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Schools (Capital Expenditure)
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what proportion of the education capital expenditure authorised for schools maintained by local education authorities is attributable to the need to replace and/or refurbish premises which are no longer fit for their purpose in the current planning period ; (2) what additional capital expenditure has been authorised in 1990-91 and 1991-92 in order that local
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education authorities may provide maintained schools with the accommodation and equipment required to introduce the national curriculum effectively.Mr. Fallon : Of the £472 million of annual capital guidelines distributed to local education authorities in respect of capital expenditure at county and voluntary controlled schools in 1991-92, £109 million was distributed by formula specifically to contribute towards new replacement and refurbishment work in schools, and a substantial proportion of the balance will also cover such work. Of the £83 million available for grants for capital building work in voluntary aided and special agreement schools in 1991-92 £7.8 million is for new major improvement and replacement work, and a substantial proportion of the balance will likewise go towards such work. The substantial increases in the amount available for distribution as capital allocations and annual capital guidelines in the last two years will assist local education authorities to provide maintained schools with the accommodation and equipment they require to introduce the national curriculum effectively.
Education Costs (Northumberland)
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average cost of educating (a) a primary school pupil and (b) a secondary school pupil in the local education authorities within Northumberland.
Mr. Fallon : In 1988-89, the latest year for which information is available, information returned by Northumberland local education authority indicates that its average net institutional expenditure was £1,090 per nursery and primary pupil and £1,630 per secondary pupil. Net institutional expenditure covers the cost of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. It does not include the costs of central administration, school meals and capital expenditure.
Refugees
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which local authorities have applied, under section 210 of the Education Reform Act 1988, for a grant to (a) finance existing provision for refugees or displaced persons living in camps or reception centres and (b) finance provision for 1991-92 ; how many of (a) and (b) have received a grant ; what is the amount of grant allocated to each local authority ; and if he will review the grant available for these purposes in the light of the increased number of asylum seekers entering the United Kingdom in 1990.
Mr. Eggar : In 1991-92 Derbyshire, Kirklees, Oxfordshire, Richmond and Surrey sought continued grant to support existing provision for refugees or displaced persons living in camps or reception centres. Camden, Hackney, Hillingdon and Lambeth applied for grant to support new work starting in 1991-92. Richmond also applied for grant to expand its existing provision. The expenditure to be supported in these authorities is as follows :
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|£ 000s
----------------------------
(a)
Derbyshire |74.2
Kirklees |84.0
Oxfordshire |65.9
Richmond |56.7
Surrey |40.9
(b)
Camden |36.3
Hackney |34.4
Hillingdon |19.7
Lambeth |77.7
Mixed-age Classes
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of third-year infants are in mixed-age classes where seven-year-olds are in a minority.
Mr. Fallon : The information requested is not available.
Conductive Education
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations he has received from the south-east retail group of the Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. about the threatened closure of a positive achievement through conductive education centre ; what reply is being sent ; if any action will be taken ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Fallon : Representations have been received from the south-east retail group of the Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. concerning the positive achievement through conductive education centre. A reply has been sent which has made clear that, whilst the Government believe that conductive education for those children who are able to benefit from it should in time be made available in this country, this is a matter for local provision.
Thames Polytechnic (Merger)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science for what reasons he has not approved the merger of the South West London college and Thames polytechnic.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. and learned Friend has consulted South West London college and other institutions about advice from the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council that student preferences should be taken into account in determining the future location of work at the college. He hopes to make a final decision about the future of the college shortly.
Voluntary Aided and Controlled Sector
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has for the voluntary aided and the voluntary controlled sector ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Fallon : We are firmly committed to the dual system of county and voluntary schools and we value the contribution of the churches to state education. Overall capital expenditure on church schools on a per pupil basis increased by 80 per cent. in real terms between 1979-80 and 1990-91.
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We have no proposals to make significant changes to the status of the voluntary schools sector, beyond the plans announced by my right hon. and learned Friend on 21 March to transfer voluntary sixth form colleges to a new sector of post-16 education from April 1993. These colleges will retain their voluntary status.HEALTH
Northumberland Area Services
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in (a) Blyth Valley and (b) Northumberland were received into local authority care where the specific cause was family homelessness, in each year since 1979.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Figures for the numbers of children in care of local authorities are not available centrally for county districts. The latest figures available about children in care in Northumberland are for the year ending 31 March 1990.
Northumberland
Year ending |Number of
31 March |children admitted
|to care under
|section 2 of the
|Child Care Act
|1990 where family
|homelessness was
|the specific cause
---------------------------------------------------------
1979 |4
1980 |6
1981 |2
1982 |3
1983 |1
1984 |6
1985 |0
1986 |0
1987 |0
1988 |1
1989 |0
1990 |2
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the numbers of beds available to national health service patients within the Northumberland health authority.
Mr. Dorrell : At 31 March 1990, the latest date for which this information is held centrally, there were 3,014 such beds. Since 1979, the number of beds has fallen by 25 per cent. but the number of patients treated has increased by around 17 per cent.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names, addresses and qualifications of the directors of the Northumberland Ambulance Trust.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Trust boards are made up of equal numbers of executive and non-executive directors and a chairman. The appointment of the executive directors is a matter for the trust. The chairman and non- executive members of the Northumbria ambulance national health service trust are :
Mr. Roy Stewart
Mr. P. Moth
Dr. J. Higson
Column 435
Mr. A. FergusonMr. A. Knight
Mr. D. Smith
The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the NHS trust for further details.
Convalescent Homes
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on (a) the provision of residential homes for short-term post-operative surgical convalescence and (b) the availability of advice and information on the placing of patients in such homes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : We have received no such representations. Guidance on discharge procedures is provided for local health authorities in circular HC(89)5 "Discharge of Patients from Hospital" and its accompanying booklet of good practice, copies of which are available in the Library.
Voluntary Organisations
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the awards given to voluntary organisations under the section 64 procedure for the financial years 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Dorrell : In 1990-91 grants totalling £14.8 million were awarded under the section 64 general scheme to 262 voluntary organisations. This represents a real-terms increase of 43 per cent. over 1978-79. Details of the grants are given in the following table.
In 1991-92 we plan to increase the level of support to the voluntary sector under the section 64 general scheme by a further £1.1 million to £15.9 million. So far grants to the value of £11 million have been awarded to 238 voluntary organisations. Further grants will be awarded throughout the year. Existing "core" grants which help to fund headquarters running costs will generally be held more or less steady to enable us to extend the support which we can give to the voluntary sector through new core grants and project funding. Significant core grants have already been renewed for such bodies as Alcohol Concern, Age Concern, MIND and the Disabled Living Foundation. Major new projects funded this year under the section 64 general scheme include ones undertaken by Mental Health Foundation--Homeless in London (£80,000), National Institute for Social Work (£55,000), Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (£27, 000) and East London Asian Family Counselling (£24,000).
These figures and the number and range of organisations supported clearly demonstrate Ministers' commitment to the voluntary sector. They also underline the Government's recognition of the special and valuable contribution which voluntary organisations bring to the provision of health and personal social services.
Grants to voluntary organisations under s.64 of the Health Services
and Public Health Act 1968-General Scheme (Subhead E2(1)A)
1990-91 provisional outturn
|£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Access Committee (England) |122,000
Action for Dysphasic Adults |16,580
Action for Victims of Medical Accidents |20,000
Action on Smoking and Health |241,500
ADFAM |18,375
Age Concern |254,000
Age Exchange Theatre Company |10,000
AIDS Ahead |40,000
AIDS Care Education and Training (ACET) |100,000
Alcohol Concern |583,000
Aied Richards Trust |35,100
Alzheimer's Disease Society |130,000
Amarant Trust |13,400
Amnesia Association |8,000
Anna Freud Centre |5,000
Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus |34,919
Association for Stammerers |10,000
Association for the Psychiatric Study of
Adolescents |20,000
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers |3,775
Association of Disabled Professionals |3,000
Association of Professions for the Mentally
Handicapped |5,000
Association of Residential Care |20,000
Association to Aid the Sexual and Personal
Relationships of People with a Disability |36,000
Association to Combat Huntington's Chorea |10,000
Barnardos |55,625
Black HIV/AIDS Network (BHAN) |40,000
Body Positive |40,000
Breakthrough Trust |40,000
Breastcare and Mastectomy Association of Great
Britain |32,000
Bridge |35,000
British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering |285,000
British Association for Counselling |69,470
British Association for Services to the Elderly |12,000
British Association for the Study and Prevention
of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) |27,500
British Association of Cancer United Patients
(BACUP) |23,000
British Association of the Hard of Hearing |60,000
British Council of Organisations of Disabled
People |30,000
British Fluoridation Society |33,000
British Infertility Counselling Association |3,200
British Institute of Industrial Therapy |25,000
British Institute of Mental Handicap |35,000
British Kidney Patient Association |25,000
British Organ Donor Society |5,000
Brittle Bones Society |8,000
Brook Advisory Centres |65,000
Cancer Help Centre |30,000
Cancer Research Campaign |18,000
Cancerlink |18,000
Care and Repair Limited |30,500
Care Resources for People Affected by AIDS/HIV
(CARA) |15,000
Carers National Association |105,000
Catholic Child Welfare Council |2,500
Catholic Marriage Advisory Council |42,200
Centre for Accessible Environment |70,000
Chest Heart and Stroke Association |71,163
Child Accident Prevention Trust |106,050
Child Care |184,035
Child Migrants Trust |20,000
Child Poverty Action Group |18,000
Child Psychotherapy Trust |50,000
Childline |82,200
Children's Legal Centre |45,000
Chinese Health Information Centre |16,000
Christian Concern for the Mentally Handicapped |11,000
Coeliac Society |14,500
Community Hygiene Concern |5,000
Compassionate Friends |20,000
Contact |32,000
Contact a Family |90,000
Coronary Prevention Group |87,500
Council for the Advancement of Communication
with Deaf People |60,000
Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme Ltd. |80,000
Cruse |142,000
Cry-Sis |4,000
Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust |22,000
Dial UK |45,000
Disability Alliance |45,000
Disabled Housing Trust |17,000
Disabled Living Centres Council |20,000
Disabled Living Foundation |347,255
Disabled Living Services Manchester |10,000
Disablement Income Group |40,000
Down's Syndrome Association |15,000
Dystonia Society |6,920
Eating Disorders Association (was Anorexic
Family Aid) |24,167
Elizabeth Fitzroy Homes |25,000
Endometriosis Society |10,000
Ethnic Study Group |66,000
Extend |25,000
Family Planning Association |165,000
Family Policy Studies Centre |100,000
Family Rights Group |36,000
Family Service Units |245,000
Family Welfare Asssociation |136,000
First Key |118,832
Foundation for Conductive Education |45,579
Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths |25,000
Foundation for Women's Health Research and
Development (FORWARD) |20,000
Friends for the Young Deaf |10,000
Frontliners |50,000
Gingerbread |84,500
Good Practice in Mental Health |80,000
Graves Medical Audiovisual Library |10,000
Haemophilia Society |15,500
Headway Association |40,000
Heartline Association |5,000
Herpes Association |15,000
Holiday Care Service |15,000
Home Farm Trust |20,000
Home Start Consultancy |70,000
Homes for Homeless People |48,000
Horticultural Therapy |58,300
Housing Campaign for Single Homeless |36,500
Hypogammaglobulinaemia Society |4,500
In Touch |3,000
Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence |348,000
Institute of Transcultural Health Care |1,000
International Social Service |53,208
Iris Fund |2,500
Jewish Welfare Board |5,000
Joint Committee on Mobility for the Disabled |1,100
Jubilee Sailing Trust |20,000
Kids |25,000
Kids Clubs Network |88,500
Kings Fund Centre for Health Services
Development |30,000
La Leche League of Great Britain |8,000
Landmark South London HIV Centre |79,000
L'Arche Ltd. |12,000
Leisure Link |7,500
Leonard Cheshire Foundation |18,750
London Black Womens Health Action Project |3,000
London Chinese Health Resource Centre |30,000
London Lighthouse |300,000
MacFarlane Trust |140,000
Mainliners |40,000
Making Space (was North West Fellowship) |30,000
Manic Depression Fellowship |10,000
Marfan Association |5,000
Marie Curie Memorial Foundation |20,000
Maternity Alliance |37,000
MENCAP |250,000
Menieres Society |5,000
Mental After Care Association |50,000
Mental Health Foundation |50,000
Mental Health Media Council |30,000
Migraine Trust |8,000
Mildmay Mission Hospital |130,000
Miscarriage Association |4,000
Mobility Information Service |8,000
Motor Neurone Disease Association |10,000
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Association |10,000
NAFSIYAT |15,000
National AIDS Trust |211,000
National Association for Maternal and Child
Welfare |15,000
National Association for Mental Health (MIND) |454,960
National Association for Patient Participation |7,000
National Association for the Care and
Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) |270,000
National Association for the Childless |39,300
National Association for the Limbless Disabled |22,500
National Association for the Welfare of Children
in Hospital |91,914
National Association of Family Based Respite
Care |4,000
National Association of Leagues of Hospital
Friends |24,000
National Asthma Campaign |15,000
National Back Pain Association |21,000
National Childbirth Trust |64,000
National Childminding Association |130,000
National Children's Bureau |364,488
National Citizens Advocacy |20,000
National Community Health Resource |55,000
National Council for One parent Families |150,000
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
(NCVO) |135,390
National Counselling and Welfare Service for Sick
Doctors |1,700
National Federation of Kidney Patients |10,000
National Fostercare Association |100,000
National Information for Parents of Prematures
(NIPPERS) |11,000
National Information Forum |16,000
National Institute for Social Work |165,500
National Joint Emergency Executive Committee
(Red Cross/St. John Ambulance) |25,000
National Meningitis Trust |15,000
National Organisation for Counselling Adoptees &
Parents (NORCAP) |8,093
National Osteoporosis Society |20,000
National Playbus Association |54,000
National Schizophrenia Fellowship |140,860
National Self Help Support Centre |40,000
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children (NSPCC) |150,000
National Stepfamily Association |20,000
National Toy Libraries |45,000
National Youth Bureau |69,000
Neurofibromatosis Association (LINK) |5,000
New Horizons Trust |10,000
Newcastle upon Tyne Council for the Disabled |5,500
North Regional Association for the Blind |67,619
Northern Schizophrenia Fellowship |27,500
Outset |25,000
Overseas Doctors Association |17,000
Pain Relief Foundation |8,500
Parent to Parent Information on Adoption
Services |6,500
Parentline Opus |40,000
Parents Against Injustice (PAIN) |35,000
Parents for Children |48,500
Partially Sighted Society |10,000
Patients Association |20,000
Phobic Action |20,000
Phobics Society |7,500
Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied |30,000
Positively Women |40,000
Pre-School Playgroups Association |420,000
Prince of Wales Advisory Group on Disability |75,000
Queen Elizabeth Foundation for the Disabled |36,000
Rainer Foundation |26,700
Rape Counselling and Research Project |20,000
Raynaud's Association Trust |6,000
Research Trust for Metabolic Diseases |5,000
Restricted Growth Association |12,500
Richmond Fellowship |97,000
Royal Association for Disability and
Rehabilitation (RADAR) |225,000
Royal National Institute for the Blind |200,000
Royal National Institute for the Deaf |40,000
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
(ROSPA) |5,000
Samaritans |155,000
Save the Children Fund |71,000
Scoliosis Association UK |1,000
Sense (NADBRH) |65,000
Sequal |25,000
Sickle Cell Society |35,000
Skills for People |11,000
South Regional Association for the Blind |127,577
St. Katherine Housing Trust |18,000
Standing Committee on Sexual Abuse of Children
(SCOSAC) |20,000
Standing Conference on Drug Abuse (SCODA) |277,500
Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) |30,000
Streetwise Youth |10,000
Support After Termination for Abnormality |5,000
Tacade |10,000
Tavistock Clinic Foundation |14,070
Tay Sachs and Allied Diseases Association |5,000
Terence Higgins Trust |450,000
Thalassamenia Society |15,000
Tibble Trust |1,500
Tracheo Oesophageal Fistula Support (TOFS) |3,000
Tripscope |4,000
Tuberous Sclerosis Association |2,000
Turning Point |110,000
Twins and Multiple Births Association (TAMBA) |7,750
United Response |25,000
Values Into Action (was Campaign for Mentally
Handicapped) |20,000
Vitiligo |4,000
Vocal |15,000
Voice for the Child in Care |10,000
Voluntary Council for Handicapped Children |60,000
Voluntary Organisations Liaison Committee for
Under Fives (VOLCUF) |36,000
Walsingham Community Homes |10,000
Wessex Rehabilitation Association |7,500
Westminster Pastoral Foundation |60,000
Widows Advisory Trust |18,000
Winged Fellowship Trust |15,000
Women's Aid Federation (England) |130,000
Women's Health Concern |20,000
Women's National Cancer Control Campaign |32,000
Womens Therapy Centre |15,000
Working Mothers Association |15,000
Young Minds |10,000
|------
Total paid<1> |£ 14,771,124
<1> This total includes £ 50,000 paid to Voluntary Organisations for
Europe Against Cancer.
Gulf Casualties
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 397, when he expects to receive and validate the final figures from regional health authorities in respect of Gulf casualties.
Mr. Dorrell : Regional health authorities have been asked to submit final figures for the costs they incurred in making preparations to treat casualties. We expect that final figures will be received and validated within a few weeks.
Nurses' Grading
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects nursing clinical grading appeals in Northumberland health authority to be completed ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 440
Mr. Dorrell : Information is not held centrally on district level appeals.
Creuzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to establish a counselling service for those individuals who may have been infected with Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease by the use of contaminated growth hormone, and the families of those individuals ;
(2) what steps his Department has taken to notify all those individuals who may have been infected with Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease from injections of contaminated growth hormones of the nature of their position ;
(3) if his Department has successfully identified all those individuals who may have become infected with Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease from injection of contaminated growth hormone.
Mr. Dorrell : Those at risk were the 1,908 patients treated with human pituitary derived growth hormone in clinical trials conducted between 1959 and 1985. From records kept of these trials, 1,699 patients have been identified as currently resident in Great Britain. Of these, 80 per cent. have been traced and their general practitioner notified. We expect that a substantial number of the remaining patients will be traced over the next few weeks. The GPs are asked if they wish to advise their patients of the risk or if they would prefer the approach to be made by hospital specialists. If the doctors requested further help with counselling we would consider what additional assistance we could provide.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what regulations and practices have been instituted since 1985 to ensure that those infected with diseases such as Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease through the use of contaminated products are informed at the earliest possible opportunity of their condition.
Mr. Dorrell : These instances are rare and the complex clinical and ethical issues that determine how best to proceed need to be considered in each instance. Generally, we believe that the doctors involved in treatment are best placed to decided when and how to convey such information.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals have been infected with Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease by the use of contaminated growth hormone.
Mr. Dorrell : At present, there is no specific test for Creuzfeldt- Jakob disease (CJD) in the living patient and diagnosis can be confirmed only in post-mortem histological examination. Post-mortems carried out on 110 patients treated in the trials of human-derived growth hormone show that six died with CJD. I am advised that the great majority of the remaining patients treated in the trials are unlikely to have been infected.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department has successfully identified all those batches of growth hormone that were infected by Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mr. Dorrell : On the basis of current knowledge it is not possible to identify which batches of human-derived
Column 441
growth hormone used in the clinical trials conducted between 1959 and 1985 were infected with Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. Human-derived material has not been used since 1985, when a genetically engineered hormone treatment became available.General Practitioners
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many general practitioners in Britain with over 3,000 patients on their list are working single-handed ;
(2) how many general practitioners in Britain have over 3,000 patients on their list.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : At 1 October 1990, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 2,585 general practitioners in England with a personal list size of over 3,000 patients, of whom 373 are working single-handed. The information relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries for State for Wales, for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider amending the regulations to provide that the maximum number of patients for whom any doctor can receive payment is 2,500.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. List sizes have been falling steadily for a number of years, with the average now below 2,000.
Eye Tests
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of eye tests taken by men over 65 years and women over 60 years for each year since 1987.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information is not collected on the age of adults receiving national health service sight tests.
Medical Products (Contamination)
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken since 1985 to screen all products such as growth hormones for contamination by serious disease.
Mr. Dorrell : The Medicines Control Agency, which is responsible for the grant of licences under the Medicines Act 1968, requires that applicants for licences supply scientific information to support the application. The agency has issued guidance on the selection of human and animal-derived materials used in the manufacture of medicinal products. Manufacturers are expected to apply appropriate criteria for selecting the sources of such material including screening tests so that contaminated material may be excluded. The agency evaluates data submitted in support of applications with advice, when required, from expert advisory committees set up under the Medicines Act.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement regarding the nature and extent of screening of blood products by the blood transfusion service for contamination by highly infectious diseases.
Column 442
Mr. Dorrell : In the interests of maintaining the safety of the blood supply, all potential donors are advised not to donate blood or plasma if they consider that they are in one of the high-risk groups for infectious diseases. Additional specific groups are also excluded--such as recipients of human growth hormone, although there is no evidence that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease infection is transmitted by blood or blood products.
In addition, all blood and plasma donations collected by the National Blood Transfusion Service are routinely tested for HIV 1 and HIV 2, hepatitis B and syphilis. These arrangements are kept under review in the light of any new developments. The Blood Transfusion Service is currently evaluating tests for the hepatitis C antibody and it is expected that routine tests for hepatitis C will be introduced from September 1991.
All factor VIII and IX produced from screened and tested donations are heat treated to inactivate HIV and other viruses. Blood itself cannot be heat treated.
Schoolchildren (Blood Lead Levels)
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by place and date all his Department's surveys into lead levels in the blood of schoolchildren since 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : The Department has not carried out any such surveys. However, surveys have been commissioned by the Department of the Environment (DOE) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) which is the main agency through which the Government support bio-medical and clinical research in the United Kingdom.
The DOE has published the results of the surveys it has commissioned in its Pollution Report Series "United Kingdom Blood Lead Monitoring Programme, 1984-1987". Report No. 28 (1990) summarises all the results for 1984-87. Details of the results for 1984-1986 are given in reports 22, 24 and 26. Copies of all these reports are available in the Library.
The surveys show a progressive fall in children's blood lead levels.
Agency Status
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those bodies currently with agency status within his Department under the "next steps" initiative ; and whether he has identified any further candidates for agency status under the initiative within his Department.
Mr. Dorrell : The NHS Estates Agency was launched on 1 April 1991. In a reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr. Stevens) on 17 April at column 204, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that the Medicines Control Agency had been identified as a candidate for executive agency status. Further candidates are being considered.
Romanian Children
Mr. David Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children from Romania his Department has recommended for entry clearance for adoption in the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Since December 1989, the Department has recommended to the Home Office that entry clearance should be authorised in respect of 206
Column 443
Romanian children for adoption in England. Information relating to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland, for Scotland and for Wales.Cleveland Child Abuse Inquiry
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which categories of persons or bodies received funding from his Department in respect of the inquiry into child abuse in Cleveland in 1987 ; what were the purposes for which funding was made available ; what was the total amount of expenditure incurred by his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department gave funds of £300,000 each to the Cleveland county council and the Northern regional health authority in respect of the inquiry into child abuse in 1987. The payments were made in recognition of the exceptional length of the inquiry to assist the local authority and health authority with the costs which they incurred ; the total expenditure incurred by the Department including these payments which can be separately identified was about £1.25 million.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information on the salaries of the executive directors of national health service trusts will be included in the trusts' annual reports.
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 20 May 1991] : Annual financial statements for each trust will show the number of employees, including executive directors, receiving remuneration of over £40,000 in bands of £5,000. These statements will also show the emoluments of the highest paid board member separately and the number of board members receiving emoluments in bands of £5,000 with no lower limit.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Benefits and Allowances
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the saving if no social security, housing, or welfare benefits other than child benefit were paid to any single person whose income was more than £65 per week and to couples married or otherwise whose income was more than £130 per week.
Mr. Jack : The estimated savings in the income-related benefits are in the table.
|Savings
|(£ million)
---------------------------------------------
Income Support |5
Family Credit |210
Housing Benefit |240
Community Charge
Benefit |60
Comparable details are not held for benefits which are not income related and it is not therefore possible to give estimates for them.
Column 444
Benefits Agency
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the total anticipated costs of the Benefits Agency, including uniforms and office alterations.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
Marginal Tax Rates
Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the numbers of lower-paid families with and without children showing one and two-parent families with children separately, whose marginal tax rates, including benefit withdrawal, will be (a) 90 to 100 per cent., (b) 80 to 90 per cent., (c) 70 to 80 per cent., (d) 60 to 70 per cent., (e) 50 to 60 per cent. and (f) 40 to 50 per cent., taking into account the tax changes for 1991-92.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is set out in the table.
Marginal deduction rates including Social Security
Numbers with marginal deduction rates within each range
(thousands) Great Britain
Per cent. |Couples with |Single parents|Others
|children
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
90 to 99 |25 |30 |0
80 to 89 |95 |35 |15
70 to 79 |80 |55 |50
60 to 69 |-<1> |-<1> |-<1>
50 to 59 |0 |0 |0
40 to 49 |5 |0 |15
Figures are based on pooled Family Expenditure Survey data.
Calculated for benefit units in receipt of income-related benefits
where at least one partner works 24 hours per week or more.
<1> Denotes less than 5,000.
Claimants, Blyth Valley
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many adults in (a) Blyth Valley or (b)
Northumberland over the age of 18 years were in receipt of income support for 1990-91.
Miss Widdecombe : The administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many poll tax payers in the Blyth Valley district council area will lose rebate arising out of the proposed reduction in the poll tax.
Miss Widdecombe : This information is not available.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are receiving family credit in the areas covered by his Department's Blyth Valley offices.
Mr. Jack : The administration of family credit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the
Column 445
Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.Income Support
Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many income support claimants had direct deductions for gas, electricity, rent arrears, poll tax arrears, water rates and social fund loans in 1990.
Miss Widdecombe : Figures for May 1989 are contained in table 10 of the "Department of Social Security Income Support Statistics Annual Statistical Inquiry, May 1989", a copy of which is in the Library. There were no deductions for community charge at that time. Figures for the numbers of claimants with deductions in May 1990 will be published shortly.
Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families with children were in receipt of income support in each year since 1979.
Miss Widdecombe : Income support was introduced in April 1988 when it replaced supplementary benefit. The numbers of families with children under the age of 16 years receiving those benefits since 1979 is in the table :
|Thousands
----------------------------------
November 1979 |477
December 1980 |567
December 1981 |777
December 1982 |907
December 1983 |948
December 1984 |1,031
February 1986 |1,137
May 1987 |1,138
May 1988 |1,119
May 1989 |1,106
Source: Annual Statistical
Enquiries.
Note: There was no Annual
Statistical Enquiry in 1985: the
one
due in December that year was
deferred until February 1986.
Social Fund
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the gross and net budgets of the social fund for each year since its introduction for (a) the Greenock and Port Glasgow local offices, (b) local offices in Strathclyde and (c) local offices in Scotland ; and if he will break down these budgets into (i) crisis loans, (ii) budgeting loans and (iii) community care grants and showing the change in real terms since 1988-89.
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