| Previous Section | Home Page |
SOCIAL SECURITY
Community Care (Durham)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what statistical information he has as to the reasons given to applicants by social fund officers at the local office in Durham City for the nil awards in respect of an application for community care grants.
Column 657
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The table provides the statistical information available for the 1988-89 year.
Column 657
Unsuccessful applications for community care grants by reason for refusal at Durham ILO
|April |May |June |July |August |September|October |November |December |January |February |March |Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Savings over £500 meet the full cost |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |1
Not in receipt of IS and unlikely to
qualify |0 |0 |1 |3 |5 |1 |4 |2 |0 |1 |4 |1 |22
Item(s) excluded by Direction |0 |2 |1 |0 |2 |3 |1 |0 |0 |2 |4 |1 |16
Applicant excluded by Direction |0 |0 |0 |12 |17 |21 |14 |13 |7 |3 |6 |0 |93
Applied for less than £30 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |3 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |1 |5
Adjusted amount less than £30 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1
Previous application and decision
for the item |0 |0 |0 |1 |4 |1 |1 |0 |2 |0 |1 |0 |10
Help available from another source |0 |2 |2 |5 |1 |0 |0 |0 |2 |4 |2 |1 |19
Priority too low to meet from the
budget |0 |0 |3 |1 |1 |4 |0 |0 |2 |0 |3 |1 |15
Alternative available to the whole
application |0 |2 |4 |2 |0 |0 |0 |1 |4 |1 |1 |1 |16
Others not covered above |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |4 |10 |13 |6 |34
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |0 |7 |11 |25 |30 |33 |20 |16 |21 |23 |34 |12 |232
A Good Deal for Deaf Children"
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consideration the Minister for the Disabled has given to the report from the National Deaf Children's Society entitled "A Good Deal for Deaf Children" ; what action he is taking ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : I have not yet received a copy of the report, but I look forward with interest to reading it.
Private Residential Homes
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the maximum weekly payment made by his Department in Bradford to support elderly people in private residential homes.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information is not available on this basis. Help through income support with the fees of residential care homes in Bradford is subject to the national limits. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the current limits on 27 October 1988 at column 483.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received about the difference between charges levied by private residential homes in Bradford and the maximum weekly payment made by his Department to support elderly people living in such homes ; what is the current minimum and maximum difference in Bradford ; how many elderly people have been evicted from residential homes in Bradford in the last 12 months because of inability to pay fees ; how many elderly people are now under notice to leave private residential homes because of inability to pay fees ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Help with fees in an independent residential care home can be available through income support, subject to national limits. The level of a person's charges is a matter for him and the proprietor to agree based on the services to be provided. We have had representations from Bradford and elsewhere about the levels of income support in relation to fees charged by homes. However, it is not our policy to meet all fees, however high, and the levels of income support are enough to meet the fees in the majority of cases. The Department does not collect information on the remaining points.
Column 658
HEALTH
Cyclotron Machine (St. Thomas's Hospital)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what grounds his Department decided to consult interested parties before making his decision to provide funds for the purchase of a cyclotron machine for St. Thomas's hospital ; and if he will list the groups he consulted.
Mr. Freeman : No external advice was received before the decision was taken to contribute to the charitable funds being raised by the Cyclotron Trust.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he intends to continue to provide 60 per cent. of the funds for the running costs of the cyclotron machine at St. Thomas's hospital in the light of concern over the safety of the machine ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : We have undertaken to meet up to 60 per cent. of the direct running costs of the cyclotron once it begins to operate, in so far as these are not met from other sources. We have given careful consideration to the views that have so far been expressed by the medical profession, but they have not produced any evidence which would cause us to change our views of the proposed project.
Motor Neurone Disease
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the mortality statistics for motor neurone disease for each year from 1959 for which data is available.
Mr. Freeman : The information is shown in the table.
Number of deaths from Motor Neurone
Disease<1> in England and
Wales, 1959-1988
Year Number of deaths
|Males |Females|Total
----------------------------------------
1959 |308 |260 |568
1960 |311 |227 |538
1961 |306 |230 |536
1962 |311 |228 |539
1963 |290 |227 |517
1964 |346 |258 |604
1965 |375 |265 |640
1966 |341 |271 |612
1967 |343 |269 |612
1968 |327 |278 |605
1969 |340 |268 |608
1970 |342 |261 |603
1971 |382 |339 |721
1972 |385 |298 |683
1973 |372 |307 |679
1974 |367 |322 |689
1975 |376 |338 |714
1976 |402 |324 |726
1977 |418 |358 |776
1978 |384 |392 |776
1979 |488 |386 |874
1980 |402 |353 |755
1981 |493 |390 |883
1982 |458 |366 |824
1983 |481 |461 |942
1984 |565 |440 |1,005
1985 |570 |533 |1,103
1986 |591 |490 |1,081
1987 |598 |525 |1,123
<2>1988 |592 |530 |1,122
<1>From 1959 to 1967 motor neurone
disease and muscular atrophy was
classified to the International
Diseases of Classification (ICD) 7th
revision code 356. Similarly from 1968
to 1978 motor neurone disease was
classified to ICD 8th revision ICD code
348 and from 1979 onwards 9th revision
ICD code 325.2 was used.
<2>Provisional.
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the research projects on motor neurone disease funded by the Department in each year since 1959 for which data are available and the level of funding provided.
Mr. Freeman : At present, the health and personal social services research programme does not include any research specifically into motor neurone disease (MND). However, the Department of Health does fund a number of studies about service delivery where MND sufferers would be among the service users. These studies are as follows : (a) Research on aspects of physiotherapy provision, carried out by the Centre for Physiotherapy Research at King's college, London. (b) Research on speech therapy provision, in particular ; a study of Communication Aid Centres being carried out by Dr. Anne Chamberlain at Leeds ;
a study on speech therapy services (demands and staffing) being undertaken by Dr. Philip Davies at Oxford.
(c) Research on disability generally is relevant to MND. An important example is the OPCS disability survey which, of course, includes MND sufferers.
A full list of earlier research into MND is not readily available. However, the Department's handbook of research and development, published annually, contains information about all directly funded research. Copies are available in the Library.
Disabled People
Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has a specific policy on giving financial support to voluntary organisations dealing with disabilities which are run by the disabled.
Mr. Freeman : The major considerations in determining support to voluntary organisations dealing with disabilities are the services they offer to disabled people and the resources available. A number of organisations that we currently support are run by disabled people.
Column 660
Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department intends to review its level of funding to the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People.
Mr. Freeman : The Department is currently considering an application from the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People for funds under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 for the period 1989-90 to 1991-92.
Organ Transplants
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines have been issued by his Department relating to the removal and transplantation of organs from anacephalic infants.
Mr. Freeman : The Chief Medical Officer wrote to regional medical officers on 1 February 1988(PL/CMO(88)3). This letter drew to their attention a report of the working party, from the conference of medical royal colleges on organ transplantation in neonates. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Expenditure
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the cumulative total of his Department's expenditure since May 1979 to date over and above the expenditure level prevailing in May 1979.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 29 June 1989] : Between 1979-80 and 1989-90 total gross expenditure on the health and personal social services programme in England has increased by nearly 36 per cent. in real terms. The table shows gross expenditure in each year since 1979-80 at 1989 -90 prices and the cumulative real terms increases during this period :
HPSS Gross Expenditure 1979-80 to 1989-90 at Current Prices
£ millions
|at 1989-90 prices |Cumulative increase in
|real terms
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |18,574 |-
1980-81 |20,208 |1,634
1981-82 |20,591 |2,017
1982-83 |20,978 |2,404
1983-84 |21,353 |2,779
1984-85 |21,804 |3,230
1985-86 |21,868 |3,294
1986-87 |22,869 |4,295
1987-88 |24,006 |5,432
1988-89 |24,884 |6,310
1989-90 |25,230 |6,656
Compensation Payments
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, by regional health authority, the number of compensation payments made exceeding £100,000 paid in each year from 1984-85 to 1987-88.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 3 July 1989] : The number of compensation payments exceeding £100,000 notified to the Department in each year 1984-85 to 1987-88, together with the amounts involved, is as follows :
Column 661
1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88
Region |Number of cases|Amounts |Number of cases|Amounts |Number of cases|Amounts |Number of cases|Amounts
|£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Yorkshire |- |- |1 |385,000 |- |- |- |-
Trent |- |- |1 |270,000 |3 |115,000 |- |-
|130,000
|375,000
East Anglian |- |- |- |- |1 |151,222 |- |-
North West Thames |1 |220,760 |- |- |- |- |- |-
North East Thames |1 |235,000 |- |- |- |- |1 |430,000
South East Thames |- |- |1 |154,095 |- |- |- |-
South West Thames |- |- |- |- |3 |600,000 |- |-
|150,498
|108,434
Wessex |- |- |1 |275,000 |1 |175,000 |- |-
Oxford |- |- |- |- |1 |550,000 |- |-
South Western |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |350,000
West Midlands |- |- |1 |250,000 |2 |175,000 |1 |220,000
|260,000
Mersey |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |375,000
North Western |- |- |- |- |1 |207,000 |- |-
Note: The figures shown represent the total amount of the award/settlement, excluding costs. They do not take account of the fact that the health authority's
liability may have been reduced (in a case involving a medical accident) by a contribution from a medical defence organisation.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Economic and Finance Council
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the latest meeting of the European Community's Economic and Finance Council.
Mr. Lawson : The ECOFIN Council met in Brussels on 10 July. I represented the United Kingdom.
The Council discussed the economic situation in the Community and the Commission's second quarterly review ; and confirmed the economic policy guidelines set out in the 1988-89 annual economic report adopted last December. The Commission and the presidency explained their plans for implementing the decisions on European monetary union reached at the recent European Council at Madrid.
War Graves (VAT)
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which year and on whose authority value added tax was first imposed on the maintenance of United States war graves in the United Kingdom ; when and on whose authority war graves in the United Kingdom and European Economic Community nations were exempted from such value added tax charges ; and when he proposes taking action to ensure that the war graves of our American and Commonwealth allies are not less favourably treated than those of our former enemies.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 6 July 1989] : In 1985 Her Majesty's Customs and Excise ruled that suplies in the
Column 662
United Kingdom of goods and services for the American Battle Monuments Commission were chargeable with VAT.There was an exchange of notes between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States of America in 1952 regarding relief from taxation of United States Government expenditures in the United Kingdom. Information is not presently available on the position in other countries of the European Communities.
Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is looking into the background to the ruling in 1985 to see whether it was correct then and is appropriate now.
Manufactured Goods (Imports)
Mr. Gale : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he intends to take to increase the volume of information provided by Customs and Excise marketing agents relating to imported manufactured goods ; and how he intends to make the information available to British manufacturers.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 10 July 1989] : Customs and Excise is now making available to its approved marketing agents, in addition to traditional United Kingdom trade statistical data, the names and addresses of consignees shown on import declarations, listed against the commodities they import. This new facility has been available since 22 May 1989. The information covers importations from 1 January 1989 and is updated monthly. Commodities are distinguished by an appropriate commodity code ; these are published in the Customs and Excise tariff. In most cases information is made available at the more detailed nine-digit level, but in
Column 663
some instances it is provided at a less detailed level where to provide at nine-digit level would lead to disclosure of confidential quantity and value data. Information covers the whole range of imported, including manufactured, goods.The marketing agents will supply the information in a form and manner which is convenient to their customers, and at an attractive price. British manufacturers who wish to obtain this data should therefore contact a marketing agent. This new service was announced by Customs and Excise in a press notice dated 1 June 1989 in which the names and addresses of the approved agents are listed.
Barclays Bank
Mr. Straw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what mention was made in the discussions or negotiations with Barclays bank over the charge to value added tax for the redevelopment of its new headquarters of the bank's co-operation with the Government scheme for top-up loans.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 12 July 1989] : None.
ESA Payments
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the policy of the Crown Estate Commissioners in respect of the clawback of ESA payments made to tenants of farms within the estate.
Mr. Lawson : The only designated environmentally sensitive areas which affect the Crown Estate are in Wales.
The Crown Estate Commissioners are content that either commoners with registered rights or tenants on the Crown Estate within environmentally sensitive areas should, if they so wish, enter the ESA scheme without any payment to the Crown Estate.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Television Licences
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what would be the total cost of allowing pensioner households currently holding a colour television licence to pay only a monochrome licence fee ; and what would be the additional cost per licence for non- pensioner licence holders if this additional cost was met through increases in the licence fee.
Mr. Renton : The cost would be about £260 million a year in terms of revenue lost to the BBC, which would mean that other licence holders would have to pay about £22 more for their licences.
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of television licences and the number of households ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : It is estimated that there are about 22,150,000 households in the United Kingdom, the Channel islands and the Isle of Man. As at 31 May 1989 there were 19,440,211 television licences in force.
Police National Computer
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received the County NatWest report into the future of the police national computer
Column 664
organisation ; if he will place a copy in the Library ; what assessment he has made of considerations of security, accountability and public confidence which are addressed in the report ; and what action he proposes to take on the recommendations contained therein.Mr. Douglas Hogg : The County NatWest report was received on 22 May ; a copy of that part relating to the future of the police national computer organisation has been placed in the Library. The Department is now consulting senior management, the trade unions, the local authorities and the police service on its findings, including the issues referred to by the hon. Member. We shall be considering carefully the report's recommendations, together with the results of this consultation process, in due course.
Racial Hatred
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to seek additional powers to control and prevent static rallies likely to stir up racial hatred.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : In its White Paper "Review of Public Order Law" (Cmnd 9510, May 1985), the Government concluded that the likelihood of incitement of racial hatred should not be a ground for banning a procession and that there should be no power to ban public assemblies. It is an offence under part III of the Public Order Act 1986 to use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or to publish or distribute material which is intended or likely to stir up racial hatred.
Broadcasting
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will respond to the speech of the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington on 13 June, Official Report, columns 871-72, on how hard pornography emanating from an established European television channel can be prevented from being transmitted in the United Kingdom by satellite or other means.
Mr. Renton : I wrote to my hon. Friend on this subject on 6 July. In that letter I said :
"It was to avoid precisely this sort of problem that we were keen to secure agreement on provisions in the Council of Europe convention on transfrontier television which would preserve acceptable standards of taste and decency. I am pleased to say that we were successful in that objective. Article 7 of the convention requires that programmes should not be indecent or contain pornography. This is also reflected in article 22 of the draft directive, which places on broadcasters a responsibility to ensure that they do not transmit programmes which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors, in particular those that involve pornography or gratuitous violence."
Immigration
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the flow of people of Indian sub-continent cultural origin into and out of the United Kingdom in each of the last three years ; and if he will make a statement as to the reasons, where applicable, for the imbalance in the flows.
Mr. Renton : The information is not available in the form requested. "People of Indian sub-continent cultural origin" include British passport holders.
Column 665
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the net inflow of visitors from Hong Kong in each of the last eight weeks ; and what was the comparable figure in 1988.
Mr. Renton : It is not possible from the available information to provide the figures requested.
Prison Officers' Houses
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to the answer of 10 July, Official Report, column 358, who purchased the 39 prison officers' houses at Culcheth : why they had remained vacant for between seven and eight years ; and at what price he expects to sell the six houses that became vacant during 1988-89.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The 39 prison officers' houses at Culcheth were purchased by Beazer Urban Developments Limited. Properties had remained vacant and surplus to requirements for between seven and eight years for a variety of reasons. These included the need to ascertain whether any would be needed to accommodate staff from the new prison at Thorn Cross, which opened in 1985 ; the need to clarify the requirements of the local authority as regards upgrading the roads and sewers to make them suitable for adoption ; and the need to negotiate an easement for a new rising pumped main through adjoining land. The prices of the six houses that became vacant during 1988-89 have yet to be finally determined by the district valuer, but are likely to be in the region of £45,000 for the five three bedroom semi-detached houses, and £30,000 for the two bedroom semi-detached house.
Mr. K. Hussain
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Mr. K. Hussain, whose reference is H4/8/12/88, first applied for British citizenship ; and when a decision is to be taken on his application.
Mr. Renton : As the hon. Member knows, we have been unable to trace this application on the reference given. To do so we would need Mr. Hussain's full name and his date and place of birth. I shall write to the hon. Member once we have this information.
DEFENCE
Weapons Displays (Council Bans)
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has as to how many councils have placed a ban on static weapon displays by the armed forces on council property ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Five councils have asked that the armed forces should exclude or limit displays of weapons when mounting recruiting or promotional events in their areas.
Independent Schools
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many independent schools in respect of which grants were available to service families have ceased to be eligible for such funds in the last five years ; and if he will state the reasons.
Column 666
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There is nothing I can add to the answer which was given to my hon. Friend on 9 June at column 257.
Army Polo Teams
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that every serving Army officer is made aware of the content of his reply to the hon. Member for Northampton, North on 6 July, Official Report, column 266.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There is no need to draw the attention of every serving Army officer to the reply of 6 July. In this matter, as in any other, an officer who is in any doubt should consult the regimental adjutant or his commanding officer.
Nuclear Submarines
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when West Glamorgan county council is tobe informed of the nuclear-powered warship safety committee's decision regarding berthing of nuclear submarines at Swansea ; to whom it is to be communicated ; what form the consultation with the council will take ; what issues it will cover ; and what powers the council has to stop the use of such a berth at the port.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 13 July 1989] : The Ministry of Defence will be in touch with the chief executive of West Glamorgan county council as soon as the Royal Navy is ready to proceed. A public safety plan will need to be drawn up in consultation with council, fire, police and health officials. The disposition of naval vessels is a matter which affects national security, and as such it must remain the responsibility of central rather than local government. A defence policy can be effective only if applied on a national basis.
SCOTLAND
Voluntary Services
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list those hospitals in which WRVS or other voluntary bodies' facilities for the provision of patients' and or relatives' services have been either removed or reduced ;
(2) why facilities made available to the WRVS at Stirling Royal infirmary have been reduced.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Proposals to remove or reduce the facilities used by the WRVS or other voluntary bodies for the provision of services to patients and others are a matter for the health board responsible for the hospital, in consultation with the voluntary body concerned. Information on this is not held centrally, but I am not aware of any case where the health board and the voluntary body have failed to reach an agreement.
Forth Valley health board and the WRVS discussed the future of the WRVS canteen at Stirling Royal infirmary because wards in the immediate vicinity of its site were being relocated. Both parties concluded that the canteen should move to a new site in the maternity-gynaecology block nearby. The new canteen opened during May. WRVS facilities have not been reduced since the existing
Column 667
canteen has also been kept open because not all the wards have yet been relocated. No final decision has been taken about the future of the site.I have written recently in response to a letter from the Scottish chairman of the WRVS, emphasising my appreciation for the work of such organisations, which is greatly appreciated by health boards and, most important, by patients and their relatives.
Scottish Health Service Advisory Council
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the Scottish Health Service Advisory Council will be able to initiate and pursue matters without prior approval by himself ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The remit of the Scottish Health Service Advisory Council is :
"Where requested by or agreed with the Secretary of State to advise him on the exercise of his functions under the National Health Service Acts and to give advice on good practice to Health Boards, other Health Managers and those delivering Health Services."
Lothian Health Board
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the attendance of each of his appointments to Lothian health board together with the possible totals, for each member of the board and its sub-committees for the years (a) 1987-88, (b) 1988-89 and (c) 1989-90.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally.
Appointments
Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many posts in Scottish institutions of higher education funded directly by his Department have been filled without advertisment over the period from 1983 to June 1989.
Mr. Lang : The arrangements for filling staff vacancies in the grant -aided colleges are for the college authorities to determine. The information requested is not collected by the Scottish Education Department.
Transport (Elderly and Disabled People)
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish what information he has on the number of dial-a-ride and similar schemes for the elderly and disabled currently operating in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information on the number of dial-a- ride and similar schemes operating in Scotland is not held centrally.
Dental Education
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what decision he has reached on whether to reduce places for dental education in Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The report of the working party to review dental provision in Scotland made recommendations for reductions in places for dental education in Scotland. With the agreement of my right hon. Friend the
Column 668
Secretary of State for Education and Science, my right hon. and learned Friend sent the report to the Universities Funding Council and asked the council to consider the working party's advice in reaching decisions on undergraduate dental education.Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the proportions of dental school graduates from the three dental schools in Scotland who stayed on to practice in Scotland, giving the information broken down by school and for each year since 1977 for which figures are available.
| Next Section
| Home Page |