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Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not collected.
Ms. Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration she has given to the introduction of a triple prescription form as a means of preventing wastage of prescribed drugs.
Dr. Mawhinney : This matter is still under consideration.
DHA Mergers
47. Mr. David Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for amalgamation she has received from district health authorities ; and if she will list them.
Mr. Sackville : The Department has received 14 applications from regional health authorities to merge the following district health authorities :
Hull and East Yorkshire district health authorities
Grimsby and Scunthorpe district health authorities
Calderdale, Dewsbury and Huddersfield district health authorities Pontefract and Wakefield district health authorities
West Suffolk and East Suffolk district health authorities North East Essex, Mid Essex and West Essex district health authorities
Bloomsbury and Islington and Hampstead district health authorities Southend, Basildon and Thurrock and Brentwood (part of Barking, Havering and Brentwood) district health authorities
Enfield and Haringey district health authorities
Lewisham and North Southwark, Camberwell and West Lambeth district health authorities
Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings district health authorities Aylesbury Vale, Wycombe and Milton Keynes district health authorities
Kingston and Esher and Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton health authorities
North East Warwickshire and South Warwickshire health authorities.
Correspondence
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to reply to the letter sent to her on 27 August 1992 by the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill, about the killing of Lee and Nicholas Evans.
Mr. Sackville : I wrote to the hon. Member on 12 October 1992.
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Patients (Transport)
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the criteria on which calls received by the London ambulance service are transferred to the patients transport service, after 8 pm Monday to Friday and at weekends ; how many calls were transferred ; how many calls were taken up by patient transport services ; how many calls were of an urgent and non-urgent nature over the past three months ; and over what period such statistics are available.
Mr. Sackville : Only in exceptional circumstances should calls for emergency ambulances be passed to the patient transport service. There are no records held centrally of when this may have occurred in the London ambulance service. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. James Harris, chairman of the London ambulance service, for details.
Electromagnetic Radiation
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies have been undertaken by Her Department into the effects of electromagnetic radiation on the uptake of calcium ions by human cells.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 15 January 1993] : No such studies have been undertaken by the Department, nor any other body so far as we are aware. Studies in the United States involving animal cells have raised the possibility of an effect of electromagnetic radiation on the uptake of calcium ions. However, subsequent work undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board does not suggest an adverse effect. This work has recently been submitted for publication.
Premature Births
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many babies were born prematurely in the United Kingdom in the last two years ; and how many of these (a) contracted advanced retinopathy, (b) received treatment for advanced retinopathy in the United Kingdom, (c) received treatment for advanced retinopathy outside the United Kingdom and (d) responded to such treatment.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 18 January 1993] : This information is not available in the form requested.
Babies who are very premature are prone to a condition known as retinopathy of prematurity, the most severe cases tending to occur in babies weighing less than 1,500 g or of 31 weeks gestation or less. In 1990 in England and Wales, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 4,827 babies of less than 1,500 g who survived the first year of life. The number affected by retinopathy of prematurity is not known, though research studies which have been carried out suggest that more than half of those weighing less than 1,500 g experience some form of retinopathy. In most cases of retinopathy of prematurity, the condition improves without recourse to treatment.
Details of the number of low birthweight babies receiving treatment for severe retinopathy either in this country or overseas are not collected centrally ; nor is information collected centrally on the outcome of such treatment.
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Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to sponsor or conduct research into the cause and treatment of advanced retinopathy in premature babies.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 18 January 1993] : The British Association of Perinatal Medicine and the College of Ophthalmologists have produced joint professional guidelines on the care of retinopathy of prematurity. The Department is currently discussing with the professional bodies concerned what further research studies are required to find out the extent to which this knowledge is being applied in practice.
SCOTLAND
Renfrewshire (Lords-Lieutenant)
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the (a) names, (b) occupations and (c) places of residence of (i) the vice lord-lieutenant and (ii) the deputy lords-lieutenant of the county of Renfrewshire ; if he plans to make any further nominations ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 20 January] : Vice lord-lieutenants and deputy lieutenants are appointed by the lord- lieutenant, subject to Her Majesty's approbation. Current information about their occupations is not held centrally. The names and places of residence of the deputy lieutenants for Renfrewshire are as follows :--
RENFREWSHIRE Vice Lord-Lieutenant
Colonel Sir Houston Shaw Stewart of Greenock and Blackhall Bt MC : Inverkip
Deputy Lieutenants
Commander Henry C. Abram VRD OStJ : Kilmacolm
Lt Col A Leonard Aitkenhead MBE TD : Giffnock
Brigadier John Brown OBE MM TD : Newton Mearns
G W N H Clark Esq : Inverkip
Sir Ian Denholm CBE : Lochwinnoch
Alan R. Devereux Esq CBE : Giffnock
The Right Hon. The Lord Goold CA : Clarkston
Captain William H Hunter CBE : Kilmalcolm
Captain David A Kerr MC TD : Greenock
Mrs. Helen M. Laird OBE PhD : Blanefield
Sir William J Lithgow Bt of Ormsary : Langbank
Wing Commander C Hector MacLean AE : Kilmacolm
Sir Robert A Maclean KBE LLD : Bridge of Weir
The Right Hon. The Lord Maclay : Kilmacolm
George G MacMillan of MacMillan and Knap : Langbank
James R Minto Esq OBE PhD : Kilbarchan
Group Captain George C Pinkerton OBE DFC AE : Houston
Major John G. Stewart TD : Houston
Sir Eric G Yarrow Bt MBE : Kilmacolm
Sir Simpson Stevenson LLD : Gourock
European Forests
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what contribution Her Majesty's Government made to the fourth annual report on Europe's forests by the European Commission.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 20 January 1993] : The 1992 report on forest condition in Europe, which was produced jointly by the Commission of the European Communities and the United Nations economic commission for Europe, was based on the results of forest health
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surveys carried out in 1991 by the forest services of 33 European countries. In Britain, the survey was carried out by the Forestry Commission which submitted the results to the compilers of the report.Hill Livestock
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many producers are entitled to hill livestock compensation allowances in Scotland ; and what proportion of those are located in (a) severely disadvantaged and (b) disadvantaged areas.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : My Department's information relates to the number of producers receiving hill livestock compensatory allowances. Under the 1992 scheme 17,706 producers have received HLCAs of whom 16,927 are situated in severely disadvantaged areas and 779 in the disadvantaged areas.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will investigate the discrepancy between the low farm gate prices available to Scottish hill livestock producers and the high retail prices paid by consumers in the shops.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : I have no plans to do so.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement setting out the reasons for reducing levels of hill livestock compensatory allowances ; and what assistance he will give the Scottish hill livestock farmers to make up the reduction in income they will sustain as a result.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : We took the decision to reduce HLCA sheep rates after a careful examination of the economic circumstances of farmers in the hills and uplands. This showed that the incomes of specialist sheep producers had risen substantially over the last two years. The reduction in HLCAs will be substantially more than offset by increases in the 1992 sheep annual premium.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many employees were engaged by Scottish hill livestock farming businesses over each of the last five years for which figures are available ;
(2) what percentage of the total labour force engaged in hill livestock farming in Scotland lost their jobs over the last five years for which figures are available.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : The number of employees engaged by Scottish hill livestock businesses in each of the last five years is set out in the following table. Information is collected only on levels of employment.
Year |Number of Employees|Percentage Change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1988 |6,880 |- 1989 |6,874 |-0.1 1990 |6,978 |+1.5 1991 |6,830 |-2.1 1992 |6,704 |-1.8 Notes: 1. Employees include family and hired workers, full-time and part-time workers and casual/seasonal workers. Farmers and spouses are excluded. 2. All figures relate to main holdings classified as Less Favoured Areas (LFA) mainly sheep, LFA mainly cattle or LFA cattle and sheep from Scottish June 1992 census data.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish details of state-financed social payments, subsidies and other schemes to provide a supplement to income, within the common agricultural policy available to hill farmers in other EC member states.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : The information is not readily available.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the net farm income figures for Scottish hill livestock farming businesses over the past five years for which figures are available at constant prices shown as a percentage of average full time manual earnings for the same period.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : Information on net farm incomes of hill livestock farm businesses and average full-time manual earnings, in money and real terms, over the last five years is set out in the following table. Net farm income is not a measure of the direct cash earnings that farmers receive and hence is not comparable with average manual earnings.
Net farm income all hill livestock farAverage full-time manual earnings (male)
|Money terms |Deflated by RPI<2>|Money terms |Deflated by RPI<2>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987-88 |8,685 |8,685 |9,344 |9,344
1988-89 |11,029 |10,514 |10,135 |9,662
1989-90 |8,865 |7,838 |10,915 |9,651
1990-91 |8,583 |6,933 |12,048 |9,732
<3>1991-92 |8,207 |6,265 |13,057 |9,967
<1> Average of net farm income for less favoured area (LFA) mainly sheep, LFA mainly cattle and LFA cattle and
sheep farms.
<2> 1987-88=100.
Source: The Scottish Abstract of Statistics.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number and proportion of farmers in Scotland who receive hill livestock compensatory allowance payments.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : Under the 1992 HLCA scheme a total of 17,706 producers received payments. That represents 85 per cent. of occupiers of main holdings in Scotland from the June 1992 agricultural census.
Livestock Producers
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the level of average net farm income available to Scottish livestock producers in 1993 and 1994.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : We will shortly be announcing net farm income figures for 1992-93. The level of net farm incomes in 1993 and 1994 cannot be predicted since it will depend on a number of factors, including market returns in those years.
Land
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what hectarage of land in Scotland is in (a) less-favoured areas, (b) severly disadvantaged areas and (c) disadvantaged areas ; what proportion of land in Scotland each figure represents ; and how many farmers are involved.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 18 January 1993] : Information on agricultural land within the less favoured area is in the following table. The agricultural census collects information on occupiers of main holdings rather than on farmers. Information is not collected separately for severely disadvantaged and disadvantaged areas because of the small number of main holdings in the latter category.
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|Scotland |Within LFA boundary|Within LFA boundary
|as a percentage of
|Scotland
|per cent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Land (hectares) |5,296,038 |4,612,270 |87
Occupiers |20,724 |15,562 |75
Source: June Agricultural Census 1992. (Occupiers of main holdings only).
Road Traffic Accidents
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many people have been charged by Scottish police forces for failing to report and stop at the scene of a road traffic accident, in each of the last five years ; and if he will give a regional breakdown of these figures ;
(2) how many people have been prosecuted for failing to report and stop at the scene of a road traffic accident, in each of the last five years ; and if he will give a regional breakdown of these figures.
Column 480
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 19 January 1993] : The information is not available in the form requested. Table (i) gives the total number of offences under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and corresponding earlier legislation, which were cleared up by Scottish police forces. Table (ii) gives the number of offences under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and corresponding earlier legislation, which were proceeded against. Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 includes both failing to stop or report a road traffic accident and also failing to provide proof of insurance.
Column 481
Failing to stop or report a road traffic accident, or give
information or insurance documents, by region,
Scotland
1987 to 1991
(i) Number of offences cleared-up
|1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Borders |207 |213 |195 |174 |144
Central |290 |346 |334 |334 |295
Dumfries and Galloway |359 |417 |496 |403 |471
Fife |625 |501 |524 |605 |476
Grampian |1,388 |1,277 |1,270 |1,313 |1,286
Highland |370 |340 |305 |310 |380
Lothian |1,879 |1,850 |1,578 |1,718 |2,058
Strathclyde |3,035 |2,932 |2,865 |2,831 |2,794
Tayside |709 |595 |666 |688 |584
Orkney |26 |37 |26 |37 |18
Shetland |40 |32 |43 |33 |34
Western Isles |32 |27 |40 |25 |50
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Scotland |8,960 |8,567 |8,342 |8,471 |8,590
Column 481
(ii) Offences proceeded against by court location
|1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borders |84 |82 |101 |99 |81
Central |241 |251 |244 |238 |229
Dumfries and Galloway |191 |265 |346 |354 |266
Fife |234 |199 |185 |198 |202
Grampian |686 |977 |777 |896 |977
Highland |233 |193 |165 |193 |216
Lothian |1,476 |1,255 |1,075 |1,206 |1,097
Strathclyde |1,418 |1,581 |1,389 |1,406 |1,380
Tayside |571 |528 |563 |509 |461
Orkney |38 |22 |18 |31 |13
Shetland |57 |20 |14 |14 |26
Western Isles |25 |18 |23 |38 |36
High Court |5 |4 |2 |7 |4
Proceedings discharged
before court appearance |75 |66 |59 |41 |3
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Scotland |5,334 |5,461 |4,961 |5,230 |4,991
Scottish Homes (Rents)
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what would the average Scottish Homes rent have been if rents had increased only by the rate of inflation in every year since the establishment of Scottish Homes ; and what is average rent of Scottish Homes for 1992-93 ;
(2) what is the amount in cash and real terms by which Scottish Homes has raised its average rents since its establishment ;
Column 482
(3) what percentage of Scottish Homes tenants received housing benefit in each year since the establishment of Scottish Homes ; (4) what is the percentage amount by which Scottish Homes has raised rents in each year since its establishment ; and what was the rate of inflation in each of those years.Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 19 January 1993] : The information is set out in the table.
Column 481
Scottish Homes Rents
1 2 3 4 5 6
Annual rent rise
Year Average rent InflationCashe basConstant Average rPercentage of
increase<1> on RPI percentage 1989-90 itenants on housin
by inflatbenefite
at column 3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989-90 |£20.65 |(<2>9.7)|7.8 |1.63 |1.88 |20.65 |54.86
1990-91 |£23.35 |(14.0) |9.6 |2.70 |2.89 |22.26 |57.98
1991-92 |£26.51 |(14.5) |4.8 |3.16 |3.16 |24.40 |60.09
1992-93 |£29.14 |(9.0) |n/a |2.63 |2.52 |25.57 |62.86
1993-94 |£31.76 |(9.0) |n/a |2.62 |2.45 |n/a |n/a
<1> Different rent rises apply to different properties-average percentage
increase does not necessarily apply to the average weekly rent.
<2> Percentage increase over previous year.
<3> Calculated by applying GDP deflator using 1991-92 as base year.
Column 483
Mental Hospitals
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many beds in mental hospitals were (a) closed and (b) negotiated to close in 1992 in each health board area.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 19 January 1993] : From a total of 17,631 mental health beds in Scotland, 1,336 were closed in 1992. Some of these will have been replaced by contracts with private or voluntary sector providers, but precise information is not held centrally. Health boards are constantly reviewing their assessment of need, consequently separate figures for negotiated closures are not available.
Mental health beds |Number
closed in 1992
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde Health Board |16
Ayrshire and Arran Health Board |-
Borders Health Board |8
Dumfries and Galloway Health Board |17
Fife Health Board |170
Forth Valley Health Board |120
Grampian Health Board |109
Greater Glasgow Health Board |487
Highland Health Board |45
Lanarkshire Health Board |95
Lothian Health Board |102
Tayside Health Board |167
Orkney Health Board |-
Shetland Health Board |-
Western Isles Health Board |-
|-------
|Total |1,336
Column 484
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publish a table showing the total grant available from his Department (a) in total, (b) in revenue and (c) in capital towards the provision of (1) residential facilities and (2) non-residential facilities for (i) people with alcohol problems and (ii) people with drug problems in 1992-93 and 1993-94 ;
(2) if he will publish a table showing the total grant paid by his Department (a) in total, (b) in revenue and (c) in capital towards the provision of (1) residential facilities and (2) non-residential facilities for (i) people with alcohol problems and (ii) people with drug problems in each of the past five years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 20 January 1993] : Funding is provided directly and indirectly by the Scottish Office for alcohol and drug misuse projects in a number of ways. Many projects are funded by health boards either from their general allocations or the funds, totalling £2.4 million in 1992-93, specifically allocated for drug misuse. Other projects are funded by local authorities. Details of funding from all sources could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, information, as set out in the tables, is available on funding by the Scottish Office for residential and non-residential facilities provided by voluntary sector organisations under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and under the urban programme for the years 1987-88 to 1992-93. Figures for 1993-94 are not yet available.
Column 483
Table 1: Approved expenditure under urban programme<1>
Residential Non-residential
Year |Total |Capital |Current |Total |Capital |Current
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alcohol misuse
1987-88 |23,616 |- |23,616 |376,960 |- |376,960
1988-89 |25,482 |- |25,482 |314,385 |1,350 |313,035
1989-90 |52,188 |12,456 |39,732 |309,221 |62,885 |246,336
1990-91 |24,351 |- |24,351 |234,774 |12,402 |222,372
1991-92 |62,905 |3,999 |58,906 |270,090 |19,071 |251,019
1992-93 |202,933 |37,831 |165,102 |409,990 |11,193 |398,797
Drugs
1987-88 |- |- |- |172,950 |7,500 |165,450
1988-89 |- |- |- |164,860 |12,950 |151,910
1989-90 |- |- |- |468,813 |42,929 |425,884
1990-91 |- |- |- |1,133,051|136,584 |996,467
1991-92 |17,635 |17,635 |- |1,484,137|38,218 |1,445,919
1992-93 |106,605 |106,605 |- |1,583,118|59,417 |1,523,701
<1>Grant amounting to 75 per cent. of approved Urban Programme Expenditure is paid
to sponsoring local authorities.
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Table 2: Grants awarded under Section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland)
Act 1968
Residential Non-Residential
Year |Total |Capital|Current|Total |Capital|Current
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alcohol Misuse
1987-88 |57,309 |- |57,309 |39,921 |4,789 |35,133
1988-89 |4,100 |- |4,100 |76,473 |- |76,473
1989-90 |17,271 |17,271 |- |75,254 |14,426 |60,828
1990-91 |153,349|150,000|3,349 |49,003 |10,625 |38,378
1991-92 |97,132 |- |97,132 |56,157 |- |57,157
1992-93 |101,562|- |101,562|76,000 |8,000 |68,000
Drugs
1987-88 |105,746|- |105,746|3,759 |- |3,759
1988-89 |48,603 |- |48,603 |- |- |-
1989-90 |2,485 |- |2,485 |3,000 |3,000 |-
1990-91 |200,000|200,000|- |- |- |-
1991-92 |- |- |- |- |- |-
1992-93 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Shetlands (Oil Pollution)
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has finalised the arrangements for the bridging fund to assist local businesses in Shetland affected by the recent incident involving the MV Braer'.
Mr. Lang [pursuant to his answer, of 21 January 1993, c. 411-12.] : The bridging fund scheme is a new service for which parliamentary approval will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the local environmental services and housing, Scotland vote--class XV, vote 6. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £3million will be met by repayable advances from the contingencies fund.
PRIME MINISTER
Disabled People
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to introduce legislation to outlaw discrimination against disabled people in access to employment, training, education, leisure, transport, public buildings and shops ; and if he will make a statement.
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