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Elder Cottage Hospital
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will instruct the Greater Glasgow health board to extend its deadline for an off -market sale of Elder cottage hospital and the adjacent nurses' home to Linthouse Housing Association in order to give the housing association and Scottish Homes sufficient time to discuss with the board the arrangements involved in a successful transfer of the property to the housing association.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Greater Glasgow health board has extended its deadline to 3 August 1989 to enable the association to submit an offer.
Mortgage Defaults
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many homes have been repossessed in the last year for default on mortgage payments in the last year ; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Building Societies Association publishes statistics on the number of repossessions by building societies in the United Kingdom as a whole ; but no corresponding information is available for Scotland only. No information is held centrally on other mortgage lenders.
Dundee High School
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many places are available at Dundee high school under the assisted places scheme ; and how much public expenditure this incurred, in the last year and in each year since its inception.
Mr. Lang : Expenditure at Dundee high school since the inception of the scheme is as follows :
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School year |£ ------------------------------------ 1981-82 |52,690 1982-83 |110,612 1983-84 |142,685 1984-85 |185,286 1985-86 |235,525 1986-87 |270,669 1987-88 |309,400 1988-89 |<1>340,000 <1> Provisional figure.
Warrant Sales
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many warrant sales have been carried out in the Dundee area in the last year ; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : There were 11 warrant sales reported to Dundee sheriff court in 1988. The number of reports to that court of warrant sales from 1979 to 1987 are set out in the table.
|Reports of sale
------------------------------------------------
1979 |10
1980 |4
1981 |6
1982 |6
1983 |10
1984 |2
1985 |10
1986 |4
1987 |9
Community Charge
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider introducing legislation to reimburse those people who have stated that they are over 18 years, but have suffered civil penalties for refusing to divulge their date of birth on the community charge registration forms.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No.
Local Health Councils
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to announce plans for the reorganisation of local health councils.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I discussed this matter with health board chairmen on 30 June and I hope to announce my plans very soon.
Health Service
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to announce the appointment of the new chief executive of the Scottish Health Service.
Mr. Rifkind : I hope to do so shortly.
Care of Gardens Schemes
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many district councils in Scotland run care of gardens schemes for the elderly and disabled in Scotland.
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(2) how many district councils in Scotland stopped care of gardens schemes after the termination of the community programme.Mr. Lang : This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many district councils run care of garden schemes for the elderly and disabled under the employment training scheme.
Mr. Lang : This information is not collected by the Training Agency and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the care of gardens of the elderly and disabled.
Mr. Lang : This is a matter for local authorities to decide in the light of the resources available to them.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the revenue support grant for district councils includes any imputed amount for care of garden schemes for the elderly and disabled.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Revenue support grant is paid in support of authorities' income generally. It is not attributed to particular services.
Electricity Disconnections
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many disconnections were made by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board in the last year ; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
Mr. Lang : I am advised that the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board carried out 4,343 disconnections in the calendar year ended 31 December 1988. The figures for each year since 1979 are as follows :
|Numbers
------------------------
1979 |2,869
1980 |3,373
1981 |3,764
1982 |2,830
1983 |1,904
1984 |1,893
1985 |2,434
1986 |3,104
1987 |4,538
1988 |4,343
NHS Reform
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional financial resources he has made available to health boards in Scotland in 1989-90 to meet the cost of implementing the proposals outlined in the White Paper "Working for Patients", Cm 555.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Some of the resources already allocated to boards this year are being spent on initiatives such as the development of information technology systems, on which implementation of the White Paper will build. However a further £3.95 million is to be made available to health boards in 1989-90 to help them meet the
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additional costs this year of taking forward the proposals in the White Paper. The resources will cover development work by health boards in the following areas : hospital contracts, self- governing hospitals, and revised accounting arrangements ; information systems and resources management ; development of capital asset registers ; development of GP practice budgets ; medical audit ; and pilot work on prescribing budgets. The Department will be advising health boards of the individual amounts they will each receive.Health Boards
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Eastwood of 22 June, Official Report, columns 205-6, he will provide more detailed information on the contracts awarded by Argyll and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Fife, Forth Valley, Grampian, Lanarkshire and Lothian health boards ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is as follows :
Argyll and Clyde
As at 30 June 1989 the board had awarded six contracts. All of these have been awarded in-house and are for domestic and catering services. The savings realised from the contracts awarded to date are :
Contract |Total savings<1>
|£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Alexandra: domestic |16,160
Inverclyde Royal: domestic |21,200
Dumbarton Group: catering |18,000
Lochgilphead: catering |35,055
Dumbarton: domestic |15,102
Renfrew Community-Gilmour House-Westward House: domestic |13,449
<1> Per annum on previous budget.
Ayrshire and Arran
As at 14 July 1989 Ayrshire and Arran health board had awarded 13 contracts. All of these were won by the inhouse operator and no staff have been made redundant.
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Any VAT payments made have been refunded. The estimated administrative costs are £60,000. Future plans include the board's painting maintenance programme for its estate and hospital hotel services for a number of its hospitals, health centres and clinics. Costs and savings are as follows :
Contract |Total price of successful|Total savings per annum
|Bid |on previous budget
|(£) |(£)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Head Office: Domestic |13,987 |11,280
2. Head Office: Catering |25,153 |7,728
3. South Ayrshire Clinics:
Domestic |34,954 |18,315
4. North Ayrshire Clincs:
Domestic |38,296 |8,973
5. Kilmarnock Maternity
Hospital: Catering |35,060 |1,204
6. Brooksby House Hospital:
Domestic |24,186 |4,223
7. Brooksby House Hospital:
Catering |29,960 |(368)
8. Kilmarnock Maternity
Hospital: Domestic |26,340 |10,177
9. Crosshouse Hospital:
Catering |779,000 |<1>91,000
10. Ayrshire Central Hospital:
Catering |516,000 |<1>41,000
11. Crosshouse Hospital:
Domestic |765,170 |<1>242,000
12. Ayrshire Central Hospital:
Domestic |401,000 |<1>140,000
13. Vehicle Maintenance and
Repair |120,930 |15,193
<1>In addition to the savings achieved in the tendering exercise these figures include savings realised in
the efficiency exercise carried out by managers in the run up to tendering as part of the overall
competitive tendering/efficiency programme.
Fife
As at 11 July Fife health board had let four contracts--three inhouse and one to a private contractor. Further catering services, general ancillary services, gardens, laboratory, laundry and pharmacy are among the other areas the board is looking at for the future. Costs and savings are as follows :
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Contract details |Total price of successful|Calculated savings |VAT payment to Treasury |VAT refund |Number of staff redundant|Redundancy payments from |Annual pension and lump
|bid |head count |government |sum payments
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cameron Hospital
(Catering) |301,083 |33,819 |Nil |Nil |3 |<3>- |<3>-
Victoria, Forth Park,
Hunter Hospitals
(Domestic) |<1>754,192 |102,386 |7,900 |(7,900) |244 |230,431 |70,984
(Catering) |850,377 |10,673 |Nil |Nil |2 |<3>- |<3>-
Stratheden
(Domestic) |538,795 |<2>- |4,500 |(4,500) |None |Nil |Nil
<1>Unsuccessful in-house bid £864,989.
<2>A higher specification was drawn up for this exercise with a view to improving the standard of service.
<3>Figures where numbers of staff involved are small are not disclosed to protect confidential information.
Forth Valley
As at 16 June the board had awarded four contracts, all won by the inhouse team. Costs and savings are set out in the table.
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Contract details |Total price of successful|Calculated savings |VAT payment to Treasury |VAT refund |Number of staff redundant|Redundancy payments from |Annual pension and lump
|bid |head count |government |sum payments
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleaning
Clackmannan County |21,283
Falkirk Unit |684,925
Stirling Unit |866,911
|658,084 |Nil |Nil |Nil |Nil |Nil
Catering
All hospitals except
Bonnybridge |2,594,367
Grampian
As at 6 July 1989 Grampian health board had let 11 contracts, four to private contractors. Costs and savings are as follows :
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Contract details |Total price of successful|Calculated savings |VAT payment to Treasury |VAT refund |Number of staff redundant|Redundancy payments from |Annual pension and lump |Accrued holiday payments
|bid |head count |Government |sum payments
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geriatric and specialist
services unit
Domestic<1> |804,838 |209,074 |50,498 |(50,498) |241 |169,152 |48,499 |54,792
Catering |878,872 |119,046 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Mental health unit
Domestic<2> |885,045 |75,430 |56,097 |(56,097) |138 |119,348 |36,370 |54,531
Catering |939,853 |137,312 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Portering |146,962 |23,385 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Community unit
Domestic<3> |473,241 |64,950 |<5>Nil |Nil |99 |47,330 |51,970 |30,632
Catering |564,253 |100,057 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
West unit
Domestic |468,511 |61,531 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Catering |540,872 |60,467 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Area HQ
Domestic<4> |21,471 |12,310 |<5>Nil |Nil |17 |9,118 |2,648 |2,551
Foresterhill unit
Hotel |3,475,485 |825,740 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Price of unsuccessful in-house bid:
<1> £1,110,913
<2> £960,475
<3> £510,463
<4> £31,628
<5> Contract not commenced.
Lanarkshire
As at 3 July 1989 Lanarkshire health board had awarded eight contracts. All of these were won by the inhouse operator. The preparation and evaluation of
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tenders now forms part of the normal duties of the administrative and support staff within the board and as such the duties are not costed separately. Costs and savings are as set out in the table.Column 513
Contract details |Total price of successful|Calculated savings |VAT payment to Treasury |VAT refund |Number of staff redundant|Redundancy payments from |Pension and lump sum |Accrued holiday payments
|bid |head count |Government Annual |payments Annual
|Equivalent |Equivalent
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coathill Hospital (Domestic) |150,161 |9,198 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Stonehouse Hospital
(Domestic) |286,131 |20,133 |Nil |Nil |None |Nil |Nil |Nil
Law Hospital (Domestic) |729,324 |115,199 |7,574 |(7,574) |38 |27,348 |13,418 |6,692
(Catering) |643,351 |112,076 |2,130 |(2,130) |10 |6,827 |8,338 |2,313
Bellshill Hospital (Domestic) |231,895 |71,905 |2,800 |(2,800) |9 |9,069 |3,882 |1,272
Cleland, Wishaw and
Roadmeetings Hospitals
(Domestic) |360,000 |77,600 |3,522 |(3,522) |13 |7,570 |2,730 |2,402
Lothian
As at 12 July Lothian health board had let eight contracts--six in house and two to private contractors. Costs and savings are as set out in the table.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<1> Total value of in-house bid £1,595,522.
<2> Total value of in-house bid £1,550,524.
Forests
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what incentives he is considering to protect the forested areas of the United Kingdom.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The forested areas of Britain are generally well protected. The felling of trees is controlled by the Forestry Commission in exercise of its powers under the Forestry Act 1967 ; the commission is also active in protecting the health of trees.
The protection of forests in Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Professional Liability
Mr. Heddle : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he expects to announce the conclusion of his Department's study to establish the nature, scope, extent and implications of professional liability problems.
Mr. Maude : We have received the report of the professional liability review under the chairmanship of Professor Andrew Likierman which covered selected professions : auditors, construction industry professions
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and surveyors. We are making arrangements for it to be published in October, and we shall make a statement at that time.White Papers
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if, for each of the last three White Papers issued by his Department, for which legislation has been started, he will state the time elapsed between their publication and the First Readings of any Bills connected with them ; and if he will do the same for the last three White Papers issued by the Department of Trade and Industry prior to May 1979.
Mr. Newton : The last three White Papers published by my Department, in which legislation was proposed and has been subsequently started or completed were : "Intellectual Property and Innovation" (Cm. 9712), "Financial Services in the UK" (Cm. 9432) and "Safety of Goods" (Cm. 9302). These were published on 15 April 1986, 29 January 1985 and 12 July 1984 respectively and the First Readings of the Copyright Designs and Patents, Financial Services and Consumer Protection Bills resulting from them took place on 28 October 1987, 18 December 1985 and 19 November 1986. It is not for me to
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answer for the record of the last Government in this matter, but the information requested should be available in the Library of the House and the Official Report.Research Clubs
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) research clubs and (b) research club members there have been in each of the past five years ; what has been the extent of Government support to research clubs ; and how many (a) clubs and (b) members there are in each standard region.
Mr. Forth : The information is not available in the form requested.
My Department supports a wide variety of research clubs. Some of these are managed by DTI's own research establishments. Currently 44 clubs, with 1,981 members, are associated with DTI research establishments. Of these 15 are run by the national engineering laboratory in Scotland and 29 by laboratories in the south-east region. The members are firms and research organisations from all parts of the United Kingdom and some from overseas.
Last year my Department published an evaluation report covering 104 clubs current in October 1987 which at that time had 2,430 members (including multiple memberships). The report is available from my Department's library. I will send the hon. Member a copy.
Computers
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether his Department has investigated the implications for privacy that arise from the itemised billing computer systems of BT and Mercury when they have a warrant from a court ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : Provisions about customer privacy are already incorporated in the licences which have been granted by the Secretary of State to British Telecom and Mercury under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984. The licences require each company to observe the terms of a code of practice on the confidentiality of customer information, approved by the Director General of Telecommunications, which regulate the disclosure of information about a customer.
Girobank
Miss Hoey : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to review the decision to sell Girobank to the Alliance and Leicester building society in view of the refusal of the Building Societies Commission to permit the Alliance and Leicester to keep Girobank's leasing and commercial lending business.
Mr. Newton : The Government were aware that Girobank's leasing and commercial lending business would be ultra vires for a building society and took this into account in endorsing the Post Office board's decision to grant the Alliance and Leicester a period of exclusive negotiations. Appropriate arrangements in respect of these activities are among the matters covered in those negotiations, the details of which are confidential.
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Post Office Counters
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his assessment of by how much the amount which would be realised from the sale into the private sector of Post Office Counters would exceed the book value of its property assets.
Mr. Newton : We have no estimate of the possible sale value of Post Office Counters Ltd. The net book value of its land and buildings at 29 March 1989 was shown as £70.8 million in its 1988-89 accounts.
Beer
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan), 21 June, Official Report, column 177, if he will list those representations he has received in favour and those against the recommendations of the report, "The Supply of Beer," Cm. 651.
Mr. Maude : I have received a considerable number of
representations from many different organisations and individuals, including 1,980 letters. Of these, some were in favour of all of the MMC's recommendations ; some were against the recommendations ; and others were in favour of some recommendations and against others. In some instances, correspondents have written several times, amending their views following statements in the House and another place. In other cases correspondents have asked that their letters be treated in confidence.
It is not possible, in these circumstances, to give a precise answer.
Trading Standards Officers
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many trading standards officers there are in each local authority area in England and Wales.
Mr. Forth : Information on the number of trading standards officers employed in each local weights and measures authority is contained in "Trading Standards Statistics" published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library.
Fireworks
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish details of firework injuries for 1988 by type of injury and in each geographical region.
Mr. Forth : The firework injury statistics given in a written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes) on 20 April, at columns 256-58 included a breakdown by severity of injury and separated eye injuries from the total. No further details of the type of injury involved is available.
The table contains an analysis of fire accidents by type of firework and regional health authority.
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Great Britain
Analysis of Firework Accidents 1988 by Type of Firework and Regional Health Authority
Regional Health Authority |Banger |Rocket |Roman Candle Etc. |Sparkler |Other Proprietary |Home-made or Extracted |Unspecified Type |Totals
|Firework |Powder
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |10 |8 |6 |8 |5 |3 |25 |65
Yorkshire |21 |15 |5 |9 |10 |0 |16 |76
Trent |14 |14 |4 |7 |6 |2 |16 |63
East Anglia |4 |6 |2 |1 |3 |0 |4 |20
North West Thames |4 |7 |4 |5 |6 |0 |18 |44
North East Thames |6 |12 |0 |4 |4 |0 |26 |52
South East Thames |15 |17 |6 |5 |12 |3 |28 |86
South West Thames |7 |6 |3 |5 |2 |0 |17 |40
Wessex |2 |7 |7 |10 |1 |2 |13 |42
Oxford |7 |4 |5 |3 |6 |1 |7 |33
South Western |9 |12 |4 |7 |5 |2 |7 |46
West Midlands |20 |16 |13 |17 |11 |0 |31 |108
Mersey |5 |5 |2 |4 |5 |0 |14 |35
North Western |20 |22 |12 |7 |6 |1 |18 |86
Board of Governors |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1
Scotland |9 |11 |6 |4 |3 |1 |16 |50
Wales |9 |1 |4 |6 |1 |2 |7 |30
Total |162 |164 |83 |102 |86 |17 |263 |877
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations have been made to him by (a) trading standards officers and (b) the Health and Safety Executive concerning proposals to change the procedures to test fireworks.
Mr. Forth : Trading standards officers have complained that there are too few test houses capable of testing fireworks for safety, and that those local authorities doing the most testing will face a financial burden. The Health and Safety Executive is concerned that it is not its proper function to test fireworks and that it is the proper responsibility of trading standards departments. My Department is looking into the arrangements for the testing of fireworks.
Holidaymakers
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his policy towards the recent EEC Commission proposals to provide increased consumer protection for holiday makers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The United Kingdom shares the concerns expressed by many member states at the Tourism Council on 14 December about the draft directive on package travel, particularly the provisions on liability. The Council concluded that the draft needed to be re-examined in the light of the debate and taking into account the views of the European Parliament. We are disappointed that the revised proposals submitted on 6 July do not reflect the concerns expressed at the Council. We will continue to negotiate firmly but constructively in Brussels.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
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Mr. Newton : The Government's general policy towards small businesses is to create a climate in which they can flourish and to provide measures that support and help stimulate their development. The enterprise initiative was launched by my Department on 13 January 1988 with the aim of encouraging the process of wealth creation by stimulating individual initiative and enterprise. It comprises a number of individual initiatives covering the consultancy initiatives, research and technology, enterprise and education, regional assistance and the recently relaunched export initiative. All share the objectives of encouraging enterprise, developing management skills, promoting best practice and thereby improving competitiveness.
The consultancy initiatives form a major element of the enterprise initiative. They offer financial support to small and medium-sized firms for between five and 15 days of consultancy in the following key management areas : design, marketing, manufacturing systems, quality, business planning and financial and information systems. Independent firms with less than 500 employees in most manufacturing and service sectors in England, Scotland and Wales may benefit from up to two of the consultancy initiatives.
By 30 June 1989, a total of 29,800 applications had been received, 26,600 business reviews had been completed and 20,200 projects for assisted consultancy had been approved.
One of the main objectives of the export initiative is to assist small companies to develop their export potential. New support for small companies includes the introduction of a national network of export development advisers targeted specifically at companies in the £1 million to £10 million turnover range. It is too early to access the impact of these new measures.
Regional enterprise grants (REG) were introduced as part of the regional initiative in April 1988. They are aimed specifically at small businesses in the development areas and South Yorkshire employing fewer than 25 people, and are designed to support their investment and innovation projects. In 1988-89, the first year of the scheme, my Department received 1,637 applications, and made 922 offers of grant with a total value of £7.7 million. The DTI, together with the Welsh and Scottish Offices, has
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established a rolling evaluation programme for the scheme to assess the cumulative effect on recipient businesses and on the economy of eligible areas.Yearly figures for the work of the inner cities initiative are not available. However from the time the initiative began in 1986 until the 31 March 1988, it is estimated that the task forces have, in meeting their objective of encouraging enterprise, provided support for more than 3,800 businesses the majority of which are small ones. This assistance has taken a variety of forms including loans and grants from the task force development funds.
The small firms merit award for research and technology (SMART) encourages small businesses to engage in high-risk projects in the fields of advanced manufacturing techniques, advanced materials, biotechnology and information technology.
In 1988 a total of 140 cash awards were made out of a total of 930 applications. It is too early to judge the long term effects of the scheme, but it is hoped that the eventual success rate will exceed 50 per cent. of the firms that have been supported by the scheme.
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