Reading Standards (Hansard, 25 July 1990)

§ Mr. Bowis
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he has taken to establish facts about reading standards among seven-year-olds; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. MacGregor
At my request the Department has sought evidence from a number of local education authorities mentioned in connection with recent reports of falling reading standards among seven-year-olds. Those inquiries have revealed that LEAs do not at present have consistent policies of testing reading skills, nor employ 289W comparable tests. The information made available to my officials in the course of their inquiries is accordingly inadequate either to substantiate or to disprove the claim of a fall in national standards. I will continue to endeavour to get full responses from the LEAs concerned.
The national curriculum will remedy the current lack of national information about reading skills. Under the assessment arrangements of the national curriculum, the reading skills of all pupils will be assessed against clearly defined statutory criteria at the ages of seven, 11, 14 and 16. The first national assessment of seven-year-olds will be in 1991 and take place annually thereafter. These assessments will provide solid and comprehensive national data about pupils' reading standards for the first time in our history.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to implement the recommendations set out in the final document of the third nuclear non-proliferation treaty review conference (NPT/Conf. III/64/I, annex 1) in regard to(a) active involvement of treaty nuclear weapons states in nuclear disarmament negotiations, (b) resumption of negotiations in trilateral and multilateral form towards a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty and (c) support for an international plutonium storage regime under international safeguards.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
(a) We have fully supported both the 1987 INF agreement, and the current United States/Soviet START negotiations. We and our NATO allies confirmed at the London summit that negotiations for reductions in United States and Soviet short-range nuclear forces (SNF) in Europe should begin once a CFE agreement is signed. NATO is also prepared to eliminate all its nuclear artillery shells from Europe, on the basis of reciprocal action by the Soviet Union.
(b) For the foreseeable future, there will be a continuing requirement to test our nuclear weapons to ensure that they remain effective and up-to-date. A comprehensive test ban treaty is therefore a long-term goal, progress to which can be made only on a step-by-step basis.
(c) When the form that such a regime might take was discussed internationally several years ago, it was not possible to reach a consensus. We are prepared to contribute fully to any further discussion.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has concerning free trade in nuclear materials between any country that is a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
Under article IV of the NPT, all partiesundertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful purposes of nuclear energy".
We fully observe our obligations under the treaty.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the extent of Her Majesty's Government's obligations and duties as a depository power under the nuclear290W non-proliferation treaty.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
I refer the hon. Member to articles VIII, IX and XI of the non-proliferation treaty.

Dr. Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many copies of the information briefing note on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, produced in June, have been printed; to what parties it has been distributed; and at what cost.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
A total of 4,083 copies of the background brief were produced. They were distributed to a wide range of academic and other organisations abroad and in the United Kingdom. The document was prepared by officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as part of their normal duties, and it is not possible to allocate an individual cost to its production.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the dates on which the European political co-operation committee's working group on nuclear non-proliferation has met this year and the scheduled dates for any further meetings.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
The non-proliferation working group met on 31 January to 1 February, 3 to 4 April, and 6 July. One further meeting will take place later this year.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the dates of those occasions on which his Department has consulted the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on nuclear non-proliferation since October 1985.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
We have consulted the other depository powers of the non-proliferation treaty on numerous occasions.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will state(a) the membership and (b) the remit, of the three committees that will be formed at the non-proliferation treaty fourth review conference.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
Under the draft rules of procedure for the review conference, agreed at the third session of the preparatory committee, each state party to the treaty participating in the conference may be represented by one representative on each main committee. It may assign to these committees such alternate representatives and advisers as may be required. The remit of the committees will be to consider certain items of relevance to the operation of the NPT over the past five years; other items will be considered in the plenary.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he has given to the implications for (i) the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and (ii) the necessary level of a British minimum nuclear deterrent, of(a) the strategic defence initiative and (b) any British involvement in it; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
The strategic defence initiative is a research programme designed to investigate the feasibility 291W of strategic defences. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and President Reagan agreed in 1984, the overall aim of SDI is to enhance, and not to undermine deterrence. We consider it could contribute to world security and stability.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the three depository powers under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty are willing to accept on-site inspection to verify a ban on all nuclear testing.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
For the foreseeable future, our security will depend on deterrence based in part on the possession of nuclear weapons. That will mean a continuing requirement to test our nuclear weapons in order to ensure that they remain effective and up to date. A comprehensive test ban therefore remains a long-term goal, progress to which will be made only on a step-by-step basis. We cannot comment on the views of the other depositories on this subject.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to discuss with Commonwealth countries the issues to be raised in the fourth review conference of the non-proliferation treaty.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
No.

§ Mr. Strang
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to breaches of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty recorded by monitoring organisations regarding the supply of nuclear material to other states without the required notification in each of the last five years and as to the states involved and the materials in each case.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
None.

Dr. Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have received any notification from any party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty under article VIII of the treaty to amend it; and what information he has as to whether any such notification of amendments has been submitted to the other two depository states to the treaty.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
We are not aware of any notification of proposed amendments.