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Mr. Wigley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many persons are employed in the office of the registrar for friendly societies for Scotland ; and what is the annual cost of running this office.
Mr. Ryder : Three and a half persons are employed in the registry of friendly societies (Scotland). The cost of running this office in 1990-91 is expected to be about £55,000.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many friendly societies are registered with their headquarters in Scotland.
Mr. Ryder : There are currently 85 friendly societies on the register in Scotland.
Mortgage Tax Relief
Mr. Wells : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount of tax revenue forgone because of the payment of mortgage interest relief at the higher rate of income tax in the financial years 1988-89 and 1989-90.
Mr. Lilley : The cost of mortgage relief at excess over the basic rate of income tax is provisionally estimated at £310 million in 1988- 89 and £430 million in 1989-90.
Income Tax
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what legal authority the Inland Revenue has sent to married women a tax return seeking details of their income for the year ended 5 April 1990.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 26 April 1990] : Some married women are being sent special forms this year which ask for details of their income for 1989-90. As Inland Revenue booklet IR83 "Independent Taxation--A guide for tax practitioners" explains, this is a transitional arrangement designed to help with the introduction of independent taxation. The forms will give a married women's own tax office information it needs to calculate the correct amount of tax she must pay in 1990-91--in particular where income arising in 1989-90 is assessable on her for 1990-91. The forms also enable married women to claim the allowances due to them for 1990-91.
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These special forms are a request for information rather than a normal statutory tax return. There is no penalty for non-completion. Nevertheless, I hope that any married woman who has received one will complete it and send it to her tax office as that will help to ensure that the transition to independent taxation goes as smoothly as possible.FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Peru
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he intends to take to encourage the Government of Peru to take action to bring to an end the attacks being made upon human rights workers and organisations.
Mr. Sainsbury : We frequently raise with the Peruvian Government individual cases involving alleged human rights abuses. We are considering with our European partners what further action we may usefully take.
Hong Kong
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the reservation on behalf of Hong Kong's ivory stock is due to expire ; and whether it will be extended.
Mr. Maude : The six-month reservation entered by the United Kingdom on Hong Kong's behalf will be withdrawn on 18 July 1990. The reservation will not be extended.
Falkland Islands
Mr. Kirkhope : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received about the illex fishing season in Falkland Islands waters.
Mr. Sainsbury : I am informed that, after analysis of all available biological and commercial data, the Falkland Islands Government decided to close the fishery for illex squid on 10 May, three weeks early. I understand that this was necessary to meet their scientifically determined conservation goals. This should ensure that sufficient breeding stocks survive for future seasons. Effective conservation is the first priority for the management of the Falkland Islands interim conservation and management zone.
Hazardous Wastes
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements exist respectively in (a) the Crown Territories of Hong Kong, (b) the Falkland Islands, (c) Belize and (d) Gibraltar for the disposal of (i) hazardous and toxic wastes and (ii) radioactive wastes from medical or industrial uses ; and what is the relationship between these arrangements and the environmental standards applying in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 1 May 1990] : In Hong Kong toxic and hazardous wastes are disposed of together as landfill. Medical or industrial radioactive wastes are either stored, returned to suppliers, or disposed of under the Hong Kong radiation ordinance.
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So far as we know, there is no radioactive waste in the Falkland Islands, neither is hazardous nor toxic waste produced there. Belize is an independent country. Its civilian disposal policies are a matter for the Belize Government.Gibraltar produces no medical or industrial radioactive waste, and very little hazardous or toxic waste. When required, however, advice about the disposal is sought from the Department of the Environment. At United Kingdom establishments in these territories, and in Belize, hazardous, toxic and radioactive wastes are either disposed of in accordance with local regulations, or returned to the United Kingdom for disposal.
There is no direct link between methods of disposal and United Kingdom environmental standards.
SCOTLAND
Lochinver Harbour
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he anticipates responding to the application submitted by Highland regional council for grant aid to enable the development of Lochinver harbour.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 4 May 1990] : Consideration of this application is now well advanced and I hope that it will be possible to announce a decision shortly.
Loft Insulation
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total expenditure by his Department on grants towards the cost of loft insulation under the homes insulation scheme for (a) 1988-89 and (b) 1989- 90.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 4 May 1990] : The total expenditure through specific grants made to local authorities under the homes insulation scheme for 1988-89 and 1989-90 was £0.929 million and £0.368 million respectively. This scheme covers the costs of loft, tank and pipe insulation work and it is not possible to identify a figure for loft insulation alone.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Housing Benefit (Students)
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the cost of paying housing benefit to students in Scotland in the latest year for which figures are available ;
(2) how many students in Scotland currently receive housing benefit.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Estimates of the numbers of students receiving housing benefit and of the level of expenditure are made on a Great Britain basis and no disaggregation for individual countries is possible. I regret that it is not, therefore, possible to provide information in the form requested.
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Community Care Grant
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he proposes to respond to the request by Clwyd county council for community care grants to those not on income support and affected by the north Wales sea floods ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : I wrote to the chief executive of Clwyd on 7 March explaining the help available under the social fund scheme and, in particular, that community care grants are intended to help people re- establish themselves in the community. I will be replying to his further letter shortly. I also explained that our policy of restricting eligibility to the grants to those receiving income support was to target resources on those most in need.
HEALTH
Hospital Beds
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total of hospital beds in each of the past five years within the constituency of Richmond and Barnes.
Mr. Dorrell : Information about hospital beds is collected centrally by district health authority, and is not available for individual parliamentary constituencies. The figures for Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton health authority are given in the table. The recent fall is due to the closure of St. John's hospital in Twickenham.
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|c|Average number of
beds available daily:
|c|
|c|Richmond, Twickenham
and Roehampton district
health authority|c|
Year |Number
|of beds
------------------------
1984 |916
1985 |868
1986 |860
1987-88 |834
1988-89 |684
Source: SH3 1984-86,
KHO3 1987-88-89.
Food Poisoning
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures published for the incidence of salmonella food poisoning of all types ; and what is the year on year percentage change for each type.
Mr. Dorrell : The latest figures for England and Wales published for the incidence of salmonella infection of all types appear in the PHLS-SVS Update on Salmonella Infection, Edition 3, April 1990 copies of which are available in the Library. These show that there were 3, 768 human isolations of salmonella (all serotypes) in the first quarter of 1990 ; the comparable figure for 1989 is 3,946. There are over 2,200 serotypes of salmonella. Each year in England and Wales about 200 of these different serotypes are isolated from humans. The information requested is given in the table for the 10 most prevalent serotypes in each of the years 1987, 1988 and 1989. The remaining serotypes are isolated in small numbers only and have a negligible contribution to the burden of food poisoning in this country.
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|c|Salmonella from humans-England and Wales|c|
1987 1988 1989
|Percentage |Percentage
|change |change
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. Typhimurium |7,660 |S. Enteritidis |15,427 |+125 |S. Enteritidis |15,773 |+2.2
S. Enteritidis |6,858 |S. Typhimurium |6,444 |-15.9 |S. Typhimurium |7,306 |+13.4
S. Virchow |1,529 |S. Virchow |1,120 |-26.7 |S. Virchow |1,835 |+63.8
S. Thompson |409 |S. Agona |262 |+75.8 |S. Hadar |378 |+58.8
S. Hadar |297 |S. Newport |253 |+5.0 |S. Infantis |322 |+34.2
S. Heidelberg |261 |S. Infantis |240 |+41.2 |S. Newport |299 |+18.2
S. Newport |241 |S. Hadar |238 |-19.9 |S. Kedougou |273 |+680.0
S. Stanley |180 |S. Saint Paul |235 |+132.7 |S. Panama |259 |+43.9
S. Infantis |170 |S. Heidelberg |209 |-19.9 |S. Heidelberg |216 |+3.3
S. Montevideo |162 |S. Thompson |190 |-53.5 |S. Agona |161 |-38.5
-------
Total 10 serotypes |17,767 |Total 10 serotypes |24,618 |+38.6 |Total 10 serotypes |26,822 |+8.9
Other 196 serotypes |2,765 |Other 177 serotypes|2,860 |+3.4 |Other 202 serotypes|3,176 |+11.0
-------
Total |20,532 |Total 187 serotypes|27,478 |+33.8 |Total 212 serotypes|29,998 |+9.2
S. Agona 149 S.Kedougou 35 } These serotypes did not appear amongst the 10
S. Saint Paul 101 S. Panama 180 } most common until the subsequent year
Source: Strains referred to Division of Enteric Pathogens, CPHL.
Accident and Emergency Units
Mrs. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the number of hospital accident and emergency units planned to be closed during 1990 ;
(2) how many hospital accident and emergency units have been closed in the last three years in England and Wales.
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Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not collected centrally. Information relating to Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Dental Checks
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures for the change in dental check-ups since the introduction of charges and prior to charges.
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Mr. Dorrell : For England and Wales the total number of dental examinations for which fees were scheduled for payment by the Dental Practice Board was 30.5 million in 1989 by comparison with 31.2 million in 1988.Eye Tests
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give details of the wording of the questions asked in the survey of eye tests conducted by NOP on behalf of the Government.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The wording of the questions in the NOP sight test volume survey is as follows :
Question 1. "Have you had your eye sight tested at an opticians--not at a hospital and not at your own doctor's--since Christmas?" If yes,
Question 2. "Was this an NHS sight test or did you pay for a private sight test?"
In framing these questions, the Department took professional advice from NOP's market researchers.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give details of the publicity campaign on entitlement to free National Health Service eye tests which his Department intend to launch, the launch date, duration and cost of the campaign.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Arrangements will be finalised after we have received the results of the NOP survey on sight test demand.
Renown Management Initiative
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement of progress on the Renown management initiative.
Mr. Dorrell : We are now more than half way to fulfilling the Government's White Paper commitment announced in January 1989, to have all the larger acute hospitals in the resource management programme by the end of financial year 1991-92. In March 1989 we announced the names of the first 50 hospitals in England to join the programme. The names of 50 more hospitals to join the programme in this financial year were announced in Janaury. These 100 hospitals with the initial six pilot sites were joined by a further 30 announced on 2 May by my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. In this financial year the Government have made available an additional £78 million for resource management.
Stillbirths
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of births in hospitals have been stillborn in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Dorrell : The percentage of births in hospitals in England and Wales which have been stillborn over the last 10 years are as follows :
Year |Stillbirths as
|a percentage
|of all births
|in hospital
---------------------------------------------
1978 |0.84
1979 |0.79
1980 |0.71
1981 |0.65
1982 |0.62
1983 |0.57
1984 |0.56
1985 |0.55
1986 |0.53
1987 |0.49
1988 |0.48
PRIME MINISTER
Lottery Tickets
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister if she will raise at the next meeting of the European Council the practice of West German state and institutional lottery organisations of sending lottery tickets to United Kingdom citizens in breach of United Kingdom law ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : No. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Home Office explained to my hon. Friend on 8 May at column 30, the measures which we are taking to curtail the postal promotion here of lotteries based in the Federal Republic of Germany contrary to the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 already include bilateral exchanges with relevant authorities in the Federal Republic.
Conference on Security and Co-operation
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister what measures Her Majesty's Government propose to place on the agenda at the forthcoming conference on security and co-operation in Europe.
The Prime Minister : Her Majesty's Government want the CSCE summit to be linked to signature of a CFE agreement and to explore the way ahead on arms control in Europe, to establish conciliation machinery within CSCE, to reaffirm the Helsinki Final Act's commitments on frontiers, to enshrine the principles of democracy and the rule of law, to encourage market- oriented economic reforms and to intensify political consultation among the 35 participants.
Nautical Archaeology
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Prime Minister when she expects that Ministers will be able to consider a collective response to the recommendations of the joint nautical archaeology committee ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Good progress is being made and Ministers expect to be reaching conclusions during the course of the summer.
Voluntary Bodies
Mr. Hayes : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list the total amount paid in grants by Government Departments to voluntary bodies during the financial year 1988-89 ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : Government funding to voluntary organisations in 1988-89 amounted to £2.1 billion. Of this,
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£1,075 million was payments to housing associations ; £510 million was payments under a variety of employment programmes ; and £344 million went to support the provision of services and a wide range of activities and projects by a variety of voluntary organisations. The amount spent under individual departmental programmes is as follows :Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 150,811
Defence 6,695,827
Education and Science 5,022,802
Employment
--Direct grants 47,324,589
--Community programme 345,000,000
--Voluntary projects programme 7,620,000
--Employment training 65,100,000
--Youth training scheme 92,000,000
Energy 896,294
Environment
--Direct grants 46,785,788
--Indirect grants total 908,932,000
including the following :
--Urban programme 68,700,000
--Housing associations
and societies 809,808,000
--Countryside Commission 1,900,000
--Nature Conservancy Council 2,100,000
--Sports Council 16,174,000
Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1,196,800
Overseas Development Administration 63,024,299
Health
--Direct grants 38,050,333
--Health Education Authority 595,997
Home Office
--Direct grants 24,422,338
--Equal Opportunities Commission 40,269
--Commission for Racial Equality 1,807,670
Lord Chancellor's Department 745,000
Northern Ireland Office
--Direct grants 13,642,973
--Housing associations and societies 45,333,856
Economic Development Grants :
--Action for community employment 41,500,000
--Community workshops 17,152,378
--Community volunteer scheme 798,000
--Youth community project 785,688
--Youth Help 753,313
--Sports Council for Northern Ireland 392,475
Scottish Office
--Direct grants 14,771,542
--Urban programme 27,729,000
--Housing associations and societies 151,000,000
--Countryside Commission for Scotland
695,692
--Highlands and Islands Development Board
878,480
--Sports Council for Scotland 1,417,969
Social Security 3,782,736
Trade and Industry 9,576,000
Transport 608,000
Welsh Office
--Direct grants 6,176,552
--Urban programme 2,840,000
--Joint finance 330,000
--Housing associations and societies 69,040,000
--Sports Council for Wales 1,184,977
Grand total 2,065,800,448
Direct grants, other than those under employment programmes and to housing associations and societies, have increased by 17.5 per cent. over the level of provision in 1987-88. In the period between 1979-80 and 1988-89 the level of this Government support for voluntary bodies has risen by 110 per cent. in real terms.
I am placing in the Library of the House a list of voluntary bodies funded by Government in 1988-89, other
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