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Prisoners (Meat Allowance)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current meat allowance for prisoners.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The current allowance of meat for prisoners, based on properly balanced dietary scales, averages 94p per inmate per week.
Women Prisoners (Qualifications)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) adult and (b) young offender women prisoners have acquired qualifications during 1987 and 1988 ; and if he will list those qualifications.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The question cannot be answered in precisely the terms stated. The position in relation to individual educational qualifications gained during the past two years was :
|Grades
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Adults:
1987
O grades 13
|gained by seven candidates
Highers 1
1988
O grades 8
|gained by seven candidates
Highers 2
|(b) Young Offenders:
1987
O grades 4
|gained by two candidates
Highers Nil
1988
O grades 1
|gained by one candidate
Highers Nil
Local Authority Care
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) girls and (b) boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years, held in care at 31 March 1988, had committed no crimes.
Mr. Lang : It is estimated that at 31 March 1988, 86.9 per cent. of girls and 50.6 per cent. of boys in local authority care between the ages of 10 and 16 years were there for reasons not related to the commission of crimes or offences.
Prisoners (Outside Employment)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) male and (b) female prisoners were employed outside their prisons in 1987 and 1988.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information is not available in the form requested. Approximately 57 inmates in 1987 and 64 in 1988 went to outside employment (including community placements) from a prison training for freedom hostel as part of their formal pre-release programme. Some establishments made similar arrangements for other inmates selected as suitable. But the number of inmates allowed outwith prison unescorted for whatever reason remains small.
Prison Statistics
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of (a) men and (b) women convicted of crimes of violence were sent to prison in 1988 ;
(2) what percentage of convicted (a) men and (b) women were sent to prison in 1988 ;
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is not yet available. Figures for 1987 are given in the table :
Percentage of men and women aged over 21
with a charge proved
against them who were given a sentence of
imprisonment
|Men |Women
------------------------------------------
All crimes and offences |8.0 |3.5
Crimes of violence<1> |40.0 |9.6
<1> Includes homicide, serious assault,
carrying offensive weapons, robbery,
cruelty to children etc.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) men and (b) women with no previous convictions were sent to prison in 1988.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on men or women first offenders who received a prison sentence as a percentage of those convicted of a first offence is not collected.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of women prisoners in 1987 and 1988 (a) had previously been in prison and (b) had previous convictions and non-custodial sentences.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The only statistical information held centrally on the previous sentences and convictions of inmates is obtained from the inmates on reception into the penal establishment and may not be completely reliable. The figures from this source are as follows :
j Women received under sentence into prisons in Scotland Percentage admitting: |1987 |1988 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previous direct prison sentence |69.0 |69.5 Other direct custodial sentence |4.7 |4.2 (but not direct prison sentence) Other previous sentence only |7.6 |11.7 (non-custodial or custodial sentence in default of fine/compensation order) No previous sentence |18.7 |14.6
Women Prisoners (Psychiatric Treatment)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of women prisoners in 1986, 1987 and 1988 have received psychiatric treatment while in custody ; and what percentage of these women were mothers.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This information is not held in the form requested, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners (Child Care)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will conduct an inquiry into child care arrangements, particularly concerning the numbers of children taken into care, whose parents are currently inmates of Scottish prisons.
AIDS
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many positive HIV antibody test results there were until (a) 31 March 1988 and (b) 31 March 1989 in each health board area in Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : By 31 March 1989 1,621 HIV antibody test results had been reported to the Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit. A breakdown of this total by health board area is given as follows :
Health Board |Number of positive
|results
------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |13
Ayrshire and Arran |<1>-
Borders |<1>-
Dumfries and Galloway |13
Fife |24
Forth Valley |59
Grampian |37
Greater Glasgow |253
Highland |11
Lanarkshire |22
Lothian |962
Orkney |Nil
Shetland |<1>-
Tayside |218
Western Isles |Nil
<1> Under 10 results: in accordance with established
practice, exact numbers not given as publication may
jeopardise medical confidentiality.
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Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the latest number of positive HIV antibody test results, and the cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS in each health board area.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of positive HIV antibody test results in Scotland which were reported to the Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit until 30 June 1989 is 1,668. A breakdown of this total by health board area is given in the following table. The cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS who were reported to the unit area until that date is 102. Of that number, Greater Glasgow and Lothian health boards accounted for 33 and 48 cases, respectively. Argyll and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Highland, Lanarkshire and Tayside health boards accounted for the remainder. Where the number of cases in each board area for each category was under 10, the total in accordance with established practice is not published so as not to jeopardise medical confidentiality.
Health Board |Number of positive
|results
------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |13
Ayrshire and Arran |<1>-
Borders |<1>-
Dumfries and Galloway |13
Fife |25
Forth Valley |59
Grampian |37
Greater Glasgow |259
Highland |11
Lanarkshire |23
Lothian |993
Orkney |Nil
Shetland |<1>-
Tayside |224
Western Isles |Nil
<1> Under 10.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS until 31 March ; and how many of these had been diagnosed within the previous 12 months in each health board area in Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS who were reported to the Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit until 31 March 1989 is 85. The number of these who were reported to the unit within the previous 12 months is 33. Of that number, Greater Glasgow and Lothian health boards accounted for 10 and 15 cases, respectively. Argyll and Clyde, Grampian and Tayside health boards accounted for the remainder. The number of cases in each board area was under 10, but in accordance with established practice the totals are not published so as not to jeopardise medical confidentiality. Figures relating to the previous 12 months may require to be adjusted when all relevant information is available to take account of cases reported within, but diagnosed before, the 12-month period in question.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS until 31 March 1988 ; and how many of these had been diagnosed in the 12 months prior to that date, in each health board area.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS who were reported to the
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Communicable Diseases (Scotland) Unit until 31 March 1988 is 52. The number of these who had been diagnosed within the previous 12 months is 34. Of that number, Greater Glasgow and Lothian health boards accounted for 15 and 14 cases, respectively. Fife, Grampian, Lanarkshire and Tayside health boards accounted for the remainder. The number of cases in each board area was under 10, but in accordance with established practice the total are not published so as not to jeopardise medical confidentiality.Waterways (Discharges)
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for consent to discharge unsatisfactory effluent into rivers have been granted by river purification boards so far in the present year.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I am aware of none. River purification boards, in granting consent to discharge sewage and trade effluents, attach conditions which ensure that, in the circumstances appropriate to each case, the quality of the receiving waters is not adversely affected.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sites in Scotland are authorised to discharge radioactive liquid waste to waterways.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : There are 112 sites in Scotland authorised to dispose of liquid radioactive waste, either to coastal waters or, in the majority of cases, to the sewerage system.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the estimated tonnage of sewage disposed of on an annual basis into the rivers (a) in Strathclyde and (b) in Scotland as a whole.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is not available in the form sought. Treated effluent from around 1 million people is discharged to non-tidal rivers in Strathclyde from the council's sewage treatment works ; in Scotland as a whole the corresponding figure is some 1,600,000.
Labour Statistics
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of claimants in (a) Greenock and Port Glasgow and (b) Strathclyde were classified as long-term unemployed in April ; and what plans he has to reduce that number.
Mr. Ian Lang : The number of claimants unemployed for over one year in the Greenock and Port Glasgow parliamentary constituency and Strathclyde region in April 1989, and the percentage of total claimants that represented, is shown in the table below.
April 1989
|Claimants unemployed for|As a percentage of total
|over one year |claimants
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenock and Port Glasgow
parliamentary constituency |2,865 |47.1
Strathclyde region |59,239 |43.5
The number of claimants unemployed for over a year has fallen by around 30 per cent. in both the constituency
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and the region over the past two years. We aim to reduce unemployment even further by continuing with our successful economic policies.Care in the Community"
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what conclusions he has reached about the recommendations in the Griffiths report on "Care in the Community" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Rifkind : The report by Sir Roy Griffiths on "Care in the Community" made far-reaching recommendations about the funding and delivery of community care services for the elderly, people with mental and physical disabilities and people with mental health problems. The report did not formally apply to Scotland, but I have been fully involved in the Government's detailed consideration of the report.
Our objectives for the development of community care in Scotland are the same as those set out in the statement made today by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Health. We wish to enable people to live as full and independent a life as is possible for them in the community for as long as they wish to do so. I have given detailed consideration to the policy implications for Scotland and have had regard to the many comments and representations that I received about Sir Roy Griffith's report. My proposals are as follows.
I have decided that local authorities in Scotland should be responsible for meeting the contribution from public funds towards the cost of the care of people in private and voluntary residential care and in nursing homes. They will, in collaboration with health boards, assess the care needs of individuals applying for such support and will reach a view on whether residential care is required or whether, in view of the primary objective of sustaining people in their own homes, a better outcome is possible by devising suitable individual packages of care. In future, therefore, the special income support system for those in homes will be ended, and local authorities will be responsible for providing any help required towards the costs of residential care in the cases where they decide that a residential home would be appropriate.
Local authorities will continue to meet the full cost of accommodating people in local authorities' own homes subject to their existing powers to make charges according to residents' ability to pay. These new arrangements will apply from April 1991 to all new claimants for income support. Existing residents of registered residential care or nursing homes at this date will remain eligible for income support under the present rules.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security is today announcing further details of these new arrangements. Local authorities must have adequate resources for their new responsibilities. This will mean transferring to them an appropriate share of what the Government would otherwise have provided to support social security payments to people in residential and nursing home care. I shall be discussing the detailed financial implications with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the necessary decisions will be taken in the public expenditure survey next year. The new role of local authorities cannot be fully discharged without renewed emphasis on the importance of joint planning between local authorities and health
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boards, with the full involvement of the private and voluntary sectors. The health and social needs of individuals with mental and physical disabilities are inseparable and the assessment procedures which local authorities will establish must reflect this fact. Joint planning is already an established feature of health and social work policy in Scotland and we look to local authorities, working with health boards and other agencies, to ensure that it is effective. The community health services will continue to play an essential part in meeting the medical and nursing needs of people outside hospital. Local authorities have traditionally been the biggest single provider of residential and community services in Scotland. More recently there has been growth in both the private and voluntary sectors and local authorities will want to make full use of these facilities in the interests of widening consumer choice. Local authorities should increasingly see themselves not just as providers but as enablers making full use of the range of provision available in the private and voluntary sector.Because of the importance of the new responsibility placed on local authorities I will be giving careful consideration to suitable planning and monitoring arrangements to allow the implementation of the new policy in Scotland to be evaluated. It will be important that local authorities should have clear plans for the development of community care services, worked out in collaboration with health boards and the independent sector. I will expect authorities to have such plans and propose to take powers to call for reports on community care services. The arrangements already in operation through the joint consultative group comprising representatives of the social work services group and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities will continue to have an important part to play. I have decided to make no change to the existing statutory functions of local authority and health boards for the registration and inspection of residential care and nursing homes.
I am considering carefully the question of improving liaison between general practitioners and social work departments to ensure that the latter are aware of patients' needs for social care. This could be achieved by informal day-to-day contact as well as more formal procedures. I will be discussing with local authorities, the representative medical bodies and health boards how this could be best achieved.
Finally, I propose to maintain the current arrangements which have generally worked well for sharing responsibility for services to the mentally ill between health and social work authorities, while improving further the arrangements for co-operation and co-ordination.
A White Paper will be published in the near future about the Government's overall proposals in response to the Griffiths report, including implications for community care in Scotland. It will contain more detail about legislative requirements, planning and monitoring systems and the basis of the new funding arrangements.
Warrant Sales
Mr. Hood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to ensure that warrant sales will not be initiated against persons who have been duped by unscrupulous finance companies in Scotland.
Column 537
Mr. Maude : I have been asked to reply.
The Government have no plans to restrict the use of warrant sales to enforce court orders in respect of consumer credit. The existing law, in particular the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and regulations under it, provides appropriate protection for the consumer. The Act lays down requirements for the proper execution of regulated consumer credit agreements. Improperly executed agreements are enforceable only at the discretion of the court.
Dolphin Bathrooms (Finance Agreements)
Mr. Hood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received concerning the company, Dolphin Bathrooms, Drumage road, Worcester, England, and the signing of uncompleted finance agreement by pensioners in Clydesdale ; and what action he proposes to take.
Mr. Maude : I have been asked to reply.
Neither my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry not my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has received such representations.
Under the Consumer Credit Act a regulated agreement is not properly executed unless the document presented for signature embodies all the terms of the agreement, other than the implied terms. Improperly executed agreements are enforceable only at the discretion of the court.
Action on individual cases of alleged abuse in relation to consumer credit is a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading and for the local authorities who both have relevant functions under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If the hon. Gentleman has evidence of such abuse, I hope that he will give it to the Director General or to the trading standards department of the local authority concerned.
Cairngorm Ski-Lift Company
Dr. Moonie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what regular monitoring is carried out on the environmental management of the ski area managed by the Cairngorm Ski-Lift Company.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 12 June 1989] : Regular environmental monitoring of the area is carried out by the Highlands and Islands Development Board in line with the Cairngorm Estate management plan, a copy of which is lodged in the House of Commons Library.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Colonies (Pensions)
3. Mr. Michael Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how may ex-colonies now block the payment of pensions to United Kingdom citizens who worked in those colonies prior to independence ; and if he will place in the Library a list of the countries concerned and the estimated pension arrears in each case.
Mrs. Chalker : There are no centralised comprehensive records of all those British nationals who are facing difficulty in obtaining their pensions from former colonies, or of the total sums involved. But we are aware of difficulties, of various sorts, in 10 former colonies. I shall place a list in the Library of the House.
Column 538
Cambodia
9. Sir Russell Johnston : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met a representative of the Cambodian Government based in Phnom Penh.
Mr. Eggar : We have no dealings with the so-called People's Republic of Kampuchea.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the extent to which the influence of Pol Pot and his associates can be eradicated from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Mr. Eggar : It is generally accepted that Pol Pot and his associates are totally unacceptable to the international community. Whether there are responsible Khmer Rouge elements who could be included in a quadripartite interim administration in Cambodia is primarily a matter for the Cambodian factions to decide.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes he proposes in the United Kingdom's policy on the representation of Cambodia at the United Nations in the light of the anticipated Vietnamese withdrawal.
Mr. Eggar : Cambodia's representation at the United Nations is one of many issues to be reviewed in the context of a comprehensive political settlement. At this stage, we see no reason to change our present policy.
78. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's involvement in peace talks in Cambodia.
Mr. Eggar : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Mr. Wigley) on 27 June.
34. Mr. Andrew MacKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement on relations with Cambodia.
Mr. Eggar : We have relations neither with the current regime in Phnom Penh nor with the coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. We look forward to an early comprehensive settlement leading to a representative Government in Cambodia and will continue to work actively to this end.
Madrid Summit
13. Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his best estimate of the time within which each of the conclusions reached at the Madrid summit will be implemented.
Mrs. Chalker : The conclusions of the Madrid European Council were placed in the Library of the House on 29 June. I have arranged for a list of those items where a timetable is indicated to be published in the Official Report.
Following is the information :
European Council, Madrid--26-27 June 1989 Conclusions : list of items where timetable indicated Internal market
Commission invited to submit remaining proposals for completion of the market at the earliest opportunity.
Column 539
FraudCouncil of Ministers invited to decide as soon as possible on Commission proposals for regulations.
Taxation
Council of Ministers asked to agree the broad lines of a solution on indirect tax by the end of 1989 and to reach agreement on taxation of savings before 1 July 1990.
Audio-visual (Broadcasting)
Council of Ministers invited to continue work on transfrontier broadcasting directive with a view to adopting it within cooperation procedure time limit (ie August-September).
Social dimension
Social Affairs Council to state position on work necessary to achieve social dimension of single market before Strasbourg European Council on 8-9 December.
Environment
Environment Council called on to examine proposal for a European Government Agency at the earliest opportunity.
Commission asked to submit programme to protect environment in regions of Community affected by desertification, erosion and deforestation.
Research and development
Commission to submit new framework programme for 1990-94. Economic and monetary co-operation
ECOFIN and General Affairs Councils, Commission, Central Bank Governors and Monetary Committee to adopt provisions necessary to begin stage 1 on 1 July 1990 and to prepare inter-governmental conference on subsequent stages, to be held after stage 1 begun. External
Report on progress on EC-EFTA relations at December European Council ; call for EC-ACP negotiations to be concluded by the end of the year.
80. Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on the outcome of the Madrid summit.
Mrs. Chalker : The Prime Minister's statement on 29 June was widely welcomed, in the House and in the country.
West Africa
17. Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what he will do to assist in the economic development of Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone in the next three years.
Mrs. Chalker : We expect to maintain substantial programmes of technical co-operation for Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone in the next three years. We also aim to continue with project aid in Ghana and The Gambia. In addition, we expect to provide balance of payments support for all four countries, on condition that economic adjustment programmes, supported by the IMF and IBRD are in place.
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present status of relations with Ghana.
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