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Year |Number of offences |Number of successful
|proceeded against |prosecutions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1976 |- |-
1977 |15 |13
1978 |31 |30
1979 |14 |13
1980 |29 |24
1981 |50 |35
1982 |58 |48
1983 |104 |66
1984 |85 |67
1985 |93 |65
1986 |130 |93
1987 |111 |77
Figures for 1988 are not yet available and information about maximum fines imposed can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Penalties under section 3 are governed by the standard scale of fines kept under review by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department. There is no limit to the fines which may currently be imposed under section 3 on conviction on indictment.
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Worsthorne Sewage Works
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will call for a report from the North West water authority on the ongoing pollution to Rowley lake and the River Brun originating from Worsthorne sewage treatment works.
Mr. Howard : I understand that the North West authority is considering various options for remedying the situation including the possible closure of the works or the diversion of the effluent from both the works and a nearby storm overflow to a point below Rowley lake.
Planning Appeals (Camden)
Sir Geoffrey Finsberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of planning appeals in the London borough of Camden he has approved in each of the last five years.
Mr. Howard : Set out below are details of planning appeals recovered for the Secretary of State's decision in the London borough of Camden over the past five years.
Year |Appeals dismissed |Appeals allowed |Percentage allowed by
|Secretary of State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 July 1984 to
30 June 1985 |1 |9 |90
1 July 1985 to
30 June 1986 |6 |6 |50
1 July 1986 to
30 June 1987 |6 |4 |40
1 July 1987 to
30 June 1988 |2 |6 |75
1 July 1988 to
30 June 1989 |3 |7 |70
River Pollution
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications for consent to discharge unsatisfactory effluent into rivers have been received from water authorities in England and Wales so far for the current year.
Mr. Howard : Lists of sewage treatment works for which applications have been made by water authorities for time-limited discharge consents have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Details of the applications--which currently number some 852--may be obtained from the public register maintained by each water authority. The applications have also been advertised by the authorities concerned. None has yet been granted.
Conservation, Access and Recreation
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the code of practice on conservation, access and recreation under clause 10 of the Water Bill.
Mr. Howard : My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales and my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food issued the code of practice on conservation, access and recreation under section 10 of the Water Act 1989 on 6 July.
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The code provides guidance for the new water and sewerage undertakers and for the National Rivers Authority on conservation, access and recreation matters generally, including :protection of landscape and minimisation of damage from water industry operations ;
conservation of flora, fauna and natural habitats ;
protection of ancient monuments and of water industry buildings of historical or architectural importance ;
maintenance and development of policies for opening up areas of high amenity value to rambling and quiet countryside pursuits ; maintenance of existing recreational uses of water industry land and water ; and
ensuring that policies for new recreational uses are fair and equitable and provide for as wide a range of interest groups as practicable.
The code follows wide consultation on the draft published in January, which was widely welcomed by conservation bodies and takes account of debate in both Houses during the passage of the Bill. In particular it extends the guidance on recreational provision, and on the protection of historic buildings, ancient monuments and archaeological sites ; and offers new guidance on the preservation of public freedom of access.
Taken with the duties under sections 8 and 9 of the Act, it will, I believe, ensure that the new bodies created by the Act will maintain and further extend the achievements of the water authorities in conservation, public access and recreation.
Housing Subsidy
Sir George Young : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will now review the operation of the system of admissible cost limits for housing subsidy, following the first 12 months' experience, as promised in DOE circular 5/88 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : My Department is today issuing a consultation paper on the review of the operation of the admissible cost limit system for housing subsidy to the local authority associations and will be holding discussions with their representatives. The review will consider how well the system has worked since it replaced individual project control in April 1988.
The Department will also propose to the associations that the system should be extended to cover the costs of existing houses and flats acquired by councils, either by leasehold or purchase. This would not introduce any new constraints on the capacity of authorities to lease or buy dwellings, but it would limit the Exchequer's liability to subsidise costs in the same way as already applies with costs of new building by authorities. The views of local authority associations are sought within two months and we will then consider their responses. If the proposal is confirmed, however, its effect will be backdated to apply to acquisitions agreed on or after 17 August.
HEALTH
Chiropodists
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many chiropodists are state registered ; and how many others are known to practise without registration.
Mr. Mellor : The Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (an independent statutory
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body) maintains the state register and would be able to advise the hon. Gentleman. State registration is a requirement for all chiropodists in NHS employment ; information on others is not held centrally.Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the practice of chiropody by non state registered chiropodists.
Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to the Minister for Health's reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang) on 28 April 1987 at cols. 113-4. The position remains unchanged.
Organ Transplants
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a national register of potential donors of organs for transplant.
Mr. Freeman : At present we have no plans to establish a national register of potential organ donors. A working party chaired by Sir Raymond Hoffenberg examined such registers, and considered that they were unlikely to have a major impact on organ donation. Before giving further consideration to a national register, we would wish to see evidence that local schemes had proved successful.
Dentists (Hygiene)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to introduce regulations to require dentists to comply with stricter hygiene standards.
Mr. Freeman : No. Regulations already exist under which general dental practitioners are required to furnish their surgeries with adequate equipment and to provide treatment with suitable instruments. And in providing general dental services a dentist must employ a proper degree of skill and attention. Any dentist who fails to comply with his terms of service renders himself vulnerable to disciplinary proceedings. In addition a dentist who fails to employ adequate hygiene procedures would be vulnerable to a charge of unprofessional conduct brought against him by the General Dental Council, which in serious cases is able to order the erasure of a dentist's name from the dental register, thus preventing him from carrying out the practice of dentistry.
Medical Indemnity Insurance
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of the proposed National Health Service indemnity insurance scheme.
Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Galbraith) on 25 May at column 726.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the total cost of medical indemnity insurance in each of the last five years.
Mr. Mellor : Information is not available on the total cost of medical indemnity insurance, but the full medical rate of subscription to each of the London-based medical defence organisations has been as follows :
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Year |£ ------------------ 1985 |288 1986 |336 1987 |576 1988 |1,080
On I January 1989 the Medical Defence Union introduced its 1989 rate of £1,350. On 1 April the Medical Protection Society introduced an annual rate of £1,800 for doctors in certain hospital specialties but retained its 1988 level for the remainder. With effect from 1 July 1989 both organisations reduced the annual rate of GPs to £775.
NHS (Complaints)
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement concerning the implementation of HC(88)37 on the implementation of the hospital complaints procedures ; (2) which health authorities have appointed a senior officer to take responsibility for managing the complaint procedures.
Mr. Freeman : Health circular (88)37 gave guidance to health authorities on the procedure to be operated in respect of complaints by hospital patients. It also included, as an annex, directions issued by the Secretary of State as required by section 1 of the Hospital Complaints Procedure Act 1985. These directions instructed health authorities to designate "an officer" with responsibility for handling complaints, and the guidance notes suggested that this should be a "senior officer". All regional health authorities have confirmed that they are in compliance with these directions.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state for the latest year in which information is available, what was the range of actions taken by family practitioner committees in those cases in which the complaint was upheld.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not collected centrally. However, in 1988, 492 practitioners were found in breach of their terms of service and withholdings were directed in 247 cases. In addition, family practitioner committees referred five practitioners to the National Health Service tribunal.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state for the latest year in which information is available, what was the range of actions taken by district health authorities and regional health authorities in those cases in which a complaint was upheld.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not held centrally. Where a complainant is not satisfied with the response he or she receives from a health authority, the complaint can be referred on to the Health Service Commissioner (the Ombudsman). A list of the remedies brought about as a result of the commissioner's investigations is published each year as part of his annual report. A copy is available in the Library.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state, for each district and regional health authority in England, for the latest year in which figures are available (a) how many complaints were received, (b) how many were found to be justified and (c) how many were found to be unjustified.
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Mr. Freeman : Available information for the year ending 31 March 1988 is given in the table. Information at district level, and information on the number of complaints upheld, is not held centrally and could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost.
Total number of
written complaints on:
|Hospital services |Community services
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England |29,956 |5,030
Northern |1,346 |387
Yorkshire |2,069 |247
Trent |2,191 |454
East Anglian |885 |80
North West Thames |2,565 |371
North East Thames |3,739 |545
South East Thames |2,997 |301
South West Thames |2,115 |891
Wessex |1,497 |448
Oxford |991 |72
South Western |1,592 |218
West Midlands |3,375 |476
North Western |2,718 |364
Special Health Authorities |544 |0
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state, for each district and regional health authority, for the latest year in which figures are available what was (a) the shortest time, (b) the longest time and (c) the median time between the receipt of the complaint and informing the complainant of the outcome.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not held centrally and could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state, for each family practitioner committee, for the latest year in which figures are available (a) how many complaints were received, (b) how many were found to be justified and (c) how many were found to be unjustified.
Mr. Freeman : I regret that the information cannot be provided without disproportionate cost. In 1988 there were 1,748 formal investigations of complaints by family practitioner committees in England in which 492
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practitioners were found in breach of their terms of service. Information is not available centrally for each family practitioner committee.Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state, for each family practitioner committee, for the latest year in which figures are available (a) the shortest, (b) the longest and (c) median time between receiving the complaint and informing the complainant of the outcome.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not available centrally.
Community Charge (Exemptions)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the medical advice he has received on the exemption of severe dementia sufferers from the community charge ; (2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the advice to be given to general practitioners on the procedures for exempting severely mentally impaired people from the community charge.
Mr. Freeman : Policy on exemptions from the personal community charge is for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and we have therefore received no medical advice on the exemption of severe dementia sufferers. However, I understand that advice has been given by my officials to the Department of the Environment.
A copy of the guidance to general practitioners on the procedure to be adopted when exemption from the personal community charge is claimed on grounds of severe mental impairment will be placed in the Library when it is issued.
Young People (Suicide)
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the suicide rate among young people for each year since 1979 ; and what is the rate for the population as a whole.
Mr. Freeman : The information is shown in the table.
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Suicide<1> rates (per 1,000,000 population) England and Wales 1979-88
Year Age group (years)
|All ages|0-4 |5-9 |10-14 |15-19 |20-24 |25-29
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Males
1979 |106 |0 |0 |3 |41 |94 |127
1980 |109 |0 |0 |1 |40 |90 |121
1981 |114 |0 |0 |2 |42 |98 |147
1982 |115 |0 |0 |2 |37 |95 |147
1983 |116 |0 |0 |1 |40 |96 |130
1984 |118 |0 |0 |1 |43 |106 |138
1985 |121 |0 |0 |1 |43 |120 |151
1986 |118 |0 |0 |1 |42 |130 |136
1987 |116 |0 |0 |3 |53 |130 |135
1988<2> |125 |0 |0 |2 |59 |156 |145
Females
1979 |64 |0 |0 |2 |18 |35 |46
1980 |66 |0 |0 |1 |20 |40 |38
1981 |65 |0 |0 |1 |13 |28 |42
1982 |59 |0 |0 |2 |11 |29 |44
1983 |58 |0 |0 |3 |12 |33 |32
1984 |57 |0 |0 |1 |10 |22 |39
1985 |57 |0 |0 |1 |11 |25 |34
1986 |49 |0 |0 |1 |12 |27 |42
1987 |45 |0 |0 |1 |13 |28 |37
1988<2> |45 |0 |0 |1 |15 |33 |28
<1> International Classification of Diseases (Ninth Revision) E950-E959.
<2> Provisional.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Animal Diseases
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current number of outbreaks of each of the following notifiable diseases in
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each county in Great Britain : (a) anthrax, (b) Aujeszky's disease, (c) emzootic bovine leukosis, (d) paramyxovitus of pigeons, (e) sheep scab and (f) swine fever.Mr. Donald Thompson : The information is set out in the table.
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Number of outbreaks in 1989 to date
|Anthrax |Aujeszky's disease |Enzootic bovine leukosis|Paramyxovirus in pigeons|Sheep scab |Swine fever
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
County
Avon |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Cheshire |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Clwyd |1 |- |- |- |- |-
Cornwall |- |- |- |- |4 |-
Derby |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Devon |1 |2 |- |- |2 |-
Dorset |- |- |- |- |2 |-
Dyfed |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Essex |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Gwynedd |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Hereford and Worcester |- |- |- |- |3 |-
Lancashire |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Leicestershire |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Norfolk |- |2 |- |- |- |-
Northumberland |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Oxford |- |- |- |2 |- |-
Powys |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Shropshire |- |- |- |- |2 |-
Somerset |- |- |- |- |5 |-
Staffordshire |- |- |- |- |3 |-
Tyne and Wear |- |- |- |1 |- |-
West Midlands MC |- |- |- |2 |- |-
Wiltshire |- |- |- |- |2 |-
Yorkshire MC |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Region
Borders |- |- |- |3 |1 |-
Perth |- |- |- |3 |- |-
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |2 |4 |0 |18 |28 |0
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of outbreaks of each of the following notifiable diseases in each county
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in Great Britain in 1988 : (a) anthrax, (b) Aujeszky's disease, (c) emzootic bovine leukosis, (d) paramyxovitus of pigeons, (e) sheep scab and (f) swine fever.Mr. Donald Thompson : The information is set out in the table.
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Table file CW890707.017 not available
Chief Veterinary Officer (Report)
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next expects to publish a report from his Chief Veterinary Officer ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Donald Thompson : The report of the Chief Veterinary Officer "Animal Health 1988" should be published in the middle of August.
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