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Column 650
Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans his Department has to require all local housing authorities to operate approved schemes under section 129 of the Housing Act 1988.
Mr. Chope : None. Cash incentive schemes, under which existing local authority tenants are assisted to move into homes of their own and so release vacancies for reletting, cam make a valuable contribution to housing the homeless, but it is for each authority to consider whether to seek approval for a scheme for its area.
Refuse Tips
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research he has commissioned and proposes to commission on the best practice for management and after-use of large controlled household refuse tips.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 19 January 1990] : Research into landfill practices was initiated in the early 1970s. The first major publication of results of the work was the so-called "Brown Book", the co- operative programme of research into the behaviour of wastes in landfill sites, published in 1978.
Many of the results of the research are embodied in recent waste management papers, specifically No. 26 on "Landfilling Wastes" (1986), No. 4 on "Licensing of Waste Facilities" (1988) and No. 27 on "The Control of Landfill Gas" (1989). These papers provide technical guidance to the waste management industry.
Currently my Department is funding a programme of research, costing over £1 million annually, into landfill practices. Topics covered include microbiology of landfill gas and leachate generation ; mechanisms of gas and leachate migration and attenuation ; leachate management ; modelling, risk assessment and landfill monitoring and landfill reinstatement.
My Department has arranged a conference on 1 March to present recent research results.
Lancashire County Council
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the total revenue expenditure for Lancashire county council in 1989 -90 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what is his Department's estimated population for Lancashire and the amount spent by Lancashire county council per head of population, in 1989- 90 ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) what is the total rate support grant paid or to be paid, plus any other individual grants, to Lancashire county council in 1989-90.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 18 January 1990] : The information is as follows :
|1989-90
|£ million
------------------------------------------------------
Rate Support Grant |321.0
Specific and Supplementary Grants |79.3
Net Revenue Expenditure<1> |783.3
Total population (June 1988)<2> |1.382
Net Revenue Expenditure per head |567.0
<1> Rate Fund Revenue net current spending on
services, plus net loan charges, contributions
to/from other funds and accounts of net non relevant
expenditure (such as net spending on Housing
Benefits).
<2> Office of Population Censuses and Surveys latest
estimate of total population. The aggregate of the
estimated relevant populations for the districts of
Lancashire used in the exemplifications placed in the
Library of the House on 11 January 1990 is 1.048
million.
Rent Rises (South Hams)
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out in the Official Report the basis of his Department's calculation that rent rises in council house property would be 95p per week as far as the housing stock in the South Hams is concerned.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 22 January 1990] : We have, for guideline purposes, assumed an increase in national rent income of 10 per cent. (£444 million). We intend to attribute this increase to councils in proportion to the value of their housing stocks, subject to adjustments to reflect existing rents and to keep guideline increases within a range from 95p to £4.50 a week. On the basis of past sales, we estimate that the value of South Hams' housing stock accounts for 0.088 per cent. of the total value of the national council housing stock. A guideline rent, calculated as a proportion of the national total without further adjustments, would be £21.37. As this is less than South Hams' current average rent of £25.75, we have assumed a guideline increase of 95p, the national minimum, which is less than would be required to keep pace with inflation. Subsidy will be paid to the authority on the assumption that its actual rent increase follows the guideline, but the council is free to determine its own rents.
Rate Support Grant (Sunderland)
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give, at 1979 prices, the amount of rate support grant given to Sunderland for each year since 1979 inclusive.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 22 January 1990] : The information is as follows :
Rate Support Grant-Sunderland
|Cash |Real
|(1979-80
|prices)
|£ million|£ million
-----------------------------------------
1979-80<1> |65.6 |65.6
1980-81 |77.1 |65.2
1981-82<2> |63.8 |49.1
1982-83 |64.7 |46.5
1983-84 |65.3 |44.8
1984-85 |65.6 |42.9
1985-86 |67.1 |41.6
1986-87<3> |71.4 |42.8
1987-88 |78.1 |44.5
1988-89 |87.4 |46.4
1989-90 |86.7 |43.0
Note:
The information given is not available
on a comparable basis for all years ie.
<1>In 1979-80 and 1980-81 no RSG
payments were made to Metropolitan
County Councils and Sunderland's RSG was
correspondingly higher in those years.
<2>In 1981-82-1985-86 inclusive RSG
payments were made to Metropolitan
Counties (and other upper tier
authorities) and Sunderland's RSG was
correspondingly lower.
<3>In April 1986 the Metropolitan County
Councils (and the GLC) were abolished
and arrangements for paying grant
changed accordingly.
PSA
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many staff of the Property Services Agency are currently working in Hastings ; and how many Property Services Agency staff it is anticipated will work in Hastings in each of the next three years ; (2) what efforts he has made to find alternative Government work for those Property Services Agency staff at Hastings whom the Property Services Agency will no longer require ; and what the results of those efforts have been so far ;
(3) whether he will make it his policy that sufficient Government work will be transferred to Hastings for Property Services Agency staff made surplus by the current reorganisation and preparation for privatisation.
Mr. Christopher Chope [holding answer 22 January 1990] : At 1 January 1990 PSA services employed 1,265 non-industrial staff at Hastings. It is not possible to forecast future staff numbers since these will depend partly on how much work the agency is able to win in competition after it is untied on 1 April 1990 and partly on decisions about where some of the agency's activities will be located.
Other Government Departments have been asked whether they have work which could be transferred to Hastings, to provide employment for the staff PSA will be releasing there. One Department has already expressed interest and we are hoping for more.
Pollution (Irish Sea)
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has about the quantities and types of waste dumped into the Irish sea from sources in Great Britain ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 22 January 1990] : Licensing the disposal of waste at sea is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and his colleagues in Scotland and Northern Ireland. No licences have been granted for the disposal of liquid and solid industrial waste in the Irish sea and information on the disposal of sewage sludge and dredged spoil is given in the Ministry's, "Report on the disposal of waste at sea--1986 and 1987", a copy of which is in the Library (a similar report giving figures for 1988 is expected to be published shortly). Information on waste inputs generally in the Irish sea is given in the status report prepared by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
HEALTH
Eyesight Checks
11. Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has yet received the results of his monitoring of the effects of charging for eyesight checks.
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has yet received the results of his monitoring of the effects of charging for eyesight checks.
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65. Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has yet received the results of his monitoring of the effects of charging for eyesight checks.103. Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has yet received the results of his monitoring of the effects of charging for eyesight checks.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The results of a survey of the number of sight tests in the first quarter of 1990 compared with earlier periods should be available by the early summer. A summary will be placed in the Library.
Cold-Related Deaths
12. Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about cold-related deaths.
48. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about cold-related deaths.
68. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about cold-related deaths.
96. Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about cold-related deaths.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The five-year trends from 1955 to 1985 have seen the excess winter mortality--that is, the number of deaths that occur in the winter quarter in excess of the numbers that occur in the summer--decrease, from about 47 per cent. from 1951 to 1955, to 26 per cent. between 1981 and 1985 in Scotland, and from 68.2 to 29.3 per cent. in England and Wales.
Ambulance Dispute
13. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent meetings he has had with the chief executive of the National Health Service to discuss the ambulance dispute.
4. Mr. Ashton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the ambulance workers' dispute.
46. Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the National Union of Public Employees' dispute in the ambulance service.
71. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will now meet representatives of ambulance staffs.
88. Mr. Yeo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received about the ambulance men's dispute.
97. Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has met representatives of ambulance workers since their current dispute commenced.
115. Mr. Robert Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state the current policy in the ambulance service dispute ; and what action he now proposes taking.
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116. Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will now meet representatives of ambulance staff.
121. Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the National Health Service chief executive to discuss the ambulance service dispute.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I meet the chief executive of the National Health Service regularly to discuss the ambulance dispute. I have no intention of meeting representatives of ambulance staffs myself.
National Health Service Trusts
16. Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest figure for the number of hospitals, health districts and specialist units which have expressed an interest in becoming a self- governing National Health Service trust.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : A total of 190 units have expressed interest in National Health Service trust status, including a number with more than one hospital. Twelve expressions of interest cover all the facilities within the relevant districts, and 19 are single specialty units. Eighty of these units are considering the preparation of applications for the first wave, which we would expect to be established in April 1991. However, applications will not be invited until Parliament has approved the necessary legislation.
38. Mrs. Rosie Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision his Department has made for ambulance services within district health authorities to become self-governing trusts ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Government regard all hospitals and a number of other services, including ambulance services, as potentially eligible to apply for National Health Service trust status when Parliament has approved the necessary legislation. A number of ambulance services currently provided by health authorities have already expressed an interest in becoming National Health Service trusts.
21. Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the core services which self-governing hospitals must provide.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Core or "designated services" are simply those which can be provided only in a particular locality by a particular hospital which has become an NHS trust and to which district health authorities and GPs have no reasonable accessible alternative. This will vary in the light of local circumstances and the services available in each district. There is no basis upon which a national list could be compiled at this stage of all those local situations which will give rise to some services in some places being described as "designated services" when the first NHS trusts are established.
Health Authorities (Maintenance)
17. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total figure for the estimated maintenance backlog for health authorities.
19. Mr. Cunliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total figure for the estimated maintenance backlog for health authorities.
Column 655
Mr. Freeman : The first returns of information about the stock of National Health Service property, under the Korner requirements, are now being collected, but complete information will not be available until the figures for 1989-90 are received. Estimates have been received from 133 health authorities in respect of the year 1988-89. This indicates that in those authorities the total cost of bringing the estate to an overall condition which exhibits only minor deterioration amounts to about £1.2 billion.Helicopter Ambulance Service
18. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health regions have now established an emergency helicopter ambulance service.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not available centrally, but I am aware that dedicated helicopter ambulances are now operating in the London area out to the M25 and also South East Thames and
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South Western (Cornwall) RHAs. In addition, there are joint police/ambulance service helicopter projects in operation in Sussex, Wiltshire and the Thames valley.Acute Services (Bromley)
22. Mr. Stanbrook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the proposal of Bromley health authority to centralise all the acute services of the district in one purpose-built hospital.
Mr. Freeman : Following the offer by the London borough of Bromley of a greenfield site in the geographical centre of the district, Bromley health authority is developing plans to centralise most of its acute inpatient services. The authority believes that in this way the best service will be offered to local people and the best use made of staff resources. Because of their scale, these proposals will need to be submitted to the RHA and, in due course, to Ministers for a final decision.
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National Health Service and Community Care Bill
23. Mr. James Lamond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department, health authorities and family practitioner committees to prepare for the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
35. Mr. Leadbitter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department, health authorities and family practitioner committees to prepare for the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
74. Mr. Buckley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department, health authorities and family practitioner committees to prepare for the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
106. Mr. Bidwell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department, health authorities and family practitioner committees to prepare for the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : In this financial year we expect to spend a total of £85 million on preparation for implementation of the Government's proposals to improve the National Health Service. This sum includes expenditure on such items as the creation of new consultant posts in expensive specialties and on staff training in better financial management.
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met representatives of the black and Asian community to discuss the National Health Service and Community Care Bill ; and which groups he met.
Mr. Freeman : I met representatives of the Overseas Doctors Association on 11 July 1989, when we discussed a variety of subjects related to the black and Asian community, including the Government's proposals to improve the Health Service.
On 31 January I shall be meeting representatives from the King's Fund for Health Services Development to discuss their work with ethnic minority groups. I shall also be visiting the National Community Health Resource on 7 February, again to discuss its activities in this field. I expect that during these meetings our proposals for the NHS and community care will be considered. There are also discussions taking place at the moment about the possibility of a conference with the Overseas Doctors Association specifically to consider the effects of the White Paper proposals for ethnic minority groups.
69. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authority places will be removed from health authorities in each district in Greater London, after the enactment of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill in its present form.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information is as follows :
District Health Authority |Local authority
|members
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barnet |4
Ealing |4
Harrow |4
Hillingdon |4
Hounslow and Spelthorne |5
Parkside |5
Riverside |5
Barking, Havering and Brentwood |5
Bloomsbury |5
City and Hackney |5
Enfield |4
Hampstead |4
Haringey |4
Islington |4
Newham |4
Redbridge |4
Tower Hamlets |4
Waltham Forest |4
Croydon |4
Kingston and Esher |4
Merton and Sutton |4
Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton |4
Wandsworth |4
Bexley |4
Bromley |4
Camberwell |5
Greenwich |4
Lewisham and North Southwark |5
West Lambeth |4
49. Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from professional bodies and trades unions concerning the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have had a large number of representations from a wide variety of sources.
36. Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is his intention that health circular 89(5) on the discharge of patients from hospitals will apply when in-patient services are contracted under the provisions of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Yes. It is intended that this circular will continue to be implemented by district health authorities and by NHS trusts. In securing good quality services for their residents when placing contracts, district health authorities will need to consider monitoring the performance of those providing the service.
Infertility Treatments
24. Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve the range and availability of infertility treatments.
34. Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve the range and availability of infertility treatments.
79. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve the range and availability of infertility treatment.
87. Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve the range and availability of infertility treatment.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : These matters are for individual health authorities to determine in the light of
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local needs and priorities. I understand that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has just put proposals for funding a medical audit unit to the Department and that this will include a programme of work aimed at auditing the delivery of infertility services with a view to encouraging improvements.Ambulance Service
25. Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to privatise the ambulance service.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I have no plans to privatise this service.
General Practitioners, Kent
26. Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of support staff employed by general practitioners in Kent at present ; and what the number was in 1979.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The total number of staff qualifying for direct reimbursement under the ancillary staff scheme in Kent increased by 78 per cent. from 1,109 (660 whole-time equivalents) in 1979 to 1,975 (1,116 whole-time equivalents) in 1988. A few general practitioners employ support staff outside the scope of the present scheme ; information about these staff is not collected centrally.
Hospital Catering
27. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance and resources he gives to health authorities for the maintenance of cooking and beverage preparing areas in hospitals.
Mr. Freeman : It is for health authorities to devote appropriate resources to the maintenance of cooking and beverage preparation areas in hospitals from the funds allocated to them. Health authorities have a duty to comply with the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and it is Government policy that they should comply with all other relevant statutes and regulations. The Department issues building guidance on the standards that it expects in new and upgraded food preparation areas.
AIDS
28. Mr. Lord : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total level of Government spending on caring for AIDS patients in the years 1988-89 and 1989-90 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Spending on care for AIDS patients is not separately identified. The specific provisions made available to health authorities in England as a contribution towards the costs of work to prevent the spread of HIV infection and the provision of diagnostic, treatment care and support services for people infected with the virus, including those with AIDS, were £58.74 million in 1988-89 and £121.90 million in 1989-90. In addition, an AIDS support grant allocation to local authorities of £7 million was introduced in 1989- 90.
Column 660
Dental Checks
Mr. Terry Fields : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the effects of charging for dental checks on dental attendances.
29. Mr. Wall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the effects of charging for dental checks on dental attendances.
Mr. Freeman : The annual data on dental examinations in England and Wales from 1984-85 to 1988-89 show a gently rising trend and we expect this to continue. As might be expected, however, attendances increased in the months prior to the introduction of the examination charge in January 1989 and fell immediately afterwards. It is too early to form a definitive view about any longer-term effects.
NHS (Consumer Involvement)
30. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve consumer involvement in the running of the National Health Service.
40. Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve consumer involvement in the running of the National Health Service.
92. Mr. Graham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve consumer involvement in the running of the National Health Service.
93. Mr. Stott : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to improve consumer involvement in the running of the National Health Service.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Government's proposals to improve the Health Service are based on a full recognition of the importance of the consumer of health care--the patient. Our proposals put patients first and give hospitals and their staff incentives to take account of the individual patient's needs. District health authorities will work closely with local interest groups and consider the views of users of services. Complaint procedures will be made easier. The interests of the local community will continue to be represented by community health councils, which will act as a channel for consumer views to health authorities and the family service authorities. The delegation of decision-making powers to hospital and GP level will ensure that local staff will have responsibility for responding to local needs. At least two non-executive members of each NHS hospital trust will be drawn from the local community. This all adds up to a package of measures designed to ensure that NHS consumers benefit from improved, better directed, more patient-responsive services.
Social Work Training
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of social work training.
31. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of social work training.
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95. Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of social work training.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Members to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Rutherglen (Mr. McAvoy) on 16 January at column 195.
Community Care
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the role of voluntary organisations in providing care in the community ; and if he will make a statement.
32. Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what further representations he has received regarding the Government's proposals on community care.
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