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Mr. Lang : No. Scottish Homes has already been given guidance on the need to consult local authorities and to give careful consideration to their views. Scottish Homes in putting forward any proposals for the Secretary of State's consent will be expected to draw attention to any impact on the local authority's interest and on the authority's capacity to meet its continuing statutory housing obligations.
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether valuations on Scottish Homes' housing stock will take account of any burdens on its disposal.
Mr. Lang : Valuation of Scottish Homes' housing stock which is to be disposed to a new landlord will be set by the
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district valuer who will take into account the market value subject to existing tenancies, the condition of the stock and the fact that tenants transferring will have a preserved right to buy.Community Charge Relief
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people successfully claimed personal community charge transitional relief in (a) 1989-90 and (b) 1990-91 in each islands and district council area in Scotland.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Regional and island councils are required to provide information on the numbers of people who qualified for relief under the original and the enhanced transitional relief schemes. Information about qualifiers in district council areas is not available centrally. The table shows provisional figures provided by local authorities of qualifiers in 1989-90. The scheme was revised in January 1991 with backdated effect to 1 April 1990. In practice, only one authority paid out relief in respect of the financial year 1990-91 before the scheme was replaced by the personal community charge reduction scheme. Figures for 1990-91 are not therefore available.
|1989-90
--------------------------------------
Borders |1,655
Central |4,679
Dumfries and Galloway |2,664
Fife |16,202
Highland |9,211
Lothian |78,795
Strathclyde |157,000
Tayside |25,833
Grampian |9,668
Shetland |166
Orkney |-
Western Isles |313
Health Service Expenditure
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give, for each year since 1970-71, at fixed prices total expenditure on the national health service, further breaking it down into expenditure on (a) health board administration and (b) hospital and community services, distinguishing (1) capital and (2) revenue, (c) family practitioner services, (d) central health services, distinguishing (1) capital and (2) revenue, (e) state hospital (1) capital and (2) revenue, (f) training, (g) research, (h) disabled service, (i) welfare foods and (j) miscellaneous.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information in the format requested is not available.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the expenses incurred by (a) his Department and (b) Ayrshire and Arran health board in connection with the application for self-governing status by the South Ayrshire hospitals trust.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The cost of preparing and printing the application is of the order of £20,000. This will ensure that copies are widely available to interested parties during the statutory consultation period. The cost is being met from additional resources available for implementation of the NHS reforms.
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Children (Special Needs)
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of places available each year since 1979 in (a) list G schools, (b) list D schools and (c) children's homes.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information about the number of places at schools entered in list G is not collected annually. There are currently around 15,000 such places.
The list D category was abolished from 1 April 1986. From that date, former list D schools were included in the statistical returns as children's homes. The number of places in such schools up to 1986 was as follows.
|Places
---------------------
1979 |1,585
1980 |1,509
1981 |1,514
1982 |1,349
1983 |1,203
1984 |1,099
1985 |1,107
1986 |857
The number of places in children's homes was as follows.
|Places
---------------------------
1979 |5,062
1980 |5,049
1981 |4,669
1982 |4,301
1983 |3,836
1984 |3,442
1985 |3,043
1986 |2,661
1987 |<1>2,995
1988 |<1>2,916
<1> Includes former list D
schools.
Employment Statistics
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those travel-to-work areas, together with the respective percentages, where 40 per cent. or more of all employees are employed in production.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The most recent estimates of employees in employment in travel-to-work areas are from the September 1989 census of employment. The travel-to-work areas in Scotland with 40 per cent. or more of employees employed in the production industries are listed in the table.
Travel-to-work areas in Scotland where 40 per cent. or more
of all
employees in employment were employed in the production
industries
Travel-to-work area |Percentage of
|employees<1>
|employed in
|production
------------------------------------------------------------
Alloa |42.8
Annan |47.5
Fraserburgh |43.8
Hawick |51.4
Keith |48.9
Peterhead |41.1
Source: Employment Department 1989 Census of Employment.
<1> Employees in employment in divisions 1 to 4 of the 1980
standard industrial classification as a percentage of all
employees in
employment in the travel-to-work area.
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Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of all employees in Scotland are employed in (a) production and (b) services.
Mr. Allan Stewart : In December 1990, the latest date for which information is available, 23.4 per cent. of Scottish employees in employment were employed in the production industries and 68.3 per cent. in services.
Legal Aid
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each of the last 10 years the number of households eligible for legal aid in court proceedings and the percentage of those entitled who had to make a contribution to legal costs.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is not available.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by year for the last 10 years the number of individuals who have qualified for legal aid ; and what percentage of the population this represents.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information is not available in the form requested. Figures for the number of legal aid applications granted are set out below.
Year |Total number |Total number
|of Legal Aid |of Legal Aid
|applications |applications
|granted |granted as a
|percentage of
|population
--------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |186,603 |3.6
1982-83 |196,093 |3.8
1983-84 |211,437 |4.1
1984-85 |221,289 |4.3
1985-86 |239,985 |4.7
1986-87 |258,690 |5.0
1987-88
6.0
1988-89 |290,053 |5.7
1989-90 |300,422 |5.9
1990-91 |<1>- |<1>-
<1> At present these figures are not available.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by year for the past 10 years the number of people entitled to free legal advice.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is not available.
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on access to free legal services.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Legal services paid for under legal aid schemes are available free of charge to all those who satisfy the relevant merits tests and whose means are such that they are not required to make a financial contribution towards their legal costs.
Unfitness to Plead
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if it is his intention to introduce legislative provisions akin to those contained in the Criminal Procedure (Insanity and Unfitness to Plead) Bill ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My hon. Friend keeps under review the law on mentally disturbed offenders in
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Scotland, and in that context will consider the implications of any changes to the law in this area which may be enacted for England and Wales.Fish Processing
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many fish processing units are currently in operation, by Scottish region ; and of these how many currently meet new EC hygiene requirements ;
(2) what expenditure his Department expects to be necessary in each year until 1995 in the fish processing sector to meet EC hygiene regulations ; what assistance is available for such investments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information in the form requested is not available. There are known to be over 300 fish processing units in Scotland, the majority of which are located in the Grampian region. Many fish processors already operate to standards above those that will be required under the draft EC fish hygiene directive because of the standards required by the customers. Others are already investing to bring themselves up to a higher standard. The transitional measures that will apply are still under negotiation within the Community so the dates by which the various requirements must be met have not yet been settled. In any case, it would not be possible to separate the expenditure anticipated to meet hygiene requirements from other investment in the development of fish processing businesses.
My noble Friend the Minister with responsibility for agriculture and fisheries in Scotland announced recently that some £15 million in European Community funded grant aid has been made available to the United Kingdom's fish marketing and processing industry for the period 1991-93.
The EC grants scheme provides for grants of up to 30 per cent. for fish marketing and processing projects along with a United Kingdom back-up grant of 5 per cent.
Scottish fish processors secured EC grant awards over the past 10 years of around £10 million under the previous EC scheme and there is every prospect that they will continue to be successful in attracting awards under the new scheme.
The proposed EC hygiene directive provides for a very basic set of hygiene requirements. The Scottish Fish Merchants Federation has recognised the importance to the industry of proper hygiene standards and has been pressing for early implementation of these measures, but the Government recognise that some processors have a fair way to go to meet such standards and therefore support the case for an appropriate transitional period.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what records are kept within his Department of business failures in the fish processing sector ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) what employment projections have been prepared by his Department of employment in the fish processing sector in Scotland ; (3) if he will make a statement on the current condition of and prospects for the fish processing sector in Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : Some 9,000 people are employed in the fish processing industry in Scotland. Employment projections specific to
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fish processing would not be reliable since the numbers employed are sensitive to the business decisions of a relatively small number of companies.In the past year, there have been some closures in the processing industry, mainly linked to the reduction in the supply of species such as cod and haddock, and also to problems faced in fishmeal production, but there have also been substantial new investments as many processors diversify into other species such as mackerel, herring and farmed salmon, and also into products with greater added value. The market for mackerel and herring products has improved considerably following good publicity as to the health benefits to be had from eating oily fish and the supply outlook for these species is good. The net change in employment in fish processing in Scotland during 1990 is estimated to have been small.
Animal Carcases
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received concerning the health problems arising from the dumping of animal carcases ; what action he is taking concerning the dumping of sheep in a mass open grave in Morton Wood, near Thornhill ; what action he is taking to assist the knackery industry in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway to prevent the growing dumping of animal carcases ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : My right hon. Friend has received representations about the possibility of health problems arising from the improper disposal of animal carcases from a number of hon. Members, local authorities, farmers, trade and professional interests and members of the public in some areas of Scotland, most notably Dumfries and Galloway Region.
It is an offence under the Dogs Act 1906 to leave cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and equine carcases unburied and thereby exposed to dogs. Where this happens it is a matter for the police and local authorities. The Control of Pollution Act 1974 also contains powers which might be invoked where carcases are left unburied. The Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department has reminded local authorities, chief constables and river purification boards of their powers under the 1974 Act. In addition local branches of the National Farmers Union of Scotland in the areas concerned have been advised that their members should adhere to the law and act responsibly in disposing of carcases.
As with other industries, farmers are responsible for disposing of their waste within the existing framework of environmental and health controls. It would not, therefore, be justifiable to use taxpayers' money to subsidise the knacker industry. The Government have assisted in a number of other ways, but the best solution to both the problem of carcase dumping and the financial difficulties of the knacker trade is for the farmers to use the service and pay the charges required of them.
Discharged Hospital Patients
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will give the number of patients resident within the Hamilton/East Kilbride unit area discharged from
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Monklands/Cumbernauld units in each of the acute, maternity and geriatric sectors in each of the last five years ;(2) if he will give the number of patients resident within the Hamilton/East Kilbride unit area discharged from
Motherwell/Clydesdale units in each of the acute, maternity and geriatric sectors in each of the last five years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : The information requested is set out in the table :
|1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990
---------------------------------------------------
Acute-Monklands/
Cumbernauld |2,005|2,186|2,259|2,357|2,705
Acute-Motherwell
-Clydesdale |1,456|1,485|1,695|1,942|1,743
Maternity-
Monklands/
Cumbernauld |1,695|1,792|1,755|1,697|1,696
Maternity-
Motherwell/
Clydesdale |467 |419 |423 |406 |413
Geriatric-
Monklands/
Cumbernauld |41 |26 |3 |5 |8
Geriatric-
Motherwell/
Clydesdale |236 |349 |395 |287 |115
Notes:
1. The figures for the acute sector include
non-obstetric and
non-psychiatric discharges but do not include
discharges from
special care baby units, young chronic and
geriatric specialties.
2. The figures for geriatric specialties include
discharges and deaths
from geriatric assessment and geriatric long stay
units.
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Mr. Doran : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the capital value of all the assets of the Aberdeen royal infirmary.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : As at December 1989, the assessed capital value, on the basis of existing national health service use, of Aberdeen royal infirmary was £71.3 million. This excludes furniture and equipment.
A74
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for the A74 (a) the name of each section to be rebuilt as a motorway, (b) the state of preparation of the plans for each section, (c) the order in which each section will be constructed and (d) the estimated starting date for each section.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 20 May 1991] : The information requested is as follows :
(a)
(a) Millbank to Nether Abington (11.5 km) Nether Abington to Elvanfoot (7.7 km) Elvanfoot to Paddy's Rickle Bridge (4.3 km) Paddy's Rickle Bridge to Harthope (6.6 km) Harthope to Middlegill (6.3 km) Middlegill to Beattock (4.2 km) Beattock to Annanbank (10.5 km) Annanbank to Dinwoodie Green (4.9 km) Dinwoodie Green to Muirhouse (5.1 km) Muirhouse to Water of Milk (5.9 km) Water of Milk to Ecclefechan (4.9 km) Ecclefechan to Eaglesfield (5.3 km) Eaglesfield to Kirkpatrick Fleming (6 km) Kirkpatrick Fleming to Gretna (7.1 km)
(b) (1) Under construction
Millbank to Nether Abington--scheduled to be completed in November 1991
Elvanfoot to Paddy's Rickle Bridge--scheduled to be completed in July 1992 (but programmed by the contractor to finish earlier) Kirkpatrick Fleming to Gretna--scheduled to be completed in October 1992
(2) Statutory procedures completed
Nether Abington--Elvanfoot
Dinwoodie Green--Muirhouse
Muirhouse--Water of Milk
(3) Draft orders published
Paddy's Rickle Bridge--Harthope
Harthope--Middlegill
Water of Milk--Ecclefechan
Ecclefechan--Eaglesfield
Eaglesfield--Kilpatrick Fleming
(4) Draft proposals expected to be published by the end of this year
Middlegill--Beattock
Beattock--Annanbank
Annanbank--Dinwoodie Green
The Scottish Office Environment department has identified the Nether Abington to Elvanfoot and Muirhouse to Water of Milk, Lockerbie, sections as the next priorities for construction and the first of these has been included among the trunk road schemes scheduled to start in Scotland during the current financial year. No decision has been made as to the order in which subsequent schemes will be built but, in deciding this, consideration will be given to such matters as minimising disruption to traffic, completing lengths between junctions and use of excess excavated material from some schemes for others with a deficit. Decisions on the schemes to be constructed in any particular financial year are taken annually each spring and will depend on the relative priority attached to the scheme and the resources available.
Scottish Fish Merchants Federation
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has further considered the submission of the Scottish Fish Merchants Federation Ltd. for financial assistance based on return on capital employed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : The submission of the Scottish Fish Merchants Federation Ltd. for a revenue subsidy to maintain the profits of fish processors was the subject of discussions between the SFMF and Ministers last year. It was concluded that assistance of this nature would be inappropriate and contrary to EC law. The position has not changed.
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent meetings he has had with representatives of the Scottish Fish Merchants Federation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 20 May 1991] : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Doran) on 9 May.
Column 464
HIV
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of reports of HIV antibody positive people for each of the Scottish health boards for the year ended (a) March 1990 and (b) March 1991.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 10 May 1991] : The table gives the number of positive HIV antibody test results, by health board area, which have been reported to the communicable diseases (Scotland) unit within the periods 1 April 1989 to 31 March 1990 and 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1991. Where the total number of positive test results in a board area is under 10, the figure, in accordance with established practice, is not published so as not to jeopardise medical confidentiality.
Health Board |1 April 1989 to|1 April 1990 to
|31 March 1990 |31 March 1991
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde <1>- <1>-
Ayrshire and Arran <1>- |Nil
Borders |Nil <1>-
Dumfries and Galloway |Nil <1>-
Fife <1>- <1>-
Forth Valley <1>- <1>-
Grampian <1>- |11
Greater Glasgow |25 |36
Highland <1>- <1>-
Lanarkshire <1>- <1>-
Lothian |91 |71
Orkney |Nil |Nil
Shetland |Nil |Nil
Tayside |15 |20
Western Isles |Nil |Nil
|------- |-------
Totals |147 |150
<1> Less than 10.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the cumulative totals for HIV antibody positive reports for each of the Scottish health boards for (a) March 1990 and (b) March 1991.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 10 May 1991] : The table gives the cumulative totals of positive HIV antibody test results, by health board area, which had been reported to the communicable diseases (Scotland) unit up to 31 March 1990 and 31 March 1991. Where the total number of positive test results in a board area is under 10, the figure, in accordance with established practice, is not published so as not to jeopardise medical confidentiality.
Health Board |At 31 March 1990|At 31 March 1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |14 |15
Ayrshire and Arran <1>- <1>-
Borders <1>- <1>-
Dumfries and Galloway |13 |15
Fife |26 |28
Forth Valley |60 |61
Grampian |40 |51
Greater Glasgow |278 |314
Highland |12 |14
Lanarkshire |27 |29
Lothian |1,053 |1,124
Orkney |Nil |Nil
Shetland <1>- <1>-
Tayside |233 |253
Western Isles |Nil |Nil
|------- |-------
Totals |1,769 |1,919
<1> Less than 10.
Column 465
Rents-to-mortgage Scheme
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications have been approved under the rents-to-mortgage scheme for (a) Scottish Home tenants, (b) tenants of new town development corporations and (c) local authority tenants in Scotland ; and how many have been rejected for each category.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 14 May 1991] : Information on sales and applications in process, based on returns to 30 April 1991, is shown in the table.
Column 466
The eligibility of a tenant to purchase under the rent to mortgage scheme is checked before a formal application to purchase is made. It is therefore not necessary to reject applications.
|Sales |Applications
|in process
------------------------------------------------------------
Scottish Homes |144 |95
New Town Development
Corporations |6 |41
Local Authorities |- |118
|
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