| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 58
Carl Bridgewater
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long he has had the report from Merseyside police into the Carl Bridgewater murder ; and when he expects to reach a decision regarding the cases of the three men who received life sentences for this offence.
Mr. Jack : The report was received at the end of July and its findings are now being very carefully considered. Once this exercise is completed my right hon. and learned Friend will decide as soon as possible whether there are grounds for any action on his part.
Prevention of Terrorism
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce proposals to amend the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 to take account of the role of the press with a view to freedom of expression and the provision of legitimate information to the public.
Nuisance
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police forces that are currently using the Justices of the Peace Act 1361 instead of the Public Order Act 1986 to combat anyone causing a nuisance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The only extant power from the Justices of the Peace Act 1361 is for magistrates to make binding over orders. Information on the number of orders made under the 1361 Act and on the circumstances leading to the making of those orders is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Probation Officers
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proposals he has to alter the funding arrangements and selection procedures for probation officers ; and what consultations he has had with the National Association of Probation Officers, Central Council for the Training of Social Workers and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals regarding such changes and their timing ;
(2) what representations he has received concerning the training of probation officers.
Mr. Jack : The funding arrangements for students starting courses which would qualify them for entry to the probation service were revised in the summer. This followed a decision by the special commissioners of taxes that Home Office payments to probation students were not
Column 59
taxable, with the consequence that national insurance deductions, too, would not be appropriate. Following this decision we reviewed the grant arrangements and concluded that probation students should now receive their grants in the same way as the majority of social work students, but at a higher rate in view of the additional training involved. The selection procedures have not been altered. Discussions about the new arrangements have taken place with the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work and the National Association of Probation Officers. We have received a number of representations from the association and from individual students.Lord-Lieutenants
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (a) the names and (b) the occupation of each Lord- Lieutenant and Deputy Lord-Lieutenant currently in post in England and Wales ; who is responsible for their nomination ; and what (i) salary and (ii) honoraria, allowance or expenses each receives.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend's responsibilities are limited to the reimbursement of certain expenses to Lord-Lieutenants, and the appointment of Deputy Lieutenants, in England. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, upon whose behalf I am also replying, has similar responsibility in Wales.
Lord-Lieutenants are appointed by the Queen under section 130 of the Reserve Forces Act 1980, on the advice of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
Deputy Lieutenants are appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant under section 133 of the Act, subject to Her Majesty's non-disapprobation, which is signified as appropriate by the Secretary of State for the Home Department or the Secretary of State for Wales. There are some 2,250 Deputy Lieutenants in England and Wales and a list of their names and occupations could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Lord-Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants are unsalaried. Lord-Lieutenants, but not Deputy Lieutenants, may claim from central funds reimbursement of the cost of travel, postage, telephone calls and other non-entertainment expenses incurred in the course of their official duties.
Reginald Dudley and Robert Maynard
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what actions he is taking regarding a referral back to the Court of Appeal of the convictions of Reginald Dudley and Robert Maynard following the fresh evidence submitted by their solicitor at the beginning of July.
Mr. Jack : I am considering the representations and material submitted to me in this case and will come to a decision as soon as I can.
Accidents (Police Vehicles)
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out for each police force in England and Wales for each of the last 10 years, the number of persons killed or injured by police officers when driving motor vehicles ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 60
Mr. Charles Wardle : The information which is available centrally relates to accidents where death or serious injury has arisen in the course of either police pursuits or responses to emergency calls. The information is available only from 1987 and the figures do not show the cause of the accident or the injury.
Information in respect of the Metropolitan police is as follows :
Year |Fatal injury |Fatal injury |Serious injury
|(Civilian) |(Police) |(Civilian and
|Police)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987 |8 |0 |69
1988 |8 |0 |103
1989 |11 |1 |139
1990 |6 |1 |124
1991 |3 |0 |82
For the other police forces in England and Wales information for 1987 is not available by force, but it is as follows.
Fatal injury (Civilian) |Fatal injury (Police) |Serious injury (Civilian)|Serious injury (Police) 16 |8 |152 |141
For those other forces, the information for 1988 to 1991 is set out in the table.
Police vehicle accidents-serious injury (civilian)
Force name |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |5 |2 |6 |5
Bedfordshire |1 |7 |0 |2
Cambridgeshire |1 |1 |1 |0
Cheshire |0 |0 |6 |5
City of London |1 |2 |0 |0
Cleveland |1 |0 |2 |3
Cumbria |3 |3 |9 |2
Derbyshire |0 |0 |0 |0
Devon and Cornwall |1 |5 |5 |0
Dorset |2 |1 |1 |4
Durham |0 |3 |1 |2
Dyfed Powys |0 |0 |0 |0
Essex |3 |4 |5 |1
Gloucestershire |1 |1 |0 |1
Greater Manchester |20 |8 |14 |15
Gwent |0 |0 |0 |0
Hampshire |1 |1 |3 |7
Hertfordshire |0 |0 |1 |5
Humberside |0 |0 |1 |1
Kent |3 |3 |3 |2
Lancashire |3 |2 |0 |7
Leicestershire |0 |1 |0 |0
Lincolnshire |0 |0 |0 |2
Merseyside |31 |24 |19 |26
Norfolk |0 |0 |0 |0
North Wales |3 |4 |2 |1
North Yorkshire |9 |8 |5 |4
Northamptonshire |5 |1 |3 |2
Northumbria |0 |2 |3 |4
Nottinghamshire |1 |2 |0 |3
South Wales |0 |0 |0 |0
South Yorkshire |4 |6 |6 |9
Staffordshire |3 |2 |3 |0
Suffolk |0 |0 |0 |0
Surrey |0 |3 |0 |2
Sussex |0 |0 |2 |5
Thames Valley |0 |2 |7 |6
Warwickshire |0 |0 |0 |1
West Mercia |0 |1 |1 |3
West Midlands |4 |14 |0 |n/a
West Yorkshire |1 |0 |0 |0
Wiltshire |0 |0 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |-------
National summary |107 |113 |109 |130
Police vehicle accidents-serious injury (civilian)
Force name |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |5 |2 |6 |5
Bedfordshire |1 |7 |0 |2
Cambridgeshire |1 |1 |1 |0
Cheshire |0 |0 |6 |5
City of London |1 |2 |0 |0
Cleveland |1 |0 |2 |3
Cumbria |3 |3 |9 |2
Derbyshire |0 |0 |0 |0
Devon and Cornwall |1 |5 |5 |0
Dorset |2 |1 |1 |4
Durham |0 |3 |1 |2
Dyfed Powys |0 |0 |0 |0
Essex |3 |4 |5 |1
Gloucestershire |1 |1 |0 |1
Greater Manchester |20 |8 |14 |15
Gwent |0 |0 |0 |0
Hampshire |1 |1 |3 |7
Hertfordshire |0 |0 |1 |5
Humberside |0 |0 |1 |1
Kent |3 |3 |3 |2
Lancashire |3 |2 |0 |7
Leicestershire |0 |1 |0 |0
Lincolnshire |0 |0 |0 |2
Merseyside |31 |24 |19 |26
Norfolk |0 |0 |0 |0
North Wales |3 |4 |2 |1
North Yorkshire |9 |8 |5 |4
Northamptonshire |5 |1 |3 |2
Northumbria |0 |2 |3 |4
Nottinghamshire |1 |2 |0 |3
South Wales |0 |0 |0 |0
South Yorkshire |4 |6 |6 |9
Staffordshire |3 |2 |3 |0
Suffolk |0 |0 |0 |0
Surrey |0 |3 |0 |2
Sussex |0 |0 |2 |5
Thames Valley |0 |2 |7 |6
Warwickshire |0 |0 |0 |1
West Mercia |0 |1 |1 |3
West Midlands |4 |14 |0 |n/a
West Yorkshire |1 |0 |0 |0
Wiltshire |0 |0 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |-------
National summary |107 |113 |109 |130
Police vehicle accidents-serious injury (civilian)
Force name |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |5 |2 |6 |5
Bedfordshire |1 |7 |0 |2
Cambridgeshire |1 |1 |1 |0
Cheshire |0 |0 |6 |5
City of London |1 |2 |0 |0
Cleveland |1 |0 |2 |3
Cumbria |3 |3 |9 |2
Derbyshire |0 |0 |0 |0
Devon and Cornwall |1 |5 |5 |0
Dorset |2 |1 |1 |4
Durham |0 |3 |1 |2
Dyfed Powys |0 |0 |0 |0
Essex |3 |4 |5 |1
Gloucestershire |1 |1 |0 |1
Greater Manchester |20 |8 |14 |15
Gwent |0 |0 |0 |0
Hampshire |1 |1 |3 |7
Hertfordshire |0 |0 |1 |5
Humberside |0 |0 |1 |1
Kent |3 |3 |3 |2
Lancashire |3 |2 |0 |7
Leicestershire |0 |1 |0 |0
Lincolnshire |0 |0 |0 |2
Merseyside |31 |24 |19 |26
Norfolk |0 |0 |0 |0
North Wales |3 |4 |2 |1
North Yorkshire |9 |8 |5 |4
Northamptonshire |5 |1 |3 |2
Northumbria |0 |2 |3 |4
Nottinghamshire |1 |2 |0 |3
South Wales |0 |0 |0 |0
South Yorkshire |4 |6 |6 |9
Staffordshire |3 |2 |3 |0
Suffolk |0 |0 |0 |0
Surrey |0 |3 |0 |2
Sussex |0 |0 |2 |5
Thames Valley |0 |2 |7 |6
Warwickshire |0 |0 |0 |1
West Mercia |0 |1 |1 |3
West Midlands |4 |14 |0 |n/a
West Yorkshire |1 |0 |0 |0
Wiltshire |0 |0 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |-------
National summary |107 |113 |109 |130
Police vehicle accidents-serious injury (civilian)
Force name |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |5 |2 |6 |5
Bedfordshire |1 |7 |0 |2
Cambridgeshire |1 |1 |1 |0
Cheshire |0 |0 |6 |5
City of London |1 |2 |0 |0
Cleveland |1 |0 |2 |3
Cumbria |3 |3 |9 |2
Derbyshire |0 |0 |0 |0
Devon and Cornwall |1 |5 |5 |0
Dorset |2 |1 |1 |4
Durham |0 |3 |1 |2
Dyfed Powys |0 |0 |0 |0
Essex |3 |4 |5 |1
Gloucestershire |1 |1 |0 |1
Greater Manchester |20 |8 |14 |15
Gwent |0 |0 |0 |0
Hampshire |1 |1 |3 |7
Hertfordshire |0 |0 |1 |5
Humberside |0 |0 |1 |1
Kent |3 |3 |3 |2
Lancashire |3 |2 |0 |7
Leicestershire |0 |1 |0 |0
Lincolnshire |0 |0 |0 |2
Merseyside |31 |24 |19 |26
Norfolk |0 |0 |0 |0
North Wales |3 |4 |2 |1
North Yorkshire |9 |8 |5 |4
Northamptonshire |5 |1 |3 |2
Northumbria |0 |2 |3 |4
Nottinghamshire |1 |2 |0 |3
South Wales |0 |0 |0 |0
South Yorkshire |4 |6 |6 |9
Staffordshire |3 |2 |3 |0
Suffolk |0 |0 |0 |0
Surrey |0 |3 |0 |2
Sussex |0 |0 |2 |5
Thames Valley |0 |2 |7 |6
Warwickshire |0 |0 |0 |1
West Mercia |0 |1 |1 |3
West Midlands |4 |14 |0 |n/a
West Yorkshire |1 |0 |0 |0
Wiltshire |0 |0 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |-------
National summary |107 |113 |109 |130
Drugs
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to make it illegal for anyone to be in possession of the drugs (a) Clenbuterol, (b) Norditropion and (c) Gonadotrophin ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : I have no present plans to do so, but I am willing to support any private Member who brings forward a Bill to make it an offence for an unauthorised person to supply anabolic steroids and related substances to minors. Precise substances to be included would need to be considered.
Attack Deterrents
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reconsider proposals to amend the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 to allow the importation of deterrent products using pepper against attacks.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 provides the powers for Customs to enforce the prohibition of any goods on their importation.
Devices capable of discharging a noxious substance are classed as prohibited weapons under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968. Such weapons may be imported only under the authority of an import licence issued by the Department of Trade and Industry to importers who are authorised by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to possess them. If such weapons are imported without a licence, Customs seize them under section 49(1)(b) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. We consider that spray devices, which are designed to discharge pepper into a person's eyes and face in order temporarily to incapacitate them, are prohibited weapons under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968. They could be used effectively in crime and it would not be in the public interest to permit their importation or possession.
Mr. David Brown
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the detention by immigration officers of Mr. David Brown, of Shepherd's Bush, London, a British citizen leaving for a holiday in New York.
Mr. Charles Wardle : I have written to the hon. Member.
Drug Couriers
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons are currently serving sentences of imprisonment as drug couriers (a) in total and (b) who are foreign nationals either without the right of abode in the United Kingdom, or who would be subject to deportation.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information readily available does not distinguish the different types of drugs offence. On 30 June 1992, the latest date for which information is available, about 3,440 prisoners were held under sentence in prison service establishments in England and Wales for
Column 64
drugs offences, excluding any where drugs offences were not the principal offence. Of these about 1,020 were recorded as foreign nationals and the nationality of a further 140 was not recorded. Information on their liability for deportation on completion of sentence is not recorded centrally.Immigration and Nationality Department
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to bring forward proposals to convert the immigration and nationality department into an agency.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I have no proposals to change the administration of the Immigration and Nationality Department at the moment.
Safer Cities Programme
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the expenditure of his Department (a) on the safe cities programme in the past financial year and (b) on each of the cities included in that programme.
Mr. Jack : The total expenditure under the safer cities programme in the financial year 1991-92 was £7.2 million of which £2.0 million was for the running costs of the 20 projects including staff salaries, accommodation and other administrative expenditure. A total of £5.2 million was paid in grants to support local crime prevention activity, as follows :
|£000's
----------------------------------------
Birmingham |293
Bradford |305
Bristol |406
Coventry |383
Derby<1> |2
Hammersmith and Fulham<1> |0
Hartlepool |309
Hull |291
Islington |366
Leicester<1> |10
Lewisham |413
Middlesbrough<1> |0
Nottingham |307
Rochdale |315
Salford |315
Sunderland |264
Tower Hamlets |367
Wandsworth |274
Wirral |320
Wolverhampton |299
<1> New project established in 1991-92.
There is a lead-in time of several
months before new projects have an
action plan and systems in place to
commence grant making.
Treaties
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish a list of all treaties, European Community documents and accounts that the United Kingdom has agreed to in the past three years.
Mr. Garel-Jones : I have been asked to reply.
Such a list cannot be provided in Hansard without
disproportionate cost. However, major treaties and agreements signed by the European Community and its
Column 65
member states are listed and explained in the six monthly White Papers on "Developments in the European Community", which are deposited in the Library of the House. The most recent was published on 12 October. The Official Journal of the European Communities, which is also placed in the Library of the House, publishes in the "L" series monthly and annual indices listing legislative measures adopted by the Council of Ministers of the European Communities.Prisoners
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were held in police cells in each of the police forces in England and Wales on the most recent date for which figures are available.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : On Friday 16 October 1992, the latest date for which figures are available, the total number of prisoners held in police cells in each force area was as follows :
Force area |Prisoners
-----------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |31
Cheshire |33
Cumbria |2
Derbyshire |10
Gloucestershire |10
Greater Manchester |238
Humberside |21
Lancashire |50
Merseyside |87
North Wales |7
North Yorkshire |11
South Wales |24
South Yorkshire |9
Staffordshire |10
Surrey |3
Sussex |5
West Mercia |38
West Midlands |7
West Yorkshire |10
Wiltshire |10
|-----
Total |616
Nuclear Accidents
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which local authorities and emergency services have been involved in exercises to practise the Government's contingency plan to deal with the effects in the United Kingdom of an overseas nuclear accident ;
(2) what improvements have been made to the original Government contingency plan to deal with the United Kingdom effects of an overseas nuclear accident based on exercises to practise the plan ; (3) how frequently and on what occasions exercises have been carried out to practise the Government's contingency plan to deal with the effects on the United Kingdom of a nuclear accident occurring overseas.
Mr. Maclean : I have been asked to reply.
My Department has lead responsibilities for responding to overseas nuclear accidents, under the United Kingdom's national response plan arrangements.
There have been two exercises : the first, held in October 1988, did not involve local authorities. The second exercise was held in November 1991, and three local authorities were involved : Avon county council, Lancashire county
Column 66
council and West Midlands metropolitan borough council. Emergency services were not involved in either exercise.Lessons learned from these exercises, and from our response to the St. Petersburg incident last March, have resulted in several improvements to internal procedures, but the national response plan itself remains unchanged from the statement made in the House on 30 June 1987, Hansard, columns 65-67, by the then Prime Minister, and subsequently set out in a booklet published by HMSO, entitled "The National Response Plan and Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network (RIMNET), A Statement of Proposals", copies of which are held in the Library.
HEALTH
Psychiatric Care
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local social services authorities do not have social workers approved under the Mental Health Act 1983 available on a 24-hour basis to deal with psychiatric emergencies which require consideration of compulsory admission to hospital.
Mr. Yeo : This information is not held centrally.
Social Workers
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the post-qualifying system of credit accumulation for social workers and probation officers now being piloted by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work.
Mr. Yeo : One of the aims of the Government's training strategy launched in January 1991 was to provide a coherent framework for post qualifying education and training addressing the need to improve service provision.
The Central Council for the Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) post qualifying framework includes the following components :
credit accumulation and transfer (CAT) system linked to academic awards ;
post qualifying and professional development leading to two CCETSW awards.
The requirements made by CCETSW to implement the CAT system were developed in consultation with Council for National Academic Awards and other awarding bodies, and can link to other CAT systems including that of the Open university. When fully established, in-house training, programmes of study at educational institutions, and accreditation of prior learning will all contribute "credits" towards the post-qualifying award and the advanced award.
Mental Health Services
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will make it her policy to provide an impartial assessment of the adequacy of the relevant authorities' provision of social care to meet the needs of severely mentally ill people ;
(2) if she will make a statement on the finding by the social services inspectorate that in some local authorities evidence of any sense of direction in terms of mental health services is lacking.
Mr. Yeo : The care programme approach, implemented as from 1 April 1991, should ensure that mentally ill people
Column 67
living in the community receive appropriate social care. We have asked regional health authorities to monitor its implementation consulting the regional offices of the Department's social services inspectorate as necessary.Under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990, local authorities are required to draw up and publish their community care plans for all client groups, including mentally ill people, after consultation with a range of statutory and independent sector bodies, and users and carers.
The White Paper "Caring for People" stresses the importance of health and local authority co-operation in planning services, and in the White Paper "The Health of the Nation", this is extended to joint purchasing of mental health services. The Ministerial Committee on Health Strategy will oversee development in respect of "Health of the Nation" and periodic reports on progress will be published. We are not aware of a finding by the social services inspectorate that in some local authorities evidence of any sense of direction in terms of mental health services is lacking.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost per week of psychiatric treatment in (a) an acute, (b) a long- stay ward in a specialist psychiatric hospital, (c) similar provision in a local hospital or unit and (d) long-term treatment and care in a high dependency hospital hostel.
Mr. Yeo : The average cost per day in 1990-91 for patients in the mental illness specialty was £55. The average costs for groups within the specialty cannot be identified separately.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the "Health of the Nation" White Paper represents a change in Government policy that the transfer of services away from large psychiatric hospitals to a balanced range of locally based services remains dependent on the actual provision of such services by health and local authorities ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : District health authorities and local authorities, as purchasers of health care, are responsible for securing a comprehensive range of psychiatric services to meet the needs of their resident populations. Health authorities will secure these services by means of contracts with national health service trusts, directly managed units and the independent sector. Local authorities will effect contracts with voluntary and private organisations, as well as providing their own services.
The White Paper "Caring for People" stresses the importance of health and local authority co-operation in planning services, and in the "Health of the Nation" White Paper this is extended to joint purchasing of services.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy that the monitoring of local authority mental health services by the social services inspectorate should be focused on authorities whose residents, or former residents, are short or long-stay patients served by those specialist psychiatric hospitals with plans to close by 1997.
Column 68
Mr. Yeo : No, since confining monitoring of services only to those mentally ill people who have been in-patients would exclude those services to people who have never been admitted to hospital for treatment.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Government plans to replace the services currently provided for many patients in large psychiatric institutions for occupational and recreational therapy, long-term high dependency care, and secure wards for mentally ill offenders and others needing security, including access to fresh air and sheltered gardens or grounds.
Mr. Yeo : Ministers have repeatedly made clear that the closure of obsolete psychiatric institutions should be preceded by the development of adequate alternative facilities which address the health, social and security needs of the re-located people. The responsibility for providing these services rests primarily with district health authorities and local authority social services departments.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Government plans to achieve significant improvement in the health and social functioning of severely mentally ill people.
Mr. Yeo : We are preparing detailed guidance to managers in both the health service and in the personal social services on their part in harnessing together the existing initiatives and new developments generated by the White Paper "Health of the Nation", to achieve demonstrable improvement in mental health services by specific target dates.
Child Psychotherapists
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many child psychotherapists are employed (a) within the National Health Service, (b) within the west midlands region and (c) within north Staffordshire.
Dr. Mawhinney : The most recent figures available are for September 1991 when the following whole time equivalent child psychotherapists were employed :
---------------------------
Great Britain
West Midlands
North Staffordshire
Solvent Abuse
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to report on its proposals for targets for the reduction of solvent abuse.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is considering a broad range of issues relating to the problem of volatile substance abuse, and will report in due course.
Social Workers (Training)
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work to ensure that approved social workers are trained to deal with the violent and potentially violent mentally ill person.
Column 69
Mr. Yeo : The Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work's (CCETSW's) requirements for the training of approved social workers include prescribed training in the management of violent behaviour. CCETSW is currently reviewing its requirements to ensure that they are up-to-date and effective in preparing approved social workers for all aspects of their responsibilities and to emphasise the skills with which they must be equipped through training. The council will be formerly considering the recommendations of the review at its November meeting.
Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial provisions, and how much, she has made within her Department in order to look at the potential for deregulation of each of the regulatory measures for which she has responsibility.
Mr. Sackville : Deregulation considerations form an integral part of the Department's normal working practice in respect of both EC and domestic legislation. It is not possible to provide separate figures for the cost of work on the subject.
Neuroscience
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the names and distances from Westminster of the nearest six hospitals offering neuroscience services.
Mr. Sackville : The information is as follows :
|Miles
--------------------------------------
The Middlesex hospital |2.0
The National hospital |2.5
St. Bartholomews hospital |2.75
The Maudsley hospital |3.5
The Royal London hospital |4.0
The Royal Free hospital |4.5
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she expects decisions following the Tomlinson report to precede major spending on moving neurosciences from Shooters hill to Denmark hill.
Mr. Sackville : The South East Thames regional health authority is committed to centralising neuroscience services in the region and moving to a single site service. Its plans will be reviewed in the light of the recommendations of the Tomlinson enquiry.
Abortions
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what self-help groups are available for survivors of attempted abortions ; and what assistance her department gives to such groups.
Mr. Sackville : The Department of Health does not have information on such self-help groups.
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records are kept of the cost to the NHS of treating a damaged foetus, and subsequent child and adult, in either the physical or psychological sense, where the damage has arisen as a result of a failed abortion attempt.
Column 70
Mr. Sackville : Such information is not collected centrally.
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are issued by her Department to doctors on the counselling of pregnant women who attempt to have the foetus aborted, but where the foetus lives.
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) where an abortion fails and the foetus survives to a live birth, what specific records are kept of the consequent damage to that child arising out of the unsuccessful abortion attempt ;
(2) what records are kept of attempted abortions which fail and where the foetus survives.
Mr. Sackville : Such information would be recorded in the appropriate clinical records of the woman and child concerned.
Dr. Spink : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many attempted abortions in the United Kingdom failed and ended in a live birth for each of the last five years.
| Next Section
| Home Page |