two of the cases which I H23 158 investigated last year involved the liaison arrangements between H23 159 the Board and DSS which continues to be responsible in England and H23 160 Wales for the assessment of a legal aid applicant's financial H23 161 means. In both those cases poor communication between the Board and H23 162 the Department added to the considerable difficulties experienced H23 163 by complainants, although I did not find that either complainant H23 164 had suffered financial loss as a result of actions taken by the H23 165 Board. Both the Board and the Department assured me that energetic H23 166 steps are now being taken to improve the necessary links between H23 167 them. Regular review meetings to identify and resolve problem areas H23 168 have now been introduced.

H23 169 83. It emerged during my investigation of a further complaint H23 170 that the regulations governing the assessment by the Board of a H23 171 solicitor's costs did not provide for a legally aided person to H23 172 make representations to the Board about the costs claimed by the H23 173 solicitor, even though that person might have a financial interest H23 174 in the outcome by virtue of the contribution towards the costs in H23 175 an action which he or she could be required to pay. I was glad to H23 176 learn from the Chief Executive of the Board that the Civil Legal H23 177 Aid (General) (Amendment)(No 2) Regulations 1991 were being H23 178 introduced to fill that lacuna.

H23 179 84. In paragraph 58 of my Annual Report for 1990 I referred to H23 180 the welcome resolution by the coming into operation on 1 January H23 181 1991 of section 110 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 of a H23 182 longstanding jurisdictional problem which had inhibited the H23 183 attempts of my predecessors to investigate complaints against the H23 184 administrative actions of court staff in England and Wales. That H23 185 section provides, broadly speaking, that I can investigate H23 186 administrative actions taken by court or tribunal staff appointed H23 187 by the Lord Chancellor unless the actions concerned are taken at H23 188 the direction, or on the authority (whether express or implied), of H23 189 any person acting in a judicial capacity or in his capacity as a H23 190 member of the tribunal. I alluded also to possible jurisdictional H23 191 difficulties which might still be encountered but in 1991 at least H23 192 they have not materialised. Equivalent actions taken by the staff H23 193 of tribunals for which the Lord Chancellor is not responsible H23 194 remain outside my jurisdiction. As I understand it, that is not H23 195 because it is thought they should so remain but for the want of a H23 196 suitable legislative vehicle which will enable the omission to be H23 197 remedied. I hope that one will be identified soon for the anomaly H23 198 is not one I find easy to explain. H23 199 H24 1 <#FLOB:H24\>FIRE PREVENTION

H24 2 13.1. Fire prevention activity is concerned not only with H24 3 averting fire, but also with protecting people and property from H24 4 the effects of fire.

H24 5 13.2. Table 13.i shows the number of fatalities, casualties and H24 6 people rescued from fires attended by fire brigades for the H24 7 calendar years 1985-1989.

H24 8 table

H24 9 13.3. Table 13.ii shows the estimated value of insured property H24 10 lost in fires over the same period.

H24 11 table

H24 12 13.4. The Home Office administers the Fire Precautions Act H24 13 1971, which requires (among other things) fire certificates to be H24 14 obtained for larger offices, shops, factories and railway premises. H24 15 New requirements for fire precautions in underground railway H24 16 stations were introduced in 1989 by means of regulations made under H24 17 this Act following the fire at King's Cross in November 1987.

H24 18 13.5. The Act is enforced by fire authorities. The Home Office H24 19 issues guidance to fire authorities from time to time to assist H24 20 them in enforcing the Act effectively and consistently.

H24 21 13.6. The Home Office works with the fire insurance industry, H24 22 through the Loss Prevention Council and the Fire Protection H24 23 Association, to ensure a co-ordinated approach on fire prevention H24 24 publicity and education. The Home Office has run television H24 25 advertising campaigns in 1989-90 and 1990-91 to encourage the H24 26 installation of domestic smoke alarms (see chapter 21).

H24 27 13.7. The Home Office runs a fire research programme, H24 28 expenditure on which was around pounds1 million in 1989-90. This is H24 29 aimed at ensuring that the latest scientific advice is available on H24 30 fire prevention issues and on matters affecting the fire service's H24 31 operational efficiency and the health of firefighters.

H24 32 EMERGENCY PLANNING

H24 33 CIVIL EMERGENCIES

H24 34 14.1. Arrangements for the handling of civil emergencies in the H24 35 UK have traditionally been a matter largely for local decision, H24 36 with the emergency services generally being expected to provide the H24 37 immediate response. An unprecedented number of major disasters in H24 38 recent years has led to a reassessment of the effectiveness of this H24 39 decentralised approach. In 1988, the Home Secretary set up a review H24 40 of current arrangements. The main conclusion of the review was that H24 41 the immediate response to such emergencies should remain at the H24 42 local level but that more should be done to encourage and develop H24 43 co-ordination between local services. The review also concluded H24 44 that better arrangements were needed at national level to oversee H24 45 the development of a more co-ordinated approach to emergency H24 46 planning and to address practical issues raised by recent H24 47 disasters.

H24 48 14.2. To help meet these objectives the Home Secretary H24 49 appointed a Civil Emergencies Adviser (Mr David Brook CB CBE). His H24 50 role is to ensure that local emergency planners work together in a H24 51 way that best helps rescue efforts and that ensures best practice H24 52 is identified, widely disseminated and acted upon. The Adviser, H24 53 supported by a small secretariat within the Home Office, is H24 54 currently putting together detailed guidance on the handling of H24 55 peacetime disasters. This is based partly on information obtained H24 56 during a programme of visits around the country to meet those H24 57 involved in handling disasters. The cost of the Civil Emergencies H24 58 Adviser and his staff is around pounds200,000 a year.

H24 59 14.3. In support of these arrangements, the Emergency Planning H24 60 College (formerly the Civil Defence College) has been given an H24 61 additional objective: to study questions of peacetime emergency H24 62 planning. Consultants have been appointed to consider how the best H24 63 to carry this out. (See also paragraph 14.8 below.)

H24 64 CIVIL DEFENCE

H24 65 14.4. The Government's policy is to secure a basic level of H24 66 civil defence preparedness in peacetime which could be enhanced H24 67 rapidly if the risk of war increased. Together with the Cabinet H24 68 Office, the Home Office co-ordinates policy on civil defence. It is H24 69 directly responsible for warning and monitoring arrangements and H24 70 also for the monitoring and co-ordination of local authority civil H24 71 defence activities (see paragraph 14.10 below). Table 14.i shows H24 72 Home office expenditure on civil defence.

H24 73 table

H24 74 14.5. The scale and extent of measures needed to implement the H24 75 Government's policy depend crucially on the level and nature of the H24 76 external threat. In October 1990, the Home Secretary announced that H24 77 he had initiated a review of the options for the future of civil H24 78 defence arrangements in the light of developments in East-West H24 79 relations. The outcome of this review, in conjunction with advice H24 80 provided by the Civil Emergencies Adviser, will enable him to H24 81 consider whether a more coherent approach to emergency planning for H24 82 the protection of the public in both peace and war could be H24 83 achieved.

H24 84 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON CIVIL DEFENCE

H24 85 14.6. Table 14.i sets out Home Office central government H24 86 expenditure on civil defence, which covers central services and H24 87 communications, as well as the cost of the Emergency Planning H24 88 College and Warning and Monitoring Organisation. Most of the H24 89 expenditure on central services goes on accommodation and capital H24 90 costs for regional government headquarters in England and Wales, H24 91 the reimbursement of police civil defence costs (mainly in support H24 92 of the Warning and Monitoring Organisation), research and H24 93 development, and the maintenance and storage of radiation H24 94 monitoring and emergency fire service equipment (notably the H24 95 so-called 'Green Goddesses'). Following a successful market testing H24 96 exercise, which identified significant potential cost savings, the H24 97 storage and maintenance of the emergency fire service stockpile is H24 98 to be contracted out in spring 1991.

H24 99 14.7. The emergency communication network which links regional H24 100 government headquarters with local authority emergency centres, H24 101 police and fire services is being modernised with the objective of H24 102 developing it into a fully automatic system by 1992-93 (see Table H24 103 14.ii).

H24 104 table

H24 105 EMERGENCY PLANNING COLLEGE

H24 106 14.8. The Emergency Planning College's main purpose is to H24 107 provide training in civil defence for central and local government, H24 108 public services, the armed forces, the police, commerce and H24 109 industry. Around 2,500 students are expected to attend formal H24 110 courses and seminars there during 1990-91. Figure 14.i shows the H24 111 backgrounds from which students are drawn. In 1988, following an H24 112 internal review, the Home Secretary decided that the College should H24 113 adopt a greater analytical and developmental role in relation to H24 114 civil defence policy and should concentrate on training senior H24 115 staff. As Table 14.iii shows, this change of emphasis has resulted H24 116 in a fall in student numbers from a peak of around 3,000 in H24 117 1986-87. The measures announced by the Home Secretary following his H24 118 review of peacetime emergency arrangements (see paragraph 14.1 H24 119 above) included a wider remit for the College to address questions H24 120 of peacetime emergency. The extra non-tutorial work which this will H24 121 involve is expected to lead to a further slight drop in student H24 122 throughput over the period 1991-92 to 1993-94.

H24 123 figure

H24 124 UNITED KINGDOM WARNING AND MONITORING ORGANISATION H24 125 (UKWMO)

H24 126 14.9. A Home Office review of the United Kingdom's warning and H24 127 monitoring arrangements in 1987 and 1988 resulted in a number of H24 128 detailed studies and technical scrutinies to establish the best way H24 129 of modernising the existing system and automating the functions H24 130 associated with monitoring. This work will now be taken forward H24 131 within the wider context of the review of civil defence (see H24 132 paragraph 14.5 above).

H24 133 LOCAL AUTHORITY EXPENDITURE ON CIVIL DEFENCE

H24 134 14.10. Local authorities are required by the Civil Defence H24 135 (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1983 to:

H24 136 <*_>square<*/>prepare plans for wartime emergencies;

H24 137 <*_>square<*/>provide emergency centres and appropriate H24 138 communications;

H24 139 <*_>square<*/>ensure that key staff are identified, trained and H24 140 take part in exercises; and

H24 141 <*_>square<*/>recruit, train and exercise volunteer members of H24 142 the public.

H24 143 To assist them in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities, H24 144 they receive specific grant payments from the Home Office (mainly H24 145 at 100 per cent, but on some items at 75 per cent). In 1986, the H24 146 Home Office introduced a planned programme for implementation (PPI) H24 147 of the 1983 Regulations. This is a rolling programme, setting broad H24 148 priorities and a series of targets for work activity as well as H24 149 providing information to allow systematic monitoring by the Home H24 150 Office. Priority was initially given to the development of detailed H24 151 operational plans. However, in the fourth and fifth years of the H24 152 programme (1989-90 and 1990-91) the emphasis shifted towards the H24 153 validation and revision of plans, the training of key staff and the H24 154 provision of emergency centres. The first two of these activities H24 155 will remain the focus of effort in 1991-92. The programme of H24 156 construction of new emergency centres has been halted pending the H24 157 outcome of the civil defence review, though the Home Office will H24 158 continue to pay capital grant at the rate of 75 per cent and issue H24 159 credit approvals (loan sanction) for centres already under H24 160 construction.

H24 161 MONITORING OF PERFORMANCE

H24 162 14.11. Plans and facilities at national, regional and country H24 163 level are regularly tested to establish the overall level of H24 164 preparedness. The Home Office encourages local authorities to test H24 165 the effectiveness of their plans and gives practical support in the H24 166 planning, conduct and evaluation of regional exercises. During H24 167 1990, exercises were held in the North East and London regions and H24 168 reports setting out the lessons learned will be circulated to all H24 169 local authorities. Within the Home Office, an assessment is made of H24 170 individual local authorities' plans by comparing their coverage H24 171 with a model outline framework and with operating details distilled H24 172 from plans submitted under the PPI initiative. The latest H24 173 information available shows that:

H24 174 <*_>square<*/>77 per cent of authorities assessed have now H24 175 produced a comprehensive plan framework with over 50 per cent of H24 176 the operating details complete;

H24 177 <*_>square<*/>18 per cent have a partially completed framework H24 178 with between 10 and 50 per cent of the necessary operating details; H24 179 and

H24 180 <*_>square<*/>4.5 per cent have a partially completed framework H24 181 with up to 10 per cent of the operating details.

H24 182 In the telecommunications field, progress in the programme of H24 183 replacement and modernisation of the emergency communications H24 184 network is measured by performance indicators based on the numbers H24 185 and types of equipment installed. The effectiveness and efficiency H24 186 of police civil defence activity is monitored by HM Inspectorate of H24 187 Constabulary through the rolling 3-4 year programme of inspection H24 188 of all provincial forces which began in July 1990 (see paragraph H24 189 4.25).

H24 190 COMMUNITY SERVICES

H24 191 15.1. The Home Office Voluntary Services Unit (VSU) H24 192 co-ordinates the Government's interests in the UK voluntary sector. H24 193 Its main objectives are:

H24 194 <*_>square<*/>to promote voluntary activity and to support a H24 195 cost-effective voluntary sector through grant-giving and H24 196 other means;

H24 197 <*_>square<*/>to discharge Home Office responsibilities for H24 198 charities and charity law; and

H24 199 <*_>square<*/>to co-ordinate effective arrangements for the H24 200 reception and resettlement of refugees.

H24 201 table

H24 202 The main grants paid by the Home Office are summarised in Table H24 203 15.i.

H24 204 VOLUNTARY SECTOR GRANTS

H24 205 15.2. The VSU can make grants:

H24 206 <*_>square<*/>to national voluntary organisations whose work H24 207 spans the interests of three or more Government Departments;

H24 208 <*_>square<*/>to support innovatory local projects; and

H24 209 <*_>square<*/>to assist (with bridging grants on a H24 210 'last-resort' basis) organisations working in areas of high social H24 211 priority where alternative funds will be available within a short H24 212 time.

H24 213 15.3. The Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) has 170,000 H24 214 members and provides a range of services to the community, H24 215 including meals-on-wheels, and hospital and family welfare H24 216 services. The grant to the WRVS covers the administrative costs of H24 217 the organisation's headquarters and local offices network.

H24 218 15.4. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) H24 219 is the main umbrella body for voluntary organisations in England H24 220 and the main channel of communication between the voluntary sector H24 221 and Government. It provides information and advisory services to H24 222 its members and to the voluntary sector as a whole. The Home H24 223 Office's grant in aid is a contribution towards the organisation's H24 224 core costs.

H24 225 15.5. Of the other grants, the three main ones are the core H24 226 grants to the Community Development Foundation (CDF) - pounds0.9 H24 227 million in 1990-91; the Volunteer Centre (UK) - pounds0.7 million; H24 228 and Community Service Volunteers (CSV) - pounds0.6 million. CDF is H24 229 a non-departmental public body which pioneers new forms of H24 230 community development; runs demonstration projects in conjunction H24 231 with local authorities; and disseminates best practice in community H24 232 development. The Volunteer Centre (UK) promotes volunteering and H24 233 advises voluntary bodies on best practice in the recruitment and H24 234 use of volunteers. CSV recruits volunteers for a wide range of H24 235 services in the community.

H24 236 15.6 The report of the Efficiency Scrutiny of Government H24 237 Funding of the Voluntary Sector, published in 1990, H24 238 recommended that VSU should develop a strategy which would relate H24 239 its grant giving much more closely to its own policy objectives. H24 240 VSU should in future concentrate its funding on work which supports H24 241 the voluntary sector as a whole or promotes volunteering, community H24 242 development or self-help. H24 243 H25 1 <#FLOB:H25\>Advances in heart surgery

H25 2 The Chair of Cardiac Surgery at the Royal Postgraduate Medical H25 3 School, University of London is held by Professor Ken H25 4 Taylor. He reviews the progress of cardiac surgery over the H25 5 last 30 years and forecasts ways in which it can be assisted by new H25 6 drugs and techniques.

H25 7 "There's nothing magical about surgery on the heart but H25 8 the heart-lung bypass machine is a unique feature which keeps the H25 9 patient alive during the operation by taking over the function of H25 10 the heart and lungs." Professor Taylor's speciality is the H25 11 technology associated with the heart-lung machine.

H25 12 In the 1950s open heart surgery was in its infancy. Once a H25 13 consensus had emerged in the late 60s of a reasonably reliable and H25 14 safe way of using heart-lung bypass machinery, there was an H25 15 explosion in the number of operations for valve replacement, H25 16 coronary artery surgery and the correction of deformities in the H25 17 hearts of babies and young children. In the 70s the emphasis turned H25 18 to the development of surgical techniques with a corresponding H25 19 reduction in the mortality rate. Within the last ten years there H25 20 has been intense activity with new techniques emerging almost every H25 21 month and the question has been how to get rid of all the risks H25 22 associated with surgery.

H25 23 "The problem now", says Professor Taylor, H25 24 "is not mortality but morbidity. When blood passes over H25 25 artificial materials a cascade of changes takes place, producing H25 26 abnormal functions in many bodily systems. The impetus now is to H25 27 make the support machinery as near to normal physiology - the way H25 28 the body works - as possible."

H25 29 Basic scientific research is being carried out in several H25 30 areas. One is the effect on blood cells of artificial materials. H25 31 The cells tend to react in a defensive way and cause inflammation H25 32 throughout the body. The effects of that inflammation response are H25 33 seen in various parts of the body including the lungs, the brain H25 34 and in blood-clotting processes. Bio-materials are being developed H25 35 which, it is hoped, will not be recognised by blood cells as being H25 36 artificial. Drugs to block the inflammatory process are being H25 37 developed and the use of Aprotinin in this context, pioneered at H25 38 Hammersmith Hospital in 1985, is used in 80% of all heart H25 39 operations in Germany. It is now being licensed throughout the H25 40 world. "It is profoundly effective in its ability to reduce H25 41 blood loss following cardiac surgery and consequently blood H25 42 transfusion is becoming less necessary, reducing the risk of H25 43 transmitting viral diseases."

H25 44 Research is also focusing on brain functions during cardiac H25 45 surgery. BHF-funded research has revealed that the eye is a useful H25 46 and accurate indicator of cerebral circulation before, during and H25 47 after surgery. "It's a window on the circulation of the H25 48 whole brain", says Professor Taylor. The blood supply to H25 49 the retina is an integral part of the brain's own blood supply. H25 50 Studies have shown that within a few moments of the patient being H25 51 connected to the heart-lung machine, the small blood vessels in the H25 52 retina begin to become blocked. To prevent the blockage a new type H25 53 of artificial lung is used which reduces the visible abnormality in H25 54 the retinal circulation from 100% of patients to less than 50%.

H25 55 Professor Taylor says: "Any patient of any age anywhere H25 56 who has a heart operation goes on a heart-lung machine which has H25 57 been developed from research funded by BHF." The H25 58 Hammersmith team are confident that continuing research in this H25 59 area will make cardiac surgery even safer for patients by helping H25 60 to achieve bio-compatibility between the artificial lung and the H25 61 patient's physiology.

H25 62 It has also been discovered that arteries are far stronger than H25 63 veins when used in coronary grafting. "They seem to last H25 64 indefinitely", says Professor Taylor.

H25 65 There are now moves towards looking at long-term results in H25 66 various categories of patients. A unit set up by the Department of H25 67 Health in 1986 at Hammersmith Hospital registers every artificial H25 68 heart valve in use in the UK and is able to make comparisons H25 69 between the ways different countries use their valves, select their H25 70 patients and use their resources.

H25 71 Fifteen years ago Professor Taylor received his first research H25 72 funding from the British Heart Foundation and eight years ago he H25 73 was appointed to the Chair of Cardiac Surgery. He says: H25 74 "The Junior Research Fellowship option funded by the H25 75 Foundation is a superb way of introducing bright young research H25 76 trainees to cardiac surgery. I think it's an absolutely excellent H25 77 scheme. The techniques which are being pioneered here are being H25 78 used in many parts of the world today."

H25 79 H25 80 Genetics - the medicine of tomorrow

H25 81 Professor John Burn, Director of the Northern Region H25 82 Genetics Service at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, looks at H25 83 30 years of development in one of the most dynamically growing H25 84 disciplines in medicine.

H25 85 The changing pattern of disease has combined with dramatic H25 86 scientific advances over the last 30 years to bring clinical H25 87 genetics to the fore. In 1961 centres around the world were rushing H25 88 to apply the new technique which made it possible to show that H25 89 children with Down's syndrome had an extra small chromosome. In H25 90 that year several other syndromes involving heart malformation were H25 91 shown to be due to a chromosome fault.

H25 92 "In the 70s new banding techniques made possible the H25 93 recognition of faults within chromosomes and cases where the fault H25 94 might recur in the family. Meanwhile obstetricians began to develop H25 95 in the mid-70s the techniques to allow prenatal diagnosis of these H25 96 faults", explains Professor Burn.

H25 97 "In the 60s dozens of new rare diseases were identified H25 98 caused by failure of individual genes to produce essential enzyme H25 99 catalysts. Since then the chemical pathways of the body have H25 100 yielded many of their secrets and we understand more clearly how, H25 101 for example, the body handles fats or causes the blood to clot at H25 102 the right and wrong times. Very often genetic faults are H25 103 discovered, such as the variety of faults in the lipoprotein H25 104 receptor, which lead to familial hypercholesterolaemia. The ability H25 105 to diagnose and in some cases treat such single gene faults has H25 106 been made possible by the revolution in molecular genetics which, H25 107 particularly in the 80s, allowed us to study individual genes and H25 108 learn all about their structure and function.

H25 109 "A major challenge for our own unit in the coming H25 110 decade will be to use these latest techniques alongside traditional H25 111 clinical studies to learn why over 4,000 children are born each H25 112 year with a malformed heart. Thanks to surgical advances 30 years H25 113 ago, we now have a growing number of young adults whose heart H25 114 defects have been successfully treated, but many of them fear for H25 115 the health of their children. We have traced 750 young adults H25 116 operated on around Britain for the most serious heart defects to H25 117 see what happened to their children. Four per cent of their H25 118 children have heart malformations and the chance is higher if the H25 119 mother has the heart defect. This may be because the genes H25 120 inherited in the egg play a greater role in the heart development H25 121 than those from the father. This variation between the parents is H25 122 called imprinting and may be one reason why genetic faults which H25 123 cause heart defects do not show themselves every time. Chance H25 124 factors may also decide whether someone with a faulty gene will H25 125 have a heart defect.

H25 126 "When we identify families with several affected H25 127 members we are comparing their DNA to see which genes they have in H25 128 common. This process is more feasible when we have a candidate gene H25 129 - one which we know can cause the heart to develop incorrectly. Our H25 130 main interest at present is in a small area of chromosome 22 which H25 131 is usually missing in children with a rare pattern of problems H25 132 called Di-George syndrome. This pattern was first recognised in H25 133 1965 and combines faults in the immune system and low calcium H25 134 levels due to a hormone fault. The heart is often malformed. In H25 135 collaboration with colleagues at St Mary's Hospital, London, we are H25 136 seeking the faulty gene and using the new genetic techniques to see H25 137 whether faults at this point on chromosome 22 can cause similar H25 138 heart defects without the other features of the syndrome. This H25 139 project, like our 'offspring' study, is funded by the British Heart H25 140 Foundation which is the major 'shareholder' in our cardiovascular H25 141 research team. Learning why so many children are born with heart H25 142 defects will take a long time. Thanks to the vision of BHF we have H25 143 made a beginning. I hope the next 30 years will bring us some H25 144 answers to the question 'why?' for only then will true prevention H25 145 become possible."

H25 146 H25 147 Clotbusters H25 148 Professor Keith Fox, holder of The Duke of Edinburgh H25 149 Chair of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, has seen H25 150 substantial changes in cardiology over the last decade. Here, with H25 151 Dr Rudolf Riemersma, Senior Lecturer in Cardiovascular H25 152 biochemistry, he reviews progress in the treatment of coronary H25 153 artery disease and looks to the future with confidence.

H25 154 "My predecessor Professor Michael Oliver and Professor H25 155 Desmond Julian, who is now Consultant Medical Director to the H25 156 British Heart Foundation, set up the first European Coronary Care H25 157 Unit (CCU) here in Scotland in 1966. They were prompted to do so H25 158 because Scotland has a record for heart disease which is the worst H25 159 in the world. We are still trying to find out why."

H25 160 In the last 30 years two main areas of progress can be H25 161 identified. These are defibrillation and the new 'clotbuster' H25 162 treatments for heart attack. Defibrillation and coronary care have H25 163 played a major part in increasing the survival rates of patients H25 164 suffering from heart attacks. Now that every frontline ambulance in H25 165 Scotland has a defibrillator, a programme is in hand to improve H25 166 further the chances of survival of patients with heart attack.

H25 167 Meanwhile, there has been a resurgence of interest in H25 168 thrombolytic 'clotbusting' research and treatment in the last ten H25 169 years, preliminary clinical tests having first been carried out in H25 170 the 40s. While in the United States Professor Fox and colleagues H25 171 undertook the original experimental studies with new-generation H25 172 thrombolytic agents in 1981. The important 'clotbusters' still H25 173 carry a risk of reclosure of the artery after drug treatment and we H25 174 need to know more so that the treatment can be maximised and the H25 175 harmful effect minimised.

H25 176 There is a need now to find out what happens before the vessel H25 177 becomes blocked. It is very important that patients at high risk H25 178 are identified by their blood-borne markers, the platelets which H25 179 clot the blood, in conjunction with the use of electrocardiograms H25 180 and angiography. Research is now progressing in the development of H25 181 anti-platelet agents.

H25 182 "In 1986 very few people with clear-cut symptoms were H25 183 being treated with thrombolytics - only about 4%", says H25 184 Professor Fox. "Today they are the treatment of choice in H25 185 more than 70%. The emphasis on thrombolysis has increased our H25 186 awareness of what happens before the clot develops."

H25 187 Of the contribution made by the British Heart Foundation to his H25 188 department's work, he says: "BHF is not just supporting H25 189 research which would otherwise be underfunded; it is permitting the H25 190 development of new areas of research. Without this support academic H25 191 cardiology in Britain would be in a disastrous H25 192 situation."

H25 193 The Cardiovascular Research Unit has been specialising in the H25 194 problems of heart disease in Scotland. In 1978 the first inkling H25 195 came that diet might in some way affect the incidence of heart H25 196 disease and in 1984 a study discovered that people who had less H25 197 linoleic acid in their body and diets were more prone to coronary H25 198 heart disease. In 1987 firm data from a huge study of 6,000 H25 199 patients confirmed the theory.

H25 200 "We discovered that people with low levels of linoleic H25 201 acid eat less of this essential fatty acid and are more likely to H25 202 smoke and drink more. There has been a general change and an H25 203 improvement in diet over the last 12 years. Plant oils, such as H25 204 those found in sunflower margarine, are rich in linoleic acid and H25 205 are much more available - supermarkets have played a big part. The H25 206 health education message has got through to the better-educated H25 207 sector of the public and we have to hope that it will eventually H25 208 filter through to all sectors of the community."

H25 209 H26 1 <#FLOB:H26\>David Skae

H26 2 According to Clouston (1911b), Dr William MacKinnon, the H26 3 first Superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, had provided H26 4 elementary lectures for medical students during his period of H26 5 office. In 1850, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh H26 6 passed a motion suggesting that formal instruction in mental H26 7 disease should be provided at the Morningside asylum. The impetus H26 8 had originated from the East India Company, which required its H26 9 doctors to have some knowledge of mental disease. The Asylum Board H26 10 of Management eventually approved the scheme, and on 7 May 1853, H26 11 David Skae (pictured in Fig. 3.5, p. 47), who had succeeded H26 12 MacKinnon, gave his first lecture (Skae, 1853).

H26 13 Skae's 1853 course involved a clinical lecture on a Saturday H26 14 and thrice-weekly tours of the asylum in the company of one of the H26 15 medical officers, who would demonstrate interesting patients, H26 16 encountered en passant. By Clouston's time, at the end of H26 17 the decade, Skae was giving two lectures weekly but the asylum H26 18 visit had been reduced to one each week. According to Laycock H26 19 (1869), Skae's class depended for its numbers upon the army and H26 20 navy requirement of certificates of competence in mental disease. H26 21 When their respective boards abolished this requirement, the H26 22 numbers fell and Skae was forced to abandon the class.

H26 23 Skae taught that mental diseases were brain diseases and was H26 24 interested in organic disorder, moral insanity, and medicolegal H26 25 problems (Skae, 1858, 1860, 1861, 1867; Clouston, 1873b). As H26 26 indicated above, Skae (1863) felt that his major contribution was H26 27 his classification of mental diseases, a system which even his most H26 28 sympathetic biographer, Fish (1965), admits was "best H26 29 forgotten". It is not appropriate to give a detailed H26 30 consideration of Skae's system here, but it is worth noting the H26 31 clinical significance it held for Clouston (1895), who was to H26 32 write:

H26 33 "In large degree it is founded on bodily causation- H26 34 'the somato-etiological'. Its great merit is that it helps the H26 35 practising physician in his efforts to discover the causes of the H26 36 insanity and also assists him in his treatment and prognoses. It H26 37 seizes on the bodily and constitutional relationships of the mental H26 38 symptoms, and groups the latter accordingly."

H26 39 Skae's classification met with much opposition at the time H26 40 (e.g. Tuke, 1870; Crichton-Browne, 1875; Journal of H26 41 Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology, 1877). H26 42 Crichton-Browne had pronounced it "Philosophically unsound, H26 43 scientifically inaccurate and practically useless". Browne H26 44 also used the opportunity to castigate the entire Edinburgh School, H26 45 and seized upon a remark Clouston had made about the H26 46 classification, "excluding everything mental". H26 47 Crichton-Browne saw this as an example of Morningside's antipathy H26 48 to the mental and metaphysical aspects of man. He scoffed that: H26 49 "The physician who limits himself to the outside view of H26 50 humanity must remain below the level of an intelligent H26 51 dog". However, despite the hostility and its lack of H26 52 general acceptance (Robinson, 1988), Clouston (1876a) H26 53 continued to defend the classification; as late as 1894, he was H26 54 claiming that Skae's system was "the most useful yet H26 55 devised".

H26 56 Thomas Laycock

H26 57 The most important figure in Edinburgh psychiatry at this time H26 58 was undoubtedly Thomas Laycock, Professor of the Practice of H26 59 Medicine (Fig. 24.4). Laycock had been elected to the Chair in 1855 H26 60 and became the first Englishman to occupy the senior professorship H26 61 in medicine at Edinburgh. He had previously worked in York, where H26 62 he greatly influenced Hughlings Jackson, the eminent neurologist, H26 63 and Danziger (1982) has lauded him as the most original of all the H26 64 British mid-century psychologists. Laycock was among the first to H26 65 argue that a science of mental life was possible- that the mind H26 66 could be studied using the principles of physiology. In his classic H26 67 book, Mind and Brain (1860), he sought to develop a H26 68 "scientific Cerebral Psychology" which would unite H26 69 philosophy and physiology. He believed that medicine and biology, H26 70 not metaphysics, represented the proper foundation for psychology H26 71 (Hearnshaw, 1964). Laycock argued that the mind/body problem was H26 72 resolvable in terms of a psychophysical parallelism; that H26 73 consciousness could accompany brain processes, but did not interact H26 74 with them. An important concept in this grand synthesis was the H26 75 reflex, and he was the first thinker to extend the reflex function H26 76 to the brain (Smith, 1970, 1981; Jacyna, 1980b, 1981). H26 77 Clouston (1894c) was later to write of him:

H26 78 "He promulgated the law of reflex action of the brain, H26 79 and in my opinion anticipated Spencer and Darwin. He was a daring H26 80 speculator and thinker. He was not afraid of startling conclusions, H26 81 tried to include all mental phenomena, in animals and man, in H26 82 health and disease, within his generalizations, and was the most H26 83 suggestive writer on the subject at the time."

H26 84 Laycock did much to improve the study of insanity. In 1857, he H26 85 obtained a sanction from the university for putting a question on H26 86 mental diseases in the MD degree, for the first time in Britain H26 87 (Clouston, 1879a). In 1861, he instituted an examination for H26 88 those studying mental diseases. Seven years later, he called for a H26 89 formal course of lectures and examinations for doctors wishing to H26 90 pursue an asylum career, in an attempt to improve both the H26 91 standards and morale among asylum doctors, but, unfortunately, this H26 92 came to nothing (Journal of Mental Science, 1861; H26 93 Laycock, 1866, 1868, 1869).

H26 94 Laycock's most important contribution was the introduction of a H26 95 specialised course of lectures on 'medical psychology', the first H26 96 of its kind within a British university medical school (Smith, H26 97 1970). As Laycock wrote (1871):

H26 98 "The rapid development of a new school of cerebral H26 99 physiology and pathology (in which I had my share) rendered it year H26 100 by year necessary for me to introduce into practice something more H26 101 intelligible than the old empiricism as to mental diseases, until H26 102 at last at Edinburgh during the Winter session 1857-8 ... I set H26 103 apart one lecture in each week for a distinct course of Practical H26 104 Psychology. In the Summer of 1858, I was requested by the Senatus H26 105 Academicus to give a Summer course of lectures on Medical H26 106 Psychology, which I did in the following year (1859). To this H26 107 course I subsequently added the practical study of mental diseases H26 108 in an asylum."

H26 109 Laycock had intended to use the Morningside asylum for H26 110 teaching, but its superintendent, Skae, refused him access; no H26 111 doubt Skae was defending his territory, and resented the intrusion H26 112 of another lecturer. For his part, Laycock could often be difficult H26 113 and quarrelsome; rebuffed by Skae, he took his class to Millholm H26 114 Private Asylum in Musselburgh. Clouston recounts that there were H26 115 about 40 students, and practice was given in signing lunacy H26 116 certificates. However, within a month of the death of Skae in April H26 117 1873, Laycock was once again requesting permission to use the H26 118 Morningside asylum, and this time, it was agreed that he could H26 119 teach during the summer term. When Clouston arrived in August of H26 120 that year, Laycock approached him about teaching, and Clouston H26 121 (1879a) recalled that he "made very flattering and H26 122 earnest overtures to me". The new superintendent readily H26 123 accepted, and the minutes of the University Senate recorded that Dr H26 124 Clouston was "to receive Dr. Laycock and his class at the H26 125 Asylum and to give also Clinical Instruction at visits twice a week H26 126 during the Summer session. Dr. Clouston will also give H26 127 demonstrations from time to time to Dr. Laycock's class in the H26 128 Pathological Anatomy of Insanity and Cognate diseases of the H26 129 Nervous System." It was also recorded that as a result of H26 130 this new university connection, Clouston was to withdraw from the H26 131 Extra-Academical School, his place being filled later by Dr Batty H26 132 Tuke (Guthrie, 1965).

H26 133 Clouston (1879a) greatly valued his contact with Laycock, H26 134 and in his later writings, frequently referred to him and employed H26 135 many of his fundamental ideas. "My association with H26 136 him", he reminisced, "was a source of the utmost H26 137 pleasure and much instruction to me".

H26 138 Clouston as lecturer in mental diseases

H26 139 The 19th century witnessed great changes in the Scottish H26 140 university system (Anderson, 1983), which Davie (1961) has seen as H26 141 a process of the steady 'anglification' of traditional Scottish H26 142 values. Of the many Scottish University Commissions which H26 143 deliberated in that century, the one of 1877 recommended the H26 144 creation of lectureships. In 1879 the University Senate instituted H26 145 a Lectureship in Mental Diseases, the first lectureship at H26 146 Edinburgh, and Thomas Clouston was appointed to the post. It is H26 147 clear that he was a success in his new position, and contemporaries H26 148 were unanimous in their praise of him as a gifted speaker. H26 149 Robertson (1928) wrote that he was "one of the most H26 150 brilliant lecturers we have had at the University". Phrases H26 151 such as "dazzling", "freshness of outlook", H26 152 and "novelty of phraseology" were employed to H26 153 describe Clouston in action (Robertson, 1915; Lancet, 1915; H26 154 British Medical Journal, 1915; Journal of Mental H26 155 Science, 1915).

H26 156 As his son, Storer Clouston, recalled: "It was really H26 157 his personality ... that left the deepest impression. His H26 158 animation, his slight frame, quivering with energy, the H26 159 extraordinarily bright and piercing eyes". An impression of H26 160 Clouston's lecturing style can also be gained from his textbook, H26 161 Clinical Lectures on Mental Diseases, which was based on H26 162 his talks to students. On one occasion, he proclaimed to them:

H26 163 "I am able to present to you, some of the most H26 164 remarkable personages that have ever lived. Here is Jesus Christ, H26 165 and here are the Prophet Elias, the Emperor of the Universe, the H26 166 Universal Empress, the Empress of Turkey, the only daughter of God H26 167 Almighty, Queen Elizabeth, four Kings of England, one King of H26 168 Scotland, the Duke of Kilmarnock, the inventor of perpetual motion, H26 169 a man who has discovered the new elixir of life ... and a lady who H26 170 daily and nightly has delightful conversations with the Prince of H26 171 Wales." (Clouston, 1896a)

H26 172 He was evidently something of a showman, on occasions H26 173 resembling a ring master in a circus of performing lunatics. In one H26 174 lecture, he promised to produce "a one legged dressmaker of H26 175 40 ... with no personal charms", and in another, fretted H26 176 that he had no really good specimens of 'microcephalics' to show H26 177 his audience.

H26 178 Clouston has left a very clear account of his teaching methods H26 179 in The Teaching of Psychiatric Medicine, originally H26 180 delivered to the International Medical Congress in 1881. He wrote: H26 181

H26 182 "My course is a Summer course of 3 months, and by far H26 183 the majority of students are in their fourth year ... I give 12 H26 184 systematic lectures in the University, one a week; the students H26 185 come out to the asylum twice a week for clinical instruction and H26 186 towards the end of the course I give four systematic demonstrations H26 187 from specimens and diagrams, two being macroscopic and two H26 188 microscopic, on the pathology of insanity" (Clouston, H26 189 1881c).

H26 190 He maintained that illustrative clinical cases would H26 191 "rouse the attention of every student, in the sultriest day H26 192 when it was flagging". The most important part of the H26 193 course was the clinical demonstration, which he described as H26 194 "the backbone of teaching". Clouston had found the Skae H26 195 method of wandering around the asylum, in search of interesting H26 196 patients, too haphazard and unsystematic. Instead, he preferred to H26 197 bring patients into the lecture room and interview them in front of H26 198 the students, explaining that "I try to direct and H26 199 concentrate their attention on the one point to be illustrated by H26 200 each case. My object is to create in each student's mind a vivid H26 201 sense of the direct connection of brain derangement with ... H26 202 mind". Discussion of the case usually occurred after the H26 203 patient had left the room. Students were also expected to see H26 204 patients on their own, make a diagnosis, and sign a medical H26 205 certificate of lunacy.

H26 206 Clouston's lecture course was popular with the students and it H26 207 was well subscribed. An article in the Edinburgh Student H26 208 magazine of 1907 gives a mockingly affectionate tribute to Clouston H26 209 the lecturer, depicting him in his frock coat and striped H26 210 trousers.

H26 211 "Here is Clouston as you see,

H26 212 Warbling of Insanity,...

H26 213 Thomas, garrulous and kind,

H26 214 Gives them Hygiene of the Mind."

H26 215 During his tenure, Clouston also fought to make the study of H26 216 mental diseases part of the medical curriculum, and in 1890 he put H26 217 this to the Scottish Universities Commission. In 1893, psychiatry H26 218 was made a compulsory subject for all medical students by the H26 219 General Medical Council, which Clouston (1911b) greeted as the H26 220 "charter for our real and full incorporation into general H26 221 medicine".

H26 222 H27 1 <#FLOB:H27\>ICI fertiliser sale blocked but Woodchester H27 2 purchase given go-ahead

H27 3 Rulings on state-owned bids

H27 4 By Robert Rice, Legal Correspondent

H27 5 ONE takeover bid by a state-owned foreign company was blocked H27 6 yesterday and one was allowed, in the first test of the UK H27 7 government's new approach to such bids.

H27 8 The proposed acquisition of ICI Fertilisers by Kemira, the H27 9 Finnish state-owned chemical company, was stopped by Mr Peter H27 10 Lilley, UK trade and industry secretary.

H27 11 His decision follows a report by the Monopolies and Mergers H27 12 Commission that the acquisition raised significant competition H27 13 issues and might be expected to operate against the public interest H27 14 - partly because of Kemira's ownership by the state.

H27 15 Separately, Mr Lilley gave the go-ahead to the acquisition by H27 16 Cr<*_>e-acute<*/>dit Lyonnais, the French state-owned bank, of a 45 H27 17 per cent interest in Woodchester Investments, an Irish-based H27 18 finance company with interests in Britain.

H27 19 A monopolies commission investigation had concluded that there H27 20 was no justification for blocking the deal on competition grounds. H27 21 The secretary of state has no power to act against a merger after H27 22 such a ruling.

H27 23 Last July Mr Lilley said the government would not allow H27 24 Britain's policy of privatisation and competition to be undermined H27 25 by "nationalisation by the back door".

H27 26 ICI said yesterday the decision would further weaken the UK H27 27 fertiliser industry. Kemira said the monopolies commission's fears H27 28 for competition in the UK fertiliser market were "wholly H27 29 misplaced" and that the decision would hurt UK output and H27 30 jobs.

H27 31 The commission concluded that the acquisition would lead to H27 32 significantly less competition in the UK market. The number of H27 33 manufacturers would drop from three to two: Kemira and the H27 34 Norwegian-owned Hydro Fertilisers, with two thirds of the market H27 35 between them. Other suppliers had small shares and there was little H27 36 prospect of new entrants.

H27 37 The commission said Kemira's state ownership could worsen the H27 38 merger's harmful effects. State ownership might enable Kemira to H27 39 withstand downturns in the market better than a private-sector H27 40 company and could allow it to keep prices down to enhance its H27 41 dominant position.

H27 42 The commission said that even if ICI withdrew from the market, H27 43 the resulting unemployment and loss of domestic production would H27 44 not outweigh the merger's effects on competition.

H27 45 Woodchester issued a statement yesterday welcoming Mr Lilley's H27 46 decision to approve Cr<*_>e-acute<*/>dit Lyonnais's addition to its H27 47 existing 29.8 per cent holding.

H27 48 The commission said that the French state could intervene in H27 49 Cr<*_>e-acute<*/>dit Lyonnais's business but that in practice it H27 50 gave management a high degree of independence.

H27 51 Given each company's small share of the UK financial services H27 52 market, the commission did not believe that the merger would allow H27 53 Cr<*_>e-acute<*/>dit Lyonnais to distort the market.

H27 54 H27 55 ICI may have to withdraw from UK fertilisers

H27 56 By Clive Cookson

H27 57 ICI, the leading UK chemical company, is contemplating the H27 58 complete closure of its domestic fertiliser business, with sales of H27 59 pounds450m a year, following the government's decision not to allow H27 60 Kemira of Finland to buy it.

H27 61 In a statement last night, the company said "ICI must H27 62 now consider all its options" for the fertiliser business, H27 63 which has lost a total of about pounds50m over the last five H27 64 years.

H27 65 The most likely option, according to ICI's evidence to the H27 66 Monopolies and Mergers Commission, would be to shut down the H27 67 business if the bid were blocked. That would lead to the loss of H27 68 540 jobs at ICI's Severnside and Leith fertiliser plants, which H27 69 would have been taken over by Kemira, and to an increase of H27 70 pounds60m a year in UK fertiliser imports. (ICI's third fertiliser H27 71 plant, at Billingham, was not part of the proposed takeover and is H27 72 scheduled to close in any case, with the loss of 640 jobs.)

H27 73 Norsk Hydro, Europe's largest fertiliser manufacturer, told the H27 74 Monopolies Commission that "it too had made a bid for ICI's H27 75 fertiliser assets and would still be interested if Kemira's H27 76 proposal did not go ahead". But Hydro's share of the UK H27 77 fertiliser market (19 per cent) is similar to Kemira's (18 per H27 78 cent) and it too is a state-controlled company, so the same H27 79 objections might apply if ICI agreed to sell the business to the H27 80 Norwegian company.

H27 81 While ICI considers its options, "it will continue to H27 82 produce fertilisers at its Billingam, Leith and Severnside sites H27 83 ... and to supply these products to farmers," the company H27 84 says.

H27 85 The short-term commercial outlook for ICI Fertilisers may have H27 86 improved with the Gulf crisis because Kuwait, Iraq and some of the H27 87 Gulf states are significant exporters of fertilisers. The crisis H27 88 has driven up world fertiliser prices without affecting H27 89 significantly the cost of raw materials (natural gas and inorganic H27 90 materials).

H27 91 Senior ICI executives including Sir Denys Henderson, chairman, H27 92 were genuinely surprised - and infuriated - by yesterday's H27 93 announcement, according to sources in ICI. They say the board will H27 94 seriously consider closing the UK fertiliser business.

H27 95 The Commission's report says that in January 1990, when the H27 96 board considered the various options for ICI Fertilisers and H27 97 decided to sell it, "continuation of the current mode of H27 98 operation was seen as the best fall-back option, if satisfactory H27 99 divestment did not prove possible, since the business was forecast H27 100 to generate a positive cash flow for a number of years H27 101 forward".

H27 102 H27 103 Saatchi urged by big investor to change refinancing H27 104 terms

H27 105 By Alice Rawsthorn

H27 106 SAATCHI & SAATCHI, the troubled advertising group, is under H27 107 pressure from one of its largest bondholders to change the terms of H27 108 its controversial financial rescue package.

H27 109 ESL Partners, a Dallas-based investment company holding 17 per H27 110 cent of Saatchi's Euro-preference stock, is lobbying the H27 111 company, through its advisers SG Warburg in London and Donaldson H27 112 Lufkin Jenrette in New York, to renegotiate the package.

H27 113 Earlier this week, Warburg met representatives of Lord H27 114 Rothschild, whose funds hold 20 per cent of the Europreference H27 115 stock. Rothschild is understood to be dissatisfied with the present H27 116 terms and may table alternative proposals.

H27 117 Given that Saatchi needs to secure the approval of 51 per cent H27 118 of all bondholders - and of 67 per cent of those voting - the H27 119 combined votes of ESL and Rothschild would be enough to block the H27 120 refinancing. This means they are in a strong position to persuade H27 121 Saatchi to change the package.

H27 122 Mr Edward Lampert, general partner of ESL, said the current H27 123 terms of the refinancing were "unacceptable" but that he H27 124 was convinced it would be possible to produce "a better H27 125 alternative for the company and its investors".

H27 126 ESL is discussing alternatives with Warburg and Donaldson. Mr H27 127 Lampert said: "Saatchi is a great company. We want to make H27 128 sure it not just survives but thrives. Its advisers are creative H27 129 and constructive people. I am sure they can come up with a H27 130 structure which would be better for the company."

H27 131 The crux of the bondholders' complaints is that under the terms H27 132 of the refinancing - in which they swap bonds for a combination of H27 133 new ordinary and Europreference shares - they will receive too low H27 134 a proportion of the enlarged equity and will forfeit their dividend H27 135 income.

H27 136 Saatchi and its advisers have argued that, although it would be H27 137 technically possible to vary the terms of the refinancing, the H27 138 present proposals are the fairest possible package for all classes H27 139 of shareholders. Unless Saatchi restructures its finances it will H27 140 almost certainly go bankrupt when its current banking facilities H27 141 expire in January 1993.

H27 142 H27 143 Profits recovery by Porsche

H27 144 By Andrew Fisher in Stuttgart

H27 145 PORSCHE, the German luxury sports car manufacturer, continued H27 146 to recover in the year ended July, 1990, with a 26 per cent rise in H27 147 net profits to DM68.4m ($45m).

H27 148 However, it would only commit itself to a forecast of H27 149 maintained sales and "satisfactory results" for the H27 150 present 12 months.

H27 151 As well as expressing concern about the possible consequences H27 152 of the Gulf war, Mr Arno Bohn, the chief executive, said the weak H27 153 dollar, now worth around DM1.50, was a considerable burden and H27 154 danger for Germany's export-oriented industry.

H27 155 Porsche was making more of its purchases on a dollar basis, H27 156 mainly of tyres, leather, castings, and plastics.

H27 157 He said business was still favourable in Germany, continental H27 158 Europe, and Japan. Sales, however, were suffering from economic H27 159 weakness in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

H27 160 The new luxury car tax in the US was an extra burden for H27 161 Porsche.

H27 162 Last year's result still leaves Porsche well below the peak H27 163 DM120m of 1984-85, before its sales were hit by the 1987 stock H27 164 market crash and the weakening dollar.

H27 165 But the company has recovered considerably since earnings H27 166 slumped in 1987-88 to DM25m after a sharp drop in the previous year H27 167 which had prompted Porsche to cut the dividend by DM5 a share.

H27 168 Having restored DM1 of the cut last year, it is now adding a H27 169 further DM1 to bring the payment on the quoted preference shares up H27 170 to DM13 and that on the voting stock - owned by the controlling H27 171 Porsche and Pi<*_>e-trema<*/>ch families - up to DM12 for last H27 172 year.

H27 173 When Porsche ran into difficulties, nearly 70 per cent of its H27 174 sales were in the US; last year, the US share was down to 25 per H27 175 cent.

H27 176 The company, which has upgraded its models and cut production H27 177 and costs sharply in recent years, lifted turnover 20.5 per cent to H27 178 DM3.05bn.

H27 179 Mr Arno Bohn, the chief executive, said that turnover for H27 180 1990-91 was expected to be about DM3bn.

H27 181 Porsche benefited last year from the strong economy in Germany H27 182 and a rise of 45 per cent in export markets outside the US. Sales H27 183 in the US fell 15 per cent.

H27 184 The company said 70 per cent of its car turnover was achieved H27 185 abroad against 76 per cent the previous year. H27 186 In east Germany, 600 Porsches were registered in 1990, around H27 187 100 of them new.

H27 188 Total production was 32,360 cars, a rise of 7 per cent.

H27 189 H27 190 Prudential sells estate agencies to Woolwich

H27 191 By David Barchard

H27 192 WOOLWICH, the third-largest UK building society, is to buy 191 H27 193 estate agency branches from Prudential Property Services. The H27 194 purchase will give Woolwich a network of more than 400 branches.

H27 195 Mr Donald Kirkham, chief executive of Woolwich, said the H27 196 society was getting a bargain by buying the Thames and Eastern H27 197 regions of Prudential Property Services for pounds20.75m.

H27 198 The agencies were placed on the market last November when H27 199 Prudential, once the largest estate agency network in the UK, H27 200 decided to sell its remaining 500 branches.

H27 201 Prudential paid an average of pounds250,000 for each of the 830 H27 202 branches it purchased at a total cost of more than pounds230m. H27 203 However, the chain was hard hit by the downturn in the housing H27 204 market after 1988. In 1989, it reported a loss of pounds48.9m.

H27 205 Woolwich, which entered the estate agency business only three H27 206 years ago, now ranks eighth with a network larger than that of H27 207 Abbey National and only slightly smaller than that of Black H27 208 Horse.

H27 209 The deal implies a cost to Woolwich of about pounds113,000 per H27 210 branch, well below the pounds140,000 it takes to start a new one. H27 211 Woolwich has written off only pounds19m on goodwill in its purchase H27 212 of the entire network, unlike competitors such as Halifax and H27 213 Nationwide Anglia which entered the market earlier.

H27 214 The purchase reflects Woolwich's policy of increasing its H27 215 distribution outlets in the high street. "With our building H27 216 society branches, we now have 1,000 outlets," Mr Kirkham H27 217 said.

H27 218 Morgan Grenfell, the City merchant bank, acted as advisers to H27 219 Woolwich on the deal. The purchase consists of 260 business units H27 220 and includes the lettings, survey, and valuation, operations of H27 221 Prudential Property Services, as well as its development, and H27 222 planning services in the two regions.

H27 223 There is an overlap of only 14 branches between Woolwich's H27 224 existing estate agency network and those being bought from H27 225 Prudential.

H27 226 Mr Richard Groom, Woolwich Property Services managing director, H27 227 said his company is considering reviving the original names of some H27 228 of the local agencies.

H27 229 Prudential's decision to impose a standard corporate branding H27 230 and management style on its estate agencies is widely cited as one H27 231 of the reasons for the network's poor performance.

H27 232 H27 233 Bardon, Evered to merge in pounds87m deal

H27 234 By Andrew Taylor

H27 235 EVERED and Bardon Group are to merge, creating one of the UK's H27 236 largest quarrying companies. Evered yesterday made an agreed share H27 237 offer for Bardon worth pounds87m at last night's closing prices.

H27 238 Mr Roy Kettle, Evered's chief executive, said the deal would H27 239 make the group the fourth or fifth largest aggregates producer in H27 240 the UK, controlling about 6 per cent of market.

H27 241 H27 242 5 H27 243 H27 244 H27 245 H28 1 <#FLOB:H28\>New order forces the pace of change

H28 2 Alan Cane and Louise Kehoe look at the shake-up in the world's H28 3 personal computer industry

H28 4 The goalposts in the world's $9bn personal computer business H28 5 have shifted with a speed which has left the main players shaken H28 6 and disorientated.

H28 7 A grim certainty is now sinking in that the favourable H28 8 conditions of the 1980s, in which the personal computer industry H28 9 was born and flourished, will never return. It is forcing the H28 10 leading companies to make strategic changes as quickly as corporate H28 11 structure and culture will allow. For many, it may not be quick H28 12 enough.

H28 13 International Business Machines, the world's largest computer H28 14 manufacturer and the market leader in personal computers, is H28 15 setting the pace. Faced with a sharp decline in market share as Far H28 16 Eastern suppliers and others cut into its industry leadership with H28 17 high-quality copies of its desk-top machines, 'Big Blue' H28 18 this week forged a pioneering, 10-year agreement with Intel, a H28 19 leading semiconductor company. The deal is to create a complete H28 20 microcomputer on a single silicon chip. With this move, IBM is H28 21 clearly signalling its intention to own and control tomorrow's H28 22 personal computer industry.

H28 23 Intel's microprocessors are used in close to 90 per cent to H28 24 personal computers. The new single-chip microcomputer will be based H28 25 on the most advanced member of this range.

H28 26 Increasingly, manufacturing a personal computer involves little H28 27 more than assembling microprocessor and memory on printed circuit H28 28 boards in a suitable case. Disk drives, keyboards and displays are H28 29 bought as standard components. The microprocessor maker, therefore, H28 30 not only controls the capabilities of the machine but has the H28 31 largest claim on the profits from the system.

H28 32 Through its deal with Intel, IBM is tapping into the only H28 33 source of real profitability in personal computer hardware and H28 34 ensuring that competitors will have to follow its lead - the cost H28 35 of designing and manufacturing a competitive microprocessor of the H28 36 complexity of the Intel device is likely to prove prohibitive for H28 37 all but electronics companies with revenues of about $20bn a H28 38 year.

H28 39 IBM's latest initiative follows a remarkable bargain struck H28 40 earlier this year with its arch rival Apple Computer which could H28 41 give it leadership in the fast-growing workstation business, while H28 42 helping Apple to a larger share of the corporate pc market.

H28 43 Mr Aaron Goldberg, International Data Corporation's pc expert, H28 44 sums up the alliance thus: "The Apple/IBM agreement is an H28 45 excellent example of how the industry's internal power structure H28 46 will undergo fundamental change.This elemental change will bankrupt H28 47 at least 10 major companies."

H28 48 IBM, however, with total revenues of more than $60bn last year, H28 49 is probably the only computer company with financial resources and H28 50 marketing muscle successfully to undertake such mould-breaking H28 51 initiatives.

H28 52 The state of the personal computer business is better H28 53 demonstrated by the plight of other large players. Compaq, for H28 54 example, the US personal computer company which epitomised meteoric H28 55 growth in the 1980s, has been forced to make sweeping changes in H28 56 virtually every respect of its business including pricing, H28 57 distribution, and customer support. Its plans were made public H28 58 yesterday at the end of two weeks in which it reported its first H28 59 quarterly loss. It also announced the loss of almost 25 per cent of H28 60 its share price, the dismissal of Mr Rod Canion, its founder, H28 61 president and chief executive, and the resignation of five other H28 62 top executives.

H28 63 The reshaping of Compaq involves abandoning many principles on H28 64 which the company built its success. It will no longer concentrate H28 65 on the top end of the market, representing itself as a quality H28 66 alternative to IBM, nor will it sell exclusively through dealers. H28 67 Instead it will seek cheaper ways of distributing its products H28 68 including mail order, a technique used successfully by companies H28 69 such as Dell Computers which compete on price and quality of H28 70 support alone.

H28 71 That the pc industry is in trouble <}_><-|>in<+|>is<}/> not in H28 72 question. Why it should be in such a predicament is another matter. H28 73 The problems of the traditional computer industry have been well H28 74 rehearsed. Large manufacturers' profitability has been destroyed by H28 75 the falling cost of technology leading to increased competition and H28 76 moves among customers to systems composed of standard components H28 77 from different manufacturers. All this has made the industry's H28 78 conventional large, expensive direct sales forces a hopelessly H28 79 uneconomic way of distributing small, low-cost computers.

H28 80 What has happened to cause today's hiatus? Three things:

H28 81 <*_>bullet<*/>A sharp fall in growth

H28 82 <*_>bullet<*/>Dramatic price declines

H28 83 <*_>bullet<*/>Customer resistance.

H28 84 The personal computer business is now essentially a commodity H28 85 business and obeys the commercial rules governing items such as H28 86 televisions or video-recorders. Where there are too many suppliers H28 87 and too much undifferentiated product, there will inevitably be a H28 88 shake-out. So it is proving.

H28 89 Sales growth in the industry, which was sustained at an average H28 90 annual rate of 20 per cent or so throughout the 1980s, has slowed H28 91 abruptly because of the recession in the US, part of Europe and H28 92 Australasia. This has masked the fact, however, that the market is H28 93 maturing rapidly and in many business sectors is close to H28 94 saturation. The replacement market already represents 50 per cent H28 95 of business across the board. By 1995 it will represent close to 80 H28 96 per cent of all pc sales.

H28 97 In the US, unit sales are up by perhaps 3 per cent this year H28 98 while prices are falling at between 25 and 60 per cent a year. This H28 99 pattern is being duplicated in Europe, suggesting the market is H28 100 contracting in dollar terms. It is causing chaos in the H28 101 distribution channels both in the US and Europe. No dealer can H28 102 survive on the discount available from manufacturers. Average gross H28 103 profit margins for dealers are coming down from more than 30 per H28 104 cent to between 12 per cent and 15 per cent. They either have to H28 105 sell in volume or add value through specialised software and H28 106 services if they are to survive.

H28 107 Prices are being cut savagely, because of the rapidly declining H28 108 cost of technology and because of deep discounting to win market H28 109 share.

H28 110 This week alone, Toshiba of Japan announced price cuts of 30 H28 111 per cent across its range in the UK; Compaq said it would cut 25 H28 112 per cent off its notebook computers in the US; while Copam, a H28 113 leading Taiwanese maker, said it would sell a top-of-the-line H28 114 machine for under pounds2,000. A similar computer from IBM is H28 115 listed at more than pounds8,000.

H28 116 Of just as much significance is the decline in brand loyalty. H28 117 Customers no longer believe they are buying anything extra in H28 118 quality or service by purchasing an IBM or Compaq computer raher H28 119 than a Copam or Dell. They are buying on price. The move to a H28 120 commodity market stocked with generic products which are difficult H28 121 to distinguish is virtually complete.

H28 122 What are the consequences for personal computer makers of the H28 123 new order?

H28 124 First, they will have to find ways of taking cost out of the H28 125 manufacturing process. Asian manufacturers combining low labour H28 126 costs with highly automated assembly have an advantage here, as the H28 127 Taiwanese group Copam illustrates.

H28 128 Second, they will have to seek economic ways of distributing H28 129 products - such as retail chains selling 'own brand' pcs, mail H28 130 order like Dell or computer superstores.

H28 131 Third, they will have to seek new ways of differentiating their H28 132 products from their competitors - through marketing if not H28 133 technology.

H28 134 Last month's big US personal computer industry show, Comdex, H28 135 was marked by an air of desperation as makers attempted to persuade H28 136 customers, to little avail, that there were genuine differences H28 137 between their products. Performance no longer counts because H28 138 everybody is using the same sets of silicon chips.

H28 139 There are new technologies in the wings which offer some H28 140 possiblity of differentiation - pen-based computers, for example, H28 141 or multi-media systems combining video, graphics, sound and H28 142 processing in one unit. The speed of technical change is so rapid, H28 143 however, that success in any of these technologies is unlikely to H28 144 give any one company an advantage for long.

H28 145 Industry leaders aim, however, to expand the pc market by H28 146 giving the personal computer a much broader appeal. "In the H28 147 long term there are real growth opportunities in personal H28 148 computers," says Mr James Cannavino, head of IBM's personal H28 149 computer business. "We have only begun to scratch the H28 150 surface."

H28 151 Yet to reach a wider audience, he adds: "The personal H28 152 computer has to compete with the television. We have to make kids H28 153 want to turn on the computer rather than picking up the TV remote H28 154 control."

H28 155 H28 156 Fall in consumer spending leaves Whitbread lower

H28 157 By Philip Rawstorne

H28 158 WHITBREAD, the UK brewer and retailer, yesterday reported its H28 159 first fall in profits for 16 years under the impact of the H28 160 recession.

H28 161 Pre-tax profits for the six months to August 31 fell 7 per cent H28 162 from pounds152.8m to pounds142.5m due mainly to the decline, in H28 163 real terms, of customer spending. Bad weather and budget tax H28 164 increases had added to the difficulties, Mr Peter Jarvis, chief H28 165 executive, said.

H28 166 Beer volume sales for the industry as a whole were down 7 per H28 167 cent - the worst fall for more than 40 years - and the company has H28 168 made pounds6m provision against the risk of bad debts among its H28 169 pounds180m free trade loans.

H28 170 The outlook for such debts appeared to have worsened in recent H28 171 weeks and the full year's provision was likely to be greater than H28 172 last year's pounds8m, he said.

H28 173 Despite the tough trading conditions, Mr Jarvis claimed the H28 174 company had shown considerable resilience. It had H28 175 out-performed the market in managed pubs, restaurants, and H28 176 shops.

H28 177 "I am confident that once there is the slightest hint H28 178 of sustained economic upturn, we shall return to our pattern of H28 179 growth," he said, but he warned that there had been no sign H28 180 of recovery in the last two months.

H28 181 Turnover for the six months rose by 2.5 per cent to H28 182 pounds1.06bn (pounds1.04bn) but trading profit declined 2 per cent H28 183 to pounds139m to pounds136m.

H28 184 Fully diluted earnings per share fell from 24.68p to 23.32p but H28 185 the interim dividend is raised to 4.55p (4.3p).

H28 186 The Whitbread beer company lifted turnover to pounds449.4m H28 187 (pounds442.8m) but profits, hit by the bad debts charge, were 5 per H28 188 cent lower at pounds39.1m, against pounds41.3m.

H28 189 Overall volume sales fell by 6 per cent, reflecting the sale of H28 190 350 pubs and poorer business in the tenanted and take-home trades; H28 191 but volumes in the free trade were more than 6 per cent higher. H28 192 Boddingtons bitter sales increased by 40 per cent and Murphy's H28 193 stout by 12 per cent.

H28 194 Profits from the Pub Partnership leased estate rose from H28 195 pounds32.4m to pounds33.7m on turnover pounds15.2m lower at H28 196 pounds127.4m.

H28 197 The managed retail division increased turnover from H28 198 pounds625.9m to pounds665.9m, but profits fell 9 per cent to H28 199 pounds61.7m (pounds67.8m).

H28 200 Profits were 20 per cent ahead in the Brewer's Fayre and H28 201 Beefeater pubs. The acquisition of GrandMet's Berni Inns, now being H28 202 absorbed into Beefeater, pushed interest charges up from pounds7m H28 203 to pounds17.4m.

H28 204 Apart from the budget Travel Inns, where the occupancy rate was H28 205 higher than 80 per cent, the hotels division had a difficult period H28 206 with profits 35 per cent lower.

H28 207 Pizza Hut increased sales and market share but profits fell. H28 208 The Threshers off-licence chain improved sales by 3 per cent and H28 209 profits by 8 per cent.

H28 210 Profits from property disposals increased by pounds4.7m to H28 211 pounds17.9m. The company has now sold 500 pubs and another 600 will H28 212 be sold in the next six months.

H28 213 H28 214 Stones sign for Virgin

H28 215 VIRGIN RECORDS has concluded an agreement with the Rolling H28 216 Stones who were previously contracted to Sony Music. The agreement H28 217 takes effect in 1993 and is believed to involve payment to the H28 218 group of $30m-$40m, writes Michael Skapinker.

H28 219 The Rolling Stones have undertaken to produce three new albums H28 220 for Virgin. From March 1993 Virgin will also acquire the group's H28 221 back catalogue from 1971 onwards.

H28 222 Virgin would not disclose details of the agreement but it is H28 223 believed the company will retain the rights to the back catalogue H28 224 until all advances paid to the Rolling Stones have been H28 225 recouped.

H28 226 Mr Keith Richards, one of the members of the group, has had a H28 227 contract with Virgin as a solo artist since 1988 when the company H28 228 released his Talk is Cheap album. H28 229 H28 230 H29 1 <#FLOB:H29\>BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

H29 2 The University stands on a site of about 94 acres (38 H29 3 hectares), containing both buildings and playing fields, situated H29 4 on the northern side of Kingston upon Hull, and easily accessible H29 5 from the city centre. Building has followed a master plan prepared H29 6 by the Consultant Architect, Sir Leslie Martin. Special facilities H29 7 include The Middleton Hall (which seats up to 500 for lectures, H29 8 plays and concerts), the Brynmor Jones Library, the Gulbenkian H29 9 Audio-Visual Centre and Drama Studio and the Health Centre. The H29 10 University Union has its own accommodation in University House, H29 11 which also includes the students' refectories and student services H29 12 departments, such as the Accommodation, Careers and Counselling H29 13 Offices. Staff facilities are available in Staff House. The Union H29 14 runs a day nursery in a modern purpose-built building on the edge H29 15 of the main site.

H29 16 The Halls of Residence, which are mixed-sex, are all within H29 17 three miles of the University in the village of Cottingham and H29 18 consist of The Lawns complex (Downs, Grant, Lambert, Morgan, H29 19 Nicholson and Reckitt) and Cleminson, Ferens, Needler and Thwaite. H29 20 The social hub of The Lawns is the Lawns Centre, which provides H29 21 catering and other amenities. The other halls in Cottingham are H29 22 organised on more traditional lines, and some include facilities H29 23 for disabled students.

H29 24 The University has pursued a policy of purchasing private H29 25 houses and converting them into student houses; there are 1,515 H29 26 places in student houses, most of which are conveniently near to H29 27 the University and within easy reach of the city centre, apart from H29 28 a small number in Cottingham.

H29 29 There are spacious gardens at the University and at the Halls H29 30 of Residence.

H29 31 In the University grounds provision is made for rugby, H29 32 football, hockey, cricket and tennis. The Boat Club has a boathouse H29 33 by the River Hull. The modern Sports Centre containing two large H29 34 gymnasia, a sports hall and a number of squash courts provides for H29 35 all indoor sports, training activities and dance. A newly created H29 36 Fitness Centre, containing saunas, jacuzzi, solaria and weights H29 37 areas is due to open in the Autumn of 1991.

H29 38 UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS

H29 39 GENERAL REGULATIONS

H29 40 Regulations for the maintenance of good order and discipline H29 41 are promulgated from time to time. It is the duty of all students H29 42 to take notice of the Regulations and to know and observe them. H29 43 Students on admission must sign a declaration that they will H29 44 observe the Ordinances of the University and will conform to all H29 45 such regulations as may from time to time be made for the H29 46 maintenance of order in the University. Students must also make H29 47 themselves conversant with the academic regulations in the H29 48 University Calendar.

H29 49 Regulations relating to Halls of Residence, Student Houses, H29 50 Lodgings, Flats, Parking and Traffic, Freedom of Speech, Code of H29 51 Discipline and the University Library, have the same force as H29 52 University Regulations and any breach of them may be dealt with as H29 53 a breach of University discipline.

H29 54 GENERAL CONDUCT

H29 55 The University expects its students to conduct themselves at H29 56 all times in an orderly manner creditable to the good name of the H29 57 University. Intentional disruption of any of the University's H29 58 activities or functions (including the unauthorised occupation of H29 59 University property) is an offence which is subject to University H29 60 discipline.

H29 61 The conduct of students in lecture rooms and laboratories is H29 62 subject to the control and direction of heads of departments and H29 63 their authorised agents and misconduct is an offence within the H29 64 regulations relating to discipline.

H29 65 UNIVERSITY TERMS

H29 66 1. The official dates of University terms as published in the H29 67 Calendar apply to all students. Students must follow H29 68 throughout the terms the courses for which they are registered and H29 69 attend such classes and such examinations as are required by the H29 70 University or by the Dean of the School concerned. No paid work may H29 71 be undertaken by a student during term time without the permission H29 72 of the Dean of the School, and such work must not conflict with the H29 73 student's academic commitments.

H29 74 Students (other than new students at the beginning of session H29 75 and research students) are required to arrive in Hull not later H29 76 than the first day of term and, except with the special permission H29 77 of the Dean of the School in which they are registered, may not go H29 78 down until the last day. Other than at the beginning of the Spring H29 79 and Summer terms the first and last days of term as published are H29 80 regarded as travelling days on which no lectures or classes will be H29 81 held. In the Spring and Summer terms, teaching will start on the H29 82 first Monday of the term. The residence of research students is H29 83 governed by the requirements of their Dean of School of Supervisor. H29 84 Arrangements for new students at the beginning of session are H29 85 notified to them annually.

H29 86 Absits and Exeats

H29 87 (a) Permission to go down before the end of Term H29 88 (Exeat): An exeat will be granted only in special H29 89 circumstances. Students must apply to the Dean of the School in H29 90 which they are registered, on an official exeat form obtainable H29 91 from the receptionist in the Administration Building.

H29 92 At the end of the Summer Term final year students may go down H29 93 after completing their final written examinations, without the H29 94 formality of an exeat, provided they present themselves for H29 95 such oral and other examinations as may be required.

H29 96 (N.B. Such students should inform themselves of the dates H29 97 when their external examiners will be at the University, and before H29 98 going down are required to leave particulars of the address at H29 99 which they may be contacted, with the secretary of the School.)

H29 100 (b) Temporary Absence during Term (Absit): Leave of H29 101 absence may be granted during University terms subject to H29 102 departmental and other academic requirements. No formal permission H29 103 is required for weeks-end leave which does not involve absence from H29 104 lectures, classes, or other course commitments, but in all other H29 105 cases application must be made to the appropriate Dean of School on H29 106 an absit form obtainable from the receptionist in the H29 107 Administration Building. Leave for three or more successive nights H29 108 will be granted only if it includes a Saturday and Sunday, unless H29 109 given on compassionate grounds. Students going on leave are H29 110 required to inform either their Supervisor or the receptionist of H29 111 the address at which they may be found.

H29 112 A student who lives in University or approved accommodation H29 113 going on week-end or other leave is required to notify his or her H29 114 Warden, Student House Tutor or landlady, of his or her intended H29 115 absence and the address at which he or she may be contacted in case H29 116 of need.

H29 117 REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT OF FEES

H29 118 2. Students must register for classes and examinations and pay H29 119 any fee prescribed and any other University dues on the dates and H29 120 at the times laid down in Official Notices.

H29 121 CLASSES AND EXAMINATIONS

H29 122 3. Students must follow throughout the terms the courses for H29 123 which they are registered and attend such classes and such H29 124 examinations as are required by the University or by the Dean of H29 125 the School concerned. No student may change his or her course H29 126 without the permission of the Deans of the relevant Schools and the H29 127 Board of Undergraduate Studies.

H29 128 No student may enter for a University examination or an H29 129 examination conducted by some other examining body without the H29 130 consent of the Dean of his or her School. In the case of external H29 131 examination such consent is normally given only if the examination H29 132 is for a professional qualification closely related to the H29 133 student's course. Consent for entry to examinations is normally H29 134 given when a student completes registration at the beginning of H29 135 session; unregistered students will not be permitted to sit H29 136 examinations without special permission of the Registrar and H29 137 Secretary. Students must enter on their registration form H29 138 particulars of any external examinations which they propose to take H29 139 during the session. University examinations of any kind will in all H29 140 cases take priority over any other examinations which a student H29 141 wishes to take.

H29 142 Students absent from classes owing to illness must report their H29 143 absence within the first two days to:

H29 144 (a) The appropriate Warden in the case of students H29 145 residing in Halls of Residence.

H29 146 (b) The Accommodation Officer in the case of students in H29 147 lodgings or private accommodation.

H29 148 (c) The Tutor-in-Charge or the Senior Resident in the case H29 149 of students in Student Houses.

H29 150 (d) The Academic Office in the case of all other H29 151 students.

H29 152 Where an approved course of study in preparation for the award H29 153 of a degree requires attendance at practical classes or the H29 154 submission of an adequate account of practical work or both, a H29 155 candidate must have attended practical classes or have submitted H29 156 the written work or both, to the satisfaction of the Dean of the H29 157 School concerned, before being allowed to sit the written H29 158 examination.

H29 159 Students who have been absent due to illness or given temporary H29 160 leave of absence must report their return to the University in the H29 161 same way as their absence.

H29 162 Wardens, the Accommodation Officer, Tutors-in-Charge and Senior H29 163 Residents will report the absence and the return of a student to H29 164 the Academic Office as soon as possible after the information is H29 165 received from the student concerned.

H29 166 GOWNS H29 167 4. All full-time students reading for a degree or diploma must H29 168 wear approved academic dress on ceremonial occasions, at official H29 169 interviews with University Officers and members of the academic H29 170 staff.

H29 171 HEALTH H29 172 5. Students, other than those living at home in the district, H29 173 are required to bring their National Health Service Medical Cards H29 174 to Hull and are advised to register with one of the University H29 175 Medical Officers. (Students should note that registering for a H29 176 course at the University has nothing to do with registering with H29 177 the Health Service, which is an entirely separate procedure.) H29 178 Students must inform the Registrar and Secretary, in the manner H29 179 prescribed from time to time, of the name of the doctor in Hull or H29 180 district with whom they have registered.

H29 181 All students are required to send information about their past H29 182 and present health on an approved form before their arrival at the H29 183 University. All students, prior to arrival at the University, are H29 184 provided with a leaflet explaining the facilities available to them H29 185 in the University Health Centre. Students will be called for early H29 186 examination if the Medical Officer considers it advisable. All H29 187 students not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for three H29 188 years immediately prior to coming to the University are required to H29 189 produce evidence of a satisfactory chest X-ray performed not more H29 190 than three months prior to their arrival in Hull. Students unable H29 191 to comply with this are required to attend the University Medical H29 192 Officer within ten days of registration so that alternative local H29 193 arrangements may be made.

H29 194 PARKING AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS

H29 195 6.1.0 General Members of the University staff and H29 196 registered students may bring vehicles or cycles into the H29 197 University grounds and park them there on the conditions specified H29 198 in these Regulations. This permission may be withdrawn at any time H29 199 and does not imply a guarantee that parking space will be H29 200 available.

H29 201 2.0 Liability Persons parking vehicles and cycles in the H29 202 University grounds do so at their own risk and the University will H29 203 not accept responsibility for any loss or damage to them howsoever H29 204 caused.

H29 205 3.0 Applicability The Traffic and Parking Regulations H29 206 apply during both term time and vacations.

H29 207 4.0 Registration Persons regularly parking vehicles of H29 208 any sort within the University grounds must register such vehicles H29 209 with the appropriate member of the Registrar and Secretary's Office H29 210 within one week of the beginning of each session. Any newly H29 211 acquired vehicles must be registered immediately. When a vehicle is H29 212 registered a current parking label will be issued which must be H29 213 displayed on the vehicle.

H29 214 5.0 Traffic

H29 215 5.1 Those driving in the University must observe the traffic H29 216 signs and notices.

H29 217 5.2 Vehicles in the University grounds must be driven in a H29 218 careful and considerate manner at all times. The speed limit for H29 219 all traffic in the University grounds is 10 miles per hour.

H29 220 5.3 The riding of cycles on footpaths and in pedestrian areas H29 221 is forbidden at all times.

H29 222 6.0 Parking

H29 223 6.1 Motor vehicles are not to be left overnight in the H29 224 University grounds without the permission of the Registrar and H29 225 Secretary.

H29 226 H30 1 <#FLOB:H30\>Spongy, morbid and fascinating

H30 2 Kate Saunders views the growing process at the Partnership's H30 3 Mushroom Farm, Leckford

H30 4 It had never occurred to me that people could be passionate H30 5 about mushrooms: in my dictionary, a fungus is defined as a H30 6 "spongy, morbid growth"! But having spent a day at H30 7 the Leckford Mushroom Farm, I can now understand the appeal of the H30 8 tasty fungi.

H30 9 In growing rooms "as busy as the engine room on the H30 10 QEII", according to Mr Michael Ewin, Sales/Administration H30 11 Manager, hundreds of thousands of white or chestnut-brown mushrooms H30 12 sprout from compost, rapidly increasing in size as they feed on H30 13 organic matter.

H30 14 In Mr Ewin's office, pictures of button mushrooms (40-60mm in H30 15 size), and open and closed cup mushrooms adorn the walls.

H30 16 "Mushroooms are one of the most demanding products of H30 17 all," he says. "Although anyone can cultivate them, H30 18 the critical thing is to grow them to meet the demands of the H30 19 market 52 weeks a year. Retailers and wholesalers want quality and H30 20 continuity.

H30 21 "You also have to be able to cope with the vagaries of the H30 22 British consumer - they are unreasonable, and want more mushrooms H30 23 on a Saturday, and very few in the early part of the week, for H30 24 instance!"

H30 25 Timing has to be perfect. Mushrooms start off in a button H30 26 shape, then develop into closed cups. At that point the 'veil', or H30 27 mushroom skin around the edge, breaks and they become open cup H30 28 mushrooms. Then the fungus turns into a large inverted umbrella H30 29 shape. Each stage takes 24 hours, and Leckford growers pick H30 30 mushrooms at the level of development required.

H30 31 Mr Ewin and Dr Bob Ross, Manager of the Mushroom Farm, have to H30 32 be committed to the job. Their products are grown in a controlled H30 33 environment, 365 days a year, and they think nothing of popping in H30 34 to deal with emergencies or simply to check the mushrooms during H30 35 the evenings or even on Christmas Day.

H30 36 Engineers, too, live nearby and are always prepared to rush H30 37 back to the farm if necessary.

H30 38 The sales of mushrooms vary throughout the year, and Waitrose H30 39 is a 'major customer'. Demand for mushrooms is much higher in the H30 40 winter, as people buy large amounts for stews and casseroles. In H30 41 the summer, demand tends to drop slightly.

H30 42 "These days, oyster and shiitake mushrooms are becoming H30 43 more popular as additions to summer salads," says Mr Ewin. H30 44 "I am on the marketing and publicity committee of the H30 45 Mushroom Growers' Association, aiming to promote the consumption of H30 46 mushrooms within the UK. We produce videos, fact sheets and recipe H30 47 leaflets.

H30 48 "In these diet-conscious times, people are responding to the H30 49 fact that mushrooms are about 90 per cent vegetable protein, high H30 50 in amino-acids and low in calories and sugar."

H30 51 Dr Ross and Mr Ewin guided me round the fungoid-smelling H30 52 growing rooms to demonstrate the cultivation process.

H30 53 The compost used for the mushrooms is processed for up to four H30 54 weeks at a local farm before arriving at Leckford. It is then fed H30 55 out of the lorries on to a large yellow 'filling machine' which H30 56 places a continuous slab of compost on to a tough fabric netting H30 57 surface on cables. Mushroom spawn is then planted in the compost H30 58 with special applicators. This spawn is made by specialised H30 59 producers in lab conditions, and when stuck on to grain, looks as H30 60 if the grain fragment is mouldy.

H30 61 The net, now loaded with compost and spawn, is winched into the H30 62 growing rooms, which are closed up. The temperature is set at about H30 63 25C, with high humidity and no fresh air.

H30 64 Dr Ross explains: "The mycelium, or fungi spore, then H30 65 grows through the compost as a white mould. It looks just like H30 66 cotton wool. The mould is the fungus that we want - it's the H30 67 beginnings of the mushroom.

H30 68 "There is an eight-day growth period, and then we put H30 69 neutralised peat on top of the compost and mycelium. The grower's H30 70 skill comes in deciding whether the fungus is at the right stage of H30 71 growth. At this point, we drop the temperature to about 5C, lower H30 72 the humidity and introduce fresh air. This dramatic change triggers H30 73 off the growth of the fungus and mushrooms begin to H30 74 form."

H30 75 Growing stage

H30 76 The largest, and cheapest, raw material used in the operation H30 77 is water. During the growing stage, mushrooms can be discoloured by H30 78 water, but once a 'flush', or batch of mushrooms, is picked, the H30 79 peat is watered heavily over about three days.

H30 80 The growers' first sight before a flush appears is a tiny white H30 81 pinhead, which develops into a larger, dome-shaped head.

H30 82 The Leckford farm is not merely a highly efficient mushroom H30 83 production unit; research is inextricably bound up with the whole H30 84 process, and three smaller growing rooms enable Dr Ross and his H30 85 team to experiment with different conditions which could increase H30 86 the yield of both ordinary and exotic types of mushrooms without H30 87 endangering the crop. A lab is also used to determine the ideal H30 88 degree of moistness in compost.

H30 89 Dr Ross says: "It's said in the industry that once H30 90 you're hooked on mushrooms you're never free of them - and I think H30 91 that's probably true. I wrote my thesis on the subject of producing H30 92 compost for mushrooms 15 years ago, and it is still a much debated H30 93 subject today. Compost is such a complex mixture of organic H30 94 materials, and its make-up can affect your yield of mushrooms H30 95 dramatically."

H30 96 Dr Ross, who has worked at the Mushroom Farm since it opened, H30 97 adds: "Over the years, mushroom yields have been going up H30 98 and up as techniques for growing improve. In the mid-Sixties, a H30 99 pound and a half of mushrooms per square foot was considered to be H30 100 an excellent yield. Now we consider four and a half pounds in the H30 101 same area to be disastrous."

H30 102 Dr Ross will continue his search for the perfect flush. But the H30 103 rest of us may well be more tempted to try a tasty new type of H30 104 mushroom, freshly plucked from a Waitrose shelf.

H30 105 But which type of mushroom, madam?

H30 106 Kate Saunders looks at the characteristics of different H30 107 varieties stocked by Waitrose

H30 108 The biggest-selling mushrooms in Waitrose branches are the H30 109 plain, closed-cup type, while open and flat mushrooms are gradually H30 110 becoming more popular.

H30 111 The more exotic varieties such as oyster, which resemble the H30 112 shape of an oyster shell; shiitake, or 'forest mushroom', which H30 113 grow on certain types of dead or dying trees in the wild; and H30 114 chestnut mushrooms, known for their meaty, strong flavour, are H30 115 slower to catch on with customers.

H30 116 Mr Alan Wilson, Assistant Central Buyer, fruit and vegetables, H30 117 says: "We've introduced a distinctive yellow oyster which H30 118 is milder in taste than an ordinary mushroom and has a soft and H30 119 silky texture. The shiitake variety have quite a strong, almost H30 120 musky, taste. We produced a leaflet on mushrooms about two years H30 121 ago for our customers which included recipes and information about H30 122 the different types. Although people are becoming more educated H30 123 about exotic vegetables and Continental cuisine, they still prefer H30 124 the more traditional mushrooms."

H30 125 Research by the Mushroom Growers' Association indicates that H30 126 agaricus bisporus, the white cap mushroom H30 127 including button, closed cup, open cup and open flat, accounts for H30 128 about 98.6 per cent of sales.

H30 129 Mushrooms are good for you; the shiitake variety were described H30 130 as the 'elixir of life' by early orientals. Mushrooms contain more H30 131 protein than most other vegetables, and are low in calories with H30 132 only traces of sugar. They are also reputed to have diverse medical H30 133 benefits such as the relief of gout symptoms. In common with other H30 134 vegetables, their full nutritional value is obtained when they are H30 135 eaten raw or lightly cooked.

H30 136 Shiitake mushrooms are said to be delicious shallow fried or H30 137 baked in a little butter or oil and lemon juice to preserve the H30 138 aroma and natural juices. They cost more than ordinary mushrooms H30 139 because a crop of shiitake is much smaller than a crop of other H30 140 types of the fungus.

H30 141 Oyster mushrooms are particularly popular in traditional H30 142 Chinese and Indian cuisine. They often grow so closely together H30 143 that they overlap like tiles on a roof.

H30 144 Cultivated oyster mushrooms can be fried, steamed, grilled, H30 145 baked or deep-fried, and have a distinctive flavour. They also H30 146 taste good raw with fresh herbs, yogurt and cream.

H30 147 According to the Mushroom Growers' Association, mushrooms are H30 148 the most valuable horticultural crop grown in the UK. About 9 H30 149 million households bought mushrooms in the 12 weeks ending H30 150 mid-September 1990, and about 1.4 per cent of mushrooms sold are H30 151 exotic varieties.

H30 152 Wild and exotic

H30 153 Wild and exotic breeds of the fungi are popular overseas. In H30 154 Poland, pickers make a living supplying wild fungi to markets. In H30 155 Italy and France, mushroom-seekers wander through the woods in H30 156 search of romantically named species including porcini, H30 157 chanterelles, shaggy inkcaps, puffballs, honey fungus, hedgehog H30 158 fungus and horns of plenty.

H30 159 The difficulty in cultivating wild species often lies in their H30 160 symbiotic relationship with the natural surroundings.

H30 161 In exchange for sugar from the plant, the fungus passes on H30 162 minerals and nutrients it has extracted from the soil. This means H30 163 that the fungus cannot live without the plant. Truffles, for H30 164 instance, are inextricably bound up with the roots of oak trees. H30 165 The French have devised a system of planting oaks in suitable H30 166 places and inoculating their roots with the crop in order to get H30 167 round this problem.

H30 168 Different types of mushrooms grow in different ways. While H30 169 common mushrooms are induced to 'fruit' by being embedded in moist H30 170 peat and chalk, with the humidity and carbon-dioxide concentration H30 171 increased, oyster mushrooms fruit when the temperature is suddenly H30 172 dropped and the light turned up.

H30 173 According to an article in The Economist, selective H30 174 breeding of mushrooms is almost impossible because different H30 175 strains cannot be crossed. One scientist is trying to overcome this H30 176 by injecting genes directly into the mushrooms - although this is H30 177 made difficult by their habit of keeping several nuclei in every H30 178 cell.

H30 179 If you go down to the woods ...

H30 180 Kate Saunders talks to Mr Stanley Carter, retired Director of H30 181 Trading, Food, and mushroom expert

H30 182 A group of villagers knocked on the door, proudly bearing a H30 183 large basket full of mushrooms.

H30 184 "We're just on our way back from the woods, and we H30 185 found these," one of them said. "Perhaps you'd like H30 186 to have a few."

H30 187 Mr Stanley Carter, retired Director of Trading, Food, and H30 188 mushroom expert, glanced at the fungi and told his fellow villagers H30 189 that they'd better come in.

H30 190 A quick look in a reference book confirmed his suspicions. He H30 191 says: "They'd brought enough of that particular species of H30 192 mushroom to poison the whole village. I told them that if they ate H30 193 all those they'd probably die!"

H30 194 These days, mushroom-pickers in the same village of Hemingford H30 195 Abbots in Cambridgeshire always bring their finds to Mr Carter and H30 196 his wife Galina for identification before eating.

H30 197 Mrs Carter says: "There is a French saying that you H30 198 should only accept a mushroom or an identification of a mushroom H30 199 from someone you can trust absolutely!"

H30 200 The couple first became interested in mushrooms when two H30 201 Russian friends pointed out a beautiful wild mauve mushroom on a H30 202 country walk, and suggested that they cooked it. They subsequently H30 203 became members of the thriving British Mycological Society.

H30 204 Although Mrs Carter says her interest in the fungi is purely H30 205 gastronomical, Mr Carter - who first joined the Partnership when he H30 206 was 16 - loves to wander through the woods near their home looking H30 207 under fallen trees and undergrowth for unusual specimens.

H30 208 He is such an expert that he has even had one mushroom named H30 209 after him. It is called Physarum bitanicatum Carter et H30 210 Nann-Brem (N E Nannenga-Bremekamp being a Dutch colleague H30 211 who helped with the discovery).

H30 212 Mr Carter recalls: "I was climbing a mountain in the H30 213 Alps looking for areas where I thought unusual mushrooms might be H30 214 found, when I discovered this specimen. I brought it home, studied H30 215 it and analysed it. The discovery was verified and published. So H30 216 far no one else has found another."

H30 217 Rows of neatly labelled small boxes full of mushroom spores and H30 218 hefty tomes on fungi line Mr Carter's study. He also receives H30 219 correspondence about mushrooms from all over the world and is H30 220 communicating with the Professor of Mycology at Hong Kong H30 221 University about one species.

H30 222