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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Water Protection
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to assess the impact of the code of good agricultural practice for the protection of water.
Mr. Curry : The main indications to date of the success of this recently published document have been the high demand for it and the warm welcome that it has received from the NRA and other interested organisations. Our officials will be discussing with these organisations how best to monitor its impact.
Wild-caught Birds
Mr. Gale : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will discuss the trade in wild-caught birds at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Mr. Curry : A new Community directive on the protection of animals, including birds, during transport was agreed in the Agricultural Council on 21-22 October. Following pressure from the United Kingdom the directive requires additional rules to be established to address the welfare problems in the trade in wild birds. We will be pressing for an early decision on this matter. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is also seeking to place the topic on the agenda for the Environment Council on 9 December 1991.
Salmon
Mr. Beith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether he will list all the bodies and individuals from whom he received formal or informal representations about the east coast salmon fisheries between the date when the report on the fisheries was first
Column 247
delivered to his Department and the date of its publication ; and whether he will list any further bodies or individuals whom he consulted on the matter ;(2) if he will list the changes made to the text of the report on east coast salmon fisheries between the day it was delivered to his Department and the day it was published.
Mr. Curry : We received very many representations on the matter of the statutory review of the east coast salmon net fisheries, dating from the undertaking to prepare a review which was given to Parliament during the passage of the Salmon Bill in 1986, until its presentation to Parliament in October 1991. There were, however, no consultations about the report or its contents which, as section 39 of the Act makes clear, are matters for my right hon. Friends the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State for Scotland to consider and present to Parliament. As the report itself describes, scientists from the Fisheries Department of MAFF and the Scottish Office prepared a very detailed background document for us. The only significant change made to it after its receipt involved revisions to the text to reflect the 1990 catch data which later became available for the review area. This updating was mentioned to the House by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 22 July.
Common Agricultural Policy Products
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will bring up to date the information on sheepmeat and on common agricultural policy product sales in his written answers dated 28 April 1986, Official Report, columns 315-16.
Mr. Curry : The following figures show the amount by which the average market price of sheepmeat fell short of the guide price during the marketing years 1986 to 1990 :
Year |Great Britain|Northern
|Ireland
|p/kg |p/kg
--------------------------------------------------------
1986 |42.2 |33.5
1987 |43.1 |26.1
1988 |69.7 |38.7
1989 |62.2 |44.2
1990 |83.7 |87.2
The average market prices for sheepmeat for the week beginning 14 October are currently forecast as being below the seasonal guide price by 125p/kg for Great Britain and 89p/kg for Northern Ireland, but because of seasonal variations this is not an indication of the eventual figure for the marketing year.
The following table gives updated details of exports of selected common agricultural policy commodities to non-EC countries in 1990. Expenditure on export refunds in 1990 was 7,722 million ecu.
|'000 tonnes
|EC12
--------------------------------------------------
Wheat |16,635
Wheat flour |2,907
Barley |9,655
Malt |1,350
Rice |370
Sugar<1> |5,035
of which:raw sugar<1> |35
refined sugar |5,000
Olive oil |177
Oilseeds |59
Whole milk powder |502
Skimmed milk powder |324
Condensed milk |349
Butter and buttermilk |199
Beef and veal |647
Sheepmeat |6
Pigmeat |298
Poultrymeat |414
Eggs |100
Wine |1,168
<1>Includes raw sugar converted to white sugar
equivalent:
1 tonne raw sugar=0.92 tonnes white sugar.
Source: Eurostat.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing for the principal agricultural products regulated under the common agricultural policy the amount of levy payable on importation from non-EEC countries, the amount of the levy and any customs duties payable, the latest United Kingdom price, the intervention or threshold price, the target price and the world price.
Mr. Curry : Information on intervention, threshold and target prices was set out in the note deposited in the Library of the House giving details of the common agricultural policy prices settlement 1991-92. Details of customs duties are contained in the "Integrated Tariff of the United Kingdom", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The remainder of the information requested is set out for the main commodities in tables 1 and 2. The world prices shown in table 1 are generally the lowest offer prices at the Community frontier underlying the Commission's calculation of variable import levies. I would remind the hon. Member that these are the lowest prices recorded and it is almost certain that higher prices on average would have to be paid for supplies if existing agricultural support policies were dismantled. The world prices shown do not necessarily relate to the same quality or presentation of products for which United Kingdom market prices are set out in table 2.
Table 1
Levy applicable in the United Kingdom and notional "World"
price
(a) on 26 October 1991 for the main traded agricultural
commodities
|Levy (b) |Notional
|applicable in|"world"
|the UK |price
|(£ /tonne) |(£ /tonne)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Common wheat |119 |67
Barley |109 |61
Maize |95 |75
Rice |277 |157
Sugar |(c) 340 |170
Olive oil |468 |1,043
Butter |(d) 1,984 |637
Skimmed milk powder |920 |630
Cheese (Cheddar) |1,794 |956
Beef and veal |(e) 1,990 |1,079
Pigmeat |521 |754
Sheepmeat |(f) n/a |n/a
Poultrymeat |281 |903
Eggs |274 |679
Note:
(a) "World" prices have been calculated by subtracting the
levy
applicable on 26 October from the threshold/guide price. The
beef
price is also adjusted for duty. In the case of pigmeat,
poultrymeat
and eggs, the "world" price has been taken as the sluicegate
price
for the headings defined in (b) below. The resulting estimate
has
been converted from ECU/t at the appropriate market rate of
exchange of £ 0.806057=1 ECU.
(b) The rates of levy vary for different tariff headings. The
rates
quoted are: beef and veal-carcase; pigmeat-carcase; poul-
trymeat-70 per cent. chickens; rice-husked long grain; olive
oil
-virgin lampante: eggs-in shell.
(c) In practice the United Kingdom's imports from third
countries
are normally covered by the Lome Convention and enter the
Community levy-free.
(d) A special lower rate of levy is applicable to imports of
butter from
New Zealand.
(e) Most imports of beef from third countries are subject to
special
arrangements allowing entry at reduced levy rates.
(f) Imports of lamb under voluntary restraint arrangements
with
principal suppliers and related agreements enter free of
charge.
Any imports outside these arrangements are subject to levies
which cannot exceed the 20 per cent. tariff bound in the
GATT.
Table 2
Selected average market/wholesale prices United Kingdom
Prices are for week ending 26 October 1991 unless otherwise stated
|£ /tonne
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wheat (grower to merchant price, all purchases,
England and Wales) |<1>125
Barley (grower to merchant price, all purchases,
England and Wales) |<1>117
Maize (USA cif N. Europe) |<2>117
Rice (US long grain rice 10 per cent. maximum
broken) |<3>657
Sugar (Refined bulk granulated) |583
Butter (Great Britain salted) |2,123
Skimmed Milk Powder |<4>1,450
Cheddar Cheese (English mild white creamery) |2,075
Fat Cattle (Great Britain all clean cattle, liveweight) |1,036
Beef (Scotch killed sides, Smithfield) |2,127
Fat Sheep (Certified Great Britain, estimated dressed
carcase weight) |1,108
Fat Pigs (All pigs, deadweight) |963
Poultry Meat (Broilers, liveweight) |547
Eggs (Size 3, packer to producer price) |491
Olive oil |<5>-
Note: A wide range of price quotations exists for individual
commodities depending on quality, presentation, stage of marketing
etc. Those shown are intended generally to be illustrative of prices
paid by wholesalers or received by producers. Some prices are highly
seasonal.
<1> Week ending 24 October: prices are before deducting
co-responsibility levy.
<2> Prices unquoted since 14 September. Averageprice listed latest
average levy as at 24 October.
<3> Week ending 31 October.
<4> Average price for month of October.
<5> Prices range from £ 1,611-£ 3,383/tonne, with `Lampante' Spanish
Origin at £ 2,141/tonne.
Column 250
Farms
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing the concentration of agricultural land holdings and the decline in the number of farmers since 1961 in the United Kingdom and other EC countries.
Mr. Curry : This information is not available in the form requested.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish a table showing the number of (a) holdings and (b) owners accounting for 25 per cent. and 50 per cent. of (i) farm land, excluding woodland and rough grazing, (ii) beef cattle, (iii) dairy cattle, (iv) cereals, (v) rapeseed and (vi) sugar beet.
Mr. Curry : The information requested is not readily available in the form requested. However, the following tables show for England and Wales, for 1990, the distribution of holdings by size in respect of each of items requested. Information on ownership is not available.
Column 249
June 1990 England and Wales (excluding minor holdings) Table 1. Holdings by crops and grass size groups Hectares |<50 |50-<100 |100-<200 |200 and over|Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holdings (thousands) |115.4 |31.1 |17.1 |7.9 |171.5 Crops and grass (thousands hectares) |2,035.3 |2,197.9 |2,348.5 |2,707.6 |9,289.3
Table 2. Holdings by beef cow size groups Head |1-9 |10-39 |40-49 |50 and over|Total -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holdings (thousands) |22.5 |£ 7.1 |2.0 |4.3 |45.8 Beef cows (thousand head) |87.7 |347.5 |86.8 |357.9 |879.9
Table 3. Holdings by dairy cow size groups
Head |<50 |50-69 |70-99 |100 and|Total
|over
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holdings (thousand) |15.8 |6.4 |6.3 |6.7 |35.1
Dairy cows (thousand head) |425.1 |373.1 |518.6 |1,007.6|2,324.4
Table 4. Holdings by total cereals (excluding maize) size groups
Hectares |<40 |40-<50 |50-<10 |100- |150 and |Total
|<150 |over
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holdings (thousand) |38.2 |3.9 |10.4 |4.3 |4.5 |61.3
Total cereals (thousand ha.) |571.1 |172.6 |739.8 |527.8 |1,116.5 |3,127.8
Table 5. Holdings by oilseed rape size groups
Hectares |<10 |10-<20 |20-<50 |50 and |Total
|over
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holdings (thousand) |2.8 |4.1 |4.7 |1.5 |13.1
Oilseed rape (thousand ha.) |18.9 |58.5 |144.3 |121.5 |343.2
Table 6. Holdings by sugar beet size groups
Hectares |<5 |5-<20 |20-<40 |40 and |Total
|over
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holdings (thousand) |2.1 |5.4 |1.9 |1.1 |10.5
Sugar beet (thousand ha.) |6.3 |57.8 |51.7 |78.3 |194.1
Meat
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how the new regulations under the Food Safety Act 1990, to control illegal drug residues in meat, will be enforced.
Mr. Maclean : The new regulations will be enforced at slaughterhouses and on farm by members of the state veterinary service carrying out checks on meat and animals. Similarly, local authorities will be responsible for meat sold at retail outlets.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the proportion of costs of implementing the environmentally sensitive areas policy constituted by (a) administration, (b) monitoring, (c) payments to farmers and (d) other costs.
Mr. Curry : Over the period 1986-87 to 1990-91, the payments to farmers in England have accounted for approximately 75 per cent. of the total costs of the ESA scheme, the balance being taken up by administration which includes conservation advice to participating farmers and monitoring to assess the economic and environmental impacts of the scheme. It is not possible to provide a precise breakdown between the administrative and monitoring costs, but they have been broadly equal.
Sheep and Goat Milk
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to announce standards for the commercial production of sheep and goat milk ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The European Commission has proposed a new Community- wide milk hygiene framework covering milk and milk products from cows, goats, sheep and buffaloes. This is intended to come into force on 1 January 1993. The Government are pressing for effective progress to be made in negotiations so that realistic standards can be introduced by this date or as soon as possible thereafter. In the meantime, the production and sale of goat and sheep milk continues to be subject to the general provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990, general food hygiene and labelling regulations and specific codes of practice.
Column 252
DEFENCE
Sea Training Facilities
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sea training facilities are currently available at HMS Wessex, HMS Sussex and HMS Claverhouse ; and what is their current usage rate.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : HMS Wessex, HMS Sussex and HMS Claverhouse have River class minesweepers ; HMS Itchen, HMS Arun and HMS Spey respectively. The time spent at sea is approximately 20 per cent. of the time available when allowance is made for the ships to undergo essential maintenance and repair. In addition to training at sea other essential training activities are conducted alongside.
Fishery Protection
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Navy has been able to meet the requirement for fishery protection in 1991-92 ; which ships are currently committed to the coastal division of the fishery protection squadron ; and what plans he has to fulfil the fishery protection requirement in 1992-93.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Royal Navy fishery protection squadron is on target to meet the level of patrolling for 1991-92 agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department. HMS Blackwater, Soberton, Brinton, Kellington, Sheraton and Iveston are currently assigned to the coastal division of the fishery protection squadron. Plans for fishery protection in 1992-93 have not yet been decided.
Minesweepers
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those River class minesweepers currently in service, together with their current squadron allocation and tasks.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The following River class minesweepers are in service :
HMS Blackwater, HMS Arun, HMS Carron,
HMS Dovey, HMS Helford, HMS Humber, HMS Orwell, HMS Spey, HMS Waveney, HMS Itchen.
HMS Blackwater is employed on fishery protection duties with the fishery protection squadron, HMS Itchen is in refit and the remainder are allocated to the 10th mine counter-measures squadron and are used for sea training by the Royal Naval Reserve.
Column 253
HMS Humber and Helmsdale
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when HMS Humber and HMS Helmsdale were commissioned ; what was their planned length of service ; and why they are to be placed in reserve.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : HMS Humber was commissioned on 7 June 1985 ; HMS Helmsdale was commissioned on 1 March 1986. It is not our practice to disclose the planned length of service for vessels. Placing HMS Helmsdale and HMS Ribble, but not HMS Humber, in reserve enables reductions in running costs to be made while retaining the ships, which can be prepared for operations at short notice, as part of our MCM capability.
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) on what date he replied to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall, North dated 5 August 1991 concerning a service medal for a constituent ; on what date his Department wrote directly to the constituent ; on what date a copy of his Department's letter to the constituent was sent to the hon. Member ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will make it his practice to reply directly to the hon. Member when he receives a letter from an hon. Member dealing with a constituent's cases.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will write to the hon. Member.
HEALTH
Ealing Health Authority
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure in real and cash terms by (a) Ealing health authority and (b) Ealing hospital since the inception of each ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : Figures of total revenue expenditure recorded in the annual accounts of Ealing health authority since its establishment on 1 April 1982 are shown in the table. The information about Ealing hospital is not held centrally. My hon. Friend may wish to write to Lady Eccles of Moulton, the chairman of Ealing health authority, for details.
|£ 000 |£ 000
|cash |at 1990-91
|prices
--------------------------------------------
1982-83 |34,522 |53,674
1983-84 |36,235 |53,850
1984-85 |39,602 |56,008
1985-86 |40,265 |54,003
1986-87 |44,131 |57,230
1987-88 |46,772 |57,520
1988-89 |53,102 |60,862
1989-90 |58,157 |62,664
1990-91 |62,729 |62,729
Note: Figures for the earlier years have
been expressed at 1990-91
prices by the use of the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) deflator.
Column 254
Road Accidents
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many hospitals imposed the charges for emergency treatment after road accidents, as laid down in sections 157 and 158 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in each year since 1988 ; and what are the average charges ;
(2) when (a) Guy's and (b) Lewisham hospitals introduced the charges for emergency treatment after road accidents, as laid down in sections 157 and 158 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 ; and what are the average charges for (a) Guy's and (b) Lewisham hospitals in each year since their introduction.
Mr. Dorrell : All health authorities and NHS trusts may collect an emergency treatment fee, at a flat rate of £19.30, for immediate medical attention required following a road traffic accident and they may also collect charges for any subsequent in or out-patient treatment, up to ceilings of £2,667 and £267 respectively. Provision for these charges was made in the Road Traffic Acts 1930, 1933 and 1934 and has been carried forward in later legislation by successive Governments. Motorists are legally required to insure against these charges and those for subsequent in and out-patient treatment are collected direct from insurance companies.
Bio Products Laboratory
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures the Bio Products Laboratory has introduced to conform to fair trading and fair competition practices as currently apply to the commercial plasma industry in the United Kingdom since 1 April ; (2) from what date the Bio Products Laboratory will start charging for whole blood and plasma derivative products such as Albumin and Factor VIII at prices that accurately reflect the total costs including blood and plasma collection, Factor VIII BSM royalty and product licence application fee costs ;
(3) what measures are being taken to ensure the maintenance of a free market and free competition between the public and private plasma industry ; and how clinical choice, pricing, research and development, investment and patient safety will be maintained.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : It has been the policy of successive Governments that this country should be self-sufficient in blood products derived from plasma donated by our unpaid voluntary donors. This position is consistent with the more recent decision by the European Community to promote a policy of Community self-sufficiency based on voluntary blood donation.
We also recognise that doctors should be free to prescribe the most appropriate product for their patients in the light of the available clinical information. NHS clinicians may, therefore, prescribe blood products from commercial suppliers and not just those from the Bio Products Laboratory.
Within the overall policy we intend that BPL should compete fairly in terms of the service, quality, and price of its blood products. For this reason we introduced cross-charging in 1989 and reversed the previous arrangements whereby BPL products were supplied free of charge in return for plasma. The removal of Crown immunity from 1 April 1991 brought the BPL products within the scope of the formal licensing arrangements under the Medicines Act.
Column 255
Nottingham DHA
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health by how much Nottingham district health authority overspent or underspent in each of the last five financial years ; and what estimate he has of projected overspend in the current year.
Mr. Dorrell : District health authorities are financially accountable to their regional health authorities. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Michael Carlisle, the chairman of Trent regional health authority, for details.
Health Benefits
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the certificates issued under the low income scheme for health benefits in 1990 -91 were for (a) full exemption and (b) partial exemption.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : During the 1990-91 financial year the number of certificates issued totalled 887,722. Of these, 398,429 were for full exemption and 489,293 partial exemption.
Income Generation
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance is given to the private health sector arising from the work of the income generation unit ; and what fees are paid for such services.
Mr. Dorrell : The income generation unit promoted closer co- operation between the NHS and the private sector. This development contributed significantly to the estimated £50 million contribution to NHS resources which was made by the income generation initiative in 1990- 91.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much income has been generated in the NHS for each of the financial years 1989- 90 and 1990-91 both in total and in the following areas, (a) commercial concessions to retailers and other businesses, (b) advertising facilities, (c) catering services, (d) sale of services, including health screening, child minding, waste disposal and heating, (e) car parking facilities and (f) the sale of goods, equipment and materials.
Mr. Dorrell : Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. The net benefit to the NHS from income generation activity in 1989-90 was £25.8 million and reports for 1990-91 are expected to reveal a net benefit of around £50 million.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the income generation projects undertaken by the Trent regional health authority which were developed and implemented with the help of the income generation unit, together with the amounts of income generated from each project.
Mr. Dorrell : The role of the income generation unit was to promulgate advice generally and Trent in common with other regions benefited from that advice. But as was the case with all regions, it was open to Trent to seek advice from the central unit at any time and on any matter as the need arose.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what forms of advice the income generation unit provides to hospital trusts.
Column 256
Mr. Dorrell : The income generation unit gave advice to NHS trusts in the same way as it provided advice to all other authorities and units of the NHS.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give details of the national policy on income generation that has been formulated by the income generation unit.
Mr. Dorrell : The policy of the NHS is to promote the generation of secondary income from outside the NHS in any way feasible which is profitable, ethical and within the law, provided that the schemes are not in conflict with the broad aims of the NHS. The fundamental principle underpinning all income generation activity is that it should not adversely affect NHS patient care.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will arrange for the production and publication of an annual report on the work of the income generation unit.
Mr. Dorrell : The unit no longer exists.
Contraceptive Advice
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Department of Health maintains a register of centres providing specialist contraceptive advice for young people.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. It is for individual health authorities to determine and arrange provision of the family planning services appropriate to particular local needs. Health authorities have been asked to bear in mind the need for separate, less formal arrangements for young people.
Hospital Trusts
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the starting salary for each chief executive of a hospital trust and the latest salary in each case.
Mr. Dorrell : NHS trust chief executives are employed by their trust board ; their terms and conditions of service are a matter for them.
Incontinence Pads
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the average number of incontinence pads supplied daily free by local health authorities ;
(2) if he will list the local health authorities which have been charging for incontinence pads ; and if such payments continue.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not held centrally.
Liverpool Children's Hospital
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last visited the Royal Liverpool Children's hospital, Alder Hey ; whom he met ; and what subjects were discussed.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I visited the Royal Liverpool children's hospital, Alder Hey, on 21 June this year. During my visit I saw the recently upgraded oncology and haematology ward and the paediatric intensive care unit
Column 257
and had the opportunity to meet many senior clinicians and members of the nursing staff, patients and parents to discuss the various methods of care and treatment.Hospital Trusts
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the names of those who have been appointed chief executives of hospital trusts and their previous position prior to being appointed chief executive.
Mr. Dorrell : The names of the chief executives of the NHS trusts which became operational on 1 April 1991 are given in the table. Second wave trusts, which will become operational on 1 April 1992, are now in the process of appointing chief executives. Matters relating to the appointment and employment of NHS trust chief executives are for NHS trust boards ; information regarding chief executives' previous employment is not held centrally.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Freeman Group of Hospitals |Mr. L. Fenwick
Newcastle Mental Health Services |Mr. L. Joyce
Northumbria Ambulance |Mr. L. Caple
United Leeds Teaching Hospitals |Mr. S. Ingham
St. James's University Hospital |Mr. I. Donnachie
Bradford Hospitals |Dr. M. Baker
Northern General Hospital |Mr. N. McKay
Lincolnshire Ambulance and Health |Mr. M. Ruffles
Transport Service
Doncaster Royal Infirmary and the |Mr. D. Nicholson
Montagu Hospital
Norfolk Ambulance |Mr. M. Willis
Anglian Harbours |Mr. P. Harrison
Southend Health Care |Mr. Stout (acting)
|Mr. Brackenbury
|(designate)
Royal London Hospital |Mr. M. Fairey
Royal Free, Hampstead |Mr. J. Cooper
Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear |Mr. A. Ranzetta
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital |Mr. M. McGreevy
North Middlesex Hospital |Dr. K. Hirst
North Hertfordshire |Mr. R. Ewings
Mount Vernon Hospital |Mr. S. Ramsden
Hillingdon Hospital |Mr. P. Brown
Central Middlesex Hospital |Mr. A. Black
Guy's and Lewisham |Mr. P. Griffiths
Lifecare |Mr. I. Semple
Kingston Hospital |Mr. J. Langan
Homewood |Ms. E. Richardson
St. Hellier's |Mr. N. Sewell
Croydon Community |Ms. J. Hargadon
Epsom Health Care |Dr. T. Thomas
Royal Surrey County and St. Lukes |Mr. M. Forrer
Weston Area |Mr. R. Tucker
East Somerset |Mr. G. Mitchell
East Gloucestershire |Mr. J. Hammond
Cornwall Community Healthcare |Mr. D. Green
Cornwall and Isles of Scily Mental |Mr. A. Sandry
Handicap
United Bristol Healthcare |Dr. J. Roylance
Northern Devon Healthcare |Mrs. J. Acred
South Devon Healthcare |Mr. A. Parr
Taunton and Somerset Hospital |Mr. E. McNally
Royal National Hospital for |Mr. C. Quinell
Rheumatic Diseases
West Dorset Mental Health |Mr. D. Griffiths
West Dorset General Hospitals |Mr. N. Chapman
West Dorset Community Health |Mrs. V. White
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre |Mr. C. Jones
First Community |Mrs. P. Tomlinson
Mental Health Foundation of Mid- |Mr. M. Murray
Staffordshire
Rugby |Mr. P. Farenden
Walsall Hospitals |Mr. J. Roskill
Wirral Hospitals |Mr. F. Burns
The Royal Liverpool University |Mr. Fitzpatrick (acting)
Hospital |Mr. M. Stamp (designate)
St. Helens and Knowsley Hospital |Mr. K. Sanderson
Services
Chester and Halton Community |Mr. C. Griffiths
The Cardiotheroracic Centre |Mr. J. Meade
Broadgreen Hospital |Mr. T. Cleator
Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital |Mr. J. Butler
and Community Services
Mid Cheshire Hospitals |Mr. D. Young
Manchester Central Hospitals and |Mr. M. Ruane
Community Care
Christie Hospital |Mr. M. Fry
Care Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy towards the three-tier care standards arrangement proposed by the Hertfordshire county council for care homes being leased to the private sector.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I understand that Hertfordshire county council has made no such proposal. The council commissioned a study of options for the future management of its residential care homes and those options are currently under consideration by the council's social services committee.
Local authority residential care homes should match the standards required of homes registered under the Residential Home Act. This standard should be available to all residents and is not linked to the ability of individual residents to meet the costs.
Drugs Testing
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what independent monitoring or evaluation of the data submitted by general practitioners and hospital doctors concerning the testing of new drugs is carried out by his Department's Committee on Safety of Medicines prior to the licensing of such drugs.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A company is required to certify the accuracy of all the results from clinical trial data, submitted in support of a product licence application for a new drug. The Committee on Safety of Medicines, comprising eminent experts in the fields of medicine, science and pharmacy, carefully evaluates these data and has to be satisfied as to the safety, quality and efficacy of the drug in question before advising the Licensing Authority on whether or not a product licence should be granted.
Published guidelines require companies to establish procedures for the organisation, conduct, documentation and verification of clinical trials, and for the audit and archiving of clinical trial data.
Health Service Staff
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each national health service region (a) the number of female district general managers and (b) the district health authorities they manage.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 5 November 1991] : As at 6 November 1991 there were 10 female district general managers. The table shows the breakdown by region and what district they manage.
Column 259
Region
-----------------------------------------
North West Thames RHA
North East Thames RHA
East Anglian RHA
North Western RHA
South East Thames RHA
South West Thames RHA
South Western RHA
Trent RHA
Total number of female DGM's: 10
General Practioner Earnings
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the average current earning levels of general practitioners.
Mr. Waldegrave [pursuant to the reply, 5 November c. 101] : In 1990-91, the first year of the new contract, estimated gross payments to general practitioners averaged some £5,951 per GP in excess of the intended level. We shall not know how much of this sum falls to be recovered under the normal balancing arrangements for dealing with over and underpayments until autumn 1992, when we have full information on GPs' practice expenses in 1990-91. I can well understand the profession's concern at the prospect of an overpayment of this order hanging over successive pay rounds. Nor would I want difficulties with the workings of the remuneration system to obscure the undoubted achievements of the new GP contract and the benefits that it is bringing to patients. So I believe it right to begin to address the issues now.
As a first step, I have considered carefully the different elements of the 1990-91 overpayment. The General Medical Services Committee has drawn attention to two factors--both concerning the handling of target payments in this first year of the contract--which they have suggested merit special treatment.
First, it is now clear that the Government's decision to bring higher target payments within average net income for nine months, as part of the staging of the award, interacted with the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body's underestimate of the number of GPs who would achieve higher targets, to add a sum of £1,800 per GP to the overpayment. A separate decision to pay a "fifth target payment" to help maintain cash flow to individual GPs while the target payments system was being introduced added a further £300 to this. I have concluded that it would not be right for the Government to recover either of these sums. They result from special factors, unique to 1990-91, and can and should be excluded from the sum to be recovered, without prejudice to the normal principles of the balancing mechanism. So I have decided now to waive £2,100 of the 1990-91 overpayment as the profession has asked. This is equivalent to a sum of £63 million for Great Britain.
We shall need to return to the handling of the outstanding sum in the autumn of 1992, when we have further information. But in the meantime there are other issues for Government and the profession to address together. The latest information suggests that the fee scale set for 1991-92 is continuing to deliver a higher level of
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income than intended, although on a lesser scale than in 1990-91. Neither Government nor profession wishes to see the overpayment accumulate further, and we must therefore work together on evidence for the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body to help them ensure that arrangements are brought properly into balance in 1992-93, when they determine the new level of income for that year.We shall also need to take account of the experience of the first two years of the contract as we work together to develop it further. In looking to the future I shall wish to explore particularly the scope for developing the contract and remuneration system in ways that are more sensitive to local needs and circumstances. I also have in mind the further development of the performance-related elements of the contract, in the light of the Government's policy set out in the citizens charter. The profession may want to add other issues arising from their wide-ranging consultation on their document, "Building Your Own Future".
I therefore propose to invite the GMSC to work with Department of Health officials to agree proposals in time to put evidence to the DDRB for the 1992 pay round--when recovery of the 1990-91 overpayment falls due and all the necessary information will be
available--covering :
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