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Mr. Lang [holding answer 20 January 1989] : The information required is as follows :
Chairman/Deputy Chairman
David W. Mitchell CBE
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Appointed Member 1 January 1985-31 December 1986Appointed Chairman 1 January 1987-31 December 1990
Tom M. Barrie JP
Appointed Deputy Chairman 1 January 1979-31 December 1982 Re-Appointed Deputy Chairman 1 January 1983-31 December 1986 Re-Appointed Deputy Chairman 1 January 1987-31 December 1989 Members
Professor John A. Dawson BSc PhD
Appointed 1 January 1987-31 December 1989
Gerard McElroy Esq
Appointed 1 January 1987-31 December 1990
Provost Rosemary McKenna
Appointed 1 January 1985-31 December 1988
Re-Appointed 1 January 1989-31 December 1992
T. Eric Miller Esq MA CA JP
Appointed 1 January 1985-31 December 1988
Re-Appointed 1 January 1989-31 December 1990
John S. Moreland Esq BSc MI MechE
Appointed 1 February 1976-31 December 1978
Re-Appointed 1 January 1979-31 December 1982
1 January 1983-31 December 1986
1 January 1987-31 December 1989
Patrick Lockett Esq
Appointed 1 January 1989-31 December 1991
John M. Simpson FRICS FCI Arb
Appointed 1 January 1983-31 December 1986
Re-Appointed 1 January 1987-31 December 1990
Development Corporation Houses
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses from development corporation stock have been sold in each of the new towns since vesting day, expressed as a percentage of the total stock.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 20 January 1989] : the information is set out in the table :
|Total stock |Total sales |Percentage sales
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Kilbride<1> |22,585 |9,794 |43.4
Glenrothes<1> |12,095 |5,216 |43.13
Cumbernauld<1> |21,063 |6,857 |32.6
Livingston<2> |12.120 |2,780 |22.9
Irvine<1> |5,264 |1,016 |19.3
<1>As at 31 December 1988.
<2>As at 30 September 1988.
HEALTH
Food Poisoning
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on food poisoning attributed to chickens and eggs in the 12 months to December.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : There were over 12,000 isolations of salmonella enteritidis, phage type 4, reported to the public health laboratory service in 1988. This was more than double the number reported in 1987. Other salmonella serotypes did not increase comparably. PT4 is associated predominantly with poultry and eggs and the number of food poisoning outbreaks linked to eggs also showed a marked increase in 1988. Provisional data now available show that up to the end of 1988 there were 60 outbreaks of salmonella food poisoning involving about 1,600 people in England and Wales attributed to the consumption of eggs. These figures probably underestimate the number of people affected.
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I will reply separately on outbreaks of food poisoning associated with chickens.Meningitis
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about recent cases of meningitis in the area of the North Derbyshire health authority.
Mr. Freeman : The provisional numbers of cases notified to the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys for 1988 are as follows :
|Total |Rate per 100,000
|population
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England and Wales |1,309 |2.61
Trent RHA |110 |2.37
Derbyshire County
(nearest area available |12 |1.31
Notifications of meningococcal meningitis normally rise to a peak during the winter months, and the disease also appears in unexplained "clusters" of cases.
Dental Health
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Health Education Authority has for an advertising campaign designed to improve the dental health of the nation ; and if he will ensure that any campaign takes account of the recommendations shortly to be made by the COMA committee on sugars and diseases.
Mr. Freeman : Following publication of the White Paper "Promoting Better Health" the Government have made funds available to the Health Education Authority to run a pilot campaign to promote dental health in the north-west. It is likely that the campaign will be under way before the recommendations of the COMA panel on dietary sugars are published, but they will be taken into account in any further development of the campaign.
Medical Physicists and Scientists
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to review policy on pay settlements for medical physicists and scientists ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : Pay of National Health Service scientists, including physicists, is a matter for negotiation between the management side of the scientific and professional staffs council, and the staff side representing these groups.
Physicists
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to issue directives to health authorities on the levels of medical physicists required to meet the demands of the number of patients and the amount and type of equipment in use.
Mr. Mellor : No. These matters are for individual health authorities.
Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Radiotherapy)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to ensure that the disciplinary procedures taken by the regional health authority after the
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incident in the radiotherapy department at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital are adequate, and that all persons culpable have been disciplined.Mr. Mellor : Responsibility for operating disciplinary procedures and determining action in individual cases is for the employing health authority.
Cook-Chill Food
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken to ensure that the non-statutory controls to which hospital cook-chill catering is subject are sufficient to ensure the proper protection of public health.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Health circular HC(86)14 sets out the requirements for hygiene that we expect health authorities to achieve on their premises. More specific guidance is given in the Health Service catering hygiene manual which requires health authorities to consult appropriate experts before a cook-chill system is introduced. I know of no cases so far reported where those requirements have not been observed and public protection not secured in National Health Service hospitals using cook-chill catering.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action he is taking to ensure there is a legal requirement for retail cook- chill food to be kept refrigerated at appropriate temperatures throughout the period of its production, distribution, storage and sale ;
(2) if he has any plans to extend the provisions of regulation 27 of the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations to cover other foodstuffs which require to be kept under strict temperature control.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The food hygiene regulations are currently under review as part of the review of the Food Act 1984. We are considering the wider application of the temperature controls in regulation 27 of the regulations as it applies only to catering premises at the moment.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has that listeria which is not eliminated by the first cooking of food can recover and multiply under refrigeration and not be destroyed by the final reheating.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Should listeria survive because of inadequate cooking, correct refrigerated storage will prevent any significant growth. Evidence clearly indicates that inadequate temperature control is one of the main contributory factors in outbreaks of food poisoning from any of the causative organisms. It is therefore important that good practice is observed at all stages of food production and distribution.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department have taken comprehensively to assess the significance of listeria in National Health Service cook-chill systems.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : An expert group recently reviewed my Department's guidelines for pre-cooked chilled food catering in use in the NHS and elsewhere. The group concluded that provided the guidelines are closely followed, the meals produced will be safe and microbiologically sound. My Department will continue to assess the results of studies into various aspects of listeriosis.
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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the evidence he received between publication of the 1970 guidelines on cook-freeze catering and publication of the subsequent 1980 guidelines which led him to reconsider his policy on the appropriateness of cook-chill food for community catering.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Advances in catering technology in the 1970s indicated that a cook-chill catering system could be safely operated on a large scale. An expert group considered that these technological advances in, for example, blast chilling, allowed such a system to be properly controlled in terms of the times and temperatures required to produce microbiologically sound food. The 1980 guidelines give detailed recommendations to help ensure this.
General Managers
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is normal practice for his Department to be represented on the appointment boards for district health authority general manager posts.
Mr. Mellor : No. Normal practice is for the district health authority to convene an appointments board consisting of its chairman, a small number of members, and two independent professional assessors, one of whom is nominated by the regional health authority.
Post Codes
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many post code areas contain three householders or less ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The information is not available. No record is held centrally of the number of households in each unit post code. The number of delivery points in each unit post code is held by the Post Office, but a delivery point may serve more than one household.
Primary Health Care
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take to raise standards of primary health care and make services more responsive to the needs of the consumer.
Mr. Mellor : The proposals in the White Paper "Promoting Better Health" are designed to do this. For example, in the case of family doctors, changes to the terms of service and remuneration system will encourage doctors to raise standards nearer to those of the best practices and to make services more sensitive to the needs of the consumer. Training and teamwork in primary care will be developed and improved. Health promotion and the prevention of disease will be a priority. We will also strengthen family practitioner committees' management role with the aim of ensuring continued development in the provision of cost-effective family practitioner services which are responsive to patients. More information will be made available to consumers about services and practitioners in their area. The procedures for making complaints against practitioners will be simplified, and existing restrictions on changing doctor will be removed.
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Wagner Report
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action has been taken by his Department in response to the recommendations made in the Wagner report "Residential Care : a Positive Choice".
Mr. Mellor : The report of the committee chaired by Lady Wagner brings together a number of issues which affect the well-being and quality of life of people in residential care.
Some of the recommendations in the report relate to the matters dealt with in Sir Roy Griffiths' report on community care and are being considered in that context. Others are clearly addressed primarily to local agencies, statutory and independent, providing care and we hope they are giving full consideration to the action they can take within the resources available. Finally, there are certain recommendations which might usefully be followed up centrally within the current statutory framework, including such matters as the registration and inspection of homes, complaints procedures, contacts between residents and local communities, the supply of information for users and standards of care. We are considering promoting activity in these fields. The report also draws attention to the importance of training for people working in homes. Those recommendations are being considered in relation to the strategy we are now developing to improve training for all personal social services staff.
Paracetamol
Mr. Hayes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will refer to the Committee on Safety of Medicines the matter of risks to vegetarians of the use of paracetamol.
Mr. Mellor : We have no evidence to suggest that vegetarians using paracetamol suffer any increased risks provided that they eat a well- balanced diet. It is important that they and other paracetamol users follow the dosage instructions set out on the label.
Mental Health Review Tribunals
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health review tribunals were held (i) in the five years preceding the enactment of the Mental Health Act 1983 and (ii) in all subsequent years for which he has information (a) in special hospitals and (b) in other mental hospitals and units.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is held centrally but is not readily available in the form requested. I will reply to the hon. Member shortly.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the mental health review tribunals held in special hospitals, other mental hospitals and units, arose as a result of (a) requests from patients and (b) as a consequence of statutory procedures under the Mental Health Act.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the mental health review tribunals held since 1983 were (a) under section 2 of the Mental Health Act, (b) under section 3 of the Mental Health Act and (c) under other sections of the Act.
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Mr. Freeman : The information is not available in the form requested but the table shows, for each year 1983 to 1987, the number of cases determined in respect of (i) patients detained under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 ; (ii) other non-restricted patients and (iii) restricted patients.
Mental health review tribunals
Cases determined (all hospitals)
|Section 2 patients |Unrestricted patients|Restricted patients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |125 |914 |773
1984 |711 |635 |787
1985 |890 |800 |713
1986 |918 |1,178 |733
1987 |1,061 |1,108 |759
SOCIAL SECURITY
Pensioners (Nottingham)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners in Nottingham are (a) financially better off and (b) worse off after the social security changes in April.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that statistically reliable estimates for Nottingham cannot be provided.
Income Growth
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will state the average growth in incomes in each of the last 10 years of (a) households in the bottom decile group and (b) pensioner households in the bottom decile group of pensioner households.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that figures are not available on the requested basis.
Benefit Claimants (Living Standards)
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what research his Department has commissioned or carried out on or related to the living standards of claimants or the adequacy of the scale rates of supplementary benefit or income support in each year since 1979.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There have been two major surveys on living standards during the period. "The Survey of Living Standards During Unemployment" was commissioned in 1983 and is to be supplemented by a case study, "The Living Standards of Thirty (Unemployed) Families", commissioned in 1987. "The Financial Circumstances of Disabled Households--Report Two of the OPCS Disability Survey" was commissioned in 1985.
A number of related studies have also been carried out during the period. These are, by date of commissioning : 1978, "For Richer for Poorer", a DHSS cohort study of unemployed men ; 1979 (publication date) "Social Security Research--The Definition and Measurement of Poverty", the report of a seminar ; 1981, "Study of the 1980 Reform of Supplementary Benefit" ; 1986, "Elderly Claimants in Residential Care and Nursing Homes" ; 1986, DSS in- house study of the incomes and expenditure of disabled people using data from the family expenditure survey.
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In addition, the Department has had the benefit of several studies on these subjects, commissioned by other organisations.Availability for Work Test
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time taken by an appeal from a claimant denied benefit because of the availability for work test ; and what proportion of these appeals is successful.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : For the quarter ended 31 March 1988, the average length of time was 22 weeks. A total of 36.6 per cent. of appeals were found in the appellants' favour.
Benefits (Lothian Region)
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the number of claimants in (a) the Edinburgh Leith local office and (b) at each of the other local offices in Lothian region (i) who received a transitional addition at April 1988, (ii) who have lost this since due to a change in circumstances, giving the average amount lost, (iii) who will lose protection at April 1989, and (iv) who will at that stage still be receiving some element of protection, giving average payments, showing in each case those required to register, those not required to register, and pensioners ;
(2) what is the number of 16 and 17-year olds at (a) the Edinburgh, Leith local office and (b) each of the local offices in Lothian region who (i) lost benefit on 12 September 1988 and (ii) had at that time been on benefit since prior to April 1988, broken down by those who had
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been classed as (1) householders and (2) non -householders ; and how many of these people have (x) not so far been placed on YTS, or (y) have been refused a place on a YTS scheme due to their or its unsuitability.Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that the information requested is not available.
Local Pay Additions
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the number of staff, by grade, in receipt of local pay additions outside London and the south-east economic planning region ; what were the different amounts paid to staff by grade ; whether this sum varies due to location ; what qualifying period of scale-related criteria is used ; and whether this varies by location.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : There are no Department of Social Security staff in receipt of local pay additions outside London and the south-east economic planning region.
Income Support
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people are claiming income support in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) England ; what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979 ; and what was the actual percentage increase between the figures for 1979 and the latest figures ;
(2) what proportion of people living in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) England is dependent upon income support ; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
Mr. Scott : The information for Great Britain is as follows :
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Includes claimants, their partners and dependent children. Source for both tables :
1979-1987 Annual Statistical Inquiry.
1988 May Quarterly Statistical Inquiry.
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Table file CW890123.026 not available
Information for Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
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