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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Telephone Systems
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many call line identification telephone systems have been installed in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : Any equipment that is to be connected to the public telephone network first has to be approved. At present no equipment has been approved that would enable customers to have calling line identification for telephone calls over the public network.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Director of OFTEL about the introduction of the call line identification telephone system to the United Kingdom as a security measure against nuisance telephone calls ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : My Department is in touch with OFTEL about the possible introduction of calling line identification (CLI) in the United Kingdom. This raises a number
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of issues including the need for a telephone call to be carried via a digital exchange at both ends and the requirement for new equipment to be approved before it is connected to the public telephone network. OFTEL expects to publish a consultation paper on CLI later this year.Video Telephones
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many video-telephones have been installed in the United Kingdom ; what areas of the United Kingdom has video-phone cable network installed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : All terminal equipment that is to be connected to the public switched telephone network first has to be approved. No video- telephones have been submitted for approval in the United Kingdom. Technically it is possible to have video-telephones that can operate on the standard telephone network.
Inner Cities Programme
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the annual allocations to the area of the London borough of Hackney through his Department's inner cities programme since its inception, and the projects supported.
Mr. Leigh : No projects in the London borough of Hackney have so far been supported by the Government's inner cities task forces. On 9 May last, I announced that we would open a task force in Hackney later this year. Programme expenditure in 1991-92 will be set in consultation with the task force leader when he or she is appointed, but spend in a full financial year is usually of the order of £1 million.
Soft Drinks
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what consideration has been given to the implications on the soft drinks industry of the findings of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of carbonated soft drinks ; (2) what representations he has received on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of carbonated soft drinks ; (3) when he expects to publish the findings of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of carbonated soft drinks ; (4) what period of consultation he will give the drinks industry and other interested parties after publication of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of carbonated soft drinks.
Mr. Redwood : The Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on carbonated drinks is currently being considered by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The report will be published as quickly as is practicable.
The contents of all MMC reports remain confidential until publication. If the MMC finds no adverse effects the Secretary of State has no power to act. If the MMC has reached any adverse findings he will decide what steps, if any, should be taken to remedy the situation. He will also consider whether or not to announce a period of consultation before reaching his conclusions.
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The Secretary of State does not receive representations before an MMC report has been published. Interested parties have had the opportunity to put views directly to the MMC. The Secretary of State's decision is based on the full examination and analysis contained in the MMC report. It would be inappropriate for his view to be influenced by representations from particular interest groups, since, while the report remains confidential, he is unable to seek views of others on the same points.Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people are employed in the United Kingdom soft drinks industry.
Mr. Redwood : Latest published figures show that employment in the United Kingdom soft drinks manufacturing industry (SIC 4283) was 17, 400 in September 1989.
Auditing Practices Board
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library his Department's response to the CCAB Ltd. report on the restructuring of the Auditing Practices Board.
Mr. Redwood : Copies of my Department's press notice welcoming the proposals for the new Auditing Practices Board have been placed in the Library.
Company Pension Funds
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review (a) the treatment of company pension funds in company accounts and (b) the control of the assets of such pension funds.
Mr. Redwood : The accounting treatment of company contributions to pension funds is dealt with by SSAP 24 issued in 1988 by the Accounting Standards Committee. In due course, the Accounting Standards Board will be reviewing SSAP 24 as part of its programme of reviewing all standards in existence when the board was created. The control of pension fund assets is the responsibility of the trustees, who have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the members of the scheme in accordance with the deeds and rules. It is for them to take any action necessary to protect the fund's assets.
Company Accounts
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review the present treatment of leasing in company accounts ; and what provision is currently made in respect of such treatment to allow fair comparison between company performances by investors.
Mr. Redwood : Accounting standards are intended to foster greater comparability among company accounts. Accounting for leases is dealt with in statement of standard accounting practice 21 (SSAP21) issued by the Accounting Standards Committee in 1984 and, together with all other then existing standards, adopted by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) on its formation in August 1990. The ASB announced then that it would, in due course, review all those standards. My Department has drawn the attention of the ASB to several points which will need to be considered when SSAP 21 is reviewed.
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Open-ended Investment Companies
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about proposals received from the Unit Trust Association for legislation facilitating the creation of open-ended investment companies.
Mr. Redwood : I am still awaiting the Unit Trust Association's proposals.
Arms Industries
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Clywd, South-West (Mr. Jones) Official Report, 27 June, column 524, information on arms conversion to non-arms production is collected by (a) any executive agency of his Department or (b) in any compilation of regional statistics.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 8 July 1991] : Information on arms conversion is not systematically collected by any executive agency, or published in any official compilation of regional statistics.
Markets for Environmental Monitoring Instrumentation"
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many copies of his Department's report, "Markets for Environmental Monitoring Instrumentation" have been printed and at what cost ; and to whom copies have been distributed.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 8 July 1991] : The publishing rights for this report were passed to HMSO. The DTI did not therefore incur any costs in relation to the publication of the report nor take any decision as to the number of copies printed. However, a number of pre- publication copies of the report were provided to GAMBICA, the monitoring equipment manufacturers trade association, in view of the considerable assistance it provided towards the report's preparation.
The report is available, at a cost of £22, through local HMSO outlets.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Sri Lanka
Mr. Gerald Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what account has been taken of Sri Lanka's human rights record in reaching decisions on aid.
Mrs. Chalker : We announced in October 1990 that we were delaying implementation of a £3 million pledge of programme aid pending a review of all relevant factors, including Sri Lanka's human rights performance.
This review has now been carried out, and our conclusion is that, despite some encouraging steps taken by the Sri Lanka Government earlier this year, the overall satisfactory human rights situation has not improved significantly. I have therefore decided to withdraw the offer of programme aid.
Existing project aid, including technical assistance and relief activities, will continue. However, we have made it clear that any major new aid commitments will be reviewed in the light of the human rights situation.
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Tropical Forests
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to propose to the forthcoming Group of Seven summit a policy for a clear commitment to cease support of multilateral and bilateral aid that causes unsustainable damage to intact tropical forests.
Mrs. Chalker [holding answer 8 July 1991] : The Government believe that multilateral and bilateral aid should not support unsustainable activities in tropical forests. They take every opportunity to make this position clear and are prepared to do so, if necessary, at the summit.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the development of a legally binding global instrument to conserve the world's forests ;
(2) what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken towards facilitating the establishment of an international instrument on forests, to be signed in Brazil at the Earth Summit in 1992.
Mrs. Chalker [holding answer 8 July 1991] : The Government support proposals for a statement of principles on the management of the world's forests which is to be endorsed by world leaders at the UN conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Brazil in June 1992. The Government are also grateful for the agreement to seek a legally binding instrument thereafter. We are engaged in discussions with a wide variety of developed and developing countries in the context of the preparations for the UNCED towards this end.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Income Support
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will publish a table showing the number of people receiving income support who, at the time the award was made, were living in the postcode areas covering Tower Hamlets ;
(2) if he will publish a table showing the number of families receiving family credit who, at the time the award was made, were living in the postcode areas covering Tower Hamlets.
Miss Widdecombe : I understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information in relation to income support is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Mr. Bichard will write to the hon. Member with the information in relation to family credit, and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
Housing and Community Charge Benefits
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table reconciling for the years 1985-86 to 1990-91 the figures for England, Scotland and Wales for housing and community charge benefits, as given in table 3 of Cm. 1514, with those for housing benefits, as given in the Official Report, 28 March, column 516.
Miss Widdecombe : It is not possible to publish such a table because the information given in column 516 of the
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Official Report for 28 March was taken from the 1989 public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 621), and is based on local authority returns which are subject to adjustment. The information given in table 3 of the departmental report (Cm. 1514), is more recent and therefore includes subsequent adjustments.Departmental Agencies
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many staff were in post on the date that each agency in his Department was established as an executive agency ; and how many staff are in post now.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is in the table.
|On |At |Date
|establishment|1 June |established
|1991
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resettlement Agency |540 |505 |24 May 1989
Information
Technology
Services Agency |2,996 |3,732 |2 April 1990
Contributions
Agency |7,171 |7,255 |10 April 1991
Benefits Agency |65,604 |64,979 |10 April 1991
Note: Figures are whole time equivalent permanent staff only.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list new facilities for staff including nurseries and health care schemes which have been introduced in each agency in his Department since its establishment as an executive agency.
Miss Widdecombe : The Benefits Agency has opened three workplace nurseries in Brixton, Hinchley Wood and Newcastle Upon Tyne. The Newcastle nursery is a joint venture with the Contributions Agency and Information Technology Services Agency. The Information Technology Services Agency has introduced a holiday playscheme at Lytham St. Annes.
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In regard to healthcare schemes all staff aged 35 and over employed in the Department's executive agencies are to be offered the opportunity of a comprehensive health screen, including lifestyle counselling, concentrating on the main causes of premature death in the United Kingdom, coronary heart disease, and breast and cervical cancer.Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the new forms of alternative working patterns introduced into each agency in his Department since its establishment as an executive agency ; and if he will publish a breakdown by grade of the numbers of staff taking up each new working pattern.
Miss Widdecombe : The Information Technology Services Agency has introduced two new forms of alternative working patterns : (a) recurring temporary appointments and (b) short notice appointments. These cater respectively for staff contracted to work for short periods each year, and for staff employed at short notice and usually for a short period. To date the only such appointments made relate to two executive officers employed on a recurring temporary appointments basis.
The Benefits Agency, the Contributions Agency and the Resettlement Agency have not introduced any new forms of alternative working patterns since their inception as executive agencies.
Mortgages
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total amount paid by central Government through social security payments to home owners in mortgage interest payments each year since 1975- 76 at (a) real and (b) 1990 costings.
Miss Widdecombe : Estimates of amounts included for mortgage interest in the assessment of supplementary benefit and, from 1988, income support, are given in the table :
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Number of Average Total payment
|claimants |weekly |per annum (£ million)
|payment (£)
|Current |1990 prices
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1975 |98,000 |3.93 |20 |68
1976 |123,000 |4.22 |27 |80
1977 |124,000 |5.12 |33 |87
1978 |105,000 |4.81 |26 |63
1979 |98,000 |5.96 |31 |64
1980 |134,000 |10.18 |71 |128
1981 |196,000 |12.18 |124 |200
1982 |235,000 |13.87 |170 |260
1983 |242,000 |11.93 |150 |218
1984 |277,000 |15.18 |219 |304
1986 |356,000 |18.96 |351 |458
1987 |334,000 |19.31 |335 |415
1988 |200,000 |18.33 |286 |340
1989 |281,000 |24.18 |353 |387
Source: Annual Statistical Enquiries.
Notes: Figures for numbers of claimants are rounded to the nearest 100,000.
Figures from 1983 onwards are not comparable with earlier figures because they were collected on a different basis.
Current prices are inflated to 1990 price level by use of the RPI index.
In 1985 no Enquiry was undertaken.
The 1990 Enquiry will be published shortly.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of paying mortgage interest payments in full for the first 16 weeks of an income support claim.
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Miss Widdecombe : The cost in 1989, the latest year for which annual statistical inquiry information is available, is estimated at about £35 million.
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Child Benefit
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will arrange for the Benefits Agency to consider analysing child benefit payments for lone and two-parent households by post code and publishing the statistics by local authority area.
Mr. Jack : I refer my hon. Friend to the replies he received from my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 5 July at columns 220-21. The information is not available.
HEALTH
Residential Care Homes
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued by his Department on the employment of placement officers whose role it is to make decisions on the transfer of people from the national health service to independent nursing homes.
Mr. Dorrell : In 1989 the Department issued health circular (89)5 together with an accompanying booklet, copies of which are available in the Library. This gave health authorities general guidance on procedures and arrangements for the discharge of patients from hospital. Employment of placement officers is a matter for local decision.
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial support is available to residents living in private residential care homes for the mentally ill.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : People in private residential care homes can claim income support and other social security benefits. Apart from this, local authorities can offer financial support at their discretion to residents under pensionable age by meeting any shortfall between the charge made by the care home and the individual's ability to pay, taking any benefit entitlement into account. Authorities must however meet in full the cost of providing or arranging residential care under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948 offset only by charges levied on residents under the terms of that Act.
NHS Employment
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed by the National Health Service in 1961 ; and how many are employed today.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The latest--provisional--figures show that 797,300 whole-time equivalent staff were employed by the hospital and community health services in England at 30 September 1990, compared with 629,500 at 30 September 1971, the earliest year for which comparable figures are available.
Occupational Health Nurses
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of occupational health nurses working in the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The latest available--provisional--figures relate to the position at 30 September
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1990. On that date there were 610 occupational health nurses employed in the hospital and community health services in England. Figures are not collected by the Department for occupational health nurses working elsewhere.Oral Health
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to launch a campaign to improve oral health.
Mr. Dorrell : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced on 9 May that up to £750,000 would be made available from the Department of Health to support oral health education projects in 1991- 92. More than £1 million has already been spent in support of such projects since the publication of the White Paper "Promoting Better Health". Departmental funds will be used to support innovative local projects and to disseminate examples of good practice. Several proposals are currently under consideration and we shall be interested to receive others.
School Milk
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to reintroduce free milk for all school children.
Mr. Dorrell : We have no plans to reintroduce free milk for all school children. Local authorities already have the powers to provide milk at midday free of charge to children of families in receipt of income support. This together with the provisions available under the welfare food scheme ensures that the children in most need receive a quota of free milk each day.
NHS Trust
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he gives to the stated opposition to trust status of a hospital within a district health authority in his consideration of an application for trust status by that authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : An application for trust status may be made involving a number of units ; such an application is subject to the normal public consultation and, while no group has a veto, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will consider carefully all responses received.
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is being collected by his Department on the operation of national health service trusts.
Mr. Waldegrave : My Department will be collecting the necessary information to monitor the performance of trusts against their three key financial duties--to achieve a 6 per cent. rate of return on net assets, to break even taking one year with another and to keep within their external financing limit. It will also be collecting certain items of information from trusts, as from all NHS provider units on manpower, activity and waiting lists.
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue guidance relating to the publication
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of business plans to those hospitals and units submitting applications to become national health service trusts in April 1992.Mr. Waldegrave : The Department is currently revising its guidance in this area. Although the financial pro formas prepared by units applying for second wave trust status will be submitted to the Department in confidence, trusts will be asked to publish business plans for 1992-93.
Health Authority Staff (Transfers)
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to health authorities relating to the transfer of staff from health authority employment to local authority employment in preparation for implementation of part III of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : None, but any necessary guidance will be issued in good time to allow health authorities to implement it by the time part III, including section 49, of the National Health Service Act 1990 comes into operation in 1993.
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Tower Hamlets
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) privately registered homes, (b) voluntary registered homes and (c) local authority homes for the elderly there were in Tower Hamlets for each year since 1979 ; and how many residents there were in each of those years.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information readily available for the period refers to homes catering primarily for elderly people or younger people who are physically handicapped and is given in the table. Information is not available for 1979 and 1980. Detailed information, including information on homes catering primarily for elderly people is available, from 1987, in the annual publication "Residential Accommodation for Elderly and Younger Physically Handicapped People : All residents in Local Authority, Voluntary and Private Homes (RA/2)", a copy of which is available in the Library. The number of homes and residents aged over 65 in residential homes primarily for elderly people and younger people who are physically handicapped, by sector, Tower Hamlets :
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At 31 MarchResidential Homes Residents aged over 65
|LA |Voluntary|Private |LA |Voluntary|Private
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981 |9 |3 |0 |405 |92 |0
1982 |9 |3 |0 |405 |92 |0
1983 |9 |3 |0 |405 |92 |0
1984 |9 |3 |0 |405 |92 |0
1985 |9 |3 |0 |367 |106 |0
1986 |8 |3 |0 |366 |103 |0
1987 |9 |3 |0 |393 |103 |0
1988 |8 |3 |0 |363 |103 |0
1989 |8 |4 |0 |300 |117 |0
1990 |7 |4 |0 |271 |118 |0
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner budget holders are now established in Tower Hamlets health authority ; and what percentage of the population they cover.
Mr. Dorrell : I understand from the chairman of the North East Thames regional health authority that there are no general practices presently participating in GP fundholding within the area of Tower Hamlets district health authority.
Mental Handicap Nursing Service
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what examination has been made of the compatibility of the planned discontinuation of the community mental handicap nursing service in Somerset with the guidelines issued by his Department in association with the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.
Mr. Dorrell : The Department has made specific inquiries to satisfy itself that people in Somerset with learning disabilities will continue to receive the care they need, within the terms of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and departmental guidance.
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Psittacosis
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those health authorities in which psittacosis is a notifiable disease ; if he will indicate the most common ways in which psittacosis is transmitted ; and how far its transmission can be controlled.
Mr. Dorrell : Psittacosis is an acute infection with variable clinical symptoms such as fever and respiratory infection. It is usually acquired by inhaling the bacterium from desiccated droppings and secretions of infected birds in an enclosed space or directly from infected birds. Household birds are a source of infection. Turkeys, ducks and pigeons are occasionally responsible for human disease. It is, however, a very rare disease. Control methods include regulating the importation of birds and the maintenance of good standards of hygiene and rearing by owners.
Psittacosis is a notifiable disease only in the districts covered by East and South Cambridgeshire district councils.
NHS Evaluation
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those organisations outside Government Departments commissioned to carry out evaluation programmes of the national health service ; and when the results of these studies are likely to be published.
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Mr. Dorrell : This information is not collected centrally.Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial resources are being allocated to any national health service evaluation programmes (a) currently in operation and (b) planned for the future.
Mr. Dorrell : The NHS research and development strategy, now being developed, will pay particular attention to the cost-effective use of resources and the introduction of improved methods of health care. The information currently available centrally, which relates to evaluations of cost-effectiveness of health technologies financed from the Department's existing health and personal social services research programme is as follows :
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