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LancashireLeeds
Lincolnshire
Liverpool
Merton
Newcastle
Norfolk
North Tyneside
North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Oldham
Oxfordshire
Redbridge
Richmond
Rochdale
Rotherham
Sandwell
Salford
Sefton
Sheffield
Shropshire
Solihull
Somerset
South Tyneside
Staffordshire
St. Helens
Suffolk
Sunderland
Surrey
Sutton
Tameside
Trafford
Wakefield
Walsall
Waltham Forest
Warwickshire
West Sussex
Westminster
Wigan
Wiltshire
Wolverhampton
We shall continue to work with the 10 authorities, outside of inner London, that we were not able to approve this year, with the aim of getting approved schemes in place by April 1991. We want to keep delays to a minimum and will expect those authorities to phase in LMS according to the original timetable. Those 10 authorities are Croydon, Hereford and Worcester, Hertfordshire, Hillingdon, Isles of Scilly, Leicestershire, Manchester, Newham, Stockport, and Wirral.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list those local education authorities which have submitted requests to defer the implementation of LMS by (a) six months ; (b) a year, and (c) for any other period.
Mrs. Rumbold : Of the 87 LEAs that have approved LMS schemes in force from 1 April 1990, we have received a representation from one seeking to defer implementation of the scheme.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements there are in cases where a school, under LMS, requires a teacher to accept redundancy to determine who is liable to pay the appropriate redundancy payments.
Mrs. Rumbold : Section 46(5) of the Education Reform Act 1988 specifies that the costs incurred by a local education authority in respect of the dismissal or premature retirement, or for the purpose of securing the resignation, of any member of the staff of a school within the scope of an LMS scheme shall not be met from the school's budget except in so far as the authority has good reason for deducting those costs, or any part of those costs, from that share.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the statutory provisions that relate to his duties in respect of implementation of a local management scheme by a local education authority ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : The statutory provisions that relate to the duties of my right hon. Friend in respect of implementation of a local management scheme by a local education authority are :
(i) to consider the approval of a scheme prepared by a local education authority under section 33 of the Education Reform Act which--
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(a) replaces a previous scheme ; or(b) makes a significant variation to a previous scheme ; (ii) to determine within 2 months of notification, whether a variation proposed by a local education authority as a minor variation, falls within the description of a minor variation ; (iii) to consult the local education authority in question before varying a scheme by direction ;
(iv) to consider any appeal made by a governing bodyagainst-- (
(a) the imposition of any suspension of delegation ;
(b) the refusal of a local education authority to revoke any such suspension of delegation or any review required ;
(v) in the event of an appeal made by a governing body as described in (iv) above ; a duty to ;
(a) allow or reject the appeal ;
(b) have regard to the gravity of the default on the part of the governing body and the likelihood of its continuance or recurrence ; (vi) to make Regulations under section 42 of the Education Reform Act.
British Airstrip, Antarctic
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether the new British airstrip in the Antarctic will be used for purposes other than scientific research, except in cases of emergencies.
Mr. Jackson : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on 11 May.
Emphysema and Bronchitis
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much has been spent by the Medical Research Council on research into emphysema and bronchitis since 1988.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 8 May 1990] : The expenditure on research into respiratory diseases which is in whole or part relevant to bronchitis and emphysema was as follows :
|£
------------------------------
1987-88 |1,845,301
1988-89 |1,832,953
Figures for the financial year 1989-90 will be available in July from the Medical Research Council.
WALES
Gwynedd Health Authority
42. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he is satisfied with the financial control exercised by Gwynedd health authority in each of the two most recent financial years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : Subject to submission of the authority's accounts for 1989-90, it would appear that the authority has continued to keep its cash spending within the sums allotted by my right hon. Friend. However, it would also appear from reports received from the authority that its underlying financial position, as measured in terms of the balance between its income and expenditure in accruals terms, is once again deteriorating, following the limited progress which was made towards restoring financial balance during 1987-88 and 1988-89. This is, of course,
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disappointing ; but my right hon. Friend will not be in a position to comment more substantially on the authority's performance in exercising financial control until (i) the authority has had an opportunity to consider the results of the study which its general manager is currently undertaking with the assistance of management consultants, (ii) the authority's response to that study has been discussed with Welsh Office officials as part of the next round of annual performance reviews and (iii) the statutory auditor's audit of the authority's 1989-90 accounts has been completed.Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions his Department has had with Gwynedd health authority concerning the effects of the recent secretarial strike on the delivery of services in the county ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : The effect of the secretarial strike on the delivery of health services in Gwynedd is a matter for the district health authority and Welsh Office officials have not been in discussion on this aspect.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report the amount of capital expenditure on new facilities by Gwynedd health authority in 1988-89, 1989-90 and the projected level for such spending in 1990-91.
Mr. David Hunt : The information is not centrally available in the form requested since neither the annual accounts nor the 10-year capital programmes prepared by health authorities provide expenditure figures under the heading of "new facilities".
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of the repayable loans made by the Welsh Office to Gwynedd health authority over the past five years indicating for each such loan the sum involved, the period for repayment and the interest charged.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is as follows :
Date of |Amount of|Date
loan |loan |repaid
|£ million
----------------------------------------
1985-86 |0.200 |1986-87
1986-87 |- |-
1987-88 |1.450 |1988-89
1988-89 |0.738 |1989-90
1989-90 |- |-
No interest was charged on any of these loans.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the terms of reference given to the current team of consultants appointed by the Welsh Office to study the problem facing Gwynedd health authority ; and by what date they are required to present their report.
Mr. Grist : In common with other district health authorities in Wales, Gwynedd has been asked to submit a pathfinder procurement plan in June and has commissioned management consultants to help it prepare this plan. Together with other health authorities, Gwynedd has secured a measure of Welsh Office funding for this exercise. In addition to the procurement plan project, Gwynedd health authority has asked the management consultants to
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assist in its review of its finances and services. I understand that the authority's report on the outcome of the review is likely to be considered by its members in June.As the study is being carried out by Gwynedd health authority, details of its management consultants' terms of reference should be obtained from the DHA.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales by what date Gwynedd health authority was due to attain a financial balance following the Welsh Office consultant's investigation undertaken in 1987 ; and if he will make a statement on progress to date.
Mr. David Hunt : The action plan which was drawn up by the general manager of the authority early in 1988 with the help of the management consultants, Deloitte, Haskins and Sells was aimed at bringing the authority back into financial balance by 1991-92. This action plan remains the basic strategy for the financial restructuring of the authority. However, in view of the length of time taken to realise some of the planned savings associated with service rationalisation measures within the action plan, some slippage on this target would seem inevitable. The question of a revised target date will be considered in due course in the light of the review of the authority's financial position which is currently being undertaken by the authority with the assistance of management consultants.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the (a) revenue budget and (b) capital budget allocated by the Welsh Office to Gwynedd health authority for each of the years 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90 ; and for each year what was the actual revenue and capital expenditure of the authority.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is as follows :
|Revenue |Revenue |Capital |Capital
|cash limit |charge |cash limit |charge
|against |against
|cash limit |cash limit<1>
|£ million |£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |49.905 |49.903 |1.388 |1.389
1987-88 |55.855 |55.841 |3.433 |3.434
1988-89 |62.614 |62.637 |1.860 |1.859
1989-90 |65.436 |<2>65.397 |2.829 |<2>2.829
<1>Source: Health Authority Annual Accounts
<2>Source: Form FIS(HA)2 Cumulative Cash Flow Statement for
period ending March 1990.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions during the past 12 months a minister of his Department has (a) visited Gwynedd for purposes related to Gwynedd health authority or (b) met the chairman or members of Gwynedd health authority at a location other than in Gwynedd.
Mr. Grist : Ministers have met the chairman of the authority on four occasions during the last 12 months in London and south Wales. In addition, senior officials of the Welsh Office have visited and met the authority's chairman and officers frequently, and briefed me comprehensively on the key issues involved.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether his Department approved the discontinuation by Gwynedd health authority of the nursing surveillance service.
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Mr. Grist : No approval was needed or sought.
Sewage Discharges
Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether the announcement made on 5 March that the discharge of new sewage into the sea would be stopped will apply with equal force to discharges from Wales ;
(2) whether he will make it his policy to ban the discharge of new sewage from Wales into the estuaries and seas round Wales and to set a timetable for completing the implementation of such a policy.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he will make it his policy to ban the discharge of new sewage from Wales into the estuaries and seas around Wales and to set a timetable for completing the implementation of such a policy ;
(2) whether the announcement made on 5 March that the discharge of new sewage into the sea would be stopped will apply with equal force to discharges from Wales.
Mr. Grist : The policies set out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on 5 March will apply to discharges from Wales. Discussions will be held with the National Rivers Authority, the Office of Water Services and the sewerage undertaker to work out the detailed arrangements for implementing this policy as soon as is practicable.
Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will make it his policy that the new sewage outfall into the Severn estuary at Lavernock will include full secondary treatment works, and to require that design work takes into account this policy to avoid delay in the implementation of the scheme.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will make it his policy that the new sewage outfall into the Severn estuary at Lavernock will include full secondary treatment works, and require that design work takes into account this policy to avoid delay in the implementation of the scheme.
Mr. Ian Grist : This is a matter for Dwr Cymru and the National Rivers Authority which are fully aware of and will take into account relevant Government policies.
Red Slime, Blackpill
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will seek urgent advice on the occurrence of a red slime on the beach at Blackpill, Swansea, on 7 May ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : I am advised by the National Rivers Authority that it has analysed a sample of the slime which was found to comprise diatoms and flocs of iron particles. The iron flocs, which gave the slime an orange- brown colour, emanated from the River Clyne which receives a significant proportion of drainage from abandoned coal mines in the Dunvant and Killay areas and enters the sea at Blackpill. The ferruginous inputs from these mines are of relatively constant flow and thus have a much greater impact on the appearance of the river when river levels are low, as has been the case during the recent dry spell. The slime, though aesthetically unpleasant, does not in the opinion of environmental health officials threaten human or animal health.
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Optical Services
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will commission research into the identification of cases of glaucoma in Wales in the past five years, the effectiveness of measures taken by opticians, general practitioners and hospitals in preventing deterioration of eyesight in patients during the same period, and the effect of Government policy on these matters with particular reference to the period from 1 April 1989.
Mr. David Hunt : I shall write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
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