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Column 302
Mrs. D. C. EcclesJ. N. Duncan
M. S. Schreiber
Sir Graham Wilkins
J. O. Gough MBE
F. C. Graves OBE
L. W. G. Priestley
Sir Keith Stuart
D. B. Clark CBE
J. Porteous
In addition four appointments have been offered but not yet announced, and Mr. Harvey has been appointed twice to different boards.
It is not possible without disproportionate cost to provide details of each appointee's background.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the price of nuclear-generated electricity after privatisation.
Mr. John Wakeham : Negotiations on contracts for the supply of nuclear-generated electricity are currently taking place between National Power and the area electricity boards. I cannot pre-empt their outcome.
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has made an assessment of the impact of privatisation on prices of electricity to industry.
Mr. Wakeham : Prices for large industrial users of electricity will depend on the outcome of individual negotiations between customers and suppliers or generators, subject to relevant statutory and licence requirements. The resulting prices are likely to depend on a number of factors, including the degree of load management that the customer is prepared to accept.
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has made an estimate of job losses in the coal industry as a result of electricity privatisation.
Mr. Wakeham : The coal industry will need to ensure that its future output and prices meet the needs of its main customers including the privatised electricity generators. Employment in the industry will depend both on demand for coal and on future productivity gains.
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has made an estimate of the sale proceeds of National Power, Power Gen, the area boards and the national grid.
Mr. Wakeham : The level of proceeds from the electricity industry sales will depend on a number of factors including the overall capital structure of the individual companies, and the state of the market at the time of flotation. It is therefore too early to speculate on the outcome.
Electricity Industry (Coal)
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the tonnage of British coal agreed between National Power, Power Gen and British Coal for the next triennial year.
Mr. Wakeham : This is a matter for commercial negotiation between each of the generators and British Coal.
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DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Ministerial Visits
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the occasions on which he has visited the Duchy of Lancaster since he took office.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : In the course of my duties with the Duchy of Lancaster I have attended upon Her Majesty on her visit to the Whitewell estate in Lancashire on 7 August.
I have also attended upon my magisterial duties in Birkenhead on 27 September, and have of course visited the Duchy Office in London.
EMPLOYMENT
Employment Training
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the number of accidents on employment training, fatal, major and minor, for each month since the start of the scheme to the latest available date ; and in that same period how many employer-based work placements and how many project-based work placements have either been rejected or closed on health and safety grounds.
Mr. Nicholls : Employment training accident figures are collected quarterly the same as for YTS. Table A gives the accident figures.
Table A
Accidents<1>
|Fatal |Major<2>|Minor
---------------------------------------------------------------
5 September to 31 December 1988 Nil 24 91
1 January to 31 March 1989 |Nil |31 |161
1 April to 30 June 1989 |Nil |53 |276
1 July to 30 September |Nil |52 |286
Separate figures for closures and rejections for employer-based and project -based work placements are not kept. However table B gives the figures of closures and rejections on health and safety grounds from 5 September 1988 to the present date. These figures are provisional.
Table B Closed |Rejected --------------------------- 15 |Nil <1> Training Agency figures have been compiled on a similar basis to those prepared by the Health and Safety Executive on employed persons. However, the Training Agency's figures will include a number of accidents to trainees in educational establishments and road traffic accidents which may not have been reportable to the Health and Safety Executive had the individuals been employed. <2> Major injuries are classified according to the severity criteria laid down in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on the number and proportion of employment training leavers who have obtained a recognised qualification on their course and on the nature of the qualifications gained.
Mr. Nicholls : I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 7 July, Official Report, column 318.
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Construction Industry Training Board
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy on the future of the construction industry training board and its levy.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr. Latham) on 31 October 1989. My right hon. Friend hopes to be in a position to make an announcement shortly.
Wages Council Inspectors
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of wages council inspectors per 1,000 workers for each year from 1974 to 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : Statistical returns of the numbers of workers employed in establishments within scope of wages councils are not collected but periodic estimates are made. The information in the following table uses those estimates.
Average number of wages inspectors Year |per 1,000 workers ------------------------------------------------------ 1974 |0.04 1975 |0.04 1976 |0.04 1977 |0.05 1978 |0.05 1979 |0.06 1980 |0.06 1981 |0.04 1982 |0.04 1983 |0.04 1984 |0.04 1985 |0.04 1986 |0.03 1987 |0.03 1988 |0.03 Figures for 1989 are not yet available.
The reduction in the inspector/worker ratio for the last three years reflects the simpler and quicker task of checking compliance with wages orders following the reform of the wages council system in 1986.
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was (a) the number and (b) number per 1,000 claimants of Department of Employment staff employed to investigate benefit fraud by unemployed people claiming benefits in each year from 1978 to the latest available date.
Mr. Eggar : This Department's fraud investigation work was reorganised in 1984 and comparable figures for earlier years are not available.
The number of fraud investigators and the number of fraud investigators per 1,000 claimants are as follows :
|Number of fraud |Number of fraud
|investigators |investigators per 1,000
|claimants
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |450 |0.15
1985-86 |650 |0.20
1986-87 |720 |0.23
1987-88 |785 |0.29
1988-89 |820 |0.39
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the amount of money recovered from successful prosecutions of unemployed claimants, in current and constant prices in each year from 1978 to the latest available date.
Mr. Eggar : Actions to recover compensation awards and overpayments are undertaken by the courts and/or local benefit offices. In consequence, the information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what was the number and proportion of unemployed claimants successfully prosecuted for benefit fraud who were prosecuted for claiming benefit whilst working in each year from 1978 to the latest available date ; (2) what was the number and proportion of unemployed claimants successfully prosecuted for benefit fraud in each year from 1978 to the latest available date.
Mr. Eggar : This Department's fraud investigation work was reorganised in 1984 and comparable figures for earlier years are not available.
The number of legal proceedings instituted by this Department are as follows :
|Girocheque fraud|Benefit fraud |Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |253 |1,997 |2,250
1985-86 |639 |2,161 |2,800
1986-87 |1,139 |2,511 |3,650
1987-88 |924 |3,036 |3,960
1988-89 |571 |3,474 |4,045
This Department does not collect information centrally on the outcome of prosecutions and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Young Workers
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the employers who have indicated that they are employing young people whom they would not otherwise have employed because of the removal of young people from wages council protection in 1986.
Mr. Nicholls : It is not this Department's practice to disclose the authorship of correspondence that it receives.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what, in percentage terms, was young workers' pay relative to their adult counterparts in each year from 1979 to 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : The information from the new earnings survey is provided in the table :
Earnings of those aged under 18
as a percentage of the earnings
of
those aged 18 and over
|Percentage
---------------------------------
1979 |43.7
1980 |43.0
1981 |42.9
1982 |42.4
1983 |40.1
1984 |38.8
1985 |39.8
1986 |39.6
1987 |40.0
1988 |40.8
1989 |40.0
Note: Average gross weekly
earnings of all full-time
employees working a full week,
April of each year.
New Claimants (Cumnock)
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new claimants signed on each week of 1989 at the Cumnock unemployment benefit office ; what delays there are in interviewing them ; what requests have been received for additional staff ; and what has been his response.
Mr. Eggar : The number of new claimants who signed on each week of 1989 is shown in the table. Claimants are generally interviewed within three days of making an appointment.
The area manager responsible for Cumnock met with the trade union side on 2 October to discuss issues including staffing numbers throughout the area including Cumnock. It was subsequently agreed that an additional executive officer would be posted into the Cumnock office from 13 November 1989.
Claims taken at Cumnock UBO from January 1989 to present
Week ending: |Number of claims taken
---------------------------------------------------------------------
6 January |28
13 January |185
20 January |78
27 January |67
3 February |68
10 February |68
17 February |38
24 February |49
3 March |85
10 March |54
17 March |56
24 March |48
31 March |46
7 April |48
14 April |79
21 April |56
29 April |48
5 May |39
12 May |47
19 May |78
26 May |52
2 June |100
9 June |78
16 June |103
23 June |129
30 June |86
7 July |129
14 July |49
21 July |46
28 July |71
4 August |51
11 August |53
18 August |83
25 August |46
1 September |73
8 September |74
15 September |71
22 September |50
29 September |42
6 October |91
13 October |67
20 October |69
Note: These figures represent the numbers of new claims for which a
national insurance number if readily available input to the
Computer. Details of the number of non-computer claims are not
available.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current establishment, at each grade, of the unemployment benefit office at Cumnock ; how many deal directly with interviewing of new claimants ; what representations he has received concerning the lack of staff to deal with claimants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The number of staff in each grade is as follows :
|Number
----------------------------------------------
Higher executive officer |1
Executive officer |<1>3
Administrative officer |14
Administrative assistant |5
Casual administrative assistant |1
<1> Of which one is an administrative officer
on temporary promotion.
One executive officer deals directly with new claimants, with a second executive officer having an element of interviewing within his post. Area management met with the trade union side on 2 October to discuss area issues including staffing requirements. It has subsequently been agreed that the third executive officer post would be filled on a permanent basis.
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Health and Safety (Ethnic Minorities)
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, in relation to each of the occupational categories identified in the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys occupational mortality decennial supplement, what proportion of each occupational category, by sex, are drawn from ethnic minority groups.
Mr. Freeman : I have been asked to reply.
Information on ethnicity is not available for the occupation categories identified in Office of Population Censuses and Survey's occupational mortality decennial supplement, since questions on ethnic origin were not asked in the 1981 census and are not asked at time of death registration.
The nearest available information on ethnicity by occupation is derived from the labour force survey, a sample survey conducted by Office of Population Censuses and Surveys on behalf of the Department of Employment. From this survey, the Department of Employment publish aggregated years data on ethnicity by broad occupation group. The most recent published data covers the years 1985 to 1987, and can be found in the Department of Employment Gazette, December 1988, page 638. A copy of this and the latest edition of the labour force survey (1987), can be found in the Library.
Mr. Galloway : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many women aged 60-65 years there are (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in Scotland, (c) in full/part-time employment, United Kingdom and Scotland and (d) married, and receiving their full state pension entitlement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I have been asked to reply. The information requested in parts (a) , (b) and (c) of the question is supplied in the table. Information is not available as to the number of married women who receive their full state retirement pension. Since 1 October 1989 women aged 60-65 years are now able to choose to continue working and claim their own, category A, state retirement pension.
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Women aged 60-64 years inclusive (thousands, spring 1988)
United Kingdom Scotland
|All |of which:|All |of which:
|married |married
|(000s) |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
All women aged 60-64 |1,515 |1,031 |141 |88
of which:
in employment |282 |196 |24 |15
full time<1> |86 |53 |10 |-<2>
part time <1> |196 |143 |14 |-<2>
Source: Department of Employment, preliminary 1988 labour force survey
estimates.
<1>Based on the respondent's own assessment, not on the number of
hours actually worked.
<2>Estimate not shown: less than 10,000 in cell.
HEALTH
Funding
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether additional funding will be given to Oxford regional health authority to ensure a growth range of
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between 1.25 and 1.75 per cent. is maintained, in view of the higher level of inflation than forecast at the time of this commitment.Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The range of 1.25 per cent. to 1.75 per cent. to be assumed for real terms growth nationally in 1990-91, published in the Resource Assumptions and Planning Guidelines (HC(89)24), was provided to assist authorities in their short-term planning. The figures form
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a largely technical part of the planning process and are to be used as a basis for cautious and prudent planning. Actual allocations for 1990-91 have yet to be decided and are dependent on the outcome of this year's public expenditure survey.Burnley General Hospital
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will call for a report from the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale health authority regarding the emergency closure at Jackson ward in the Edith Watson maternity ward unit at Burnley general hospital.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There is no requirement upon district health authorities to report to the Secretary of State for Health when implementing temporary closures or changes in the use of hospital wards. We have been advised that the temporary closure of one of the three maternity wards at Burnley general hospital reflects a reduction in the number of maternity cases since last year and was not undertaken until detailed discussions had taken place with the consultant obstetricians and directors of midwifery services. The situation is being kept under review and the ward will be reopened if there are sufficient patients to justify that decision.
Insulin
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of doctors who have transferred their patients from animal to human insulin.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We do not collect this information centrally.
Spending
Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest comparative figures on health spending per capita and as a proportion of gross domestic product for the United Kingdom and its European Community partners ; and what is the effect on these figures of the distinction between public and private funding.
Mr. Freeman : The tables show public, private and total expenditure on health per capita and as a percentage of GDP for the United Kingdom and its European Community partners in 1986, the latest year for which comparative figures are available for most of the countries.
The source of these figures is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Per capita expenditure on health in EEC countries
in 1985, £ sterling
|Public expenditure per |Private expenditure per|Total expenditure per
|head |head |head
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |357 |107 |464
Denmark |457 |80 |536
France |493 |128 |622
Germany |507 |143 |650
Greece<1> |99 |5 |104
Ireland |278 |42 |320
Italy |309 |79 |389
Netherlands |441 |117 |558
Portugal<1> |57 |23 |80
Spain<1> |131 |52 |183
United Kingdom |324 |53 |377
Source: OECD.
Note:
Luxembourg excluded due to reported inconsistencies in its national health accounts.
<1>Data for 1984.
Public, private and total expenditure on
health
as a percentage of GDP, 1986
|1986 |1986 |1986
|Public |Private|Total
-----------------------------------------------
Belgium |5.5 |1.6 |7.1
Denmark |5.2 |0.9 |6.1
France |6.7 |1.8 |8.5
Germany |6.3 |1.8 |8.1
Greece |3.7 |0.2 |3.9
Ireland |7.0 |0.9 |7.9
Italy |5.2 |1.5 |6.7
Netherlands |6.6 |1.7 |8.3
Portugal |4.0 |1.6 |5.6
Spain |4.3 |1.7 |6.0
United Kingdom |5.3 |0.9 |6.2
Source: OECD.
Note:
Luxembourg excluded due to reported
inconsistencies in its national health
accounts.
Pay Review
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about pay review procedures for Health Service workers.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Pay review bodies were established for doctors and dentists in 1969, and for nurses, midwives and the professions allied to medicine in 1983.
Health Service Review
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what latest representations he has received about the Health Service review ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have received more than 12,000 representations regarding the Government White Paper "Working for Patients".
Female General Practitioners
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many female general practitioners are currently in practice ; and what was the figure 10 years ago.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : In 1988 there were 5,686 female general practitioners in England. This figure comprises unrestricted principals and assistants. In 1978 the equivalent figure was 3,273.
Alternative Medicine
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to bring suitable forms of alternative medicine within the scope of the National Health Service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The Department of Health is primarily responsible for medical treatment provided under the
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NHS, and there is already provision for the use of complementary therapies within it. NHS practitioners can offer to use any form of treatment, including any of the complementary therapies, if they consider it to be in the interest of their patients and they feel competent to provide it.The wider use of complementary therapies in the NHS depends on those doctors already practising these methods convincing more of their fellow practitioners of the benefits and effectiveness of these forms of treatment.
NHS Reform
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what safeguards for the future of medical education and research will be introduced to coincide with the implementation of the National Health Service White Paper ; and what will be the effect of the changes to the National Health Service on (a) multi-centre clinical trials and epidemiological studies and (b) rapid dissemination of research results in the service.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : My right hon. and learned Friend explained in a speech on 10 July to leading members of the medical academic community how we will safeguard medical education and research. We have placed copies in the Library. We do not believe that multi-centre clinical trials, epidemiological studies, or the dissemination of research results will in general be harmed by our plans for a more efficient Health Service.
Welsh-speaking Patients
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps will be taken in the National Health Service White Paper to safeguard the linguistic rights of Welsh-speaking patients.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have no plans to take any additional steps to safeguard the linguistic rights of Welsh-speaking patients in England. Nor are we introducing any changes that would adversely effect any existing safeguards. The question of appropriate measures for such patients in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Pharmaceuticals
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are his estimates of the yield of the discount clawback levy imposed from 1 May 1988 on community pharmacists in respect of the assumed trade in parallel imports of pharmaceuticals.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The most recent month for which information is available is July 1989. We estimate that in the period between May 1988 and July 1989 some £7 million has been recovered from pharmacies in England in respect of discounts obtained on parallel imports.
Counterfeit Medicines
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of counterfeit medicines reaching the United Kingdom distribution system have been reported to his Department in the last 12 months ; what countries were the alleged sources of fake products ; and what estimates he has of the number of National Health Service patients who have been dispensed counterfeit medicines in the current year.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : During the past 12 months the Department has had one report of a counterfeit medicine entering the United Kingdom distribution chain. The product was a copy of Greek Zantac 150 mg. The source is under investigation.
The counterfeit was marked with a genuine batch number. The evidence suggests that only one importer may have been supplied with counterfeits. He distributed 240 packs from the batch in question, each containing 20 tablets. This would be sufficient for one month's supply for 80 patients. But it is not known what proportion of the 240 packs may have been counterfeit so no accurate figure can be given of the number of patients to whom counterfeits may have been dispensd. On analysis the counterfeit product appeared to present no hazard to patients. As a fast-moving product, it proved impossible to recall any of the batch from retail pharmacies.
A separate incident also involving counterfeiting of Greek Zantac was reported to the Department in which the importer recognised the product as outside specifications and returned it to his supplier before any of the product was distributed within the United Kingdom. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my hon. and learned Friend gave on 10 March at columns 718-19.
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he proposes to ensure that National Health Service patients are protected from receiving counterfeit medicines ; and whether he has any proposals to tighten the regulations covering the licensing of parallel imports of pharmaceuticals.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Existing controls involve ;
(1) a sampling and testing programme operated by the Medicines Inspectorate with analysis undertaken by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's medicines testing laboratory at Edinburgh.
(2) An annual programme of inspection carried out by inspectors of the Medicines Control Agency and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and community pharmacists are inspected regularly.
(3) particular checks carried out by licensed importers to verify the identity of each batch of imported material.
We are considering whether any changes may be necessary to the United Kingdom parallel import licensing scheme. We have received proposals and need to consult with all interested parties, taking account of our European Community obligations.
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