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Income Support
Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by region, and for Great Britain as a whole, shown separately for male and female, how many 16 and 17-year-olds for each month since January 1992 have made applications for income support on the ground of extreme hardship and how many have been granted or refused ; if he will give the information he has about the grounds on which applications were turned down ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 21 May at columns 238-39. Such information as is available after March 1992 is in the tables. Each application under the severe hardship provisions is considered on its own merits and an award is made where there is a risk of hardship. The figures confirm that our policy of helping those at risk is working effectively.
|Total |Successful|Refused
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland
1992
April |1,988 |1,669 |319
May |1,905 |1,552 |353
June |2,157 |1,722 |435
July |2,158 |1,716 |442
August |2,921 |1,664 |357
September |1,936 |1,539 |397
North Eastern
1992
April |1,292 |1,020 |272
May |1,222 |983 |239
June |1,404 |1,099 |305
July |1,495 |1,224 |271
August |1,488 |1,230 |258
September |1,413 |1,123 |290
North Western
1992
April |1,082 |918 |164
May |1,132 |942 |190
June |1,265 |1,045 |220
July |1,429 |1,181 |248
August |1,289 |1,093 |196
September |1,260 |1,038 |222
Midlands
1992
April |1,093 |888 |205
May |1,088 |909 |179
June |1,126 |896 |230
July |1,312 |1,086 |226
August |1,240 |1,032 |208
September |1,269 |1,020 |249
Wales and South Western
1992
April |1,000 |848 |152
May |954 |784 |170
June |1,077 |910 |167
July |1,177 |982 |195
August |1,141 |946 |195
September |1,087 |905 |182
London North
1992
April |877 |730 |147
May |824 |698 |126
June |991 |844 |147
July |1,104 |911 |193
August |1,029 |865 |164
September |1,019 |851 |168
London South
1992
April |888 |708 |180
May |901 |749 |152
June |974 |790 |184
July |1,148 |955 |193
August |1,035 |851 |184
September |1,044 |862 |182
Great Britain
1992
April |8,221 |6,781 |1,440
May |8,041 |6,627 |1,414
June |8,996 |7,308 |1,688
July |9,846 |8,075 |1,771
August |9,272 |7,702 |1,570
September |9,042 |7,350 |1,692
Source: Severe Hardship Claims Unit Database.
Maternity Grant
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of maternity grants paid during 1991 in each local authority area.
Mr. Scott : The information is not collected in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost ; but the numbers of maternity payments made by each Benefits Agency district office last year are in the table.
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District |Payments -------------------------------------------------- Bankside |900 Barking and Havering |1,132 Barnet |794 Barnsley |997 Bedfordshire |1,700 Berkshire |1,750 Birmingham Chamberlain |1,689 Birmingham Heartlands |1,569 Birmingham North West |1,602 Birmingham South East |1,348 Birmingham South West |1,430 Blackburn and Accrington |1,567 Blackpool |1,083 Bolton |1,668 Bradford |2,627 Bristol, Severnside |1,560 Brunel |1,305 Buckinghamshire |1,635 Burnley/Pendle/Rossendale |1,297 Cambridgeshire |1,676 Canterbury and Thanet |980 Central Derbyshire |1,216 Channel |942 Cheshire East |892 Cheshire North West and Central |1,742 City East |1,402 Clyde Coast and Cowal |581 Coatbridge |712 Cornwall |1,573 Coventry |1,645 Cumbria North |968 Cynon Merthyhr Rhymnney Valley |1,463 Derbyshire North |731 Derbyshire South |1,169 Doncaster |1,362 Dorset |1,563 Durham North |1,640 Durham South |1,319 East Lowlands |1,322 East Sussex |1,014 Essex South East |1,078 Essex South West |1,648 Euston |2,180 Exeter and North Devon |1,204 Fife |1,232 Forth Valley |1,011 Fulham |2,091 Glamorgan South |2,160 Glasgow South West |912 Glasgow Anniesland |615 Glasgow City |562 Glasgow Laurieston |1,192 Gloucester |1,422 Grampian and Shetland |893 Gwent North and Brecon |1,057 Gwyneddigion |1,012 Hackney and Islington |2,055 Halifax |1,468 Hampshire North |1,238 Harrow and Hillingdon |912 Hereford and Worcester |1,553 Highlands and Islands |1,013 Hordan House, Wirral |1,910 Hounslow and Kingston |1,268 Hull East |2,383 Irvine |1,015 Kent North |2,049 Kirklees |1,782 Knowsley |1,536 Lancaster |1,021 Lea-Roding |1,862 Leaside |1,977 Leeds North |1,291 Leeds South |1,895 Leicester South |1,687 Leicestershire North |1,316 Lewisham and Brixton |1,873 Lincolnshire East |1,172 Liverpool Central |889 Liverpool North |1,170 Liverpool South |1,338 Lomond and Argyll |635 London Central |295 London Ealing |1,727 London Newham |1,862 Lothian Central |717 Lothian West |1,017 Manchester Central |1,338 Manchester North |801 Mid Wales and Maelor |906 Motherwell |1,051 Neasden |1,270 Newcastle upon Tyne |1,825 North and East Herts |905 North Essex |1,231 North Staffs |1,0927 North Tees |1,544 North Tyneside |717 North Wales Coast |1,134 North Yorkshire |1,075 Northamptonshire |1,854 Northumberland |907 Norwich |1,495 Nottinghamshire East |1,376 Nottinghamshire North |1,776 Nottinghamshire West |1,673 Ogwr Afan Nedd |1,086 Oldham |1,797 Oxfordshire |1,222 Paisley |853 Preston |1,449 Rotherham South |1,809 South East Hampshire and Wight |1,860 Salford |1,236 Sandwell |1,818 Sefton |1,346 Sheffield East |1,504 Sheffield West |1,106 Shettleston |1,204 Shropshire |1,458 Solent and Forest |1,836 Somerset |1,269 South Cheshire |1,702 South Devon |2,171 South Downs |1,025 South Gwent and Islwyn |1,205 South Humberside |1,588 South Manchester |1,724 South Tees |1,953 South West Lancashire |1,469 South West Thames |1,631 Springburn |989 Staffordshire Central |1,278 Stockport |991 Suffolk |1,442 Surrey Downs |1,060 Surrey North |1,785 South West Scotland |1,099 Swansea |1,184 Taff Rhondda |796 Tameside |1,092 Tayside |1,470 Thameside |1,638 Tyneside South |1,733 Wakefield |1,535 Wales West |1,139 Walsall |1,536 Warwickshire |1,193 Wearside |2,032 West Hertfordshire |872 West Kent |1,156 West Lincolnshire |1,329 West Pennine |1,879 West Sussex |1,463 Wigan and Leigh |1,310 Wiltshire |1,556 Wolverhampton |1,709 Worcestershire North |1,536 Yorkshire East |850
Diabetes
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will introduce legislation which would grant an additional monetary allowance to senior citizens suffering from diabetes to allow them to purchase sugar-free substances ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : We have no plans to do so.
EDUCATION
Fact-finding Visits
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list for the last 12 months, the fact-finding visits the chief executive of the Teachers' Pensions Agency has made ; what were her findings ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The Teachers' Pensions Agency was established on 1 April 1992. To date, the chief executive has not undertaken any fact-finding visits.
Disabled Children
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement outlining the arrangements for providing specialist equipment for disabled children integrated into mainstream grant-maintained schools.
Mr. Forth : Any local education authority which maintains a statement of special educational needs for a pupil for whom it is responsible has a legal obligation to make the necessary special education provision. If a disabled pupil, who attends a grant-maintained school, requires specialist equipment as specified in section III of the pupil's statement, then the local education authority must provide that equipment.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Pit Closures
Mr. Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the net effect on the public sector borrowing requirement of the pit closure programme.
Mr. Portillo : Given the uncertainties at this stage, it is not possible to calculate the effect.
Manufactures
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the Treasury's forecast of the increase in the volume of production, imports and exports of manufactures in each of the next five years as a result of the fall in interest rates and the exchange rate since August.
Mr. Portillo : The Industry Act forecast, to be published at the time of the autumn statement, will contain forecasts
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of GDP, manufacturing output, imports and exports over the period to the end of 1993. This will take account of all relevant factors, including recent changes in interest and exchange rates. It is not customary to publish forecasts for these items over the longer term.Tax Allowances
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the percentage increase in personal income tax allowances since indexation began ; and what is the percentage increase in the retail prices index over the same period.
Mr. Dorrell : The provisions under which income tax allowances are indexed by reference to movements in the retail prices index unless Parliament determines otherwise have applied to changes in allowance levels from 1977-78. In 1992-93 the personal allowance is 265 per cent. higher than the equivalent allowance in 1977-78 and the retail prices index is forecast to be 197 per cent. higher.
Economy
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish an estimate, based on the Treasury model of the economy, of the level of interest rates and the weighted average exchange rate required to enable the economy to return to full employment at a high and sustainable rate of growth.
Mr. Portillo : It has not, since 1978, been the practice to provide results from the Treasury model in response to parliamentary questions ; but the hon. Member will be aware that the model is available for Members' use through the Library of the House.
Unemployment
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the minimum rate of unemployment for adult men recognised by the Government as being consistent with full employment at a high and sustainable rate of growth.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 29 October 1992] : Many factors influence the rate of unemployment consistent with non-inflationary growth, and that unemployment rate cannot be estimated precisely.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Asylum
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 October, Official Report, columns 253-54, what is the latest monthly figure for the number of asylum applicants this year ; and what was the comparable number for the same months in 1991.
Mr. Charles Wardle : In the period January to September 1992 a total of 16,170 asylum applications, excluding dependants, were received. The total for the corresponding months in 1991 was 34,460.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the total number of applications for asylum received for each month since 1987 (a) in list form and (b) as a graph.
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Mr. Charles Wardle [holding answer 26 October 1992] : Information is available in tabular form. As the Official Report is unable to print information in graphical form, a copy of the corresponding graph will be placed in the Library of the House.
Average monthly |Number
totals
------------------------------------------------
1987 |355
1988 |335
1989 |970
1990 |1,835
1991 |3,735
1992<1> |1,795
Monthly totals
1991
January |4,455
February |3,445
March |3,885
April |5,275
May |3,805
June |3,000
July |3,725
August |3,350
September |3,525
October |4,375
November |3,790
December |2,210
1992
January |2,165
February |1,420
March |1,595
April |1,440
May |1,370
June |1,615
July |2,180
August |1,790
September |2,590
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 October, Official Report, columns 255-56, how many asylum claims have been rejected under paragraph 101 of the immigration rules each month since December 1991 expressed as a number of ejections and as a percentage of total claims decided in that month.
Mr. Charles Wardle : [holding answer 26 October 1992] : The information requested is given in the table.
Refusals<1><2> under Paragraph 101 of the Immigration Rules of
applications for asylum in the United Kingdom, excluding
dependants, and such refusals as a percentage<1> of total decisions on
asylum applications, December 1991 to September 1992
|Refusals under |Refusals under
|paragraph 101 of |paragraph 101 of
|Immigration Rules |Immigration Rules
|as percentage of
|total decisions on
|asylum applications
|Per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 1991 |785 |58
January 1992 |1,210 |61
February 1992 |1,120 |61
March 1992 |1,615 |65
April 1992 |935 |57
May 1992 |735 |49
June 1992 |1,025 |49
July 1992 |1,010 |32
August 1992 |840 |28
September 1992 |985 |35
<1> Figures rounded to the nearest 5, percentages rounded to the nearest whole
per cent.
<2> Refusals do not directly relate to applications made in the same month.
Data Protection
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the proposals from the European Commission with respect to a data protection directive are of the kind that will be subject to subsidiarity arrangements ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The principle of subsidiarity is defined in article 3b of the treaty on European union, when that treaty comes into force it will apply to all proposals for Community legislation. The main objective of the data protection directive is to ensure free flow of personal data across the internal frontiers of the Community. The Government accept that a prerequisite for this free flow is harmonisation of minimum essential data protection requirements, and consider that the 1981 Council of Europe convention on data processing provides such requirements.
We considered that the procedural requirements in the Commission's original proposals were matters best left to national authorities to resolve. We are now considering how far the Commission's amended proposals meet this objection.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to satisfy himself that the Data Protection Registrar has sufficient funds to carry out his functions ; and what response he intends to make to the comments made by the registrar in his annual report on the financing of his office.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Government determine the resources which should be made available to the registrar in the light of the statutory responsibilities laid upon him, the registrar's own assessment of what he needs to discharge those duties and overall public expenditure constraints.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will summarise his main objections to the revised proposals from the Commission with respect to a data protection directive ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Commission's revised proposals have only just been released. The Government will now be considering them in consultation with all the interest groups likely to be affected. The Government's policy, in discussions with their Community partners, will continue to be to ensure that it strikes a proper balance between the interests of data users, data subjects and others.
Green Issues
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants have been allocated new or additional responsibilities to deal with the management and development of green issues ; and what additional allocation of resources has been made to support programmes related to green issues in his Department.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Environmental policies are closely integrated into the day-to-day operations of my
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Department and all staff are expected to take due account of them in the course of their work. Environmental policies have generally been pursued within existing resources and in most cases it is not possible separately to identify the resources devoted to them. The following elements are however separately identifiable : (i) expenditure on energy efficiency measures for the prison estate amounting to £1.517 million in 1991-92 ; (ii) the Department's energy management group, which has been in existence since 1981 and comprises 5.3 staff ; and (iii) expenditure of some £50,000 during 1992-93 on the fitting of power factor correctors, automatic lighting controls, water meters and automatic VDU controls in Home Office buildings.Crime Statistics
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will establish ways of detecting changes in the proportions of people at different ages of involvement in serious crime.
Column 930
Mr. Jack : Changes in the relative involvement in crime of persons of different ages are measured centrally for England and Wales by changes in the number of persons found guilty at magistrates courts or the Crown court or cautioned by the police. Chapter 5 of the 1990 issue of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" (Cm 1935) contains information on these known offenders analysed by age, sex and offence.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of those cautioned in each of the 1985 and 1988 samples in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/92 entitled the criminal histories of those cautioned in 1985 and 1988 who had been cautioned previously, had been cautioned (a) on one occasion in the past, (b) on two occasions, (c) on three occasions, (d) on four occasions, or (e) on five or more occasions.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 19 October 1992] : The information requested is in the tables. As estimates for all those cautioned, the figures in table 2 are liable to some sampling error.
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Table 2
Percentage of persons cautioned in 1985 and 1988 samples by previous cautioning history
Year |0 |1 |2 |3 |4 |5+ |Total (=100 per
|cent.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |87 |11 |2 |<1> |<1> |<1> |2,734
1988 |85 |12 |3 |1 |<1> |<1> |2,950
<1> Is less than 0.5 per cent.
Table 2
Percentage of persons cautioned in 1985 and 1988 samples by previous cautioning history
Year |0 |1 |2 |3 |4 |5+ |Total (=100 per
|cent.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |87 |11 |2 |<1> |<1> |<1> |2,734
1988 |85 |12 |3 |1 |<1> |<1> |2,950
<1> Is less than 0.5 per cent.
Electoral Administration
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the membership of the joint committee looking into electoral administration matters referred to by the Minister of State in his oral answer of 22 October, Oficial Report, column 557, giving the terms of reference and expected time of reporting.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Five working groups of Home Office officials and representatives of returning officers and local authorities will consider different aspects of the electoral process. The remits of the working groups are as follows :
Electoral registration
To examine the scope for changes to the present registration system, including the definition of residence, the role of the qualifying date, the procedures for claims and objections, and to assess the feasibility and resource implications of rolling registration. Absent voting
To consider changes to the absent voting system, including qualification for an absent vote for an indefinite period or at a particular election, and the closing dates for applications. Forms
To consider, in consultation with HMSO, the need for the changes to electoral registration, absent voting and election forms.
Returning Officers' fees and expenses
Column 930
To consider whether changes are required to current categories of expenditure, and whether current levels of fees and allowances are appropriate.Automated vote counting
To explore the practical implications of introducing automated vote counting procedures with a view to conducting a trial at either a parliamentary or local government election. This group might also consider other miscellaneous suggestions about voting procedures. It is expected that the working groups will report back next summer. Membership of the five working groups will be settled shortly and I will write to the hon. Member with the details.
Membership will be drawn from the organisations as follows : Association of District Councils
Association of Metropolitan Authorities
Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland
Association of District Secretaries
Society of Local Authority Chief Executives
Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Scotland)
Scottish Assessors' Association
Association of Electoral Administrators
Parole
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what effect a prisoner's protestation of innocence has on the decision of the parole board ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 931
Mr. Peter Lloyd : When the parole board assesses the suitability of prisoners for early release on licence, the principal concern is the risk of further offending. Protestation of innocence per se does not dictate the outcome of its deliberations.
Hostel Places
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many probation and bail hostel places were available at the latest date available.
Mr. Jack : The number of places currently available in probation- bail and bail hostels is 2,575--653 of these are in bail only hostels and 1,922 in probation-bail hostels.
Criminal Justice Act 1991
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice his Department has given on the practical interpretation of the concept of seriousness as encapsulated in the Criminal Justice Act 1991.
Mr. Jack : The criteria for determining the seriousness of an offence for the purpose of deciding on an appropriate sentence are set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1991. However, it is for the courts alone to interpret the provisions of the Act as they apply to individual cases in the light of all the circumstances of the offence and the offender and any guidance which the Court of Appeal may issue in due course. A substantial programme of training for sentencers on all matters relating to the Act has been provided under the auspices of the Judicial Studies Board.
Sex Offenders
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals who completed sentences for child sex offences are known to have reoffended subsequently in each of the past five years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that this information is not collected in the form requested. Current estimates indicate that 28 per cent. of males released in 1984 from custodial sentences for sexual offences as a whole were reconvicted of a further standard list offence within two years of discharge--table 8(c) of Prison Statistics 1987, Cm 547. A recent survey of adult males released in 1980 from custodial sentences of four years or over for several offences recorded as involving a victim aged under 16 indicates that 30 per cent. were reconvicted within 10 years of discharge of a sexual offence of which half were known to be against a child.
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors the parole board takes into account when deciding to release sex offenders back into the communities where their offences were committed.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The factors which the parole board needs to address, in all cases, when considering suitability for release on licence are the risk to the public ; whether the offender has tackled his offending behaviour ; and whether the resettlement plan will help secure the offender's rehabilitation. The board also needs to take into account, among other things, any risk to the victim and the attitude of the victim and the local community.
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's policy on the
Column 932
proportion of sentence served in prison by persons convicted of sexual offences against children ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Jack : The new arrangements for the release of sentenced prisoners introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 will ensure that, like all other prisoners serving determinate sentences, those sentenced on or after 1 October 1992 for sexual offences against children will serve at least half their sentence in custody and that those serving sentences of four years or more may be required to remain in custody until the two thirds point of sentence. All prisoners will be at risk after release of having their original sentences reactivated if convicted of further imprisonable offences before the end of their original sentences. In addition, all prisoners serving terms of a year or more will be supervised by the probation service up to the three quarters points of their sentence. In addition, some sex offenders will be supervised right until the end of their sentence at the direction of the sentencing judge where this is considered necessary to protect the public.
Common Travel Area
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with European Commission officials concerned with amending current arrangements under the common travel area between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom ; and what proposals have been submitted by the European Commission to appropriate Ministers for amending common travel area arrangements between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Policing Costs
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much it has cost the Metropolitan police in money and police man hours during the past 12 months to (a) police demonstrations, rallies and the Notting Hill carnival and (b) fight terrorism and cope with terrorist activities.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information on public order events could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.
It is not our practice to disclose details of resources devoted to combating terrorism.
Prison Service
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual costs are for providing educational services in Her Majesty's prison service.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 26 October 1992] : The total cost of providing prison education in England and Wales was £32.8 million in the financial year 1990-91--the latest year for which information has been published.
Drink Driving
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish (a) the number of deaths caused by drink driving, (b) the number of convictons for drink driving and (c) the estimated number of occasions when drivers and riders were above the legal limit, for each year since 1979.
Column 933
Mr. Jack : Estimates of fatal casualties in accidents involving illegal alcohol labels in Great Britain are published by the Department of Transport and are as follows :
Year |Number (thousands) --------------------------------------------------------- 1979 |67 1980 |78 1981 |71 1982 |75 1983 |98 1984 |101 1985 |107 1986 |107 1987 |115 1988 |119 1990 |113 <1>1991 |104 <1> Provisional.
The number of convictions for drink driving in England and Wales is as follows:
Table file CW921030.057 not available
Estimates of the number of occasions when drivers and riders were above the legal limit are not amde routinely. Department of Transport roadside surveys carried out in the year 1988, 1989 and 1990 have found consistently that during the peak drinking period- 7pm to 2am- the proportion of drivers of cars and light vans over the legal limit is in the range of 1-1 1/2 per cent.
HEALTH
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will introduce legislation to provide for the continued availability of dietary supplements for British sufferers from myalgic encephalomyelitis ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : There is no generally agreed method of treatment for people with ME. Treatment to alleviate the various symptoms is very much a matter for medical judgment in each case.
Student Loan
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy in respect of the inclusion of a notional student loan in its calculations for full financial assistance to full-time students for dental and other NHS charges.
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on Friday 23 October at column 395.
Column 934
Child Protection
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what implications the conclusions of the Clyde report have for child protection provisions in England and Wales.
Mr. Yeo : We will study the recommendations of the Clyde report and any implications for social services and child care in England will be carefully considered.
Child Psychotherapists
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she is taking to increase the numbers of trained child psychotherapists in the NHS.
Mr. Yeo : The employment and training of child psychotherapists is primarily a mater for health authorities. However, the Department is supporting the Child Psychotheraphy Trust's work to increase the numbers of trained child psychotherapists and to develop a greater understanding of their role. Following a recent meeting with the trust, officials are discussing training arrangements for these staff with regional health authorities.
Live Births
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of live births in each local authority area during 1991.
Mr. Sackville : The number of live births in each local authority area within England and Wales during 1991 has been placed in the Library.
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