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Alcohol Abuse
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the dates and reference numbers of any circulars and other publications issued by his Department in respect of alcohol abuse since November 1980.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The following circulars on alcohol misuse have been issued since November 1980 :
WOC 8/89 ; WHC 89(14) Alcohol Misuse--20 February 1989
WHC 90(78) Central Funding Initiative to Combat Alcohol Misuse in Wales : 1990-91 and 1991-92--5
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December 1990WHC 90(79) Combating Alcohol Misuse in Wales : The Next Steps--5 December 1990
The main publications sponsored and/or distributed by the Department are as follows :
"Dealing with Alcohol Problems in Wales"--Health Education Advisory Committee for Wales, January 1987.
"Improving Services for Problem Drinkers in Wales"--Alcohol Concern Wales, 1988.
"Alcohol in the Workplace, A Guide for Employers"--Department of Employment --issued in Wales 29 November 1989.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give a breakdown by counties in Wales of the distribution of funds out of the funding for projects to help combat alcohol abuse announced by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at his Department on Drinkwise Day in June ; and if he will list the organisations receiving cash in each county.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Allocations have not yet been made. However, bids have been invited by 31 December 1990 and I hope to make an announcement early in the new year.
Drug Misuse Patients
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish statistics for each Welsh health authority, for the number of drug misuse patients in Wales who receive treatment outside their district health authority areas.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This information is not held centrally.
District Health Authorities
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements have been made for giving directives to ensure that district health authority meetings will be open to the press and public.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett Health authorities are subject to the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. This requires a considerable degree of openness in their affairs. Advice was recently issued to health authorities on this matter ; this was contained in section 11 of Welsh health circular (90)57, copies of which I have placed in the Library of the House.
Homelessness
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are classed as homeless in (a) Ynys Mo n and (b) Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The number of persons accepted as homeless during the September 1990 quarter is shown in the following table :
|Number
-----------------------
Ynys Mon |35
Wales |5,337
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Ministerial Responsibilities
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the specific Welsh Office responsibilities (a) to which he will give personal oversight and (b) which he will delegate to each of his ministerial colleagues at the Welsh Office.
Mr. David Hunt : I have today announced the allocation of ministerial responsibilities within the Welsh Office. They are : Secretary of State, the right hon. David Hunt, MBE, MP : overall responsibility for the whole Department taking a special interest in economic matters, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, industry, Welsh Development Agency and Development Board for Rural Wales, energy and environment policy, Cardiff bay, Programme for the Valleys, financial and revenue support grant issues, European Community issues, constitutional issues, training and enterprise councils. Minister of State, Sir Wyn Roberts, MP : education and training, small businesses and rural affairs, Wales tourist board and tourism generally, transport and highways, Welsh language, arts, National Library and National Museum of Wales, historic buildings and ancient monuments, Countryside Council for Wales, national parks, conservation, general issues relating to public appointments. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Mr. Nicholas Bennett, MP : health and social work, housing, water and environmental protection, local government, land use planning, urban affairs, including urban programme and urban development grants, enterprise zones, sport.
Tai Cymru
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what resources are to be made available to Tai Cymru in the financial year 1991- 92.
Mr. David Hunt : In gross terms the resources available to Tai Cymru will be over £117.4 million. Taking account of associated private sector funding, the overall programme will be worth above £150 million next year. I am delighted that this will secure a further tranche of over 3,000 unit completions in 1991-92. The package of resources to be made available to Housing for Wales over the four-year period to 1993-94 will now total nearly half a billion pounds. The total allocation of over £480 million means a 36 per cent. increase from 1990-91 to 1993-94 ; by when the allocation will have virtually trebled in cash terms from five years ago. I am glad that Tai Cymru continues to make good progress in achieving strategic development of housing associations in Wales : by the close of its third full year of operation, and taking account of the provision that I have been able to make this year, Tai Cymru should have increased housing association dwelling stock by over a third.
As regards current expenditure, I shall be making available £4.8 million in 1991-92--an increase of £3 million over 1990-91--to cover the costs of the special needs management allowance scheme introduced in Wales this year. The scheme is of particular significance in carrying forward our strategies for vulnerable groups in Wales. I intend that its impact should be kept under continuing review.
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Local Government Finance
Mr. Raffan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the level at which domestic rates in Wales would have to be fixed in 1990-91 in order to raise the same amount as under the community charge.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett [pursuant to his reply, 5 December 1990, c. 148] : Owing to a typing error an incorrect figure was given. The correct answer is as follows. The estimated average rate bill per ratepayer for Wales in 1990-91 is £430 or 31 per cent. over 1989-90. For a detailed breakdown for each local authority, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones) on 11 May 1990.
EMPLOYMENT
Sheltered Placement Scheme
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received concerning the level of funding for the sheltered placement scheme.
Mr. Jackson : Around 130 written representations have been received on this subject this year.
Local Office Closure, Northumberland
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment why he proposes to close his Department's jobcentre and benefit office in Amble, Northumberland.
Mr. Jackson : Questions on operational matters in the Employment Service Executive Agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive, to whom I have referred this question for reply.
Training
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will examine the roles of further education colleges, some sixth forms, and youth training providers to identify and discourage any duplication or waste in staff, premises, equipment and operational costs.
Mr. Jackson : Training and enterprise councils are being given new responsibilities for business education partnerships and work related further education and will be closely involved in TVEI planning. The councils are well placed to address questions of efficiency and resource allocation, in partnership with local education authorities and independent educational institutions.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take frequent soundings of existing partners in education and training to ensure training and enterprise councils have the best available information on current and developing positions, and to give confidence to companies, schools, careers and managing agents that changes will be negotiated and not imposed.
Mr. Jackson : My Department is in regular contact with education and training interests and their views are always taken into account. In addition, I expect training and enterprise councils to consult relevant organisations in their local area.
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Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what incentives he intends to offer to encourage smaller companies to support human resource development through jobs with training.
Mr. Forth : The Government are committed to encouraging all firms, including small ones, to invest more effectively in the skills which their businesses need. This commitment is fully reflected in the prominence given to this issue in the strategic guidance for training and enterprise councils (TECs). The TECs are responding with plans for a wide range of activities and incentives to support this objective, all of which are tailored to meet particular local circumstances.
Training and enterprise councils and the national training task force are also introducing a new initiative, "Investors in People", which is designed to encourage all companies, including smaller ones, to appreciate the business benefits of effective training. Effective training and development will be formally recognised as "Investors In People". This will be important to customers and potential employees.
New Businesses
Mr. Grylls : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the latest weekly figures for net new business registrations.
Mr. Forth : During 1989, the latest period for which figures have been published by my Department, the number of businesses registered for VAT increased by nearly 1,700 a week on average. Early indications from data collected by HM Customs and Excise is that there continues to be a substantial surplus of registrations over deregistrations.
Labour and Social Affairs Council
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Labour and Social Affairs Council meeting held in Brussels on 26 November.
Mr. Howard : The Government welcome the result of this Council. The Council formally adopted the health and safety directive on biological agents, and reached a common position on a directive to control the use of asbestos at the workplace. A decision on an action programme in favour of the elderly was agreed as was a resolution on the comparability of vocational training qualifications.
There was a lengthy discussion of the directives concerning part-time and temporary work, as proposed by the European Commission under its social action programme. A clear majority of member states had significant difficulties with the substance of the proposals ; and they also agreed that article 100A of the treaty, as proposed by the Commission, was an inappropriate treaty base and that directives of this kind required unanimity in the Council.
A large majority of the delegations agreed with the United Kingdom that rapid progress could now be made towards agreeing the proposed directive on the health and safety of temporary workers.
There was also discussion of regulations concerned with the free movement of labour and social security entitlements for migrant workers. Some of the other member states had difficulties with the current draft texts.
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The Council was given a progress report by the presidency on the social action programme as a whole, and the Commission gave a report on immigration and the Community.The Commissioner of Social Affairs introduced her report on implementation of existing EC social legislation throughout the Community. It indicates that the United Kingdom leads all other member states ; indeed, we are the only member state to have implemented all the Community directives in the social affairs field.
Overall, the United Kingdom was pleased to be able to agree to a number of sensible, well-prepared proposals in the areas of health and safety at work, training and improvements to the labour market. The Government will continue to oppose vigorously any EC legislation which would damage either job prospects in the United Kingdom and the rest of the Community or the competitiveness of our industries. This Social Affairs Council was a further example of how the rest of the Community often shares the views of the United Kingdom when they address specific proposals for legislation or action.
Departmental Appointees
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the annual cost of fees and reimbursements to people appointed to (a) public, (b) non-governmental and (c) other bodies by his Department.
Mr. Jackson [holding answer 5 December 1990] : In 1989-90, the last financial year for which information is available, the annual cost to the Employment Department Group of fees and reimbursements was as follows :
|Fees |Reimbursements
|(£'000)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
People appointed to:
Public bodies |307 |91
Non-governmental bodies |9,315 |834
Other bodies |- |-
This reply does not include information on the former Training Agency, now absorbed into the Department, which could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.
ENERGY
Purchasing
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the purchasing policy of his Department.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department follows the Government's policy to base all procurement of goods and services on value for money, taking into account quality (or fitness for purpose) and delivery. Goods and services are acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary. My Department also observes EC and GATT requirements for Government purchasing where appropriate and encourages small firms to compete for its business.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what were the 10 worst purchases made by his Department in the month of October as measured against the Government's supply index ;
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(2) what were his Department's (a) best and (b) worst purchases made in the current month as measured against the Government's supply index.Mr. Wakeham : This information is not available because my Department does not currently subscribe to the Government supply index (GSI). It spends only a comparatively small amount on items covered by the index so that membership would not represent good value for money.
Administrative Costs
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether the administrative costs of his Department rose by more or less than the retail prices index in the last financial year.
Mr. Wakeham : Gross running costs expenditure on my Department's administration was 37.2 per cent. higher in 1989-90 than in the previous year. During the same period the retail prices index increased by 7.8 per cent. The increase was mainly due to two factors. First, the Department was charged the full market rent by the then Property Services Agency for its new headquarters building, although the actual rent paid by the PSA, and hence the real annual cost to the taxpayer, was substantially less. Secondly, the Department needed to increase its staff to prepare for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in England and Wales and to strengthen resources devoted to offshore safety.
Connection Charges
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has had from the house building industry regarding assurances on the future level of electricity connection charges post- privatisation.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : About half a dozen letters have been received from the building industry on this subject.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what discussions he has had with the directors general of Ofgas and OFFER regarding the rate of increase in connection charges for gas and electricity for new house building.
Mr. Wakeham : None. The reasonableness of gas and electricity connection charges is a matter for the respective directors general.
Non-fossil Fuel Obligation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the 75 renewable-sourced projects covered by the first order of renewables under the non-fossil fuel obligation giving the location, type of generator and capacity in megawatts in each case and identifying those projects which would have proceeded without benefit of the above market price available under the non-fossil fuel obligation.
Mr. Wakeham : Following is a list of the 75 projects citing location and technology. Some of the generators concerned have not given approval for the capacity of their projects to be published, and I am, therefore, unable to give project-specific information. The 75 projects that the RECs have concluded contracts with in fulfilment of their
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obligations have an aggregate installed capacity that will build up to some 170 MW. Over half the 75 projects, and over two thirds of the capacity provided by those projects, are attributable to new projects which would not have been able to go forward without the support of a NFFO contract.Column 177
Generator |Project site |Project type ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wessex Water Business Services Ltd |Maundown, Avon |Hydro South West Water Services Ltd |Plymouth, Devon |Hydro South West Water Services Ltd |Okehampton, Devon |Hydro South West Water Services Ltd |Okehampton, Devon |Hydro Ralph Adams |Chippenham, Wiltshire |Hydro The National Trust |Neath, Glamorgan |Hydro Glen Lyn Generations Ltd |Glen Lyn Gorge Hydro-electric scheme|Hydro John Brooke & Sons Holdings Ltd |Hudersfield, Yorkshire |Hydro Northern Hydro Ltd |Manchester Ship Canal |Hydro Northern Hydro Ltd |Coniston, Cumbria |Hydro Northern Hydro Ltd |Manchester Ship Canal |Hydro Northern Hydro Ltd |Manchester Ship Canal |Hydro Northern Hydro Ltd |Glenridding, Cumbria |Hydro Northern Hydro Ltd |Manchester |Hydro R. J. Armstrong Evans |Ashburton, Devon |Hydro R. J. Armstrong Evans |Tavistock, Devon |Hydro Greta, Lady Wales |Garnedd, Dolwyddelan |Hydro Severn Trent Water Ltd |Llanidloes, Powys |Hydro Severn Trent Water Ltd |Oswestry, Shropshire |Hydro Ingleby (451) Ltd |Gwynedd |Hydro Welsh Water |Powys |Hydro PJO Wheeler |Harbertonford, Totnes |Hydro Hydro Energy Development |Derbyshire |Hydro Hydro Energy Development |Derbyshire |Hydro Derwent Hydro |Milford, Derbyshire |Hydro ECC International Ltd |St. Blazy, Cornwall |Hydro Merseyside Development Corporation |Otterspool |Landfill Gas NORWEB Generation & Land Fill Gas Ltd |Todhills, Carlisle |Landfill Gas NORWEB Generation & Land Fill Gas Ltd |Fleetwood, Lancashire |Landfill Gas NORWEB Generation & Land Fill Gas Ltd |White Lund, Lancaster |Landfill Gas NORWEB Generation & Land Fill Gas Ltd |Stretford, Manchester |Landfill Gas NORWEB Generation & Land Fill Gas Ltd |Oldham, Manchester |Landfill Gas NORWEB Generation & Land Fill Gas Ltd |Swinton, Manchester |Landfill Gas Biffa Waste Services |Chorley, Lancashire |Landfill Gas Landfill Gas Ltd |Ambergate, Derbyshire |Landfill Gas Landfill Gas Ltd |Crich, Ambergate, Derbyshire |Landfill Gas Shanks & McEwan (Southern) Ltd |Brogborough, Bedfordshire |Landfill Gas Shanks & McEwan (Southern) Ltd |Brogborough, Bedfordshire |Landfill Gas Shanks & McEwan (Southern) Ltd |Calvert, Buckinghamshire |Landfill Gas Shanks & McEwan (Southern) Ltd |Martley, Worcestershire |Landfill Gas Shanks & McEwan (Southern) Ltd |Martley, Worcestershire |Landfill Gas Cory Environment Ltd |Stanford le Hope, Essex |Landfill Gas Thomas Graveson Ltd |Witton, Norwich |Landfill Gas Thomas Graveson Ltd |Worthing, West Sussex |Landfill Gas BFI Packington Ltd |Meriden, Coventry |Landfill Gas Tarmac Econowaste |Staffordshire |Landfill Gas Blue Circle Industries plc |Dartford, Kent |Landfill Gas Blue Circle Industries plc |Strood, Rochester, Kent |Landfill Gas ARC Ltd |Offham, Kent |Landifll Gas ARC Ltd |Tuttle Hill, Warwickshire |Landfill Gas Heybush Ent. Development |Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire |Wind Yorkshire Water Services Ltd |Nr. Denholme, Yorkshire |Wind Yorkshire Water Services Ltd |Addinhan, Yorkshire |Wind Wind Electric Ltd |Nr Dalabole, Cornwall |Wind PowerGen plc |Richborough Power Station, Kent |Wind Renewable Energy Systems Ltd |St Mary's Isle of Scilly |Wind UK Wind Farms Ltd |Mydydd Cemmaes, Powys |Wind UK Wind Farms Ltd |Nr Ulverston, Cumbria |Wind National Power |Carmarthen Bay, West Glamorgan |Wind Wessex Water Business Services Ltd |Bristol |Biogas Wessex Water Business Services Ltd |Avon |Biogas Haul West Ltd |Kingsteington, Devon |Biogas North West Water Ltd |Lancashire |Sewage Gas North West Water Ltd |Tameside, Lancashire |Sewage Gas South West Water Ltd |Exeter, Devon |Sewage Gas North West Water |Manchester |Sewage Gas North West Water |Lancashire |Sewage Gas Isle of Wight County Council |Forest Park, Newport |Waste Incineration Energy Supplies Ltd |Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne |Waste Incineration North London Waste Authority |Edmonton, London |Waste Incineration Coventry City Council |Coventry, West Midlands |Waste Incineration Elm Energy UK |Wolverhampton, West Midlands |Waste Incineration Fibropower Ltd |Dias, Suffolk |Chicken Litter Fibropower Ltd |Scunthorpe, Humberside |Chicken Litter Hanford plc |Piddlehinton, Dorset |Pig Slurry
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Animal Experiments
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will ban those animal procedures involving LD50 and Draize tests.
Mr. Leigh : In respect of cosmetics products, the United Kingdom industry has eliminated LD50 testing except where occasionally required by certain overseas countries and has eliminated Draize testing with concentrated chemicals.
Purchasing
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the purchasing policy of his Department.
Mr. Leigh : My Department is bound by the Government's policy that purchasers should base all procurement of goods and services on value for money, including quality (or fitness for purpose) and delivery against price. In accordance with that policy, goods and services are acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary. Under EC rules, and the GATT Government procurement agreement where appropriate, my Department is obliged to award relevant contracts in accordance with prescribed procedures aimed at avoiding discrimination on grounds of nationality.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what were the 10 worst purchases made by his Department in the month of October as measured against the Government's supply index.
Mr. Leigh : The Department is not a participant in the Government supply index scheme.
Administrative Costs
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the administrative costs of his Department rose by more or less than the retail prices index in the last financial year.
Mr. Leigh : Allowing for machinery of Government changes, gross running costs expenditure on Department of Trade and Industry administration was 8.7 per cent. higher in 1989-90 than in the previous year. During the same period the retail prices index increased by 7.8 per cent.
British Satellite Broadcasting
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has as to whether the Director General of Fair Trading is examining the total financial liability faced by United Kingdom-based manufacturers and retailers currently holding stocks of British Satellite Broadcasting reception equipment and as to whether the Director General of Fair Trading is to examine BSB's compliance with its contracts with manufacturers and retailers.
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Mr. Redwood : The director general is aware of the position facing manufacturers and retailers holding stocks of British Satellite Broadcasting reception equipment and has received representations from, among others, retailers of this equipment. The commercial contracts between BSB and the manufacturers and retailers of its equipment are a matter for the parties concerned who may, if necessary, have recourse to the courts in the normal way in the event of any breach of contract. The DGFT is advising the Secretary of State on the wider issues of the merger.
Corporate Registrations
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the growth of corporate registrations.
Mr. Redwood : A total of 1,032,200 companies were registered under the Companies Acts in Great Britain between 1980 and 1989. This compares with 521,000 companies registered in the previous 10-year period. The annual series since 1980 is as follows :
Great Britain company registrations
|(thousands)
------------------------------------
1980 |69.4
1981 |72.4
1982 |87.2
1983 |96.2
1984 |97.9
1985 |104.6
1986 |117.3
1987 |128.0
1988 |128.9
1989 |130.3
<1>1990 |104.6
<1> January to October.
Further information can be found in "Companies in 1989-90", a copy of which is available in the Library.
European Commission Financial Directives
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has received any new proposals for directives on financial services for the European Commission in the past six months ; and whether he has been notified of any forthcoming such proposals.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 5 December 1990] : There have been three main new proposals for directives on financial services from the European Commission in the last six months. In the insurance field proposals for the non-life framework directive (OJ No. C244 ; 28/9/90) and the insurance committee directive (Com. (90) 344--final) were submitted to the Council in September 1990. The Commission also put a proposal to the Council on 3 October for a directive on consolidated supervision of banks, replacing the consolidated supervision directive of June 1983.
I have been notified of two major forthcoming proposals on which my Department will be in the lead. In the insurance sector, a proposal for a life framework directive is expected shortly. The Commission is also
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expected to propose, before the end of 1992, a directive harmonising arrangements for investor compensation throughout the EC.British Aerospace
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contact he has had with British Aerospace plc regarding possible redundancies.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 5 December 1990] : Mr. John Weston, the managing director of British Aerospace (Military Aircraft) Ltd. has announced that about one third of the expected 5,000 job losses will be achieved by natural wastage. For other employees affected by the decision, the company has announced a series of supporting measures including job shops, retraining, relocation, self-employment start-up assistance and early release terms. No announcement has been made giving any estimate of the redundancies which will be required.
HEALTH
Benzodiazepines
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds are being provided in 1990-91 specifically to help people withdraw from benzodiazepines.
Mr. Dorrell : In 1990-91, £15.5 million has been allocated to regional health authorities, which are responsible for developing local treatment services including those which offer help to people wishing to withdraw from benzodiazepines.
Agency Staff
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the annual cost to the national health service in the Doncaster district health service for staff who have been employed through agencies as nurses, operating department assistants, ancillary and other staff.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information derived from the 1989-90 annual accounts of the Doncaster health authority is as follows :
Expenditure on Non-National Health Service (Agency etc.) staff
|£
---------------------------------------------------------------
Nursing |11,108
Ancillary |Nil
All other staff (including medical and dental) |184,417
Expenditure specifically on the employment of operating department assistants is not collected centrally.
For more detailed information I suggest the hon. Member contacts Mr. J. G. S. Smith, the health authority chairman.
Purchasing
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what were the 10 worst purchases made by his Department in the month of October as measured against the Government's supply index ;
(2) what were his Department's (a) best and (b) worst purchases made in the current month as measured against the Government's supply index ;
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(3) what was his Department's best and worst purchases as measured against the hospital supply index for the current month.Mr. Dorrell : The Department does not subscribe to the Government or hospital supply index.
Administrative Costs
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the administrative costs of his Department rose by more or less than the retail prices index in the last financial year.
Mr. Dorrell : Gross running costs expenditure on Department of Health administration was 9.0 per cent. higher in 1989-90 than the estimated expenditure in 1988-89, when the major part of the Department of Health's running costs were combined with those of the Department of Social Security in the appropriation accounts. During the same period the retail prices index increased by 7.8 per cent.
Zimovane
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the price approved by his Department for the drug Zimovane manufactured by the company Rhone Poulenc ; and how much is paid for that drug in other European countries.
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