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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a requirement for the public display of complaints procedures within residential care and nursing homes.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There are no plans to do so.
Prescription Charges
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about NHS prescription and related charges and optical vouchers.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I have today laid before the House regulations for increases in prescription charges in the national health service in England and Wales which will take effect from 1 April 1991. The prescription charge will increase by 35p from £3.05 to £3.40. The increase of nearly 11.5 per cent. reflects the higher cost of the pharmaceutical services and will provide about £17 million extra income to the resources available to the health service in England and Wales.
The new charge will continue to represent less than half the cost of an average prescription to the NHS. The existing exemption arrangements under which about four out of five of all prescription items are provided free of charge remain unchanged. The four-monthly and annual prepayment certificates will continue to be available, the
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fees for which will increase from £15.80 and £43.50 to £17.60 and £48.50 respectively. The effect of the wide-ranging exemption arrangements and the continued availability of prepayment certificates is that a charge will be paid in respect of less than 20 per cent. of all items dispensed in the NHS.The charges for elastic stockings and tights, fabric supports and wigs supplied through the hospital service will also be increased from 1 April, as set out in table A.
Turning now to general dental services, at present those patients who are liable to pay a dental charge contribute a fixed proportion--75 per cent.-- of the cost of each course of treatment, up to a maximum of £150. The House has already been informed that we have no plans to increase the proportional charge. However, the maximum charge has remained unchanged since 1988 and, from 1 April 1991, it will be raised to £200.
I am pleased to announce increased help for people who receive vouchers towards the cost of their spectacles. Overall the value of spectacle vouchers will increase by 6 per cent. from 1 April and the most frequently prescribed A, B and D vouchers will go up by 7.2, 6.1 and 6.5 per cent. respectively. In addition we shall be making changes to the voucher regulations to ensure that people with certain unusual optical prescriptions will be entitled both to free NHS sight tests and to the highest value spectacle vouchers.
Voucher values for the hospital eye service will rise by 6 per cent. for spectacle vouchers and 11.5 per cent. for contact lens vouchers. The maximum charge payable by patients will also increase. The revised voucher values are set out in table B.
Table A New hospital service charges from 1 April 1991 (present charge in brackets) Elastic Stockings and tights, wigs and fabric supports |£ |£ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each elastic stocking |3.40 |(3.05) Tights supplied through the hospital service |6.80 |(6.10) Surgical brassiere |14.50 |(13.00) Abdominal or spinal support |19.00 |(17.00) Stock modacrylic wig |29.00) |(26.00 Partial human hair wig |74.50 |(67.00) Full bespoke human hair wig |108.00 |(97.00)
Table B
National Health Service Spectacle Voucher Values
Voucher |From 1 |Present
|April |value
|1991 |£
|£
---------------------------------------------------------
A |19.30 |18.00
B |30.50 |28.75
C |48.00 |47.00
D |37.00 |34.75
E |61.00 |59.75
F |102.00 |100.00
G<1> |102.00 |100.00
H<1> |<2>32.15|<2>28.85
Complex lenses
Single vision |3.60 |3.50
Bifocal |19.25 |18.75
Prisms per lens
Single vision |4.10 |4.00
Bifocal |5.10 |5.00
Tints per lens
Single vision |2.05 |2.00
Bifocal |2.55 |2.50
Photochromic per lens<1>
Single vision |2.05 |2.00
Bifocal |2.55 |2.50
Small Frame Supplement |35.20 |34.50
Supplement for Special Facial
Characteristics<1> |35.20 |34.50
<1> Hospital Eye Service
<2> Per Lens
PRIME MINISTER
Purchasing and Distribution
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Prime Minister what is the full annual cost, including overheads, of his Department's purchasing activity.
The Prime Minister : The full cost of the purchasing activity in the Cabinet Office for the current financial year is estimated to be £26 million.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Prime Minister how many people in the Cabinet Office are wholly or substantially involved in purchasing stores and distribution activities.
The Prime Minister : The number of people involved either wholly or substantially in these activities is nine.
Value for Money
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Prime Minister what measures of performance are employed by his Department to ensure value for money.
The Prime Minister : Although the nature of much of the Cabinet Office's work precludes assessment by way of formal performance measures, the identification of value-for-money targets is an integral part of the Department's planning and budgeting system. The system provides for the regular monitoring of progress towards targets and their achievement.
WALES
Duffryn Workshops
Mr. John Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will ensure that the West Wales training and enterprise council is adequately funded to avoid Duffryn Workshops in the Afan valley closing during the next month.
Mr. David Hunt : I announced on 28 February that over £8 million additional funding would be made available for employment training in Wales in 1991-92. It is the TEC's responsibility to determine which training providers can best meet the training requirements of the locality and to contract accordingly.
Primary Education
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the present state of education at primary level in Ceredigion and Dyfed.
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Sir Wyn Roberts : The pattern of provision of maintained primary education in Dyfed is for the local education authority, not for me. However, in response to concerns expressed by some parents, mainly in the Teifi valley area, I have asked the local education authority for details of its introduction of categorisation of primary schools in terms of their use of Welsh as a medium of teaching.
No Smoking Day
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans his Department has to help smokers give up smoking on No Smoking Day ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : Welsh Office staff have been fully informed about this year's No Smoking Day and reminded of the standing invitation to join a smoking cessation group.
European Community
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many times he has visited Brussels concerning his Department's responsibilities in the European Community.
Mr. David Hunt : Since becoming Secretary of State for Wales on 4 May 1990 I have not visited Brussels to discuss matters relating to Wales and the European Community, but my Department is in close contact with the European Commission and the office of the United Kingdom permanent representative in Brussels, with officials visiting Brussels regularly to discuss specific policy interests. I am, of course, ready to visit Brussels when it becomes appropriate to do so in pursuit of my departmental responsibilities.
ENERGY
Gas Turbine Power Stations
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many licences he has issued for combined cycle gas turbine power stations ; what information he has on how many are under construction or for which construction contracts have been let ; and which companies are building the plants.
Mr. Wakeham : The following combined cycle gas turbine generating-- CCGT--stations have been given planning consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 :
Deeside Power Development Company Ltd.--Deeside Industrial Park, Clywd
Energy Resources Company Ltd.--Keadby, Humberside
National Power plc--Killingholme, South Humberside
National Power plc--Little Barford, Bedfordshire
PowerGen plc--Killingholme, South Humberside
PowerGen plc--Rye House, Hertfordshire
Teesside Power Ltd.--Wilton, Cleveland
The following applications for consent for CCGT generating stations are still being considered :
Barking Power Ltd.--Barking, London
Coryton Cogen Ltd.--Coryton, Essex
National Power plc--Didcot, Oxfordshire
National Power plc--Staythorpe, Nottinghamshire
PowerGen plc--Plymouth, Devon
Rugby Power Co. Ltd.--Rugby, Warwickshire
Texaco Ltd.--Angle Bay, Dyfed
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The following projects incorporating CCGT technology have received approval under section 14(1) of the Energy Act 1976, that is, to establish an electricity generating station to be fuelled by natural gas, or for the conversion of an electricity generating station with a view to its being so fuelled :Barking Power Ltd.--Barking, London
Berisford Bristar plc--Brigg, South Humberside
British Nuclear Fuels plc--Calder Hall, Sellafield
British Sugar plc--Bury St. Edmunds
Rugby Power Co. Ltd.--Rugby, Warwickshire
Coryton Cogen Ltd.--Coryton Essex
Deeside Power Development Company Ltd.--Deeside
Industrial Park, Clywd
National Power plc--Killingholme, South Humberside
National Power plc--Little Barford, Bedfordshire
PowerGen plc--Rye House, Hertfordshire
Sheffield Heat and Power--Sheffield
Shell UK Exploration and Production--Shellhaven, Essex
Texaco Ltd./Mission Energy--Angle Bay, Dyfed
Wiggins Teape--Stoneywood Mill
The following projects incorporating CCGT technology have received approval under both sections 14(1) and 14(2) of the Energy Act 1976, that is, to establish an electricity generating station fuelled by natural gas and to enter into contractual arrangements for obtaining a supply of natural gas for an electricity generating station, or to extend any such arrangements :
The Boots Company plc--Beeston, Nottingham
BP Chemicals Ltd.--Baglan Bay, West Glamorgan
British Sugar plc--Wissington, Suffolk
Hawker Siddeley--Corby, South Humberside
Hawker Siddeley--Peterborough
ICI plc--Wilton, Cleveland
Lakeland Power--Roosecote, Cumbria
Leicester Energy Ltd.--Raw Dykes Road, Leicester
Occidental Petroleum--Flotta
PowerGen plc--Killingholme, South Humberside
Ranger Oil/PowerGen plc--South Denes, Great Yarmouth
Teesside Power Ltd.--Wilton, Cleveland
The further information requested by the hon. Member covers commercial matters for the companies concerned.
Child Care
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the number of workplaces for civil servants in his Department ; what proportion of the total number have an on-site nursery facility ; how many and what proportion of workplaces provide a holiday play scheme ; how many and what proportion of workplaces provide after-school child care facilities ; what charges are made for use of any facility ; what the net cost has been for the provision of these facilities ; and what estimate he can make of any future expenditure.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department's staff are located at seven sites. In addition, there are various small offices where some two to three staff work. My Department does not provide nurseries, holiday play schemes, or after-school care and has no current plans to do so. However, my Department has participated in the holiday play scheme organised in the Westminster area by the office of the Minister for the Civil Service.
Purchasing and Distribution
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many people in his Department are wholly or substantially involved in purchasing stores and distribution activities.
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Mr. Wakeham : These figures are reported annually to the Treasury's central unit on purchasing. The number reported for 1989-90 was seven.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the full annual cost, including overheads, of his Department's purchasing activity.
Mr. Wakeham : These figures are reported annually to the Treasury's central unit on purchasing. The amount reported for 1989-90 was £293, 000.
Members of the European Parliament
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy 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. Wakeham : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East (Mr Young) on 4 April 1990, at column 629.
No Smoking Day
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy 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. Wakeham : My Department has no plans to publicise this occasion, but a two-day exhibition on various health-related issues is being organised for early April as part of the Look After Your Heart campaign. An important feature of the exhibition will be making information and advice available to staff about smoking.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Soviet Union
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made in respect of Yefim Rokhvarg, Iosef Roginsky and Evgeny Pisarevsky of Leningrad who have been unsuccessfully applying to leave the Soviet Union.
Mr. Garel-Jones : Mr. Pisarevsky's name was included in a list of cases brought to the attention of the Soviet authorities in advance of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's recent visit to Moscow. We shall take account of the cases of Mr. Rokhvarg and Mr. Roginsky in our future representations.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made in respect of Vladimir Kodess, David Gurevich and Yuri Gindin of Leningrad, who have been unsuccessfully applying to leave the Soviet Union.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We can certainly raise these cases with the Soviet authorities, but in order to make our representations most effective we shall need further details.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations
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have been made in respect of Lev Lazarevich Kunin and Pavel Izakson of Moscow, who have been unsuccessfully applying to leave the Soviet Union.Mr. Garel-Jones : Mr. Kunin's name was included in a list of cases brought to the attention of the Soviet authorities in advance of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's recent visit to Moscow. We shall take account of the case of Mr. Izakson in our future representations.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made in respect of Vladimir Gorodetsky, who has been unsuccessfully applying to leave the Soviet Union.
Mr. Garel-Jones : We have now added Mr. Gorodetsky's name to the list of cases regularly brought to the attention of the Soviet authorities and will make firm representations in support of his application to leave the Soviet Union.
Ghana
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made recently to the Ghanaian Government concerning law No. 78 which allows for execution for political offences, and of law 4 which allows imprisonment without access to legal advice.
Mrs. Chalker : We have made no recent representations about these laws. We maintain regular ministerial and official contact with the Government of Ghana and they are well aware of our concern at some of their internal policies and on those concerning human rights issues.
Immigration
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current length of time applicants wishing to join spouses in the United Kingdom are having to wait for interview by British high commission staff in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh ; and what action is in hand to reduce waiting times.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) on 20 February, at column 175. During the past two years we have considerably reduced waiting times in the Indian sub-continent. No first-time applicant for settlement now waits longer than nine months for interview. We have increased staffing levels in Bombay and New Delhi. The construction of new premises in Islamabad, Dhaka and New Delhi and the move to new premises in Bombay will improve administrative procedures and are expected to reduce waiting times.
Child Care
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the number of workplaces for civil servants in his Department ; what proportion of the total number have an on-site nursery facility ; how many and what proportion of workplaces provide a holiday play scheme ; how many and what proportion of workplaces provide after-school child care facilities ; what charges are made for use of any facility ; what the net cost has been for the provision of these facilities ; and what estimate he can make of any future expenditure.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The information requested is as follows : Diplomatic Wing--
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is located in 15 buildings in the United Kingdom. Members of the Diplomatic Service also staff over 200 posts overseas. None has an on-site nursery facility, holiday play scheme or after-school child care facility at present, although places in the Westminster holiday play scheme, administered by the office of the Minister for the Civil Service, are open to FCO staff working in the Westminster area.
An on-site workplace nursery is being set up at Hanslope park, near Milton Keynes. Start-up costs are currently estimated at £45,000. Aid Wing--
The number of workplaces for Overseas Development Administration staff is three. None has an on-site nursery facility or provides after-school child care facilities. Two provide a holiday play scheme ; places on the Westminster holiday play scheme are open to staff at the third. The ODA also provides accommodation for the Westminster holiday play scheme.
Details of charges, net cost and future expenditure in respect of the two workplaces which provide holiday play schemes are as follows :
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