| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what predictions he has had from computer models at the Meteorological Office and the Proudman oceanographic laboratory about the likely behaviour of the oil slick in the Gulf.
Column 43
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : One of the studies commissioned from the Natural Environment Research Council aims to develop a model with the Meterological Office which can predict the movement of a Gulf oil slick. Work so far has demonstrated the viability of the concepts involved and the project is continuing.Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the Natural Environment Research Council contribution to containing the Gulf oil slick.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : The Natural Environment Research Council is compiling urgent short-term reports to model and assess the biological effects of the pollution of the Gulf caused by the actions of Saddam Hussein. The first phase is now complete and is being made available to the Gulf states leading the response to the pollution. My Department is assembling a register of the United Kingdom marine scientific expertise potentially available for further studies of the problem in the longer term.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contact he has had with the International Maritime Organisation in relation to Gulf oil pollution.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : I understand that the International Maritime Organisation--IMO--has been approached by the Saudi Government to help co-ordinate the offers of assistance with pollution response equipment and expertise which it has received. The IMO has been informed of the United Kingdom response to requests from the Gulf states so far and the marine pollution control unit of Department of Transport is maintaining close contact with them.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his contacts with the United Nations Environment Programme for improving environmental communications in relation to the Gulf oil slick.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : Senior officials in my Department have been in touch throughout the week with the United Nations Environment Programme and its executive director, Dr. Tolba. The UNEP has asked the United Kingdom for help in its efforts to improve communications and technical co-ordination over the pollution in the Gulf caused by the action of Saddam Hussein and I shall be responding sympathetically as soon as it is clear just what form of assistance is required. The UNEP is calling a meeting next week in Geneva with relevant UN agencies, including the International Maritime Organisation, and the oil industry to identify gaps in knowledge and to identify a practical programme of international co-operation.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment at what time, on what date he first contacted the British Oil Spill Control Association about containment of the Gulf oil slick.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : The Government's liaison with the British Oil Spill Control Association is principally through the marine pollution control unit in the Department of my right hon. Friend the
Column 44
Secretary of State for Transport. The unit has been in close contact with the association ever since becoming aware of the spill on 25 January. My Department has been kept fully informed throughout.Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what study has been made since August 1990 of the problems of dealing with oil slicks in war zones.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : Techniques and equipment for dealing with oil spills are the same whether or not the spill is in a war zone. It is for military authorities concerned to resolve any military aspects as necessary if the spill is in a war zone.
Gulf Ecosystem
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) of 28 January, Official Report, columns 656-57, what information is available to his Department about the ecosystem of the Gulf.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : Detailed information on the Gulf ecosystem is available from a number of sources and my Department has now received a specially commissioned assessment of the likely biological effects of the Gulf oil spill by the Natural Environment Research Council which we are passing on to the Gulf states. We have also seen a report from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development. The Nature Conservancy Council and several non-governmental organisations have also provided us with useful material.
Sokerol
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) of 28 January, Official Report, column 666, what action he is taking about Sokerol.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 1 February 1991] : The hon. Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths) has been in contact about Sokerol both with my Department and with the Department of Transport's marine pollution control unit, which is the Government's centre of expertise on oil pollution control at sea. Arrangements exist to make the Governments of the Gulf states, who bear prime responsibility for dealing with the pollution inflicted on the Gulf by Saddam Hussein, aware of potentially useful materials and technology available from the United Kingdom on which they may wish to call.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the level of revenue expenditure in the forthcoming financial year at which the capping of expenditure would be considered in respect of (a) Essex county council and (b) Southend borough council.
Mr. Key [holding answer 1 February 1991] : On the basis of our intended criteria for charge capping in 1991-92--which were announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr. Patten) on 31 October-- Essex county council and Southend borough council would be able to increase their budgets to the level of their 1991-92 standard spending assessments-- £902.978 million and £17.885 million respectively--before those increases would be considered excessive.
Column 45
Education Expenditure
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the allocated expenditure for local authority capital expenditure on education in England in each year since 1979, in real terms.
Mr. Key [holding answer 31 January 1991] : Capital allocations for education at 1990-91 prices were as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------------
1981-82 |592.1
1982-83 |526.9
1983-84 |438.9
1984-85 |426.8
1985-86 |423.4
1986-87 |386.7
1987-88 |377.6
1988-89 |444.3
1989-90 |388.1
Under the new capital finance system, introduced on1 April 1990, there is no precise equivalent to capital allocations. Annual capital guidelines, which are a measure of the government's assessment of the need for local authorities to finance capital expenditure on a particular service, were £457.9 million for education for 1990-91. Local authorities are not bound to spend at that level but the extent to which they can finance this expenditure from borrowing is regulated by the issue of credit approvals. Information for earlier years is not readily available.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Members' Lobby (Statues)
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make arrangements for the statues of Disraeli and Asquith situated in the Members' Lobby to change places ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I have no plans to do so.
Column 46
Norman Shaw Buildings (Access)
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Lord President of the Council what plans he has for the improvement of disabled access in the Norman Shaw North and Norman Shaw South buildings.
Mr. MacGregor : I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 31 January, at column 576 . If he has any specific suggestions for improvements I will of course ensure they are included together with the studies currently being carried out.
HEALTH
Operation Waiting Lists
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce waiting lists for operations ; and how long is the average delay for non-life endangered surgical operations in north Devon.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : At 31 March 1990, the latest date for which information on hospital waiting lists is held centrally, the median waiting time for patients who have been treated in the surgical specialties, excluding emergencies, in north Devon was 2.8 weeks.
It is the time patients wait for treatment which is important, not total numbers on the lists. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 16 January, we are continuing the special waiting list fund in 1991-92 with a further £35 million to help health authorities reduce the number of patients who wait excessively. This brings to £154 million the Government's investment in the fund over five years. South Western region has received £6.8 million from the waiting list fund over the period 1987 to 1991. The attack on waiting times is a key priority for the NHS in 1991-92 and the NHS management executive is agreeing tough targets with all 14 regional health authorities for substantial reductions in the number of patients who wait over a year for treatment.
Column 47
HEALTH
Trent Regional Health Authority
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each of the centres established by the Trent regional health authority as part of the treatment centres initiative (a) its name, location and specialty, (b) its commencement date, (c) the budget allocated to that centre for (i) 1989-90, (ii) 1990-91 and (iii) 1991-92, (d) the number of patients treated at that centre since it started work and (e) the average number of cases treated at such centres nationally.
Mr. Dorell : If the hon. Member would like to write to me and let me know what he has in mind by the phrase "treatment centres initiatives" I will reply to him direct.
Community Health Councils
Mr. Channon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what he estimates to be the annual cost of administering community health councils.
Mr. Dorrell : The expenses of community health councils are met by and are reported with the total expenditure of the health authorities with which they are associated.
The summarised accounts of health authorities in England for 1989-90 show such expenses as £8.6 million.
Clinical Regrading
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Health following the clinical regrading exercise how many appeals against grading were (a) lodged with the Northern regional health authority, (b) heard to date, (c) successful and (d) have yet to be heard ; what is the average length of time for an appeal to be heard ; and what advice and resources are being applied to deal with the backlog.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : At 31 December 1990, 194 nurse clinical grading regional appeals had been referred to Northern regional health authority for hearing under the procedures established by the General Whitley Council. I understand that of 49 regional appeals heard so far, 10 have been decided in favour of the appellant. There is no estimate of how long it will take for any particular regional appeal to be heard. The regional health authority will make every effort to operate the appeals process as quickly as possible.
Salmonella
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has concerning the level of salmonella infection in turtles and terrapins and the extent to which such infection is transmitted to humans ; and if he has any proposals for relevant research.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 31 January at column 617.
No information is held centrally on the level of salmonella infection in turtles and terrapins. The public health laboratory service's (PHLS) communicable disease surveillance centre, with a number of PHLS laboratories, the Medical Research Council and the London School of
Column 48
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will be conducting a pilot study this year on the incidence of infectious intestinal disease in the human population. This study will include an inquiry into possible risk factors, including contact with animals.Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting
Mr. Soames : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will announce the Government's decisions on the recommendations in the Peat Marwick McLintock review of the United Kingdom Central Council and the four national boards for nursing, midwifery and health visiting.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Government consulted widely on the Peat Marwick McLintock recommendations and also on proposals drawn up by the four United Kingdom Health Departments to reflect the education and training implications for the health care sector of the White Paper "Working for Patients". We have now come to a view on the main features of the statutory framework for the regulation of the nursing, midwifery and health visiting professions. Future arrangements for organisation and finance of nursing, midwifery and health visiting education have also been decided which reflect the way in which these services are delivered in the four United Kingdom countries. These are set out in detail in written statements which my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and I are issuing today. Copies have been placed in the Library.
In England, I have decided that regional health authorities, in consultation with employers, should in future have the main responsibility for funding pre-registration nursing and midwifery training, rather than sharing that responsibility with the English national board as at present. The resources to be allocated to such training will need to be specified by regional health authorities in a clearly defined and protected budget. Post -registration nurse and midwifery training designed to produce specific professional skills will also, for the time being at least, be funded from a separate and protected regional budget.
With regard to the statutory framework for the regulation of the professions, the Government accept the Peat Marwick McLintock proposals that the United Kingdom central council, rather than the national boards, should be the statutory body to which the professions elect members, and that the whole of the professional conduct function should be centralised at the council. In the light however of the decisions which have been taken on the organisation and finance of professional education, the case made by Peat Marwick McLintock for direct management of colleges of nursing and midwifery in England, Scotland and Wales by their respective national boards largely disappears. We have accordingly decided not to accept the recommendations in this regard. But there will be a continuing role for bodies in each of the four countries of the United Kingdom to accredit institutions and validate courses and to ensure that the council's standards of professional education are met in each country.
The changes proposed will require legislation, the timing of which will depend on the other pressures on the Government's legislative programme.
Column 49
Under-fives
Mr. Aspinwall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote the development of child care for the under-fives.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Seven in eight or 86 per cent. of three and four-year-olds attend some form of day care or nursery education for part or more of the week which provides a good basis on which to expand services.
The Department has a major programme of activity designed to encourage the development of good quality childcare services across the country.
The current programme includes :
implementation of the Children Act 1989 which will introduce a new more effective registration system and a duty for local social services departments and local education authorities to review every three years and publish a report on the day care services in their area ;
new guidance now in preparation on quality and standards of childcare services and education services for pre-school children, the new registration system and review duty ;
training materials project being funded to help local authority registration staff carry out their regulatory function efficiently, and to encourage local authorities to see themselves as facilitators helping providers run good quality services ;
support to the childcare voluntary sector including eleven national organisations in receipt of core grants totalling over £1.2 million in the current financial year and a small grants scheme involving seven national bodies allocating capital sums to local groups now running for the fourth year ;
new centrally-funded under fives initiative to test certain policy ideas on, for example, services for homeless families and lone parents ;
research projects into childminding and playgroups ;
the interdepartmental consultative group on provision for under fives on which DSS, DES, DOE, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Scottish and Welsh Offices are represented together with representatives from the local authority associations, the voluntary sector, the private childcare sector and employer interests. The Group meets under my chairmanship to discuss matters of concern. The policy which has evolved and developed over the years enables us to build on the strengths of our pattern of childcare services with its invaluable contribution from the voluntary sector and now from the increasingly interested private providers and employers.
District Health Authorities
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what instructions his Department has issued to district health authorities about the use of the word "authority" in their official titles.
Self-employed People
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the parliamentary constituencies in Wales in order according to the number of self-employed persons in each as revealed by the latest census ; and if he will give the figure for each of those constituencies.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is shown in the table.
Column 50
Number of self-employed by Parliamentary Constituency ------------------------------- Aberavon |1,343 Blaenau Gwent |1,443 Swansea East |1,539 Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney |1,569 Islwyn |1,590 Cynon Valley |1,595 Ogmore |1,644 Torfaen |1,722 Rhondda |1,816 Neath |1,868 Cardiff South and Penarth |1,976 Newport East |2,004 Caerphilly |2,141 Newport West |2,166 Cardiff West |2,220 Bridgend |2,253 Swansea West |2,374 Cardiff North |2,408 Alyn and Deeside |2,423 Pontypridd |2,446 Cardiff Central |2,525 Llanelli |2,647 Wrexham |3,027 Gower |3,078 Meirionnydd Nant Conway |3,367 Delyn |3,444 Vale of Glamorgan |3,577 Conwy |3,620 Ynys Mon |3,693 Caernarfon |3,800 Clwyd North West |4,129 Monmouth |4,483 Clwyd South West |4,808 Montgomery |5,309 Pembroke |6,054 Brecon and Radnor |6,261 Ceredigion and Pembroke North |7,771 Carmarthen |8,131
Coventry Health Services
Mr. John Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people are specifically responsible for dealing with complaints by patients and families in the Coventry family health services authority and by the Coventry health authority ;
(2) how many people are employed by the Coventry family health services authority and by the Coventry health authority ; (3) what is the latest available figure and for the years 1979 to 1988 for the back-log of complaints at the Coventry family health services authority and the Coventry health authority ; and how many complaints had not been investigated for (a) over a year and (b) over two years ;
(4) what is the average time taken to deal with a complaint to the Coventry family health services authority and the Coventry health authority ; and what is the national average.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairmen of the authorities for details.
Column 51
Drug Abuse
Mr. John Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the latest figure and for each year from 1980 for the number of people undergoing treatment for drug abuse ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not held centrally.
Circumcision
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to health authorities as to whether circumcision operations can be undertaken without charge by the national health service on the basis of parental choice rather than medical necessity.
Mr. Dorrell : This is a matter for local decision but in general only those operations which are deemed to be clinically necessary are performed without charge by the national health service.
Column 52
NHS Trusts
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish details of the originating debt to be issued to each of the first wave of NHS trusts.
Mr. Dorrell : The size of each NHS trust's originating capital debt and the proportions of interest bearing debt and public dividend capital within the total will be set later on this year following a determination of each trust's opening net asset values.
NHS Spending
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was (a) the total NHS spending and (b) HCHS spending as a proportion of United Kingdom gross domestic product in each year from 1974-75 to the present time.
Mr. Dorrell : The table gives NHS and HCHS expenditure for the years from 1974-75 as a proportion of gross domestic product.
Column 51
Total NHS (England) spending and HCHS spending as a percentage of gross domestic
product.
£ billion
|GDP(A) |Total NHS |Total NHS |Total HCHS |Total HCHS
|gross |gross |gross |gross
|expenditure|expenditure|expenditure|expenditure
|as a |as a
|percentage |percentage
|of GDP |of GDP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974-75 |89.400 |3.426 |3.8 |2.596 |2.9
1975-76 |111.200 |4.511 |4.1 |3.409 |3.1
1976-77 |130.100 |5.149 |4.0 |3.874 |3.0
1977-78 |151.400 |5.689 |3.8 |4.251 |2.8
1978-79 |173.800 |6.525 |3.8 |4.888 |2.8
1979-80 |208.600 |7.755 |3.7 |5.800 |2.8
1980-81 |237.800 |10.103 |4.2 |7.653 |3.2
1981-82 |260.900 |11.329 |4.3 |8.506 |3.3
1982-83 |285.700 |12.353 |4.3 |9.140 |3.2
1983-84 |309.800 |13.113 |4.2 |9.607 |3.1
1984-85 |331.900 |14.102 |4.2 |10.203 |3.1
1985-86 |363.100 |14.923 |4.1 |11.112 |3.1
1986-87 |390.800 |16.060 |4.1 |11.954 |3.1
1987-88 |432.900 |17.659 |4.1 |13.146 |3.0
1988-89 |482.900 |19.606 |4.1 |14.546 |3.0
1989-90 |523.000 |21.139 |4.0 |15.744 |3.0
1990-91 |558.000 |23.718 |4.3 |17.750 |3.2
1991-92 |604.000 |26.428 |4.3 |19.916 |3.3
HCHS figures from 1985-86 onwards are not comparable with those for the earlier years as they have been adjusted to reflect the new definition of HCHS expenditure to be used in the forthcoming departmental report. i.e. they include family health services administration, disablement services authority and family health services cash-limited spending.
Portage Schemes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health authorities joint fund portage schemes ; and what is his policy towards such joint funding.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not held centrally. Decisions on joint funding are for health authorities to take at a local level.
Column 52
Gulf Casualties
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds, per region, have been made vacant to enable the services to use them for Gulf casualties.
Mr. Dorrell : There should be no need for health authorities to empty beds until significant ground operations begin.
Children at Risk
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy towards the charging by health authorities or national health service trusts of local authority social services departments for the attendance of hospital doctors at case conferences concerning children or young persons at risk.
Column 53
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Such charges in respect of hospital doctors should not be necessary, and the needs of the child should always be paramount.Hospital Services, Carlisle
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will investigate the failure of East Cumbria health authority to discuss major reductions in hospital services in Carlisle with the East Cumbrian community health council.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 25 January 1991] : I understand that the Northern regional health authority is looking into this matter.
Nurses (Prescribing Rights)
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce legislation to permit limited prescribing rights for nurses.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [pursuant to the reply 23 January 1991, c. 220] : The Government support the general principle of nurse prescribing endorsed by the advisory group on nurse prescribing but there is more work to do before the final proposals can be agreed and legislation introduced.
The report of the advisory group was published and issued for comment in December 1989, and the consultation period ended on 30 April 1990. In total 330 responses were received from the four United Kingdom countries. These included replies from health authorities, family health services authorities, medical, pharmaceutical and nursing organisations, individual nurses, trade unions and pharmaceutical companies. Commentators generally welcomed the report and supported its recommendations.
The report and comments identified various issues which require further work, in particular the economic implications, education and training needs, the development of a formulary, administrative arrangements and legal implications. Clearly, implementation depends upon sorting out these issues. The Department intends shortly to announce details of the independent cost benefit analysis of the advisory group's proposals which we are commissioning. Work is also being carried forward in all the other areas.
An interim report from the cost benefit analysis should be available in the spring of 1992. Depending upon the nature of the results, we would hope to introduce legislation as soon as a suitable opportunity arises.
Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why there has been a delay in issuing claim forms for hill livestock compensatory allowance ; when farmers may expect these application forms to be released ; and what steps he is taking to arrange for early payment of hill livestock compensatory allowance.
Mr. Hanley : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the right hon. Member for Strangford (Mr. Taylor) on 25 January 1991, Vol. 184, col. 331 .
Column 54
Schoolchildren (Part-time Employment)
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) whether he will initiate a survey to establish how many children of compulsory school age are failing to achieve their full educational potential as a consequence of excessive part-time employment ; (2) what restrictions are placed on employers who provide part-time jobs for post- primary pupils who are still required to attend school on a full-time basis.
Dr. Mawhinney : The restrictions imposed on employers of children of compulsory school age are contained in byelaws regulating the employment of children, made by each education and library board, under the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968. The byelaws stipulate the occupations in which children may be employed, the age below which children are not to be employed, the number of daily or weekly hours for which they may be employed, the times of day at which they may be employed, the intervals to be allowed to them for meals and rest, the holidays or half- holidays to be allowed to them and any other conditions to be observed in relation to their employment.
I am not aware of any need for a survey.
| Next Section
| Home Page |