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Column 711
CampbeltownDumbarton
Greenock
Column 712
KilmarnockPort Glasgow
The information available is set out in the tables.
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Income support/supplementary benefit live load:
|Greenock |Port Glasgow|Strathclyde |Scotland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |6,317 |2,814 |166,426 |294,116
1980 |6f,794 |3,069 |183,629 |320,260
1981 |7,999 |3,704 |221,403 |385,238
1982 |9,812 |4,156 |252,679 |439,419
1983 |9,720 |4,128 |265,180 |461,461
1984 |10,381 |4,541 |283,600 |492,775
1985 |10,705 |4,990 |295,392 |508,970
1986 |12,195 |5,285 |309,578 |543,025
1987 |12,338 |5,369 |315,735 |548,272
1988 |11,423 |4,659 |284,381 |499,890
Income support/supplementary benefit live load:
|Greenock |Port Glasgow|Strathclyde |Scotland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |6,317 |2,814 |166,426 |294,116
1980 |6f,794 |3,069 |183,629 |320,260
1981 |7,999 |3,704 |221,403 |385,238
1982 |9,812 |4,156 |252,679 |439,419
1983 |9,720 |4,128 |265,180 |461,461
1984 |10,381 |4,541 |283,600 |492,775
1985 |10,705 |4,990 |295,392 |508,970
1986 |12,195 |5,285 |309,578 |543,025
1987 |12,338 |5,369 |315,735 |548,272
1988 |11,423 |4,659 |284,381 |499,890
All information has been collated from internal management statistics and that for April 1988 and later is provisional and subject to amendment.
Single Payments
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was (a) the total of all single payments paid by local offices in London, (b) the equivalent figure for only those single payments encompassing items now covered by the social fund, for 1986-87 and 1987-88, (c) the total number of budgeting loans, crisis loans, community care grants paid out in the same catchment area so far for the year 1988-89 and (d) the expenditure represented by (a) to (c).
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Details of the total number and amount of all single payments paid by local offices in the London postal area for the periods 1986-87 and 1987-88 by office are in the Library. All items for which a single payment could be made are available under the social fund, subject to budgetary constraints.
Information on the numbers of applications for social fund loans and grants processed and awarded, listed by local office, including information on budget allocations and expenditure, is also in the Library.
Social Security Programme
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide an analysis of the growth of the social security programme between 1978-79 and 1988-89.
Mr. Scott : Since 1978-79, social security expenditure has increased by 33 per cent. in real terms, from £35.8 billion to £47.6 billion in 1988-89 prices. Just over half of this real growth can be explained by increases in the numbers of beneficiaries for which the social security
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system now provides and one third by increases in the average amounts of benefit paid. The Government's commitment to meeting genuine needs has seen social security spending rise from 25.6 per cent. of public spending in 1978-79 to 31 per cent. in 1988- 89. The main groups benefiting from the growth of the programme have been :-- pensioners : expenditure on the elderly has increased by about £4.1 billion in real terms. This substantial rise in social security spending has taken place at the same time as the rapid growth of occupational and personal pensions and the higher income from savings which many pensioners now enjoy. The result is that pensioners' incomes from all sources have increased by 23 per cent. in real terms between 1979 and 1986.
-- long term sick and disabled : expenditure has grown by 90 per cent. (almost £3.5 billion) in real terms. About half a million more people now receive invalidity benefit than in 1978-79 and there has been a similar increase in the numbers receiving attendance allowance. The numbers receiving mobility allowance have increased fivefold from less than one hundred thousand to more than half a million over the period.
-- the family : total benefit support for the family has increased by 25 per cent. in real terms over the period. Spending on family credit in 1988- 89 is expected to be on target at over £400 million. This is more than double the spending on family income supplement which it replaced.
National Insurance
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the main changes to national insurance benefits and the savings or expenditure which accrued from each change since 1979 in (a) cash prices and (b) 1988 prices.
Mr. Scott [holding answer 22 December 1988] : Since 1978-79, expenditure on national insurance benefits has grown by almost £15 billion in cash terms and by over £2 billion in real terms. For a fuller analysis of the growth in
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expenditure across the whole of the social security programme, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for York (Mr. Gregory) today. The costs and savings which have accrued from the main policy changes to national insurance benefits since 1979 are set out in the table.Column 713
Table file CW890126.023 not available
HEALTH
Salmonella
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the most recent research in relation to salmonella.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : A considerable amount of research is taking place into many aspects of salmonellosis including methods by which the disease is produced in humans and animals and also the manner in which it is spread among food-producing animals and humans.
Pre-cooked Chilled Food
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been given to local councils and environmental health officers concerning the regular inspection of pre-cooked chilled foods with regard to outbreaks of food poisoning.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The regular inspection of food is a matter for local authorities. We have advised chief environmental health officers that end product testing is not an effective means of ensuring the microbiological safety of batches of food. The microbiological control of pre-cooked chilled food is best achieved by good manufacturing and retail practice and the inspection of foods should concentrate on those aspects rather than undertaking extra routine final product testing.
Human Organs (Sale)
Mr. Hayes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to regulate the sale of human organs, including from live donors.
Mr. Freeman : We are totally opposed to the commercialisation of human organs. Recent allegations are being investigated urgently. A report is expected shortly. The Registered Homes Act 1984 provides powers to cancel the registration of private hospitals where
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conduct is in any way improper or undesirable. We are currently consulting Health Service management and the medical profession with a view to implementing a register of organ transplant operations in England. Such a register would help in the investigation of any future allegations.Cre che Facilities
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many district health authorities have cre che facilities for their staff ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Mellor : We do not collect this information centrally.
Medicines (EC)
Mr. Sayeed : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when, pursuant to his answer, 10 January, Official Report, column 614, the data bank containing the prices of medicines in each of the member states of the European Community will be completed ; and if he will use it to obtain more competitive prices for drugs supplied to the National Health Service.
Mr. Mellor : The timing of the work on the data bank will be for the European Commission to decide. I understand that the Commission is considering to what extent they can make use of existing information held by Governments and other bodies, but it will inevitably take some years to cover all medicines available in the Community. Some comparative information may be available earlier. The extent to which any information can be used to influence negotiations on prices of medicines supplied to the NHS will be for consideration at the time.
Emergencies (Private Hospitals)
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will institute of code of conduct for private hospitals to ensure that particularly in the case of emergencies they have adequate equipment and supplies available to treat their patients ;
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(2) what provision his Department makes for the monitoring of private hospitals and their provision of emergency treatment in the case of patients, particularly in regard to the minimum provision of blood supplies.Mr. Mellor : District health authorities are required to inspect each private hospital at least twice a year. Private hospitals have a statutory duty to provide and maintain adequate medical, surgical and nursing equipment and adequate treatment facilities. Blood is supplied to them as necessary by the national blood transfusion service on payment of a handling charge. In 1985, model guidelines were issued to all health authorities under the auspices of the National Association of Health Authorities. These were endorsed by the Department.
Radiation
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, following the release of new information on 1 January on an accident involving the release of substantial quantities of radioactive strontium 90 from the Windscale reprocessing plant at Sellafield in the spring of 1957, he will make it his policy to request the chairperson of the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation into the Environment (COMARE) to re-open his study of the population of west Cumbria and the possible radiation effects.
Mr. Freeman : No. COMARE's report in 1986 already took into account evidence concerning estimated radiation doses to the public over the period 1951 to 1982 including the effects of 1957 releases from Windscale.
Grading
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what analysis his Department has undertaken of the 1988 grading review ; and when he will institute a further review to implement those findings.
Mr. Mellor : The Department has carefully examined the grading returns from regions and districts. We have no plans for a further review of the nurses' grading structure.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appeals against regrading are outstanding (a) in the Nottingham district health authority and (b) in the Trent region ; and when all appeals are expected to have been dealt with.
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold the information requested centrally.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those types of nursing staff categorised by their qualifications who have appealed against their regrading levels, and which have not appealed (a) in the Nottingham district health authority and (b) in the Trent region.
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold the information requested centrally.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current status of the regrading exercise being undertaken (a) in the Nottingham district health authority and (b) in the Trent region ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : All nurses and midwives have been told their new grades and have received arrears of pay at the
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new salary scales from 1 April 1988. Appeals from staff who remain dissatisfied with their grading are being dealt with under a general Whitley council agreement, agreed between management and the trades unions.Listeria
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of listeria monocytgenes bacteria which need to be consumed to cause illness in vulnerable people.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : According to a recent WHO working group, virtually nothing is known about the infectious dose of listeria monocytogenes in man. It is likely that the infectious dose may be related to host susceptibility. The detailed follow-up by the public health laboratory service of cases of listeriosis in the United Kingdom may shed some light on this.
Appointments Panels
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Wakefield, Official Report , 23 January, if he will specify who is responsible for the nomination of the second independent professional assessor ; and what criteria are used when deciding who will sit on a particular appointments panel.
Mr. Mellor : The district health authority itself normally nominates one of the two independent assessors ; the other, as I indicated in my reply of 23 January at column 411 is nominated by the regional health authority. Apart from the requirement for assessors, the constitution of appointments panels is a matter for district health authorities to decide for themselves. The Department does not lay down criteria, and I would expect practice (for example with regard to the size of panels) to vary between authorities.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health who were the two independent professional assessors on the most recent appointment board for the post of district general manager in the Wakefield health authority.
Mr. Mellor : This is a local matter. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the health authority for the information he is seeking.
AIDS
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is available to him on the effectiveness of anti-viral drugs in preventing or delaying the development of AIDS in people who are HIV positive ; and if he will will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor [holding answer 25 January 1989] : No anti-viral drug to prevent or delay the development of AIDS in people who are HIV positive has yet reached a stage at which it is licensed for general use. The most advanced is Zidovudine which is currently undergoing clinical trials to assess its efficacy for this purpose.
Aplastic Anaemia
Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is taking place into the cause of aplastic anaemia.
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Mr. Freeman [holding answer 16 January 1989] : The Department of Health is not funding research into the causes of aplastic anaemia. The main agency through which the Government supports medical and related biological research is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives its grant-in-aid from the Department of Education and Science. I understand that the MRC is always willing to consider soundly-based research proposals for funding, in competition with other applications.
SCOTLAND
Infants (Temperature Monitor)
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department is providing financial or other forms of assistance to any private company in the research or development of an early-warning temperature monitor for human infants.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Scottish Home and Health Department has given no assistance, financial or otherwise, to private companies involved in such research.
Jackton Bridge
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date the contract for the improvement of the Jackton bridge was approved ; when work commenced on site ; when he expects the work to be completed ; what is the latest estimate of the cost of the work and what was the original estimate ; what are the reasons for any delay or cost increase ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : As this improvement concerns a local road, the hon. Member should consult Strathclyde regional council, the local roads authority, about it.
Eaglesham Moor Road
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland who is responsible for removing rubble and rubbish following road improvement work ; who is responsible for ensuring such removal is undertaken ; what is the position on the work undertaken on the Eaglesham Moor road over the past year ; what contractors were involved ; what action he proposes to take to ensure the rubble is removed ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : So far as trunk roads are concerned, it would normally be a condition of the contract that the contractor reinstates the site to its former state. However, the road in question is a local road and I would suggest that the hon. Member consults Strathclyde regional council about the contract for the works.
Rating Reform
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will introduce legislation to seek to amend the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act to specify that the date of birth need only to be collected when there are two or more people living at the same address with the same name and initials.
Mr. Lang : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to do so.
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Nuclear Power Stations (Safety)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any debris from the Pam Am disaster fell on or near to Chapelcross or Calder Hall nuclear power stations ; what safety arrangements there are to protect those power stations from airborne material ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : I am advised by the Dumfries and Galloway constabulary that the nearest debris was found about three miles from Chapelcross and 45 miles from Calder Hall power stations. The debris was located on the perimeter of the wreckage trail and was of a light and wind-borne nature.
For all licensed nuclear sites the operator is required to show that the probability of a damaging impact from airborne debris resulting from aircraft crashes or mid-air disintegration is sufficiently low to support the judgment that no further specific features need to be incorporated into the design of the station to take account of such impacts.
Nuclear power stations are of robust construction. The concrete and steel structures and built-in reactor protection systems give an inherent strength against a number of hazards.
As a further measure the Air Navigation Order Regulations restrict aircraft movement within specified distances of nuclear installations and the Ministry of Defence operates a similar prohibition in the case of military aircraft.
Eggs
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to complete consideration being given to enhancing the status of the two voluntary codes of practice and the set of guidelines issued to the egg production industry in relation to the risks of salmonella infection in eggs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Central (Mr. Lord) on 18 January at columns 214-15. The measures proposed coupled with the voluntary codes of practice underline the Government's commitment to tackling the problem of salmonella.
Health Board Chairmen
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give any elected local government positions held at any time in the past by persons who will be health board chairmen as from 1 April, including their political affiliations.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is as follows :
Chairman of health boards and elected local government positions held
Mr. J. D. Ryan CBE--Argyll and Clyde. Member of Renfrew County Council 1968 -70 ; Greenock Corporation 1972-75 ; and Inverclyde District Council 1974- 77 (Labour).
Mr. W. S. Fyfe OBE--Ayrshire and Arran. Member of Prestwick Town Council 1967-73 ; and Ayr County Council 1970-72 (Conservative). Dr. D. H. Pringle CBE--Borders. None.
Mr. J. A. McIntyre JP--Dumfries and Galloway. None.
Mrs. A. H. Ferguson--Fife. None.
Mrs. J. I. D. Isbister--Forth Valley. Member of Stirling
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District Council 1980-84 (Conservative).Mr. J. Kyle--Grampian. None.
Dr. T. J. Thomson CBE--Greater Glasgow. None.
Mr. J. McWilliam OBE--Highland. None.
Mrs. B. M. Gunn OBE JP--Lanarkshire. Member of Lanark County Council 1970- 74 ; and Strathclyde Regional Council 1974-82 (Conservative). Mr. R. B. Weatherstone TD--Lothian. None.
Mr. J. D. M. Robertson OBE--Orkney. None.
Mrs. F. B. Grains JP--Shetland. Member of Shetland Islands Council 1978-82 and 1986 to present (Independent).
Mr. D. B. Grant TD--Tayside. None.
Mrs. M. A. Macmillan--Western Isles. Member of Stornoway Town Council ; Ross and Cromarty County Council ; and Western Isles Islands Council 1978- 86 (Independent Conservative).
Poultry
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will now make compliance with the code of practice for poultry breeders and hatcheries a condition of the State Veterinary Service's poultry health scheme ; and if he will make a statement on the enforcement costs and other resource implications for the industry of any such changes.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : As from 1 April 1988, membership of the poultry health scheme will be conditional upon compliance with the code of practice for poultry breeders and hatcheries issued in December 1988. Compliance costs will vary according to the extent to which the current practices of companies on such aspects as hygiene and bacteriological monitoring are compatible with those laid down in the code.
Greater Glasgow Health Board
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff are employed by Greater Glasgow health board to monitor the performance of private contractors ; what is their salary range ; and what is their cost in a full financial year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not available centrally.
Southern General Hospital
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what services at the Southern general hospital have been privatised ; what services are currently under consideration for privatisation ; and how many staff would be affected.
NHS (Property and Land)
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the total proceeds from the disposal of National Health Service property and land in (a) Strathclyde region and (b) Scotland as a whole since 1979.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : £10.704 million and £29.231 million respectively.
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is (a) the number of association football matches played at Hampden park, Glasgow, during the 1987-88 season, (b) the total attendance during the season, (c) the
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total arrests in association with these matches, (d) the average attendance per match, (e) the average number of arrests per match and (f) the arrests as a proportion of the attendance.Mr. Michael Forsyth : Queens Park football club and Strathclyde police have provided the information on which the table is based :
Association football matches at Hampden Park, Glasgow
during
season 1987-88
|Number
-------------------------------------------------------
a. Matches played |29
b. Total attendance |314,202
c. Total associated arrests |152
d. Average attendance per match |10,834
e. Average number of arrests per match |5
f. Arrests as proportion of attendance |1:2,067
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