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East London River Crossing
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what comments he has received from the Royal Fine Arts Commission about the redesign of the east London river crossing bridge.
Mr. Channon : The views of the RFAC will be included in the report on the review of the bridge design. A copy will be placed in the Library of the House when a decision on the bridge is announced.
HEALTH
Waiting Lists
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the change in the proportion of in patient waiting list cases waiting for more than one year for treatment in the Warrington district health authority between March 1986 and the latest available date.
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Mr. Mellor : The percentage of cases on Warrington district health authority's inpatient waiting list waiting a year or more dropped from 42 per cent. to 20 per cent., between 31 March 1986 and 30 September 1988.
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce hospital waiting lists in Durham district health authority area.
Mr. Mellor : As part of our drive to reduce long waiting lists and times, £166,431 has been allocated from the waiting list fund to Durham district health authority. By March 1990 this will have enabled an additional 371 in-patients and day cases and an extra 1, 135 outpatients to be treated.
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give details of the progress of the waiting list initiative in Warrington health authority and in Halton health authority.
Mr. Mellor : As part of our drive to reduce long waiting lists and times, £468,000 has been allocated from the waiting list fund to Warrington district health authority and £491,000 to Halton district health authority. By March 1990 this will have enabled an additional 3,157 inpatients and day cases and an extra 375 outpatients to be treated in Warrington and 4,682 additional inpatients and day cases in Halton. At September 1988 no one waited longer than one year in Halton. In Warrington the number waiting over a year stood at one third of the 1979 figure.
Elderly People
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the health programmes for elderly people which currently have the support of his Department.
Mr. Freeman : The Department, in partnership with leading voluntary groups, organises and funds the "Keep Warm Keep Well" campaign, offering advice on how to keep warm in winter. Among the voluntary groups awarded grant aid under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968, those offering health promotion activities or advice include EXTEND (on exercise and fitness), the National Osteoporosis Society, Age Exchange Theatre Company (programmes of mental stimulation) and the Newcastle Council for the Disabled and the Disabled Living Services in Manchester (both for projects on incontinence). We have also welcomed the work of the "Age Well" campaign, organised jointly by Age Concern England and the Health Education Authority, and that of the Centre for Health and Retirement Education, organised through the Health Education Authority and the university of London. The "Age Well" campaign has been allocated a grant this year as part of the disbursement of the moneys arising from the effect of the retail prices index calculation error on social security benefits.
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to the Health Education Authority regarding the future development of the health in old age programme.
Mr. Freeman : The Health Education Authority is currently preparing its strategic plan for the next five years. The planning guidelines issued to the Health Education
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Authority ask it to take account of the elderly in its forward planning process. The strategic plan is due to be submitted to the Department of Health by October.Blood Transfusion Service
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many donations of blood were collected by the Blood Transfusion Service in each of the past 10 years for which figures are available.
Mr. Freeman : The information available relates to the number of donors bled by the National Blood Transfusion Service and is given in the table.
Calendar Year |England and Wales ------------------------------------------------------ 1978 |2,123,607 1979 |2,144,484 1980 |2,220,036 1981 |2,255,731 1982 |2,058,994 1983 |2,135,840 1984 |2,158,626 1985 |2,119,060 1986 |2,128,450 1987 |2,094,316 1988 |<1>2,140,810 <1> Provisional. Note: For the years 1978 to 1981 the figures include a small number of people who reported to the NBTS but from whom it was inappropriate to take blood on that occasion.
Pertussis Vaccine
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ban the use of the pertussis vaccine on children suffering from a serious neurological illness or convulsions.
Mr. Freeman : The memorandum "Immunisation Against Infectious Disease" (Published by HMSO) which was prepared by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation for the Health Department, and was issued last year to all doctors and health visitors, contains clear advice on contra- indications to the pertussis vaccine. They include children with a documented history of cerebral damage in the neonatal period, and children with a personal history of convulsions.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the number of patients recovering from traumatic brain injury who require inpatient rehabilitation ; and how many places for such treatment are currently provided within the National Health Service.
Mr. Mellor : No national estimate is available of the number of patients recovering from traumatic brain injury who require inpatient rehabilitation. Information about the incidence of traumatic brain injury is contained in the reports of the Royal College of Physicians on "Physical Disability in 1986 and Beyond" and the Medical Disability Society on "The Management of Traumatic Brain Injury", and we have drawn these reports to the attention of health authorities. It is for individual regional and district health authorities to assess how many of the traumatically brain- injured patients in their area require inpatient rehabilitation.
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Information on the number of NHS places for the inpatient rehabilitation of traumatically brain-injured patients is not available centrally.Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage regional health authorities to provide inpatient rehabilitation facilities for patients recovering from the effects of traumatic brain injury.
Mr. Mellor : In November last year, we issued guidance to health authorities on the development of services for people with physical or sensory disabilities (Health Notice (88)26, a copy of which is in the Library). This included advice to give particular attention to the rehabilitation of patients with brain injury when planning services for physically and sensorily disabled people.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the names of hospitals referred to him by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution whose facilities fell short of acceptable standards under the Medicines (Administration of Radioactive Substances) Regulations and under sections 6 and 7 (Disposal and Accumulation of Waste) of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960.
Mr. Freeman : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 11 July, concerning inspections carried out under the Medicines (Administrations of Radioactive Substances) Regulations.
Reports of inspections carried out by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution (HMIP) under sections 6 and 7 of the Radioactive Substances Act are not referred to this Department for action, as it is for Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to enforce those regulations.
Exhaust Fumes
Mr. Sedgemore : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the overall cost to the Health Service and economy of lung and other diseases attributed to motor vehicle exhaust fumes.
Mr. Freeman : This information is not available.
Medical Defence Subscriptions
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he has given to managers of regional health authorities regarding the contractual obligation of hospital medical and dental staff to subscribe to a defence organisation, following the consultation paper "Medical Defence Subscriptions", published on 20 March.
Mr. Mellor : Officials wrote on 29 June confirming that the contractual obligation of hospital medical and dental staff to subscribe to a medical defence organisation remains in force, unless and until alternative arrangements are introduced, following the Health Department's consultation paper.
Chlorofluorocarbons
Sir Hugh Rossi : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans exist to ensure the safe disposal of both chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant material and chlorofluorocarbon II in the foam in refrigeration and air- cooling equipment under the control of his Department.
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Mr. Freeman : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment gave today.
Healthy Diets
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission research into the amount of food required to provide a healthy diet for adults and provide an assessment of the cost of such food.
Mr. Freeman : No. The wide variety of foods available in Britain today means that there is an almost infinite number of ways of constructing healthy, and also less healthy, diets. The cost of the diet will depend more on the particular selection of foods than the healthiness of the diet.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many positive HIV antibody test results there were until (a) 31 March 1988 and (b) 31 March 1989 in each regional health authority in England and Wales.
Mr. Mellor [holding answer 12 July 1989] : The table shows the positive HIV antibody test resuls reported to CDSC for the time period requested, for England and Wales.
England |By 31 March 1988|By 31 March 1989
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |245 |286
Yorkshire |266 |310
Trent |210 |248
East Anglia |134 |160
North West Thames |2,234 |2,820
North East Thames |1,432 |1,860
South East Thames |780 |916
South West Thames |214 |266
Wessex |204 |234
Oxford |265 |332
South Western |192 |236
West Midlands |311 |351
Mersey |133 |154
North Western |279 |348
Channel Isles |11 |20
Wales |91 |123
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest number of positive HIV antibody test results, and the cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS, in each regional health authority in England and Wales.
Mr. Mellor [holding answer 12 July 1989] : The latest numbers of positive antibody test results, and the cumulative total of people diagnosed with AIDS, reported to and accepted by CDSC, are given in the table. Some very recently diagnosed cases of AIDS may not yet have been accepted by CDSC so they may not yet appear in the table.
England |HIV antibody test results|AIDS cases cumulative
|(end June 1989) |total (end June 1989
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |297 |53
Yorkshire |314 |62
Trent |267 |46
East Anglia |161 |28
North West Thames |2,968 |949
North East Thames |1,965 |433
South East Thames |944 |253
South West Thames |283 |78
Wessex |242 |52
Oxford |340 |48
South Western |248 |47
West Midlands |358 |50
Mersey |154 |34
North Western |373 |86
Channel Isles |20 |2
Wales |131 |37
|--- |---
Total |9,065 |2,258
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EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Library Spending
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much (a) universities and (b) polytechnics have spent on (i) books and (ii) journals and periodicals in each year since 1978-79 in cash terms and real terms, indexed so that 1978-79 = 100.
Mr. Jackson : The available information is set out in the table. There may, in addition, be relevant spending within departments.
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Universities (United Polytechnics (England)
Kingdom)
(academic years) (financial years)
Books Journals etc. Books and Journals
etc.
|Cash |Index |Cash |Index |Cash |Index
|£ million |£ million |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |9.20 |100.0 |7.98 |100.0 |6.94 |100.0
1979-80 |9.52 |88.2 |9.06 |96.6 |6.97 |85.5
1980-81 |10.58 |85.5 |10.10 |94.0 |6.82 |73.0
1981-82 |10.62 |79.1 |10.91 |93.6 |9.10 |89.8
1982-83 |11.73 |82.3 |12.50 |101.1 |9.71 |90.2
1983-84 |12.73 |85.6 |14.40 |111.1 |9.21 |81.8
1984-85 |13.44 |85.6 |16.24 |119.2 |9.92 |83.8
1985-86 |14.15 |86.2 |17.58 |123.4 |10.05 |81.2
1986-87 |13.69 |80.1 |19.26 |129.9 |10.56 |81.9
1987-88 |14.38 |79.4 |19.76 |125.7 |<1>12.40 |90.8
<1> Provisional.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on library spending in the United Kingdom ; and what plans he has to improve the provision of books and periodicals for students.
Mr. Jackson : Responsibility for libraries in universities, pollytechnics and colleges lies with individual institutions. It falls to them to decide their funding priorities within the total resources at their disposal.
City Technology Colleges
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish details of any standard funding agreement drawn up by his Department for the establishment of city technology colleges under section 105 of the Education Reform Act 1988.
Mr. Butcher : The funding agreements will cover both capital and recurrent expenditure for CTCs, arrangements for the payment of grant and conditions attaching to it. they are designed to place CTCs on an equal footing with LEA maintained schools in similar areas.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his policy on the provision of any form of indemnity to sponsors of city technology colleges against the possibility of future repayment of grant monies paid under section 105 of the Education Reform Act 1988 ; and if any such indeminity is currently being considered.
Mr. Butcher : Section 105(6) of the Education Reform Act provides for the Secretary of State to indemnify a person who has entered into an agreement with him to establish a city technology college, in the event of that
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agreement being terminated by the Secretary of State. My right hon. Friend is not currently considering any such indemnity.Education (No. 2) Act 1986
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received concerning the wording of section 43 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Special Needs
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about his policy toward adult literacy and special needs courses.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend has consistently made clear the high priority which the Government attach to meeting the literacy and numeracy needs of adults. The Department's grant to the adult literacy and basic skills unit (ALBSU) for the current year is £2,724,000. This represents an increase of almost 10 per cent. over the level of grant in the previous year. The BBC will be launching a series of programmes on adult literacy and numeracy in the autumn. The Department and the Training Agency are co-operation with ALBSU to support this initiative.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what funds he has made available in each of the last five years for the education of mentally handicapped children.
Mr. Butcher : The majority of Government revenue support for education provided by local authorities is
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channelled through block grant, which is not hypothecated to services or to particular activities within services. Specific grants are, however, paid in aid of particular educational expenditure under the education support grant programme, and the local education authority training grants scheme (which replaced the in-service teacher training grants). Since 1 April 1985 an estimated total of £45 million of expenditure related to education for children and students with special educational needs, including those with mental handicaps, has been assisted through various activities under these specific grant programmes.Health and Safety
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to review his policy toward health and safety requirements in schools.
Mr. Butcher : My right hon. Friend will continue his policy of attaching great priority toward health and safety requirements in schools and the Department will continue to provide advice and guidance on good practice.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Pesticide Residues
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what checks are made for pesticide residues in products intended for sale to consumers ; and what research is being carried out to ascertain the effect of such residues on people.
Mr. Ryder : Monitoring is carried out by the Government's working party on pesticide residues and the results are published. This monitoring involves the analysis of some 2,000 to 3,000 samples of home produced and imported food and agricultural produce per year, with individual samples being examined for a wide range of pesticide residues at a cost of over £1 million.
Before a pesticide is approved for use its likely effect on consumers is assessed if its use is shown to leave residues in food. Approval would not be given if this assessment suggested any risk to the health of consumers.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how he expects the following measures will affect the emissions of greenhouse gases : (a) the environmentally sensitive area scheme, and (b) the set-aside scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : Both the environmentally sensitive areas and the set- aside schemes should reduce fertiliser usage and thereby help limit nitrous oxide emissions. The planting of woodlands on set-aside land would fix carbon dioxide for longer periods than conventional agriculture.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will give the area in hectares in each environmentally sensitive area of agricultural land excluding farm woodland ; (2) if he will list the estimated length of hedgerow in the environmentally sensitive area of (a) Shropshire borders, and (b) Suffolk river valleys.
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Mr. Ryder : The information requested is not yet available.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of cows in each environmentally sensitive area (a) prior to designation, and (b) the latest figures available since designation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : This information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish the work he has contracted on the economic and social effects of environmentally sensitive areas when it is completed.
Mr. Ryder : I will publish information on the economic and social effects of environmentally sensitive areas together with information on their environmental impact when all the contracted work has been completed.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the areas for possible designation as environmentally sensitive on the initial list submitted to him by the Nature Conservancy Council and Countryside Commission.
Mr. Ryder : The areas initially identified in Great Britain by the Nature Conservancy Council and the Countryside Commission are as follows :
Environmentally sensitive areas
1. Shetland
2. Orkney
3. Central Deeside
4. Caithness and North West Sutherland Coast
5. Uists and Benbecula
6. Inner Hebrides Coastal crofting and farming
7. Nithsdale
8. Breadalbane
9. Strathallan
10. Whitlaw/Eildon
11. Northumberland National Park, Moorland
12. South Solway
13. North Pennines
14. Lake District
15. Arnside and Silverdale
16. Yorkshire Dales
17. North York Moors
18. Lower Derwent Valley
19. Peak District
20. Shropshire Hills
21. Clun Valley
22. Wyre Forest
23. Nene Washes and Valley
24. Ouse Washes and Valley
25. Breckland
26. The Broads
27. Suffolk Coast and Heaths
28. Dedham Vale
29. North Kent Marshes
30. North Downs
31. Ashdown Forest
32. Pevensey Levels
33. South Downs
34. Surrey Heaths
35. Itchen Valley
36. Test Valley
37. New Forest grazings
38. North Wessex Downs
39. South Wiltshire Downs
40. Mendips
41. Somerset Levels and Moors
42. Exmoor
43. Dartmoor
44. Bodmin Moor
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