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Political Donations
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to require all national health service tenderers to declare political contributions and health authorities to record such declarations in their minutes.
Rehabilitation Facilities
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to extend day and residential rehabilitation facilities staffed by skilled personnel including physiotherapists and occupational therapists for the care of elderly patients discharged into the community.
Mr. Yeo : A wide range of rehabilitation facilities exists within the national health service and local social services authorities. Decisions about rehabilitation services are for the professional judgment of those concerned with the individual case.
European Population Conference
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Health who will make up the United Kingdom's delegation to the European population conference to be held in Geneva in March.
Mr. Sackville : The delegation will be led by the director of statistics from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, and also have officials from the Home Office and Overseas Development Administration, and an academic expert who is a member of the British Society for Population Studies.
Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the country statement for the United Kingdom for the European population conference will be made available for hon. Members before the conference.
Mr. Sackville : Copies of the United Kingdom country statement are now available in the Library.
Stillbirth
Mr. Quentin Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the impact of the new definition of stillbirth will be on statistics of perinatal mortality.
Mr. Sackville : The Government were pleased to be able to support Rosie Barnes's private Member's Bill which resulted in the extension of the definition of stillbirth to include losses at 24 to 27 weeks' gestation. The loss of a baby in these circumstances is a tragedy for the family involved and it is clearly right that there should be proper and formal recognition. Extending the definition from 28 weeks to 24 weeks has made that possible.
In terms of published statistics on stillbirth it is estimated that the inclusion of these losses will mean, at present rates, approximately 800 more registered stillbirths in England and Wales annually.
It is important not only that the effect of the new definition should be reflected in the routine statistics but that trends can continue to be the subject of monitoring and analysis in spite of the change. For this reason, future Office of Population Censuses and Surveys publications
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over the next few years will contain data on trends with and without stillbirths in the 24 to 27-week period as from 1 October 1992, the operative date of the new definition.That latest published figure for the rate of perinatal mortality-- stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life--in England and Wales in 1991 was eight per 1,000 live and stillbirths. This is the lowest ever recorded. Published data will continue to include both single-year figures on the old and new basis and averages over the most recent three-year period for which we have comparative data. Single-year figures, especially for regional and other sub-national analyses, can be volatile now that the rates are so low. Therefore, the combined three-year average provides a more reliable indication of underlying trends at these levels as well as nationally. The national health service continues to give a high priority to the further reduction of stillbirths, including full participation in the nationwide confidential inquiry into stillbirths and deaths in infancy.
NHS Trusts (Fund-raising)
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent of the use of private fund-raising companies by NHS trusts ; what guidelines he has issued on good practice and on the allocation of money so raised ; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : No assessment has been made and no guidelines have been issued. These matters are well within the competence of individual trust boards.
Hospital Beds
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide a table showing the number of hospital beds available by specialty in each region in each year since 1979-80 and currently.
Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) on 25 February at column 676.
School Medical Services
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list those local health authorities which have ceased to carry out annual dental check-ups on school children.
Dr. Mawhinney : The current guidance to local health authorities suggests that they should arrange for the screening of teeth of children in state-funded schools at least three times in each child's school life. The Department has no information which suggests that health authorities are not doing so.
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many school nurses were employed in the state education sector in 1992, 1985 and 1979.
Mr. Sackville : The latest information available, which reflects the 20 per cent. increase in general practitioners since 1979 and their increased involvement in child health care, is shown in the table.
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NHS school nurses<1> in post at 30 September
each year, England
|Whole-time
|equivalents<2>
---------------------------------------------
<3>1979 |3,810
1985 |3,110
1991 |3,050
<1> Figures include school health visitors.
Statistics on the number of nurses in
particular areas of work are prone to errors
in employing authorities' coding procedures.
The above figures should therefore be
treated with caution.
<2> All figures are independently rounded to
the nearest ten (10) whole-time equivalents.
<3> Figures for 1979 have been adjusted for
the reduction in nurses working hours during
1980-81 (from 40 to 37.5 hours per week).
Children in Hospital
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to centralise information on child patients in hospitals as a step towards ensuring that no child will be treated on an adult ward.
Mr. Sackville : In the guide, "Welfare of Children and Young People in Hospital"--HMSO 1991--we cited the evidence to show that children are best treated in children's departments and recommended that health authorities and other purchasers should specify this requirement in their contracts for hospital services for children. We expect district health authorities to monitor compliance with their contracts and, in connection with implementation of the recent Audit Commission report "Children First : A Study of Hospital Services", both regional health authorities and the Department will also undertake selective monitoring. We consider that implementation of our policy can be achieved by these means without the introduction of routine arrangements for the central collection of records on where children are accommodated in hospital. Copies of both publications are available in the Library.
Salford and Manchester Authorities
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations have been received in favour of the proposed consortia of Salford and Manchester health authorities ; and how many against the proposal.
Dr. Mawhinney : In the three months since the proposed consortium was announced, seven letters have been received, all of which were opposed to plans to form a consortium.
Children's Care
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what special guidelines are issued to local authorities which have care and responsibility for children with physical or mental disabilities in order to ensure protection from abuse and early detection of abuse.
Mr. Yeo : There are no special child protection guidelines of this kind. "Working Together under the Children Act 1989", the Government's guidance on inter-agency co-operation in the protection of children from abuse, applies to all children including children with physical or mental disabilities. "Working Together" emphasises that children with disabilities have the same rights as other children, and that every effort should be made to provide appropriate assistance during an
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investigative interview so that they can express themselves fully and understand what is happening and what decisions have to be made.NHS Transport, Leeds
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the costs of the transport contract to carry national health service staff from Leeds station to the NHS executive offices at Quarry Hill, Leeds.
Mr. Sackville : Nil. The cost of the transport contract to carry Department of Health staff is £636 per week.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Valuation Office agency carried out a valuation of all property assets in all trusts prior to NHS trust status being granted.
Mr. Sackville : The Valuation Office agency carried out a valuation of all property assets--land and buildings--transferred to trusts in the first and second waves, as at1 April 1991 and 1 April 1992 respectively. Similar arrangements are in place for the third wave trusts to be established as at 1 April 1993.
Prior to trust status being granted, the results from the periodic capital valuations of all property within the national health service estate would have been available locally to the trusts and health authorities concerned. The periodic valuations were carried out, as at 31 December 1989 and 1 April 1992, by the Valuation Office agency, which also provided indices to update the valuations in the intervening years.
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 18 February, Official Report , column 303 , if, in valuing the assets of a hospital, other than land and buildings, before acquiring NHS trust status, her Department required a common method for each hospital for determining the value of the assets ; and what arrangements were made for an external audit to take place before the assets were vested in the NHS trust.
Mr. Sackville : The Department issues instructions which establish how all categories of assets that transfer to a trust should be valued. These instructions are based on existing departmental guidance and standard accounting practice. The valuation of all assets transferring is subjected to external audit.
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NHS Management
Sir Michael Grylls : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to monitor the performance of national health service administrators/management ; and what use is being made of outside management consultants to set performance indicators for this group.
Dr. Mawhinney : Performance measures for individual managers of any discipline can only be set by the national health service trust board or authority through the normal management process. A national individual performance review scheme has existed since 1986 for general and senior managers throughout the NHS. Arrangements for performance review of other staff is a matter for individual employing authorities. Under the health service reforms, NHS trusts have the freedom to develop their own performance review systems and a number have done so using design advice from external management consultants.
Children's Hospices
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration she has given to allowing children's hospices to become eligible for hospice funding in the coming financial year ; and whether she will seek to include children's hospices in the list of eligible organisations in future guidance on hospice funding to be issued to regional health authorities.
Mr. Yeo : The central funds allocated for voluntary hospices to health authorities will be delegated from 1994-95 in order that they may contract for services for both adults and children with life-threatening illness. Meanwhile the recently issued guidance--executive letter EL(93)14- -copies of which are available in the Library, on central funding in 1993- 94 does not include any age restriction on the use to which the funds may be put.
London Ambulance Service
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing for each month from January to June 1992 (a) the number of actual emergency calls responded to by the London ambulance service and (b) the number and percentage responded to within (i) 14, (ii) 20, (iii) 25, (iv) 30, (v) 40, and (vi) 50 or more minutes together with respective totals ; and if she will publish consolidated totals in respect of the national Orcon standards for each month.
Mr. Sackville : The information available is shown in the table.
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Accident and Emergency Ambulance Response Times-London Ambulance Service (LAS) 1992 |January |February|March |April |May |June ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Number of calls responded to within 8 minutes |5,369 |3,752 |3,139 |4,470 |4,629 |3,746 Percentage of calls responded to within 8 minutes |14 |10 |9 |12 |12 |9 Number of calls responded to within 14 minutes |25,011 |20,959 |18,869 |23,535 |24,369 |21,576 Percentage of calls responded to within 14 minutes |64 |55 |53 |63 |61 |53 Number of calls responded to within 20 minutes |34,712 |32,011 |29,512 |32,943 |34,779 |32,981 Percentage of calls responded to within 20 minutes |88 |83 |82 |88 |86 |81 Number of calls responded to within 25 minutes |37,324 |35,468 |32,885 |35,354 |37,685 |36,686 Percentage of calls responded to within 25 minutes |95 |92 |92 |95 |94 |90 (Information supplied by the LAS)
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A breakdown of call response times above 25 minutes could be obtained only at disproportionate cost to the London ambulance service.Elderly People (Care)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legislation exists to regulate independent companies which are providing continuing care for the elderly ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : Statutory control of homes providing long-term care for anyone who needs it is provided under the provisions of the Registered Homes Act 1984 and its associated regulations.
Independent Living Fund
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 26 November 1992, to the hon. Member for Teignbridge (Mr. Nicholls), Official Report, column 809, if the extra funding to local authorities as part of the arrangements for replacing the independent living fund will be ring-fenced for purposes currently covered by the independent living fund.
Mr. Yeo : No. The extra funding is included in the special transitional grant which is itself ring-fenced solely for use on community care.
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 26 November 1992 to the hon. Member from Teignbridge (Mr. Nicholls), Official Report, column 809, if the extra funding to local authorities as part of the arrangements to replace the independent living fund will be used for cash grants for those in need of help to remain in their own homes.
Mr. Yeo : No. Local authorities have no powers to make cash payments.
Organ Donors
Mr. Ernie Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the objectives are of her organ donor campaign ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : There are many patients whose lives could be saved or enhanced by an organ transplant. The Government aim to encourage more people to consider organ donation. We have, therefore, commissioned a television campaign to provoke discussion on donation in the hope that more people will carry the donor card, and more importantly, let their families know of their wishes.
Prescription Charges
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 11 May 1992, Official Report, column 31, what is her estimate for what proportion of prescriptions, for which a prescription charge is paid, the cost of the item to the NHS will be less than the prescription charge under the prescription charge levels for 1993-94 announced on 16 March.
Dr. Mawhinney : The flat-rate prescription charge is an amount which successive Governments have thought it reasonable for those who can afford to do so to contribute towards the cost of national health service pharmaceutical
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services. It is not, and never has been, directly related either to the particular item prescribed or to the actual cost to the NHS of dispensing it. About 80 per cent. of prescribed items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors are free of charge. For 1993-94 it is estimated that some 35 per cent. of chargeable items will cost the NHS less than the new charge of £4.25 announced on Tuesday 2 March.TRADE AND INDUSTRY Plutonium
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish an explanation of note (1) to section A of his departmental press notice P/93/51 of4 February on plutonium production and stockpile figures, on why exact figures for the plutonium content of fuel discharged and dispatched cannot be given.
Mr. Eggar : It is not practicable to make direct measurements of the plutonium content of fuel rods at the power station. Accordingly, the figures in question are estimates, calculated using reactor physics computer codes, based on the characteristics of the fresh fuel and the output of the reactor since the fuel was loaded. The error margin specified reflects the accuracy of this estimating process.
Auditing
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to propose legislation under which shareholders would be able to seek compensation from the recognised supervisory bodies for recommending passive auditing standards.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I have no such plans.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what powers he has to examine the sale of the agenda papers by the Auditing Practices Board.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The powers that might be available would depend upon the nature of the complaint.
Nuclear Industry
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what advice and measures he has taken to ensure that the terms of the proposed fuel cycle contract between Nuclear Electric and British Nuclear Fuels plc will not operate against the public interest.
Mr. Eggar : Both BNFL and Nuclear Electric are wholly owned by the Government. Nonetheless, it is the Government's policy that each company should act in a commercial manner, since this best serves the taxpayer's interest as shareholder. This need to act commercially will be reflected in the terms of any contract negotiated between the two companies.
Consultants
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the contracts awarded by his Department to Arthur Andersen and Kleinwort Benson with the total cost of the contracts for each contractor for (i) the past 12 months and (ii) 1991-92.
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Mr. Eggar : The information requested is as follows :
|Consultancy
|Contracts awarded
------------------------------------------------------------------
Arthur Andersen
Period
3 March 1992 to 4 March 1993 |None
1 April 1991 to 31 March 1992 |None
Kleinwort Benson
Period
3 March 1992 to 4 March 1993 |<1>1
1 April 1991 to 31 March 1992 |None
<1>(Post Office: Financial Advisers).
The value of the single contract awarded is commercially confidential.
The figures do not include contracts issued by executive agencies that have delegated authority to engage consultants.
ALTENER Programme
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has made to increase the number and widen the range of industrial pilot schemes under the EC ALTENER programme.
Mr. Eggar : I chaired the Council of Energy Ministers on 30 November 1992 which discussed a proposal for a decision concerning the promotion of renewable energy sources in the Community--ALTENER programme. The UK presidency secured politcal agreement to this programme which will support a series of actions to promote the greater exploitation of renewable energy resources within the Community. The ALTENER programme is a "software" programme and makes no financial provision for the creation of industrial plant.
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all those services or functions that have been contracted out from his Department since November 1991 without market testing an in-house bid against external competition, with, in each instance the successful contractor and the reasons for the decision to exclude an in-house bid.
Mr. Eggar : Detailed information on the conduct and award of individual contracts is not held centrally by my Department and collection of this information would incur disproportionate costs.
European Regional Assistance
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to increase the involvement of (a) employers' organisations, (b) trade unions and (c) local authorities in the implementation of European regional assistance programmes.
Mr. Sainsbury : I have no such plans at present. Any such arrangements will be subject to revised Council regulations which I expect to be adopted in the summer.
Coal Industry
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the state of the coal industry.
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Mr. Eggar : We intend to set out the conclusions of the Government's coal review in a White Paper to be published shortly.
Departmental Library
Mr. Morgan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will obtain a copy of the document of which he has been given notice by the hon. Member for Cardiff, West for his departmental library.
Gas-fired Power Generation
Mr. Morgan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to announce a decision for granting Electricity Act 1989 consent for the proposed PowerGen Connah's Quay gas-fired power station ; what consultations he has had on a time-delayed consent ; what assessment he has made of the impact of such a consent on the proposed Hamilton Brothers gas- processing plant at Point of Ayr and the development of the gas fields off the north Wales coast and in Liverpool bay ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend is reviewing the use of his consent powers under section 36 of the Electricty Act 1989 as part of the coal review and has made it clear that he proposes to defer decisions on outstanding applications for new power stations until after that review is completed. The Government are proposing to publish their White Paper shortly.
My right hon. Friend recognises the importance which local representatives and equipment suppliers attach to all the proposed Liverpool bay developments. I can assure the hon. Member that all relevant factors are being carefully considered.
Petroleum Engineering Directorate
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he will publish the Ernst and Young report into the relocation of the petroleum engineering directorate to Aberdeen.
Mr. Eggar : The Government have today published in full the report by Ernst and Young on the arguments for and against relocating the professional geologists and engineers of the DTI's oil and gas division-- formerly the petroleum engineering directorate--to Aberdeen. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library of the House. While the report showed there was no clear case for moving all the DTI's petroleum engineering directorate--PED--to Aberdeen, it did raise some wider issues. Ernst and Young's comprehensive analysis led the Government to examine the case for improving the service the DTI offers those companies who choose to locate in Aberdeen. We can improve the service to those companies by providing
multi-disciplinary teams in Aberdeen. I am pleased to announce that during the coming year the DTI will open an office in Aberdeen to provide key DTI services to that part of the oil and gas industry based there.
Initially, the office will consist of 60 people and provide services which until now have only been available from DTI headquarters. In particular the new office will take the nationwide lead in the issue of field development consents
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and in considering abandonment programmes. It will also process development applications--annex Bs--from companies based in Aberdeen. The office will be expanded to 80 staff over the next two years if, as expected, additional companies move essential functions to Aberdeen. All this will create a climate which should help the successful development of the oil supply and service companies located there.The setting up of the new office is an acknowledgement of the importance of Aberdeen as an established centre for both the United Kingdom and international oil and gas industry and of Aberdeen's potential for future growth.
Industrial Innovation
Mr. Rowe : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on responsibility for encouraging industrial innovation and technology transfer.
Mr. Heseltine : In the context of the policies emerging from the forthcoming White Paper on science and technology, the Government will review the scope for transferring responsibility for a range of schemes for encouraging industrial innovation and technology transfer in Scotland and Wales from the Department of Trade and Industry to the Scottish and Welsh Offices respectively. The object of the review will be to bring about transfer of responsibility wherever practicable.
Offshore Oil and Gas
Mr. Ainger : To ask the President of the Board of Trade which consultees agreed to the indicative conditions to be imposed on operators in blocks 104/16, 104/17, 104/18, 104/19, 104/21, 103/1, 103/2 and 103/3.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 8 March 1993] : All our consultees, such as other Government Departments and interested bodies, were given an opportunity to comment on the draft conditions to be attached to individual blocks. Consultees' comments have now been incorporated into relevant draft conditions.
Mr. Ainger : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the shortest distance in nautical miles between the northern extremity of blocks 104/16, 104/17 and 104/18 and (a) Burry inlet (grid ref. SS500970) and (b) Penclawdd.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 8 March 1993] : The shortest distance between the northern extremity of blocks 104/16, 104/17, and 104/18 and grid ref. SS500970 is approximately 12 nautical miles. The shortest distance between the northern extremity of blocks 104/16, 104/17 and 104/18 and Penclawdd is approximately 13 nautical miles.
Mr. Ainger : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the shortest distance in nautical miles between the southern extremity of block 103/1 and 103/2 and (a) the Smalls and (b) Grassholm Island.
Mr. Eggar : [holding answer 8 March 1993] : The shortest distance between the southern extremity of blocks 103/1 and 103/2 and the smalls is approximately eight nautical miles. The shortest distance between the southern extremity of blocks 103/1 and 103/2 and Grassholm Island is approximately 10 nautical miles.
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Mr. Ainger : To ask the President of the Board of Trade on what date his Department asked the Joint Nature Conservation Committee for its advice on blocks 103/1, 103/2, 103/3, 106/25, 106/29, 107/21, 104/16, 104/17, 104/18, 104/19, 104/21, 106/24, 106/27, 106/28, 103/19, 103/20, 103/24, 103/25, 103/39 and 103/30; and by what date it required a response.
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