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Column 153
Mr. Maclean : Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution (HMIP) controls those processes involving the incineration of waste or sewage sludge which are described in"The Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991 (SI 472) and The Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) (Amendment) Regulations 1991 (SI 614) issued under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. These require each process to be individually authorised and for the best available technologies not entailing excessive cost to be used by the operator to prevent or reduce emissions from the process.To provide guidance on the standards to be applied, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution issues guidance notes to its inspectors relating to the processes it controls. These provide a sound framework within which Inspectors can assess applications for the authorisation of new processes and existing processes. The notes are also publicly available for the benefit of operators and other interested parties.
I recently announced ( Official Report , 21 May, column 197 ), the publication of those notes relating to processes in the waste disposal and recycling sector which includes these three incineration processes.
I will write to the hon. Member about the question of how the standards applied in England and Wales compare with those of the four countries cited.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the incentives currently available to encourage the development of more energy-efficient processes and vehicles by industry.
Mr. Maclean : The energy efficiency office promotes detailed technical and economic advice to industry on energy efficient processes through its best practice. The EEO also supports consultancy help in the management of energy efficiency investments in smaller industrial companies.
Energy efficiency in transport is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport to a question by the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) on 2 June at column 522.
Rents-to-Mortgages Scheme
Mr. O'Hara : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the average value of properties sold to tenants under the pilot rents- to-mortgages schemes in Basildon and Milton Keynes ; what was the average initial payment made by tenants under the schemes ; and what proportion of sales have been flats.
Mr. Baldry : Most of the houses sold in Milton Keynes were worth £40,000 to £50,000 ; in Basildon, most were worth over £50,000. Information on the initial payment made is at present available only for Milton Keynes, where more than half the tenants paid between £15, 000 and £20,000. Four out of the 103 properties sold have been flats.
Column 154
North Tyneside (Urban Programme)
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state for each year since its inception the amount of funding under the urban programme allocated to the North Tyneside area at (a) cash prices and (b) 1991-92 prices.
Mr. Squire : Figures for urban programme allocations to North Tyneside are only available in the Department from 1979-80 when the programme was transferred from the Home Office. The information is as follows :
|c|(a) At cash prices|c| Year |£ million ------------------------------ 1979-80 |1.400 1980-81 |2.749 1981-82 |2.335 1982-83 |2.940 1983-84 |3.437 1984-85 |3.155 1985-86 |3.245 1986-87 |3.605 1987-88 |3.555 1988-89 |3.442 1989-90 |3.400 1990-91 |3.625 1991-92 |3.560 1992-93 |3.371
|c|(b) At 1991-92 prices|c| Year |£ million ------------------------------ 1979-80 |3.255 1980-81 |5.401 1981-82 |4.184 1982-83 |4.918 1983-84 |5.495 1984-85 |4.803 1985-86 |4.682 1986-87 |5.036 1987-88 |4.710 1988-89 |4.255 1989-90 |3.946 1990-91 |3.879 1991-92 |3.560 1992-93 |3.233
Traffic, Greenwich
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action is being taken by his Department to measure the extent of atomospheric pollution attributable to emissions from motor vehicles in the Greenwich area ; and what information is available on this matter.
Mr. Maclean : My Department commissioned a study of nitrogen dioxide levels throughout the United Kingdom using diffusion tubes during 1991. As part of this survey, levels of this pollutant of which the major source is motor traffic were measured in the Greenwich area. The report of this study was published last month by Warren Spring laboratory and is available in the Library of the House.
Black smoke concentrations have been rising over the last few years in the Greenwich area. This increase is thought to be due to increasing particulate emissions from diesel vehicles in the locality.
Column 155
Mineral Planning Authority
Mrs. Peacock : To ask the Secretary of state for the Environment who are the members of the mineral planning authority covering the Kirklees area ; when they were appointed to this authority ; and by whom.
Mr. Baldry : I regret that this information is not held by the Department.
Hunterprint
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what printing contracts the company Hunterprint had, or has outstanding with his Department related to (a) water privatisation and (b) any other matters ; and if he will give the dates and details of the nature and the subject matter of the printed material for each contract.
Mr. Howard [holding answer 5 June 1992] : The company Hunterprint was contracted by my Department, following competitive tender, to print the flotation brochure included in the information pack for the launch of the sale of the water companies of England and Wales in 1989. Some 3 million copies were produced in English and 250,000 copies in Welsh.
No other contracts with this firm are recorded.
Toxic Waste
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent applications his Department has received from the Australian Government supporting the plans of the Australian companies Carpentaria and Brambles, Australia, respectively, to import toxic waste into the United Kingdom from Australia for treatment ; and what response has been made.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 5 June 1992] : The Australian Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment and Territories has written to my Department to seek a bilateral agreement under article 11 of the United Nations Environment Programme Basle convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. This would allow Australia to ship such waste to the United Kingdom for disposal. I have decided not to agree to the request, and we are replying accordingly.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his answer of 2 June, Official Report, columns 369- 70, whether sites of special scientific interest will, in future, be protected from any depradation by agriculture, quarrying or any other activity.
Column 156
Mr. Maclean : [holding answer 9 June 1992] : Development proposals in or near sites of special scientific interest are strictly controlled either through the measures set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended, or the planning system.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each of the branches of the local government finance policy division of his Department (a) the total number of staff, analysed by grade, (b) the total salary costs, (c) the policy responsibilities and (d) the measurements of policy outcomes used to appraise the branch for the purposes of MINIS and the branch's achievements in the most recent MINIS report.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 8 June 1992] : The information is as follows :
POLICY RESPONSIBILITIES--
Finance Local Taxation Division (FLT)
Monitoring and operation of the Community Charge ; monitoring and operation of non-domestic rates, including payments for Valuation Office Agency services and planning for the 1995 non-domestic revaluation ; oversight of Valuation Tribunals ; preparation for Council Tax.
Finance Local Authority Grants Division (FLG)
Annual local government finance settlement ; collection and payment of non- domestic rates and grant ; PES and Vote management ; sponsorship of the Audit Commission ; commutation.
Finance Local Authority Grants and Revenue Division (FLGR) Standard Spending Assessments and Revenue Support Grant. Finance Local Authority Expenditure and Revenues Division (FLER) Local Authority accounting advice ; council tax and community charge setting, precepting, levying, capping and funds.
Finance Local Capital Division (FLC)
Capital allocations to authorities ; monitoring operation of capital finance system ; local authority financial prudence. Finance Local Authority Statistics Division (FLAS)
Collection and analysis of data ; forecasting and briefing. STAFF AND SALARY COSTS--
Staff numbers at 31 March 1992.
Salary costs for year ending 31 March 1992.
Column 155
|G5 |G7 |SEO |HEO |EO |AO |AA |Salary cost
|£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLT |1 |3 |3 | 4.5 |7 |8 |4 |604,000
FLG |1 |3 |- |4 |7 |2 |1 |392,000
FLGR |1 |3 |- |2 |3 |2 |- |248,000
FLER |1 |4 |1 |3 |2 |3 |1 |191,000
FLC |1 |2 |- |3 |1 |3 |1 |224,000
FLAS |1 |5 |3 |4 |8 |10 |1 |598,000
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
For the purposes of MINIS the Directorate's declared objectives and proposed tasks are compared with what has been
achieved during the year, taking into account all relevant factors including the resources used.
Column 157
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the regulations still to be made under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 8 June 1992] : The following regulations arising from the Local Government Finance Act 1992 have still to be made for England :
Appeals
The Council Tax (Alteration of List) Regulations
Valuation Tribunals Regulations
Valuation
The Domestic Property (Definition) Regulations
Tax Setting, Precepting, Levying and Funds
Collection Fund Regulations
Levying Body Regulations
Anticipation of Precepts Regulations
Information for Tax Setting Purposes Regulations
Council Tax Benefit and Transitional Arrangements
Council Tax Benefit Regulations [to be made by the Department of Social Security]
The Council Tax (Reduction Scheme) (England) Regulations Administration and Enforcement
The Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rating (Demand Notices) (England) Regulations
Miscellaneous
Commencement Orders (Consequential Amendments and Repeals) Consequential Amendments, Repeals etc Order
Netting Off Regulations
National Non-Domestic Rate
Duty to consult Ratepayers Regulations
Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Final Adjustments) Regulations Non- Domestic Rating Contributions (England) (Amendment) Regulations
Non-Domestic Rating Interest (Amendment) Regulations
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how the capping criteria for Cheltenham borough council and Gloucester city council for 1992-93 were adjusted to take into account the misallocation of grant to these councils in 1991-92 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what account was taken of boundary changes in fixing grant allocations to local authorities in Gloucestershire for 1991-92 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he will visit Cheltenham to discuss his 1992-93 grant allocation with councillors and other residents' representatives.
Mr. Squire [holding answer 8 June 1992] : The boundary changes affecting Gloucestershire districts occurred too late to be taken into account in 1991-92 standard spending assessments and hence in revenue support grant distribution. Instead, compensating payments were made between the authorities concerned.
Allowance is made for these boundary changes in the 1992-93 SSAs in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraph 12 of the Revenue Support Grant Distribution (Amendment) (No. 2) Report (England), which was approved by the House of Commons on 4 February 1992. In the circumstances, I believe that it would not be appropriate to visit Cheltenham to discuss the 1992-93 RSG distribution.
Column 158
SSAs are central to the capping criteria for 1992-93 ; hence we consider the criteria we have adopted make appropriate allowance for the effect of the boundary changes.Gloucester's total SSA for 1992-93 is 13.1 per cent. higher than for 1991- 92. That of Cheltenham is 16.7 per cent. higher. These increases in large part reflect the boundary changes.
HEALTH
Residential Care
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Government's plans on implementation of the findings of (a) the Howe inquiry and (b) the report by Sir William Utting.
Mr. Yeo : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave her on 5 June at column 670. Implementation of the recommendations in Sir William Utting's report is being coordinated by a group chaired by the Department and including local authority, professional, voluntary sector and other Government Department interests.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on those recommendations of the Howe inquiry which give an emphasis on training ; and what assessment she has made of the inclusion in the diploma in social work course of enhanced training specifically on residential care.
Dr. Mawhinney : We shall be giving careful consideration to all the recommendations of the Howe inquiry which are relevant to our responsibilities.
The Government are strongly committed to improving social work training ; this commitment is embodied in the training strategy for the personal social services which we announced last year. Particularly, we are assisting local authorities to fulfil their responsibilities for training staff through the Department's training support programme, central grant for which has been increased from £24.8 million to £29 million in 1992-93. Approximately 140,000 local authority staff are expected to benefit from training under this programme this year, nearly half of whom work in residential care. Funds have been reserved from the grant this year specifically to boost the output of qualifying training for residential child care staff. Further funds have been provided to the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work to provide grants for qualifying training for heads of voluntary children's homes. The Department has also funded an expert group to look at the content of diploma in social work courses for residential child care staff. This report is expected very shortly.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide extra funds to local authorities to cover extra training for staff working in residential care.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department is already providing extra funds to local authorities for training through the training support programme specific grant. The grant was introduced in 1988-89 at a level of £7 million and has been increased year on year to its current level of £29 million. Approximately half of the 140,000 staff expected to benefit from training under the programme work in residential care.
Column 159
NHS Consultants
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the annual cost of distinction awards paid to national health service consultants in England over the period 1982-1992.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Column 160
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of national health service consultants in each specialty get distinction awards, A , A, B and C ; and of these what proportion do private practice.
Dr. Mawhinney : The distribution of distinction awards for England including special health authorities and Wales by specialty at 31 December 1991, the latest date for which information is available, is set out in the table.
Information is not held centrally on the number of award holders undertaking private practice.
Column 159
|c|Distinction awards: Analysis by type of award, specialty and percentage distribution at 31 December 1991-England and Wales|c|
Eligible Total Award holders Non-award
practitioners A+ A B C holders
|Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent. |Number |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|All specialties: Total|17,182 |100.0 |5,930 |34.5 |194 |1.1 |674 |3.9 |1,526 |8.9 |3,536 |20.6 |11,252
Accident and Emergency |218 |1.3 |44 |20.2 |- |- |3 |1.4 |8 |3.7 |33 |15.1 |174 |79.8
Anaesthetics |2,217 |12.9 |644 |29.0 |23 |1.0 |40 |1.8 |156 |7.0 |425 |19.2 |1,573 |71.0
Cardiology |187 |1.1 |89 |47.6 |4 |2.1 |19 |10.2 |22 |11.8 |44 |23.5 |98 |52.4
Cardio-thoracic surgery |130 |0.8 |61 |46.9 |3 |2.3 |10 |7.7 |21 |16.2 |27 |20.8 |69 |53.1
Clinical neurological physiology |62 |0.4 |21 |33.9 |- |- |2 |3.2 |3 |4.8 |16 |25.8 |41 |66.1
Oral surgery |264 |1.5 |118 |44.7 |3 |1.1 |17 |6.4 |29 |11.0 |69 |26.1 |146 |55.3
Orthodontics |155 |0.9 |53 |34.2 |1 |0.6 |4 |2.6 |11 |7.1 |37 |23.9 |102 |65.8
Restorative dentistry |108 |0.6 |36 |33.3 |1 |0.9 |7 |6.5 |8 |7.4 |20 |18.5 |72 |66.7
Public health dentistry |7 |- |2 |28.6 |- |- |- |- |- |- |2 |28.6 |5 |71.4
Dermatology |253 |1.5 |84 |33.2 |- |- |14 |5.5 |20 |7.9 |50 |19.8 |169 |66.8
Diseases of the chest |116 |0.7 |61 |52.6 |1 |0.9 |7 |6.0 |12 |10.3 |41 |35.3 |55 |47.4
General medicine |1,534 |8.9 |742 |48.4 |28 |1.8 |114 |7.4 |201 |13.1 |399 |26.0 |792 |51.6
General surgery |1,241 |7.2 |566 |45.6 |24 |1.9 |70 |5.6 |149 |12.0 |323 |26.0 |675 |54.4
Genito-urinary medicine |170 |1.0 |34 |20.0 |- |- |4 |2.4 |5 |2.9 |25 |14.7 |136 |80.0
Geriatric medicine |576 |3.4 |130 |22.6 |1 |0.2 |10 |1.7 |26 |4.5 |93 |16.1 |446 |77.4
Infectious diseases |39 |0.2 |18 |46.2 |1 |2.6 |2 |5.1 |3 |7.7 |12 |30.8 |21 |53.8
Mental illness |1,298 |7.6 |371 |28.6 |11 |0.8 |36 |2.8 |93 |7.2 |231 |17.8 |927 |71.4
Child and adolescent psychiatry |370 |2.2 |79 |21.4 |3 |0.8 |4 |1.1 |17 |4.6 |55 |14.9 |291 |78.6
Forensic psychiatry |77 |0.4 |20 |26.0 |1 |1.3 |2 |2.6 |4 |5.2 |13 |16.9 |57 |74.0
Mental handicap |173 |1.0 |29 |16.8 |- |- |4 |2.3 |4 |2.3 |21 |12.1 |144 |83.2
Psychotherapy |102 |0.6 |22 |21.6 |- |- |- |- |8 |7.8 |14 |13.7 |80 |78.4
Neurology |208 |1.2 |107 |51.4 |4 |1.9 |19 |9.1 |39 |18.8 |45 |21.6 |101 |48.6
Neurosurgery |106 |0.6 |62 |58.5 |4 |3.8 |13 |12.3 |24 |22.6 |21 |19.8 |44 |41.5
Nuclear medicine |31 |0.2 |16 |51.6 |1 |3.2 |5 |16.1 |8 |25.8 |2 |6.5 |15 |48.4
Obstetrics and gynaecology |851 |5.0 |328 |38.5 |15 |1.8 |30 |3.5 |72 |8.5 |211 |24.8 |523 |61.5
Occupational medicine |25 |0.1 |3 |12.0 |- |- |- |- |1 |4.0 |2 |8.0 |22 |88.0
Ophthalmology |453 |2.6 |156 |34.4 |3 |0.7 |19 |4.2 |42 |9.3 |92 |20.3 |297 |65.6
Orthopaedic surgery |790 |4.6 |284 |35.9 |8 |1.0 |23 |2.9 |61 |7.7 |192 |24.3 |506 |64.1
Otolaryngology |406 |2.4 |150 |36.9 |1 |0.2 |12 |3.0 |30 |7.4 |107 |26.4 |256 |63.1
Paediatrics |856 |5.0 |307 |35.9 |12 |1.4 |31 |3.6 |84 |9.8 |180 |21.0 |549 |64.1
Paediatric surgery |52 |0.3 |23 |44.2 |- |- |5 |9.6 |12 |23.1 |6 |11.5 |29 |55.8
Pathology: general |8 |- |3 |37.5 |- |- |1 |12.5 |1 |12.5 |1 |12.5 |5 |62.5
Blood transfusion |32 |0.2 |11 |34.4 |1 |3.1 |2 |6.2 |4 |12.5 |4 |12.5 |21 |65.6
Chemical pathology |184 |1.1 |63 |34.2 |3 |1.6 |10 |5.4 |18 |9.8 |32 |17.4 |121 |65.8
Haematology |407 |2.4 |143 |35.1 |3 |0.7 |23 |5.7 |35 |8.6 |82 |20.1 |264 |64.9
Histopathology |645 |3.8 |199 |30.9 |7 |1.1 |22 |3.4 |61 |9.5 |109 |16.9 |446 |69.1
Immunopathology |46 |0.3 |27 |58.7 |2 |4.3 |7 |15.2 |12 |26.1 |6 |13.0 |19 |41.3
Medical microbiology |330 |1.9 |118 |35.8 |3 |0.9 |16 |4.8 |37 |11.2 |62 |18.8 |212 |64.2
Neuro-pathology |41 |0.2 |16 |39.0 |- |- |3 |7.3 |5 |12.2 |8 |19.5 |25 |61.0
PHLS only |32 |0.2 |11 |34.4 |- |- |3 |9.4 |3 |9.4 |5 |15.6 |21 |65.6
Public health medicine |535 |3.1 |157 |29.3 |8 |1.5 |16 |3.0 |41 |7.7 |92 |17.2 |378 |70.7
Plastic surgery |124 |0.7 |43 |34.7 |- |- |4 |3.2 |15 |12.1 |24 |19.4 |81 |65.3
Radiology |1,212 |7.1 |309 |25.5 |9 |0.7 |25 |2.1 |82 |6.8 |193 |15.9 |903 |74.5
Radiotherapy |223 |1.3 |84 |37.7 |4 |1.8 |8 |3.6 |18 |8.1 |54 |24.2 |139 |62.3
Rheumatology and rehabilitation |288 |1.7 |86 |29.9 |1 |0.3 |8 |2.8 |21 |7.3 |56 |19.4 |202 |70.1
Toxic Shock Syndrome
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has on the number of cases over the last five years of tampon-related toxic shock syndrome ; and how many of these have resulted in death.
Mr. Sackville : Statistics from the public health laboratory service indicate that in recent years cases of tampon-related toxic shock syndrome average around 15 per year with one or two deaths for the United Kingdom as a whole.
Column 160
GP Lists
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the average number of patients per general practitioner in the Durham area in 1979 and 1991.
Dr. Mawhinney : At 1 October 1979, the average number of patients on general medical practitioner lists in the Durham family health services authority area was 2,461 and at 1 October 1991, this has reduced by 19 per cent. to 1,989.
Column 161
Community Care
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on community care assessments.
Mr. Yeo : From April 1993, when the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 is fully implemented, local authorities will take lead responsibility for assessing individuals' needs for care and arranging packages of care services whether in a person's own home or in a residential care or nursing home. Assessments and the provision of services will often require contributions from other agencies. Assessment of individuals' care needs underpins our proposals and will ensure services are tailored to need.
Homeopathic Medicines
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the prescription of (a) evening primrose oil and (b) other homeopathic medicines by the national health service.
Dr. Mawhinney : Two evening primrose oil preparations have been granted product licences by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA), and are available on national health service prescripton for the conditions for which they are licensed. A number of other preparations have been considered by the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances, but the committee considers that they have no therapeutic use in the treatment of disease in the community. They are therefore included in the list of products that cannot be prescribed on the national health service.
General practitioners can prescribe any product which they consider necessary for the treatment of their national health service patients provided it is not included in that list, and provided that they are prepared to justify their prescribing, if challenged, to their family health services authority.
National Health Service Consultants
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the annual regional distribution of distinction awards, A , A, B and C, paid to national health service consultants by specialty over the period 1982 to 1992.
Dr. Mawhinney : I am arranging for tables showing the distribution of distinction awards, by grade of award, within each specialty for each region, the special health authorities and Wales, for the years ended 31 Decembmr 1982 to 1991 inclusive to be placed in the Library.
Volunteers
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Health is she has any plans to arrange for volunteers to feed patients who cannot feed themselves ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : We welcome the valuable contribution that volunteers make in helping patients in hospital, including, where appropriate, helping those who cannot feed themselves. The extent to which volunteers are used is essentially a local issue which must be decided by the hospital, patient and volunteer concerned.
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