The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 2

THE GUARDIAN Saturday July 13 1991 2 HOME NEWS Government pumping millions into city colleges IHloglh) off ff fc J'JSPnMH I wVWflML XT pva ft UKSEffiHB "HS3P TT it service training of teachers, James Meitcle Education Correspondent much as 70 per cent extra funding, and the 372-pupil Macmil-lan CTC, Teesside, which also opened in September 1989, received 1.2 million, or nearly 60 per cent extra. Dixons CTC, Bradford, with a grant for running costs of 934,700 for 180 pupils in its first year, may be funded at 2 'A times the level it would get if it was financed only on a per capita basis. The Labour Party has demanded further details of funding both for the existing CTCs and for six new ones opening in September. The DES has so far been unable to explain why the Harris CTC, which replaced an existing school in Croydon, south London, seems to be getting 1 million a year more than its predecessor. Officials insist that comparisons on state spending per pupil cannot be fairly made until individual CTCs are fully established.

But the issue is sensitive because the Government has insisted that CTCs, which also get private sponsorship, will not get special treatment. The extra cash for running costs is said to include allowances for administration and other services usually provided by councils, and extra enhancement for new schools. All CTCs get other grants as well, to pay for items such as in- THE newest city technology colleges are being fUnded at 2'A times the rate of some neighbouring schools, it emerged last night. Even the first, set up three years ago, is still getting nearly 25 per cent more cash than local comprehensives to help it grow. The scale of the extra state aid was condemned by Stephen Byers, education spokesman for the Association of Metropolitan Authorities, who disputed government claims that the same top-up money was available to new local authority schools.

"The special support grants available to CTCs are just not available to local authority schools. It is clear discrimination," he said. The Department of Education and Science yesterday confirmed some figures for grants to CTCs this year after refusing to release details earlier in the week. These suggest that the oldest CTC, 690-pupil Kingshurst, in Solihull, West Midlands, got 1.82 million this year, nearly a quarter more than if it was funded at the rate of neighbouring schools. Djanogly CTC, Nottingham, which is two years old, has as Police escort Dutch officers lead Gerard Harte away from a Roermond court, which yesterday cleared him of IRA membership.

Mr Harte, who last week won his appeal against conviction of the murder of two Australian tourists, was arrested in Dublin last night for questioning about alleged firearms offences Jail hostage crisis follows mock exercise with match heads into which a fuse was fitted, probably made from light fittings," the union said. "It was a potent weapon." In Nottingham, two officers were injured after 10 inmates joined a fight started by a prisoner, and at Lindholme prison, Doncaster, four officers were assaulted this week during fighting between inmate gangs. Gang leaders were moved to Lincoln prison, where officers refused to accept them and started an industrial dispute. "We fear the Brixton escape has encouraged prisoners to test the obvious flaws in the security system," the officers' association said. "There will be more discoveries of weapons now the Government has or be examined during a governor's inquiry.

The union has decided to publicise breaches of security after the escape of two IRA suspects from Brixton prison on Sunday and an instruction from Kenneth Baker, the Home Secretary, for governors to increase vigilance. The union said that on Tuesday, a "Marmite bomb" exploded in Exeter prison. Officers found a hole in a cell wall in which shards of glass were embedded. According to the union, the governor instituted the first thorough search for several months, during which another of the bombs was discovered. "It was a Marmite jar stuffed Leaworthy after arranging for an inmate to be absent from his cell.

A full alert was called and staff leave was cancelled. A spokesman for the POA said: "If it had not been for the rash impromptu exercise on Wednesday, which nobody knew about in advance, they would not have had the real incident the next day the first since Full Sutton opened four years ago. "The inmate had to be moved for his own protection to another jail because other inmates wrongly thought he was involved in setting them up. The whole prison was destabilised." The Home Office confirmed the Thursday incident and said the association's theory would John Carvel Home Affairs Editor HOSTAGE crisis at Full nf Sutton maximum secu-larity jail near York was yesterday blamed on a mock exercise 24 hours earlier when psychologists pretended the prison chaplain was in the hands of a missing inmate. The Prison Officers Associa tion said the real incident happened on Thursday when an inmate held a knife to the throat of an officer.

The officer's release took four hours of negotiations. The day before, the psycholo gists had staged an emergency by tying up the Rev John Price of fish blamed for Grimsby factory closure Venues pass security tests for G7 economic summit talks, conferences and Ddeal homes for split level talks Cella Weston Labour Correspondent SLUMP in the demand Mjfor fish fingers and the rincreased price of fish were yesterday blamed by Fin-dus, the frozen food company, for the closure of its Grimsby factory with the loss of 900 jobs. The company said sales of fish fingers had slumped from 1.27 billion in 1987 to 900 million last year. The unions, however, blamed the recession and the Government's failure to agree reasonable EC fishing quotas to protect stocks. This had forced up Main redundancies announced this week Data Company Jobs Area meals and technology development.

When full, the colleges will have between 1,000 and 1,250 pupils, aged between 11 and 18. Their supporters want the Government to be more open about costs so that they can also point out the benefits of innovation and research the new schools are bringing to their areas. There have been 8,000 appli cations tor 2,600 places avail able at CTCs this September. John Major wants the col leges to remain at the top of the Conservatives' education agenda. He says the high application rate for places reflects the rrus tration many parents now feel in their search for excellence But industry has not put as much money into the CTCs as the party envisaged when they were first announced in 1986, so the law is to be changed to allow cheaper alternatives, including some with local author ity money.

There will also be a drive for sponsors to develop curriculum projects which would benefit secondary education as a whole. Several big companies have been reluctant to invest in the CTC programme because they felt it would divert money that would be better spent on all schools. years ago, said production would be switched to its factory at Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, creating more than 100 jobs, and to its plants in Europe. There would be no redundancies at Grimsby until 1992 unless large existing orders were cancelled. Richard Webb, general man ager of Findus UK, said: "Forty per cent of the plant is devoted to fish production and it is already under-utilised and no longer profitable, although we've invested 12 million to try to make it viable." Findus recently closed its fish processing factory at Grimsby with the loss of 100 jobs.

Unem ployment in the town is in ex cess of 10 per cent. Geoffrey Malloy, chairman of the UK Association ot Frozen Food Producers, which repre sents large manufacturers, said fish prices rose by 50 per cent during 1990. The nndus cio sure is symptomatic of what is happening in the hsh sector, he said. The markets for fish products and ready meals were shrinking. Also threatened are 25 badger setts and breeding ponds supporting Britain's five amphibians including the protected great crested newt.

A second report conducted by Test, the environmental consultants, suggests that as 75 per cent of the traffic going through East Grinstead is local, the bypass would be largely ineffective. It recommends the introduction of traffic calming measures and encouragement for people to switch to public transport, cycling and walking. Similar methods could be applied in other areas where the transport department is planning 500 bypass schemes. Death at Pooh Corner and Traffic Calmed Towns are available from the RSNC, 5 each (including co 80 York Way, London, Nl 9AG. Hayward to set up the new independent company.

After several less than starry stage appearances at Cambridge University, Prince Edward seemed set on the traditional military career for royal males. However in 1988 he sent the tabloids into convulsions by abandoning his training for the marines half way through the gruelling course, and joining Mr Lloyd Webber's company as a production assistant, whose duties include making tea for the crews. Despite his junior position he travelled with the company for the Broadway opening of Aspects of Love and was ambushed by reporters into insisting "I am not gay," a denial which made worldwide headlines. When his Civil List allowance was increased from 20,000 to 100,000 Daily Mirror readers voted 40 to one that the prince, unmarried and living in a rent-free flat at Buckingham Palace, was not worth the money. 12 Flndus Foods 11 BBC (Open University staff) Sunday Scot International Distillers Vintners 06 Dunn Co the price of fish.

High interest rates had prevented investment in the industry, they said. Keith Moore, regional organiser for the GMB general union which represents most workers at the plant, said the closure would have a knock-on effect on other businesses in the town and would lead to more job losses. The unions would campaign to make the company change its mind, he said. "There's not been any industrial action, and the workforce has willingly adapted to new technology," he said. "We've done everything the Government says we should do and we're still being closed down." The company, which started up in the Humberside port 30 900 133 50 450 Grimsby Milton Keynes, Bucks Glasgow Harlow, Essex Daventry, Northants Scotland Across the country 250 ender Piatt, home to one of the best examples of valley bog in the forest and the only known location in Sussex of the rare bog moss, sphagnum magellanicum.

Research for the Royal Society for Nature Conservation, a partnership of wildlife trusts, claims the forest's ecology would be seriously affected by the building of the East Grin-stead bypass. "As much of its conservation value lies in the large area involved, it cannot be fragmented or reduced in any way without causing very significant ecological damage," say the researchers in their report, Death at Pooh Corner. The bypass would also damage or destroy 10 ancient woodlands outside the forest and the site of special scientific interest (SSSI) at Weir Wood reservoir. Road threat to Pooh home the Nato headquarters in Brussels. Chris Edwards, the business manager for the QE II, said: "The centre is being used for what it was designed to do." Its unique security provisions continue to attract political party conferences and business annual meetings in spite of the recession.

Income for the last year topped 4.5 million, compared with 1.5 million in 1987. Only after this autumn is the recession likely to catch up with them as more speculative ventures are cancelled. Gorbachev not begging for cash, page City notebook, page 11 PHOTOGRAPH: GRAHAM TURNER rity services to identify exactly who should be allowed where. Lancaster House benefits from the security afforded to its next door neighbour, Clarence House, home of the Queen Mother and the Royal Palace of St James's. It is ideal for the talks and grand receptions associated with the summit with well rehearsed security procedures.

The QE in Westminster is being used for the expected 4,000 accredited journalists and TV technicians. The security services judged that world leaders will be at their most vulnerable here, but the 70 million centre is regarded in Whitehall as being the most secure centre side of Lancaster House which dered a resumption of searches which we said should never have been stopped." Angela Rumbold, the prisons minister, said governors were warned in 1985 about the danger of guns being concealed in footwear. One of the IRA suspects who escaped on Sunday pulled a weapon from his trainers. Mrs Rumbold was replying to a parliamentary question by Barry Sheerman, Labour's home affairs spokesman, who said: "General advice, presumably buried in quarterly security bulletins, was inadequate. This information should have been brought directly to the attention of governors so they could introduce specific checks." grand receptions eled9e despite risk of traffic jams Madeleine Bunting PRESIDENTS and ministers attending summit events will have to arrive in protocol order at two minute intervals.

With London's traffic jams, that is a tall order but Superintendent Peter Bean is a brave man. "Nobody will be late. No one will nave to wait in a traffic jam. No one will miss their place in the order," he insists. Mr Bean, of Scotland Yard's public order branch, is masterminding the convoys of the three heads of state, four prime ministers, and foreign and finance ministers of seven countries as they move between their West End hotels, Lancaster House for the talks, the Queen Elizabeth II centre for the press conferences, and the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street where there are dinners.

Traffic will be held up but he promises no roads will be closed. But woe betide Mr Bean if Mr Mitterrand arrives before President Bush. The French president has precedence because he has been in power longest; he will be the last to arrive and the first to leave. It is the first time, Britain has hosted both the American and the Soviet presidents together but Mr Bean is undaunted. He worked on the Nato summit last year and G7 in 1984 and the arrangements next week are the fruit of months of planning.

He is more worried about the thousands expected to attend the Pavarotti concert in Hyde Park at the end of the month. Way, Leeds LS2 8NZ. in Europe and the United States outside the Pentagon. Originally designed by the Foreign Office to hold the Commonwealth Conference, the top two floors of the 800-room building can be instantly sealed off in an emergency, and airport baggage security checks at the entrance can screen everyone entering the building for weapons. Security is being organised by the Foreign Office but the centre also has its own officer, Group Captain David Reilly, formerly an air attache to the British Embassy in Moscow.

The centre's chief executive Roy Kendrick, is Britain's former military representative at benefits from royal security Wright was the youngest director, there is no doubt that, within a short time of the formation of the company, he was taking a principal role in its legitimate and illegitimate affairs." The ease with which he and four others set themselves up as investment advisers was remarkable, said Mr Sutton. Anyone was fair game in the fraud, which ran for 10 years and as a result of which 300 investors lost their money. Mr Sutton said Mr Wright and Mr Krekis had cheated clients until the company folded last year. Mr Wright took advantage of close friends, including racing driver Peter Sullivan, who lost 90,000. Some 174 clients had submitted claims for 4.7 million.

Stephen Solley, counsel for Mr Wright, said Mrs Strauli had been repaid by Target Group, to which the assurance agent was tied. Mr Wright had ended up with a Ford Sierra and a houseboat, which was repossessed. "There is no nest egg, no yacht and no Swiss bank account." The hearing continues on Monday. David Hencke Westminster Correspondent LANCASTER House and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre are ideal venues for next week's G7 Economic Summit as far as the security service is concerned. Both otter maximum protec tion for world leaders during the talks and when they face the gamut of the international media corps.

The use ot two venues allows the Government to split the talks from the press conferences and briefings, reducing the opportunities for idle gossip and leaks, and helping the secu Fencing around the Green Park Britons' pride of place for relegating work THE British take more pride in their work but regard it as less important than any other nation in Europe, according to a study of 30,000 people. Professor Jan Kerkhofs, of the University of Louvain, Belgium, told a Roman Catholic conference in Liverpool on European value systems that religion and politics ranked low in scale of importance. "In no other country is work rated as low as Britain," said Professor Kerkhofs. Twelve per cent rated it of "little impor tance" compared to a European average of 4.5 per cent. On the Continent good pay (69 per cent) and pleasant work colleagues (63 per cent) were followed by an interesting job (61 per cent) and job security (57 per cent).

In Britain an interesting job (72 per cent) was followed by good pay (68.5 per cent) and a "job in which you feel you can achieve some thing (66 per cent). The conference marks the centenary of an encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on teaching about the world oi work. Director in 4m fraud 'cheated godmother out of Prince Edward's theatre career cut short as recession hits company Daniel John Transport Correspondent SHDOWN Forest, the fic-AJ tional home of Winnie Arathe Pooh, and dozens of other wildlife sites are under threat from Department of Transport plans to build 500 bypasses, according to a report by conservationists. Naturalists say the narrow wooded valleys of the forest, dating back 5,000 years, support rare plants and animals. Nearby is Fernhill and Lav- duo ox? db FREE that is Shining" I An introduction to the Quakers, written in an interesting and readable way, from Q.I.S.

(GU) Friends' House, Euston London NW1 2BJ I Name: I Address: Postcode: BASE RATE With effect from close of business on 12th July 1991 Base Rate is decreased from 11.5 to 11 All facilities (including regulated consumer credit agreements) with a rate of interest linked to Yorkshire Bank Base Rate will be varied accordingly. A YOUNG director whose investment company was involved in a 4 million fraud even cheated his godmother out of more than 400,000, the Old Bailey heard yesterday. Christopher Wright, who was 18 when he began misappropriating clients' investments after he and three other men founded Garston Amhurst in 1980, persuaded Ursula Strauli to allow him to handle her financial affairs. Richard Sutton, prosecuting, said: "He abused her trust and used over 450,000 provided by her to finance his company. She lost something like 443,000." Mr Wright, aged 29, of Brentford, west London; James Kre-kis, aged 33, of Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire; Gordon Davies, aged 32, of Romford, east London; and Andrew Woodhouse, aged 39, of Humby, Lincolnshire, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.

Mr Wright, Mr Krekis and Mr Davies also admitted conspiracy to obtain property by deception, and Mr Wright and Mr Krekis pleaded guilty to obtaining property by deception. Mr Sutton said: "Although Maev Kennedy LAST night Edward Windsor, technical administrator of the Theatre Division, was once again just plain Prince Edward, surviving on a 100,000 Civil List allowance, after the announcement that the theatre production company is closing. His erstwhile boss, Bridget Hayward, said a major backer had withdrawn. "We were too new and our resources too limited to survive one of the worst economic climates and total lack of tourism in the spring. The company's first West End production, The Rehearsal, was a hit, but it sustained losses estimated at over 250,000 on transferring Same Old Moon, by Geral-dine Aron, from Oxford into the West End where it ran for only six weeks to half- empty houses.

Last year Prince Edward was one of half a dozen defectors from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, who followed Ms Yorkshire Bank Head Office: 20 Merrion.