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Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with representatives of McDonnell Douglas concerning the possible purchase of Apache helicopters for the Army Air Corps.
Mr. Alan Clark : I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any Army Air Corps or RAF pilots have been involved in any recent trials of the Blackhawk helicopter.
Mr. Alan Clark : The Ministry of Defence has not undertaken any recent trials of the Blackhawk. However, a flight observer from A&AEE, Boscombe Down, has flown in a Blackhawk which is used by Rolls-Royce as its flight test vehicle for the RTM 322 engine, as part of the MOD's monitoring of the RTM 322 development.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any Army Air Corps personnel or pilots from ETPS, Boscombe Down have recently test flown theAH64 Apache.
Mr. Alan Clark : A number of Army Air Corps pilots and test pilots from A&AEE, Boscombe Down, have flown the AH64 Apache during the last 12 months.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Navy variant of EH-101 is to be fitted with a ship sonar when it becomes operational.
Mr. Alan Clark : It is intended that the RN anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant of the EH-101 helicopter will be equipped with sonobuoy systems for the detection of submarines under water. Consideration is also being given to fitting an active dipping sonar but no decision on the choice of equipment has yet been taken.
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Mig Crash (Belgium)
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any RAF interceptor aircraft were airborne in the vicinity of the pilotless Mig 23 aircraft that crashed in Belgium earlier this month.
Martin Maineth SLAT System
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Navy or RAF have tested or taken part in the testing of the Martin Maineth SLAT system.
Mr. Alan Clark : I will write to the hon. Member.
Basic Trainer Aircraft
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, in line with his Department's objective of achieving value for money, there has been any recent cost/benefit analysis of his Department's choice of the Tucano basic trainer over the PC-9.
Mr. Alan Clark : I will write to the hon. Member.
Ships (Leasing)
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy or RFA vessels are currently leased to other countries.
Rating Reform
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the Member for Western Isles on 20 June, Official Report, column 75, (1) whether he plans to issue written guidance to armed service units in respect of poll tax payments in England and Wales ;
(2) if he will publish the written guidance issued to armed service units in respect of poll tax payments in England and Wales.
Mr. Neubert : Such guidance has already been issued, and I have placed copies in the Library of the House. It has been widely promulgated within the services and substantially reflected in a practice note published by the Department of the Environment. I have no plans for any further publication.
United States Defence Secretary
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the subjects discussed in the course of his meetings with Mr. Cheney, United States Secretary for Defence, during his recent official visit to the United States of America.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : During his recent visit to Washington my right hon. Friend discussed a wide range of matters of mutual interest with Mr. Cheney.
Air-to-Surface Missile
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a further statement on the possible procurement of a tactical air-to- surface missile.
Column 906
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Clackmannan (Mr. O'Neill) on 17 July at column 71.
Central America
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which central American countries have received assistance from his Department in the past three years ; and which countries are currently receiving assistance.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Belize has had an established programme of military assistance from the Ministry of Defence since independence in 1981 and that assistance continues. In addition, in 1987, one cadet from El Salvador attended the basic officer course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
Russian Speakers
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel are fluent Russian speakers ; and what this figure was in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Neubert : A total of 162 serving military personnel are qualified as Russian interpreters, of whom 32 serve in the Royal Navy, 94 in the Army and 36 in the Royal Air Force. Records are not held in a form which would enable the historical information requested by the hon. Gentleman to be readily provided, but I understand that the number of Russian interpreters has increased modestly in recent years.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what incentives are currently operating to encourage military personnel to take Russian language training.
Mr. Neubert : Financial rewards are provided in the form of lump sum grants for successful completion of the various levels of Russian language training in the services, with smaller grants being awarded upon requalification in that language. Additionally, members of the Services are encouraged to participate in Russian language training provided at voluntary weekend courses at university and other self-help courses, for which some financial assistance is given.
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current level of funding for Russian language training for military personnel, and what it was for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Neubert : I regret that the detailed information sought by the hon. Gentleman concerning expenditure over the last 10 years is not readily available. However, Russian language training at the Defence School of Languages at Beaconsfield is being provided at a cost of about £420,000 in the current year. There is no reason to believe that this differs to any significant degree from the general level of expenditure in the past.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the efficiency of current technology to ascertain whether nuclear weapons are being carried at sea.
Mr. Alan Clark : I will write to the hon. Member.
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Defence Procurement
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if, pursuant to his answer of 20 July, Official Report , column 322 , he will place copies of all the articles and speeches in which Ministers and senior officials have addressed the implications of 1992 for defence procurement in the Library;
(2) if he will place a copy of the proceedings of the forum held by his Department for industry on the future of defence procurement in Europe in April in the Library.
Mr. Alan Clark : I will write to the hon. Member.
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the annual level of production of intermediate-level nuclear waste by his Department for each year prior to 1983 for which data is available.
Mr. Alan Clark : I will write to the hon. Member.
NATO Exercises (Observers)
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the annual cost in 1987 and in 1988 to his Department of providing appropriate facilities for Warsaw pact military personnel to observe NATO military exercises under the auspices of the Stockholm agreement;
(2) what was the annual cost in 1987 and in 1988 to his Department of providing appropriate facilities to Warsaw pact military personnel to enable them to make challenge inspections of NATO military exercises.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I will write to the hon. Member.
HMS Dreadnought
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the agreement on charges paid for HMS Dreadnought to be stored at Rosyth.
Mr. Alan Clark [holding answer 25 July 1989] : Dreadnought has been stored afloat at Rosyth since 1983. Although she occupies a berth inside the basin (ie inside the licensed area) no specific provision was made in the term contract for payment to be made by the Ministry of Defence to BTL by way of berthing charges for her.
Exercise Wintex 89
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how may home service force personnel took part in Exercise Wintex 89.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 19 July 1989] : No member of the home service force took part in exercise Wintex 89.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Naval Reserve personnel took part in Exercise Wintex 89.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 19 July 1989] : Over 600 personnel of the Royal Navy Reserve took part in exercise Wintex 89.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army personnel took part in exercise Wintex 89.
Column 908
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 19 July 1989] : About 500 personnel of the Territorial Army took part in exercise Wintex 89.
Venture Glider
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has reached a decision on the type of motor glider selected to replace the Venture at volunteer gliding schools.
Mr. Alan Clark [pursuant to the reply, 13 July 1989, column 588] : Following a competition, the Grob 109B motor glider, of GRP construction, has been selected to re-equip the air training corps. An order was placed with Burkhart Grob on 25 July 1989 for 53 aircraft. The order also includes the provision of a fatigue test specimen, training and the supply of spares.
HEALTH
Regional Health Authorities (Staff)
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by each regional health authority for each year since 1979 the numbers of staff expressed as a whole-time equivalent and as actual full-time and part-time members in the following categories (a) ancillary, (b) administration and clerical, (c) nurses and midwives and (d) professional and technical.
Mr. Mellor : Such information as is available has been placed in the Library. Information for the years 1979 and 1982 (inclusive) is available on a whole-time equivalent basis only.
"Actual full-time and part-time members" has been interpreted as numbers (headcount).
Management Consultants
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current annual expenditure in the National Health Service on management consultants ; what have been the comparable figures over the past 10 years.
Mr. Mellor : The employment of management consultants is a matter for individual health authorities and their accounts do not separately identify any expenditure consequently incurred.
Community Health Councils
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give a list of the community health councils in England together with their expenditure of public funds in the latest available year.
Mr. Freeman : The expenses of community health councils are met by and form part of the total expenditure of the health authorities concerned. Information derived from the annual accounts of district health authorities in England for 1987-88 (the latest year available) have been placed in the Library.
NHS Pay
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement about pay in the Health Service.
Column 909
Mr. Mellor : Increases for doctors, nursing and midwifery staff and the professions allied to medicine have been implemented following recommendations of review bodies. Settlements have also been negotiated for certain other groups. Just over 90 per cent. of all NHS staff are covered by these settlements for 1989-90.
Civil Service Dispersal
Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in his Department's review, in line with Treasury guidelines, of the potential for the further relocation of Civil Service posts outside London and the south-east ; and when he expects the review to be completed.
Mr. Mellor : A team of officials is close to completing a thorough, systematic review of the location of our headquarters work. We expect to have a report of the team's findings shortly.
Drugs Budgets
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those factors that family practitioner committees will take into account in deciding whether a general practitioner is justified in exceeding his indicative drugs budget.
Mr. Mellor : A GP practice will be considered justified in exceeding its indicative drug budget if this should prove necessary to provide patients with the drugs they need.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sanctions regional health authorities will be able to impose should the majority of general practitioners in all or any of their family practitioner committee areas overspend their drugs budgets.
Mr. Mellor : Those GPs who overspend their indicative budgets will face disciplinary proceedings only as a last resort and solely when there is clear evidence of over-prescribing which, by definition, would be to the detriment of their patients.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the allocation of drugs budgets to regional health authorities under the reorganisation of the National Health Service will be fixed.
Mr. Mellor : Each year each regional health authority will be allocated a firm budget to cover expenditure on medicines in the family practitioner services within the region. The budgets will be set at sensible and realistic levels to ensure that patients receive the medicines they need and that medicines will be paid for at reasonable prices.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether, in his proposals for the National Health Service, the allocation of drugs budgets by regional health authorities to family practitioner committees will be in the form of a fixed amount of indicative spending limits.
Mr. Mellor : Regional health authorities will allocate their firm budgets for actual expenditure on medicines among their family practitioner committees (FPCs) which will in turn determine individual FPCs' overall indicative prescribing budgets.
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Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether, in his proposals to reorganise the National Health Service, he intends to fix a cash limit for the drugs budget of the family practitioner services ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : The financial arrangements for drug budgets are set out in working paper 4 of the NHS review series "Indicative Prescribing Budgets for General Medical Pracititioners". The precise mechanisms are still under consideration.
Eye Test Charges
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current estimated saving from eye test charges; and what was the original estimate.
Mr. Mellor : The latest estimate of savings in a full year is £90 million (England). The original estimate for the current year was some £70 million.
Scientists
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the report of the Whitley council management side working party on recruitment and retention of scientists; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : I understand that the report of the management side working party on recruitment and retention of scientists is confidential to the management side and will not be published.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a pay review body for medical scientists working in the National Health Service, and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor [holding answer 26 July 1989] : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastwood (Mr. Stewart) on 24 July at column 536 .
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve recruitment and retention of biochemists, physicists, other scientists and clinical psychologists in the National Health Service.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the level of remuneration, recruitment and retention of medical scientists working in the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor [holding answer 26 July 1989] : I refer my hon. Friend and the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells) on 16 June at columns 101-02 .
Mr. Dixon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, following the report of the inquiry on the recruitment and retention of physicists, scientists and clinical psychologists, what steps he intends to take to ensure that National Health Service contracts are attractive to scientist graduates and to put right the erosion in their salaries.
Mr. Mellor : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells) on 16 June at columns 101-02 .
Column 911
Skoal Bandits
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to announce his decision concerning the production and sale of Skoal Bandits ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : We are considering the detailed and extensive representations we have received on this matter and we will announce a decision as soon as possible.
Hospital Physiotherapists (Pay Settlement)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health from what date the pay settlement for hospital physiotherapists runs.
Solid Radioactive Waste
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the hospitals in the Trent regional health authority which currently store solid radioactive waste on site ; and what controls exist for monitoring and ensuring safety.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is not available centrally. Hospitals are subject to the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 and guidance on good practice is contained in "Guidance Notes for the Protection of Persons Against Ionising Radiations Arising from Medical and Dental Use" issued in 1988 by the health departments, the National Radiological Protection Board and the Health and Safety Executive.
NHS Staffing
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give for the last year for which figures are available the number of nutritionists, physiotherapists, radiographers and chiropodists employed by the National Health Service.
Mr. Mellor : The information is shown in the table. "Nutritionists" has been interpreted as dietitians.
NHS qualified staff in post at 30 September 1987 England
|Whole time equivalents<1>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dietitians |1,140
Physiotherapists<2> |9,330
Radiographers |8,250
Chiropodists |2,640
Source: Department of Health (SM13) Annual Census of NHS Non-Medical
Manpower.
<1> Figures are independently rounded to the nearest ten (10) whole-time
equivalents.
<2> Includes Remedial Gymnasts.
Medical Records
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review advice given to general practitioners concerning the time for which patients' medical records should be kept and the information to be retained ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : Under present arrangements, doctors are required to keep adequate records of the treatment of their
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