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Mr. Lilley : The forecast yield from excise and value added tax on alcohol for the United Kingdom in 1989-90 is £7.3 billion. A regional breakdown of receipts is not available.
Inflation and Interest Rates
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the inflation rate and level of real interest rates in each European Community country since January 1988.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 30 June 1989] : Inflation rates, excluding owner-occupier housing costs in order to put the figures on a more comparable basis, are given in the table. There is no agreed definition of real interest rates. The table shows the average short term money market rate in January 1988 and in the most recent month for which figures are available, deflated by the 12-month inflation rate in that month.
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"Real" short term interest rates and 12 month inflation rates in the European Community countries based on
inflation rates which exclud
owner occupier housing costs
January 1988 <3>Latest
|Inflation rate |Real interest rate|Inflation rate |Real interest rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany |0.5 |2.9 |3.0 |3.9
France |2.3 |5.9 |3.6 |5.2
United Kingdom |3.7 |5.0 |5.9 |7.8
Italy |5.0 |5.2 |7.0 |5.2
Spain |4.4 |8.0 |6.6 |7.7
Netherlands |-0.2 |4.6 |0.7 |6.1
Belgium |0.9 |5.6 |3.0 |5.1
Portugal |8.6 |4.8 |13.2 |-0.4
Greece |14.2 |2.2 |13.0 |6.2
Denmark |4.4 |4.3 |4.9 |3.8
Ireland<1> |2.3 |6.5 |3.2 |5.0
Luxembourg<2> |0.7 |5.9 |3.2 |4.9
<1> Figures for Ireland are for February 1988 and February 1989.
<2> Real interest rate figures for Luxembourg use Belgian interest rates.
<3> Latest figures are June for the United Kingdom, France and Italy; May for Germany and Spain; February for
Ireland and April for the other countries.
Hoylake (Bermuda) Ltd.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the activities of offshore investment companies in the light of recent activites of Hoylake (Bermuda) Ltd.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 19 July 1989] : No.
Endangered Species
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what happened to the live creatures and articles derived from endangered species imported or exported in contravention of national and international agreements and seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in 1988-89.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 20 July 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on Friday 26 May at cols. 810-11. The disposal of seized live creatures and articles derived from endangered species takes place within the arrangements outlined in that reply.
Ivory
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken by his Department to enforce the ban on trade in ivory recently declared by Her Majesty's Government.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 20 July 1989] : The necessary instructions have been issued to Customs officers at points of entry into the United Kingdom.
Money Measurement
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he now treats as his main measure of money in the economy.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 20 July 1989] : The Government set a target range for narrow money MO and pays particular attention to it in assessing monetary conditions. The broad money aggregate M4 is also taken into account, though the interpretation of broad money, or liquidity, requires considerable judgment.
DEFENCE
Low Flying
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many complaints have been received about low flying from (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales in each month since January ; (2) how many low- flying sorties took place over the United Kingdom in each month since January 1989.
Mr. Neubert : I will write to the hon. Member.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those low-range danger areas within which military aircraft are permitted to descend below 250 ft minimum separation distance during the run-in to a simulated target ; and if he will list the minimum permitted height in each case.
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Mr. Neubert : The information requested is being collated. I will write to the hon. Member with a substantive reply before the House rises for the summer recess.
Wootton Creek
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what defence interests are served by the Royal Navy's responsibility for Wootton creek.
Mr. Neubert : The Royal Navy has no specific defence interest in Wootton creek. However, because it lies within the dockyard port of Portsmouth, the Queen's harbourmaster retains responsibility for navigational matters there.
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any estimate of the total redevelopment value of (a) operational and (b) non-operational service land in London and south-east England.
Mr. Neubert : No. Sites are valued individually as the need arises.
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the total area of (a) operational and (b) non-operational service land in Great Britain, broken down by standard planning region.
Mr. Neubert : Records are not held precisely in the form requested, but the following tables give a breakdown of the defence estate, including freehold and leasehold land and foreshore, as at 1 April 1989 (a) by function, and (b) by standard planning region.
|Acres
--------------------------------------------
By function
Airfields |72,657
Naval bases |3,088
Training areas and ranges |397,300
Barracks and camps |26,434
Storage and supply depots |24,861
Research establishments |48,760
Telecommunications stations |15,592
Miscellaneous |7,573
|-------
Total |596,265
|-------
By standard planning region
Northern |58,074
North West |32,768
Isle of Man |22
Yorkshire and Humberside |36,950
East Midlands |33,688
West Midlands |14,527
Eastern |90,581
South East |79,476
South West |137,611
Scotland |51,064
Wales |52,038
Northern Ireland |9,466
|-------
Total |596,265
Bases (Relocation)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans for the relocation of south-eastern military bases to less expensive regions of the United Kingdom.
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Mr. Neubert : We are continually seeking opportunities to rationalise the defence estate and to concentrate activities on lower-value sites, where there is a clear advantage of doing so in operational, management and financial terms. Present relocation plans include the move of the directorate general of defence quality assurance from Woolwich to Teesside, the officer and aircrew selection centre from Biggin Hill to Cranwell and some RAF units at Halton to Cosford.
Polo
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take action to ensure that the career prospects of cavalry officers who indicate to their adjutant or commanding officer their disclination to subscribe to the regiment polo fund are not adversely effected.
Mr. Neubert : I do not believe that any action is necessary. Promotion in the Army is based entirely upon an individual's performance in his job. In addition, I made clear in my answer of 6 July at column 266 that no officer is required to subscribe towards his regimental polo team.
Beer Rations
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the beer ration allowed to ratings in nuclear submarines per week ; what advice his medical officers give about the safe levels of consumption for men on nuclear submarines ; and if he will institute a review of the Royal Navy's policy on the issue of alcohol to ratings.
Mr. Neubert : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers I gave on 3 May at column 127 concerning limits on alcohol consumption by ratings on board RN vessels, and on 12 April at columns 610 and 611 on instituting a policy review.
Advice on sensible levels of alcohol consumption is given in group situations, and to individuals where a medical officer considers it appropriate. But it would be wrong to impose further restrictions on service personnel which are not justified by operational or safety considerations.
US Maritime Prepositioning
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the port and anchorage facilities in the United Kingdom which have been designated for use for United States maritime prepositioning ships.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Discussions on the possibility of providing port and anchorage facilities for United States maritime prepositioning ships are continuing on a confidential basis, but no decisions have been taken.
Navy Support Vessels
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the total number of Royal Navy support vessels and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels in each year since 1979.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The details requested are shown in the table for 1 April in each year :
|Year |Royal Navy Support |Royal Fleet Auxiliary
|Vessels |Vessels
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |3 |29 |714
1980 |3 |29 |660
1981 |3 |28 |635
1982 |2 |24 |623
1983 |2 |25 |540
1984 |2 |27 |540
1985 |3 |28 |523
1986 |3 |27 |516
1987 |4 |26 |510
1988 |3 |28 |529
1989 |2 |26 |483
The vessels in the third column have a number of support functions : research, mooring and salvage, tugs, range safety, ammunition and sullage, transportation, torpedo recovery and tank cleaning.
NATO Forces
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish figures showing the percentage contribution of European nations to ready North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in each year since 1979 in the following categories (a) manpower, (b) tanks, (c) artillery, (d) combat aircraft stationed in Europe and (e) major warships, applying the same definitions and bases of calculation as used for the figures in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989, page 2.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The figures quoted on page 2 of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989" were produced by NATO specifically for use in the December 1988 defence planning committee report "Enhancing Alliance Collective Security : Shared roles, risks and responsibilities in the Alliance". Figures for each year since 1979 are not available on the same definitions and bases of calculation.
F111 Aircraft
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the reason for the decline of four F111 aircraft in the figures for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation LRINF aircraft in the chart on page 51 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989, compared to the equivalent table in the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1988.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The figures presented in successive editions of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates" provide an overall picture of the number of USAF F111 aircraft that are operationally deployed. The actual number available at any time changes due to a number of factors including attrition and maintenance work. The figure given in the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989" reflects a reduction in the numbers of aircraft generally available.
HMS Chatham and Norfolk
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the frigates HMS Chatham and HMS Norfolk were listed on page 53 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989 as being operational on 1 April.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Houghton and Washington (Mr. Boyes) on 26 June 1989 at column 366.
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Nuclear Submarines (Disposal)
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been made on behalf of his Department of the implications in international law, of the disposal of nuclear-powered submarines once their operational lives have been completed (a) within international waters, and (b) within United Kingdom territorial waters.
Mr. Sainsbury : Studies have been carried out into the disposal of reactor compartments from decommissioned nuclear submarines. One option includes the disposal of the intact submarine at sea, but no decisions have been made on the method of disposal. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for the interepretation of international law and has been regularly consulted by the MOD about the international implications of disposing of decommissioned nuclear submarines at sea. The London dumping convention (LDC), which is the international convention having worldwide scope in the field of dumping, makes no differentiation between international and territorial waters.
Falkland Islands
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total campaign and garrison costs associated with the security of the Falkland Islands and their subsequent maintenance ; and what is this cost expressed as a per capita sum for the permanent population of the Falkland Islands.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The total extra cost of the Falklands commitment, including both campaign and garrison costs, from 1982-83 to the end of the last financial year, is estimated to be £3,368 million in cash terms, or about £1,750,000 per Falkland Islander. Once our spending on replacement equipment is complete, we expect the overall extra costs to level out at around £55 million to £60 million a year, at today's prices.
Birkbeck College
Sir Barney Hayhoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contact his officials had on Saturday 1 July with The Sunday Times about Birkbeck college ; if the contents of the article printed in the newspaper on Sunday 2 July were made known to his officials ; and what response they made.
Mr. Sainsbury : I have nothing to add to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) on 17 July 1989 at column 67.
Environmental Pollution
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will introduce legislation to require new facilities for the production of nuclear warheads, nuclear fuels for military use and naval bases for nuclear capable ships and submarines to be subject to mandatory environmental impact assessments before permission is granted for construction.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 13 July 1989] : No. The Ministry of Defence follows the procedures set out in Department of the Environment circulars 18/84 and 15/88.
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HEALTH
Benzodiazepines
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been conducted into the advisability of prescribing (a) hypnotic benzodiazepines and (b) benzodiazepine tranquillisers to children ; and what conclusions have been drawn relative to each.
Mr. Freeman : The Department has not commissioned research in the specific areas referred to by the hon. Member.
Eye Tests
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Southport of 4 July, Official Report, column 150, when information about the increase in the number of patients referred to hospital ophthalmology departments for eye tests since the introduction of charges for eye tests, will be held centrally.
Mr. Mellor : Information about the number of cases seen by hospital eye departments since April 1989, when the sight test charge was introduced, will be available centrally only towards the end of next year.
NHS Reform
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on those of his proposals in "Working for Patients" designed to reduce waiting times for patients ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : The proposals in the White Paper to improve the quality of service including the reduction of waiting times have been generally welcomed.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings of medical and non-medical staff he has addressed at those hospitals about which health authorities have expressed interest in opting out of the existing National Health Service management structure ; and what plans he has to address such meetings in the near future.
Mr. Mellor : We have held a national conference in London and seven regional conferences for NHS staff from units which have expressed an interest in self-government. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State has addressed five of these meetings and I have addressed three. My right hon. and learned Friend has also spoken to staff on an ad hoc basis in a number of individual hospitals and will continue to do so over the coming months.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will name the medical organisations which have been critical of his proposals for hospitals to opt out of the existing National Health Service management structure ; and if he will further set out the substance of their criticism.
Mr. Mellor : Many of the medical organisations who have commented on the White Paper have questions or concerns about the possible effects of hospitals becoming self governing within the National Health Service. These relate to the mechanisms for achieving high quality
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medical education and research, the means of ensuring the provision of comprehensive services and the effects of the hospitals's freedom to set pay and conditions. We believe these are based on groundless misapprehensions about our intentions.On 10 July my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State spoke to an audience of senior doctors and gave assurances about the safeguarding of medical education and research. We intend to take reserve powers to ensure that undergraduate, post graduate and continuing medical education are provided in self-governing hospitals. We have already announced that the service increment for teaching (SIFT) will be enhanced to meet the costs of hospitals which support undergraduate medical education and the service costs of research.
District health authorities will have the responsibility of providing a comprehensive and cohesive range of conveniently sited, high quality services for their resident population. In doing this they will make full use of available facilities whether in health authority-managed hospitals, self-governing hospitals or the private sector. Health authorities will therefore ensure that there is no fragmentation of services.
Self-governing hospitals will be able to set their own pay and conditions but the discipline of contract funding is likely to ensure that they offer rates of pay which are broadly in line with those in the Health Service as a whole.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will receive a deputation concerning proposals for opting out of hospitals in the borough of Walsall.
Mr. Mellor : No. This would not be helpful at this early stage. But I shall take into consideration the views of all those with an interest when assessing applications for hospitals to become self-governing.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will request the Electoral Reform Society to conduct ballots in those areas where it is suggested that hospitals should opt out of the existing National Health Service management structure ;
(2) if the Government will ask local authorities to conduct ballots on the same basis as in local and national elections in order to determine the level of support for hospitals to opt out of the existing National Health Service management structure.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the future timetable when it is suggested by health authorities that hospitals may opt out of the existing National Health Service management structure ; and when he expects to make the first decisions on opting out.
Mr. Mellor : We intend that, subject to the passage of the necessary legislation, the first self-governing hospitals will be established in April 1991. The Department will issue further information about the application process later this year.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if those hospitals which opt out of the existing National Health Service management structure will be under the same obligation to admit patients as at present.
Mr. Mellor : A decision by an individual NHS hospital to opt for self-governing status, will not alter in any way
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its obligations to admit patients requiring treatment. It will be in no sense different in this respect to a directly- managed hospital. Emergency treatment and admissions will be provided by all hospitals with the requisite facilities. Elective admissions will be provided within the contractual frameworks that have been agreed.Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received proposing that balloting should occur before hospitals opt out of the existing National Health Service management structure.
Mr. Mellor : We have received representations on this subject from a number of hon. Members, community health councils and other representative organisations and from individual members of the public.
General Practitioners
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations in total he has received from the general public about the proposal to allocate a prescribing budget to each general practitioner.
Mr. Mellor : We have received 219 letters from the general public specifically referring to our proposal to introduce an indicative prescribing budget scheme for general practitioners. In addition to these we have received almost 6,500 letters from the general public about the White Paper proposals, the majority of which have raised questions about, amongst other things, indicative prescribing budgets.
NHS Premises (Retailing)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what income was received by the Northern regional health authority, or its component districts, in 1988 from retailing activities on Health Service premises.
Mr. Freeman : The net income received by the health authorities within the Northern regional health authority, from retailing activities on their premises during the tax year 1988-89, was £105, 000.
Meningitis
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list from 1 January to the latest date for which he has figures for the Doncaster health authority (a) the number of cases of meningitis recorded and (b) the number of deaths from meningitis, showing the ages of the patients concerned.
Mr. Freeman : Meningitis can be caused by a number of different organisms. The data show the number of notifications of (a) all forms and (b) meningococcal meningitis for Doncaster district health authority for the period 31 December 1988 to 7 July 1989. Mortality data for this period are not yet available.
|Meningitis (all forms) |Meningococcal meningitis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doncaster district health
authority |14 |10
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Resuscitation Units (Doncaster Royal Infirmary)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the wall -mounted resuscitation units in the maternity wing of the women's hospital at Doncaster royal infirmary were installed ; and when he expects them to become operative.
Mr. Freeman : Installation and use of hospital equipment is a matter for the district health authority concerned and I suggest the hon. Member contacts the chairman of Doncaster health authority for the information he seeks.
Coronary Disease
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give, for each special health authority and district health authority the expenditure on coronary heart prevention (a) in cash terms and (b) as a proportion of the total revenue budget of the authority in the manner of the February 1989 National Audit Office report.
Mr. Freeman : I regret that the information requested is not available.
As the February 1989 NAO report explained :
"Health departments are unable to estimate the extent of expenditure on the prevention of coronary heart disease because of the notoriously difficult problem of costing health promotion activities."
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the guidance being issued to district health authorities about the prevention of coronary disease.
Mr. Freeman : Work is currently under way in the Department to develop guidance for regional and district health authorities on the organisation of health promotion services generally. The guidance will include specific references to coronary heart disease, building on experience from the first two years of the "Look After Your Heart" campaign, as well as other major areas of health education activity. When the guidance has been prepared, I will place it in the Library.
Profiles
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the profiles requested by his Department in HC (88)43.
Mr. Freeman : The profiles mentioned in appendix 4 of HC (88)43 are epidemiological overviews of the health status of health authorities' populations. As they are being compiled by health authorities for their own purposes, not for submission to the Department of Health, decisions about publication rest with the health authorities themselves.
NHS Administrators
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to either (a) reduce the number of administrators in the National Health Service or (b) place a numerical cap on the total of such administrators.
Mr. Mellor : As with all staff groups administrative and clerical staff groups make a necessary and vital contribution to the running of the National Health Service. All health authorities are asked to exercise restraint on A and C staff numbers.
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This group is continuing to stabilize following the introduction of the management arrangements advocated by the Griffiths' report. Any growth is now occurring among clinically related A and C staff--that is, those who work in direct support of those providing patient care. Between 1982 and 1987, such staff increased by 65 per cent. from 22, 700 to 37,400. Non-clinically related staff declined by over 10 per cent. during the same period from 86,100 to 77,200.Health Aids (Old People)
Mr. Fry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that all health authorities make necessary health aids which are supplied free to patients in their own homes also available free to those in residential and nursing homes.
Dame Jill Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the criteria under which residents in private old person's homes are entitled to National Health Service treatment.
Mr. Freeman : People in residential care homes retain the right to National Health Service treatment as if they were in their own homes. The person responsible for a private nursing home must provide adequate facilities and services for those accommodated and we would expect the fees charged to reflect this. Nursing home patients retain the right to National Health Service general medical, dental and hospital services.
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