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NORTHERN IRELAND
Appointees
Rev. Ian Paisley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the names of all Government-nominated members and the names of all district council nominated members of (a) the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners and (b) the Warrenpoint Harbour Authority, in each year since 1979 giving the year of appointment and length of service in each case.
Mr. Needham : Appointments are as follows :
Name |Year of |Length |Nominated
|appointment|of service |by
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Londonderry Port and Harbour Commission
Mr. J. A. Allen |1977 |9 |Council
Captain P. J. Collier |1977 |9 |Government
Mr. J. T. Eaton |1977 |14 |Government
Mr. E. F. McCambridge |1977 |4 |Government
Mr. P. J. O'Doherty OBE |1977 |12 |Government
Dr. R. F. Keys |1978 |5 |Government
Mr. T. Gallagher |1977 |9 |Government
Mr. F. Donnelly |1982 |1 |Council
Mr. J. M. Spence |1983 |8 |Government
Mr. J. Tierney |1983 |5 |Council
|1989
Captain H. Stewart |1986 |2 |Government
Mr. P. Devine |1986 |3 |Council
Mr. S. Keys |1986 |5 |Government
Mrs. R. Mackenzie |1986 |5 |Government
Captain T. Wright |1988 |3 |Government
Mr. C. Murray-Cavanagh |1989 |2 |Government
Mr. J. Doherty |1989 |2 |Government
Warrenpoint Harbour Authority
Mr. A. Shiells, CBE |1977 |6 |Government
Mr. W. V. Hogg, MBE |1977 |9 |Government
Mr. J. D. Fisher |1977 |9 |Government
Councillor J. V. McCart |1977 |14 |Council
Mr. J. McAleavey |1977 |3 |Government
Mr. J. C. O'Hare |1977 |9 |Government
Mr. W. R. Bryan |1978 |13 |Government
Mr. G. P. Duffy |1978 |11 |Government
Mr. M. King |1980 |2 |Government
Mr. T. McAteer |1983 |6 |Government
Mr. J. L. O'Hagan, OBE |1983 |8 |Government
Mr. E. Gaynor |1986 |5 |Government
Mr. E. Haughey |1986 |5 |Government
Mr. J. Wright |1986 |5 |Government
Mr. H. Armstrong |1989 |2 |Government
Mr. S. Fearon |1989 |2 |Government
Miss H. Rolston |1989 |2 |Government
The lists include all persons who have served since 1979 although in some cases the date of appointment is earlier.
Refuse Collection
Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the latest estimate of local authority spending on refuse collection in each of the district councils.
Mr. Needham : The information, which also includes the estimated cost of refuse disposal because figures are not recorded separately, is set out in the table :
Estimate of Local Authority spending
on
Refuse Collection and disposal-1990-91
Council |Amount
|£
---------------------------------------
Antrim |980,794
Ards |767,700
Armagh |569,000
Ballymena |664,720
Ballymoney |215,271
Banbridge |393,697
Belfast |7,717,660
Carrickfergus |505,454
Castlereagh |812,874
Coleraine |601,752
Cookstown |412,150
Craigavon |1,088,279
Derry |1,566,300
Down |741,196
Dungannon |494,792
Fermanagh |534,460
Larne |621,015
Limavady |413,611
Lisburn |1,057,510
Magherafelt |423,453
Moyle |233,298
Newry and Mourne |831,044
Newtownabbey |1,214,582
North Down |1,296,035
Omagh |717,019
Strabane |411,245
|-----
Totals |25,284,911
Magherafelt Bypass
Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the commencement date of the Magherafelt bypass ; when he expects the bypass to be completed ; and at what cost.
Mr. Needham : There are no plans to build a bypass of Magherafelt within the foreseeable future.
Hospital Beds
Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many beds have been closed in Northern Ireland hospitals in each of the past five years.
Mr. Hanley : This information is not available in the form requested. The information in the table shows the average number of available beds in Northern Ireland hospitals for 1985 to 1989-90.
Year |Total ----------------------- 1985 |16,959 1986 |15,962 1987 |15,411 1988-89 |14,686 1989-90 |14,154
Over this period, the number of patients treated increased by 15 per cent. to 315,962. Considerable progress has also been made in providing long-stay patients with more appropriate forms of care in the community in line with the Government's policy of ensuring that people are cared for in a way which promotes their quality of life and provides them with the type of care best suited to their individual needs.
Claimants
Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for the monthly statistical periods since April 1990, if he will show the number of claimants in Mid-Ulster who had (a) been issued with warning letters for not actively seeking work, (b) had their claims referred to an adjudication officer for not actively seeking work, (c) had their claims (i) allowed and (ii) disallowed, (d) had their claims referred to an adjudication officer for refusing suitable employment and (e) been disqualified for refusing suitable employment.
Mr. Hanley : The information is not available in the form requested. The following information relates to claimants in the areas served by Cookstown, Omagh and Strabane social security offices. The office in Magherafelt was badly damaged as a result of a recent terrorist attack and records for the area are not immediately available.
Between April 1990 and January 1991 almost 2,000 unemployed claimants were interviewed specifically about their efforts to find work. As a result, three claims were
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referred to the adjudication officer of which one was allowed and two were disallowed. No claims were referred for refusing suitable employment.RUC Stations (Security)
Mr. A. Cecil Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will consider compensation for tenants and owner-occupiers of houses affected by security measures taken in relation to RUC stations.
Dr. Mawhinney : There is already provision in Article 18 of the Land Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 for the payment of compensation where property is unjuriously affected by such measures. There is also provision in Article 4 of the Land Acquisition and Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 for the payment of compensation in respect of depreciation in an interest in property as a result of environmental and physical factors caused by security measures. Claims for such compensation should be made against the Police Authority for Northern Ireland.
In addition, there is provision under section 28 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 for the payment of compensation by the Secretary of State where under the Act any real or personal property is taken, occupied, destroyed or damaged, or any other act is done interfering with private rights of property.
Traffic Volume, Newry
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many traffic volume surveys have been carried out by the Department of Environment at Canal street, New street, and the Armagh road in Newry in the past five years ; and what were the results of each survey.
Mr. Needham : Five traffic volume surveys were carried out at Canal street, Newry and one each at New street and the Armagh road. The results of the surveys were :
Location |Date |Total vehicles ---------------------------------------------------------------- Canal street |2 June 1988 |889 Canal street |2 November 1988|934 Canal street |8 February 1990|1,045 Canal street |10 April 1990 |1,055 Canal street |30 October 1990|991 New street |30 October 1990|682 Armagh road |4 June 1987 |940
Rural Development
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the developments arising from the report of the interdepartmental committee on rural development.
Mr. Brooke : The Inter-Departmental Committee on Rural Development reported in December 1990, and I was pleased to be able to announce on 15 February that Ministers had endorsed the broad thrust of the Committee's recommendations.
Accordingly, I have allocated ministerial and departmental responsibility for rural development to the agriculture portfolio and have asked that Department to take forward urgently the establishment of an advisory body and resource centre outside Government and under the management of a broad spectrum of rural interests. I
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am also establishing under the Department of Agriculture a small team of co-ordinators to integrate the responses from statutory agencies to locally developed regeneration plans.A further statement giving more detail of the mechanisms and structures to be put in place to assist the process of rural development in the most deprived rural areas of Northern Ireland will be issued shortly.
Noise Insulation
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance is available for the purposes of insulating homes against excessive noise in the vicinity of (a) motorways, (b) heavily trafficked roads, (c) civil airports, (d) low-flying zones and (e) military bases and installations ; and in each case at what level of noise the assistance is made available.
Mr. Needham : No such assistance is currently available in the case of motorways, or heavily trafficked roads. In the case of civil airports the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland may direct the operation of a civil airport to take measures to limit or mitigate the effect of noise from aircraft. Where it appears to the Department that these measures do not give adequate protection to nearby housing, the Department may, by order, make a scheme requiring the airport operator to make grants towards the cost of sound proofing the affected dwellings. Questions in relation to low-flying zones and military bases lie within the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many traffic noise surveys have been carried out by his Department in each of the last five years ; and if he will give details of the results of such surveys.
Mr. Needham : Exercises to calculate the level of traffic noise have been undertaken at a number of locations in the past five years but the results of these studies are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the assistance available to householders who need to insulate their homes against noise pollution ; and what conditions must be met to qualify for assistance.
Mr. Needham : No such assistance is available.
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the threshold noise levels above which his Department assesses there may be injurious effects on the health and welfare of individuals (a) at work and (b) at home.
Mr. Needham : The Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1990 provide for the protection of workers from exposure to noise at work.
Where any employee is likely to be exposed to a daily personal noise exposure of between 85 and 90 dB (A), the regulations require that the employee is provided with suitable and efficient personal ear protectors, but if the daily exposure is 90 dB (A) or above the employer is required to reduce, so far as is reasonably practicable, the exposure to noise other than by the provision of personal ear protectors.
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No threshold noise levels are prescribed for determining injurious effects on the health and welfare of individuals at home.EMPLOYMENT
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the role of training and enterprise councils in combating long-term unemployment.
Mr. Jackson : The fundamental role of every training and enterprise council (TEC) is to contribute to the regeneration of the community it serves. This clearly includes help for the long-term unemployed.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those training agencies which have been downgraded or removed from the new list of licensed providers and approved trainers by the Devon and Cornwall TEC ; and if he will list the successful groups and the criteria used in their assessment.
Mr. Jackson : Contractual arrangements with training providers are commercial in confidence and are the responsibility of the Devon and Cornwall TEC.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what meetings to discuss training policy were held between Devon TEC and the individual TABs in Devon before the announcement of the revised list of licensed providers and approved trainers.
Mr. Jackson : Negotiations with training providers are a matter for the Devon and Cornwall TEC.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what decisions have been made regarding licensed providers and approved trainers for Devon ; and which TEC and TAB members were involved in the consultative process.
Mr. Jackson : Consultations with training providers and contractual arrangements are a matter for the Devon and Cornwall TEC.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursant to his parliamentary answers of 18 February, Official Report, column 57, how many drafts of the South Glamorgan TEC corporate plan his Department received ; and on what dates.
Mr. Jackson : My Department has received four draft plans. The first was received on 24 September 1990, the second on 2 November 1990, the third on 7 December 1990 and the fourth on 7 January 1991.
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the chairmen of each training and enterprise council and TEC advisory board in Devon and Cornwall.
Mr. Jackson : The chairman of Devon and Cornwall TEC is Mr. Eric Dancer. Information on the chairmen of TEC sub-groups is not held centrally.
Expenditure (Regional Distribution)
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what procedures his Department has for keeping itself informed of the regional distribution of its
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expenditure ; and whether it is his policy to correct any significant and unintended regional imbalances which appear.Mr. Jackson : My Department uses a number of systems for keeping itself informed. Regional expenditure is monitored regularly and officials will either reallocate funds as appropriate within their responsibilities or will advise me of any redistribution which may be needed. I will decide on any adjustments to be made.
Retail Businesses
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the Official Report the measures taken by Her Majesty's Government since June 1987 which are of assistance to small retail businesses.
Mr. Forth : There is a wide range of Government-supported assistance to small firms generally, including small retail businesses. This assistance includes free and widely available advice and business counselling, easily accessed training suitable for the widely varying circumstances of small firms, subsidised consultancy, help with finance and premises.
Specific measures taken of particular relevance to small retail businesses since June 1987 include :
reduction of small companies' corporation tax rate to 25 per cent. and increases in the relevant thresholds
major reductions in personal tax rates which have benefited unincorporated businesses
extension of capital gains tax retirement relief
substantial increases in personal pension contribution limits and simplication of pension rules
a package of measures to lighten VAT administration : cash accounting and annual accounting systems, and simpler schemes for small and medium sized retailers
revision of VAT registration thresholds to enable small businesses to stay out of the VAT net longer
improvement and simplication of the loan guarantee scheme with effect from 1 April 1991, limiting of business rate increases for small business owners who live above the shop to 10 per cent. in real terms during the transitional period
establishment of the new training and enterprise councils, responsible among other things for activities designed to strengthen local economic growth
Noise
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the threshold noise levels above which there may be injurious effects on the health and welfare of individuals (a) at work and (b) at home.
Mr. Forth : The information requested is as follows :
(a) Noise at work
The Noise at Work Regulations 1989 set a daily personal noise exposure of 85 dB(A) as the first action level. This is a level of regular personal exposure which, over a period of years, may result in damage to hearing. There is a small but discernible risk of hearing damage from exposure levels below this.
Other health effects from noise exposures have been reported in scientific literature. The Health and Safety Executive has sponsored a review into the state of knowledge of these effects of noise and hopes to publish a report of the findings later this year. For other effects on the welfare of people, the threshold will depend on the nature of the noise and the individual circumstances.
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(b) Noise at homeResponsibility for noise in the home rests with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Environment who has advised me that under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 local authorities in England and Wales are under a duty to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to investigate complaints of statutory nuisance. If noise emitted from premises of any category is considered to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance, local authorities are empowered to issue a notice requiring the abatement of the nuisance. Non-compliance without reasonable excuse is an offence. There is no fixed level of noise which constitutes a statutory nuisance ; individual circumstances differ and each case needs to be judged on its merits by local authorities. Factors to be taken into account include loudness, frequency and duration of the noise.
Redundant Mineworkers
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many individuals covered by the redundant mineworkers pension scheme have left the Wakefield and Dewsbury travel-to-work area unemployment register since the commencement of this scheme.
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.
Tameside
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he intends to take to improve employment prospects in Tameside ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My Department, the employment service, and the training and enterprise councils operate a range of employment, enterprise and training programmes designed to improve the employment prospects of the unemployed. These measures are available in Tameside as elsewhere.
The employment service is expanding the help available through job clubs ; and also has in place a five-point job help package, which provides comprehensive counselling and advice for the unemployed. In the period April 1990 to January 1991, in the Manchester East employment service area, over 23,600 unemployed people had the benefit of a Restart interview and almost 900 were helped to find employment through attendance at job clubs.
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what action he intends to take to improve training opportunities in Tameside.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. and learned Friend has recently contracted with Manchester TEC to provide training and enterprise opportunities in the Tameside area. Manchester TEC is working closely with the local authority in Tameside both through the TEC consultative group and by working with the local authority on its own economic development strategy.
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HEALTH
Population Statistics
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the adult population of Great Britain.
Mr. Dorrell : The estimated resident population of Great Britain aged 18 years and over as at 30 June 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, was 42.97 million.
Drug Dispensing
Sir Neil Macfarlane : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all the professional organisations and associations which have declared support for original pack dispensing ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We consulted more than 40 organisations representing the interests of the medical and pharmaceutical professions on the report and recommendations of the joint sub-committee. Widely conflicting views on the benefits of original pack dispensing were received. Whilst most supported the principle, all had reservations about the details of implementation.
Sir Neil Macfarlane : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he intends to implement the recommendation of the joint standing committee on original drug pack dispensing that pharmacists should invariably dispense drugs in whole numbers of original packs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A formal consultation exercise is needed for changes to orders under the Medicines Act 1968, section 129(6). Consultations following the report of the Sub-Committee appointed by the Standing Medical, Nursing and Midwifery and Pharmaceutical Advisory Committees to consider original pack dispensing, suggest that agreement on such changes would be difficult to achieve. We intend to institute a new round of consultation with the medical and pharma-ceutical professions and the pharmaceutical industry shortly.
Sir Neil Macfarlane : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to assure himself that patients' interests are safeguarded when pharmaceuticals are dispensed from bulk packs ; and what information he has on the extent to which the absence of manufacturers' details has caused risk of contamination or error.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The British National Formulary shows the cautionary and advisory labels that pharmacists are recommended to apply to containers. These include all the information required by the prescriber and necessary for the patient. Dispensing from bulk packs into smaller packs is supervised by pharmacists to ensure that the patient receives the exact quantity the doctor has prescribed.
Female Circumcision
Mrs. Roe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has on the number of illegal female circumcisions that have taken place in the United Kingdom since 1985 ; what action he has taken to prevent this practice ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Since the passage of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, which the hon. Member introduced, any female circumcision which took place in the United Kingdom would be illegal. I understand that there have been no prosecutions under the Act. The Act, which was supported by the Government, was intended to prevent the practice. In addition, the Department gives financial assistance to organisations which work to educate and inform the relevant ethnic communities in this country.Social Work
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to satisfy himself that the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work has sufficient staffing resources to process diploma in social work course submissions in accordance with its own published timetables.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We are satisfied that the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) has adequate resources to fulfil its statutory remit under Section 10 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudication Act 1983. CCETSW's annual budget from the Department has increased from £16 million in 1989-90 to almost £23.5 million in 1991-92.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to introduce an appeal mechanism against decisions by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work on submissions for courses for diplomas in social work.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Within the procedures for the course approvals there already exists an explicit appeal mechanism to enable programme providers to appeal against any refusal by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work to approve a DipSW programme.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if common criteria are being applied in the evaluation of all submissions for diploma in social work courses.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Approval of programmes of study for the diploma in social work is the responsibility of the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) and all decisions are based on training rules, approved by the Privy Council, and detailed guidelines which were published as CCETSW paper 30, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Medical Practitioners
60. Sir Geoffrey Finsberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time medical practitioners are in post in his Department : and what was the corresponding figure for 1980.
Mr. Dorrell : The number of full-time medical practitioners in post in the Department as at 1 February 1991 was 111. At 1 February 1980 there were 125.
Hip Operations
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which district health authority has the shortest waiting list for hip operations.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is not available centrally. Waiting list information is collected according to the specialty of intended treatment, not by specific diagnosis or methods of intended treatment.
Cash Limits
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any changes will be made to the cash limits and running cost limits of his Department in 1990-91.
Mr. Waldegrave [pursuant to the answer 1 February 1991, col. 683] : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary revised Supplementary Estimates, the following changes will be made : The cash limit for class XIII vote 1 (hospital and community health services, family health services (part) and other services, England) will be increased by £14,504,000 from £14,193,539,000 to £14,208,043, 000. This increase represents expenditure incurred by health authorities in preparation for the contingency of treating military casualties from operations in the Gulf (£9.504 million) and a transfer of resources from class XIII, vote 3 to offset partially lower than expected land sales receipts by health authorities (£5 million).
The cash limit for class XIII, vote 3 (Department of Health administration, miscellaneous health services and personal social services, England) will be reduced by £5,000,000 from £734,508,000 to £729,508,000. This provides for the transfer of resources to class XIII, vote 1, noted earlier. The Department's running cost limit remains unchanged at £197,693,000.
The increase is within the forecast outturn for the planning total published in the statistical supplement to the 1990 autumn statement.
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