| Previous Section | Home Page |
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether additional funds were made available to community health councils for consultation on self-governing trusts.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Responding to consultation on the provision of health services is part of the normal function of community health councils. Additional funds have not been made available for consultation on self-governing trusts.
Column 48
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations have been received by (a) him and (b) regional health authorities about the length of time allowed for consultation on self- governing trusts.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A number of letters have been received. We are satisfied that three months is an appropriate length of time for consultation.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the report of the South East Thames regional health authority on local consultation about the application for self-governing trust status of (a) Guy's hospital, Lewisham hospital and mental illness services and (b) St. Thomas's hospital.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Responses to consultation are available from regional health authorities, except where those commenting have made it clear that they are doing so privately.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which regional health authorities held public meetings as part of the consultation about self-governing trusts ;
(2) which regional health authorities mounted exhibitions as part of their consultations on self-governing trust status.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : It is for regions together with trust applicants to determine the range of interests consulted formally and the way in which they are consulted. The methods used in consultation in each region are publicly available from regional health authorities.
Column 49
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will announce his decision about which applications for self-governing status will be granted.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : My right hon. Friend will announce his decision soon.
General Practitioners, Trent
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner fund-holding practices will be given the go ahead in the Trent region ; on what criteria ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Practices which applied by 1 November this year to join the scheme will need to satisfy the conditions laid down in the National Health Service (Fund-Holding Practices) (Applications and Recognition) Regulations 1990. I understand that 28 practices in the Trent region are currently undertaking the preparatory work necessary to become fund holders. It will be for the region to decide which practices meet the criteria for recognition.
Hospital Beds
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of national health service beds in use in (a) the acute sector and (b) totally in each year from 1979 to 1989 ; and what is the current figure.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is given in the table. The latest available figures show that in 1989-90 almost 7.5 million in-patient cases were treated. On a comparable basis, just over 6 million in-patient cases were treated in 1979--a rise of nearly 25 per cent.
Average daily available beds in England
|Acute sector|Total
|(Thousands) |(Thousands)
----------------------------------------------------
1979 |149 |362
1980 |146 |356
1981 |145 |352
1982 |144 |348
1983 |142 |343
1984 |139 |335
1985 |136 |325
1986 |133 |316
1987-88 |128 |297
1988-89 |123 |281
1989-90 |121 |270
Source:
SH3 return 1979-1986
KHO3 return 1987-88-1989-90
Abortion
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has concerning the rate of sterility caused by infections among women who have had abortions.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has concerning the number of licensed abortion agencies which currently routinely screen potential clients for chlamydia infection.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is not routinely collected. We are aware, however, that some
Column 50
pregnancy advice agencies test their clients for chlamydia infection prior to the insertion of intrauterine devices and in connection with infertility treatment.Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement outlining the steps which have been taken by his Department to reduce the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease and tubal blockage following chlamydia infection during abortion.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The form of treatment in an individual case is a matter for the clinical judgment of the doctor concerned.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to the Brook advisory service and other abortion agencies in the last 20 years about the need routinely to screen in advance for chlamydia their potential abortion clients and to prescribe, where appropriate, a course of antibiotics ; and what steps he has taken to ensure that these guidelines are followed.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Brook advisory service is not registered as a pregnancy advice bureau. No such guidance has been issued to Brook or any registered bureaux. The appropriateness of any particular test in an individual case is a matter for the clinical judgment of the doctor concerned.
Residential Care
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been given by his Department to agencies concerned with the provision of drug and alcohol services with regard to the funding of residential care after 1 April 1993.
Mr. Dorrell : None. We are currently consulting about the specific grant to local authorities. Under the phased introduction of community care local authorities are expected to produce their plans, after consultation, by April 1992. Detailed arrangements for funding residential care for alcohol and drug misusers after 1 April 1993 have yet to be decided.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is able to take in the event of a local authority being unable to meet its duty to provide or arrange residential accommodation for elderly people in need of care and attention not otherwise available.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The provision of residential care is a local authority responsibility. They are expected to give priority to the discharge of their statutory duties. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has default powers which can be used if a local authority fails to fulfil its statutory duty under the National Assistance Act 1948 to provide residential care to people in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them.
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce legislation to extend registration procedures to small residential homes.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We remain committed to seeking an early opportunity for legislation to bring these small homes under regulatory control.
Service Providers (Voluntary Sector)
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made by his Department of the resource implications for service providers in the voluntary
Column 51
sector of the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 ; and what financial assistance is being made available to them by the Government.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Although grants are available from central and local government to voluntary sector provider agencies, our community care proposals urge local authorities to contract for services with voluntary sector providers. Guidance will stress the important role of local authorities in encouraging and facilitating the work of the voluntary sector. Authorities will still be able to offer grant support for non- service aspects of voluntary sector work.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is his intention to issue guidelines on the implementation of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990, for use of providers of services in the voluntary sector.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department will shortly issue policy guidance on community care which will be supplemented by practice advice from the social services inspectorate. Both guidance and practice advice will be addressed to health and local authorities and the Department intends that they will be of interest to all community care agencies, including voluntary and private sector providers.
Drug and Alcohol Services
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 for the assessment of care management of clients with drug and alcohol problems where there is a need for access to a national network of services to be maintained and a requirement for the provision of funding across existing local authority and health authority boundaries.
Mr. Dorrell : The policy guidance which is to be issued soon will emphasise the need for local authorities and health authorities to work together. The assessment of clients with alcohol and drug problems will need to take account of the range of services provided within the area or available elsewhere.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what response has been made by his Department following representations from agencies regarding the omission from the National Health Service and Community Care Act of provisions to take account of the special needs of drug and alcohol services.
Mr. Dorrell : Section 7E of the Local Authorities Social Services Act 1970 (inserted by section 50 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990) empowers my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to make specific grants to local authorities. One of these grants will be for voluntary organisations providing services for alcohol and drug misusers. The grant in 1991-92 will support expenditure of £2 million.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is the Government's intention to issue guidelines concerning the resolution of disputes between agencies over the responsibility for funding services for people with drug or alcohol problems, under the provisions of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.
Column 52
Mr. Dorrell : Guidance which is to be issued soon will emphasise the need for joint working between all agencies concerned with funding community care services. There was wide-ranging consultation including voluntary and statutory authorities. Where there is dispute between health authorities and local authorities, advice may be sought from regional health authorities and the social services inspectorate.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision is being made by his Department under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 to ensure that a uniform system for the assessment of persons with drug or alcohol problems is developed across the United Kingdom in order to avoid clients facing several assessments from various agencies before being offered appropriate services.
Mr. Dorrell : It is not the Government's intention to prescribe the detailed assessment procedures ; these will be for local authorities to develop in partnership with other agencies. In assessing the social and health care needs of their residents, local and health authorities will need to ensure that people with alcohol or drug problems have access to a range of services which may be provided within the area or elsewhere. Where a specialist service is provided by a voluntary body under contract with a local authority, it will be possible for the contractual arrangements to include delegation of the assessment function.
King's College Hospital
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the King's College hospital day surgery block will be used for national health service patients.
Eye Tests
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of national health service eye tests carried out between 1 April 1989 and 31 March 1990.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The number of NHS sight tests paid for by family health services authorities (formally family practitioner committees) in England and Wales between 1 April 1989 and 31 March 1990 was 5.572 million.
This figure includes approximately 1.7 million sight tests which were carried out before 1 April 1989 but paid for after that date.
Listeria Monocytogenes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been carried out to investigate the proposition that listeria monocytogenes, damaged by heating and growing in chilled conditions, are more infectious and dangerous than normal listeria monocytogenes.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 12 November 1990] : Research at the university of Wu"rzburg, Germany has indicated that levels of haemolysin (a haemolysin is a chemical produced by bacteria which damages or destroys red blood cells (and other mammalian cells) ) in some listeria monocytogenes (Lm) have been increased
Column 53
following recovery after heat shock. The production of haemolysin by some strains of Lm has been shown to be a marker for virulence in animals and tissue culture, and is believed to be relevant to the ability of the micro-organisms to cause disease in humans. However, the observed higher incidence of haemolysin following heat shock was followed by further work with certain strains of Lm. This showed no increase in virulence for animals or tissue cultures, suggesting that an increased level of haemolysin produced by the micro-organism may not be important in producing disease.Research by other groups has shown that Lm cultured at low temperatures appears to be more virulent in an animal model following intravenous inoculation but not more virulent following introduction into the alimentary tract, that is, oral route.
Research continues into the virulence of this micro-organism at Wu"rzburg and at the Pasteur institute in Paris. In the United Kingdom the public health laboratory service is embarking on work to establish virulence markers and work in this field is also taking place at the Moredun research institute in Edinburgh.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Disablement Benefit Gratuities
3. Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of disablement benefit gratuities paid to claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Greenock and Port Glasgow, under regulation 13 of the Social Security (Industrial Injuries and Diseases) Miscellaneous Provisions Regulations 1986 ; and what has been the average amount of such payments.
Mr. Scott : This information is not available.
Child Benefit
4. Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the level of child benefit for the first-born child in each of the 12 Community countries.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The table shows that the United Kingdom rate of £7.25 a week is second only to the £7.77 shown for Belgium. From next April the United Kingdom rate will be £8.25.
Rates of child benefit in the 12 European
Community states
on the birth of a first-born child
Country |Maximum
|normal rates<1>
|£
------------------------------------------------
Belgium |7.77<2><3>
Denmark |6.36<4>
France |Nil<4>
Germany |3.22
Greece |0.98<2><3><4>
Ireland |2.99
Italy |2.01<2><3><4>
Luxembourg |6.93
Netherlands |5.20
Portugal |2.15<2><4>
Spain |0.34<2><4>
United Kingdom |7.25<4>
<1> Rates quoted are weekly sterling
equivalents (most EC countries pay benefits
monthly) and have been converted from national
currency using purchasing power parity rates.
Rates quoted were correct at 1 January 1990.
<2> Benefits based on a contributory principle.
<3> Benefits have an element of means-testing.
<4> Extra amounts payable to certain families,
eg, single parents.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what plans he has to ensure that families eligible for income support and the £1 per week increase in child benefit for the first born do not lose all the child benefit increase ;
(2) what is his most up-to-date estimate of the numbers of families with children on income support who will lose (a) all of the £1 per week in child benefit for the first born announced in the annual uprating, (b) 50p to £1 and (c) 0 to 50p.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : As a result of the recently announced uprating of social security benefits, more than 99 per cent. of families on income support will see an overall increase in their total benefits from April 1991. In the course of the uprating, increases in all benefits are generally taken fully into account, including the increase in child benefit paid to about 1.2 million families on income support. Insufficient information is available to estimate the number of families whose income support will be affected by less than £1 per week but this number is thought to be very low. There are no plans for changing the way child benefit is treated in income support.
Family Credit
7. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average family credit payment and what was the average family income supplement payment in 1978-79 in current prices.
19. Sir Hal Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average family credit payment : and what was the average family income supplement payment in 1978-79 in today's prices.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The average amount of family credit in payment is around £30 a week. The average payment of family income supplement in March 1979 was £5.22 or £11.30 at current prices.
18. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families benefit from family credit ; and how many benefited from the predecessor scheme in 1978-79.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The latest available information is for the end of August when the family credit case load was 323,000. This compares with 78,000 families receiving family income supplement at the end of 1978- 79.
24. Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the latest figure he has for the number of families in receipt of family credit ; and what was the comparable figure for family income supplement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The latest information is for the end of August when the family credit case load was 323,000. Family income supplement was in payment to 213,000 families immediately before that scheme came to an end in April 1988.
Invalidity Benefit
14. Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he plans to change the gap between invalidity benefit and the take-home pay of the average worker.
Column 55
Mr. Scott : We have no plans to change the formula for uprating invalidity benefit, which is uprated in line with the retail prices index.Students (Income Support)
15. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to amend the present regulations to enable 19-year-olds in full-time relevant education to claim income support.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have no plans to change the income support regulations in this way.
Disabled People
16. Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many disabled people and their carers have benefited from the Government's reforms made in the current year.
Mr. Scott : More than half a million disabled people and carers have benefited this year from the Government's reforms to disability benefits. Our proposals for improving disability benefits will add some £300 million to spending on disabled people by 1993-94 and will give extra help to an estimated 850,000 people. Spending on disabled people has increased in real terms by more than £4 billion since 1978-79 to a total of £8.3 billion in 1989-90.
22. Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many disabled people are paying back social fund loans ; how many are paying back with deductions from other benefits ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : As at 31 October 1990, 26,800 people with an income support disability premium were repaying social fund loans. Most of these will have been repaying by deduction from their benefit. A small number may have been repaying by other methods but a precise figure is not available. Since April 1990, 35,000 community care grants have been awarded to people with a disability premium. In 6, 600 of these cases a grant was awarded where the application was for a budgeting loan.
Welfare Rights Agencies
20. Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from welfare rights agencies regarding the availability of his Department's claims forms.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : There have been no such representations since August. New contracts for the national supply and distribution of all forms have been in operation since September.
Pensions
21. Mr. Donald Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of uprating the basic pension by £13 for a single person and £20 for a couple.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : My hon. Friend will be interested to know that the cost to the national insurance fund of uprating the retirement pension in this way would be approximately £6 billion. Such an increase would also
Column 56
mean a rise in the national insurance contributions paid by an employee on average earnings of approximately £2.93 per week and £5.34 for his employer.Pensioners (Mortgages)
23. Mr. Tracey : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of pensioners make mortgage repayments ; and how much of next April's rise in the basic state pension is attributable to rising interest and mortgage rates in the 12 months to September of this year.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridgeshire, North-East (Mr. Moss) earlier today.
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of pensioners make mortgage repayments ; and how much of next April's rise in the basic state pension is attributable to rising interest and mortgage rates in the 12 months to September of this year.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : As my hon. Friend will be aware, the retirement pension will be increased by 10.9 per cent. from April 1991, honouring the Government's commitment to protect fully the value of the state pension against changing prices. The corresponding September figure for the retail prices index less mortgage interest payments was 9.5 per cent. The latest information shows that, in 1987 49 per cent. of pensioners owned their own homes and 4 per cent. were making mortgage repayments.
Residential Care Allowances
25. Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consultations he has initiated consequently on receipt of the Price Waterhouse report on residential care allowances to charitable or other homes for the elderly.
Mr. Scott : The Price Waterhouse report was commissioned to provide background information for consideration as part of this year's uprating. Other interested parties provided comments or information that they wished to be considered.
Amputees
26. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many amputees had their mobility allowance withdrawn or suspended in the last three years for which figures are available.
Mr. Scott : I regret that this information is not available. The Department's records do, however, show that of the 611,000 people currently receiving mobility allowance, 8,000 are shown as having amputation of a limb as the main cause of their inability to walk.
Benefits
Mr. Brazier : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost in a full year of abolishing the capital rule and deemed income and basing benefit on actual income only for (a) housing benefit, (b) community charge benefit, (c) family credit and (d) age premium for retirement pensioners.
Column 57
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The cost in a full year of abolishing capital limits and tariff income for the income-related benefits and basing benefit on actual income from capital is estimated to be :
|1990-91
|prices
|£ million
------------------------------------------------
a. Housing benefit |60
b. Community charge benefit |70
c. Family credit |2
d. Income support |60
It is estimated that there would be no cost if the change was made only to income support for those receiving a pensioner premium. Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1985, 1986 and 1987 family expenditure surveys. Estimates of capital holdings are uncertain because they are imputed from reported income from investment and savings. The estimated costs quoted assume particular interest rate levels and patterns of capital asset holdings.
Mr. Brazier : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost in a full year of abolishing the capital rule and deemed income and basing benefit on 10 per cent. of annual income only for (a) housing benefit, (b) community charge benefit, (c) family credit and (d) age premium for retirement pensioners.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The expenditure effect in a full year of abolishing capital limits and tariff income for the income-related benefits and basing benefit assessment on an assumed interest on savings of 10 per cent. is estimated to be :
)
1990-91 prices
|£ million
-----------------------------------------
(a) Housing benefit |<1>10
(b) Community charge
benefit |<2>20
(c) Family credit |<1>2
(d) Income support |<1>5
<1> Million saving.
<2> Million cost.
It is estimated that if the change were applied only to income support for those receiving pensioner premium there would be a saving of £30 million. Savings arise because 10 per cent. income would be assumed on the first £3,000 of savings, whereas at present there is no tariff income at this level, and because a 10 per cent. assumed income is higher than the present tariff income in the lower saving brackets above £3,000.
Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1985, 1986 and 1987 family expenditure surveys. Estimates of capital holdings are uncertain because they are imputed from reported income from investment and savings.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received on the proposed changes in housing benefit subsidies for 1991-92 ; what were the views of the local authority associations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the reduction from 97 per cent. to 95 per cent. in the rate of direct subsidy for community charge
| Next Section
| Home Page |