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Mr. Freeman : The data requested are as follows :--
Laboratory Reports to CDSC England, Wales and Ireland Year |Number ---------------------- 1978 |621 1979 |576 1980 |790 1981 |865 1982 |680 1983 |875 1984 |828 1985 |883 1986 |798 1987 |868 <1>1988 |796 <1> Provisional. Source: Annual tables.
Medical Records
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress being made to agree a code of practice to enable patients to have access to their own medical records.
Mr. Freeman : The medical profession has provisionally accepted a draft code of practice, a copy of which is in the Library. The Department is now preparing to consult over a three-month period other interested parties such as dentists, nurses, midwives, health visitors, patient interest groups and NHS management. As soon after that consultation as is practicable, the Department will issue the code under cover of a circular.
Kidneys (Sale)
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the report of the Department of Health inquiry into the kidney for sale at Wellington Humana hospital.
Mr. Freeman : It would not be appropriate to do so. Reports were prepared by the relevant health authorities and passed to me in strict confidence.
Midwives
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he will be taking in response to the Social Services Select Committee's recommendations on midwives' regrading ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Wallsend (Mr. Garrett) and my hon. Friend the Member for Batley and Spen (Mrs. Peacock) on 10 May 1989.
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Test Census
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results of the recent test census will be published.
Mr. Freeman : The main aims of the test were to make sure that procedures for delivering and collecting forms would be effective in the 1991 census and to assess the readiness of the public to accept and respond to the proposed question on ethnic group.
A report of the public's response to the proposed question on ethnic group will be published when the results of the test and a small follow-up survey in June 1989, have been assessed. This is expected to be towards the end of the year when the draft Census Order is laid before Parliament. The main findings on the census procedures will be published when the test has been evaluated. This evaluation will include an analysis of the proportion of households in each test area who returned a completed form.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Rabbit Meat
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has of any DDT residue found in rabbit meat imported into the United Kingdom from the People's Republic of China.
Mr. Ryder : Monitoring by the working party on pesticide residues (WPPR) has revealed residues of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides in rabbit meat imported from the People's Republic of China. These findings were first published in the WPPR's second report in 1986. The results of subsequent monitoring were published in the WPPR's third report on 13 March this year. Although the levels found pose no health concern, imports are being closely monitored and statutory maximum residue levels introduced last year are being enforced.
Advertising
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much has been spent by his Department on advertisements on commercial television in each of the last five years, listed by each television company.
Mr. Donald Thompson : Information on television advertisements in the form requested is commercially confidential.
Food Prices
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the price in pence per pound of sugar, butter, and beef and the price per ton of wheat in the United Kingdom ; what are the comparable figures for these items in the world market for food ; and if he has comparable information for five and 10 years ago.
Mr. Ryder : Information on first hand/wholesale prices in the United Kingdom is shown in the table. There is no single, representative measure of "world" prices for these commodities. Price quotations available vary according to differences in quality, presentation and point of shipment/destination.
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First hand/wholesale prices in the United Kingdom, in nominal and
real<1> terms
|1979 (annual average) |1984 (annual average) |1989 (late April/early
|May)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sugar<2> (refined, bulk granulated) price per pound
Nominal |13.0 |18.9 |22.3
Real terms |26.0 |24.0 |22.3
Butter (English, London) price per pound
Nominal |75.9 |101.1 |119.3
Real terms |150.0 |127.0 |119.3
Beef (Scottish sides, London) price per pound
Nominal |61.7 |80.8 |105.0
Real terms |122.0 |102.0 |105.0
Wheat (ex farm, bread making) £/tonne
Nominal |<3>107.0 |<3>145.0 |126.0
Real terms |220.0 |183.0 |126.0
<1> Adjusted to 1989 prices using the Retail Price Index (all items).
<2> List price: in practice many sales will be subject to discounts.
<3> May.
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information is made generally available on the price of foodstuffs (a) within the EEC and (b) on the free world market ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : For the European Community, Eurostat disseminates a range of information, including prices received by producers for certain agricultural commodities, volume and value of imports and exports and consumer price indices for food. Some price data are also available in the specialised trade press and the publications of trade organisations. Price quotations for some products available for "world" trade are published in the specialist press and elsewhere : but these relate generally to particular qualities and presentation at specified locations and are not necessarily comparable with home-produced supplies available on the domestic market : they exclude products traded under special agreements. A significant reduction in agricultural support levels worldwide--a major aim of the Uruguay GATT round--would cause many "world" prices to rise.
Channel Cod Quota
Mr. Robert Hicks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the review of the Channel cod quota is to be undertaken and completed ; what action he intends taking to ensure the continued viability of the south-west fishery during the interim period ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : We will raise the Channel cod total allowable catch (TAC) at the next meeting of the advisory committee for fisheries management (ACFM) this month. The present TAC is the same as the revised one for 1988 and it is 70 per cent. greater than 1983. Overall, and taking account of the valuable swap of Dutch quotas we secured last December, 1989 fishing opportunities in south west are greater in cod equivalent terms than in 1988. As well as pressing for an early review of Channel cod, we will continue to explore the possibility for further swaps which will improve our fishing opportunities.
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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the cost of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy slaughter programme is met by the European Community ; what the total cost has been to date ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : The total cost of the BSE slaughter and disposal programme, excluding Ministry staff and other resources, up to 31 March 1989 was just over £1.6 million. None of these costs are being met from European Community funds.
Food Irradiation
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the draft EC directive on food irradiation.
Mr. Ryder : I refer the hon. Member to the explanatory memorandum 10377/88 on this draft directive which has been lodged in the Library of the House.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of vegetables imported from Holland in 1988 were subjected to irradiation.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about possibilities of monitoring foodstuffs for irradiation.
Mr. Ryder : Dosimetric techniques for monitoring the irradiation of food are well established.
Set-aside Scheme
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of (a) registrations and (b) applications for the set- aside scheme were validated by field inspections in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : The information requested is being collected. I will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Aerial Photography
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what proportion of the United Kingdom arable area was subject in 1988 to aerial photography of sufficient quality to allow identification of the cropping pattern ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) whether he has plans for aerial photography of arable land in the United Kingdom in 1989 ; and what he estimates the cost will be.
Mr. Ryder : Excluding satellite imagery, approximately 1 million hectares of land, mainly in Great Britain, was covered by ADAS aerial photography in 1988. Some 20 per cent. of this area was arable land. This photography was of sufficient quality to allow identification of cropping patterns. Present plans provide for a similar area to be photographed in 1989, both for statutory and advisory purposes. Total budgeted running costs for the ADAS aerial photography unit in 1989-90 are estimated at £250,000.
Column 501
Natural Environment Research Council
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the research projects undertaken for his Department by the Natural Environment Research Council during the past five years.
Mr. Ryder [holding answer 8 May 1989] : The following research projects have been undertaken for my Department by the Natural Environment Research Council during the five years ending 1988-89. Some of the projects were completed in that period and others are continuing.
Aquatic environment and fisheries
Factors affecting the population dynamics of sea trout
The physiology of stress response in freshwater fish
Effects of flow regimes in salmonid recruitment
Nutritional requirements and feed behaviour of fish
The role of nultritional deficiency in disease in farm fish Continuous plankton recorder
Undulating oceanographic recorder deployment off the northeast coast
Plankton production at seasonal thermocline
Irish Sea productivity study
Integration of chemical, physical and biological modelling along the Western European shelf edge
Organic waste disposal in the marine environment
Coastal water processes in the Irish Sea and west Scotland Organic degradation in the marine environment
Mercury transformations in the marine environment
Relationship between lipids in phytoplankton zoo plankton and herring larvae
Hydrography of the North West approaches
Bait attraction and longlining
The ecology of young stages of salmonid fish and the implications for practical river management
Phytoplankton in relation to mariculture
Environmental stress and physiology of growth in trout
Environmental radioactivity : Impact of freshwater
ecosystems : Evaluation of Opercular Bone Material
Fish biology (study of deep sea species)
Salmonid/coarse fish interaction in chalk streams
Biology of saprolegnia
Sea Mammal Research
Whale research (research on population dynamics to support United Kingdom representatives to IWC)
Seal research (research on population numbers and dynamics, diet and the impact on commercial fisheries)
River and Flood Protection
Physical aspects of flooding
Catchment response to rainfall
Flood statistics
Wetland hydrology
Environment impact of flood protection measures
Distributed catchment models
Real time forecasting of river flows
National archive for flood hydrology
Catchment response modelling for design flood estimation Catchment urbanisation
Effects of agricultural drainage on catchment hydrology Catchment response and the flood frequency curve
Statistical flood estimation procedures
Hydrological behaviour of flat agricultural catchments
Environmental impact of flood protection measures on the water regime of wildlife habitats
River erosion
Risk based criteria for economic analysis of flood protection works
Marine Flood Protection
Numerical models of the seas around Britain
Prediction of sea levels
Wave action and extreme waves
Maintenance and monitoring of the East Coast model
Development of West Coast model
Development of a combined wave/tide/surge model
Statistical prediction of extreme levels
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Improvement of sea level prediction for flood protection Joint probability of waves and sea levelsWave set-up
High wave studies
Wave-current interaction
Wave measurement in support of such coast flood protection studies Routine wave measurements
Review of potential of satellite remote sensing for marine flood protection
Archiving of Class A tide gauge data
Wave measurement for South Coast studies
Detailed processes of sand transport by tidal waves etc. Movement of material on the sea bed under the combined action of waves and tides
NORTHERN IRELAND
Mental Handicap
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funds were allocated from his Department for directly commissioned research relevant to mental handicap for each of the past five years ; and whether he intends those funds to be increased over the next five to 10 years.
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