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Labour Statistics
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the proportion of the populations of Wandsworth, Westminster and Rotherham which are currently unemployed.
Mr. Jackson : The latest total population estimates available from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys are for mid-year 1990. The latest available numbers of unemployed claimants relate to January 1992. These data have been used for all three areas in the following reply.
In the local authority district of Wandsworth the total population estimates is 256,200 and the number of unemployed claimants is 15, 863. On this basis, approximately one person in 16 is claimant unemployed.
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In the local authority district of Westminster the total population estimate is 179,200 and the number of unemployed claimants is 9,470. On this basis, approximately one person in 19 is claimant unemployed.In the local authority district of Rotherham the total population estimate is 254,500 and the number of unemployed claimants is 14,115. On this basis, approximately one person in 18 is claimant unemployed.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Central and Eastern Europe
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what way his Department has supported the activities of the legal profession in England and Wales in giving legal technical assistance for central and eastern Europe with particular reference to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia and Armenia ; and if he will make a statement as to the extent to which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office assistance unit has been involved in supporting these activities.
Mrs. Chalker : We consider the evolving legal professions in eastern and central European countries and those of the former Soviet Union to be an integral part in the process of democratisation. The know-how fund has, to help in this process, worked closely with the various bilateral legal associations, the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Law Society and the Bar Council. The Scottish legal profession is also involved in projects, particularly in the Baltic republics.
The following activities have been supported :
Poland
Security Law and Banking Supervision Law--The provision of British legal advisers to the Government of Poland to complete work on drafting a Security Law and to discuss a draft law on Banking Supervision.
Lawyer Placement Scheme--To enable ten lawyers from Lodz to come to the United Kingdom to learn about the structure and operation of the legal profession.
Reform of Land Valuation and Property Registration--Advice from British experts on how to secure title to land, and advice on valuation procedures for foreign and Polish investments consistent with Polish political constraints.
Management of a Law Practice--A seminar held in Poland, on the management of a lawyer's office.
Czechoslovakia
Assistance to the Czech Bar Association--To advise on the establishment of a specialist legal publishing house.
Commercial Law Seminar--Two day seminar in Prague to familiarise Czechoslovak lawyers with United Kingdom commercial law, organised by the British-Czechoslovak Law Association.
Placement Scheme for Officials from the Czech and Slovak Ministries of Justice--A one-month long placement scheme on commercial law organised by Queen Mary and Westfield College.
Bulgaria :
Bar Council/Law Society Visit--Joint mission by the Bar Council and Law Society to identify possible areas of assistance.
Environmental Law--Commentary on the Draft Bulgarian Environmental Protection Law.
Legal Workshop--A legal workshop by the British-Bulgarian Legal Association in Bankya.
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HungaryPlacement Scheme for Hungarian Lawyers--Placement scheme to give young Hungarian lawyers direct experience of United Kingdom commercial law practices.
Anglo-Hungarian Legal Seminar--Seminar on the practical negotiations of a joint venture including dealing with financing documents and intellectual property matters.
Anglo/Hungarian Legal Seminar--Seminar on Criminal Justice and the administration of the probation service.
UN Conference on Environment and Development
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals are being developed by his Department's Overseas Development Administration for submission to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June.
Mrs. Chalker : My Department contributes to the Government's preparations for UNCED, which are led by the Department of the Environment. Proposals to be discussed by world leaders at the UNCED are the subject of intergovernmental negotiations in the UNCED preparatory committee, which is meeting in New York from 2 March to 3 April. ODA officials are included in the United Kingdom delegation, and the ODA has contributed to submissions made by the United Kingdom to earlier meetings of the preparatory committee, including on population and the environment, and technology transfer. The Secretary of State for the Environment spoke to the preparatory committee on 2 March setting out the United Kingdom's views. A copy of his speech is in the Library.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Dorset LEA (Funding)
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the percentage change in real terms in funding to the Dorset local education authority since 1979.
Mr. Fallon : Local authorities are free to determine their own spending priorities between education and other services within the framework of the annual local authority finance settlement. Dorset local education authority's outturn expenditure in 1979-80, including the cost of higher education which in 1989-90 became the responsibility of the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council was some £74 million. Its expenditure in 1989-90, the latest year for which actual spending information is available, was some £169 million. The real terms percentage change between these figures is 14 per cent.
Walsall Council (Budget)
Mr. Richard Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the position of Walsall metropolitan borough council in his Department's list of levels of overheads for education authorities in England ; what percentage of the council's education budget is spent on administration costs and the average administrative costs per pupil ; and if he will give the comparable figures for each of the education authorities in the west midlands.
Mr. Fallon : The information is set out in the table.
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Expenditure on central administration relating to primary and secondary schools,
1991-92<1>
LEA |As percentage |Ranking by |As expenditure
|of PSB<2> |percentage<3> |per pupil
|Per cent |Number |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walsall |3.40 |46 |60
Birmingham |3.85 |64 |60
Coventry |4.37 |73 |80
Dudley |3.64 |54 |60
Hereford and Worcester |3.18 |38 |50
Sandwell |4.51 |75 |80
Shropshire |2.00 |7 |40
Solihull |1.93 |5 |30
Staffordshire |4.10 |67 |70
Warwickshire |3.19 |40 |50
Wolverhampton |5.33 |90 |100
<1>The figures are derived from local education authorities' budget statements
prepared under Section 42 of the Education Reform Act.
<2>The potential schools budget (PSB) consists of all spending on schools other
than capital expenditure, expenditure supported by Government
specific grants, and expenditure on school meals, home to school transport and
transitional exceptions from delegation such as grounds
maintenance.
<3>The ranking is according to the percentage of PSB spent on central
administration by each of the 97 LEAs (excluding most inner London
LEAs) which currently have local management of schools schemes in operation. The
lowest percentage is ranked as 1.
Legislation (Representations)
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations his Department has had from the North West Regional Association of Education Authorities in regard to the Further and Higher Education Bill [Lords] and the Education (Schools) Bill ; what replies he is sending ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : Representations about a number of aspects of the Further and Higher Education Bill and the Education (Schools) Bill were received in letters from the association in late February. Replies to those letters were sent on 6 March.
Population Statistics
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will give the proportion of the population attending local authority schools and the proportion of the population aged over 75 years in the areas of the Wandsworth, Westminster and Rotherham local authorities.
Mr. Fallon : The proportions for 1991 are set out in the table :
Percentage of the population
|Attending schools |Aged 75 years
|maintained by local|or over
|education authority
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wandsworth |10.8 |7.0
Westminster |9.2 |8.0
Rotherham |16.9 |5.9
Student Maintenance
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what support will be given from public funds towards students' maintenance in the academic year 1992-93.
Mr. Alan Howarth : We propose the following increases in student support. They are subject, in each case, to parliamentary approval of the necessary regulations.
The maximum rates of loan in the United Kingdom will be as follows :
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Loan rates 1992-93 |Full year |Final year
|rate (£) |rate (£)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Students living away from home:
in London |830 |605
elsewhere |715 |525
Students living at home |570 |415
The main rates of maintenance grant for mandatory award holders from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and their equivalents in Scotland, will be the same as in the current academic year. The rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are as follows ; Scottish rates are slightly different.
Main grant rates 1992-93 |(£)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Students living away from home:
in London |2,845
elsewhere |2,265
Students living at home |1,795
These grant and loan rates will enable average student support in the United Kingdom from main grant and loan to grow by 4.5 per cent. next year. The resources available to students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be as follows :
Resources from main grant and loan, |Full year |Final year
1992-93 |(£) |(£)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Students living away from home:
in London |3,675 |3,450
elsewhere |2,980 |2,790
Students living at home |2,365 |2,210
We shall adjust the parental and spouse contribution scales for mandatory awards for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so that the contribution assessed for a parent or spouse whose residual income rises in line with average earnings will continue to fall in real terms.
We shall increase the supplementary allowances payable within the mandatory award by 4.5 per cent., thereby maintaining their value in real terms.
We shall make similar adjustments to the scales and allowances used for equivalent awards elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
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I am placing in the Library details of all the rates of grant and loan and of the parental and spouse contribution rules.Museums
Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make funds available to secure the future of the Hancock museum, Newcastle and the Sunderland museum.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Funding these museums is not a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend.
The Hancock museum is owned by the Natural History Society of Northumberland. Its running costs are provided by Newcastle university. Like all universities, Newcastle is an autonomous institution responsible for managing its own financial affairs. It is for the university to decide the level of funding for this facility in the light of other priorities.
The Sunderland museum is the responsibility of the Tyne and Wear museums service.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his plans for capital expenditure for
grant-maintained schools for the financial year 1992-93.
Mr. Eggar [pursuant to his reply, 23 January 1991, c. 310-14] : In my earlier reply I said that I would announce in due course further capital allocations to grant-maintained schools for named projects to start in 1992-93. We have agreed allocations with a total value of £8.8 million. Some projects are phased over two years. Of the 60 schools that submitted bids for consideration in the second round, 38 have received an allocation for a named project. Having now seen all the bids together I have also decided to make allocations to four schools who submitted technology-related bids last year which were unsuccessful in the first round. Together with the announcement I made on Thursday about technology schools initiative allocations we now have 101 schools which have benefited from the TSI.
The grant-maintained schools will make good use of the funds allocated to them which will enable them to improve the facilities and working environments for their pupils.
The following is a list of the named project allocations.
Second tranche of Named Project Capital allocations for grant-
maintained schools in 1992-93
£000s
School and Project |Total
|Project
|Allocation
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology Schools Initiative
Adams' Grammar School
Technology building |470
Aylesford School
Phase I of new technology building |380
Burntwood School
Upgrading of technology facilities |553
Claremont High School
Technology facilities |250
Cranbrook School
Design and technology centre |438
The Crypt School
Information Technology development |151
Desborough Comprehensive School
Technology and design facilities |465
The Glyn School
Technology block |350
La Retraite High School
Technology block |750
Moseley Park School
Technology suite |730
Netherthorpe School
Extension to existing technology building |300
Northampton School for Boys
Technology provision |250
|-------
Total for Technology |5,087
Other
Ash Green School
Roof and structural work |100
Baines School
Phase I: 2 storey classroom block |750
Belmont Primary School
Health and safety (kitchen) |25
Brookmead School
Extend, refurbish and equip science and
technology |85
Copland Community School
Window replacement |75
Elmwood Primary School
Boilers |54
Fulston Manor School
Rural science block extension to form laboratory |48
Gartree School
Re-roofing of science and mathematics block |75
Hayes Manor School
Fire protection |114
Hayes School
Science refurbishment |280
Kelsey Park School
Science refurbishment |300
King John Middle School, Northants
Refurbish HORSA huts |250
Langley Grammar School
Health and safety |150
Loddon Middle School
Technology room |73
Magdalen CE/Methodist Primary School
Health and safety (playground) |15
Mellow Lane School
Fire protection, under pinning and repairs |120
Myton School
Health and safety (kitchen refurbishment) |28
Newlands Spring Primary School
Permanent replacement of 1 temporary classroom |55
Norwich Road School
Sanitary facilities |93
Oldborough Manor High School
Lower School rewiring |91
Parkstone Grammar School
Renewal of curtain walling |116
The Plume School
Business studies suite |58
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith
Roof and structural repairs |102
Riddlesdown High School
Health and safety improvements |107
Ringwood Comprehensive School
Science laboratory refurbishment |85
Salterlee Primary School
Essential health and safety |18
St. Mary's RC Primary School, Hertfordshire
Roof renewal |108
Thomas Whitehead CE School
Erection of Elliot relocatable classroom |25
Wrotham School
Roofing and associated repairs |100
Yarborough High School
Science block |200
|-------
Total for other projects |3,700
HEALTH
East Dorset Health Authority
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure of the East Dorset health authority in 1979 and for the current year ; what percentage change in real terms this represents ; and if he will make a statement on health services in the Bournemouth area.
Mr. Dorrell : The East Dorset health authority was established on 1 April 1982. The annual accounts of the authority show total revenue expenditure of £54.5 million, cash, for 1982-83 and £114.7 million, cash, for 1990-91, the latest year available. These figures represent an increase in real terms of 34.6 per cent. measured at 1991-92 prices.
For 1979-80 the annual accounts of the former Dorset area health authority record total revenue expenditure of £54.1 million, cash, compared with £165.9 million, cash, by the successor East and West Dorset health authorities in the financial year 1990-91--an increase in real terms of 41.2 per cent. measured at 1991-92 prices. East Dorset health authority is to be congratulated on its achievements since the commencement of the Government's NHS reforms and I expect the services provided to residents to continue to improve.
A major landmark within the Bournemouth area is the opening, in February, of phase II of the new Royal Bournemouth hospital. Phase I, opened in 1989, provided general medical and general surgical beds and enabled the centralisation of vascular surgery and urology services to take place at a later date.
Phase II will include a 24-hour accident and emergency service which will be operational by August 1992 and will be additional to the similar service already provided at Poole. This will mean that East Dorset will have two 24 -hour accident and emergency services. Increased orthopaedic services together with the existing ortho-paedic in-patient facilities transferred from Christchurch hospital and a trauma service for fractured necks will all improve the local services for elderly people.
The 24-hour accident and emergency service and the introduction of a low- risk obstetric unit which the authority plan to develop into the first midwife-led maternity unit in the United Kingdom have both been included as a direct response to consumer representations. The extra capacity at the Royal Bournemouth hospital is allowing the authority to offer many added benefits to local residents including reduced waiting times for out- patients. Since April 1991, the total number of people in East Dorset waiting for more than one year for in-patient treatment has reduced by over 50 per cent. and by 31 March 1992 is expected to represent only 6 per cent. of all people waiting.
The number of people awaiting treatment for more than two years has reduced by 90 per cent. and there will be no people waiting for more than two years by the end of March 1992.
Column 386
Ambulance Services
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of the merger of the Mersey ambulance service and the Cheshire county ambulance service.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Donald Wilson, the chairman of the Mersey regional health authority, for details.
Bio Products Laboratory
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what activities of the Bio Products Laboratory were deemed to be activities as defined under schedule 8 to the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 in relation to the transitional arrangements on licensing applying to loss of Crown immunity status on 1 April 1991.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Activities related to the sale, supply, manufacture and wholesale dealing of medicinal products which are licensable activities by virtue of sections 7 and 8 of the Medicines Act 1968.
Nurses, Cheshire
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of nurses employed in the county of Cheshire ; and if he will give the totals for 1970, 1980 and 1990.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is available only for health service regions and districts.
Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the criteria by which a company is assessed for inclusion within the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The pharmaceutical price regulation scheme is a voluntary agreement between the Health Departments and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical industry. It is intended to apply to all companies supplying national health service medicines which are prescribed by medical or dental practitioners. The term "national health service medicines" refers to any human pharmaceutical product which is marketed under a specific brand name. The agreement therefore does not cover pharmaceutical products which are sold under their generic title, nor packs which are predominately intended for sale to the public without a prescription.
GP Budget Holders
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives to hospitals on the procedures concerning the relative priority with which patients of budget holders may be seen compared to non- budget holder patients ; what representations he has received on this matter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Following representations made by the BMA we discussed this issue with the Joint Consultants Committee ; and issued joint guidance to hospital consultants in June 1991 in executive letter (91)84. The guidance clearly states that
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"provider units will not offer contracts to one purchaser which would disadvantage the patients of another purchaser".Copies of the executive letter are available in the Library.
Cosmetic Treatment
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether female transplant patients may receive free cosmetic treatment from the national health service for such things as hair growth caused by anti- rejection pills.
Mr. Dorrell : The treatment of such a patient under the NHS is a matter for the clinical judgment of the doctor responsible for her care.
Rehabilitation Medicine Consultants
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of consultants in rehabilitation medicine in post at 31 December 1990, 31 March 1991, 30 June 1991, 30 September 1991 and 31 December 1991, respectively.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information on the number of hospital medical staff is collected on an annual basis by census as at 30 September each year. The latest information available is for 30 September 1990 and this shows that there were 11 consultants in rehabilitation medicine in England at that date.
Census data for 30 September 1991 will be available later this year, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.
Hospital Appointments
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the number of people within Trent regional health authority who failed to attend national health service hospitals after being granted firm appointments in the year to March 1991 ; and how many of these obtained private treatment instead.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary gave my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest (Sir Patrick McNair-Wilson) on 19 November 1991 at column 130. The total number of patients on the waiting list at 31 March 1991 in Trent for ordinary or day case admission who had deferred admission at their own request was 4,417. Information is not collected centrally on numbers who failed to attend for in-patient and day case treatment or who obtained private treatment instead.
Meningitis
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on information campaigns about meningitis in each of the last three years ; and what plans his Department has for future campaigns.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Health education campaigns are conducted on behalf of the Government by the Health Education Authority which is funded by the Department. During the coming year, as part of its promotion of immunisation, the HEA will provide information on the new vaccine to be introduced against haemophilus influenzae b, a major cause of bacterial meningitis in young children ; it is not possible to break-down this
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expenditure. In addition the Department makes an annual grant of £15,000 per annum to the National Meningitis Trust to help fund its information campaigns for both members of the public and professionals, and the HEA has assisted the trust with production of an information pack for GPs.Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what governmental initiatives have been taken in the last five years as to research into meningitis ; what financial assistance has been given, and to which bodies, to organisations involved either in research into the disease or support to families affected ; and whether such assistance is able to be separately identified as to amounts spent on research, administration and salaries of those working for organisations receiving Government support.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant-in-aid from the Department of Education and Science. Figures for the last five years for MRC research into meningitis are as follows :
|£
------------------------
1986-87 |144,057
1987-88 |215,603
1988-89 |160,467
1989-90 |339,091
1990-91 |460,000
MRC research on meningitis funded in 1990-91 was as follows : Direct support (through MRC's own Units) :
Clinical Research Centre, Division of Communicable Diseases, Harrow, Middlesex.
Pathogenesis and immunobiology of meningococcal infection. MRC Laboratories, The Gambia, West Africa.
Serological studies with Haemophilus Influenzae Type B polysaccharide/protein conjugate vaccines.
Indirect support (through grants to University departments) : Professor E. R. Moxon, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford.
Molecular basis of Haemophilus Influenzae pathogenicity. Dr. G. J. Boulnois, Department of Microbiology, University of Leicester.
Genetic engineering of Polysaccharides.
Professor T. H. Pennington, Department of Bacteriology, University of Aberdeen.
Studies on the population genetics and typing of Neisseria Meningitidis.
Dr. J. E. Heckels, Department of Microbiology, University of Southampton.
Immunobiology of meningococcal outer membrane proteins. Dr. D. M. Jones, Manchester Public Health Laboratory, Public Health Laboratory Service Board, London.
To investigate Neisseria Meningitidis surface antigens for induction of protective antibody after disease/carriage.
Dr. J. J. McFadden, Department of Microbiology, University of Surrey, Guildford.
DNA probes to study epidemiology and virulence of Neisseria Meningitidis infections.
Dr. B. G. Spratt, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton.
Molecular basis and molecular epidemiology of the emergence of penicillin resistance in Neisseria Meningitidis.
Dr. Rosalyn A. Davies, Department of Neuro-otology, Institute of Neurology, London.
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