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Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he now proposes to ban the use of raw shell egg as a binder material in the preparation of beef rissoles or hamburgers in public sector catering establishments.
Mr. Grist : I have no plans to do so.
Disability
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to ensure that deaf people and those with communication disabilities have a statutory right to interpreters or other communication support during the assessment procedure.
Mr. Grist : Section 3(6) of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 makes provision for a disabled person, or his authorised representative, who is unable to communicate, to be provided by the local authority with necessary services to ensure that such incapacity does not prevent the authority from discharging their functions or the making of representations by the disabled person, or his representative, under this section. In regard to the implementation of this section, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 23 July.
Mental Illness and Handicap
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he will make it his policy that no sales of land or property at existing facilities for people with mental illness shall take place until plans for full adequate alternative services for existing users have been agreed and approved ;
(2) whether he will make it his policy that no sales of land or property at existing facilities for people with mental handicap shall take place until plans for full adequate alternative services for existing users have been agreed and approved ;
(3) whether he will make it his policy that no sales of land or property at existing facilities for people with mental handicap shall take place until plans for full adequate alternative services for potential users have been agreed and approved ;
(4) whether he will make it his policy that no sales of land or property at existing facilities for people with mental illness shall take place until plans for full adequate alternative services for potential users have been agreed and approved.
Mr. Grist : My right hon. Friend's policy, as stated in the Welsh Office mental handicap and mental illness strategies, already covers all these points.
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Health Workers
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to ensure that ancillary workers are (a) recruited and (b) trained adequately to meet the shortfall on wards in Wales that will follow implementation of Project 2000 for nurse training.
Mr. Grist : The training and recruitment of ancillary workers is a matter for each individual health authority. However, I have made provision within the funding of Project 2000 for a contribution towards the cost of training new health care assistants to replace the lost student nurse service contribution. Health authorities have also been asked to undertake a systematic reassessment of the roles and functions of all support staff to health care professionals as part of the Care Sector Consortium's health care assistant project. This programme should be completed by September 1991.
Road Construction
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether his Department has any plans to undertake an environmental impact assessment of all current and planned road construction programmes.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Environmental impact assessments are undertaken for all road schemes falling within the scope of EC directive 85/337.
Community Care
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to introduce a statutory right to representation in community care services for disabled people who are unable or choose not to represent themselves.
Mr. Grist : Provision for the appointment of authorised representatives of disabled people and as regards their rights in relation to the provision of services for the person they represent is made in sections 1 and 2 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986. In regard to the implementation of these sections, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave on 23July.
Food Temperature Control
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will publish his timetable for the implementation of food temperature control regulations in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The Food Hygiene (Amendment) Regulations 1990, laid before Parliament on 18 July, will introduce temperature controls on certain foods in a staged implementation :
from 1 April 1991 all foods in the controlled categories must be kept at or below 8 C (except in small delivery vehicles) ; from 1 April 1992 foods in the controlled categories in small delivery vehicles must be kept at or below 8 C ; and
from 1 April 1993 certain foods in the controlled categories must be kept at or below 5 C (except in small delivery vehicles).
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish figures showing the number and proportion
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of food outlets in Wales shown to be failing to meet current food temperature regulations when inspected during the past year.Mr. Grist : This information is not available.
Health Bodies
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) the names, (b) the positions and (c) the principal relevant qualifications of (i) the chairs and (ii) the members of (1) the quality working group, (2) the strategic direction implementation steering group, (3) the Welsh health planning forum and the health gain working group, the people-centred working group and the resource-effective working group, (4) the 10 health gain people-centred services panels of review, (5) the clinical resource utilisation group, (6) the Welsh advisory group on medical audit, (7) the contracts working group and(8) district audit committees.
Mr. Grist : I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Health Service Funding
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will outline the process, following implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Act, whereby a service provider within a district health authority would make application to the Welsh Office for capital funding ; what conditions will determine eligibility for capital funding ; and what continuing conditions will attach to such funding should an allocation be made ;
(2) if he will outline the process, following the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Act, whereby a service procurer or purchasing body would apply to the Welsh Office for capital funding ; what conditions will determine eligibility for capital funding ; and what continuing conditions will attach to such funding, should an allocation be made ;
(3) if he will list the sources of capital funding that will be available to any hospital trust or any other self-governing trusts in Wales ; what process of approval such trusts would have to go through following implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Act in respect of such capital projects ; what conditions will determine eligibility for any public contributions towards such projects ; and what continuing conditions will attach to such funding should an allocation be made.
Mr. Grist : A paper setting out proposals for further arrangements for allocating capital funds to the health service in Wales was issued to the service for comment this week. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House and the Vote Office.
The proposals distinguish between minor' capital--required for routine equipment replacement and relatively small developments--and major' capital --for strategically significant developments. The former would be allocated to health authorities for their discretionary use in proportion to their revenue formula shares. Authorities would be expected to use these funds to maintain and develop the services provided to their residents by hospitals with which they have contracted, including those which they do not themselves manage. The use of capital would be determined in negotiations between health
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authorities and providing hospitals. The existing rules governing virement between capital and revenue would still apply, but otherwise the Department would not place any conditions on the use of these funds, although authorities would be accountable for their spending in the usual ways, and expenditure would have to be consistent with local strategies for health.Major capital would be allocated to specific projects according to their benefits in terms of health gain and return on investment. Health authorities or providing hospitals would be eligible to bid for these resources independently, but, in the case of hospitals, their bids would need to be supported by the potential purchasers of their services. Capital provided for major schemes would, of course, be earmarked specifically for those schemes and would form part of a centrally managed programme.
Any NHS trusts in Wales would include the cost of the depreciation of their assets in their charges and this could then be used to fund further capital expenditure. For new developments and major equipment purchases trusts would borrow funds either from the Secretary of State or from elsewhere. The level of borrowing would be subject to an agreed financing limit which would reflect the need for working capital and investment set out in each trust's business plans. No specific conditions would be attached to a trust's borrowing limits, but trusts would be held to account for the funds borrowed and would, of course, be subject to audit.
Medical Services
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list for each family practitioner services authority in Wales in each of the last five years (a) the total expenditure on ophthalmic services, (b) the expenditure on ophthalmic services per 10,000 registered population, (c) the number of opticians, (d) the number of opticians per 10,000 office of population censuses and surveys population, (e) the number of sight tests and (f) the number of sight tests per 10,000 office of population censuses and surveys population ;
(2) if he will list for each family practitioner services authority in Wales for each of the last five years (a) the number and percentage of general medical practitioners with consent to use a deputising service, (b) the number and percentage of night visits made by deputising services and (c) the night fees for general medical practitioners per 10,000 registered population ;
(3) if he will list for each family practitioner services authority in Wales, for each of the last five years (a) the number of practice nurses per partnership, (b) the number of practice nurses per practitioner and (c) the number of practice nurses per 10,000 registered population ;
(4) if he will list for each family practitioner services authority in Wales, for each of the last five yers (a) the total family practitioner services payments, (b) the total family practitioner services payments per 10,000 registered population, (c) the total family practitioner services administration costs, (d) the total family practitioner services administration costs per 10,000 registered population, (e) the total expenditure on general medical services and (f) the total expenditure on general medical services per 10,000 registered population ;
(5) if he will list for each family practitioner services authority in Wales, for each of the last five years (a) the total number of general medical practitioners, (b) the
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number and percentage of general medical practitioners with list sizes under 1,000, (c) the number and percentage of general medical practitioners with list sizes over 2,500, (d) the number and percentage of general medical practitioners under 65 years of age practising single-handed and (e) the number of formal allocations to general medical practitioners per 10,000 registered population.Mr. Grist : The information requested cannot be provided in the time available. I shall write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
BISF Houses
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met representatives of tenants and owners of BISF houses ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Grist : I have not met representatives of tenants or owners of BISF houses. Those who are concerned about the condition of their homes should more properly approach their local authority.
Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether he has visited any local authorities who carried out pilot implementations of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 ;
(2) whether his Department has carried out any pilot
implementations of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with voluntary organisations concerning the costs of implementing sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986.
Mr. Grist : As explained in the reply to the hon. Gentleman on 23 July, consultation is taking place with the Assembly of Welsh Counties and directors of social services in Wales about the additional costs in relation to the implementation of these sections since it is social services authorities who have responsibility for their implementation.
GP Contract System
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what representations he has received from general practitioners in Wales regarding the time taken in paperwork caused by the new general practitioner contract system ; and what steps he is undertaking to minimise that paperwork ;
(2) what representations he has received from general practitioners in Wales regarding the screening and health check work required in the new contract ; and if he will list all the suggestions general practitioners have made for improving that system and indicate the response to each suggestion.
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Mr. Grist : Many representations about the new contract were received in the spring and summer of 1989. Most of these covered a number of issues. Identification of those which relate to paperwork, screening and health checks is not now possible, except at disproportionate cost. There have been no recent representations on this issue.
Welsh Language (Qualifications)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, subsequent to his promise to look into a qualification in Welsh for those pursuing the less intensive course at key stage 4, what consultations he intends to have with local education authorities and other relevant bodies ; and if he will announce the timetable for such consultations.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The assessment of programme of study B in Welsh second language raises similar issues to the assessment of other non-core national curriculum foundation subjects. The School Examinations and Assessment Council has been asked to report on these issues and to offer its advice by the end of the year. We shall consider what further consultations may be necessary in the light of its advice.
Eye Tests
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the latest monthly and quarterly figures available to him for Wales as a whole and for each district health authority area in Wales for (a) eye tests undertaken and (b) new ophthalmic out-patient referrals ; and if he will give the equivalent figures for 1989.
Mr. Grist : The available information is given in the table. Many of the sight tests since April 1989 have been private transactions outside the national health service. Statistical information on these is not available centrally.
(b) New out-patients seen by consultants in ophthalmology
Quarter ending:
Health authority |31 December 1988|31 December 1989
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |1,343 |1,267
East Dyfed |1,227 |1,136
Gwent |1,763 |2,081
Gwynedd |965 |1,015
Mid Glamorgan |1,276 |1,787
Pembrokeshire |386 |451
Powys |190 |208
South Glamorgan |2,260 |1,952
West Glamorgan |1,361 |1,518
|------- |-------
Wales |10,771 |11,415
Table file CW900726.092 not available
Table file CW900726.093 not available
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Hospital Closures
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) all the hospitals and (b) departments or wards in Wales that are either currently subject to consultation in respect of possible closure by health authorities or are under his consideration as a result of a health authority completing its consultative process.
Mr. Grist : I shall write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Land Transactions Handbook
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales from what date the recent amendments to the land transactions handbook took effect.
Mr. Grist : The most recent amendment to the NHS handbook on land transactions was issued to Welsh district health authorities on 9 June 1989.
Land Transactions Register
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has drawn to the attention of (a) South Glamorgan health authority and (b) other health authorities in Wales the recent amendments to the land transactions register.
Mr. Grist : I will write to the hon. Gentleman for clarification of the information he is seeking and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Salmonella
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage increase in the incidence of (a) salmonella and (b) salmonella enteriditis in Wales in the first quarter of the current year and in (i) the first quarter of 1989 and (ii) the first quarter of 1988.
Mr. Grist : I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing (a) the number of cases of salmonella and (b) the number of cases of salmonella enteriditis in each district in Wales in each month from January 1989 up to the latest available date.
Mr. Grist : This information is not available in the form requested.
Environmental Health Officers
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list (a) the total establishment of environmental health officers and (b) the number of posts filled in Wales for each of the past 10 years ;
(2) how many posts of environment health officers are currently vacant in Wales.
Mr. Grist : The number of local authority non-manual staff employed in environmental health in Wales for each of the last 10 years is given in the table. It is not possible to identify separately the number of environmental health officers included in this number. It is not possible to identify the total establishment of environmental health officers, or the number of vacancies centrally.
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Number of non-manual
staff employed in
environmental
health<1>
Total Wales
|Number
---------------------
1980 |785
1981 |769
1982 |748
1983 |740
1984 |796
1985 |856
1986 |822
1987 |832
1988 |826
1989 |850
1990 |<2>867
<1> Full-time
equivalent as at
March for each year.
<2> Figures for
March 1990 are
provisional.
Prescribing Costs
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether, in the case of a hospital trust or other self-governing trust offering an out- patient service on a continuing basis, all prescribing costs deriving from such a service will be met entirely from within the resources of such a trust.
Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier today which makes it clear that the costs of drug prescribing should fall to be met by whoever has clinical responsibility for the patient concerned. NHS trusts will be in no different position in this respect from other NHS units.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will instruct family practitioner authorities to exclude from their consideration, when determining the monetary budget or prescribing amount for a particular practice or general practitioner, any sum likely to arise from the transfer of prescribing costs from hospital consultants to general practitioners in those circumstances where patients attend hospital out- patient clinics on a continuing basis and to make separate provision for such amounts.
Mr. Grist : Such instruction is not needed. Policy in this matter is clear. Where clinical responsibility for a patient, including the responsibility to prescribe, rests with a hospital doctor, the cost of prescribing is attributable to hospital service expenditure. Where such responsibilities are accepted by the patient's GP, the cost of prescribing is attributable to family practitioner services expenditure. The decision as to clinical responsibility in any individual case rests with the clinicians involved.
The indicative amounts that family health service authorities will ascribe to GP practices will take account of cases where a GP has clinical responsibility for a patient whose treatment requires the prescribing of particularly high-cost medication.
Disabled People
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will take steps to ensure that disabled people have a statutory right to (a) a written outcome of their assessment procedure, (b) make representations as to their community care needs during the assessment procedure and (c) review the outcome of the assessment.
Mr. Grist : We intend that from 1 April 1991 local authorities will be required to establish a procedure for
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considering any representations, including any complaints, that are made to them about their discharge of responsibilities to an individual under any of their social services functions.In addition, section 3 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 confers a right for disabled people or their authorised representatives to receive written statements on request following assessment and to make representations regarding assessments and their outcomes. In regard to the implementation of this section, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave on 23 July.
GP Contract (Late Payments)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from general practitioners in Wales regarding late payments for their work under the new general practitioners contract ; and what steps he is taking to reduce such delays.
Mr. Grist : None. I would expect any problems over payments to be discussed with the responsible family practioner committee.
Project 2000
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the number of employees who will be needed to take the place of nurses in training in respect of ward duties once Project 2000 is implemented in each of the next five years (a) in Wales as a whole and (b) in each district health authority in Wales.
Mr. Grist : We have made provision to fund the staff replacement shortfall in the lost student contribution of nurse learners. The funding formula for Project 2000, which applies to each DHA in Wales, is based on a 50 per cent. student service contribution, apportioned on the basis of 50 per cent. qualified staff (Grade D), and 50 per cent. unqualified staff (Grade A) ; and the number of students indexed with the Welsh national board as at October 1989.
Welsh Water (Press Release)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many press releases were issued by the Welsh water authority in each of the years 1983 to 1988 and in the year 1989 up to the date of privatisation ; how many were issued from the flotation date to the end of 1989 ; and how many have been issued by Welsh Water plc in the current year.
Mr. Grist : This was a matter for the Welsh water authority prior to 1 September 1990 and subsequently for Welsh Water plc.
Slaughterhouses
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the slaughterhouses that were visited by European Community inspectors in 1989 and in 1990 ; if he will indicate which have had their approval suspended ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given today by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Column 518
Tritium
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what regulations are relevant to the storage of Betalight components which contain tritium gas at BT Cwmcarn ; and what actions have been taken to regulate such materials ;
(2) what inspections have been undertaken in the last 12 months in respect of the storing of Betalight components which contain tritium at BT Cwmcarn ; and what quantities were stored at the time of such inspections.
Mr. Grist : I shall write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
ENERGY
Renewable Energy
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current funding allocated to research projects involving renewable energy resources ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan : Just over £20 million has been set aside by my Department to fund research and development projects into sources of renewable energy in 1990-91.
Coal Imports
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the amount of coal imported to Teesside, Wearside and Tyneside for (a) each year from 1979 to 1989 and (b) each month in 1987, 1988 and 1989.
Mr. Baldry : Coal imports for these areas, listed by Customs trade port, were as follows :
thousand tonnes
|Middlesbrough|Hartlepool |Sunderland |Tyne
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |941 |- |22 |-
1980 |1,255 |- |13 |-
1981 |1,175 |- |6 |-
1982 |735 |1 |43 |-
1983 |708 |13 |102 |-
1984 |1,447 |8 |23 |2
1985 |2,352 |101 |88 |1
1986 |2,610 |295 |243 |-
1987
January |63 |15 |6 |-
February |283 |5 |12 |-
March |288 |3 |6 |-
April |223 |30 |9 |-
May |3 |10 |15 |-
June |200 |23 |7 |-
July |107 |35 |21 |-
August |230 |69 |4 |-
September |317 |35 |26 |-
October |239 |21 |12 |-
November |307 |44 |38 |-
December |240 |65 |43 |-
Total<1> |2,501 |354 |198 |-
1988
January |136 |60 |23 |-
February |79 |38 |22 |-
March |490 |38 |37 |-
April |295 |14 |21 |-
May |343 |15 |62 |-
June |45 |28 |19 |-
July |285 |14 |31 |-
August |162 |44 |48 |-
September |234 |18 |57 |-
October |143 |10 |23 |-
November |213 |21 |31 |-
December |145 |14 |43 |-
Total<1> |<2>2,570 |314 |418 |-
1989
January |103 |16 |23 |-
February |276 |6 |31 |-
March |206 |11 |38 |-
April |430 |5 |45 |-
May |176 |4 |23 |-
June |72 |4 |50 |-
July |- |10 |10 |-
August |165 |2 |26 |-
September |457 |14 |2 |21
October |166 |9 |9 |-
November |401 |- |17 |-
December |360 |8 |12 |-
Total<1> |2,812 |89 |287 |21
Source: Her Majesty's Customs and Excise (port of entry basis). Figures are for
imports of hard coal. For the years 1979 to 1982 small quantities of lignite and
peat may also be included.
<1> Due to rounding the sum of the constituent items may not equal the totals.
<2> Monthly figures have been adjusted to accord with a revised annual total.
Table file CW900726.096 not available
Dounreay
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if any military contract work has been undertaken by the atomic energy development establishment at Dounreay ;
(2) if the Dounreay reprocessing facility has reprocessed any fuel from the Herald reactor at Aldermaston.
Mr. Baldry : The Dounreay reprocessing facility reprocesses, under safeguards, all the fuel from the Herald materials test reactor (MTR) under a contract with the Ministry of Defence. Dounreay also provides waste management services to the adjacent Vulcan establishment and undertakes the post-irradiation examination of some components from that establishment, neither of which involves the MTR fuel cycle at Dounreay.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if any changes in the present safeguards regime at the atomic energy development establishment at Dounreay will be requested by the new reprocessing contracts the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is developing with reactor operators in Berlin, Madrid and Petter.
Mr. Baldry : No changes to safeguards would be required.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish the co-operation agreement between the United States of America and United Kingdom governments, for the reprocessing at Dounreay of test reactor fuel pins.
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