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Region 10Cheshire
County Main and Standby and the following district : Vale Royal Cumbria
County Main and Standby and the following districts : Allerdale, Barrow in Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden
Lancashire
County Main and Standby and the following districts : Blackburn, Blackpool, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire
Greater Manchester
County Main and Standby and the following districts : Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Stockport, Trafford
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the manufacturers which have installed message switch equipment for local authority emergency centres ; and what assessment has been made of their relative merits.
Mr. John Patten : The equipment is being supplied and installed by Chernikeeff Telecommunications Ltd. Installations are subject to technical acceptance by Home Office engineering staff.
South Yorkshire Police
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of additional posts applied for by South Yorkshire police authority since 1980 ; how many he has approved in this period ; what was the basis on which he declined to accept the totals requested ; and what assessment he has made of the effects of manpower levels on (a) morale and (b) crime prevention in South Yorkshire.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Applications have been made and approvals given in the years set out in the table.
Year |Posts applied for|Posts approved ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1980-81 |278 |120 1983-84 |<1>54 |- 1985-86 |9 |- 1986-87 |213 |50 1987-88 |52 |20 1988-89 |50 |20 1989-90 |50 |27 1990-91 |50 |<2>20 <1>Letter from the Chief Constable rather than from the police authority. <2>Approved subject to the police authority confirming willingness to meet its share of the cost.
Applications have been considered within the limits of the police growth which is affordable year on year, and with advice from Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary on the evidence of need and the ability to release police posts by recruiting civilian staff. We are not aware of any morale or crime prevention considerations which would justify different treatment of the police authority's manpower applications.
Refugees
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to assist refugees arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick airports who are without (a) food and (b) money.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : In October we agreed in principle to Home Office grant being made available to strengthen the voluntary sector assistance given to asylum seekers arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick who have no other means of support. An emergency fund to provide destitute asylum seekers with food and initial accommodation is now operated by the refugee arrivals project and the Refugee Council and the need for additional staff and strengthened reception arrangements is under consideration.
Gallows
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if gallows are still kept at any prison in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Mellor : One set of gallows is kept at Her Majesty's prison, Wandsworth.
John McCarthy
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from or on behalf of the Friends of John McCarthy, with respect to their ineligibility for charitable status ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : We have received no representations. I understand that in June 1988 the Charity Commission had correspondence about the question of charitable status with solicitors acting on behalf of the Friends of John McCarthy.
Betting Offices
Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when and how he intends to conduct the deregulation review of the opening hours of licensed betting offices ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The opening hours of licensed betting offices would be likely to be among the matters considered by an inquiry into the financing of horse and greyhound racing, since the racing and betting industries are interlinked. My right hon. and learned Friend is at present considering whether or not to establish such an inquiry. If in due course it seems right to conduct separately the review of betting office opening hours, the review will itself be conducted within the Government's policy on gambling, with no prior assumption about whether or not the hours should be varied, and in consultation with outside interests, including, for example, organisations representative of off-course and on-course bookmakers, betting office employees, horse racing and greyhound racing, the betting office licensing authorities, the police, the local authorities and those concerned with the study of gambling.
Animal Procedures Committee
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to make further appointments to the animal procedures committee ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waddington : Following his appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, the chairman of the committee, Professor David Williams, has resigned from 31 December 1989. I am pleased to be able to announce that Lord Nathan has agreed to succeed him.
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I am pleased to be able to announce further that Professor Barry Bridges, of Queen's university, Belfast ; Dr. Fiona Broughton-Pipkin, of the Queen's medical centre, Nottingham ; Dr. Susan Iversen, of Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories ; and Professor Michael Spyer, of the Royal Free Hospital medical school, London, have also accepted appointments as members of the committee.I should like to place on record my appreciation of the excellent way in which Professor Williams has chaired the committee since its formation following the passage of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. I am grateful to Lord Nathan and the other new members for agreeing to serve on this committee.
PRIME MINISTER
National Trust Silver
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Prime Minister how much National Trust silver she has at Downing street ; and when she intends to return the 20 pieces to Belton house, near Grantham, for the benefit of the nation.
The Prime Minister : There are 22 pieces of National Trust silver on loan to 10 Downing street from Belton house. This will be returned as and when requested by the National Trust.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Hazardous Waste
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates representations were made, and to whom, in respect of the drums of toxic waste currently in the constituency of Wentworth which are to be returned to the United States of America.
Mr. Maude : Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has been in close touch on this subject with the United States Environment Protection Agency since July 1989, most recently on 3 January 1990. Similarly, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of the Environment have been in contact with the United States embassy in London and a representative of the embassy was invited to call on the FCO for talks on 22 December.
Hong Kong
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people emigrated from Hong Kong in each of the years from 1980 to date ; and how many of these were heads of households.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 16 January 1990] : According to Hong Kong Government statistics, the estimated figures for emigration were as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1980 |22,400
1981 |18,300
1982 |20,300
1983 |19,800
1984 |22,400
1985 |22,300
1986 |19,000
1987 |30,000
1988 |45,800
1989 |42,000
It is not possible to state how many emigrants were heads of household.
EMPLOYMENT
New Businesses
143. Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new businesses were started over the past year.
Mr. Eggar : In 1988, the latest year for which figures have been published, the net increase in the number of VAT-registered businesses was 64,000, an average of just over 1,200 per week. This was the net result of 230,000 new registrations and 166,000 deregistrations.
ENERGY
Non-fossil Fuel Obligation
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has received details from area boards of how many non-nuclear projects have sought to be included within the non-fossil fuel obligation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : My Department has been informed of nearly 300 such applications. This is a very encouraging response.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what percentage of the national budget in each of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries is spent on Government-funded research into renewable energy sources.
Mr. Peter Morrison : The table sets out the percentage of the national budget in each of the OECD countries spent on
Government-funded research, development and demonstration into renewable energy sources in 1988, the latest year for which information is available. The information was derived from published OECD reports (Energy Policy and Programmes of IEA Countries : 1988 : OECD Outlook, December 1989 ; and OECD Main Economic Indicators, December 1989).
Renewables expenditure as a
percentage
of total Government expenditure
|Percentage
-------------------------------------
Canada |0.01
United States |0.01
Japan |0.01
Austria |0.01
Belgium |0.01
Germany |0.02
Greece |0.02
Italy |0.01
Netherlands |0.02
Norway |0.01
Portugal |0.01
Spain |0.01
Sweden |0.02
Switzerland |0.03
United Kingdom |0.01
Note: Data on renewables expenditure
are not available for Australia, New
Zealand, Denmark, France, Ireland,
Finland, and Turkey.
North Sea
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the extent of operations in the North sea, British section, by South African- owned or controlled companies.
Mr. Peter Morrison : Two South African-owned companies hold small interests in a total of four United Kingdom offshore petroleum production licences.
Plutonium
Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his policy towards the control of the transportation of plutonium (a) by air, and (b) by sea from Sellafield to its major customers in Japan and West Germany.
Mr. Baldry : The transport of plutonium is covered by stringent international regulations. Transport options for returning the plutonium arising from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at THORP are still under consideration. Before any decision is taken, all necessary safety and security aspects will be carefully considered.
HEALTH
Medical Instruments (Imports)
144. Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the percentage of the home market of medical instruments supplied by imports.
145. Mr. Orme : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the percentage of the home market of medical instruments supplied by imports.
Mr. Freeman : About 50 per cent. The United Kingdom remains a net exporter of medical equipment.
NHS Reform
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the area health authorities where members have taken a vote to consider the proposals for opting-out by hospitals in their area ; and what were the results obtained.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department has not sought or recorded the results or deliberations by health authorities to date on self- governance and other NHS review issues. Formal applications for NHS trust status will not be invited until Parliament has given approval to the necessary legislation. At that time health authorities will have an opportunity to comment on individual applications for trust status as part of the formal consultation process.
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Chickens
Sir Richard Body : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of frozen whole chickens examined by the central public health laboratory and the percentage of them affected by salmonella in each year since 1980.
Mr. Freeman : The results of two surveys carried out by the food hygiene laboratory and division of enteric pathogens of the public health laboratory service on the frequency of salmonella in uncooked frozen chickens purchased by environmental health officers from supermarkets, butchers and other shops in north and west London are given in the table. There is no reason to believe that the samples were unrepresentative of the national picture.
Year |Number |Number |Percentage
|examined |positive |positive
-------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |100 |79 |79
1987 |101 |65 |64
Illegal Abortions
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the number of illegal abortions based on statistics for maternal deaths, admissions to hospital following septic abortion, prosecutions for procuring illegal abortion and cases known to the police for the periods from 1960 to 1967, 1968 to 1975, 1976 to 1983 and 1984 to the most recent date.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Not all the information is available in the form requested. No meaningful estimate of illegal abortions can be derived from the available statistics on maternal deaths or treatment in hospital for septic abortion.
The available information on maternal deaths for the period requested is as follows :
Number of deaths from
criminal abortion in
England and Wales
|Number
----------------------
1961-63 |77
1964-66 |98
1967-69 |74
1970-72 |37
1973-75 |10
1976-78 |4
1979-81 |1
1982-84 |nil
Source: Report on
Confidential
Enquiries into
Maternal Deaths in
England and Wales.
Preliminary investigation shows no evidence of deaths for the period 1985- 87.
Information on prosecutions for procuring illegal abortions and cases known to the police are matters for my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary. The available information is given in the table.
|Offences |Prosecutions
|recorded by |for procuring
|the police |illegal abortion
|for procuring
|illegal abortion
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1960 |221 |44
1961 |245 |59
1962 |406 |90
1963 |239 |62
1964 |271 |80
1965 |184 |77
1966 |208 |65
1967 |314 |61
1968 |247 |75
1969 |257 |57
1970 |212 |52
1971 |80 |34
1972 |62 |26
1973 |36 |11
1974 |21 |8
1975 |14 |1
1976 |9 |3
1977 |11 |4
1978 |7 |3
1979 |3 |1
1980 |2 |3
1981 |3 |-
1982 |3 |-
1983 |5 |1
1984 |1 |3
1985 |4 |2
1986 |3 |1
1987 |3 |2
1988 |3 |6
Self-governing Hospitals
Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will describe the process by which a hospital decides to show an interest in becoming self-governing.
Mrs. Bottomley : The Government's proposals for enabling hospitals and other NHS units and services to achieve NHS trust status are set out in the NHS and Community Care Bill. The process was also described in our White Paper "Working for Patients" CM 555, and NHS review working paper 1-- "Self-Governing Hospitals" published earlier last year. More details were also given in "Self-governing Hospitals : An initial guide" published last July, copies of which are available in the Library.
Smoking-related Diseases
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the annual cost to the National Health Service of treating smoking-related diseases ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : It is not possible to estimate these costs accurately, but they may be of the order of £500 million each year. This figure relies on the proportion of mortality from different diseases attributed to smoking. These "attributability factors" are applied to the NHS expenditure on treating these diseases to derive a cost for smoking to the NHS.
Welfare Milk
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will reconsider the changes in the welfare milk scheme due to take effect on 28 January.
Mr. Freeman : No. The decision to implement the revised price structure was taken after an extensive period
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of negotiation, consultation and consideration. It takes account of the fact that the Department is a major buyer of liquid milk and reflects our policy of securing value for money in Government purchasing. The entitlement of beneficiaries to free welfare milk is not affected by this change.Hospital Beds
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the various categories of hospital beds there are at present ; and how many there were for the equivalent categories 10 years ago.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is given in the table.
Average daily number of available beds by sector NHS Hospitals,
England, 1979 and 1988-89
|1979 |1988-89
-------------------------------------------------------------------
All specialties |361,670|282,937
Acute |148,725|123,484
Geriatric |55,139 |51,042
Mental illness |89,045 |62,999
Mental handicap |50,122 |30,045
Maternity (General Practice and Obstetric) |18,640 |15,367
Sources: 1979 SH3 return, 1988-89 KHO3 return.
Ambulance Dispute
Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will hold further talks with National Health Service management on ways of ending the ambulance men's dispute.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Ministers meet National Health Service management regularly in order to discuss the ambulance dispute.
Hospital Grounds (Development)
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital grounds have been sold for development during 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The information held by the Department does not differentiate between sales of hospital grounds and sales of hospital buildings nor between property sold for development or
non-development.
Total sales of NHS properties in England are as follows :
|Acres realising|£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86 |1,085 |84.9
1986-87 |861 |149.0
1987-88 |886 |204.0
1988-89 |1,028 |273.3
All proceeds are retained by health authorities for reinvestment in the service.
Consultants
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what opportunities there will be in 1990 for district health authorities to bid for additional consultants and their associated teams.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have no current plans for a further central initiative inviting district health authorities to bid for new consultant posts in 1990.
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Ambulance Stations (Visits)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date he last visited an ambulance station.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I opened Hexham ambulance station on 21 October 1988.
Generic Medicines
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirements exist for imports of generic medications to include an instruction leaflet in the English language.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Medicines (Leaflets) Regulations require that if a leaflet is supplied with any medicine it is to be in English. It is not mandatory under United Kingdom law to supply a leaflet, but European Community (EC) directive 89/341 introduces such a requirement effective in 1992, unless the necessary information is on the label. The content of leaflets to be supplied under directive 89/341 is to be laid down by a further directive which is expected to be discussed this year.
Training and Staffing
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional resources are being made available to local authorities to assist with training and staffing for the additional duties contained in the Children Act 1989 and the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We will take into account local authorities' additional responsibilities arising from these legislative changes in determining their grant entitlement for future years. We will also be making available grants for training in respect of the Children Act totalling £4 million over two years. This is in addition to the other training grants we make for staff working with the elderly, with children, and managerial personnel which will total nearly £17 million in 1990- 91, all of which will have a role to play in preparing staff for new responsibilities. We have also announced our intention to introduce a further grant for local authorities from 1991-92 to assist them to develop services for the mentally ill.
NHS Maintenance
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the value of backlog maintenance for National Health Service properties in the Yorkshire regional health authority (a) in total and (b) by district health authority, for the latest available year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms. Harman) on 10 January at columns 666-69.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is currently taking place into myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Mr. Jackson : I have been asked to reply.
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The Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in aid from this Department through the science budget, is not currently funding any research specifically into myalgic encephalomyelitis. It is, however, funding a study at the Institute of Psychiatry which is to investigate chronic fatigue in general practitioner attenders. The council also supports work in immune responses to the muscle, nerve cells and related structures which may have some relevance to the understanding and treatment of this condition. The Medical Research Council is always willing to consider soundly based scientific proposals in competition with other applications.SCOTLAND
NHS (Savings Schemes)
Mr. Hood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of savings to the health boards from every saving scheme.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information in the detail requested is not available centrally.
Works of Art
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list (a) German expressionist, (b) 20th century Scottish, (c) Piccassos, (d) Dutch 17th century, (e) Italian renaissance, and (f) French impressionist works of art in Scotland, owned by the state ; how much was paid by the state for each painting ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will list the works of art produced in (a) 1945 to 1964, (b) 1965 to 1977, (c) 1978 to 1987 and (d) 1988 to 1989 owned by the state ; if he will indicate which of those were produced either partly or wholly by public funding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : I have no direct responsibility for any works of art in any of the categories listed. Information on items in these categories which may be held by non-departmental public bodies in Scotland, such as the National Galleries of Scotland, is not held centrally, but may be obtainable direct from them. Works of art held in the Government art collection are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts.
Job Creation
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library the latest notes of guidance issued on (a) the calculation of leverage ratios as per page 48 of "Public Expenditure to 1991-92 : A Commentary on the Scotland Programme", (b) the calculation of cost per job created or safeguarded, gross, (c) the calculation of cost per job created or safeguarded, net, (d) the estimation of job displacement, (e) the rules about additionality when projects are aided by European Community funds and (f) the public expenditure treatment of such receipts.
Mr. Lang : There are no formal guidance notes on these matters. A full examination of value for money was carried out as part of the 1987 review of the Highlands and Islands Development Board, a copy of which can be found in the Library. This covered indicators (a) to (d) . The report includes information on these indicators and the methods of calculation adopted. On item (e) , the relevant
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European Community legislation governing the new structural funds regime, including additionality, is article 9 of regulation No. 4253/88. On item (f) , the principle governing the public expenditure treatment of European Community receipts is that the expected level of such receipts is taken into account by Departments when public expenditure plans are prepared. General guidance on European Community finance questions is given in chapter 4 of "Government Accounting", which is in the Library.Public Expenditure
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report an analysis of any definition or classification changes which affect comparisons between (a) the table for programme 15.2 and 15.3 on page 40 of "Public Expenditure to 1991-92 : A Commentary on the Scotland Programme" and (b) the table appended to the Secretary of State's statement to the House on 6 December, Official Report, columns 330-33.
Mr. Lang : There are no such changes.
Forestry Commission
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland under what circumstances permission is given by the Forestry Commission to allow the collection of money from the general public in respect of activities other than those provided by or promoted by the Forestry Commission.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Where, with the Forestry Commission's permission, organisations or individuals offer a service to visitors on commission land, charges for these services may be allowed under a variety of arrangements including leases and permits. Charitable bodies may also be given permission to make collections on commission property.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the policy of the Forestry Commission on the use of mountain bikes on Forestry Commission land ; and whether any conditions are imposed restricting such use to (a) roads, bridleways and footpaths and (b) other land.
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