| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 81
DyfedAdpar County Primary
Newcastle Emlyn VC Primary
Park County Infants
Pembroke Dock County Junior
Penparcau County Infants--Amalgamation
Penparcau County Junior--Amalgamation
Trimsaran County Infants--Amalgamation
Trimsaran County Junior--Amalgamation
Gwent
Mathern County Primary
St. Arvans VC Primary
George Street County Nursery
George Street County Junior and infants
Gwynedd
Ysgol Glanypwll (County Primary)
Mid Glamorgan
Llanilltud Faerdref County Junior--Amalgamation
Llanilltud Faerdref County Infants--Amalgamation
Powys
Llanfrynach Church in Wales VC Primary
West Glamorgan
Cadle County Infants
Proposal approved by the Secretary of State.
Proposal determined by the maintaining authority.
During the period one proposal, by Clwyd LEA, to close Cornist Infants School, was rejected by the Secretary of State in 1989. The Department does not maintain records of primary school closures by size of school.
Community Care
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the additional costs will be following the implementation of the proposals of the National Health Service and Community Care Bill in Wales ; and how much will be attributable to community care.
Mr. Grist : The estimated additional recurrent costs in Wales of the implementation of the proposals for the national health service which were included in the explanatory and financial memorandum to the National Health Service and Community Care Bill are £10.85 million. The estimated costs for community care in Wales are being considered in the current public expenditure survey.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with local authority representatives from Wales of the financial implications of the new community care policy.
Mr. Grist : Our officials have had extensive discussions with local authority representatives in Wales under the aegis of the Welsh consultative council on local government finance (WCCLGF) to consider the expenditure implications of the arrangments proposed in the White Paper "Caring for People" (Cm 849). My right hon. Friend will be discussing this matter with the local authority associations at the meeting of the WCCLGF on 4 July.
Village Schools
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his policy on small village schools.
Column 82
Mr. Grist : Our school reforms are intended to improve the quality of education in all schools irrespective of size or location. It is for local education authorities to determine the pattern of education in their areas.
Energy Consumption
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the answers of 10 May, Official Report, column 196 , and 30 April, Official Report, columns 426-27, about energy consumption, what is the square footage of office space to which these figures relate.
Mr. David Hunt : The figure is 717,960 sq ft.
Mental Illness
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what sums of money have been or are being made available by his Department to support the implementation of the all-Wales strategy for mental illness in each relevant financial year.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) on 30 April, columns 425-26 .
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether projects concerned primarily with mental illness will be eligible for grant aid under the urban programme in Wales for the 1991-92 financial year.
Mr. Grist : No. As proposed in the White Paper "Caring for People : Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond" (Cm. 849) and confirmed in Welsh Office circular No. 22/90, a copy of which is in the Library, urban programme resources for community care projects are being transferred to more appropriate Welsh Office funding programmes. This change includes special funding for mental illness services which, from April this year, is allocated solely under the Welsh Office mental illness strategy.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was invested in improving the energy efficiency of his Department in the latest available year.
Mr. David Hunt : Energy efficiency is taken into consideration when building works and maintenance schemes are undertaken in my Department's offices, and expenditure relating to energy efficiency is not separately identified.
HEALTH
Immunisation
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to complete the pilot study of parent-held child immunisation cards.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the results of the pilot study of parent-held child record immunisation cards.
Mr. Dorrell : The British Paediatric Association published the report of a joint working party on
Column 83
professional and parent-held records used in child health surveillance in May and launched the record itself on 12 June. Copies of the report and a specimen of the child health record, which includes a record of immunisations, have been placed in the Library.Drugs
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what compensation other than through civil action is available to families of somebody who had died from the effects of a particular drug when that drug has begun to show unexpected side-effects.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The question of whether compensation is payable depends on the detailed circumstances of the case. The means by which parties pursue issues between them either by discussion, negotiation, or litigation must also be determined by the circumstances. The Medicines Act 1968 makes no provision for compensation, being a measure aimed at providing safety, quality and efficacy of marketed medicines. Decisions made under the Act are based on the best possible scientific judgment on available information and are monitored carefully, but the possibility of unexpected side-effects cannot be totally excluded.
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to bring forward legislation which will allow a victim of a drug injury to claim compensation without having to prove negligence on the part of the manufacturer ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 any person injured by a defective product (including a medicinal one) may seek redress through the courts without having to prove negligence on the part of the manufacturer of that product.
Health Education
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what will be the total expenditure on health education in 1990-91 by (a) the Health Education Authority, (b) each regional health authority in England and (c) other agencies ; and what proportion of the budget of each regional health authority is devoted to health education.
Mr. Dorrell : The planned expenditure on health education in 1990-91 by the Health Education Authority is £26.8 million. It is not possible to quantify the proportion of total regional allocations spent on health education by each regional health authority since so much of it is integral to health service activity.
The Department also provides funding under section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968, for a large number of voluntary bodies, many of which undertake health education as part of their overall role.
Joint Finance
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each regional health authority in England, (a) the total sum available for joint finance for each year 1984-85 to 1990-91, (b) what this sum represents as a percentage of the total regional health authority
Column 84
budget and (c) what proportion of joint finance was allocated to projects relating specifically to the closure of long-stay hospitals.Mr. Dorrell : Information on the sums allocated for joint finance (revenue and capital) and the proportion that represents of regional health authorities' total initial allocations (revenue and capital) is shown in the tables. Information on sums allocated to projects relating specifically to the closure of long-stay hospitals is not held centrally.
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
1990-91
|Joint |Percentage of
|finance |total initial
|allocation | allocation
Regional health authority |£ million |per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Northern |8.004 |0.8
2. Yorkshire |9.213 |0.8
3. Trent |11.669 |0.8
4. East Anglia |5.321 |0.9
5. North West Thames |8.693 |0.8
6. North East Thames |10.291 |0.7
7. South East Thames |10.747 |0.9
8. South West Thames |8.289 |0.8
9. Wessex |7.882 |0.9
10. Oxford |5.478 |0.8
11. South Western |9.169 |0.9
12. West Midlands |12.708 |0.8
13. Mersey |6.399 |0.8
14. North Western |10.533 |0.8
Column 86
Child Accident Prevention
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total level of Government spending on child accident prevention via (a) the Health Education Authority, (b) the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and (c) other agencies.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Health Education Authority and the Child Accident Prevention Trust, both of which are funded by the Department, expect to spend £127,000 and £107,000 respectively on child accident prevention in 1990-91. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents receives funding from a number of Government Departments ; the largest grant is from the Department of Transport, which has allocated it £389,000 in the current financial year for its road safety activities. These extend beyond child accident prevention.
Friedreich's Ataxia
Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a separate unitary fund for research into Friedreich's Ataxia.
Mr. Dorrell : We have no plans to do so. The Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives grant in aid from the Department of Education and Science, is the main Government agency for the promotion of biomedical and clinical research in the United Kingdom. In 1988-89, the last financial year for which figures are available, the MRC spent £197,000 on research projects which were relevant to Friedreich's Ataxia. The council is always willing to consider soundly based proposals for research funding in competition with other applications. In addition to this, university departments and medical schools, with support from University Funding Council block grants and health authorities, may be undertaking research into Friedreich's Ataxia ; information on this is not collected centrally.
Committee on Safety of Medicines
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health of the current members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines how many have declared that they are given (a) private consultancy fees from pharmaceutical companies and (b) research grants to their medical departments.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Interests are declared in accordance with the code of practice published with the annual report of the Medicines Commission. A copy is in the Library. Under the code, personal interests involve payments to the member personally, for example, consultancies or other fee-paid work. Non-personal
Column 87
interests involve payments to a department for which a member is responsible, but does not benefit the member personally, for example, commissioned research. Currently there are 21 members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) and the interests they have declared are as follows :
|Members
----------------------------------------------------------
(a) A personal and non-personal interests |11
(b) Non-personal interests only |7
It is vital that committees providing expert scientific advice on medicines have members with practical experience of research and up-to-date scientific knowledge. By following the ethical standards set by the code of practice members are able to avoid conflicts of interest which might otherwise impair the objectivity of the advice they give. We have full confidence in the personal integrity of the members of the CSM.
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will list the names of those members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines who are specialised in allergenic diseases.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The membership of the Committee on Safety of Medicines and its sub-committees covers a wide range of specialties. Additional experts may be consulted or appointed as temporary members as and when necessary. A table showing the membership of the committee and its sub-committees has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Committee on Safety of Medicines voted in respect of the drug Corwin.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The deliberations of the Committee on Safety of Medicines are confidential.
Tampons
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is currently being undertaken by the Government into toxic shock syndrome ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : For several years the staphyococcal reference laboratory of the public health laboratory service has gathered information about the occurrence of toxic shock syndrome and has characterised the strains involved from this and other conditions. Work in this field is also being carried out in universities and national health service hospitals and at the centre for applied microbiological research, Porton Down.
Waiting Lists
Miss Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the function of waiting list funds and initiatives.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The waiting list initiative and waiting list fund provides targeted resources to enable health authorities to treat additional patients from the waiting list, and to reduce the number of patients who wait excessively long times. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. King) on 18 January 1990 at columns 403-4.
Column 88
GPs (Computer Software)
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress on the provision of computer software for general practitioners' budgets.
Mr. Dorrell : We are continuing our discussions with the computer companies, many of which have been directly consulted during the development of the technical specifications for the software package. We are unable to give any details about these discussions at this stage as to do so would be a breach of commercial confidentiality.
Eye Tests
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many relatives of glaucoma sufferers in each district health authority area of England received free eyesight tests in each quarter of 1988-89 and in each quarter of 1989-90.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Statistics prior to 1 April 1989 were not broken down by patient group. Since then family practitioner committees have collected data on sight tests paid for under the general ophthalmic services on a six-monthly basis. District health authorities do not collect such information. The table gives estimated numbers by patient group and regional health authority for the period in question :
NHS sight tests paid for during
April-September 1989
Relatives of glaucoma sufferers
|Relatives
|over 40
----------------------------------------------
Regional health authority
Northern |2,700
Yorkshire |3,950
Trent |9,260
East Anglia |3,900
North West Thames |3,500
North East Thames |5,190
South East Thames |4,150
South West Thames |4,800
Wessex |5,860
Oxford |3,250
South Western |4,950
West Midlands |5,650
Mersey |2,520
North Western |5,360
These figures are based on a 2 per cent. sample of NHS sight test application forms processed by family practitioner committees. They do not take into account sight tests paid for after 1 April 1989 but conducted before that period.
Family Practitioner Committees
Mr. David Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects to receive a report from the Bolton family practitioner committee of the inquiry into the financial background and other related matters of its general manager ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he has any plans to change the reference and vetting procedures for recruitment of officials to posts involving responsibility for public resources to require that their past financial and other relevant history is available to the interviewing committee.
Column 89
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I understand that Bolton family practitioner committee dismissed its general manager on 14 June with immediate effect. This decision was a matter for the committee as employing authority.Under the terms of health circular HC(FP)(89)9, which governs FPC general manager appointments, regional health authorities were asked to provide a complete service to family practitioner committees for the recruitment and appointment process. This service was provided to Bolton family practitioner committee by the North Western regional health authority. I understand that the authority is re-examining the procedures applied in this case. If more general lessons emerge, we shall ensure they are brought to the attention of other national health service authorities.
A copy of health circular HC(FP)(89)9 has been placed in the Library.
Residential Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what demographic and social changes were taken into account in his Department's calculation of the numbers of elderly persons likely to need local authority support to live in residential homes after 1991.
Mr. Dorrell : It will of course be for local authorities to decide how many elderly people should receive residential care with their support in future years. Each year the local authority associations will provide the Department with estimates of the number of people whom they consider are likely to receive such care, taking into account demographic and other factors and those estimates will be taken into account by the Government in determining the level of revenue support grant to local authorities.
Face the Facts"
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the transcript of the BBC Radio Four programme, "Face the Facts", broadcast on 13 June.
Mr. Dorrell : No. Whilst the Department is aware of its content, the programme was concerned in the main with compensation claims in respect of families who had been in some way connected with the operations of the Sellafield reprocessing plant. Matters relating to nuclear safety are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy.
Ambulance Dispute
Miss Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when regional health authorities were notified of charges arising from the military assistance during the ambulance dispute ; and when the costs were notified to each district health authority of the sums they would have to pay towards costs incurred during the ambulance dispute ;
(2) what is the total amount of money that each regional health authority has been asked to pay for costs incurred during the ambulance dispute for military assistance ; and what is the amount apportioned to each district health authority budget by regional health authorities.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The total costs that each regional health authority has been asked to pay for military assistance during the ambulance dispute are given
Column 90
in the table. Regional health authorities were notified of amounts due in respect of the period to 31 December 1989 on 7 March 1990, and in respect of the period January to 31 March 1990, on 14 June 1990. Information is not held centrally about the amount apportioned by regions to district health authorities nor when such amounts were notified.
Region |Total amount
|(£ thousands)
----------------------------------------------
Northern |474
Yorkshire |534
Trent |654
East Anglian |284
North West Thames |520
North East Thames |646
South East Thames |581
South West Thames |480
Wessex |399
Oxford |319
South Western |475
West Midlands |764
Mersey |379
North Western |649
|-------
Total |7,158
Children Act 1989
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the expected date or dates for implementation of the provisions of the Children Act 1989.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Some provisions of the Children Act 1989 are already in force. We plan to implement the remaining provisions in October 1991.
Night Working
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the implications for care homes of the proposed European Community directive on night working.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The European Commission has not yet issued a draft of its proposed directive on working time ; however, we understand that the Commission is likely to propose restrictions on night and shift working. Clearly this may have implications for a wide range of workers, including those in care homes, and in other health services, where there is a need to maintain care on a 24-hour basis. We will not be able to assess the full implications until the Commission has published its detailed proposal.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what further representations he has received regarding hospitals opting out of the present national health service management structure.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 16 May at column 418. Since then a further six units have expressed interest in national health service trust status. This brings the total number of units which have expressed interest in trust status to 199.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the national medical organisations which have
Column 91
made representations to him expressing support for proposals for national health service hospitals to become self- governing.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Since the White Paper was published in 1989 it has attracted a great deal of interest from the medical profession at national and at local level. Much of the discussion with the national organisations has been about the detailed implications and practical details of the implementation of the proposals. At local level there is substantial interest and support from the medical profession on the proposals for establishing NHS trusts.
| Next Section
| Home Page |