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Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give figures for each region and each county for the estimated (a) acidity of rain and (b) wet deposited acidity in 1988, consistent with figures given in tables 2.5 and 2.6 of the latest "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics."
Mr. Trippier : This information is not available.
Ivory
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he is taking to monitor the impact in the United Kingdom of the CITES ban on ivory trade.
Mr. Trippier : Records of trade in ivory are being maintained by the Department in accordance with article VIII.6 of the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the amount of tradeable ivory currently in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Trippier : The Department does not have comprehensive details of tradeable ivory currently in the United Kingdom. Such information as we have is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 11, if he will make it his policy to establish the total amount of ivory currently held at United Kingdom ports of entry and which is not accompanied by CITES documentation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : No. Enforcement of CITES controls at ports of entry is primarily the responsibility of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the current controls relating to internal trade in ivory among EEC countries.
Mr. Trippier : Internal trade in ivory among EC countries is controlled under EC regulations 3626/82 and 3418/83. Ivory which has been legally imported into one Community country may be moved to other Community countries provided that it is accompanied by a copy of the original import permit, or an EC CITES certificate granted by the Community country from which it is being moved.
Nature Conservancy
Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements have been made for designating the United Kingdom's scientific authority for
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animals under the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora resulting from his proposals to reorganise the Nature Conservancy Council.Mr. Trippier : All the functions and responsibilities of the existing Nature Conservancy Council will continue under the new organisational arrangements. Those with a clear international and Great Britain dimension, including that of acting as the scientific authority for animals under the convention on the international trade in endangered species, will be exercised under the auspices of the joint committee of the councils, within the terms of clause 109 of the Environmental Protection Bill.
Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Nature Conservancy Council has estimated the additional funding which will be required as a result of the Government's reorganisation proposals in order to maintain its existing functions and work programmes.
Mr. Trippier : We are discussing with the Nature Conservancy Council the resources needed by the successor bodies to the existing Nature Conservancy Council to carry forward the work of nature conservation and this work will continue throughout the summer. The Government expect to announce the grant in aid to be made available to each of the three new councils within the normal timetable for the public expenditure survey.
CITES
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to grant any exemptions under article 6 paragraph 1 (a) of Council regulations (EEC) No. 3626/82 on the implications in the Community of CITES ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Applications for exemptions under article 6.1 (a) of EC regulation 3626/82 are considered on their individual merits at the time they are made, having regard to the objectives of CITES, and any other relevant considerations.
Sellafield
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to what factors he ascribes the substantial increases in discharges of Krypton-85 to the air from Sellafield in 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 30 April 1990] : I refer the hon. Member to the British Nuclear Fuels annual report on radioactive discharges and monitoring of the environment 1986, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Pollution
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what targets his Department has identified as desirable in respect of cuts in the supply of (a) CFCs, (b) halons, (c) carbon tetrachloride and (d) methyl chloroform.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 30 April 1990] : We must reduce production and consumption of all ozone-depleting substances as quickly as possible. In international
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negotiations we are pressing for : CFCs and carbon tetrachloride to be cut by 85 per cent. by 1995-96, and 100 per cent. by 2000 ; halons to be cut by 50 per cent. by 1995, and 100 per cent. by 2000 with exceptions for some essential uses ; and methyl chloroform to be cut by 25 per cent. by 1994 with decisions to be made then on further cuts. We are considering whether we can go further and faster on methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride.Ministerial Visit, Leeds
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps were taken by the Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities to inform Leeds city council of his visit to the city on Wednesday 4 April.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 18 April 1990] : My visit to Leeds on 4 April was on party business.
Storm Damage
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce the special financial assistance under the Bellwin scheme to be given to those local authorities whose coasts suffered damage as a result of the severe storms during 25 and 26 February.
Mr. David Hunt [pursuant to his reply, 20 April 1990, c. 1034] : I am pleased to announce that the Bellwin scheme for special financial assistance to local authorities in emergencies has been activated for the severe flooding in the Maidenhead area in early February 1990, and the storms of the period 26 to 28 February in England. My officials will be writing to local authorities shortly with the details.
Grant under the scheme will be given to those authorities whose eligible expenditure in coping with the storms on those dates exceeds a threshold.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Wheelchair Access
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Lord President of the Council what facilities are currently available, or will be made available in future for hon. Members who are confined to wheelchairs to take their place and to speak in the Chamber.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : No special facilities are available in the Chamber, but I am confident that hon. Members and staff of the House would give every assistance to a Member unfortunate enough to be confined to a wheelchair in order that he or she might take a full part in our proceedings.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Lord President of the Council what is the current disproportionate cost threshold for answering a parliamentary question ; who determines the level ; why it was introduced ; and if there are any proposals to change it in line with inflation.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : The disproportionate cost threshold currently stands at £250. The figure is calculated by the Treasury and is set at a level to identify and draw to ministerial attention those questions which are likely to be particularly expensive to answer. This does not alter the
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discretion of individual Ministers to decide that a particular question should be answered, partially or in full, regardless of cost.The threshold figure is kept under regular review and a further increase will be proposed when thought necessary.
SCOTLAND
Local Government Finance
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to introduce further concessions to the community charge legislation to allow local authorities to waive payment where there is clear evidence of poverty.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The collection of the community charge is the responsibility of local authorities. The community charge benefit scheme is available to assist people on low incomes with their community charge payments. My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to make changes to the present collection arrangements.
Quality Assurance (Surveying)
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what evidence he has with reference to the issuing of quality assurance certification within the surveying profession of the effect of certification charges on incentives to secure quality assurance certification ;
(2) what analysis he has made of the impact of the level of certification charges across Scotland on the willingness of smaller size surveying businesses to seek certification ; and if he will make a statement,
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The number of professional firms on the Department of Trade and Industry quality assurance register is currently very small and no specific monitoring has so far been carried out. However, based on experience with the many manufacturers now registered, steps to help small firms are being taken. More certifying bodies are being approved, and this will increase competition and reduce costs to those seeking quality assurance certification.
Miss Gail Sutherland
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on progress in the handling of the claim of Miss Gail Sutherland, Rosshire about which he last wrote to the hon. Member for Ross, Cromarty and Skye on 5 January ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Since I last wrote to the hon. Member regarding Miss Gail Sutherland's damages claim, the Office of the Solicitor for the Secretary of State has been pursuing the information required to enable an assessment of liability to be made. The claimant will be advised of the decision shortly and, indeed, as soon as possible.
Multiple Births
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to the number of (a) twins, (b) triplets, (c) quadruplets, (d) quintuplets and (e) sextuplets, born in Scotland in 1989 ; and what was the total number of maternities in that year.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is as follows :
|c|Multiple births, (live and
still) and maternities leading
to live or|c|
|c|stillbirths, Scotland 1989,
provisional figures|c|
|Number
--------------------------------
Twins |677
Triplets |13
Quadruplets |2
Quintuplets |0
Sextuplets |0
|---
Total maternities |63,090
Hip Replacements
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many operations for the insertion of an artificial hip are carried out on United Kingdom citizens in (a) National Health Service hospitals, and (b) private hospitals in Scotland annually.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is available centrally only for National Health Service hospitals. The numbers of United Kingdom patients receiving total or partial hip replacement in National Health Service hospitals in Scotland in each of the last three years are as follows :
Year |Total hip |Other |Total
|replacement |arthroplasty
|of hip
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1986 |3,236 |1,630 |4,866
1987 |3,485 |1,709 |5,194
1988 |3,798 |1,786 |5,584
Nursing Staff
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total number of nursing staff employed in private hospitals in Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The total number of nursing staff employed in private nursing homes and hospitals subject to the Nursing Homes Registration (Scotland) Act 1938 or the Mental Health Acts 1960 and 1984 in Scotland at 31 March 1989 was 8,435 (3,189 whole-time and 5, 246 part- time).
Health Boards
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the amount of money which health boards were required to find from their own resources to meet centrally agreed pay awards from 1979 to 1989, by health board, on an annual basis.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The amounts included in health board revenue allocations to meet the cost of pay and salaries are not separately identified. However additional resources have been made available towards the cost of pay review body awards.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the amount of money which has accrued to individual health boards from the sale of hospital land and buildings ; and if he will make a statement on how this money is treated for the hospital board's capital allocation.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : Details of the receipts for NHS property sales retained by health boards are as follows :
Health Board |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90
|£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |749,664 |1,352,562 |3,079,594
Ayrshire and Arran |115,324 |49,530 |5,814,154
Borders |94,091 |832,197 |753,430
Dumfries and Galloway |172,272 |213,761 |500
Fife |283,559 |619,124 |247,756
Forth Valley |429,108 |659,414 |577,385
Grampian |507,060 |719,537 |712,196
Greater Glasgow |1,633,038 |1,398,410 |6,061,349
Highland |556,902 |560,331 |690,557
Lanarkshire |194,665 |153,050 |380,532
Lothian |1,018,969 |2,033,405 |1,870,490
Orkney |23,475 |90,826 |51,500
Shetland |55,099 |79,152 |21,900
Tayside |581,126 |1,163,484 |637,291
Western Isles |- |- |-
Total receipts retained by boards |6,414,359 |9,924,788 |20,898,639
Since November 1988, boards have retained the total proceeds from the disposal of land and property and will continue to do so until March 1991. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastwood (Mr. Stewart) on 11 November 1988 at column 345. These arrangements replaced the previous rules allowing boards to retain only the first £250,000 proceeds of a single sale ; the remainder was distributed to all the health boards.
Capital allocations to boards have regard to their expected income from capital receipts.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current total of psychogeriatric beds available in each Scottish health board area ; and what are the relevant Scottish health authorities revenue equalisation targets.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 25 April 1990] : The average numbers of available staffed beds in the psychogeriatric specialty in NHS hospitals in Scotland are set out in the table. Targets are a matter for individual health boards ; the service has top priority among the SHARPEN recommendations which the Government have accepted.
Health board |Average available
|staffed beds<1>
-------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |529
Ayrshire and Arran |411
Borders |162
Dumfries and Galloway 211
Fife |528
Forth Valley |390
Grampian |635
Greater Glasgow |711
Highland |11
Lanarkshire |741
Lothian |1024
Orkney |-
Shetland |-
Tayside |609
Western Isles |-
Scotland |5,963
<1> Year ending 30 September 1989.
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Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the total amount of development funds allocated to each Scottish health board for the next financial year ; and if he will detail allowances made for the current rate of inflation.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 25 April 1990] : The percentage increase in the 1990-91 gross revenue allocation over the 1989- 90 gross revenue allocation for each health board in Scotland was as follows :
Health board |Percentage
|Increase
------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |8.10
Ayrshire and Arran |8.88
Borders |10.13
Dumfries and Galloway |9.72
Fife |8.97
Forth Valley |8.24
Grampian |8.09
Greater Glasgow |5.86
Highland |8.40
Lanarkshire |8.21
Lothian |7.94
Orkney |9.73
Shetland |9.66
Tayside |7.75
Western Isles |7.46
Further sums totalling 1.54 per cent. of the all Scotland 1989-90 allocations mainly representing resources for systems implementation, and breast cancer screening, will be allocated in the course of the year.
Resources released by cost improvement programmes are expected to release an average of a further 1 per cent. in the current financial year.
Boards receive an overall cash allocation and are expected to manage their expenditure within that amount. Allocations contain no specific allowance for inflation.
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current waiting list for psychogeriatric beds in each of the Scottish health board areas ; and what is the current average length of time between application for a full-time bed and allocation of beds.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 25 April 1990] : Information on waiting lists for psychogeriatric beds as at 30 September 1989 (the latest data available) is set out in the table. Information on average length of time between application and allocation of psychogeriatric beds is not held centrally.
Health board |Number on
|waiting list
------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |25
Ayrshire and Arran |25
Borders |16
Dumfries and Galloway |-
Fife |59
Forth Valley |33
Grampian |212
Greater Glasgow |193
Highland |5
Lanarkshire |70
Lothian |125
Orkney |-
Shetland |-
Tayside |27
Western Isles |-
|--
Scotland |790
Radioactive Substances Act
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many firms or organisations have been successfully prosecuted in each year since 1979 under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 ; and what penalty was incurred in each case.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : There have been successful prosecutions under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 in Scotland on two charges in each of the years 1982 and 1989 and on one charge in 1990. The convictions in 1982 led to fines of £50 and £300, those in 1989 to fines of £200 and £500 and that in 1990 to a fine of £250.
Firearms
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of firearms licensed, by category, held in Scotland in each of the past 10 years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The number of firearm and shotgun certificates in force in Scotland at 31 December is shown in the following table :
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Year |Firearm|Shotgun -------------------------------- 1980 |38,752 |85,126 1981 |38,548 |84,847 1982 |38,115 |84,183 1983 |37,825 |84,306 1984 |37,750 |84,606 1985 |38,165 |86,198 1986 |38,295 |87,528 1987 |38,465 |89,104 1988 |38,341 |89,493 1989 |33,540 |87,049 Note: A certificate may authorise the holding of more than one firearm or shotgun. Figures for the total number of firearms and shotguns authorised to be held are not available.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will bring forward proposals to further restrict the availability of shotguns.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 introduced stricter controls on the acquisition and possession of shotguns. There are no present plans to introduce further legislation, but the matter is kept under continuing review.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, by area, the number of reported offences involving the use of firearms, by category, in each of the past 10 years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information is given in the table. Data for 1989 are not yet available.
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|c|Crimes and Offences in Scotland recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, by main
firearm used and police|c|
|c|force area|c|
|Shotgun |Rifle |Pistol/ |Airweapon |Imitation/ |Total |Total
|Revolver |Other<1> |(excluding
|airweapons)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern
1980 |6 |2 |1 |0 |1 |10 |10
1981 |9 |0 |1 |26 |0 |36 |10
1982 |11 |2 |0 |19 |0 |32 |13
1983 |4 |1 |1 |15 |0 |21 |6
1984 |9 |0 |0 |19 |1 |29 |10
1985 |6 |2 |2 |13 |0 |23 |10
1986 |4 |0 |2 |12 |0 |18 |6
1987 |11 |2 |0 |11 |0 |24 |13
1988 |7 |4 |0 |14 |2 |27 |13
Grampian
1980 |22 |6 |0 |144 |4 |176 |32
1981 |4 |1 |0 |123 |3 |131 |8
1982 |7 |0 |0 |106 |0 |113 |7
1983 |5 |0 |1 |105 |3 |114 |9
1984 |8 |5 |0 |79 |2 |94 |15
1985 |3 |1 |3 |93 |2 |102 |9
1986 |2 |1 |0 |86 |0 |89 |3
1987 |2 |3 |0 |122 |4 |131 |9
1988 |3 |2 |0 |120 |3 |128 |8
Tayside
1980 |4 |0 |8 |22 |2 |36 |14
1981 |9 |4 |4 |74 |2 |93 |19
1982 |9 |2 |1 |80 |4 |96 |16
1983 |11 |4 |1 |94 |3 |113 |19
1984 |7 |2 |4 |57 |0 |70 |13
1985 |4 |0 |0 |78 |4 |86 |8
1986 |13 |0 |2 |84 |9 |108 |24
1987 |8 |1 |1 |60 |6 |76 |16
1988 |5 |0 |1 |32 |3 |41 |9
Fife
1980 |0 |0 |0 |29 |0 |29 |0
1981 |0 |0 |1 |13 |0 |14 |1
1982 |0 |0 |0 |24 |1 |25 |1
1983 |2 |0 |1 |26 |1 |30 |4
1984 |3 |0 |0 |19 |0 |22 |3
1985 |2 |0 |3 |30 |1 |36 |6
1986 |4 |0 |0 |48 |1 |53 |5
1987 |5 |0 |0 |50 |1 |56 |6
1988 |3 |0 |0 |35 |3 |41 |6
Lothian and Borders
1980 |5 |7 |3 |162 |2 |179 |17
1981 |8 |4 |10 |125 |2 |149 |24
1982 |13 |16 |23 |155 |11 |218 |63
1983 |16 |3 |13 |121 |9 |162 |41
1984 |11 |0 |14 |228 |5 |258 |30
1985 |25 |1 |12 |329 |23 |390 |61
1986 |19 |3 |3 |282 |21 |328 |46
1987 |18 |5 |10 |184 |18 |235 |51
1988 |12 |1 |4 |116 |9 |142 |26
Central
1980 |1 |0 |0 |93 |6 |100 |7
1981 |4 |1 |0 |89 |0 |94 |5
1982 |1 |0 |1 |96 |3 |101 |5
1983 |1 |1 |1 |74 |0 |77 |3
1984 |1 |0 |0 |68 |0 |69 |1
1985 |0 |0 |1 |91 |3 |95 |4
1986 |2 |0 |0 |81 |0 |83 |2
1987 |0 |0 |0 |69 |0 |69 |0
1988 |1 |0 |0 |25 |0 |26 |1
Strathclyde
1980 |24 |4 |10 |474 |50 |562 |88
1981 |48 |3 |10 |672 |61 |794 |122
1982 |56 |3 |21 |570 |45 |695 |125
1983 |81 |2 |25 |645 |65 |818 |173
1984 |92 |4 |5 |614 |88 |803 |189
1985 |78 |0 |6 |719 |114 |917 |198
1986 |109 |1 |4 |605 |112 |831 |226
1987 |97 |5 |13 |586 |122 |823 |237
1988 |103 |0 |7 |473 |151 |734 |261
Dumfries and Galloway
1980 |0 |1 |0 |0 |0 |1 |1
1981 |2 |1 |0 |0 |0 |3 |3
1982 |1 |1 |1 |0 |0 |3 |3
1983 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |1 |0
1984 |6 |2 |0 |0 |0 |8 |8
1985 |11 |4 |1 |10 |0 |26 |16
1986 |4 |1 |0 |8 |2 |15 |7
1987 |1 |1 |0 |12 |1 |15 |3
1988 |5 |2 |1 |9 |2 |19 |10
Scotland
1980 |62 |20 |22 |924 |65 |1,093 |169
1981 |84 |14 |26 |1,122 |68 |1,314 |192
1982 |98 |24 |47 |1,050 |64 |1,283 |233
1983 |120 |11 |43 |1,081 |81 |1,336 |255
1984 |137 |13 |23 |1,084 |96 |1,353 |269
1985 |129 |8 |28 |1,363 |147 |1,675 |312
1986 |157 |6 |11 |1,206 |145 |1,525 |319
1987 |142 |17 |24 |1,094 |152 |1,429 |335
1988 |139 |9 |13 |824 |173 |1,158 |334
<1> The rise in the "Other" category of firearm type in 1985 probably reflects the introduction in that year of a new
firearm type category, "Unidentified", in the data collection procedures. Previously, unidentified types of firearm
would have been forced into one of the specific categories.
<2> Variations in police recording practice can occur between areas and over time. It is known that the introduction
of computerised crime logging systems has resulted in improved recording procedures and as such systems come to be
more used minor corrections to recorded figures will continue to occur.
Salmon Poaching
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to revert to the position, as described in Scottish records office document AF 62/1161, that salmon poaching prosecutions should not be taken by procurators fiscal as part of their official duties.
Column 514
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland since when, and under what statute, it has been the policy of the Scottish Office that prosecutions for salmon poaching should be instigated by procurators fiscal rather than privately.
Column 515
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Under the Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Acts 1862 to 1868 prosecutions were usually raised by clerks of district salmon fishery boards. Procurators fiscal were also entitled to prosecute these offences and did so in appropriate cases according to the practice in the particular district. The Salmon Act 1986 made fresh provision for the administration of salmon fisheries in Scotland and repealed the 19th century legislation. The relevant part of that Act came into effect in January 1987 since when the clerks have had no right to prosecute. Offences under the relevant salmon fisheries legislation--like nearly all other offences--are now prosecuted by procurators fiscal.Police
Mr. Graham : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde on the number of officers on each relief in (a) Linwood, (b) Erskine and Inchinnan, (c) Bishopton, (d) Bridge of Weir, (e) Houston, (f) Lochwinnoch, (g) Johnstone, (h) Paisley, (i) Howood and (j) Renfrew.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 26 April 1990] : I understand from the chief constable of Strathclyde that all these areas lie within the boundaries of K division, the total uniformed strength of which is 399 officers. The number of officers on duty in particular areas at particular times varies according to the policing requirements.
HEALTH
Residential Homes
14. Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to bring forward legislation requiring the registration of homes with fewer than four residents.
24. Mr. Bidwell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to bring forward legislation requiring the registration of homes with fewer than four residents.
87. Mr. Buckley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to bring forward legislation requiring the registration of homes with fewer than four residents.
133. Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to bring forward legislation requiring the registration of homes with fewer than four residents.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : As I said on Report of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill, we will seek a legislative opportunity to bring homes with fewer than four residents under control. I cannot at present say when that opportunity may occur.
25. Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals requiring the disclosure of criminal convictions by persons who are, or intend to become, proprietors, managers or care staff in private residential or nursing homes.
62. Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals requiring the
Column 516
disclosure of criminal convictions by persons who are, or intend to become, proprietors, managers or care staff in private residential or nursing homes.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave the hon. Members for Wolverhampton, South-East (Mr. Turner) and for Wigan (Mr. Stott) earlier today.
36. Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to extend the powers of health authorities to allow them to make top-up payments to residents of private and voluntary nursing homes over retirement age.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have no such plans. Topping up would be contrary to a basic principle of the National Health Service to meet the full cost of a patient's care unless there is a specific power to charge, for example for prescriptions.
The White Paper "Caring for People" published in November last year proposes the introduction of a new funding structure for those seeking help from public funds for the cost of care. From 1 April 1991 there will be a single budget to cover the cost of such care, whether in a person's own home or in a residential or nursing home. We propose that local authorities should, subject to qualification, assume responsibility for meeting the cost of care, making the best use of those funds available in the light of an assessment of an individual's needs.
Internal Contracts
16. Mr. Hague : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any assessments have been made of how internal contracts in the National Health Service would work.
131. Mr. Stevens : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any pilot schemes have been carried out in the National Health Service on internal contracts.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I refer my hon. Friends to the reply I gave my hon. Friends the Members for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Mr. Conway) and for Hertfordshire, South-West (Mr. Page) earlier today.
Health Service (Collaboration)
17. Mr. Janman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on collaboration between the National Health Service and the private sector.
Mr. Freeman : Our policy is to encourage collaboration between the National Health Service and the independent sector. We expect all district health authorities to consider the opportunity for co-operative ventures as part of their regular reviews of performance.
27. Mr. Neil Hamilton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how collaboration between the National Health Service and the private sector affects services to patients.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Cost-effective collaboration releases National Health Service resources for further improvement to health services for all. We expect district health authorities to consider the opportunity for co-operative ventures as part of their regular reviews of performance.
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