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Water

Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what long-term funding his Department will be apportioning to upgrade water treatment plants in Strathclyde region.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Development Department has asked all regional and islands authorities to provide information about improvements necessary to achieve compliance with drinking water quality standards. When this information has been fully assessed Strathclyde regional council's needs will be taken into account, along with those of other authorities, in reviewing the capital expenditure allocations for water and sewerage services in Scotland.

Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received regarding the reduction in capital allocation to Strathclyde regional water authority for the next financial year.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : None. Allocations for water supply services are not issued separately. The provisional allocation for Strathclyde region's water and sewerage programme in 1990-91 was first set in 1988 at £41 million but was increased in February 1989 to £44 million, a rise of £3 million. While this increased provisional allocation is £1 million less than the capital allocation for the present year, it is still provisional and subject to review before final allocations for 1990-91 are set.


Column 187

Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to reduce the proposed time of 20 years given to Strathclyde regional water authority to satisfy European Community requirements for drinking water.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : A time period has not yet been agreed with Strathclyde regional council for achieving full compliance with European Community drinking water standards. Water quality improvement schemes currently programmed are due for completion not later than the end of 1995.

Sheepmeat Regime

Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has about the current negotiations on the EEC sheepmeat regime and its implications for Scottish farmers.

Mr. Rifkind : At last week's meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers member states once again made it clear that they had difficulties with the Commission's current proposals for reform of the sheepmeat regime. The Council agreed, however, that it should seek to make early progress in the first instance through discussions at official level.

Energy Sources

Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to promote alternative and renewable energy sources including wind, wave, water and solar technology.

Mr. Lang : Scotland already enjoys the large-scale development of our hydro-electric resources. In addition, a comprehensive research and development programme is under way which incorporates a number of major projects based in Scotland.

Local Health Councils

Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received regarding local health council funding ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 6 June 1989] : I have received a number of representations and I am currently considering the most effective means of representing consumers interest in the NHS.

Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what funds, in cash and in real terms, his Department has allocated to local health councils since 1979.

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 6 June 1989] : The information is as follows :


Year                   |Local health council  |Local health council                         

                       |expenditure on a cash |expenditure at 1989-90                       

                       |basis                 |prices<1>                                    

                       |£'000                 |£'000                                        

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1979-80                |430                   |852                                          

1980-81                |505                   |844                                          

1981-82                |556                   |847                                          

1982-83                |596                   |848                                          

1983-84                |605                   |823                                          

1984-85                |661                   |856                                          

1985-86                |705                   |866                                          

1986-87                |760                   |903                                          

1987-88                |820                   |928                                          

1988-89                |867                   |915                                          

1989-90<2>             |909                   |909                                          

<1> Using GDP deflator.                                                                     

<2> Estimate.                                                                               

Village and Community Halls (Grant Aid)

Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what level of grant aid was approved by the Scottish Education Department in 1988-89 for village and community halls in Scotland ; what is the anticipated level for 1989-90 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 6 June 1989] : In 1988-89 the Scottish Education Department approved projects for the building and improvement of youth, village and community halls in Scotland to the value of £2.35 million (on which a grant of £1.14 million will become payable over the next few years assuming the projects proceed as planned). In the same year the total amount actually paid in grants in respect of these, and projects approved in earlier years, was £950,000. Provision has been made for the payment of up to £1.045 million in grant aid in 1989-90 and I am at present considering how to allocate this amount, having regard to commitments in respect of previously approved projects.

Fishing

Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his assessment of the current financial position of the Scottish fishing industry ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 23 May 1989] : The value of landings reached a record high in 1987 but declined during 1988 and there are indications that this trend will continue in 1989. This is mainly because of reductions in quotas for North sea cod and haddock, but we have accepted the need for these reductions based on scientific advice to be made to secure the long-term fishing opportunities and the future prosperity of the industry.

Children (Dumbarton)

Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children in Dumbarton constituency are dependent upon (a) supplementary benefit or income support, and (b) family income supplement or family credit in each year since 1978-79 (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of all children in Scotland.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : I have been asked to reply.

I regret that this information is not available.


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HEALTH

Deaf-Blind People

Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are deaf-blind ; and how many are aged between five and 65 years.

Mr. Freeman : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Ashley) on 15 March 1989 at column 235.

Abortions

Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the number of women resident in the United Kingdom who had an abortion in 1987 who already had (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five previous abortions ;

(2) if he will list the number of women in the Basildon area health authority who had an abortion in 1987 who already had (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four or (e) five previous abortions.

Mr. Freeman : The notification form for abortions carried out under the Abortion Act 1967 requires information about previous abortions to the woman concerned to be recorded, distinguishing between spontaneous miscarriages and legal terminations.

The table shows the information requested for abortions performed in England and Wales in 1987 for those women having had one or more previous spontaneous miscarriages or legal terminations.

Notifications having at least one previous spontaneous miscarriage and also at least one previous legal termination, and women having more than one abortion under the Act in 1987 will be counted more than once in the statistics.


Numbers of abortions performed to usual residents of (a)    

United                                                      

Kingdom and (b) Basildon District Health Authority where    

the                                                         

woman had had 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 previous abortions, England   

and                                                         

Wales, 1987                                                 

               |United Kingdom|Basildon DHA                 

------------------------------------------------------------

Previous spontaneous miscarriages                           

1              |9,269         |881                          

2              |1,592         |85                           

3/4/5          |626           |11                           

                                                            

Previous legal terminations                                 

1              |26,466        |173                          

2              |3,703         |17                           

3/4/5          |832           |3                            

Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been performed in England and Wales under the Abortion Act 1967 ; how many of these abortions were performed in an emergency to save the life of a mother ; and what percentage this latter figure represents of the lower, in each year since 1968.

Mr. Freeman : The information is shown in the table.


Column 190


Number of abortions performed in England and Wales, under the                                                 

Abortion Act 1967, and number performed under ground 5 of the                                                 

Act<3>, 27 April 1968 to September 1988<1>                                                                    

Year                  |Total abortions      |Number under ground 5|Per cent.                                  

                      |A                    |B                    |B of A                                     

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1968                  |23,641               |16                   |.068                                       

1969                  |54,819               |14                   |.026                                       

1970                  |86,565               |10                   |.012                                       

1971                  |126,777              |10                   |.008                                       

1972                  |159,884              |10                   |.006                                       

1973                  |167,149              |7                    |.004                                       

1974                  |162,940              |3                    |.002                                       

1975                  |139,702              |6                    |.004                                       

1976                  |129,673              |1                    |.001                                       

1977                  |133,004              |3                    |.002                                       

1978                  |141,558              |5                    |.004                                       

1979                  |149,746              |3                    |.002                                       

1980                  |160,903              |4                    |.002                                       

1981                  |162,480              |5                    |.003                                       

1982                  |163,045              |7                    |.004                                       

1983                  |162,161              |3                    |.002                                       

1984                  |169,993              |9                    |.005                                       

1985                  |171,873              |5                    |.003                                       

1986                  |172,286              |2                    |.001                                       

1987                  |174,276              |3                    |.002                                       

1988<1>               |137,103              |4                    |.003                                       

                      |-------              |-------              |-------                                    

Total<2>              |2,949,578            |130                  |.004                                       

<1> 1988 data are provisional.                                                                                

<2> Total from 27 April 1968 to 30 September 1988.                                                            

<3> In emergency, to save the life of the pregnant women.                                                     

Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many abortions have been performed on girls under the age of 16 years ; and what percentage this represents of abortions performed, in each year since 1968 ;

(2) how many abortions were performed on girls in the Basildon area health authority, under the age of 16 years ; and what percentage this represents of abortions performed, in each year since 1968.

Mr. Freeman : The information is shown in the table.


Number of abortions performed in England and Wales, and to usual                

residents of Basildon and Thurrock<2>, all ages and to those under 16           

years, 27 April 1968 to 31 December 1987.                                       

Year       England and Wales             Basildon and                           

                     Thurrock<2>                                                

           Total under 16      Per cent. Total under 16      Per cent.          

          |A        |B        |B of A   |A        |B        |B of A             

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1968      |23,641   |553      |2.3      |151      |4        |2.6                

1969      |54,819   |1,231    |2.2      |287      |9        |3.1                

1970      |86,565   |1,822    |2.1      |427      |10       |2.3                

1971      |126,777  |2,618    |2.1      |435      |6        |1.4                

1972      |159,884  |3,320    |2.1      |592      |16       |2.7                

1973      |167,149  |3,660    |2.2      |541      |10       |1.8                

1974      |162,940  |3,948    |2.4      |620      |23       |3.7                

1975      |139,702  |4,006    |2.9      |628      |24       |3.8                

1976      |129,673  |3,835    |3.0      |635      |21       |3.3                

1977      |133,004  |4,067    |3.1      |626      |29       |4.6                

1978      |141,558  |3,724    |2.6      |624      |21       |3.4                

1979      |149,746  |3,856    |2.6      |614      |22       |3.6                

1980      |160,903  |4,143    |2.6      |549      |17       |3.1                

1981      |162,480  |3,949    |2.4      |586      |20       |3.4                

1982      |163,045  |4,343    |2.7      |687      |22       |3.2                

1983      |162,161  |4,566    |2.8      |602      |26       |4.3                

1984      |169,993  |4,609    |2.7      |779      |21       |2.7                

1985      |171,873  |4,427    |2.6      |840      |25       |3.0                

1986      |172,286  |4,240    |2.5      |958      |30       |3.1                

1987      |174,276  |4,075    |2.3      |998      |27       |2.7                

                                                                                

Total<1>  |2,812,475|70,992   |2.5      |12,179   |383      |3.1                

<1> Total from 27 April 1968 to 31 December 1987.                               

<2> 1968-1974: Basildon and Thurrock non-metropolitan counties.                 

1975-1982: Basildon and Thurrock Health District.                               

1983-1987: Basildon and Thurrock District Health Authority.                     

Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed on girls aged 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 years of age in each year since 1968 ; and how many were performed to save the life of a pregnant woman.


Column 192

Mr. Freeman : The information on the total number of abortions performed in England and Wales to the requested ages could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the readily available data is shown in the table, which relates to abortions performed on usual residents of England and Wales. Information on the number of these which were performed under ground 5 of the Abortion Act cannot be released for reasons of maintaining confidentiality.


Column 191


Number of abortions performed in England and Wales to usual 

residents of England and Wales                              

by single year of age, 10 to 17 years, 1968 to 1987         

Year   Age of mother                                        

      |10   |11   |12   |13   |14   |15   |16   |17         

------------------------------------------------------------

1968  |n/a  |3    |6    |21   |150  |363  |559  |693        

1969  |n/a  |2    |7    |38   |279  |848  |1,445|1,816      

1970  |n/a  |3    |20   |85   |391  |1,233|2,530|3,188      

1971  |n/a  |3    |16   |77   |529  |1,671|3,465|4,426      

1972  |n/a  |0    |7    |98   |586  |2,113|4,318|5,395      

1973  |1    |4    |14   |108  |693  |2,270|5,082|5,775      

1974  |0    |1    |9    |117  |718  |2,490|5,348|6,225      

1975  |0    |0    |12   |120  |747  |2,691|5,411|6,394      

1976  |0    |6    |14   |122  |738  |2,545|5,429|6,285      

1977  |0    |1    |13   |105  |805  |2,701|5,510|6,367      

1978  |0    |3    |20   |113  |708  |2,454|5,675|6,733      

1979  |0    |9    |18   |116  |698  |2,693|6,030|7,412      

1980  |0    |5    |17   |141  |770  |2,717|6,370|8,108      

1981   ------- 830<1>-------         2,701 n/a   n/a        

1982   ------- 931<1>-------         2,921 n/a   n/a        

1983   -------1,029<1>-------        3,058 n/a   n/a        

1984  |0    |1    |9    |111  |898  |3,139|6,802|8,406      

1985  |0    |0    |7    |118  |899  |2,978|6,648|8,432      

1986  |0    |0    |5    |77   |842  |2,970|6,175|8,309      

1987  |1    |1    |10   |114  |781  |2,858|6,251|8,252      

n/a =Data not readily available.                            

<1> These data relate to "under 15 years of age".           

Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has as to the medical circumstances which created the need for abortions to be performed in emergency to save the life of the mother in those cases which have arisen since 1967 ; and if he will indicate the number of times each of those conditions has been a relevant factor.

Mr. Freeman : The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Special Hospitals

Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what compensation he is offering to nurses at special hospitals for their loss of civil servant status ;

(2) what consultations he has had with representatives of the Prison Officers Association concerning the recommendations of the Olliff report ; when he next expects to meet them ; and whether he will list the organisations with whom he has discussed the report ; (3) what is his policy regarding the future negotiations, with the Prison Officers Association on promotion procedures, uniforms, assisted travel, grievances, disciplinary procedure and security if the Olliff report is implemented ; and whether the Prison Officers Association will still be able to negotiate locally at each special hospital ;

(4) whether he will pay an official visit to Broadmoor, Rampton, Park Lane and Moss Side special hospitals to discuss the Olliff report with nurses who are members of the Prison Officers Association ;

(5) whether it is his policy to act on the Olliff report recommendation that the influence of the Prison Officers


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Association in special hospitals must be eroded and its assessment that attitudes within the special hospitals concentrate more on the secure control of patients than their treatment ;

(6) why the future conditions of service and negotiations with the Prison Officers Association at special hospitals is being transferred to the Whitley council ; what date he expects this transfer to be implemented ; and whether legislation is required for this and for the transfer of direct responsibility for the admission of patients from the Secretary of State to the Special Hospitals health authority ;

(7) why the Olliff report on the future of special hospitals was not distributed to the Prison Officers Association.

Mr. Freeman [holding answer 26 May 1989] : The Government are setting up the Special Hospitals Service Authority (SHSA) to take over the management functions presently exercised by my Department and the three local hospital boards, which are to be abolished later this year. These changes were announced in a ministerial statement in May 1988. Later in 1988 the Government specified the following six main national objectives for the service :

(i) to continue to ensure the protection of the public ; (

(ii) to ensure the provision of appropriate treatment for patients ;

(iii) to provide a good quality of life for patients, and a good working environment for staff ;

(iv) to develop closer working relationships with local and regional psychiatric services ;

(v) to promote the hospitals as centres of excellence for the training of staff of all disciplines, in forensic and other branches of psychiatry ;


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(vi) to promote research into forensic psychiatry, and related conditions.

The statements referred to are in the Library.

Statutory instruments have been laid before Parliament which will establish the SHSA from 1 July 1989, and render it fully operational from 1 October 1989. From that date the SHSA will assume all functions, including the admission of patients.

There has already been extensive discussion and consultation on these important changes with staff, management and unions. I have myself visited all the four special hospitals where I met a cross section of staff and patients. Department of Health officials have also been engaged in a programme of visits to all the hospitals where they have had wide ranging discussions with all groups of staff. We are producing full briefing packs to explain the rationale for and effects of the changes. These packs will be sent to all staff and patients before 1 October, when the SHSA becomes the new employing authority for all but administrative staff.


Column 194

There have been exchanges with staff side interests, including the POA. Indeed, at a meeting with my officials on 18 May the General Secretary of the POA and his colleagues were assured that their members and other non-administrative staff will suffer no material loss through the removal of Civil Service status and will remain on existing NHS terms and conditions. As pay and superannuation will not be affected, the question of compensation does not arise. The POA was also assured that it will continue to be recognised as representing its members in the special hospitals locally (in the hospitals) and centrally (with the new special health authority) in the new arrangements.

It will be for the SHS authority to consider the appropriateness of existing staff procedures in the new arrangements, and in reviewing such procedures we would expect it to talk with the relevant staff interests, including the POA. The Olliff report was a confidential, internal working document about the future operations of the Department's HQ branch responsible for the special hospitals.


 

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