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Fox Control
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will introduce a registration scheme to regulate the activities of those fox control societies currently operating in Wales and which are not registered with the Masters of Fox Hounds Association.
Mr. David Hunt : I have no plans to do so.
Tegryn Hunt
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will undertake an inquiry into the activities of the Tegryn hunt in relation to animal health.
Mr. David Hunt : Monthly visits are being undertaken to all known hunt kennels and knackers by state veterinary service staff.
Child Runaways
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest estimates for the number of children who have run away from (a) private households and (b) local authority care in Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The number of children who have run away from private households is not held centrally.
There were eight children in local authority care who had absconded for more than one week from local authority residential accommodation in Wales on 31 March 1990.
Dentistry
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each health authority in Wales the number, and percentage, of children registered with a dental practitioner.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The information, which relates to children under the age of 18 registered at the end of June 1991 in each FHSA area, is given in the following table.
FHSA |Number of children |Percentage of rele-
|registered |vant population<1>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |43,361 |46
Dyfed |34,807 |45
Gwent |46,022 |44
Gwynedd |22,986 |43
Mid Glamorgan |51,782 |40
Powys |10,676 |42
South Glamorgan |46,847 |49
West Glamorgan |43,174 |53
<1> 1989 mid-June estimated population figures used.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the population per dentist in (a) 1979 and (b) for the latest available date for each health authority area in Wales.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The information, by FHSA area, is given in the following table :
Population per dentist as at 1 October FHSA |1979 |1990 ---------------------------------- Clwyd |5,501|3,704 Dyfed |4,719|3,598 Gwent |4,738|3,574 Gwynedd |4,270|3,490 Mid Glamorgan |5,485|4,016 Powys |5,637|3,435 South Glamorgan |3,756|3,085 West Glamorgan |3,426|2,688
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he intends to increase the capitation rates paid to dental practitioners for the treatment of children.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : All dental fees, including capitation rates, are recommended to the Secretaries of State by the independent Dental Rates Studies Group. All are kept under review.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the percentage of school children in Wales inspected by the community dental service in the latest available year and for previous years for which data are available.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The information is given in the following table :
Percentage of school children<1> inspected by Community Dental Service Year |Number ---------------------- 1971 |58 1972 |56 1973 |66 1974 |54 1975 |59 1976 |47 1977 |55 1978 |59 1979 |57 1980 |65 1981 |70 1982 |68 1983 |72 1984 |71 1985 |72 1986-87 |72 1987-88 |71 1988-89 |64 1989-90 |61 <1>School children aged over 5 in maintained schools.
Housing Renovation Grants
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many extra staff have been employed by all district and city councils in Wales as a direct result of the implementation of the new housing renovation grant regime in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : This information is not held centrally.
Children in Care
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of children in care in Wales in 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : There were 4,387, 3,752, 3,481 and 3,263 children in local authority care at 31 March 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989 respectively.
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Oral Cancer
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report for each health authority in Wales for each of the last 10 years the
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number of deaths from cancer of the lips, the oral cavity and the pharynx, separately, distinguishing (a) all ages and (b) persons over 65 years of age.Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The available information is given in the following table :
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Number of deaths from malignant neoplasm of lip, oral cavity and pharynx (ICD 140-149)
DHA |Age |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clwyd |All ages |22 |8 |14 |16 |11 |18 |18 |14 |13 |14
|65 and over|16 |5 |12 |10 |6 |12 |13 |11 |11 |6
East Dyfed |All ages |13 |10 |7 |7 |12 |15 |7 |15 |10 |8
|65 and over|9 |7 |4 |3 |7 |10 |5 |11 |6 |8
Pembrokeshire |All ages |7 |4 |2 |0 |2 |3 |3 |6 |3 |6
|65 and over|4 |3 |0 |0 |1 |2 |2 |5 |2 |4
Gwent |All ages |16 |12 |12 |15 |15 |12 |17 |10 |12 |18
|65 and over|10 |10 |7 |11 |10 |4 |10 |5 |8 |12
Gwynedd |All ages |6 |15 |7 |9 |6 |7 |9 |4 |12 |14
|65 and over|5 |9 |3 |9 |3 |3 |8 |2 |10 |9
Mid Glamorgan |All ages |18 |14 |21 |23 |12 |25 |21 |25 |21 |18
|65 and over|14 |11 |14 |14 |8 |15 |16 |16 |14 |11
Powys |All ages |7 |3 |3 |2 |4 |8 |2 |4 |4 |7
|65 and over|3 |2 |0 |1 |2 |5 |1 |3 |3 |4
South Glamorgan |All ages |18 |21 |11 |17 |16 |10 |13 |12 |16 |8
|65 and over|11 |11 |6 |12 |8 |8 |7 |6 |10 |5
West Glamorgan |All ages |13 |15 |9 |10 |22 |13 |16 |11 |14 |13
|65 and over|7 |8 |6 |7 |11 |9 |8 |7 |9 |8
Source: Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the achievements of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
Mr. David Hunt : The Government have continued to place a high priority on helping small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and other measures, and through specific programmes of support and assistance.
Support for local enterprise agencies
There are currently 22 local enterprise agencies in Wales. Two organisations were approved as local enterprise agencies by me in the year to June 1991, while another two are being considered for approval. In order to strengthen the network of agencies to improve the enhance services to small businesses two mergers have also occurred.
Training and enterprise councils
TECs took over responsibility from the WDA for delivering the small firms counselling services from 1 April 1991. TECs are building in local employer -led flexibilities and have integrated these into their other enterprise programmes. All TECs in Wales are now operational.
Regional selective assistance, regional enterprise grant Small businesses continue to take advantage of the help available under regional selective assistance. In the year to the end of June 1991, 167 small firms, employing up to 200 people, accepted offers of RSA ; an increase of 15 per cent. on 1990. The value of these offers in 1991 amounted to £20.5 million, nearly 80 per cent. higher than in 1990. A further 188 small firms, employing fewer than 25 people, accepted offers of regional enterprise grant totalling £1.73 million. This compares with 289 small firms accepting offers of £2.52 million in the previous 12 months.
Enterprise Wales
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Launched in January 1988, the consultancy initiatives have proved extremely popular in Wales. More than 4,240 companies have applied. In 1990-91 alone 1,440 applications were received, 18 per cent. above the economic weight, and 1,384 business reviews were commissioned, 16 per cent. above the economic weight.Small firms merit award for research and technology (smart) Last year 16 awards, worth up to £37,500 each, were made to Welsh companies compared with 14 awards during the previous year. Seven stage 2 awards (worth up to £50,000 each) were made compared with nine during the previous 12 months.
In both years Welsh companies received approximately 9 per cent. of the total number of stage 1 awards nationwide. Stage 2 awards are normally restricted by the rules of the competition to 50 per cent. of those companies receiving a stage 1 award during the previous year. On a per capita basis Wales does better than most other regions in this annual competition.
Hospitals
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the annual budget and number of non-manual staff of each of the district general hospitals in Wales for the last two years for which figures are available.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : The budget for each district general hospital is a matter for the health authority concerned. The available information concerning non-manual staff, which relates to staff in pay units associated with district general hospitals is given in the following table. Medical and dental staff in post figures are not available below DHA level.
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Staff in post
(numbers) as at
30 September<1>
District general hospital |1989 |1990
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ysbyty Glan Clwyd |838 |905
Ysbyty Maelor |1,566 |1,575
Bronglais General |472 |495
West Wales General |840 |894
Royal Gwent |1,553 |1,579
St. Woolos |702 |722
Nevill Hall |934 |946
Ysbyty Gwynedd |911 |914
Princess of Wales-Bridgend General |1,051 |1,035
East Glamorgan General |930 |974
Prince Charles |704 |726
Withybush |842 |860
University Hospital of Wales-Dental Hospital |2,102 |2,156
Cardiff Royal Infirmary |967 |952
Llandough |749 |825
Singleton |794 |822
Morriston |1,648 |1,716
Neath General |723 |763
<1> Includes supervisory ancillary and maintenance staff, nursing
and midwifery staff (excluding learners), administrative and clerical
staff and professional and technical staff.
Note: Not all staff will work wholly at the hospitals with which they
are included and staff in other units may work part of their time at the
hospitals listed.
Public Opinion Polls
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the public opinion surveys carried out by his Department since his answer of 20 December, Official Report , columns 264-65.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 11 July 1991] : The information, which includes surveys carried out by the Department's
non-departmental public bodies, is as follows :
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Patient satisfaction survey of East Glamorgan Hospital Out-patient Department.On-going satisfaction surveys of the All Wales Treatment Centres. Creative development testing--drug misuse 1991.
United Kingdom Tourism Survey. Joint Wales Tourism Board/Scottish Tourist Board/Northern Ireland Tourist Board/Commercial subscribers. Continuous survey.
Demand monitoring survey. Wales Tourist Board. Continuous survey. Survey of attendance at visitor attractions. Wales Tourist Board. Continuous survey.
Use of leaflets by general public (HPAW).
Evaluation of "Quit and Win" Campaign (HPAQ).
Evaluation of Mid Wales Development Grant Scheme (DBRW). Agricultural and Business Training Needs Survey (DBRW). Rural Lifestyle in Wales (DBRW/WDA/Welsh Office).
Notes : HPAW--Health Promotion Authority for Wales.
DBRW--Development Board for Rural Wales.
WDA--Welsh Development Agency.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Nursery Provision
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Lord President of the Council what progress has been made regarding establishment of a nursery for the children of hon. Members' staff.
Mr. MacGregor [holding answer 17 July 1991] : Following decisions taken by the Services Committee on 13 February and by the House of Commons Commission, the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Parliamentary Works Secretariat have been asked to see if suitable accommodation can be found for a child care facility. Further consideration of this issue and any subsequent action will depend upon the advice received.
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ENVIRONMENT
Planning Policy Guidance
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what planning policy guidance notes are currently being drafted ; how many such guidance notes it is intended to issue ; and on what subjects he intends to issue planning policy guidance ;
(2) what consultation there has been with organisations representing the interests of disabled people on the drafting of planning policy guidance notes ;
(3) if he will ensure that the Access Committee for England, the Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People and the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation and other such organisations are consulted before the contents of planning policy guidance notes are finalised ;
(4) if he will consult the Access Committee for England, the Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People and the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation and other such organisations before finally determining the contents of planning policy guidance note No. 1 (PPG1).
Mr. Yeo : Most of the existing planning policy guidance notes were issued in 1988 and 1989. Since then there have been significant policy developments including changes in planning legislation. The following PPGs are being reviewed in the light of these changes. PPG1 : General policy and principles
PPG3 : Land for housing
PPG4 : Industrial and commercial development and small firms PPG5 : Simplified Planning Zones
PPG7 : Rural enterprise and development
PPG8 : Telecommunications
PPG12 : Local plans
PPG15 : Regional Planning Guidance, Structure Plans and the content of Development Plans
We have also said that we would consult on the question of defining new objectives for the green belts, on which advice is contained in PPG2.
New planning policy guidance is being prepared on sport and recreation ; nature conservation ; planning, pollution control and waste management ; tourism ; listed buildings and conservation areas ; advertisement control ; enforcement ; renewable sources of energy ; travelling showpeople ; noise ; and coastal policy.
The Disabled Living Foundation and the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation are consulted during the preparation of all PPG notes. The Access Committee for England and the Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People will be consulted on future guidance notes, including the revised PPG1. It is open to any organisation representing the interests of disabled people to make their views about planning policy matters known at any time.
Energy-efficient Lighting
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to encourage local councils to follow the lead of the Houses of Parliament in introducing energy-efficient lighting to cut costs and save energy ; and whether he will assist them with such schemes.
Mr. Baldry : Earlier this year I hosted a series of seminars, organised jointly by the Department of the
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Environment and the Energy Efficiency Office, to encourage local authorities to take up the opportunities for energy efficiency improvements, including the use of low energy lighting, in order to cut their costs and help to limit United Kingdom carbon dioxide emissions. Under the revised capital finance arrangements authorities can recycle revenue savings from such investment back into their capital programmes. We are discussing with the local authority associations ways of overcoming any barriers to the take-up of such cost-saving investment.We have made resources available for energy efficiency investment in local authority housing under the "Green House Demonstration Programme". In April we announced supplementary credit approvals for 70 schemes. A number of these include the installation of energy-efficient lighting. A further £50 million will be available under this programme next year.
Community Charge
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the 25 local authorities with the largest additional charge on the community charge bills, indicating the sums involved ; and if he will make a statement on the action he intends to take.
Mr. Key : The list is based on the estimates of "other adjustments" provided to the Department by the majority of local authorities. The figures may differ slightly from the amounts actually shown on community charge bills. They take account of, among other things, the standard charge income an authority expects to receive, interest charges on the collection fund, an authority's estimate of uncollected community charges and population changes.
A table showing population figures on the same basis as those used to calculate per capita standard spending assessments
OCPS mid-year estimates
Local authority |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92
|Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident |Resident
|population |population |population |population |population |population |population |population |population |population |population
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regional summary
Northern region |3,130,300 |3,128,300 |3,177,600 |3,107,400 |3,100,100 |3,093,100 |3,085,700 |3,080,242 |3,076,779 |3,071,318 |3,073,112
North West |6,498,400 |6,447,300 |6,459,500 |6,431,000 |6,410,100 |6,395,500 |6,386,300 |6,374,334 |6,370,079 |6,364,162 |6,379,723
Yorkshire and Humberside |4,921,000 |4,922,700 |4,918,400 |4,909,900 |4,908,500 |4,904,300 |4,902,600 |4,899,285 |4,900,232 |4,913,298 |4,940,355
East Midlands |3,818,300 |3,838,300 |3,852,700 |3,859,800 |3,874,300 |3,896,900 |3,919,918 |3,942,254 |3,970,599 |3,999,063
West Midlands |5,179,200 |5,185,000 |5,186,200 |5,179,900 |5,176,300 |5,176,000 |5,183,000 |5,181,243 |5,197,687 |5,207,000 |5,215,960
East Anglia |1,864,100 |1,881,800 |1,894,700 |1,911,400 |1,925,200 |1,939,600 |1,964,700 |1,991,600 |2,013,680 |2,034,639 |2,044,577
South West |4,334,900 |4,361,100 |4,381,273 |4,397,599 |4,424,061 |4,461,279 |4,500,780 |4,543,254 |4,588,374 |4,634,235 |4,652,426
South East |10,064,300 |10,142,100 |10,204,700 |10,239,400 |10,294,500 |10,356,400 |10,424,300 |10,489,393 |10,547,132 |10,605,020 |10,627,779
Greater London |6,887,600 |6,850,600 |6,805,703 |6,766,432 |6,754,433 |6,756,038 |6,767,421 |6,775,190 |6,770,435 |6,736,007 |6,756,400
TOTAL ENGLAND |46,698,100 |46,787,200 |46,820,776 |46,794,731 |46,852,994 |46,956,517 |47,111,701 |47,254,459 |47,406,652 |47,536,278 |47,689,395
We fully understand the concern expressed by law-abiding charge payers about the inclusion of amounts for non-collection. There can be no excuse for non-payment and there will be no amnesty for non-payers. It is, however, essential that authorities make proper provision for non- collection, as they did for non-collection
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of the rates. I must stress that all charge payers are under a legal duty to pay the whole community charge including this element.Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report , population figures for each standard region in England and Wales for the years 1981-82 to 1991-92, on the same basis as was used to calculate per capita standard spending assessments in his written answer of 29 April, Official Report , column 10 .
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Mr. Portillo [pursuant to his answer, 10 July 1991, Official Report, column 380] : The information requested is shown in the table. There is a lag of nearly two years before the mid-year population estimate is available for inclusion in standard spending assessments. The year shown at the head of columns refers to the year of the calculated standard spending assessment.
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A table showing population figures on the same basis as those used to calculate per capita standard spending assessmentsOPCS mid-year estimates
Local authority 1981-82 Resident
population 1982-83 Resident
population 1983-84 Resident
population 1984-85 Resident
population 1985-86 Resident
population 1986-87 Resident
population 1987-88 Resident
population 1988-89 Resident
population 1989-90 Resident
population 1990-91 Resident
population 1991-92 Resident
population
Regional summary
Northern region 3,130,300 3,128,300 3,117,600 3,107,400 3,100,100 3,093,100 3,085,700 3,080,242 3,076,779 3,071,318 3,073,112
North West 6,498,400 6,447,300 6,459,500 6,431,000 6,410,100 6,395,500 6,386,300 6,374,334 6,370,079 6,364,162 6,379,723
Yorkshire and Humberside 4,921,000 4,922,700 4,918,400 4,909,900 4,908,500 4,904,300 4,902,600 4,899,285 4,900,232 4,913,298 4,940,355 East Midlands 3,818,300 3,838,300 3,852,700 3,851,700 3,859,800 3, 874,300 3,896,900 3,919,918 3,942,254 3,970,599 3,999,063
West Midlands 5,179,200 5,185,000 5,186,200 5,179,900 5,176,300 5, 176,000 5,183,000 5,181,243 5,197,687 5,207,000 5,215,960
East Anglia 1,864,100 1,881,800 1,894,700 1,911,400 1,925,200 1, 939,600 1,964,700 1,991,600 2,013,680 2,034,639 2,044,577
South West 4,334,900 4,361,100 4,381,273 4,397,599 4,424,061 4,461,279 4,500,780 4,543,254 4,588,374 4,634,235 4,652,426
South East 10,064,300 10,142,100 10,204,700 10,239,400 10,294,500 10,356,400 10,424,300 10,489,393 10,547,132 10,605,020 10,627,779 Greater London 6,887,600 6,850,600 6,805,703 6,766,432 6,754,433 6,756,038 6,767,421 6,775,190 6,770,435 6,736,007 6,756,400
Total England-- 46,698,100 46,787,200 46,820,776 46,794,731 46,852,994 46,956,517 47,111,701 47,254,459 47,406,652 47,536,278 47,689,395
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