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Mr. Archie Hamilton : At 1 September 1992 there were three. One Navy officer and one Army officer as military attaches and one Army soldier as support staff.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military training Her Majesty's Government currently supply to the Government of Indonesia.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Her Majesty's Government provide training for members of the Indonesian armed forces covering a wide range of military topics, including officer development courses such as staff college, and technical instruction. Details of training provided are confidential between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of Indonesia.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the provisions of the memorandum of understanding signed in September by the United Kingdom and Indonesian Governments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : The two Governments signed a supplement to the existing defence equipment memorandum of
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understanding. This will cover training arrangements in connection with a possible further sale of Hawk aircraft. The supplement will only become valid if a contract for the sale is concluded.Computer Projects
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table setting out for the period since 9 April (a) each tender issued by his Department for projects requiring the supply of (i) computer hardware and (ii) computer software, (b) a description of the services required, (c) the number of companies which were invited to tender, (d) the number of companies which submitted a bid without prior invitation by his Department, (e) which company was awarded the contract, (f) the value of each contract and (g) the length of period over which the contract will run.
Mr. Aitken : The information the hon. Member requests is not held centrally and could not be provided without incurring
disproportionate cost.
Activity Bulletins
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to place regular bulletins on developments and activities in (a) Bosnia and (b) the Gulf, which affect the troops deployed there, in the Library ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Rifkind : I am considering how best to keep the House informed of developments and activities in Bosnia and the Gulf which affect British forces. I will inform the hon. Member of my conclusions.
Cyprus
Dr. Liam Fox : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he intends to reduce the United Kingdom contingent in the United Nations force in Cyprus.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Following consultation with other troop contributors and the United Nations secretariat the Government have decided to reduce the United Kingdom's contribution to the United Nations force in Cyprus by 25 per cent. by the end of this year. This will mean a reduction of about 200 personnel and reflects the improved security situation in Cyprus. The other major troop contributors are also reducing their contributions to UNFICYP and the United Kingdom will continue to make the single largest contribution.
HEALTH
Glaucoma
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will commission research into the variation in the levels of blindness caused by glaucoma in people of different ethnic origins.
Dr. Mawhinney : American research studies have found that Afro- Caribbeans have a higher risk of contracting glaucoma than Caucasians and that the condition occurs earlier. The results of a research study carried out in this country are expected to be published early next year.
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Unemployment
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department will conduct a survey of the health effects on communities where significant unemployment is created by the closure of the main local industrial employer.
Dr. Mawhinney : The effect of unemployment on health has already been well documented.
Prescription Charges
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing the change in prescription charges in each year since 1976 in cash and real terms.
Dr. Mawhinney : The requested information is in the table. Only one in five prescribed items dispensed in the national health service now attracts a charge at the point of dispensing, compared with one in three in 1979. In 1991, over 100 million more items were dispensed free of charge than in 1979. Although the prescription charge has increased, it continues to represent less than half the average total cost of a prescribed item to the national health service.
Prescription charge increases 1 April 1976 to 1 April 1992, in cash
and real terms
Date |Prescription charges|Cash change £ |Per cent. |Per cent. change
|£ |change/cash |real terms
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 April 1976 |0.20 |- |- |-
1 April 1977 |0.20 |- |- |-12.0
1 April 1978 |0.20 |- |- |-9.8
16 July 1979 |0.45 |0.25 |125.0 |92.8
1 April 1980 |0.70 |0.25 |55.6 |31.5
1 December 1980 |1.00 |0.30 |42.9 |42.9
1 April 1981 |1.00 |- |- |-8.8
1 April 1982 |1.30 |0.30 |30.0 |21.4
1 April 1983 |1.40 |0.10 |7.7 |2.9
1 April 1984 |1.60 |0.20 |14.3 |8.8
1 April 1985 |2.00 |0.40 |25.0 |18.5
1 April 1986 |2.20 |0.20 |10.0 |6.5
1 April 1987 |2.40 |0.20 |9.1 |3.5
1 April 1988 |2.60 |0.20 |8.3 |1.0
1 April 1989 |2.80 |0.20 |7.7 |1.0
1 April 1990 |3.05 |0.25 |8.9 |0.7
1 April 1991 |3.40 |0.35 |11.5 |4.2
1 April 1992 |3.75 |0.35 |10.3 |5.5
Social Work
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the statutory responsibilities of the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work for training workers to meet the social rehabilitation needs of visually impaired people ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : Under section 10 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work has a responsibility to promote training in relevant social work. This responsibility includes promoting training in social work with visually impaired people.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in discussions with the
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Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work to consider how deficiencies in training of workers with visually impaired people in the social care field can be improved.Mr. Yeo : Officials will be meeting shortly with the training agencies in the visual impairment field together with representatives of the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work and the Local Government Management Board in order to discuss how qualifications for workers with visually impaired people can be integrated into the emerging continuum of qualifications at vocational, professional and post-qualifying levels.
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NHS Staff
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) consultants, (b) other medical staff, (c) nurses, (d) ancillary staff, (e) administrators and (f) accountants were employed within the South East Thames region in each of the years from 1987 to 1992 ; and how many are estimated to be employed in the region in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
Dr. Mawhinney : The manpower statistics available centrally are set out in the table.
Responsibility for manpower planning rests with the regional health authority. The hon. Member may like to write to Mr. Peter Barker, chairman of South East Thames regional health authority, for future manpower plans.
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Manpower Statistics
South East Thames Region
30 September 1987-91
|1987 WTE |1988 WTE |1989 WTE |1990 WTE |1991 WTE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consultants |1,048.0 |1,068.9 |1,097.2 |1,134.2 |<1>1,166.0
Other Medical Staff |1,909.9 |1,967.1 |1,984.4 |2,043.8 |<1>2,031.5
Nursing and Midwifery |29,650 |29,280 |29,350 |29,110 |28,280
Ancillary |9,570 |8,720 |8,310 |8,020 |6,470
Administration and Clerical |9,210 |9,590 |9,760 |10,030 |9,560
<1> Provisional figures
Notes:
1. Medical figures include permanent paid and honorary staff only.
2. Figures for nursing and midwifery exclude agency staff.
Tobacco Advertising
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to propose a European ban on tobacco advertising at the conference of European Community Health Ministers on 13 November.
Waiting Lists
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will initiate a study into the relationship between the numbers waiting on the consultants' waiting list for longer than the maximum time specified under the patients charter and the numbers awaiting their initial out-patient appointment and length of that wait.
Dr. Mawhinney : No. The patients charter requires health authorities to set and publish local guarantees for the length of time people wait for out-patient appointments. The NHS is therefore expected to deliver a balanced programme that progressively reduces the whole waiting experience.
Surgery Costs
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is collected from, held and disseminated to health authorities as (a) purchasers and (b) providers on comparative prices, both on base load and marginal costing principles, for operations in general surgery, and orthopaedic surgery.
Dr. Mawhinney : Extra contractual referral (ECR) tariffs are collected by regional health authorities (RHAs) from providers in their regions. RHAs are responsible for publishing and distributing these tariffs to purchasers
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within their region--including GP fund holders who request them--and to other RHAs, for distribution to their purchasers.Distribution of these tariffs to providers is not specifically required but providers may arrange with their local RHA for access. During the financial year a provider may agree to provide unplanned excess capacity at marginal cost. There is no national vehicle for providers to advertise marginal rates due to this being an in-year agreement. Typically this agreement would be with the local main purchaser or local GP fund holder.
Community Care
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what criteria will be used to determine the allocation of community care funding to local authorities which have not reached agreement by 31 December with health authorities concerning discharge arrangements ; (2) what arrangements have been made to protect the well-being of individuals who will be affected by the withholding of funding for community care when local authorities have not reached agreement by 31 December with health authorities concerning discharge arrangements ;
(3) what plans she has to exclude from the receipt of community care funding any local authority which does not by 31 December have agreements with health authorities concerning discharge arrangements ;
(4) what is her current estimate of the number of local authorities unlikely to have concluded the required discharge arrangements with health authorities by 31 December.
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Mr. Yeo : All authorities should be able to reach the required agreements. Consideration will be given in due course to the action which may be necessary if any authorities fail to do so by 31 December 1992.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates the Government have prepared of the cost of housing provision necessary to meet the requirements of the Government's community care plans ; and whether she will publish these in a form which identifies the scale and timetable of such provision for the respective groups of people in need.
Mr. Baldry : I have been asked to reply. The new community care arrangements will be fully implemented from April 1993. Their impact on housing demand is expected to be gradual and progressive. It will be some time before a full picture of new housing requirements emerges.
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Computer Projects
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table setting out for the period since 9 April (a) each tender issued by her Department for projects requiring the supply of (i) computer hardware and (ii) computer software, (b) a description of the services required, (c) the number of companies which were invited to tender, (d) the number of companies which submitted a bid without prior invitation by her Department, (e) which company was awarded the contract, (f) the value of each contract and (g) the length of period over which the contract will run.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information requested, from 9 April 1992, is shown in the table :
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Number of tenders Description of the Number of companies Number of companies Which company was The value of the The length of the
issued for: services required invited to tender submitting bid awarded the contract contract
without prior contract
invitation
Computer hardware |Computer software |Telecommunications
|equipment
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
None |None |One (1) |A variety of telephone handsets and monitoring units |Three (3) |None |ASCOM Ltd. |£30,000 |Not applicable. The contract was for the "one off" supply of goods
- |- |One (1) |The supply, installation, and maintenance of local area network equipment to Leeds based offices|Fourteen (14) |None |ACT Cablestream Ltd. |£500,000 plus £50,000 pa maintenance for 5 years |5 years
One (1) |One (1) |- |A broad range of IT products including hardware and software |An initial 88 responses to the original OJEC advertisement, but only 13 subsequent proposals |None |Not yet awarded |Not yet decided |2-3 years
Sorrento Maternity Hospital
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to reply to the letter of 3 June and the reminder of 17 August from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak regarding the proposed closure of the Sorrento maternity hospital.
Mr. Sackville : I replied to the hon. Member on 26 October. I regret that, due to an oversight, a reply was not sent sooner.
Employment of Children
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has commissioned into the levels of illegal employment of school age children ; and if she will make a statement.
Radionuclides
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the Radioactive Substances (Hospitals) Exemption Order 1990 prescribes a higher permitted level of megabecquerels per month for radionuclides, excepting Technetium-99, in human excreta than for media other than human excreta.
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Mr. Maclean : I have been asked to reply.
There are two different categories of procedure involved covering, namely :
(a) administration of radiopharmaceuticals to patients who then return to the exempted hospital, after treatment at another hospital, and who therefore pass a proportion of the administered activity to drain at the exempted hospital ; and
(b) the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, and other "in vitro" laboratory uses of radioactive materials on the exempted hospital premises.
From a radioactive waste management point of view, the significance of (b) can be greater than that of (a) , per unit of activity discharged to drain. This is because (b) involves the manipulation of radioactive materials, and because some of the radionuclides used in a pathology laboratory, especially iodine-125, have both a relatively long half-live and a relatively high radiotoxicity compared with most diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals administered to patients.
The order thus aims to ensure that there is adequate provision for patients who return to an exempted hospital, but that any hospital which undertakes radiotherapy work or diagnostic scanning on its premises, or which has substantial pathology laboratories, will not be exempt and will require an authorisation under S.6 of RSA60.
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Regional Health Authority Chairmen
Mrs. Browning : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will announce the appointment of regional health authority chairmen.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [pursuant to her reply, 9 July 1992, c. 335] : I have today invited Sir William Stavely GCB to become chairman of North East Thames regional
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health authority for a term of office beginning on1 January 1993 and ending on 31 July 1995. He will replace Mr. Tim Chessells who has agreed to become chairman of the London implementation group. Sir William is currently chairman of the Royal London NHS Trust. I have invited Mr. Michael Haines to take over the chairmanship of the trust.Column 623
SOCIAL SECURITY
Family Credit
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the current level of expenditure on family credit on families whose main earner is in an occupation covered by one of the wages councils, by (a) all families and (b) couples where the main earner is (i) male, (ii) female and (iii) single person families.
Mr. Burt : Information is not available in the form requested. An analysis of family credit recipients, by the occupation of the main earner, is contained in table A1.05 of "Social Security Statistics 1991", a copy of which is in the Library.
Executive Agencies
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list, for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the chief executive of each executive agency for which he is responsible.
Mr. Scott : The following papers have been published in the last 12 months by the chief executives of the Department of Social Security's executive agencies. In addition, the Department publishes a wide range of explanatory leaflets on matters such as individual social security benefits.
Benefits Agency
Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Payments Guide
Social Fund Administration Guide
Social Fund Officer's Guide, Volume 1
Social Fund Officer's Guide, Volume 2
Cold Weather Payments Handbook
Addendum to Social Fund Officer's Guide
Social Fund Officer's Guide, Amendment 1
Mortgage Interest Direct Handbook
Income Support for 16-17 Year Olds Handbook
Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Payments Guide, Amendment 1 Social Fund Administration Guide, Amendment 1
Annual Report of the Pensions Ombudsman 1991-92
Homeless Customers Hostels Residential Care and Nursing Homes Income Support Uprating Handbook
Social Fund Officer's Guide, Amendment 2
The Customer Charter
The Benefits Agency National Customer Survey
Benefits Agency Service Delivery--A Discussion Paper--One Stop Benefits Agency Business Plan 1992-93
The Benefits Agency--A Short Guide for Members of Parliament Introduction to DLA (Disability Living Allowance)
Introduction to DWA (Disability Working Allowance)
Resettlement Agency
Business Plan 1992-93
Annual Report and Accounts 1991-92
Standards of Service under the Citizens Charter (in poster form) Contributions Agency
Contributions Agency Business Plan 1992-93
Information Technology Service Agency (ITSA)
The ITSA 1990-91 Annual Report and Accounts (October 1991) The ITSA 1992-93 Annual Business Plan (June 1992)
The ITSA 1991-92 Annual Report and Accounts (July 1992)
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Children Come First"
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the organisations and individuals who responded to the Government's White Paper, "Children Come First."
Mr. Burt : Listed are the organisations that responded to the White Paper "Children Come First". In addition, comments were received from some 100 private individuals and 85 members.
Association of County Court and District Registrars
Association of Metropolitan Authorities
Barnado's
Basidon Council
Building Societies Association
British Bankers Association
British Agencies/Adoption and Fostering
Bradford University (Department of Applied Social Studies) Bristol University
British Computer Society
Campaign for Justice in Divorce
Campaign for Work
Catholic Family Care Society (Northern Ireland)
Chelmsford Women's Aid
Chief Adjudication Officer : Social Security Legislation Child Poverty Action Group
Children's Legal Centre
Children and Lone Parent Centre (Plymouth)
Church Action on Poverty
Citizens Advice Bureau (Scotland)
Confederation of British Industry (Northern Ireland)
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Council of Her Majesty's Circuit Judges
County Councils Women's Forum
Department of Economic Development (Northern Ireland)
Disability Alliance
Dudley Law Centre
Gingerbread
Gingerbread (Scotland)
Families Need Fathers
Family Charter Campaign
Family Law Bar Association
Family Welfare Association
Forum of Private Businesses
Hammersmith Unemployed Workers Group
Hillingdon Women's Centre
Justices' Clerks' Society
Lambeth TUC Unemployed Branch
Law Society
Legal Action Group
London Boroughs Association
Magistrates Association
Mencap
Moorpark Lone Parent Group
National Association of Citizens Advice Bureau
National Association of Welsh Medium Nursery Schools & Playgroups National Childrens Home
National Commission of Women in Great Britain
National Council for One Parent Families
National Council of Women of Great Britain
Newcastle University
North East Money Advice Centre
Northern Ireland Resident Magistrates Association
Northern Ireland Family Law Association
North Yorkshire Welfare Benefits Unit
Norwich City Council
One Plus One Parent Families Strathclyde
One Parent Families York
Oxfordshire Welfare Rights
Pay Day
Payroll Alliance
Portsmouth Women's Aid Support Group
Principal Registry of Family Division
Save the Children
Scottish Council for Single Parents
Scottish Family Conciliation Service
Scottish Law Commission
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