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Column 343
Public Bodies (Appointments)
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science to which posts in public bodies he appoints individuals where the posts are (a) part-time and (b) remunerated by more than £50, 000 per annum.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 6 March 1991] : The details of such appointments are listed on pages 15 to 17 of the Cabinet Office publication, "Public Bodies 1990", which is available in the Library. There are no part-time posts remunerated by more than £50,000 per annum.
Sports Council
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements he has made for continuing the payment of Government grant-in-aid to the Sports Council.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [pursuant to his reply, 30 January 1991, c. 511] : Parliamentary approval for my Department to make grant-in aito the Sports Council will be sought in a spring supplementary estimate for the schools, research and miscellaneous services vote--class XI, vote 1. This will provide for expenditure of £1 million in addition to £14,161,000 transferred from the Department of the Environment for the last quarter of 1990-91. The additional expenditure will be offset by a saving elsewhere on the vote. Pending Parliament's approval, urgent expenditure against this additional £1 million will be met by repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.
HEALTH
Funding, Leeds
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Dr. Hampson) of 21 February, Official Report, column 239, how much expenditure has been allocated to Leeds from regional and central funding in each year since 1979 (a) at 1990-91 prices and (b) as a percentage of the 1990-91 expenditure.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is shown in the table. The source and notes to my earlier reply remain applicable.
Leeds health authorities-total expenditure on hospital and
community health services (HCHS)
Year Revenue expenditure Capital expenditure
|£ 000 |As a |£ 000 |As a
|(at 1990-91|percentage |(at 1990-91|percentage
|prices) |prices)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |187,054 |74.6 |16,751 |112.7
1980-81 |204,642 |81.6 |20,751 |139.6
1981-82 |206,799 |82.5 |23,862 |160.6
1982-83 |205,284 |81.9 |21,602 |145.4
1983-84 |210,709 |84.0 |19,566 |131.6
1984-85 |213,272 |85.0 |13,742 |92.5
1985-86 |215,733 |86.0 |13,334 |89.7
1986-87 |223,665 |89.2 |10,273 |69.1
1987-88 |235,516 |93.9 |10,623 |71.5
1988-89 |245,116 |97.7 |14,136 |95.1
1989-90 |250,762 |100.0 |14,862 |100.0
Note: The figures have been expressed at 1990-91 prices by the use of
the Gross Domestic Product deflator. The percentages are calculated on
those constant-price values but are related to 1989-90 (the latest year
for which actual expenditure data are available).
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NHS Trusts
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will name the members of the group representing the interests of national health service trusts at his most recent meeting.
Mr. Waldegrave : Two seminars for NHS trust chairmen were arranged last month. I attended on 25 February, when 26 of the 57 trusts were represented. All the chairmen had been invited to attend the seminars. A list of the names of trust chairmen is held in the Library.
Pharmaceutical Licensing Authority
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to support the creation of a central EC pharmaceutical product licensing authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : It is the Government's stated policy to support in principle the European Commission's proposals for the future licensing of medicines, including the creation of a central licensing authority.
Child Protection
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances, and by whose authority, children are placed on child protection registers ; how many children are on such registers in the London region ; how many of these do not have an allocated social worker ; what similar figures are available for other parts of the United Kingdom ; what are the present legal responsibilities of local authorities towards children on the register ; how these will alter when the Children Act comes into force ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A child's name is normally placed on the child protection register following discussion at a case conference, convened by the social services department or by the NSPCC in areas where this function is undertaken by the NSPCC in agreement with the social services department, when abuse or potential abuse is confirmed and an inter-agency agreement is made to work co-operatively to protect the child. When a registered child moves the child should be registered at once pending the first case conference in the new area.
The latest information about the number of children on the registers in London boroughs who are not allocated to a social worker is published in "Child Protection Services in London, Aspects of Management Arrangements in Social Services Departments, 31 December 1989", together with numbers on the registers at the time at which the survey took place. Copies are available in the Library. Similar information is not available centrally for the rest of England. The most up-to-date information about numbers on child protection registers relates to 31 March 1990. This information is collected from all local authorities in England and is published in the provisional feedback "Children and Young Persons on Child Protection Registers, year ending 31 March 1990, England". Copies are available in the Library.
Similar statistics covering the rest of the United Kingdom are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland, for Wales and for Scotland.
The present legal responsibilities of local authorities towards children on the register are the same general
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duties as those towards all children under the Child Care Act 1980 : to promote the welfare of children and the Children and Young Persons Act 1969, to investigate the possible need for care proceedings and, if necessary, to take them.When the Children Act comes into force children on child protection registers will generally be children in need and entitled to the provision of services set out in section 17 of the Act, whether or not they are looked after by the local authority. Generally the powers to investigate are greater than before, particularly where there is refusal of access to the child.
Ambulance Service
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total amount of money spent by the South Yorkshire metropolitan ambulance service on (a) preparing its declaration of intent to apply for national health service trust status and (b) hosting seminars on material prepared by the accountants, Parnell, Kerr and Foster.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to write to the chief ambulance officer of the South Yorkshire metropolitan ambulance service for details.
Food Safety
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to achieve effective industry self-regulation in food safety and food hygiene ;
(2) which sectors and organisations within the food industry (a) operate and (b) propose to operate voluntary codes of practice in respect of food safety and food hygiene ;
(3) if he will list by sector those food industry organisations that have submitted proposals in respect of achieving effective industry self- regulation.
Mr. Dorrell : It is the responsibility of the food industry itself to produce safe food and, like the Richmond committee, the Government encourage self-regulation. Although comprehensive information is not held centrally, we are aware of a number of food industry organisations which have prepared or are preparing guidance on food safety issues for the benefit of their members.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list seminars, workshops and other meetings, indicating whether they were addressed by (a) Ministers or (b) civil servants, on the issue of food safety and food hygiene in each of the years 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Mr. Dorrell : Ministers and officials from the Department of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Scottish Office and the Welsh Office have addressed a large number of conferences, seminars and other meetings to publicise the Food Safety Act 1990 to consumers, enforcement authorities and the food industry. A complete list could not be suppplied except at disproportionate cost.
Cholesterol Testing
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to make cholesterol testing more widely available.
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Mr. Dorrell : The Standing Medical Advisory Committee was asked to consider the cost-effectiveness of opportunistic cholesterol testing and reported in May last year. Because the report indicated that this is an area of divergent medical opinion, it was decided to issue the report for widespread consultation. Consultation has now been completed and a large number of responses were received. We expect to be in a position to consider the findings soon.
Members of the European Parliament
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters he has received since 4 January 1990 from Members of the European Parliament concerning local or national matters ; and if he will make it his practice where the former are concerned to provide the hon. Member for the local constituency with copies of any such correspondence for his or her information.
Mr. Dorrell : We have received 94 such letters. As with other correspondence, replies would normally be copied to the hon. Member concerned if the original letter had been copied in this way.
Lung Cancer
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of deaths from lung cancer he attributes to smoking ; how many such deaths occurred in people under 65 years of age, and in all age groups, in the last five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The table shows the total number of people whose deaths were registered in England and Wales in the years 1985-89 with an underlying cause of malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung ; and the number of those aged under 65. It is estimated that at least 90 per cent. of these deaths can be attributed to tobacco smoking.
Number of deaths with lung cancer<1> as underlying cause of death, England and Wales, 1985-89 Year |All ages |0-64 years -------------------------------------------- 1985 |35,792 |10,665 1986 |35,257 |10,094 1987 |35,138 |9,549 1988 |35,302 |9,571 1989 |34,581 |8,936 <1> International classification of diseases (9th revision) code 162-malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung.
Smoking
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the annual cost to the national health service of treatment of smoking-related diseases for each of the last five years for which figures are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave the hon. Member for St. Helens, North (Mr. Evans) on 4 July 1990 at column 594. This estimate is not sufficiently precise to justify the calculation of yearly figures, although it is checked on a regular basis.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many working days his Department estimates are lost due to smoking-related illness ; what is the estimated cost to the gross national product from such days lost ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Dorrell : The Royal College of Physicians has estimated that over 50 million working days are lost each year due to smoking related disease. The likely cost in terms of lost production is about £2,200 million to £3,200 million.Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the fourth annual report of the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship will be published ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : We expect the committee's fourth annual report to be published by the summer.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress of his Department's negotiations to date with the tobacco industry on the control of tobacco advertising.
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Mr. Dorrell : Discussions have been under way with the tobacco industry on updating the voluntary agreement on tobacco advertising since the beginning of 1990. Some progress has been made, but the industry is reluctant to conclude a new agreement until it is clear about the impact on its business of European Community directives to complete the single market. We are pressing the industry to conclude a new agreement in the near future.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings he, his predecessor, his Ministers and his Department's officials have had with representatives of the tobacco industry since 1 January 1989 ; and if he will list the dates, venues and purpose of each meeting.
Mr. Dorrell : Officials regularly meet the tobacco industry to discuss a whole range of issues including the working of the voluntary agreements and EC measures on tobacco. Following is a list of the main meetings since 1 January 1989 :
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Date |Venue |Purpose
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 January 1990 |Department of Health |The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords) met the
| Tobacco Advisory Council to discuss the draft EC Tobacco
| Advertising Directive
31 January 1990 |Department of Health |The Secretary of State met the Tobacco Advisory Council to open
| negotiations on updating the voluntary agreements on tobacco
| advertising and product modification
27 March 1990 |Department of Health |Officials met the Tobacco Advisory Council to carry forward
| negotiations on updating the voluntary agreements
15 May 1990 |Department of Health |Officials met the Tobacco Advisory Council to carry
| forward negotiations on updating the voluntary agreements
14 November 1990 |House of Lords |The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords) met the
| Tobacco Advisory Council to discuss the implementation of
| EC Directives on Tobacco
23 January 1991 |Department of Health |The Secretary of State met a representative of Imperial Tobacco
| Ltd. to discuss various tobacco related issues.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of acute beds in national health service hospitals and the total number of in-patient bed days per annum he estimates are used by patients suffering from smoking-related diseases ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The number of bed-days attributable to
smoking-related disease was estimated in 1985 to be between 2.8 million and 4.8 million a year. The current figure is likely to be of the same order.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has of the relationship between consumption of cigarettes, particularly by children, and increases in prices ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Chislehurst (Mr. Sims) on 13 January 1989 at column 768 . We are not aware of any new studies which have become available since 1989.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the future of the Health Promotion Research Trust.
Mr. Dorrell : The funds given to the trust by the tobacco industry will soon be exhausted. I understand that the trustees are prepared to examine other possibilities for continuing the work of the trust.
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Oral Tobacco
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ban the sale of all new oral tobacco products in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The supply of oral snuff products was banned in the United Kingdom on 13 March 1990 by means of regulations under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. On 21 December 1990 the regulations were quashed by the divisional court on a procedural point. We have appealed against that decision.
Tobacco Advertising
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a full copy of the research commissioned by the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship ; if he will list the subjects covered by that research, the period this research covered and the findings of this research ; who was commissioned to undertake this research ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : Details of the research commissioned by the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship are contained in the first, second and third annual reports of the committee, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office--ISBNs0 11 321138 4, 0 11 321225 9 and 0 11 321306 9--copies of which are in the Library. In addition, Coopers and
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Lybrand Deloitte has recently completed some research on the tobacco industry's adherence to the cigarette voluntary code for promotions with specific reference to direct mail. The period covered by the research was 1989 to 1990. Details will be published in the Committee's fourth report. My hon. Friend is aware that the original research reports are not published because the industry, which meets half the cost of the research, has objected on various grounds. This position was set out in the reply my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State gave him on 27 October 1989 at column 631.Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the members of the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The membership of the committee is as follows : Mr. D. Adams--Welsh Office
Mr. R. R. Boxall--Gallaher Ltd.
Mr. W. J. Burroughs--Department of Health
Mr. N. M. Hale--Department of Health
Mr. D. R. Hare--Tobacco Advisory Council
Mr. B. C. W. Heard--Imported Tobacco Products Advisory Council Mr. T. S. Heppell--Department of Health
Mr. A. King--Scottish Office
Mr. P. Middleton--Imperial Tobacco Ltd.
Mr. W. C. Owen--Tobacco Advisory Council
Mr. E. D. Oxberry--Rothmans (UK) Ltd.
Mr. J. Scott--Department of Health and Social Security (Northern Ireland)
Mr. P. J. Vaughan--Department of Education and Science
One place on the industry side of the committee is temporarily vacant. The post of independent chairman is also temporarily vacant following the resignation of Sir Peter Lazarus in January. The Government and the tobacco industry hope to make a new appointment to this post shortly.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will invite representatives of the health professions to
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participate in his Department's current negotiations with the tobacco industry on the control of tobacco advertising ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Dorrell : The Department's own professional advisers have considerable expertise in these matters and are represented at the negotiating sessions.
No Smoking Day
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to support smokers in his Department to give up smoking on the eighth No Smoking Day on 13 March ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : National No Smoking Day has been publicised widely in the Department. The following activities are planned for 13 March : manned information points in building foyers with publicity and leaflets on leading a healthy lifestyle, and encouragement to enrol for stop smoking courses sponsored by the Department.
opportunities for smokers to hand in their cigarettes and enter a prize draw.
publicity in staff canteen.
exhibitions by the Occupational Health Service and the Look After Your Heart project manned by professional advisers available to give advice on giving up smoking.
The aims of national No Smoking Day and the initiatives outlined above have the full support of Ministers in the Department.
Mental Health Grant
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the local authorities which have indicated that they are not taking up the full amount of the new mental health specific grant.
Mr. Dorrell : The local authorities which have indicated that they are not taking up the full amount of the new mental illness specific grant are ;
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|Indicative |Bid |Amount of |Per cent. of
|Allocation |allocation not|grant
|taken up |allocation not
|taken up
|£ |£ |£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salford |110,000 |nil |110,000 |100.0
Bromley |130,000 |76,160 |53,840 |70.1
Bolton |120,000 |98,200 |21,800 |22.2
Havering |90,000 |75,000 |15,000 |20.0
Redbridge |110,000 |100,000 |10,000 |10.0
Tameside |90,000 |84,000 |6,000 |7.1
Essex |560,000 |531,600 |28,390 |5.3
Hampshire |550,000 |532,888 |17,112 |3.2
Bury |70,000 |67,900 |2,100 |3.1
Surrey |370,000 |364,399 |5,601 |1.5
Oxfordshire |200,000 |198,940 |1,060 |0.5
Sefton |110,000 |109,685 |315 |0.3
Avon |370,000 |369,437 |563 |0.2
Stockport |110,000 |109,807 |193 |0.2
Hereford |220,000 |219,649 |351 |0.1
Nottinghamshire |400,000 |399,700 |300 |<0.1
Warwickshire |170,000 |169,995 |5 |<0.1
Hammersmith |150,000 |149,940 |60 |<0.1
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Bed Closures
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate for the number of hospital bed closures during the current financial year ; and when figures will be available on an area basis.
Mr. Dorrell : We do not routinely collect this information centrally, since bed numbers are not a good indicator of levels of service in the national health service. It is for each health authority to determine the level and mix of health service provision in its area, taking account of local circumstances and the increased resources available to them.
Diabetics
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Health why it has been decided not to make the needles used with Novapen syringes available at no charge to people who receive a free supply of insulin on prescription.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : NHS supply arrangements for insulin pens and needles need to be considered together. Subject to our normal evaluation of individual brands, including Novapen, we would consider making pens and needles prescribable as an alternative to syringes, if this could be done without additional cost. Discussions with suppliers are currently in progress.
Laboratory Services
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the survey of laboratory backlogs and workload carried out in the second half of 1990 referred to in his answer of 21 February, Official Report, column 240.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The survey dealt only with those district health authorities in which the processing time for cervical smear tests was over one month on 1 July 1990. These are listed in the table with the length of the backlog and the number of smears received in the period March to May 1990. Since the length of backlogs changes over time, the current position is likely to vary from that shown. Two out of three health authorities processed smear tests within the requested one month.
Survey of laboratory backlogs and workloads:
July 1990
------------------------------------------------
Northern
North West Durham | 7.5 |3,171
Newcastle
North Tyneside | 5.5 |24,053
Northumberland
Yorkshire
Hull |7 |13,116
East Yorkshire
Grimsby |6 |5,684
Bradford |6 |12,956
Airedale
Wakefield |6 |5,589
Trent
South Derbyshire |6 |16,061
Nottingham |12 |22,205
Doncaster |12 |7,942
Rotherham |8 |n/a
Sheffield |6 |14,420
East Anglia
Cambridge |12 |8,254
West Norfolk |6 |n/a
North West Thames
North Bedfordshire |8 |6,396
Barnet |5 |n/a
North East Thames
North East Essex |12 |8,155
Southend |11 |11,144
Haringey |5 |4,623
Basildon and Thurrock |13 |8,091
Redbridge |14 |5,260
West Essex |10 |6,933
Mid Essex | 6.5 |8,769
Enfield | 5.5 |n/a
South East Thames
Canterbury/Thanet |5 |7,510
Dartford/Gravesend |5 |6,144
Medway |5 |8,244
Tunbridge Wells |7 |6,167
Greenwich |12 |3,975
Bromley |7 |9,300
Lewisham and
North Southwark (Guy's) |13 |3,630
South West Thames
Worthing |9 |n/a
Merton/Sutton |5 |n/a
South West Surrey |7 |n/a
Wessex
West Dorset |5 |n/a
Portsmouth | 8.5 |n/a
Southampton |5 |n/a
Swindon |7 |n/a
Bath |8 |n/a
Oxford
Oxfordshire | 5.5 |n/a
East Berkshire |10 |10,915
Aylesbury Vale |5 |12,969
South Western
Bristol and Weston
Frenchay |5 |14,911
Southmead
Cornwall |7 |11,651
Exeter |7 |11,959
Torbay |7 |6,708
West Midlands
Herefordshire |6 |4,443
Worcestershire |8 |5,557
Shropshire |7 |12,295
South Warwickshire |6 |7,349
Central Birmingham (part) |5 |8,072
West Birmingham |5 |8,010
Coventry |5 |10,569
Mersey
Liverpool (part) |5 |4,016
St. Helens and Knowlsey | 6.5 |5,820
Chester |6 |6,161
North Western
West Lancashire |8 |1,491
Bolton |7 |7,698
Rochdale |10 |4,174
Stockport |8 |3,212
Column 353
Nursing Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will extend the consideration of the fitness of applicants to run private care and nursing homes to include an assessment of the fitness of persons holding office in companies in ownership of homes.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There are no plans to do so.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sanctions are available to registration authorities when a successful prosecution for the operation of an unregistered home does not lead to the closure of the home.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : It would be open to the registration authority to take fresh proceedings against the person running the home.
The Registered Homes (Amendment) Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West (Mr. Butterfill) will, if it becomes law, extend the requirement to register to residential care homes with fewer than four residents.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action can be taken by registration authorities against private or voluntary residential care or nursing homes which fail to produce and provide residents with a written complaints procedure.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Persons registered under the Registered Homes Act 1984 are required to inform residents in residential care homes in writing how any complaints will be dealt with and to see that complaints received are fully investigated. If this requirement is not observed the response of the registration authority will depend on the particular circumstances of the case. The objective will always be to ensure that an effective complaints procedure is in place.
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