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Mr. Dorrell : We have received a number of representations about the supply of incontinence pads to private nursing and residential homes. The free provision of incontinence pads under the National Health Service Act 1977 does not extend to people living in private nursing homes ; the same legislation provides that district health authorities may provide incontinence materials and other nursing aids to people in their own homes and at their discretion to residents of local authority and private residential homes. The extent to which this discretion is exercised varies from place to place and information about these decisions is not held centrally.
Infertility Treatments
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the most recent figures available showing the number of clinics in (a) England and (b) England and
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Wales offering (i) IVF, GIFT and other procedures and(ii) GIFT and other procedures but excluding IVF ; and if he will also publish the total numbers of (a) single, (b) twin, (c) triplet, (d) quadruplet, (e) quintuplet and (f) sextuplet pregnancies following GIFT procedures in each category of clinic.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is not available centrally. Some information on these matters is published in the annual report of the Interim Licensing Authority, a copy of which is available in the Library.
In future we expect that some of the data requested will be available from the IVF register, which has been set up by OPCS with funding from the Department.
Childbirth
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the most recent figures available showing the estimated percentage of women delivering in (a) England and (b) England and Wales (i) whose labours were induced, (ii) whose labours were of spontaneous onset and (iii) who had elective Caesarean section.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The most recently available information, for 1988-89, from a sample of 173,000 births in England, is shown in the table. Information for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Method of onset of labour |Percentage --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Induced labour |17 Spontaneous onset, including accelerated labour |73 Elective Caesarean section |5 Not known |5
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the most recent figures available showing the estimated percentage of women delivering in (a) England and (b) England and Wales whose deliveries were (i) spontaneous including abnormal presentation of head and breech spontaneous, (ii) instrumental including forceps, vacuum and breech extractions, (iii) Caesarean section and (iv) other and unspecified means.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The most recently available information, for 1988-89, from a sample of 173,000 births in England, is shown in the table. Information for Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Method of delivery
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) Spontaneous including abnormal presentation of
head and breech spontaneous |78
(ii) Instrumental including forceps, vacuum and breech
extractions |11
(iii)Ceasarean sections |10
(iv)Other and unspecified means |1
Wakefield Health Authority
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the names, home addresses, ages and occupations of the newly appointed chairman, executive and non-executive members of Wakefield health authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Brian Hayward was appointed the chairman of Wakefield health authority
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from 14 November 1988 until 31 March 1992. The hon. Member may care to write to Mr. Hayward at the district health authority for his personal details.The Yorkshire regional health authority is responsible for appointing the non-executive members of Wakefield health authority. The chief officer and the chief finance officer are "ex-officio" executive members of the authority. Other executives are appointed by the chairman, the non- executives and the chief officer.
The hon. Member may therefore wish to contact Sir Bryan Askew, chairman of Yorkshire regional health authority, for the information he requires.
Acute Care
Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are issued by his Department to area health authorities as to the relative priority to be granted to patients (a) over the age of 70 years and (b) under the age of 70 years who have been diagnosed as having suffered serious coronary attacks, in respect of acute care treatments.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : None. The treatment of an individual patient is a matter for the clinician responsible for his or her care.
General Practitioners
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to allow general practitioners a statutory right to buy their premises where they are owned by the public sector.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Health authorities are at liberty to sell unneeded health centres to general practitioners, provided suitable arrangements are made for the continuing provision of any community services based there.
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, further to his answer of 16 October, Official Report, column 1045, he will publish the evidence showing that the amount of time general practitioners spend with patients is increasing.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State's comments were based on a survey published in "PULSE" on 4 August, which showed 54 per cent. of GPs had spent more time in patient contact since the inception of the new contract. A copy of this publication is available in the Library.
Eye Tests
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the impact of charging for eyesight checks on attendances for examination in the London borough of Newham.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information about NHS sight tests is not collected for individual London boroughs. Figures are available, however, for regional health authorities. For North East Thames regional health authority, which includes the London borough of Newham, the number of NHS sight tests paid for in 1988-89 and 1989-90 by family health service authorities in that region was as follows : NHS Sight Tests
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1988-89 : 1,054,9601989-90 (after entitlement was restricted to certain groups) : 468, 230.
After 1 April 1989, many patients in Newham, as elsewhere, will have had a private eye examination. Regular statistics are not kept on private sight tests.
NHS Capital Programme
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for health what report the national health service management board has made to him on the impact on the capital programme of the national health service arising from the fall in property values.
Bed Closures
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health with what frequency he requires the national health service management board to report on the number of bed closures by region or district ; and what are the latest figures.
Mr. Dorrell : We do not require reports from the management executive on numbers of bed closures since this information is not an accurate guide to the level of services to patients.
Heracleum Mantegazzianum
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many recorded incidents there have been in the last five years of the hospitalisation of patients who have come into contact with the furocoumarins released by heracleum mantegazzianum
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not available.
Hostels
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will give social services departments overall responsibility for financing the cost of care in hostels to the extent that it is not covered by other existing funding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Local authorities have powers under existing legislation to support hostels and the people in them. It is for each local authority to decide the type and level of support to make available.
Vitamin A Supplements
Mr. Michael Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will identify the research or peer review journal which led to his Department's decision to recommend restricted consumption of liver and vitamin A supplements ; and whether he has any plans to make the findings of this research more widely available.
Mr. Dorrell : A number of pieces of research contributed to the Department's decision. The major contributing factor was the increasing knowledge of the potential teratogenicity of vitamin A and growing evidence that the consumption of high amounts of vitamin A by pregnant women may be associated with birth defects in their babies. This information is reviewed in the following publications : Rosa FW, Wilk AL and Kelsey
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FO (1986) Teratology 33, 355-364 ; Biesalski HK (1989) Toxicology 57, 117-161 and Teratology Society position paper :"Recommendations for Vitamin A use during pregnancy" (1987) Teratology 35 269-275. Results of recent measurements of vitamin A levels in samples of domestic and imported liver on sale in the United Kingdom are quoted in the Department's press release of 18 October 1990, ref 90/507. Copies of these documents have been placed in the Library.
Electromagnetic Fields
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the research projects he has instigated into the potential health implications resulting from exposure to electromagnetic fields.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 19 October 1990] : The National Radiological Protection Board is under a statutory duty to inform and advise Government and others on possible hazards to health from ionising and non-ionising radiation. The board has undertaken an extensive review of the possible health consequences of exposure to electromagnetic fields. The review, to be published shortly, will form the basis of a revision of the board's recommendations published in 1989 entitled, "Guidance on Exposure to Time-Varying Electromagnetic Fields" (NRPB-GS11), a copy of which is in the Library.
Projects undertaken by board staff include measurement of occupational and domestic electromagnetic fields and theoretical calculation of energy absorption in people. A programme of work investigating the cancer-related responses of cell cultures to electromagnetic fields is to begin shortly.
Industrial Deafness
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will list the type of machines covered by provisions relating to industrial deafness ; when that list was compiled ; when it was last revised ; and whether he will review the list.
Mr. Scott : I have been asked to reply. The machines specified in the jobs prescribed for occupational deafness are listed in schedule 1, part 1, of the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Regulations 1985 as amended by regulation 2 of the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1987. The list can also be found in leaflet NI 207 "If you think your job has made you deaf"--copies of which are available in the Library. The list was first prescribed in 1975 and last revised in 1988. The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council reviewed the list in Cm. 817 "Occupational Deafness"--October 1989--but decisions on its recommendations were deferred pending a further report from the council on improving the administrative arrangements for dealing with claims for this disease. This report will be published very shortly. The council has asked the Department to evaluate the feasibility of the report's recommendations within six months. It should then be easier to determine whether there are orderly ways in which to extend provision for this disease to further occupations.
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ENVIRONMENT
Planning Applications (London)
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from (a) Richmond upon Thames borough council and (b) Marks and Spencers plc requesting him not to call in the planning application for a Marks and Spencers shop on the embankment beside the River Thames at Twickenham ; and what arguments were advanced in each instance.
Mr. Michael Spicer : My right hon. Friend has received one letter from the London borough of Richmond upon Thames and one from the planning advisers acting for Marks and Spencers plc requesting him not to call in the application.
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in respect of a planning application for a Marks and Spencers store on the embankment of the River Thames at Twickenham, he will set out the number of letters he has received either direct or via the hon. Member for Twickenham, for and against (a) planning permission and (b) calling in the application for a public inquiry.
Mr. Michael Spicer : My right hon. Friend has received 16 letters supporting and 53 objecting to the proposed development, and 120 calling for and three opposing a public inquiry. He has also received 25 representations supporting and 47 objecting to the proposed development on printed forms.
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report those planning applications within Greater London which he has called in within the last three years.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Applications for development at the following locations have been called in since October 1987 :
St. John's Hospital, SE13
Stamford Bridge Stadium
Abbey National Sports Ground, Kenton
London Bridge City Phase II
Noak Hill/Appleby Drive, Romford
St. Theresa's School, Hatch End
Land adjacent to the M11, Woodford
Haverfield Road, Cordova Road and Clinton Road, E3
Branch Hill, Camden
Victoria Park Wharf, Mile End Park
Westfield College, Brent
PLA Sports Ground, Redbridge
Feltham Lower School
Galsworthy House, Kingston Hill
43-49 Grove Road, E3
City of London Heliport
London City Airport
Spitalfields Market
North Wards Site, Harefield Hospital
This list does not include applications in the legal precincts and for foreign embassies which are subject to special arrangements.
Environmental Meetings
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the future environmental conferences, seminars and meetings which Ministers or officials in his Department will be attending in the next three months and, where possible, the date of each.
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Mr. Trippier [holding answer 19 October 1990] : Ministers and officials from this Department will as usual be attending a number of conferences, seminars and meetings during the next three months.
Coastal Protection
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to review section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) to take account of the special responsibilities of maritime district councils in exercising their duties under the Coast Protection Act 1949 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : No. While I am aware of a number of cases where the interests of nature conservation have seemed at variance with the need for coastal protection under the Coast Protection Act 1949, I am pleased to be able to report that these are generally resolved by agreement between the parties involved.
Crown Suppliers
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why it was decided to close down the Crown Suppliers so soon after he had announced that they were to be privatised ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : The decision to close a part of the Crown Suppliers was taken in the light of the disappointing result of the sale competition, two and a half years after the announcement that it would be offered for sale. Discussions are continuing with bidders for other parts of the Crown Suppliers.
Bournemouth Borough Council
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his assessment of the appropriate level of service for Bournemouth borough council which has resulted in a 13.7 per cent. reduction in real terms of support grant between 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Mr. Key : The revenue support grant entitlement for Bournemouth borough council was calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the revenue support grant distribution report approved by the House in January and applied equally to all authorities. Among other factors, the Bournemouth area now has to find a smaller share of the precept from Dorset county council than under the former system and this is reflected in the grant entitlement.
Sunday Markets
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what restrictions exist governing the freedoms of Sunday markets to operate without permission ; whether the Government have any plans to review the position ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988--GDO--grants planning permission for the temporary use of land for markets for up to 14 days in any calendar year. Use for more than 14 days requires specific planning permission, and a local planning authority may withdraw the GDO permission by making a direction under article 4 of the order.
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Section 37 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 enables a local authority to resolve to require both the operator and the site occupier to give not less than one month's notice of a forthcoming market. Non-compliance with this requirement is subject to a fine.Under section 58 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, local authorities may serve a notice requiring the abatement or restriction of noise nuisance arising from a temporary market. Breach of the terms of such a notice attracts a fine of up to £2,000.
I do not believe that any further legislation is needed to control the planning aspects of markets, although the GDO is kept under review.
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Recycling
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing all EEC member states' records on recycling paper, glass and aluminium (a) in total tonnes, (b) tonnes per head of population and (c) net cost per tonne for the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I understand, from data supplied by the Pulp and Paper Information Centre, the British Glass Manufacturers' Confederation and the Organisation of European Aluminium Smelters, that the figures for 1989 are as tabulated. No information is available on the net cost per tonne of recycling these materials.
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Paper Glass Aluminium
|Total |Tonnes/ |Total |Tonnes/ |Total |Tonnes/
|tonnes |head |tonnes |head |tonnes |head
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |<1>691,000|<1>0.0671 |208,000 |0.02100 |<2>- |<2>-
Denmark |311,000 |0.0610 |58,000 |0.01140 |<2>- |<2>-
France |2,881,000 |0.0522 |760,000 |0.01300 |233,100 |0.0040
Germany (Federal Republic) |5,627,000 |0.0922 |1,538,000 |0.02470 |537,000 |0.0086
Great Britain |2,975,000 |0.0526 |310,000 |0.00560 |220,000 |0.0040
Greece |<2>- |<2>- |14,000 |0.00140 |<2>- |<2>-
Ireland |<2>- |<2>- |11,000 |0.00310 |<2>- |<2>-
Italy |1,733,000 |0.0304 |670,000 |0.01175 |390,000 |0.0068
Netherlands |1,488,000 |0.1026 |279,000 |0.01880 |129,000 |0.0087
Portugal |273,000 |0.0268 |34,000 |0.00330 |<2>- |<2>-
Spain |1,591,000 |0.0412 |287,000 |0.00740 |77,600 |0.0020
<1>Includes Luxembourg; no other figures are available for that country.
<2>No figures are available.
Disabled People (Housing)
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations his Department has received from John Grooms housing association concerning investment in housing for physically disabled people ; what response he has made ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Spicer : We received a letter from John Grooms housing association signed by representatives of a number of organisations connected with the housing, support and care of disabled people, concerning the provision of housing for the physically disabled, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Teignbridge (Mr. Nicholls) replied on 5 September. I have placed copies of the correspondence in the Library.
Food Safety Act
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money is being earmarked for local authorities to pay for the increased work load resulting from enforcement of the Food Safety Act ; how and when this will be paid to local authorities ; what formula is being employed to determine the allocation between local authorities ; and how the resources will be divided between county and district councils.
Mr. Key : The Government have estimated that local authorities in England will need to spend £24.7 million, in 1991-92, to carry out the additional duties resulting from the Food Safety Act. This additional cost has been taken into account in the total of aggregate external finance, proposed to be £26.05 billion, which will be distributed to local authorities on the basis of standard spending
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assessments. My right hon. Friend will be announcing our proposals for standard spending assessments in the near future.Camden
Sir Geoffrey Finsberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he proposes to take in regard to the London borough of Camden under part I of the Local Government Act 1988.
Mr. Key : On 3 July 1990, my right hon. Friend served two notices under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988 on the London borough of Camden, setting out his view that the authority had failed to comply with the requirements of the Act in carrying out refuse collection and street cleaning work. Under section 14 of the Act, he may issue directions to an authority on which he has served a notice under section 13. The London borough of Camden made a written response to the section 13 notices on 2 August 1990 and requested a meeting on the case, which the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory), held with it on 24 September 1990. We are still considering whether to issue a section 14 direction in the light of the points made at that meeting and of further information submitted since the meeting.
Minerals Act 1981
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what stage has been reached over his Department's review of the operation of the Minerals Act 1981 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : The Government's intention to review the operation of the provisions of the Minerals Act 1981 was
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announced in paragraph 6.57 of "This Common Inheritance". Some work relevant to this review is already under way. Any proposals for change arising out of the review will be the subject of full public consultation.Waste Management
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he, or officials of his Department, have been invited to participate in the conference on recycling, organised by the Institute of Wastes Management in London on 4 December.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Yes. I shall be speaking at the conference, as will two officials from the Department's local environmental quality division.
Committee Corridor (Carpet)
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state (a) the cost of replacing the carpet on the Committee corridor, (b) the origin of the carpet and (c) how the original was disposed of.
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