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Magistrates Courts
Mr. Sweeney : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will give, in table form, for each magistrates court in England and Wales in 1981 and 1991, the number of defendants (a) who appeared before the court, (b) were found guilty, (c) were involved in proceedings which were discontinued, (d) were discharged under section 6 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, (e) were in cases where the charges were withdrawn, (f) were in cases where the charge was dismissed under section 9 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 and (g) were found guilty, as a percentage of those who appeared before the court.
Mr. Jack : Information on persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for indictable offences by petty session division and result has been published annually since the 1986 issue in the volumes of supplementary tables to "Criminal statistics, England and Wales"--table 5.6 of volume 5 for 1986 to 1990 and table 4.6 of volume 4 for 1991.
The provision of information for earlier years or for summary offences would involve disproportionate cost.
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Table file CW930428.023 not available
Refugees
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are applied to refugees with exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom when assessing whether or not they should be granted United Kingdom travel documents ; and what changes have been made to these in the last 12 months.
Mr. Charles Wardle [holding answer 23 April 1993] : Asylum applicants who are found not to be refugees but who are granted exceptional leave to remain may apply for a Home Office travel document if they are unable to obtain a national passport. All such applications are considered on their individual merits, taking account of factors including the practicability of obtaining a national passport and any reasons the applicant may have for being unwilling to approach his or her national authorities. This policy has not changed during the last 12 months.
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HEALTH
Electromagnetic Fields
Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to inform local authorities and other public bodies of the further studies into the physical interaction of electromagnetic fields and the human head being funded by the Government and to advise them that they should take this into account before allowing further siting of telecommunications equipment on high rise flats and schools.
Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology gave to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 23 April at columns 256-57. The study referred to in that reply will relate only to the interaction of the fields generated by hand-held mobile telephones with the human head and will have no direct bearing on the question of the siting of base station transmitters on high rise flats or schools.
Advice on the health aspects of base station transmitters was given in the National Radiological Protection Board publication GS11 "Guidance as to restrictions on exposures to time varying electromagnetic fields", a copy of which is in the Library.
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Orthopaedics Units
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has had about the closure of small specialised hospitals for orthopaedics.
Mr. Sackville : Information collected centrally does not enable classification of individual hospitals according to predominant specialty. We have, however, received a number of representations about the provision of orthopaedic services.
MRI Scanners
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the national requirement for MRI scanners ; when she expects this requirement will be met ; and when she anticipates an MRI scanner will be provided for the Midland centre for neurosurgery and neurology.
Dr. Mawhinney : We have made no detailed assessment of the national requirement for magnetic resonance imaging--MRI--scanners. We are continuing with a three year programme of capital allocation for medical equipment including whole body scanners. Six MRI scanners were purchased for England in 1992-93 out of these central funds. A further sum of £15 million has been allocated for this financial year for the purchase of medical equipment. It is for provider units, including the Midland centre for neurosurgery and neurology to decide whether they will provide magnetic resonance imaging.
Psychiatric Services
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been since 1986 in the collection of information on admissions of psychiatric patients into hospital (a) as voluntary patients and (b) detained under the various sections of the Mental Health Acts ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : From April 1987, following the Korner review of health service information, statistics on detained patients admitted to national health service facilities and NHS patients using non-NHS facilities under contractual arrangements have been collected on the aggregate return KH15. This return collects information on admissions by legal status--that is, whether informal or detained under one of the sections of the Mental Health Act--and by mental category, and covers the financial year. Prior to this, statistics on formal admissions, by legal status and diagnostic group, to NHS mental illness and mental handicap hospitals and units were collected by the mental health enquiry--MHE--from all psychiatric hospitals, and were for the calendar year. Similarly, the form KO37 covers admissions to private nursing homes authorised to detain patients, and replaced form SBL631, except that KO37 excludes patients treated under contractual arrangements with the NHS which were included on SBL631. Statistics on changes in legal status after admission were collected for the first time in 1987-88 on form KH16.
Information on legal status is included in the psychiatric census part of the hospital episodes statistics system. The census includes details on patients formally detained under the Mental Health Acts and on those patients in hospital under the mental illness specialty for a
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year or more. The information collected here includes diagnosis, but the data so far have been deficient and unreliable.Dentistry
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies her Department has conducted into the geographical spread of dentist practices which offer new adult patients NHS services.
Dr. Mawhinney : National health service dental services are available throughout the country to those who require them. If any patients experience difficulty, they should approach their family health services authority who will be able to help.
British Nuclear Fuels plc
Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the medical facilities and services, including laboratories, in respect of which British Nuclear Fuels plc has acted as agents or provided services for the Northern Health region or any district health authority in each year since 1980.
Mr. Sackville : The information is not available centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Peter Carr, the chairman of Northern regional health authority, for details.
Infertility Treatment
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the details of the funding arrangements for women given treatment for infertility under the NHS.
Mr. Sackville : Health authorities are funded for the purchase of a full range of services for their resident populations rather than for specific treatments or procedures. Decisions about the resources and priority given to any particular service are the responsibility of individual health authorities.
Bogus Marriages
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many suspected bogus marriages have been drawn to the attention of the Registrar -General during the past year ; and if she will publish in tabular form the number of such marriages reported by each superintendent registrar in the Greater London area.
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table. During 1992, superintendent registrars reported 189 cases to the Registrar General where they suspected that a proposed marriage had been arranged for the sole purpose of evading statutory immigration controls. Of the 189 cases, 152 were notified by superintendent registrars from the Greater London area.
Table file CW930428.024 not available
North West Regional Health Authority
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made by the North West regional health authority to improve health facilities at Brinningham, Stockport.
Dr. Mawhinney : Health services in Brinnington are the responsibility of Stockport district health authority in conjunction with North Western regional health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the DHA, Mr. F. Russell, for details.
Halton and Warrington Hospitals
Mr. Hall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what has been the ratio of administration and clerical staff to nursing and midwifery staff in (a) Halton and (b) Warrington general hospitals in each year since 1987 ;
(2) what has been the ratio of managers to nursing and midwifery staff in (a) Halton and (b) Warrington general hospitals in each year sonal health service trust and Mr. Norman Banner, chairman of Warrington hospital NHS trust, for details.
Ambulance Response Times
Mr. Clapham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in improving ambulance response times ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) on 23 March at column 576 .
Pharmacies
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of pharmacies in England ; and how many dispense more than 2,000 prescriptions.
Dr. Mawhinney : The total number of pharmacies in England in 1991-92 was 9,765. Of these, 6,998 pharmacies dispensed more than 2, 000 prescriptions each month on average during that year.
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1901 Census
Mr. Whittingdale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she will relax the 100-year rule covering the release of the detailed data of the 1901 census.
Mr. Sackville : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr. Duncan) on 21 April at columns 127-28.
The Registrar General for England and Wales does not propose to make any further relaxations in the arrangements for the release of information from the 1901 census records.
Nurses
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses who achieved their basic qualification in the northern region before 30 September in each year since 1987 were (a) in post in the NHS, (b) undertaking further training in the NHS and (c) not employed in the NHS one year after qualification.
Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally.
AIDS
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been spent in the last 10 years by her Department or via other bodies or organisations of public awareness campaigns and research on (i) AIDS, (ii) leukaemia in children and (iii) spina bifida.
Mr. Sackville : For details of expenditure on AIDS public awareness campaigns and research, I refer my hon. Friend to the replies I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South-West (Mr. Butcher) on 26 April at columns 280-81 .
Comparable information on the amount spent related to children with leukaemia is not available centrally.
So far as spina bifida is concerned, an expert advisory group report on "Folic Acid and the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects" was launched in December 1992. This publication cost £21,400 to produce and its distribution to the national health service cost in excess of £50,000. A follow-up public information campaign in the current financial year is being planned. Research into spina bifida is undertaken by the Medical Research Council which receives its grant in aid from the office of my rright hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public money has been spent by her Department or via other bodies or organisations in connection with the AIDS disease since 1986 ; and how many cases of AIDS have become known since that time.
Mr. Sackville : The cumulative total of Government funding for HIV/AIDS for the financial years 1986-87 to 1992-93 is £886,304,000. This includes money made available for medical treatment and care, training of health and social care workers, infection control, surveillance, protection of the blood supply, HIV testing and counselling, funding of voluntary sector projects, local authority support services, research, and public education and prevention campaigns. This figure does not include spending by other Government Departments on HIV and
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AIDS work connected with their own spheres of interest. Information about total expenditure from non-governmental sources is not available centrally.A total of 7,083 cases of AIDS and 16,164 cases of HIV have been reported since 1986.
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many research programmes examining the HIV/AIDS virus have been funded either directly or indirectly from public expenditure over the past 10 years.
Mr. Sackville : The main agency through which the Government support medical research is the Medical Research Council which receives grant-in- aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for a directed programme of AIDS research covering vaccine development and to improve our understanding of the natural history of the virus. Between 1986-87 and 1992-93, a total of £66,170,000 was made available to fund the programme.
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has as to the relative degree of risk to (a) heterosexuals and (b) homosexuals of contracting AIDS.
Mr. Sackville : HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, is primarily transmitted by unprotected sexual intercourse between men or between men and women, where one person is infected. The relative risk of acquiring HIV depends on the frequency and type of sexual activity, prevalence of infection and other factors such as the presence of ulcerative genital diseases.
In general, the individual risk of acquiring infection through unprotected sex between men is at present likely to be far greater than it is for unprotected sex between men and women. This largely reflects the fact that homosexual and bisexual males still account for the greatest number of reports of both HIV and AIDS. However, whilst the numbers of those infected heterosexually are smaller, the fastest rate of growth in HIV reports is now seen in this group.
Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of known AIDS cases have been among homosexuals and drug users ; and what percentage of such cases have come from within the heterosexual community over the past 10 years.
Mr. Sackville : A total of 7,331 cases of AIDS had been reported in the United Kingdom up to 31 March 1993.
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Seventy-five per cent. of cases are attributed to infection transmitted through sex between men ; 5 per cent. of cases attributed to infection transmitted through injecting drug misuse ; and 2 per cent. of cases have been reported in homosexual or bisexual men who were also drug misusers. Ten per cent. of cases are attributed to infection transmitted through sex between men and women.Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will provide details of the annual forecasts of the number of people likely to contract AIDS and the actual number of cases notified ; (2) how accurate the forecast made in 1986 by her Department as to the number of heterosexuals expected to contract AIDS over the next 10 years has so far proved to be ; and what assessment has been made of the reasons for divergence of outturn figures from the forecast.
Mr. Sackville : The Government have consistently sought to minimise the uncertainty surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic by providing for high quality HIV surveillance which has informed forecasting work and enabled its accuracy to be monitored.
Two official reports have been published on projections for AIDS cases in England and Wales. The Cox report was published in 1988 on projections from 1987 up to the end of 1992. The projections were not subdivided by exposure categories. The Cox report was superseded, in January 1990, by the Day report which provided projections up to end of 1993. Copies of both reports are available in the Library. The reports provide a range of estimates. Table 1 gives recommended planning estimates from each report for annual total number of AIDS diagnoses, without adjustment for under-reporting, plus the total numbers of AIDS cases reported in each year. However, there is a delay between diagnosis and report so that reporting figures for any one year are not directly comparable to figures for diagnosis. Table 2 gives the Day recommended estimates for total and heterosexual contact AIDS cases, allowing for under-reporting--outcome--plus a projection of the actual numbers of diagnoses allowing for reporting delay.
The uncertainty of the Cox projections was inevitable because of the lack of relevant data available in the very early stages of any new infectious disease epidemic. The shortfall of AIDS cases compared to Cox's estimates is also attributable to modification of high-risk behaviour among homosexual men in the mid-1980s.
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Table file CW930428.025 not available
Table file CW930428.026 not available
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Mr. Dicks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the available evidence on the effectiveness of research and awareness campaigns on AIDS ; what plans she has to reduce expenditure by her Department on such campaigns ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Results from a range of surveys, including research and evaluation on the Health
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Education Authority's public education campaigns demonstrate significant and sustained levels of public awareness and knowledge about HIV and AIDS.Expenditure on such campaigns is subject to careful scrutiny and funding will be made available as necessary to meet the Government's objectives. More information about public education and awareness is set out in the White Paper "The Health of the Nation : A Strategy for Health in England", Cm 1986, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Peto Institute
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what further progress has been made on the provision of United Kingdom public funds for an extension of the Peto Institute for Conductive Education.
Dr. Mawhinney : There has not yet been sufficient progress with construction of the International Peto Institute in Budapest to justify further payments by the United Kingdom Government under our agreement with the Hungarian Government.
EMPLOYMENT
Youth Training
Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many youth training places are currently available ; and if she will take steps to identify the total number of 16 and 17-year-olds currently eligible for youth training places.
Mr. McLoughlin : Information on the availability of youth training places is not collected. However, we are satisfied that there is sufficient YT provision available to meet demand. There are currently some 300,000 young people on youth training or participating in youth credits in Great Britain.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, announced to the House on 7 July 1992, Official Report, columns 171-72, measures establishing a national system for monitoring the numbers of young people who are registered with the careers service and seeking training.
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many youth training places she is providing (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in the Greater Manchester area.
Mr. McLoughlin : There are currently nearly 300,000 young people on youth training or participating in youth credits in Great Britain and just over 20,000 in Greater Manchester.
Business Start-up Allowance
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the extra 10,000 entrants to the business start-up allowance announced in the Chancellor's Budget speech will be in addition to the 48,000 entrants for 1993-94 identified in table 10 of her departmental report for the "Government's Expenditure Plans 1993-94 to 1995-96', Cm 2205 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : The 10,000 starts will be in addition to the number included in 1993-94 plans submitted by training and enterprise councils in England and Wales and local enterprise companies in Scotland.
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Training Schemes
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what formal rights of appeal exist for a participant in a Government training scheme if he or she has a grievance or feels that they have not received the quality of service they were promised ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Detailed grievance procedures are a matter for training and enterprise councils to devise and to arrange for participants to be informed. A contractual requirement placed on TECs is that alternative provision is offered to any participants who express reasonable dissatisfaction with the delivery of their training.
Citizens Charter
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what citizens charter provisions apply to the rights of youth training, training for work and learning for work participants ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : The programmes cited by the hon. Member are delivered for the Government by the training and enterprise councils. TECs are encouraged to apply charter principles in all of their activities, and many are doing so.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria she has laid down against which training and enterprise councils are expected to assess their providers and award and maintain approved training organisation status ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Relations between training and enterprise councils and the Employment Department are governed by the TEC operating agreement. Under the 1993-94 agreement, TECs are required to contract only with training providers that : obtain and maintain approved training organisation status under criteria published by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, a copy of which is being placed in the Library ; or have an alternative system approved by my right hon. Friend, as of equivalent or greater assurance and effectiveness.
From April 1994, the Employment Department will require TECs to operate new arrangements in the way they contract for, and manage services and products which the Department funds. The new requirements have been approved by my right hon. Friend and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Training
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the condition of 26 weeks unemployment needs to be fulfilled a second time if a person has to leave training for work because of (a) operational difficulties encountered by their provider, including inability to obtain a suitable work placement or (b) illness or an accident before qualifying for another place ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Where a provider is no longer in a position to provide training in accordance with a participants individual participation plan, there is a
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contractual requirement placed on TECs to offer participants the opportunity to transfer to another provider under the terms of a plan substantially similar to the existing plan.TECs are required to agree their policy for dealing with periods of injury or illness with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Where an individual is deemed as having left the programme requalification would be necessary. Time spent in receipt of sickness or invalidity benefit would count towards the 26-week qualifying period.
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what effect the reduction of income support on the grounds of refusing suitable employment or for leaving work voluntarily has on the participation allowance paid to a person who then joins training for work or learning for work ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Reductions of income support due to a person being voluntarily unemployed are disregarded once they join either training for work or learning for work. Their participation allowance is based on the same amount as their overall assessment for income support.
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in what circumstances time spent on an allowance-supported rehabilitation course counts towards the 26 week qualifying period of training for work ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Periods of attendance on an employment rehabilitation course count towards the qualifying period for training for work.
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what provisions exist for training for work participants who were previously receiving their benefit by a Department of Social Security order book to be paid their participation allowance each week by girocheque ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Ms Clare Short, dated 28 April 1993 :
As the Employment Service (ES) is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to her about what provisions exist for Training For Work (TFW) participants who were previously receiving their benefit by a DSS order book to be paid their participation allowance each week by Girocheque. This is something which falls within the responsibilities she has delegated me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
Where a client was previously receiving their benefit by order book, they are asked to present their order book at a Pre-entry Interview (PEI) which they should attend before entering TFW. At the PEI, clients are informed to cash their final order for the week ending which falls on, or after their TFW start date. Once the final order has been cashed, the order book must be returned immediately to the local Benefits Agency (BA) office.
Subsequent payments of participation allowance are then paid at a level equal to the benefit previously in payment but with the addition of £10 Premium. Where the client is in receipt of Income Support (IS), a form is issued by BA to the
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ES local office to confirm the weekly entitlement to IS. However, some order books include other BA benefits which cannot be changed to a TFW participation allowance, for example attendance allowance. In these cases, if a client is still eligible for the other benefit(s), a revised order book (or girocheques) covering these benefits only is issued by BA.All clients who transfer from a BA order book are paid their participation allowance weekly and receive their payments on their normal pay day. For example, participants who would normally cash their order on a Monday receive their participation allowance girocheque in time for them to cash it on that day.
Revised guidance has recently been issued to our local offices to ensure that the people referred to in your question receive their participation allowances promptly.
I hope this is helpful.
As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
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