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Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what advice his Department gives on the role of parents in contributing to and challenging the outcome of non-statutory assessment procedures for children's special educational needs ;
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(2) what guidance he gives on the form of non-statutory assessment of children with special needs for whom section 5 assessment is not thought appropriate.Mr. Fallon : The procedures for non-statutory assessments, including arrangements for the involvement of parents, are the responsibility of local education authorities. The Department is currently funding a project called "Partnership in Assessment". The project is being undertaken by the Voluntary Council for Handicapped Children and is intended to identify good practice for parental involvement in the assessment of children with special educational needs.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the schools in which observations of work with pupils with statements of special educational need formed the basis of the comment which accompanies the table in annexe A of his Department's circular No. 11/90.
Mr. Fallon : The table at annexe A of DES circular 11/90 is derived from observations made by Her Majesty's inspectors of schools of classroom work which they saw as promoting effective learning and care for various groups of pupils. Account was taken of group size, availability of staff and to some extent the total intensity of demand made upon staff by the group as a whole. These observations were gathered from many school inspections carried out over a number of years.
Court Judgments
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the criteria on which his Department decides which court judgments to publicise via the circulation of letters to chief education officers.
Mr. Fallon : Letters relating to court judgments are sent to chief education officers in cases where there are important implications for local education authorities' future practice.
National Curriculum
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he is taking to prevent the language in the national curriculum report from being used in teacher-training and other educational establishments.
Mr. Eggar : Language in the national curriculum materials should be used only in the context of in-service training programmes, where materials can be discussed and challenged. They were not designed for and are not for use in the classroom.
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the principal authors and institutions with which his Department contracted in respect of the language in the national curriculum project and report, together with the sums paid to each.
Mr. Eggar : The Department's contract for the production of the training materials and the central co-ordination of the training programme was placed with the university of Nottingham, at a cost of some £120,000. The project is under the direction of Professor Ronald Carter, who took full editorial responsibility for the training package.
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The LINC project itself included a central Government grant to support LEA expenditure of £21 million over three years. These funds were provided under the education support grant programme to assist the introduction of the national curriculum.1991 Public Expenditure Survey
Dr. Bray : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will publish the advice of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils relating to the 1991 public expenditure survey ; (2) whether he has received the advice of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils relating to the 1991 public expenditure survey ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what representations he has received from the chairman of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils concerning publication of the board's advice relating to the 1991 public expenditure survey.
Mr. Alan Howarth : My right hon. and learned Friend received the Advisory Board for the Research Council's advice on this year's public expenditure survey on 8 May. He intends, as last year, to treat the advice on a confidential basis, in common with the corresponding advice which he receives from the Universities Funding Council and the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council. He has received no representations from the chairman of the ABRC about publication of the board's advice on the 1991 survey.
Contracts (Quality Requirements)
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether his Department inserts quality requirements into contracts awarded to academic institutions which would enable him to recover moneys spent on inadequate work.
Mr. Eggar : The Department uses a standard form of contract for education research projects which includes appropriate forms of protection for its interests and the use of the taxpayer's money. These include the specification of the work to be performed and its timing ; provisions for inspection and steering of the work ; control over the product of the study ; and arrangements for early termination when needed. Payments are usually made in arrears depending on progress made.
Advertising Campaigns
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his answer of 1 July, Official Report, columns 43-44, if he will list the commencement date and duration of each advertising campaign.
Mr. Eggar : The teacher recruitment campaign was launched on 1 July. Television advertising for this campaign will last for a period of three weeks and advertisements in the national press for four weeks. In addition, in the autumn, advertisements will appear in the national press for four weeks and in cinemas in slected towns during six alternating weeks. The exact dates for these have yet to be decided.
It is unlikely that the publicity campaign to provide parents with information about changes in the education system will include any paid advertising. The timing and duration of this campaign has yet to be decided.
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The professional, industrial and commercial updating (PICKUP) programme does not involve advertising.National Curriculum Council
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the future organisation of the National Curriculum Council.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : As the National Curriculum Council moves into the next phase of its work, I see advantage in separating the roles of chairman and chief executive. Mr. Duncan Graham has himself seen this stage of the process as a time for change and he will retire from the NCC with effect from 19 August. From that date I am appointing Mr. David Pascall as part-time chairman of the National Curriculum Council. The appointment will be for one year in the first instance, renewable thereafter. Mr. Pascall is manager of BP Exploration Control and Business Simplification Programmes. He has been a member of the council since August 1990. It will be for the council to appoint a full-time chief executive, with my approval, under the provisions of schedule 2 to the Education Reform Act 1988.
HEALTH
Discharge Arrangements
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department has taken in monitoring the implementation of health circular 89/5 on discharge arrangements.
Mr. Dorrell : It is for regions to ensure that district health authorities implement the procedures for discharge set out in health circular 89(5), a copy of which is available in the Library. Action by special health authorities is being followed up by the Department through the quality control and business planning process.
Hospital Patients
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated in hospitals by the national health service in 1961 and in 1990.
Mr. Dorrell : The method of collecting in-patient case statistics changed in 1988-89. Until that date statistics were collected on discharges and deaths from hospital. From 1988-89 they were collected as "finished consultant episodes" and included well babies who had formerly been excluded. The relevant figures are :
Cases treated in NHS hospitals
|Discharges|Finished
|and deaths|consultant
|episodes
1961 |4,035,000 |-
1988-89 |6,586,000 |7,335,000
1989-90 |- |7,477,000
AIDS
Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to publish statistics on the spread of AIDS in inner cities.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The spread of the human immunodeficiency virus which is the cause of AIDS can be
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monitored through voluntary confidential reports on AIDS and HIV infection received by the Public Health Laboratory Service communicable disease surveillance centre. CDSC is currently analysing this by inner-city areas and such information should be available during the autumn of this year.The first results from the anonymised HIV surveys, published on 17 May, indicated that the overall prevalence of HIV infection in women attending certain ante-natal clinics in inner London is one in 500. Among people attending certain sexually transmitted disease clinics in inner London prevalance is one in 500 among heterosexual women, one in 100 heterosexual men and one in five for homosexual-bisexual men. Further results will be published as they become available.
Life Expectancy
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current estimate for the life expectancy of males and females at birth for each district health authority ; and what was the estimate for each year since 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Tower Hamlets
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths and discharges there were from national health service hospitals in Tower Hamlets with the principal diagnosis relating to alcohol for each year since 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list hospital and ward closures in Tower Hamlets for each year since 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to write to Mr. Richard Brew, the chairman of Tower Hamlets health authority, for details.
Senile Dementia
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each district health authority in London the number of people suffering from senile dementia aged (a) up to 65 years of age, (b) 66 to 75 years, (c) 76 to 85 years and (d) over 86 years.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not available centrally.
Artificial Limbs
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued by his Department to district health authorities on their responsibility to provide artificial limbs and appliances for those people who need them.
Mr. Dorrell : Our planning guidance to health authorities over the last three years has drawn attention to these services as they transferred from central management to local control. We have emphasised the importance of maintaining them by ring-fencing their budget until April 1993. We also announced last week the setting up of an advisory group on rehabilitation : one of its tasks will be to monitor this area.
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Hip Replacements
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hip replacement operations have taken place since 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is given in the table. The total does not include figures for 1987-88 as reliable data for this period are not available centrally. The figure for 1988-89 is estimated and may be revised following further analysis.
Estimated number of
principal operations
performed, ordinary
admissions and day
cases, NHS hospitals,
England, \
1979 to 1988-89
All patients total hip
replacement and other
arthroplasty of hip
|Number
------------------------
1979 |28,788
1980 |31,660
1981 |32,775
1982 |33,171
1983 |36,232
1984 |36,926
1985 |36,539
1986 |41,000
1988-89 |41,947
|-------
Total |319,038
NHS Trusts
Sir David Price : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans exist for monitoring standards of care within national health service trusts.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : District health authorities and fund- holding GPs, as purchasers of services, will set quality standards as part of their contracts with hospitals and other units, whether NHS trusts or directly managed units. Community health councils will continue to have access to trusts within their area of responsibility.
Continence Services
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive the report of the review of continence services.
Mr. Dorrell : We have now received the report, "An Agenda for Action on Continence Services", and have placed copies in the Library. The report sets out information on the current state of continence services. It concludes that while there are examples of well-planned and co-ordinated local services, their availability is patchy. It identifies the key features of an effective local service and recommends that these should form the basis of planning and service delivery in all health districts and local authority areas in accordance with established departmental guidelines. It also recommends central action over the next few years to promote greater professional and public awareness of continence problems and the scope for tackling them, and to commission and disseminate the results of research to evaluate selected service patterns. Copies of the report will be sent to health service managers and directors of social services with a letter emphasising the key messages for local service planning and provision.
We will take steps to implement the report's recommendations, for example-- research on cost effectiveness and extending the training of nurses and other health professionals.
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Medicines Control Agency
Mr. Bellingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress towards establishing his Department's medicines control agency as an executive agency.
Mr. Waldegrave : I am pleased to announce that the Medicines Control Agency will be established as the second executive agency of the Department of Health on 11 July. The agency's role is to act on behalf of Ministers, the licensing authority, to safeguard public health by controlling medicines. It does this through a system of licensing, classification, monitoring and enforcement which ensures that medicines are of acceptable standards of safety, quality and efficacy. The agency's detailed aim, objectives and functions are set out in a framework document, copies of which will be placed in the Library. In accordance with next steps principles, the agency will be free to propose further adaptations to it if changing circumstances make this appropriate.
The chief executive has been set a number of key performance targets for 1991-92, These cover :
--standards of safety and quality ;
--standards of service
--standards of financial control and efficiency.
A copy of the agency's business plan, in which the targets are detailed, will be placed in the Library.
Over the coming years, I will be setting the agency a range of performance targets to ensure that it continues to deliver improvements in the quality and efficiency of its work in the interests of the public health.
Wheelchairs
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those district health authorities which currently provide an occupant-controlled powered outdoor wheelchair to disabled people who require one ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : A pilot study in northern and north western regions during 1989-90 confirmed the obvious value of powered indoor-outdoor wheelchairs for those able to benefit from them. We expect district health authorities, which have the responsibility for meeting the health needs of their populations, to extend their introduction wherever priorities allow. We do not collect the information centrally.
Dentistry
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from learned societies in dentistry and anaethesiology regarding the appropriateness of out-patient general anaesthesia in dental practice outside hospital ; if he will place both the representations he has received and his response in the Library ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The 29 learned bodies listed in the table submitted comments on a report to the standing dental advisory committee by an expert working party in general anaesthesia, sedation and resuscitation in dentistry. The report recommended that, while the use of general anaesthesia should be avoided wherever possible, it should continue to be available outside hospitals, provided certain standards are maintained. This principle was generally endorsed by the learned bodies which commented, as were many of the detailed recommendations.
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The report was issued as a consultation document. It is currently being considered in the light of the 138 responses received. Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. British Dental Association.BDA East Midland Branch.
BDA--Northern Ireland Office.
BDA Wessex Branch.
British Medical Association.
British Postgraduate Medical Foundation--Institute of Dental Surgery.
British Paedodontic Society.
British Society for Dentistry for the Handicapped.
College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Dental Surgery. Dental Sub- Committee of North West Regional Medical Committee. General Dental Council.
General Dental Practioners' Association.
General Medical Council.
General Medical Services Committee.
Joint Consultants Committee.
King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, King's College, London.
National Association of Administrative Dental Officers. North Western Administrative Dental Officers Group.
Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham.
Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Department of Anaesthetics. Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry. The Association of Dental Anaesthetists.
The Royal College of General Practitioners.
UMDS Guy's Hospital Dental School, Department of Orthodontics and Dentistry for Children.
University of Manchester, Turner Dental School.
University of Sheffield, Charles Clifford Dental Hospital. University of Wales College of Medicine Dental School.
Wessex Region Postgraduate Dental Education Committee.
Duromine
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he is satisfied with the safety of the drug Duromine ; and what evidence he has of adverse short-term side effects among patients taking it.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Following the introduction of licensing of medicinal products, the safety of Duromine, an established product, was reviewed and a reviewed product licence was issued in 1984. The licensed use is restricted to short-term administration as an adjunct to the treatment of moderate to severe obesity of some patients for whom close control and supervision should be provided. As the product is a prescription medicine, it would be used only after the prescriber had weighed the expected benefit against the possible risks to the particular patient. I am satisfied that the product, when used in accordance with the licensed particulars, should not expose the patient to an unacceptable level of risk.
Potentially, any drug may cause side-effects which may be minor or more serious. The established side-effects that are associated with a licensed medicinal product are detailed in the licence and are provided to prescribers in the data sheet distributed by the company marketing the product. The Committee on Safety of Medicines encourages prescribers to report serious adverse reactions which they suspect may have been due to an established drug and all reactions to new drugs. In the case of Duromine, there have been 61 reports of suspected adverse reactions since 1966 ; reactions are not classified into long and short-term effects. The report of an adverse reaction does not necessarily imply a causal effect. Information on adverse effects to Duromine is also to be found in published medical literature.
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Epilepsy
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all the specific assistance provided by his Department for people suffering from epilepsy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : Health authorities have a duty to assess the health needs in their areas and to make provision. They provide a range of services for people with epilepsy ; these are complemented by local authority social services. Responsibility for providing services rests with these local bodies rather than directly with the Department.
Trading Agencies
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the cost, both capital and revenue, of moving the Northern regional health authority engineering design group trading agency to new premises.
Mr. Dorrell : This is a matter for the Northern regional health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Peter Carr, the chairman of the Northern regional health authority, for details.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to health authorities covering the conflicts of interest both of organisations and individual staff where non-national health service agencies assume the management responsibility for national health service trading agencies ; and whether these non-national health service agencies are subject to the scrutiny of the Audit Commission.
Mr. Dorrell : Management responsibility for national health service trading agencies rests with the national
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health service. Where officials have been seconded to NHS trading agencies from the private sector they are accountable to senior NHS management.Publicity Campaigns
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 1 July, Official Report, column 54, if he will list the commencement date and duration of each publicity campaign.
Mr. Dorrell : Current phases of the publicity campaigns listed in my reply to the hon. Member of 1 July at column 54 began in April 1991 and are all ongoing with the exception of "The Health of the Nation" Green Paper campaign which will end by 31 October 1991.
Fluoridation
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms. Harman) Official Report, 27 June, column 547, for what reason Yorkshire Water ceased to supply fluoridated water on 31 October 1989.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 9 July 1991] : Yorkshire Water informed Huddersfield district health authority on 18 April 1989 that it was withdrawing from the agreement to fluoridate water supplied by the Longwood and Holmbridge/Digley water treatment works because at the time agreement had not yet been reached with Government about the wording of a suitable guarantee/indemnity against any costs or liabilities which water undertakers might incur. Subsequently the water industry accepted the form of indemnity which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was empowered to provide under the Water Act 1989.
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