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1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91
(Actual) |(Actual) |(Budget/
|Provision)
--------------------------------------------
£49,310 |£52,568 |£52,800
Notes:
<1> Figures for 1986-87 and 1987-88 are not
readily available and could be given only
at disproportionate cost.
<2> None of the expenditure shown in the
table is for television or radio
advertising.
Income Tax
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the change in Treasury income during the 1991-92 financial year resulting from confining all income tax exemptions to an upper limit of 20 per cent.
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Mr. Maude [holding answer 10 December 1990] : It is estimated that at 1991-92 levels of income the revenue yield in a full year from restricting income tax reliefs to an upper limit of 20 per cent. of gross income less personal allowances would be about £2 billion and some 6 million taxpayers, of whom almost all currently pay at the basic rate, would pay more tax. These estimates are based on projections from the 1987- 88 survey of personal incomes and are therefore provisional. They are based on an increase in personal allowances and the basic rate threshold of 10 per cent. in 1991-92 in line with the illustrative rates published in the 1990 autumn statement and do not take account of any behavioural changes that might result from the new regime.
ENVIRONMENT
Local Government Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of adults in each standard region together with the number of persons liable for the payment of poll tax at (a) the minimum rate, (b) a reduced rate and (c) the full rate.
Mr. Key : The available information is as follows :
Thousands
Standard Region Latest OPCS Number on Community Charges Register on
estimate of |10 September 1990 subject to a personal
resident population |charge on
June 1989
|1 June 1990 |10 September 1990
|Students |Others<1>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |2,376 |34 |2,300
North West |4,889 |71 |4,631
Yorkshire and Humberside |3,805 |70 |3,643
East Midlands |3,084 |38 |2,981
West Midlands |4,000 |53 |3,842
East Anglia |1,577 |23 |1,521
South West |3,643 |40 |3,511
South East |8,219 |105 |7,915
Greater London |5,246 |93 |5,078
<1>including full year equivalent of number contributing to collective community charge in 1990-91.
The difference between the OPCS figures, which are estimates based on the 1981 population census, and the numbers on the registers subject to a personal community charge may not equal the number of exemptions due to the different sources used to derive the figures and the different reference dates used.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review his decision not to take account of the use of balances to support revenue expenditure in 1990-91 in making his decisions on poll tax capping in 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : As I told the House on 3 December, the intentions for criteria announced on 31 October remain the Government's intended criteria for 1991-92. When my right hon. Friend comes to make his decisions on capping he will take into account all appropriate considerations.
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Small Cetaceans
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to adhere to the conditions of the Berne convention by protecting the habitat of small cetaceans, and in particular the dolphin populations in the Moray firth and Cardigan bay ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The Government fulfil their obligations under the Berne convention principally through the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The 1981 Act, as subsequently amended, prohibits the deliberate killing, injuring or taking of all small cetacean species. The Government's strategy for protection of the marine environment was set out in the environment White Paper--Cm. 1200. In accordance with the wildlife initiatives agreed in the ministerial declaration of the third North sea
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conference in March this year, new research is being commissioned to improve knowledge of cetacean behaviour and to analyse tissue samples from stranded animals. Good progress is also being made on the preparation of an agreement on the conservation of small cetaceans in the Baltic and North seas under the Bonn convention on migratory species.Homelessness
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the number of homeless persons aged 16 and 17 years.
Mr. Yeo : Local authorities report the number of households for whom they accept responsibility to secure accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985. Information on age is not collected and the Department has no such estimates.
The Mall
Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when The Mall in London SW1 was first closed to traffic on Sundays ; and what arrangements have been made since then to facilitate the flow of traffic which has to use other roads.
Mr. Trippier : The Mall was first closed to motor traffic on Sundays on 28 July 1968 for an experimental period.
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The arrangement was made permanent in April 1969 and extended to include the Queen Victoria memorial roundabout and Constitution hill. The Department has made no special arrangements for traffic flow on other roads in the royal parks.Wheelchair and Mobility Housing
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the level of provision of wheelchair and mobility housing over the last 10 years.
Sir George Young : The figures for housing association and local authority wheelchair and mobility dwellings are shown in the table. Since October 1987, housing associations have been required to construct all new- build housing and rehabilitation schemes to mobility standards, wherever practicable. In addition, disabled people may obtain assistance for house adaptations under the new house renovation grants system introduced in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and this should help to increase the amount of housing suitable for people with disabilities. Local authorities' spending on home improvement grants for works to disabled persons' dwellings in England, increased from £2.547 million in 1980-81 to £51.549 million in 1988-89.
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Housing and construction statistics
(Tables 6.1 and 6.7)
Numbers of dwellings (England): Starts
Wheelchair Mobility
|Housing |Local Authority|Housing |Local Authority|Total disabled |Total Housing
|Association |or New Town |Association |or New Town |dwellings |Association/
|Local Authority
|or New Town
1979 |129 |576 |2,316 |5,950 |8,971 |68,972
1980 |85 |488 |3,347 |4,733 |8,653 |46,564
1981 |16 |256 |40 |1,926 |2,238 |78,136
1982 |32 |296 |135 |2,594 |3,057 |43,836
1983 |31 |357 |53 |2,639 |3,080 |42,259
1984 |89 |333 |262 |1,369 |2,053 |35,001
1985 |34 |263 |125 |1,420 |3,895 |28,980
1986 |33 |207 |85 |1,114 |1,439 |27,745
1987 |27 |165 |121 |947 |1,260 |25,052
1988 |60 |244 |235 |950 |1,489 |23,383
1989 |42 |188 |328 |543 |1,101 |22,588
1990<1> |67 |69 |102 |469 |723 |15,295
<1> To third quarter.
Aggregates
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what progress has been made on the revised guidelines for aggregates provision in England and Wales ; and when they will be published for public consideration ;
(2) if he will allow an opportunity for additional public consultation on a range of options for future aggregates provision before the regional aggregates working parties have finalised their commentaries on future supply requirements ;
(3) if he will make it his policy to include reference to the fact that the demand for aggregates is not immutable in his revision of the guidelines for aggregates provision in England and Wales.
Mr. Yeo : Following the completion of the 1989 survey into aggregates production, sales and distribution my right
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hon. Friend proposes to revise "Guidelines for the Provision of Aggregates in England and Wales", MPG6. The survey will be published in the new year, together with a forecast of the future demand for primary aggregates. The implications of this will be discussed by the regional aggregates working parties during 1991. In particular they will consider the relevance of the forecast for the region, the land use planning implications and how future demand might be met. Before publishing a revision of the present "Guidelines for the Provision of Aggregates in England and Wales", MPG6, my right hon. Friend will consider the views of the regional aggregates working parties, together with any other views which may be expressed. It is not intended to undertake a wider range of formal consultations until a draft of the revised guidelines is available, but my right hon. Friend will make available the information given to the regional aggregates working parties and will considerColumn 463
any views that may be expressed about the future demand for aggregates before publishing the draft revised guidelines for full public consultation towards the end of 1991.In considering future guidelines for aggregates provision, it will be important to consider a range of options. This will include the likely demand for aggregates and the extent to which use may be made of secondary materials such as colliery minestone and china clay sand as well as waste and recycled materials including power station ash, blast furnace slag and crushed concrete. Also to be taken into account will be the potential offered by marine sand and gravel and imports from outside England and Wales. My Department already has a number of research projects in hand to examine these options and the results will be important in the preparation of new guidelines. It remains important that the minerals planning authorities should continue to implement the advice given in MPG6 which remains the current guidance on aggregates provision.
Building Surveyors
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the present status of professional liability in relation to building surveyors.
Sir George Young : The professional liability of building surveyors, as of other construction professionals, is dealt with under common law, contract law and such Acts as the Latent Damage Act 1986.
Housing Investment Programmes
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will make the allocations to local authorities in England for their housing investment programmes in 1991-92.
Sir George Young : Each housing authority is today being informed of its housing investment programme--HIP--allocation for 1991-92. Copies of the letters to local authorities and of the schedule of HIP allocations have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The local authority associations have been consulted about the distribution of housing capital allocations, including the construction of the generalised needs index--GNI --which has been further updated for 1991-92 following the comprehensive review last year. In particular, we have this year introduced a new indicator into the GNI to measure authorities' use of temporary accommodation. This helps to ensure that those authorities that face the most severe homelessness problems and that have had to meet them by using temporary accommodation receive additional resources to reflect their needs.
Local authority credit approvals and specified capital grant total £1,972 million in 1991-92. There are also £7 million of other capital grants. The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 allows my right hon. Friend to take account of local authorities' capital receipts when making allocations, and the housing element of the receipts taken into account in this way is £276 million. Housing capital allocations for 1991-92 will therefore total £2,255 million.
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After considering the views of the local authority associations, my right hon. Friend has concluded that the distribution of resources should be made on the following basis :(i) £387 million to be allocated separately as supplementary credit approvals as follows :
(a) £115 million for the second year of the special homelessness initiative ; local authorities in London and the south-east will shortly be invited to submit bids, particularly to bring empty homes back into use and for cash incentive schemes ;
(b) £185 million of the total of £290 million available for the Estate Action programme, for new and some continuation schemes. In 1990-91, the HIP allocation of the 57 urban programme authorities included additional resources in the form of inner city special allocations. For 1991-92, my right hon. Friend has decided that these resources can be used more effectively if allocated as part of an enlarged Estate Action programme ;
(c) £50 million for the new rural housing programme ;
(d) £10 million for energy efficiency demonstration projects in the local authority stock ;
(e) £25 million to provide against demand for mandatory grants in excess of authorities' available resources ;
(f) £2 million to cover repairs to defective ex new town stock ; (ii) In addition to the £185 million of supplementary credit approvals for Estate Action, a further £105 million of annual capital guidelines-- ACGs--for Estate Action continuation schemes is being allocated to authorities on the basis of agreed levels of commitment, as part of their main HIP allocations ;
(iii) The remaining £1,756 million of the main HIP allocations, made up of the £1,343 million of housing ACGs and £413 million of resources for specified capital grant, has been distributed in two stages. First, the distribution to DOE regions has been made in proportion to the sum of the GNI scores of the local authorities in each region. Second, each region's total has been allocated to individual local authorities one half in proportion to each authority's GNI score, and one half following recommendations by the Department's regional housing controllers to reflect local needs and circumstances.
Under the new capital finance system, the Government issue forward indications of all-service annual capital guidelines for the second and third years of the public expenditure survey period. The indications for 1992-93 and 1993-94 will be issued as early as possible in the new year. However, to assist authorities in planning their housing investment programmes more than one year ahead, my right hon. Friend has decided to promulgate provisional figures for the housing element of the overall calculation with authorities' HIP allocations. The amounts for 1992-93 and 1993-94 are included in each authority's allocation letter.
Pollution
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the progress made to date on implementing the provisions of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 ; what regulations have been laid ; and what regulations he expects to lay arising from the Act.
Mr. Baldry [pursuant to the reply, 14 November 1990, c. 163] : We have today published a consultation paper which sets out the basis on which we propose to implement the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989. The consultation paper includes a draft of the regulations
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necessary to give effect to the registration of waste carriers and the procedure under which a waste regulation authority may seize a vehicle used for fly-tipping.The registration of waste carriers is the first step in the implementation of the duty of care now contained in section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The main features of the system of registration which we propose to adopt are :
(a) Scope : The effect of the 1989 Act is to require anyone who transports waste in the course of a business, or in any other way for profit, to be registered. The proposed regulations will require each waste regulation authority to establish and maintain a register of carriers. Each carrier will be required to register with the authority for the area in which his principal place of business is situated. On acceptance, his registration will be valid throughout Great Britain ;
(b) Duration : Each carrier's registration will last for three years. He will be reminded by the regulation authority of the need to apply for renewal of his registration ;
(c) Refusal : A regulation authority will be able to refuse or revoke registration if the carrier or another relevant person has been convicted of a prescribed offence and, in the authority's opinion, it is undesirable for the carrier to be authorised to transport controlled waste. The draft regulations list the offences which we propose to prescribe. A carrier will have the right of appeal against an authority's refusal or revocation of his registration ;
(d) Exemptions : Certain types of carrier will be exempted from the requirement to register. For example, producers in relation to the transport of waste which they have produced ;
(e) Charges : Regulation authorities will be required to charge for their consideration of applications for registration and its renewal. The consultation paper invites comments on the level at which the charges should be set ;
(f) The register : The registers maintained by regulation authorities will contain each carrier's application and entries listing other relevant information. Registers will be open to inspection free of charge by members of the public and must be indexed to enable information to be readily traced ;
(g) Timetable : The 1989 Act and the proposed regulations will be brought into force in two stages. The first stage will come into force in May 1991 and will enable carriers to apply for registration. It is proposed that the second stage should come into force at the same time as the duty of care in April 1992. At that stage, it will become an offence to transport waste without registering and a carrier may be stopped and required to produce his certificate of registration. The draft regulations also set out the procedure under which an authority will be able to apply for a warrant to seize a vehicle believed to have been used in the illegal disposal of waste. The purpose of this procedure is to aid the detection and prosecution of those involved in fly-tipping. It is not concerned with the punitive confiscation of vehicles. An authority will be required to return a vehicle to a claimant who satisfactorily establishes his entitlement to it. However, once the authority has established that person's entitlement it will be considerably better placed to ascertain the identity of the person using the vehicle when the waste was disposed of illegally.
Comments on the draft regulations are invited by 28 February 1991. I am arranging for copies of the consultation paper to be placed in the Library of the House.
HEALTH
Trent Regional Health Authority
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the projected figure for the closure of acute medical and surgical beds in the Trent regional health authority by March 1991.
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Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to write to Sir Michael Carlisle, the chairman of Trent regional health authority, for this information.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing staff have been made redundant or redeployed ; how many support staff have been made redundant ; how many full-time posts have been converted to part-time posts ; and what increase in administrative jobs there have been with the introduction of the health Bill in the Trent regional health authority last year.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The provisional figure for administration and clerical staff, including general and senior managers, for Trent region for September 1990 shows an increase of 750 whole-time equivalents. It is not known centrally what proportion of these posts relates to the implementation of the Government's White Paper "Working for Patients". The remaining information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to write to Sir Michael Carlisle, the chairman of Trent regional health authority, for further information.
Young Offenders
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to increase the level of financial support to secure units for young offenders in Merseyside.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The provision of secure accommodation for children in care, including those who are offenders or alleged offenders, is a matter for individual local authorities. We are always prepared to consider applications for grant aid to fund the capital provision of new secure units where the need for such provision has been identified. We are not aware of current plans to increase the stock of secure accommodation in Merseyside, although we understand local authorities within that region are reviewing the position.
Myodil
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if Myodil still has a product licence for export ; and what information he has on whether Glaxo is still exporting it.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : For medicinal products exported from the United Kingdom the requirements are set by the importing country. A product licence is not always required for exports.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when Myodil was given a reviewed product licence ; on what subsequent dates was the licence renewed ; what evidence was presented at the time the reviewed licence was given ; and what consideration was given to adverse reactions to Myodil ;
(2) what clinical trials have been carried out on Myodil.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A review application for Myodil was received in the early 1980s. Numerous clinical trials have been conducted with Myodil, examining its value in a number of diagnostic procedures including myelography and ventriculography. A substantial body of evidence in relation to iophendylate, the active ingredient of Myodil, has been published in well over 300 citations spanning a period of over 40 years. This included information relating to adverse reactions associated with the use of Myodil.
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The review included examination of evidence that the product was of an appropriate standard of safety, quality and efficacy. A reviewed product licence, valid for five years, was granted in 1987.Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) in what ways were the warnings regarding the use of Myodil drawn to the attention of doctors ; and whether any steps were taken by his Department or by health authorities to ensure that no doctor giving a spinal injection of Myodil could be unaware of them ;
(2) whether his Department, the Committee on Safety of Medicines or the Committee on the Review of Medicines ever issued warnings to radiologists about adverse reactions to Myodil.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I know of no warnings being issued by the Department, health authorities, the Committee on Safety of Medicines or the Committee on the Review of Medicines to radiologists about adverse reaction to Myodil. Information was already available to them in package inserts and the data sheet which were updated as appropriate in the light of accumulating knowledge. It is for doctors who use a product to ensure that they are fully familiar with the benefits and the risks of any procedure or treatment.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what precise warnings regarding the use of Myodil and the possibility of subsequent adverse reactions were given by the manufacturer, Glaxo ; what changes there have been in the warnings ; and when they were made.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : In the package insert dated March 1972, serious adverse reactions were reported to be rare provided that a suitable technique was used ; references were made to the removal of Myodil after myelography. The reactions listed included frequent headaches, sometimes severe with vomiting and photophobia after myelography, pyrexia, neck stiffness, low back pain and exacerbation of previous symptoms such as those of sciatica. The leaflet also referred to occasional reports of arachnoiditis and literature reports of adhesions and fibrous exudates being found on operation in patients who had at some stage undergone myelography with Myodil. In the revised package insert dated November 1973 it was, in addition, recommended that the material be removed by aspiration after the myelography unless required for further study. Information on adverse reactions was enlarged to detail its irritant or allergenic potential. Advice was given that if low back pain persisted or previous symptoms of sciatica were exacerbated, any residual Myodil should be removed and where warranted, hydrocortisone sodium succinate injected intrathecally.
The data sheets introduced in the 1980s further emphasised the importance of removing as much Myodil as possible at the time of myelography.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the approximate number of people who have developed arachnoiditis after the use of Myodil.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Myelography is often a prelude to surgery for lumbar disc disease. In consequence, it is difficult to disassociate the effects of the original disease from those of the pre-operative myelography or the surgery. The frequency of symptoms compatible with
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arachnoiditis varies in different publications and it is clear that there is a poor correlation between symptoms and pathology. For these reasons, it is not possible to estimate the number of people who may have developed arachnoiditis as a result of the use of Myodil.Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) in the last full year it was available, how many spinal investigations using Myodil were carried out in national health service hospitals ; (2) what information he has regarding the approximate number of people who have been injected with the spinal dye Myodil since it was marketed to its withdrawal.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the types of spinal investigations for which Myodil was used.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Myodil was used for the following spinal investigations :
(a) Investigation of low back pain.
(b) Investigation of cervical, dorsal and lumbar disc disease and (c) Investigation of suspected compressive abnormalities of the spinal canal.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health from what sources his Department has received information about adverse reactions to the spinal dye Myodil.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department has received information on adverse reactions to Myodil from a variety of sources including spontaneous reports from the medical profession, published literature and from the manufacturer.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many yellow card reports there have been indicating a possible association between the spinal dye Myodil and the disease arachnoiditis ; and when the first report was received ;
(2) if he will list the adverse reactions associated with the spinal dye Myodil.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Committee on Safety of Medicines has received a total of 73 yellow card reports in association with the use of Myodil, the first one being in 1970. Arachnoiditis was mentioned in 11 reports, the first in March 1972. In addition to arachnoiditis, the reports have included meningeal reactions which were self-limiting in most cases and local reactions either due to the procedure or the dye such as lumbar pain and leg pain. It is important to stress that the report of a reaction suspected in association with the use of a drug does not necessarily imply a cause and effect relationship.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to withdraw the product licence for Myodil.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Myodil was withdrawn from the market by the company for commercial reasons and the Licensing Authority has been notified of its action. There are no plans to withdraw the product licence for Myodil.
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Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health at what date alternatives to Myodil were first available ; what they were ; and what assessment was made of the degree to which they were risk free.Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Myodil was licensed with the following clinical indications :
Myelography
Ventriculography :
visualisation of the third and fourth ventricles and the aqueduct of sylvius.
Intra-uterine use :
to outline the foetus prior to intra-uterine blood transfusion. The following is a list of products which are licensed for one or more of the same indications :
Isovist 190
Isovist 240
Isovist 300
Niopam 200 Injection
Niopam 300 Injection
Omnipaque 180 mgi/ml Injection
Amipaque Powder for Injection
Iopamidol 300 Injection
The availability of any particular drug is a matter for the companies concerned.
Every application for a product licence is considered individually and must satisfy the Licensing Authority as to its safety, quality and efficacy before a licence is granted.
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