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Health Authority Lending
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he approved, either in principle or in detail the £500,000 loan from South Glamorgan health authority to Gwynedd health authority in 1990-91.
Mr. Grist : I am not aware that the South Glamorgan health authority has entered into an arrangement to lend money to any health authority in 1990-91. However, in 1989-90 South Glamorgan health authority made available £0.5 million to Gwynedd health authority under normal inter- year cash management arrangements. The loan was mutually agreed by the two authorities and the Department made the necessary cash limit adjustments to give effect to the loan and to its repayment in the current financial year.
High Schools (Redundancies)
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the number of staff redundancies in high schools in Wales since1 January 1989.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Local Education Authorities in Wales reported 42 premature retirements on the grounds of redundancy in the period 1 January 1989 to 30 June 1990 amongst secondary school teachers.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when his consultation paper on the operation of the standard community charge and other matters will be made available in (a) the Vote Office and (b) the Library.
Mr. David Hunt : The Document "The Standard Community Charge and other matters--A consultation paper for Wales" has already been sent to Members representing Welsh constituencies, to the Vote Office, and to the Library of the House.
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General Practice
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all the statistical indicators collected and maintained by the Welsh Office in relation to family practitioner services and general practice in Wales.
Mr. Grist : A set of FPS service indicators, which embraces currently the items listed as follows, has been developed and is maintained by the Welsh Office and the Department of Health. This is supplied to family practitioner committees in Wales and is used by them and by the Department for management purposes. A review of the range and content of the indicators is in progress.
A selection of the current set of FPS service indicators is published in "Key Statistical Indicators for National Health Services Management in Wales", No. 8, 1989, a copy of which is in the Library.
FPS Service Indicators
Prescriptions per 10,000 OPCS population, pharmacists and dispensing doctor
FPC staff per 10,000 OPCS population
FPC patient registration data inflation
Total FPS payments, £000s per 10,000 registered population FPC administration costs, £000s per 10,000 OPCS population Registration transactions as a percentage of registered population
Expenditure on GMS per 10,000 registered population
GMPs per 10,000 patients on their lists
Turnover of GMPs per GMP
Percentage of GMPs with list sizes under 1,000
Percentage of GMPs with list sizes over 2,500
Percentage of GMPs under 65 practising single handed
Percentage of GMPs aged 65
Dispensing doctors as a percentage of GMPs
Dispensing patients as a percentage of registered population Whole time equivalent ancillary staff per partnership
Whole time equivalent ancillary staff per practitioner
Practice nurses per partnership
Practice nurses per practitioner
Percentage of GMPs with consent to use a deputising service Percentage of night visits made by deputising services
Night fees for GMPs, £000s per 10,000 registered population Vaccination and immunisation fees, £000s per 10,000 regis- tered population
Cervical cytology fees, £000s per 10,000 females aged 35-64 Cervical cytology recalls per 10,000 females aged 20-64 Ordinary contraceptive claims per 10,000 females aged 15-49 IUD claims per 10,000 females aged 15- 49
Maternity medical services claims for full care per 100 births Maternity medical services claims for some care per 100 births Perinatal mortality rate
Formal allocations to GMPs per 10,000 registered population Formal complaints to medical services committee per GMP Informal complaints involving a conciliator per GMP
Other informal written complaints per GMP
Expenditure on GDS per 10,000 registered population
Dentists per 10,000 OPCS population
Turnover in dentists per dentist
Courses of dental treatment per 10,000 OPCS population
Courses of dental treatment per 10,000 OPCS population 16 Courses of treatment per dentist
Extractions per 1,000 courses, persons 16
Extractions per 1,000 courses, persons 16
Fillings per 1,000 courses, persons 16
Sessions per 10,000 OPCS population under emergency dental service Recall fees per 10,000 OPCS population
Formal complaints to dental services committee per dentist Informal written complaints per dentist
Expenditure on pharmaceutical service per 10,000 registered population
Pharmacies per 10,000 OPCS population
Net ingredient cost, £000s per 10,000 OPCS population (pharmacies) Prescriptions dispensed per 10,000 OPCS population (pharmacies)
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Net ingredient cost, £000s per 10,000 OPCS population (dispensing doctors)Prescriptions dispensed per 10,000 OPCS population (dis- pensing doctors)
Exemption certificates per 10,000 non-age-exempt population Prepayment certificates per 10,000 non-age-exempt popula- tion Expenditure on general ophthalmic service per 10,000 registered population
Opticians per 10,000 OPCS population
Sight tests per 10,000 OPCS population
ENVIRONMENT
Local Government Finance
Mr. Ground : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was (i) the net rate and (ii) the grant-borne expenditure of the London borough of Hounslow in each year since 1978-79 (a) as estimated and (b) in the outturn.
Mr. Chope : The available information, as returned by the London borough of Hounslow is as follows :
Local rate income and expenditure
£ million
Budget Outturn
|Local rate income<1>|Expenditure<2> |Local rate income<1>|Expenditure<2>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1980-81 |36.6 |75.1 |41.2 |78.7
1981-82 |56.4 |84.7 |58.0 |84.6
1982-83 |51.4 |89.1 |51.6 |85.2
1983-84 |56.4 |91.2 |57.3 |91.2
1984-85 |67.7 |92.7 |67.7 |93.7
1985-86 |77.5 |98.0 |79.0 |90.8
1986-87 |98.3 |119.3 |n.a. |n.a.
1987-88 |100.2 |111.9 |103.3 |126.4
1988-89 |108.8 |127.9 |112.6 |141.1
1989-90 |117.2 |160.9 |n.a. |n.a.
n.a.-Not available.
<1> Rate income gross of rebates but net of domestic rate relief grant.
<2> Expenditure funded by rates, grants and balances.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the revenue support grant for 1990-91, expressed as a sum per head of population, for (a) Nottinghamshire, including its constituent districts, (b) the City of Westminster and (c) Wandsworth.
Mr. Chope : The average revenue support grant for 1990-91, expressed as an amount per adult for Nottinghamshire districts is £201.78. The figure for the City of Westminster is £865.84 and for Wandsworth £572.27.
Standard Spending Assessments
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what allowances are made for providing local government services to Heathrow airport when calculating the standard spending assessments of the relevant councils.
Mr. Chope : Standard spending assessments measure the cost of providing a standard level of service. They make no specific allowance for the cost of providing services to airports, such as Heathrow. But the assessments for the relevant authorities for police, highway main-tenance and other services, which includes environmental health, will reflect the policing needs of the airport and the other demands imposed by visitors and the working population.
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Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to amend or alter the factors used to arrive at local authorities' standard spending assessments for 1990 -91.Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) on what date he intends to announce the standard spending assessments for borough councils for the next financial year ;
(2) if he has decided whether to give additional weight to the value of tourism in Torbay's standard spending assessment for the next financial year.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend will announce his proposals for standard spending assessments in the autumn.
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how up to date the statistics relating to the proportion of elderly in particular boroughs, that he will use when calculating the standard spending assessments for the next financial year, will be.
Mr. Chope : We intend to use estimates of the resident population at 30 June 1989, prepared by the registrar general, as the source for the proportion of the elderly in each relevant authority. These will be the latest available estimates compiled on a consistent basis across all authorities.
Community Charge
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take steps to give relief to those who enter residential nursing accommodation but experience delay in selling their homes thereby incurring liability for a standard community charge.
Mr. Chope : We have already prescribed that no standard charge is payable where less than 12 months has elapsed since the date on which a patient became solely or mainly resident in a hospital, residential care home, nursing home, mental nursing home or hostel. We have proposed that from 1 April 1991 this limit should be removed.
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will end the liability of executors of wills for a standard charge on the home of someone who has died.
Mr. Chope : We have already prescribed that no standard charge is payable on unoccupied property where the person subject is acting in his capacity as personal representative, and with respect to which either no grant of probate or letters of administration has been made, or less than three months have elapsed since either of those events. We have proposed that this period should be extended to six months as from 1 April 1991.
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to exclude non-working mothers from the community charge.
Mr. Chope : I have nothing to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend on 19 July.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will introduce legislation to
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prevent charging authorities from using community charge information for purposes that are not directly relevant to the management or collection of the community charge ; and whether he will make a statement ;(2) whether he will introduce legislation to prevent a community charge registration office or charging authority from disclosing community charge information for purposes that are not directly relevant to the management or collection of the community charge ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him of 5 February 1990 at column 429.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for regulations concerning the disclosure of anonymous poll tax data ; what advice he intends to give to community charges registration officers on how to ensure that the identity of individuals is guaranteed ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I have nothing to add to the answer that I gave the hon. Member on 15 January 1990, at column 100.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will introduce regulations to prevent the disclosure of information by charging authorities, whenever the information disclosed relates to community charge debts and the recipients of information are not acting as agents of the authority with respect to debt recovery ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : No such regulations are necessary. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him of 15 January 1990, at column 99.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average community charge bill in Great Britain net of transitional relief.
Mr. Chope : The figure is £342 ; charge capping is expected to reduce this to £337.
New Properties (Water Rates)
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he has for assessing the rateable values of newly built properties for water rate purposes ; what is his estimate of the number of staff employed in England for this purpose and their cost ; and whether the water plcs, central Government or local authorities meet these costs.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : There is no need for such arrangements. For all newly built domestic properties, water companies are charging on bases other than rateable value. If a water company has decided to use rateable value for the time being as the basis for charging in the case of newly built non-domestic properties, rateable values for those properties will in any case have been assessed for the purpose of the uniform business rate.
Right to Buy
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent estimate he has made of the number of council properties sold under the Government's right-to-buy scheme since 1979.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Between October 1980, when the right-to-buy legislation came into effect, and March 1990, about 970,000 tenants purchased their homes from English local authorities and new towns under this scheme.
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Toxic Sites
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in making toxic sites safe ; what methods are to be used ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : In so far as the question relates to landfill sites receiving toxic waste, the licensing provisions of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 require waste disposal authorities to satisfy themselves initially that there are no risks of water pollution or public health dangers and to supervise licensed activities to ensure that this continues to be the case. Authorities have powers to carry out remedial work, should that be necessary, and to recover costs, but there are no central records of such action.
In so far as the question relates to problems of contaminated land, such sites need to be made safe by landowners to ensure that there are no risks to public health or liabilities arising from use of the site. The National Rivers Authority have powers under the Water Act 1989 to take remedial or preventive action in relation to risks of water pollution and to recover costs. The Government provides guidance notes on monitoring, assessment and treatment of contaminants and a wide variety of treatment methods can be adopted, but there are no central records of work undertaken.
Local Authority Estates
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many estates owned by local authorities have held ballots to opt out of local authority control under the Housing Act 1988.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Ballots under the tenants' choice provisions of the Housing Act 1988 are conducted when the alternative landlord has made a formal offer to tenants. Two tenants' choice applications have been made to acquire property, but neither of these has reached the stage of the ballot.
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The Housing Corporation is carrying out preliminary tests of tenant opinion in a further 12 areas.House Demolition
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has now received to his Department's consultation paper about the demolition of houses ; and if he he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Responses to the Department's consultation paper "Planning Permission : Demolition of Houses" were invited by 25 June. Over 160 responses have been received. The Government will announce their conclusions when they have been fully analysed.
Furnished Tenancies
Mr. Solely : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give figures for rents for furnished tenancies on the same basis as those shown in table 8.11 of the public expenditure White Paper, Cm. 1008.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Average registered fair rents for non-housing association furnished tenancies in England are as follows :
|£ per week
---------------------------------
1984 |24.58
1985 |26.62
1986 |29.38
1987 |30.96
1988 |36.06
1989 |38.56
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give figures for rents for private tenancies by region.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The available information is for fair rents registered under the Rent Act 1977 (as amended), or housing benefit cases referred to rent officers under section 121 of the Housing Act 1988.
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------------------------------------------------------------- Northern |33.46|17.80|23.03|31.67|26.28 Yorkshire and Humberside |32.91|19.85|25.74|31.90|29.97 North West |31.91|17.35|22.98|33.28|30.10 West Midlands |29.84|19.75|24.85|33.78|35.25 East Midlands |31.66|19.98|26.60|33.04|31.40 East Anglia |42.31|25.32|27.44|40.47|43.09 South West |40.44|29.03|32.09|37.28|39.34 London |46.36|30.76|29.20|56.44|51.33 Rest of South East |43.22|27.98|30.82|43.05|45.77 <1> since April 1989
Radon Gas
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will extend the practical guidance given in building regulations on dealing with anti-radon measures in new homes.
Mr. Chope : My Department will shortly be issuing a consultation paper containing proposals for the revision of the requirements and guidance relating to part C of the Building Regulations 1985. This will include the latest guidance on the special measures which should be taken when new houses are being constructed in Cornwall and in
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