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Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the latest figures for the number of staff presently employed, and the full complement of staff including vacant posts, by grade, in the statistical divisions in the Central Office of Information ; if he will differentiate between staff in statistical posts and staff in administrative posts ; and if he will give the staffing complements by grade, and differentiate between statistical and administrative posts, proposed for 1989-90.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 March 1989] : The Central Office of Information does not have statistical divisions or staff in statistical posts ; nor are any proposed for in 1989-90.
Civil List
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the total amount payable under the Civil List Acts to the royal family in the calendar years 1988 and 1989.
Mr. Lawson : The information on amounts payable to the royal family in the present and previous year is as follows :
|1988 |1989
|£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Queen's Civil List |4,500,000|4,658,000
HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen
Mother |390,300 |404,000
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh |217,700 |225,300
HRH The Duke of York |86,500 |155,400
HRH The Prince Edward |20,000 |20,000
HRH The Princess Royal |135,600 |140,400
HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess
of Snowdon |132,100 |136,700
HRH The Princess Alice, Duchess of
Gloucester |53,500 |55,400
HRH The Duke of Gloucester |106,300 |110,000
HRH The Duke of Kent |143,500 |148,500
HRH Princess Alexandra, Hon. Lady
Angus Ogilvy |136,800 |141,600
|------- |-------
Total |5,922,300|6,195,300
Refunded by Her Majesty The Queen |386,600 |400,100
|------- |-------
|5,535,700|5,795,200
HOME DEPARTMENT
Work Permits
183. Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the position on the granting of work permits to husbands of Commonwealth exchange teachers working in schools in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : Under the immigration rules, the husbands of women admitted to the United Kingdom as Commonwealth exchange teachers cannot themselves be admitted to take employment unless they qualify in their own right--for example, by obtaining work permits in accordance with the usual criteria. I am, however, considering whether husbands should be admissible, with freedom to take employment, on the basis that their wives are being admitted as Commonwealth exchange teachers.
Court Service (Clerks)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has about the number of justices' clerks, their deputies and court clerks in the magistrates courts service who have left the service to take up similar positions with the Crown prosecution service.
Mr. John Patten : I understand that at the end of February there were 278 court clerk vacancies in England and Wales. The number of court clerks who have taken up appointments with the Crown prosecution service during the previous year is not available except at disproportionate cost, but is due to be collected shortly. Information about justices' clerks and their deputies has not so far been available separately, but we propose to collect it.
Women's National Alliance
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the decision to refuse a grant to the National Alliance of Women's Organisations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : My right hon. Friend has received 26 representations and, having considered the points that they have made, can see no reason to change his decision that the Home Office should not make a grant to the proposed national alliance.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what applications he has received for the funding of a women's national alliance ; whether he has reached a decison on any such application ; and whether he will be taking into account existing funding provided to bodies representing women's interests in reaching his decision.
Mr. John Patten : The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has applied for a grant for a new National Alliance of Women's Organisations. My right hon. Friend has decided that funds should not be made available for the organisation. In reaching a decision he took account of existing funding provided to bodies representing women's interests.
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Entry Applications
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each country (a) the number of applications to enter the United Kingdom for marriage under paragraphs 41 and 46 of the immigration rules and (b) the number of refusals of such applications in (i) 1987 and (ii) 1988.
Mr. Renton : The information requested on fiance (e)s (paragraph 41 of the immigration rules) and spouses (paragraph 46) applying for entry clearance to the United Kingdom is available centrally only for those countries specified in the following table.
|c|Fiance(e)s and spouses applying for entry clearance|c|
|c|to the United Kingdom|c|
|c|Number of persons|c|
Applications
Country |Newly received<1> |Granted<2><3> |Refused initially<3>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladesh
1987 |1,720 |1,180 |250
1988<4> |1,270 |1,000 |280
India
1987 |3,450 |2,520 |890
1988<4> |2,290 |2,030 |610
Pakistan
1987 |5,370 |3,060 |940
1988<4> |4,040 |2,530 |730
Hong Kong
1987 |320 |250 |10
1988<4> |230 |210 |<5>-
<1> Including applications subsequently withdrawn.
<2> Granted initially or on appeal.
<3> These applications may have been received in an earlier period.
<4> January to September.
<5> 5 or fewer.
Telephone Survey
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how people who took part in the recent Home Office telephone survey relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales were chosen.
Mr. John Patten : Those interviewed in the recent Home Office telephone survey were chosen from listings of randomly generated England and Wales telephone numbers. This maintained the confidentiality of the name and address of the respondent. The sample in England and Wales--2,000 men and women--was chosen to be a representative cross-section of those aged 16 or over.
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether surveys similar to the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales have been conducted under its auspices in the past.
Mr. John Patten : Surveys similar to the recent telephone survey have been conducted in the past under Home Office auspices, though this is the first occasion on which telephone interviewing has been used. Other surveys have used face-to-face interviewing with similar questions asked. The British crime survey was conducted in England and Wales in 1982, 1984 and 1988 (and in Scotland in 1982
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and 1988). The Home Office has also commissioned surveys to measure criminal victimisation at the more local level. Telephone interviewing was used in the current survey because it was less expensive than face-to-face interviewing, but mainly because it allowed greater standardisation of field work methods across the participating countries.Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the questions that were asked in the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.
Mr. John Patten : The questionnaire contained questions about respondents' experience of eight crimes--vehicle theft from, bicycle theft, theft vehicles, vandalism to vehicles, burglary, thefts of personal property, robbery, and assault. Additionally, women were asked about sexual assault. Other questions asked included fear of crime, satisfaction with local policing, and crime prevention behaviour. Some social-demographic information was also collected.
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.
Mr. John Patten : The Home Office research and planning unit (who acted as co-ordinator for the survey in England and Wales, and to whom respondents were referred if they had any queries) received about 50 calls from people who were either interested in confirming that the survey was bona fide, or wished to know why questions on household security had been asked. No one in England and Wales complained directly about the sexual assault question. One person wrote to the Home Office for confirmation that the interview she had given was part of a survey which the Home Office had commissioned.
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the purpose of the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.
Mr. John Patten : The survey in England and Wales was conducted as part of an international exercise in which 15 countries have so far taken part. The countries are mainly those from the European Community, though the United States, Canada and Australia have also participated. Because of problems in comparing levels of crime across countries using information on recorded crime, the international survey used an identical questionnaire and highly standardised sample selection and field work methods to provide a comparable measure of levels of victimisation. Sexual harassment was one of nine forms of victimisation which women in the same were asked about. The survey also aims to compare attitudes to and responses to crime in the different countries.
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps were taken to protect the confidentiality of respondents to the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.
Mr. John Patten : The names and addresses of those interviewed in the recent telephone survey on crime in England and Wales were not known to interviewers as they
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were contacted through randomly generated telephone numbers. The Home Office do not know (and will not know) which telephone numbers were called. The full confidentiality of the information obtained was explained by the interviewers to potential respondents before seeking their agreement to take part.Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what qualifications the people who carried out the recent telephone survey by the Home Department relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales had.
Mr. John Patten : Interviewers in the company which conducted the recent telephone survey in England and Wales (and Scotland) are experienced in interviewing for research purposes. They had undergone a full training programme for telephone interviewing and operate under the Market Research Society's code of conduct. There was also a full briefing for interviewers by a female Home Office survey expert in which the special features of this survey were emphasised.
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps were taken to ensure that respondents to the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales were made aware of the voluntary nature of the survey.
Mr. John Patten : The interviews were carried out according to the Market Research Society's code of conduct which requires that respondents must be made aware of the voluntary nature of all surveys. Respondents were allowed the opportunity to decline to take part before the interview began. Respondents were also given the opportunity to check that the survey was bona fide. In England and Wales, one person in two declined to take part in the interview.
Police Officers
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to how many police officers have (a) applied for a transfer from the Metropolitan police to provincial forces since 1 January and (b) had their applications approved ; and what were the comparable figures for the year ended 31 December 1988.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I understand from the commissioner that of the 201 applications for transfer received since 1 January 1989, five had been accepted by 10 March. In 1988, 464 applications were received, of which 92 had been accepted by 31 December, and a further 82 have been accepted since.
Broadcasting Levy
Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is yet in a position to announce the revised broadcasting levy arrangements for the period 1990 to 1992.
Mr. Hurd : Full details of the new levy arrangements will be published in the Finance Bill. A levy rate of 10 per cent. will be applied to net advertising revenue for each ITV company after their fourth channel subscription and a £15 million "free slice" have been deducted. A levy rate
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of 25 per cent. will then be applied to the net domestic profits for each company after the advertising revenue levy and a £2 million "free slice" have been deducted. There will be no levy on profits from overseas sales.HEALTH
Salmonella
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will give a member of the public suffering from salmonella poisoning the identity of the source of their infection when it is known to his Department.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : My Department is not the source of such information. The local authority environmental health department has primary responsibility for investigating cases of food poisoning. Any requests for information relating to such cases should be directed to the medical officer for environmental health of the appropriate authority.
Waiting Lists
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the average waiting times for the following operations at each of the hospitals in the Trent regional health authority (a) hip replacements, (b) knee replacements, (c) hernias, (d) cataracts, (e) ear, nose and throat, (f) varicose veins, and (g) gynaecological ; if he will show in his answer comparative figures for five and 10 years ago ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : We do not collect waiting time information centrally for individual hospitals. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the Trent regional health authority, who may be able to provide this information.
Mr. Knox : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the waiting list statistics for September 1988 are yet available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : I have today published a statistical bulletin giving details of numbers of in-patients and day cases on the NHS hospital waiting lists for the six months which ended on 30 September 1988. On a comparable basis with earlier figures, there were 691,100 patients on the in-patient waiting lits for England at 30 September last year. This is a slight increase on the figure for March 1988, although it is still more than 8 per cent. lower than in March 1979. During the six months in question 941,400 in-patients and 359,200 day cases were treated from the waiting lists. For in-patients and day cases treated, the median waiting time was estimated to be around five weeks--a period which we have managed to sustain since March last year, in spite of the fact that the NHS is now treating more patients than ever before.
General Practitioners (Contracts)
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has made to the general medical services committee to safeguard the earnings of general practitioners in the transition of any new general practitioner contract.
Mr. Mellor The GMSC negotiators were sent proposals for transitional arrangements associated with changes in
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the GPs' remuneration system on 27 February. Those proposals formed part of confidential discussions with the GMSC negotiators and I have no plans to disclose the details at this stage.Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what new money is being made available to ease the transition to any new general practitioner contract.
Mr. Mellor I refer my hon. Friend to the White Paper "Promoting Better Health" (paragraph 2.6) which states : "the Government are prepared to invest substantial extra resources into those parts of the FPS where they are most needed, in order particularly to develop positive health promotion activities, raise standards and make the services more sensitive to the needs of the consumer."
AIDS
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the allocation of special funds for AIDS to the North East Thames regional health authority in 1987-88 and 1988-89 and what it will be in 1989-90 ; what has been the North East Thames regional health authority programme of expenditure on AIDS, listed by each district, in 1987-88 and 1988-89 ; and for what specific capital and revenue schemes the North East Thames regional health authority has allocated funds from its AIDS budget in 1987- 88 and 1988-89.
Mr. Mellor The table shows the funds allocated for AIDS to the North East Thames RHA.
|£ million
------------------------------
1987-88 |6.163
1988-89 |11.417
1989-90 |16.655
We do not hold centrally details of the region's AIDS expenditure by district and on its specific capital and revenue schemes held. The hon. Member may wish to write to the chairman of the North East Thames RHA for this information.
Computerised Information (Confidentiality)
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what regulatory guidelines are issued to general practitioners who store confidential patient data on general practitioner personal computers.
Mr. Freeman : All general medical practitioners who control the contents and use of automated data (including data held on practice personal computers) are required to be registered under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984. The general medical services committee of the British Medical Association has drawn up guidance, working in close consultation with the Data Protection Registrar's office and the Department of Health.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what protection from unauthorised internal and external access is afforded to computerised testing information on pharmaceuticals for approval.
Mr. Mellor : Access to confidential information relating to medicinal products which is held on the licensing authority's computerised database is protected by the appropriate physical and logical security controls. The effectiveness of these controls is kept under active review.
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Ambulance Journeys
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds regarding the number of ambulance journeys made in each of the last five years in (a) England and Wales and (b) each regional health authority area ; in each case, what proportion of these
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journeys were made in a private ambulance contracted to the health authority concerned ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Freeman : The available information for England is given in the table. Figures for the London ambulance authority are included with those for South-West Thames. The information relating to Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Column 155
|c|Ambulance services|c| |c|Number of patients-journeys by regional health authority (Thousands)|c| Regional health authority |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987-88 and patient-journeys<1> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East Thames Total |1,125.0 |1,128.1 |1,054.8 |1,026.2 |841.5 Journeys by private ambulance |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 South West Thames Total |3,649.1 |3,624.4 |3,528.2 |3,136.4 |3,063.6 Journeys by private ambulance |113.4 |112.7 |110.4 |121.6 |121.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |3.1 |3.1 |3.1 |3.9 |3.9 Wessex Total |1,359.9 |1,408.0 |1,454.5 |1,412.5 |1,106.9 Journeys by private ambulance |0.9 |8.7 |8.3 |8.8 |22.4 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.1 |0.6 |0.6 |0.6 |2.0 Oxford Total |947.3 |914.9 |934.9 |863.1 |826.4 Journeys by private ambulance |4.3 |3.4 |3.4 |3.3 |3.6 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.5 |0.4 |0.4 |0.4 |0.4 South Western Total |1,917.4 |1,967.6 |1,960.3 |1,795.3 |1,443.6 Journeys by private ambulance |0.3 |0.4 |0.3 |0.1 |0.4 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 West Midlands Total |2,012.9 |2,000.3 |2,009.3 |1,976.1 |2,041.7 Journeys by private ambulance |133.5 |134.0 |102.9 |105.2 |125.7 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |6.6 |6.7 |5.1 |5.3 |6.2 Mersey Total |1,126.8 |1,103.8 |1,147.5 |1,235.8 |1,267.4 Journeys by private ambulance |0.0 |4.9 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.0 |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 England Total |21,271.1 |21,281.7 |21,364.2 |20,685.8 |19,669.5 Journeys by private ambulance |351.0 |345.1 |296.8 |307.4 |312.4 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |1.7 |1.6 |1.4 |1.5 |1.6 Northern Total |1,610.4 |1,567.9 |1,600.6 |1,622.3 |1,568.5 Journeys by private ambulance |0.5 |0.6 |0.5 |0.1 |0.1 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 Yorkshire Total |1,847.5 |1,840.5 |1,873.6 |1,888.4 |1,837.2 Journeys by private ambulance |6.0 |3.5 |0.9 |0.0 |0.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.3 |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 Trent Total |1,802.0 |1,838.3 |1,877.7 |1,930.1 |2,061.9 Journeys by private ambulance |2.3 |3.3 |2.2 |2.2 |1.9 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.1 |0.2 |0.1 |0.1 |0.1 East Anglia Total |953.8 |997.4 |1,016.7 |944.2 |877.8 Journeys by private ambulance |3.4 |3.0 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.4 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 North West Thames Total |476.4 |469.6 |464.2 |470.0 |508.7 Journeys by private ambulance |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 North East Thames Total |548.0 |547.7 |559.3 |575.0 |557.8 Journeys by private ambulance |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 North Western Total |1,894.7 |1,864.1 |1,882.7 |1,801.0 |1,666.5 Journeys by private ambulance |79.2 |76.7 |67.6 |66.1 |32.4 Journeys by private ambulance as a percentage of total |4.2 |4.1 |3.6 |3.7 |1.9 <1>One patient-journey is defined as one patient carried in one direction. A patient taken to a hospital and later in the same day taken home again counts as two patient-journeys.
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Hearing Aids
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will extend the range of hearing aids available on the National Health Service.
Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Greenwich (Mrs. Barnes) on 13 March.
Physical Measurement Technicians
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take to address the high vacancy rates of physical measurement technicians (audiology) in the National Health Service.
Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 29 November to the right hon. Member for Stoke on Trent, South (Mr. Ashley) at column 197.
Prescription Costs
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the prescription cost per head for each family practitioner committee area, and for each health region for 1988-89 and as estimated for 1989-90, both on a current and standard price basis ; and if he will provide exemplifications of per capita allocations to regions and districts on the same current and standard price bases and on the basis of the same resources assuming the same weights as for the weighted capitation system proposed for hospital services and disregarding the effects of temporary residence and cross- boundary dispensing.
Mr. Mellor : We do not yet have available information about the net ingredient cost of drugs per head for FPCs or regions for 1988-89. Estimates of prescription costs for future years are not available below national level. The indicative prescribing budget scheme will not start to operate until 1991. It is too soon to say what the regional allocations will be at that time.
Prescription Charges
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received regarding prescription charges.
Mr. Mellor : During the last month I have received 27 letters about prescription charges from hon. Members. I have also received a further 48 letters from members of the public and interested bodies on the same subject.
Old Red House, Whitby
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the care and well-being of the residents of the Old Red House private aged persons' home, Bagdale, Whitby are being properly safeguarded following its deregistration.
Mr. Mellor : North Yorkshire county council, which is the local social services authority for Whitby, has confirmed that it is closely monitoring the care and well-being of the residents remaining in the home pending arrangements for their future care.
Elderly People
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been done on the proportion of elderly
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people admitted to hospital who are admitted as a direct result of the adverse effects of medication ; and what were the finding of the research.Mr. Mellor : The Department has commissioned no research on this specific issue but doctors are responsible for considering the risks of known adverse reactions when they write prescriptions, and the published data sheets draw attention to such reactions.
Psychiatry (Old Age)
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many health districts have currently a specialised service for the psychiatry of old age and of those which do not ; how many have plans to establish such a service within the next three years ; (2) how many consultants are currently working within the National Health Service in the field of old age psychiatry ; and how many more are needed to ensure that every district health authority has sufficient consultants specialising in old age psychiatry on the basis of consultant cover of one session for every 2,000 elderly people.
Mr. Freeman : We do not hold this information centrally. In a joint report published in February this year the Royal Colleges of Psychiatrists and Physicians estimate that there are currently 243 consultants working in old age psychiatry and that 152 district health authorities have specialised services. These figures represent a considerable advance in recent years. Detailed planning and provision of services is a matter for individual health authorities. The appointment of at least one psychogeriatrician in each health district is a key priority in our policy to provide a comprehensive range of services for the elderly mentally ill.
Rail Accidents
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the times at which yellow and red alerts were received at St. George's hospital, Tooting, and the Mayday hospital, Thornton Heath, respectively, subsequent to the recent rail accidents ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : At the Clapham rail accident a yellow alert was given to St. George's hospital, Tooting at 08.23 and a major accident was declared at 08.48. In the incident at Purley a yellow alert was given at 13.50 and a major accident was declared at 14.20. The term red alert is not used by the London ambulance service.
London Ambulance Service
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings took place between Ministers in his Department and appointed members of the South West Thames regional health authority concerning the budget of the London ambulance service for the year 1988-89 ; and what meetings have taken place, or he expects to take place, concerning determination of the budget for the year 1989-90.
Mr. Freeman : No such meetings have taken or will take place. The determination of the London ambulance service revenue budget is a matter for the South West Thames regional health authority in consultation with the other three Thames regions.
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Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state the general reason why between 50 and 160 out-patient appointments per week were cancelled in the north-east division of the London ambulance service in January and the first fortnight of February because no ambulance was available ; and what steps he or the South West Thames regional health authority intends to take to eliminate such cancellations throughout the area of the London ambulance service.
Mr. Freeman : The principal reason for these cancellations was a shortage of staff. I understand there are currently 43 vacancies--out of a whole time establishment of 248--in the north-east division of the London ambulance service. Every effort is being made to fill the vacancies.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, pursuant to his reply of Wednesday 1 March, Official Report, column 251 concerning the proportion of emergency calls for ambulances diverted to recorded message machines at the headquarters of the London ambulance service, he will publish what figures are available in respect of the use of this service during the month of February, including the proportion of time when calls were diverted to it and an indication of the range of wait for callers before being able to communicate details of emergencies.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not collected routinely and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newham, South concerning the 1989-90 budget of the London ambulance service, Official Report, 1 March, column 251, he will state when discussions with the non-managing Thames regional health authorities will be concluded ; what information has been supplied to the other named consultants and by what date they were asked to give their observations ; when the South West Thames regional hospital authority will decide on the budget ; when he expects to receive its request to him for the sum required ; and on what date its estimates will be made public. Mr. Freeman This is a matter for the South West Thames regional health authority and the hon. Member may wish to contact the regional chairman, Mrs. Julia Cumberlege.
Hospital and Community Health Service
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what has been the level of expenditure in each year since 1978-79 on the hospital and community health services adjusted by the HCHS pay and prices deflator.
Mr. Mellor The information is as follows :
Gross Current Expenditure |Cash |£ million Adjusted using
|HCHS pay and prices
|deflator
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |4,522 |10,896
1979-80 |5,395 |10,790
1980-81 |7,097 |11,089
1981-82 |7,835 |11,322
1982-83 |8,439 |11,450
1983-84 |8,882 |11,461
1984-85 |9,386 |11,446
1985-86 |9,886 |11,469
1986-87 |10,623 |11,522
1987-88 |11,730 |11,730
Nursing Homes
Mr. Anthony Coombs To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to review his Department's policy for residents of nursing homes for the elderly presently not covered by the Registered Homes Act 1984.
Mr. Mellor I understand that my hon. Friend has in mind residential care homes rather than nursing homes. The report of the committee chaired by Lady Wagner "Residential Care--A Positive Choice" contained recommendations on the regulation of these homes. We are giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the report before deciding whether any change is desirable in the current arrangements.
Pay and Price Deflator
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the Government's estimate of the hospital and community health service pay and price deflator for 1988-89.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 22 February 1989] : The deflator is expected to rise by some 10.5 per cent. in 1988-89. A large part of this increase is attributable to review body pay awards, including the 17.9 per cent. award to nurses.
Official Secrets
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the advisory committees coming under his Department and concerned in some way with public health which are covered by the Official Secrets Act whose members are required to sign the Official Secrets Act.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 24 February 1989] : Not all members of the following committees, which are concerned with various aspects of public health, will have signed the Official Secrets Act declaration, but the provisions of section 2 of that Act would apply in respect of sensitive official information entrusted to them on a confidential basis :
Academic Forum
Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee Advisory Committee for Medical Manpower Planning
Advisory Committee on Assessment of Laboratory Standards Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances
Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer Screening
Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens
Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards
Advisory Committee on Ethics of Gene Modification Therapy in Humans
Advisory Committee on NHS Drugs
Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes
AIDS Services Working Group
British Pharmacopeia Commission (BPC)
BPC--Committee A. Medicinal Chemicals
BPC--Committee B. Medicinal Chemicals
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