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Factory Inspectors
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many extra factory inspectors will be employed in January 1990.
Mr. Nicholls : A recent recruitment campaign has resulted in 27 extra inspectors being appointed since August. The increase will be partly offset by January by retirements and resignations. A further campaign is now under way to ensure that the figure planned in the Health and Safety Commission's plan for 1 April next is met ; the inspectorate will continue to grow thereafter.
Health and Safety at Work
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action he proposes to take on the issue of the level of fines for health and safety at work offences ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : Following representations from the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission and the
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director general of the Health and Safety Executive about the low level of fines for health and safety offences, my right hon. Friend is considering them in conjunction with my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary.Noise at Work
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements he has made to monitor the effectiveness of the Noise at Work Regulations 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : Inspectors appointed under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 will enforce the regulations as they do other regulations made under the Act. In addition inspectors will be carrying out a special programme of visits during 1991 and 1992 to obtain information on the extent to which employers and employees together with the makers and suppliers of machinery understand and meet their obligations under the regulations.
Council for Social Aid, Manchester
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide (a) details of the destinations of all the employment training trainees who were on the Council for Social Aid scheme in Greater Manchester at the time of the scheme's closure in May of the current year and (b) give the numbers of those who were unable, or refused to join another scheme.
Mr. Nicholls : The table lists the latest known destinations of the trainees who were on the Council for Social Aid's scheme at the time of the closure.
|Number
---------------------------------------------------------------
Transferred to other Training Managers |818
Known to have found permanent employment through
Employment Training |23
Not known |170
All trainees were offered a place with another training manager.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide details of the additional cost incurred by the Training Agency to date as a result of the closure of the Council for Social Aid's employment training scheme in Greater Manchester.
Mr. Nicholls : Additional costs of £12,270 have been incurred in payment of start fees to the training managers who took over the training of Council for Social Aid's former trainees.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has about the present employment of the staff formerly employed on the Council for Social Aid scheme in Greater Manchester.
Mr. Nicholls : I have no information on the present
employed/unemployed status of the former employees of the Council for Social Aid.
Employment Training, Manchester
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide the most recent details of the ethnic origin, sex and disability of employment training trainees for each scheme in the Greater Manchester area.
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Mr. Nicholls : The information is not readily available in the form requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
NORTHERN IRELAND
RUC
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary stationed at Kells Royal Ulster Constabulary station during the period 1 June 1988 to 1 March 1989 were transferred to other duties in other parts of Northern Ireland.
Mr. Cope : The Chief Constable has informed me that three members of the RUC serving at Kells RUC station were transferred during the period in question.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary who were stationed at Kells Royal Ulster Constabulary station from 1 January 1988 and 1 March 1989 resigned from the police service during that period or subsequent to it.
Mr. Cope : The Chief Constable has informed me that two members of the RUC serving at Kells RUC station have resigned from the force since 1 January 1988.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary authorised and carried out a search for arms and ammunition at Kells Royal Ulster Constabulary station during the period 1 January 1988 to 1 March 1989.
Mr. Cope : The Chief Constable has informed me that a search of the RUC station at Kells was carried out on 12 October 1988. No unauthorised firearms or ammunition were discovered.
Nurses
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by health district (a) the current nursing staff establishment, (b) the number in post at the latest available date and (c) the number who had left the National Health Service in the preceeding year.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 3 November 1989] : The information requested in respect of the current nursing staff establishment and the number in post at the latest available date is as follows :--
Nursing staff<1>-current funded establishment at March 1989
|Number
--------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern Health and Social Services Board |9,330.20
Northern Health and Social Services Board |2,680.79
Southern Health and Social Services Board |2,443.92
Western Health and Social Services Board |2,799.44
|-----
Northern Ireland Total |17,254.35
<1> Nursing staff' includes staff employed in the personal
social services.
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l
Nursing staff<1> in post at March 1989
|Number |Whole time equivalent
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern Health and Social Services Board |11,013 | 9,368.71
Northern Health and Social Services Board 3,179 2,786.49
Southern Health and Social Services Board |3,246 | 2,781.18
Western Health and Social Services Board |3,053 | 2,856.21
|---- |-----
Northern Ireland Total |20,491 |17,792.59
<1> Nursing staff' includes staff employed in the personal social services.
The number of nursing staff who have left the Health Service is not known.
EC Border Area Programme
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total amount received by each Northern Ireland Government Department, from the European Community's border areas programme, in each of the years since 1980.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 6 November 1989] : The total amounts received by Northern Ireland Government Departments and Government- sponsored agencies from the Europen Community's border areas programme since 1980 are as follows :
|1988-89|1989-90
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------
Department of the Environment |600,000|-
Local Enterprise Development Unit |450,053|75,569
Further payments will fall due to these bodies as the programme progresses. Resources available from the start of the programme in 1980 were used in the early years to finance district council schemes.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will list all those projects and initiatives in Northern Ireland which have received financial aid from the European Community's border areas programme.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 6 November 1989] : A total of 99 tourism and communications projects have been approved for financial support from the European regional development fund under the border areas programme. A number of initiatives benefiting small and medium-sized companies have also received financial aid from the programme.
I will write to the hon. Gentleman enclosing a full list of projects and initiatives assisted under the programme.
Industrial Development Board
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will list the entire stock of advance and refurbished factories for new investment, held by the Industrial Development Board, giving details by district council areas.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 6 November 1989] : The information is as follows :
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District council |Advance and refurbished|Vacant factories not |Factories awaiting |Under construction
|factories now available|refurbished |surrender
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim |1 |1 |1 |4
Ards |- |1 |- |1
Armagh |1 |- |- |-
Ballymena |1 |1 |- |-
Ballymoney |- |- |1 |-
Belfast |- |4 |- |1
Carrickfergus |- |1 |- |1
Coleraine |- |2 |- |-
Craigavon |1 |1 |1 |-
Derry |1 |3 |- |1
Down |- |1 |- |-
Dungannon |1 |- |- |-
Larne |- |2 |- |-
Newry and Mourne |- |1 |1 |-
Omagh |- |1 |- |-
Strabane |- |6 |2 |-
Police
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are being taken to ensure further effective development of the policy of ensuring that there should be a police presence in operations which involve direct contact between the armed forces and the community ; and whether additional police are being recruited for this purpose.
Mr. Cope [holding answer 6 November 1989] : As agreed between the British and Irish Governments at the last Anglo-Irish
Intergovernmental Conference meeting on 18 October 1989 a working group has been established on the subject. The results of this work will be considered when they are available.
Industrial Development
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all those parcels of land held by the Department of Economic Development, LEDU or the Industrial Development Board and zoned for industrial development by the planning authorities, giving details by district council area.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 8 November 1989] : The IDB's land holdings for future industrial development are as follows. Neither the DOE nor LEDU owns land for industrial development purposes.
Industrial zoned land available for letting District Council |(Acres) --------------------------------------------------- Antrim |84 Ards |22 Armagh |9 Balleymena |79 Ballymoney |nil Banbridge |3 Belfast |50.3 Carrickfergus |23 Castlereagh |2 Coleraine |75.3 Cookstown |10 Craigavon |206.5 Derry |218 Down |43.8 Dungannon |22.1 Fermanagh |24.4 Larne |29.8 Limavady |17 Lisburn |183.5 Magherafelt |5.5 Moyle |1.1 Newry and Mourne |56.6 Newtownabbey |262.5 North Down |68 Omagh |14.5 Strabane |9
Funding (North Down and Ards)
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the level of funding for the home help service in the North Down and Ards unit of management of the Eastern health and social services boards in each of the past three years ; how many persons received the assistance of home helps in each of these years ; and if he will make a statement on the future development of the home help service within the North Down and Ards unit of management.
Mr. Needham : The information is as follows :
|Expenditure|Recipients
|£
------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |962,744 |1,354
1987-88 |1,187,434 |1,378
1988-89 |1,255,714 |1,320
Responsibility for the management and delivery of the home help service in the North Down and Ards unit of management is primarily a matter for the Eastern health and social services board. The initial allocation of funds to health and social services boards in Northern Ireland in 1989-90 amounted to £696 million. This provides for an 8.4 per cent. increase over 1988-89 and affords boards the scope to increase expenditure on the provision of particular services, including the home help service, in the light of their view of priorities.
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HEALTH
District Medical Officers
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current notional national complement of district medical officers ; how many are currently in post ; and what steps he is taking to increase levels of recruitment.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We accepted the recommendations of the report "Public Health in England" (published December 1988) that each health authority should designate a director of public health (formerly district medical officers). Regional health authorities are to submit manpower plans to meet the report's recommendations by December 1989.
As at 30 September 1988 there were 136 district medical officers in post and 18 vacancies.
We have funded 40 additional training posts to aid future recruitment to the specialty.
Haemophiliacs
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will now support an out of court compensation scheme to alleviate the physical and financial distress of families of haemophiliacs who have contracted AIDS through National Health Service treatment.
Mr. Freeman : The Government have already provided an ex gratia payment of £10 million to set up the Macfarlane Trust to meet the special needs of haemophiliacs infected with HIV and their dependants. Claims for compensation are now being pursued through the courts and I am advised these matters are sub judice.
Hospices
Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he intends to introduce financial support for hospices similar to the pound- for-pound scheme introduced by the Scottish Office.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Arrangements for financial support for hospices in England have been under careful consideration for some time. It is hoped to bring forward plans in due course.
NHS Reform
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will be giving the budget figures for hospitals wishing to opt out.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : NHS trusts will remain an integral part of the NHS. In common with other NHS units, they will derive the majority of their revenue income from contracts with health authorities and GP practice budget holders to provide services for NHS patients. In addition they will be able to borrow money both from the Government and private sector, subject to an external financing limit which will be set for each trust and reviewed annually. Each trust will be expected to frame its budget so as to remain within its external financing limit.
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total sum spent in securing the implementation of the health services Bill to date ; and what is his estimate of the sum which will be spent for this purpose before this measure is enacted.
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Mr. Freeman : The Government announced on 11 May 1989 that £82 million has been allocated in 1989 90 for implementing the proposals contained in the White Paper "Working for Patients". By no means all of the proposals will require legislation, but for those that do we shall seek a Bill at the earliest opportunity. Future levels of support will be announced shortly.
Salmonella
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were (a) the number of outbreaks of food poisoning, connected with salmonella for each month of the current year to date, (b) the corresponding figures for 1988 and (c) the source of the information.
Mr. Freeman : There were 712 outbreaks of salmonellosis in humans reported in England and Wales in the period January to September 1989. The corresponding figure for 1988 was 332. Figures are not routinely collated on a monthly basis. The dates are based on formal reports to the communicable disease surveillance centre by public health laboratory service and other laboratories and by local authorities, and were published on 30 October in the "Update on salmonella infection" produced jointly by the public health laboratory service and the state veterinary service.
Artificial Insemination
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of those women who received artificial insemination by donor in the latest year for which figures are available were (a) married, (b) unmarried, (c) fertile and (d) infertile.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to ensure that artificial insemination by donor is available only as a treatment for married, infertile women ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The White Paper "Human Fertilisation and Embryology : A Framework for Legislation" explains that it is Government policy to introduce legislation in this Parliament to license the provision of specified infertility services including those provided through artificial insemination by donor (AID). The statutory licensing authority's licensing structure and code of practice will cover arrangements for counselling, assessment and screening ; these will need to take into account the position of the donor, the recipient, the individual clinician and the interests of the child or children who may result from AID.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has concerning the numbers of women who have received artificial insemination by donor in each year for which figures are available from each of the clinics which currently provide such a service.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is not held centrally.
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Polkinghorne Report
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the letter with which he circulated copies of the Polkinghorne report to health authorities made it clear that the contents of the report and its recommended code of practice had no statutory authority ;
(2) why he decided to circulate to health authorities copies of the Polkinghorne report before the House had fully debated its conclusions.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor) gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone (Miss Widdecombe) on 23 October 1989 at column 315. Health circular (89) 23, issued in July 1989, informed health authorities of the Government's acceptance of the Polkinghorne committee's main recommendations and asked authorities to ensure that the new Polkinghorne code of practice on the use of foetuses and foetal material in research and treatment is adhered to.
Medical Research
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce legislation to require medical research in non-National Health Service establishments to be supervised by medical ethical committees.
Mr. Freeman : There are no plans to introduce legislation. The general principles governing research in human subjects are contained in the declaration of Helsinki. The General Medical Council, whose powers derive from the medical Acts, is responsible for enforcing professional standards.
Tobacco (Marketing)
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to sign the voluntary agreement between Her Majesty's Government and United States Tobacco International on the marketing of oral tobacco in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I have been seeking to conclude a revised voluntary agreement with United States Tobacco International, without prejudice to my decision on whether to ban oral snuff, for some considerable time. On 6 October I wrote to Jack Africk the President of United States Tobacco, enclosing a copy of a new agreement which I had signed, for his signature. So far I have received no reply.
Leeds General Infirmary
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will call for a report from the chairman of Leeds Western health authority on the proposal for Leeds general infirmary to opt out ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. The decision on whether or not to prepare a formal application for NHS trust status is a matter for the sponsors of the expression of interest in the unit concerned. There is no question of any hospital "opting-out" of the NHS.
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Measles Vaccination
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department is taking any measures to examine what limitations of the vaccine used against measles there may be ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The Department continues to monitor adverse events and reactions to all vaccines using the yellow card reporting system. The incidence of measles is also monitored and it is a notifiable disease.
The Medical Research Council continues its long-term (25-year) study of 10,000 recipients of measles vaccine.
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if there are any proposals to modify immunisation strategies for the measles virus ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : There are no current plans to modify the present measles immunisation strategy. This strategy aims to continue to improve the uptake of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to achieve the elimination of measles as an indigenous disease by the year 2000, in accordance with the World Health Organisation's objective for its European region.
Uptake of measles-only vaccine in England in 1987-88 reached 76 per cent. and the incidence of measles in the first three quarters of 1989 is lower than that in any comparable previous period.
Ambulance Service (Pay)
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average pay increase for ambulance men in each year since 1978-79.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Increases were as follows :
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1979-80 |<1>23.0
|<1>13.0
1980-81 |7.3
1981-82 |6.0
1982-83 |4.5
1983-84 |4.5
1984-85 |<2>10.0
1985-86 |6.0
1986-87 |5.0
1987-88 |<3>5.4
1988-89 |<4>6.5
<1> Staged Clegg award paid 1
August 1979 and 1 April 1980.
<2> Introduction of new
salaried structure-average
increases more than 10 per
cent.
<3> In addition the standard
working week was reduced by
one hour.
<4> Current offer from 1
April 1989-additional 2.8 per
cent. for qualified staff in
the London ambulance service.
Cervical Cytology
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) the median, (b) the longest and (c) the shortest time in each district health authority between a woman having a cervical smear for screening and when she is notified of the results.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by (a) regional health authority and (b) area health authority, the number of cervical cytology screening call-recall systems in operation ; and what is the average waiting time for processing of cervical smears in each category.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 23 June 1989] : All 190 district health authorities in England introduced computerised call and recall system for cervical cancer screening by April 1988. Information on laboratory processing times is not available in the form requested. In September over 75 per cent. of districts were achieving the Department's target for laboratories of returning results of smear tests to the doctor who took them within one month. We do not collect figures on processing times in these districts. The average processing time of districts failing to meet the one month target is 6.5 weeks.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Illegal Weapons
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for the illegal carrying of knives since this section of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 was implemented.
Mr. John Patten : Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 which relates to the possession of knives in public places came into force on 29 September 1988. In 1988 in England and Wales, 150 persons were prosecuted for the offence of which 130 were found guilty.
Drugs
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received concerning the recent allocation of Government funds for an anti-crack campaign ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : We have received a number of representations about the drug prevention initiative which was announced on 11 October. These representations will be taken into account in developing our plans for a central drug prevention unit and the initial nine local drug prevention teams to be located in areas where the misuse of drugs, particularly of cocaine and crack, presents a serious problem.
Joy Riding
Mr. David Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of fatalities involved with joy riding and on the measures he recommends local police forces to take when giving chase to those who steal cars.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The police service faces a genuine dilemma between the apprehension of offenders and the safety of the public. On many occasions when a driver fails to stop, the police do not know whether they are dealing with a joy rider or a more serious crime. The police manual "Roadcraft", which is used as the basis for police driver training, states that no emergency is so urgent as to justify an accident. This is emphasised in the more detailed guidance which chief officers give members of their forces.
Broadcasting (Deaf People)
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what provisions he proposes to include in the proposed Broadcasting Bill to ensure that the Broadcasting Standards Council or the Independent
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Television Commission have adequate powers to enforce representation of deaf people and to monitor and enforce standards for hard of hearing and deaf people ;(2) what provisions he will include in his proposed Broadcasting Bill to ensure access to television viewing for deaf viewers through subtitling or sign language and for the monitoring of sound quality.
Mr. Mellor : The arrangements we propose in relation to subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing were set out in a reply given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd) to my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Sir C. Morrison) on 26 July. The Independent Television Commission (ITC) will be empowered to require Channel 3 and 5 licensees and Channel 4 to provide services of a high technical standard, including high sound quality.
The ITC will act as a licensing and regulatory body. Its members will be chosen on the basis of their experience and knowledge but will not represent specific interest groups. The Broadcasting Standards Council was set up to deal with matters of taste and decency on television and radio. Since these issues affect all viewers and listeners, it would not be appropriate to appoint a member solely concerned with the needs of people who are deaf.
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