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Mrs. Teresa Graham--Senior Manager, Price Waterhouse, Newcastle. Mr. George Gray--Chairman and Managing Director, Valley Capital Ltd., Carnforth, Lancashire, and Deputy Chairman, Development Commission. Mr. Damon de Laszlo--Chairman, Harwin Ltd., Portsmouth.Mr. Stephen Moss--Managing Director, BCP Parking, and Director, Drakes Restaurant, London.
Mr. Tom O'Connor--Chairman and Managing Director, Elta Plastics, Stockton- on-Tees.
Mrs. Jenifer Rosenberg, OBE--Managing Director, J & J Fashions Ltd., London.
Mrs. Celia Urquhart--Managing Director, CU Data Ltd., Glasgow.
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Mr. Phillip White--Chairman and Chief Executive, WYKO Group plc, Dudley, West Midlands.Exports-Imports Ratio
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the ratio of exports to imports for (a) manufactured goods and (b) all goods and services for each year since 1979 for the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Finland.
Mr. Alan Clark : The available information is in the table.
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|c|Ratio of Exports to Imports, Per cent.|c|
Year |United Kingdom |Federal Republic of|Italy |Spain |Sweden |Finland
|Germany
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manufactures<1>
1979 |104 |165 |166 |124 |119 |123
1980 |112 |161 |138 |119 |115 |113
1981 |108 |169 |160 |124 |126 |129
1982 |101 |179 |165 |119 |122 |132
1983 |89 |167 |178 |126 |127 |124
1984 |88 |167 |161 |143 |129 |134
1985 |90 |172 |158 |134 |125 |130
1986 |87 |170 |150 |95 |129 |122
1987 |86 |166 |136 |78 |116 |112
1988 |79 |<2>. . |<2>. . |<2>. . |<2>. . |<2>. .
Goods and Services
1979 |101 |102 |104 |102 |97 |105
1980 |109 |98 |89 |87 |94 |98
1981 |112 |103 |92 |90 |100 |104
1982 |108 |109 |96 |91 |98 |103
1983 |104 |107 |103 |97 |107 |102
1984 |100 |108 |99 |111 |112 |109
1985 |104 |113 |98 |110 |107 |103
1986 |97 |121 |108 |112 |112 |106
1987 |96 |121 |104 |101 |107 |102
<1>SITC Sections 5 to 8; exports fob, imports cif.
<2>. .=Not readily available.
Source: OECD, Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Student Unions
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a further statement on the progress of his Department's review of student unions.
Mr. Jackson : My Department is nearing completion of its analysis of the responses submitted to its questionnaire. In the light of its findings, the Government will in due course consider what action might best be taken and will then consult all those concerned.
City Technology Colleges Trust
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will specify the dates and amounts of any moneys paid or payable to the city technology colleges trust by way of (a) grants and (b) loans.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : Grant payments have been made to the CTC trust as follows :
|£
----------------------------------------
In respect of the 1987-88
financial year:
6 April 1988 |12,630
25 May 1988 |7,510
In respect of the 1988-89
financial year:
28 September 1988 |17,936
16 November 1988 |18,000
20 January 1989 |1,946
The total amount payable under the grant agreement during the four years 1987-88 to 1990-91 is two thirds of actual expenditure up to a maximum of £200,000.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what amounts of grant Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd. has sought to meet expenditure incurred or to be incurred by it (a) for the purposes of or in connection with, the provision or proposed provision, of educational services in grant-maintained schools or proposed grant-maintained schools and (b) for any other purposes ; and if he will specify those purposes ;
(2) how much loan or grant to Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd. he has approved, or expects to approve.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : When the Education (Grants) (Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd.) Regulations 1989 come into force grant may be paid to Grant- Maintained Schools
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Ltd. for the purpose of or in connection with, the provision or proposed provision, of educational services in grant -maintained schools or proposed grant-maintained schools. Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd. has submitted an application for a grant of £25,000 in the current financial year and £150,000 in the next financial year. Grant support is sought to enable it to provide advice on financial, managerial and educational matters, and related training, to schools which have been approved for grant-maintained status. No decision has been made about this application and it will be considered on its merits.Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the maximum amount of grant, for any purpose, which could be made payable to Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : My Department pays grant to many organisations. We do not set a maximum amount of grant. Similarly, when they come into force my powers to pay grant under the Education (Grants) (Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd.) Regulations 1989 will not lay down any maximum. All applications for grant are considered on their merits.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what financial provision or plans have been made, and in respect of what years, to enable grant to be payable to Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : No specific provision has been made, since no decision to pay grant has yet been taken. If the application for the grant of the Grant-Maintained Schools Ltd. is agreed, funds will be found from within provision made for grants to persons other than local educational authorities for or in connection with education services.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the nature of the educational services in respect of which Grant- Maintained Schools Ltd. may be paid a grant under the Education Reform Act 1988.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I have powers under section 100(1)(b) of the Education Act 1944 as amended by section 213(3) of the Education Reform Act to make provision by regulations to pay grant to persons other than local education authorities in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by them for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision--or proposed provision--of educational services.
Brain Drain
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what evidence he has on the alleged academic brain drain.
Mr. Jackson : Recent movements of full-time wholly unversity financed non-clinical academic staff between universities in Great Britain and employment or study abroad have been as follows :
7
|Inflow |Outflow |Net inflow
-------------------------------------------------------
1980 |276 |249 |27
1981 |183 |203 |-20
1982 |118 |214 |-96
1983 |220 |153 |67
1984 |318 |138 |180
1985 |292 |154 |138
1986 |260 |204 |56
1987 |199 |191 |8
HEALTH
Mental Illness Hospitals
Mr. Fishburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the staffed beds in mental illness hospitals and units in England in 1988 were unoccupied ; and what information he has on the average mental illness hospital bed occupancy rates recommended by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Mr. Freeman : At the end of 1986, the latest year for which occupancy figures are currently available, about 15 per cent. of the available beds in National Health Service mental illness hospitals and units in England were unoccupied. The Department is aware of the Royal College's observations on bed occupancy rates but considers that with the wide variation in service requirements, it would not be appropriate to set general targets for occupancy rates.
Grading
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will list for each regional health authority the number of mental handicap nurses from each of the old grades who have been assimilated to each of the new grades.
Mr. Freeman : We do not hold this information centrally.
Dioxins
Mr. John Browne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement concerning the levels of dioxin traces that he considers both acceptable and safe in sanitary products, tissue, and food products, including packaging.
Mr. Freeman : Research has shown that levels present in these products are extremely low and are likely to present a negligible risk to health. However, the Department's committee on toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment has been asked to advise on the possible health effects from dioxins.
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the waiting list figures for Huddersfield Royal infirmary for each of the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : Since the introduction of the Korner information system in April 1987, we no longer collect waiting statistics centrally for individual hospitals. It would not be practical to collect the more detailed Korner information centrally below district level.
Therefore, of the last five years, figures for 1987 and 1988 cannot be provided centrally ; for these my hon. Friend may wish to write to the general manager of Huddersfield district health authority.
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The figures for the earlier years to which my hon. Friend refers are :Year |Numbers waiting ------------------------------------------------ 1984 |2,924 1985 |2,963 1986 |2,277
Working for Patients"
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his timetable for altering the composition of health authorities, as proposed in "Working for Patients".
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : As soon as possible after the necessary legislation has received Royal Assent.
Cyclotron
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, pursuant to his reply of 19 January, Official Report, column 302, there are to be other costs incurred by his Department associated with the cyclotron at St. Thomas' hospital.
Mr. Freeman : In addition to the £6 million grant we are making to the Cyclotron trust, we shall meet up to 60 per cent. of the direct running costs of the cyclotron insofar as they are not met from other sources.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his reply 19 January, Official Report, column 302, what research documentation and other sources of information were used by his Department before he approved the grant of £6 million to the Cyclotron trust to reach the understanding that neutron therapy that the Cyclotron can provide, can give relief for the effects of certain cancers.
Mr. Freeman : We gave careful consideration to the case presented by the Cyclotron trust, and to a wide range of published material, of which the following are illustrative examples :
Catterall, M. : The treatment of malignant salivary gland tumours with fast neutrons. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, 7 (1981), 1737-1738 ;
Caterall, M., Blake, P. R. and Rampling, R. P. : Fast neutron treatment as an alternative to radical surgery for malignant tumours of the facial area. British Medical Journal, 289 (1984), 1653-55 ; Cohen, L., Hendrickson F., Kurup, P. D., et al ; Clinical evaluation of neutron therapy : current results and prospects 1983. Cancer, 55 (1985), 10-17 ;
Medical Research Council neutron therapy working group : A comprehensive review of the Hammersmith (1971-75) and Edinburgh (1977-82) neutron therapy trials of certain cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, largnx and hypoharynx. Britis Journal of Radiology,59 ; 701 (1986), 429-440.
Elderly People
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he has any plans to extend community care facilities for the elderly ; (2) if he has any plans to ensure that there are a sufficient number of day centres for the elderly to meet current and future need ;
(3) if he has any plans to introduce a charter of rights defining the services and standards of care to which elderly people should be entitled.
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Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The provision of services to elderly people, as to other groups, including daycare is a matter for the statutory authorities locally. They are responsible for deciding the level and extent of services in the light of local needs and the overall level of resources available.
Although centrally we issue guidance to authorities on the discharge of these functions I do not think that it would be helpful if we prescribed in detail the services and standards of care to be provided.
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to ensure that a greater amount of health services resources are directed to the health care of the elderly.
Mr. Freeman : Health authorities are responsible for planning levels of expenditure and services which take into account both local needs and Ministers' aims and objectives, including those for services for elderly people. The Department issues guidance, and must approve plans submitted by regional and special health authorities, but essentially these plans reflect local decisions. Elderly people do, of course, make use of many NHS services, not just those which are dedicated solely to their needs.
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to introduce an independent national inspectorate to oversee all forms of health, social and care services for the elderly.
Mr. Freeman : No. We already receive regular advice and assistance from the health advisory service and the social services inspectorate of the Department.
Community Care
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish statistics indicating the increase in resources devoted to care in the community in each year since 1983 ;
(2) if he will make a further statement on the resources available for care in the community, in particular with regard to schizophrenia sufferers and support for their families.
Mr. Freeman : Resources for care in the community are made available from the main programme expenditure of health authorities and local authorities. The way in which HAs and LAs deploy these resources is a matter for them to decide in the light of local needs and circumstances. Within HA budgets a specific allocation of joint finance is identified for community schemes jointly agreed between HAs, LAs, family practitioner committees and voluntary organisations.
Gross current expenditure figures for personal social services and hospital and community health services, for each financial year since 1983, in cash terms are as follows :
|PSS |HCHS
|£ million£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |2,486 |8,882
1984-85 |2,638 |9,386
1985-86 |2,794 |9,886
1986-87 |3,090 |10,623
1987-88 |3,477 |11,730
Data breaking down expenditure figures by type of spend are available from a number of sources, but because
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of inconsistencies in definition, these data do not allow us to identify separately expenditure on community care although we are giving consideration as to whether it may be possible to do so in future.Of the PSS totals given it is estimated that some 70 per cent. is spent on community care (that is on the cost of community services for all client groups except children). Of the HCHS totals it is estimated that some 10 per cent. in 1986-87, was spent on community health services.
A detailed breakdown of health and local authorities' expenditure for 1987- 88 is not yet available. In 1986-87 local authorities spent (at then current prices) an estimated £44 million on residential care and day centre facilities for mentally ill people, including sufferers from schizophrenia. Other items within overall personal social services expenditure included elements of community care for mentally ill people which are not readily identifiable. In addition, health service expenditure in the same year included £151 million on out-patient and day-patient facilities for mentally ill people. The Department of Health makes a direct contribution under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 by grant-aiding the central administrative costs of a range of voluntary organisations, among which the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, the Northern Schizohprenia Fellowship and the North West Fellowship are particularly concerned with the needs of schizophrenia sufferers and their families.
Food Poisoning
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of notified cases of people infected by (a) salmonella and (b) listeria in each year since 1978.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Laboratory reports of cases of salmonellosis submitted to the public health laboratory service for the years 1978 to 1987 are given in the table. The number of cases for 1988 is not yet available.
|Cases of salmonellosis
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1978 |9,042
1979 |10,380
1980 |9,502
1981 |9,532
1982 |11,041
1983 |13,250
1984 |13,093
1985 |11,172
1986 |14,177
1987 |16,991
The number of cases of human listeriosis reported to the public health laboratory service for these years are as follows :
|Cases of listeriosis
---------------------------------------------------------------
1978 |87
1979 |70
1980 |75
1981 |86
1982 |77
1983 |115
1984 |115
1985 |149
1986 |137
1987 |259
1988 |291
Reports of cases for 1978 to 1982 were submitted by laboratories only ; those for 1983 to 1988 were from laboratories and the public health laboratory service's extended surveillance system.
Foster Parents
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy on mandatory training for foster parents.
Mr. Freeman : We believe that preparation and training is necessary for all foster parents. The recently issued handbook of guidance on the Boarding-out of Children (Foster Placement) Regulations 1988 stresses that local authorities and voluntary organisations should provide intitial preparation and training, specialised training as appropriate and continuing training for foster parents.
Brucellosis and Tuberculosis
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department has concerning the infection of humans with brucellosis or tuberculosis through the consumption of green top milk ;
(2) what information his Department has concerning the incidence of brucellosis in humans.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : During the ten year period 1978 to 1987, 244 cases of brucellosis in humans were reported by laboratories in England and Wales to the public health laboratory service communicable disease surveillance centre. A total of 146 of these were presumed to have contracted their infection in the United Kingdom and the number of these indigenous cases over the decade declined from 34 in 1978 to eight in 1987.
Of the 146 presumed indigenous cases of brucellosis referred to, seven were known to have consumed raw milk, and the most recent of these was in 1982.
We have no information available on cases of bovine tuberculosis possibly connected with the consumption of unpasteurised milk.
Medicines Control Agency
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the proportion of unfilled posts of recruitment grade of professional pharmaceutical posts within the Medicines Control Agency ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what are the likely effects on the works of the Medicines Control Agency of relaxation of the experience requirement on new recruits to the agency ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : Around half of the recruitment grade of professional pharmaceutical posts are unfilled at present.
Medicines division, which will become the Medicines Control Agency from 1 April 1989, has recently advertised for candidates to fill vacancies in the agency concerned with the assessment of the quality of product licence applications. To widen the field, qualifications in both
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pharmacy and sciences related to pharmacy have been asked for. This does not mean there will be any relaxation in the standards of ability and experience that successful candidates will be required to possess. After the necessary training has been given, the overall effect of filling the vacancies will be to shorten the time needed by the licensing authority to assess the quality of product licence applications.Pharmaceutical Products
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average length of delay in the issue of approvals for pharmaceutical products on application ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The mean average time to grant product licences for established drug substances for the 12 months ending 31 December 1988, the latest date for which statistics are available, was 15 months. The corresponding time for new active substances was 21 months. These periods include the time taken by applicants to respond to inquiries from Medicines Act section 4 committees of the licensing authority.
Listeria
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, in order to reduce the risk of listeria, he will take steps to introduce legislation to ensure that the permitted length of refrigeration of cooked food is limited to the shortest possible time.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 13 February 1989] : The length of time for which cooked products may be kept depends on a number of things such as the type of cooking process, packaging, preservatives etc. It is not possible to lay down one single period of shelf life which would be appropriate for all these products.
Ambulance and Blood Transfusion Services
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria he proposes to lay down for regional health authorities to decide whether (a) blood transfusion and (b) ambulance services should be contracted out to the private sector.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 14 February 1989] : We have no plans to contract out the blood transfusion service. With regard to the ambulance service, we published a scrutiny report on the non-emergency sector of the ambulance service in April 1984 when we said that it was open to district health authorities to buy-in part of the ambulance service from the private sector if that is more cost effective and provided the quality of service was maintained. Many NHS ambulance authorities already use private contractors, the hospital car service and voluntary aid societies to transport appropriate NHS patients. This has been the case for many years and helps to ensure that skilled ambulance crews and specialist vehicles are used for those who need the special care and attention which they can provide.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement about the future of the blood transfusion service under the proposals in the Government's White Paper on the National Health Service.
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Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 14 February 1989] : The blood transfusion service will continue to be an integral part of the National Health Service. Its organisation at national and supra-regional level will remain essentially as now, save that operational responsibility will rest with the NHS management executive in succession to the NHS management board. Services below this level are mostly organised on a region-wide basis. Regional health authorities will be asked, in line with paragraph 2.8 of the White Paper, to review these services and to ensure that they are in future managed in the most cost-effective manner and consistent with the wider management changes that are being introduced in the National Health Service.
Lead Pollution
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received a report from the Government researchers based at Warren Springs on lead in the air in Cardiff ; what significance he places on the latest available figures for Cardiff ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Roger Freeman [holding answer 16 February 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
ENVIRONMENT
World Climate Conference
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for (a) departmental input and (b) consultancy input to the world climate conference in June 1990.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The principal United Kingdom input to the world climate conference will be through the Meteorological Office although representatives from the Department are also likely to attend. The Department is commissioning scientific work in this area through its air pollution research programme and if relevant the scientists responsible will be encouraged to submit papers.
Football
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to meet representatives of football supporters clubs ; and what matters will be discussed.
Mr. Moynihan : I met representatives of the National Federation of Football Supporters Clubs and the Football Supporters Association on 6 December and offered to meet them again to discuss the Football Spectators Bill as it progresses through Parliament.
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which Football league grounds he expects to visit in an official capacity in the near future.
Mr. Moynihan : I intend to make a number of visits to football grounds over the next few months. Details of these visits will be finalised shortly.
Halon
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy with regard to changing
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the Montreal protocol to restrict the production of halon 1301 and encourage the use of halon 1211 to combat air pollution.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Government's policy is set out in paragraph 8.10(iii) of their reply to the first report from the Environment Committee, session 1987-88, HC 270-1 "Air Pollution" published in December 1988 (Cm. 552).
Greenhouse Effect
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent he has implemented the Environment Committee's recommendations with regard to chlorofluorocarbons, the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect ; and what further measures he intends to take.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Government's reply to the committee's recommendations was published in December 1988 (Cm. 552).
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