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Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the names of the United Kingdom delegation to the United Nations world conference on human rights in Vienna.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) on 13 May, c. 559. The precise composition of the delegation is being finalised, and will be transmitted to the conference organisers in due course.
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's aims for the United Nations world conference on human rights in Vienna.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) on 27 April, column 371.
HEALTH
Royal Free Trust
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been treated by the Royal Free Trust since it became an NHS trust hospital ; and what were the numbers treated in the two previous years.
Mr. Sackville : The figures for the first two years of the Royal Free Trust relate to finished consultant episodes in the general and acute specialties, and are as follows :
|Number
----------------------
1991-92 |33,822
1992-93 |42,539
The total for 1992-93
includes patients
undergoing renal
dialysis.
ormation is available centrally on the number of patients treated in the years before the Royal Free achieved trust status. Howev8 eMrHanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policyregarding the free provision of nebulisers for use by patients in need.
Dr. Mawhinney : Health authorities must provide free of charge any equipment which, taking account of resources, needs and clinical priorities locally, they decide to provide as part of a national health service treatment programme. This applies whether the equipment is supplied permanently or on loan, and includes subsequent maintenance costs as well as initial supply. Hand-operated nebulisers may be prescribed by general practitioners and are free of charge to patients exempt from prescription charges.
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NHS Trusts
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the cost to date of the preparation, production and distribution of consultation documents by all NHS trust applicants.
Dr. Mawhinney : A total of £5.93 million has been made available to regional health authorities for the cost of consultation on the four waves of national health service trusts during the years 1990-91 to 1993-94.
Family Planning Services
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to ensure a free choice of family planning services on the NHS.
Mr. Sackville : National health service family planning is a self- referral service and people who wish to use it are free to choose their source of advice--their own general practitioner, another general practitioner if he or she is willing, or a family planning clinic. The Government's aim, as stated in the White Paper "The Health of the Nation" is that by 1994-95 the full range of NHS family planning services, however provided, should be appropriate, accessible and comprehensive.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research has been undertaken by her Department upon the effect of the inclusion of contraceptives on the selected list scheme upon levels of unplanned pregnancies in the United Kingdom ;
(2) what assessment she has made of the effects of the extension of the selected list scheme in respect of contraceptives on her Department's target in respect of teenage pregnancies.
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Member to thereply I gave the hon. Member for Lancashire, West(Mr. Pickthall) on 18 January at col. 97.
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received in opposition to the extension of the selected list scheme to contraceptives.
Dr. Mawhinney : Approximately 420.
Advisory Committee on NHS Drugs
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the legal status of the sub-committees of the Advisory Committee on NHS Drugs ;
(2) what procedures were followed in making the appointments to the sub- committees of the Advisory Committee on NHS Drugs ; and what were the criteria used to judge the suitability for membership of these committees.
Dr. Mawhinney : The sub-committees do not have a legal status which is separate from the main committee. The Advisory Committee on National Health Service Drugs decided which of its members would serve on sub- committees taking into account their professional expertise.
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Salmonella
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list, for each year from 1987 to date, the number of cases of salmonella poisoning which have not been caused by eating infected food.
Mr. Sackville : The annual statistics published about confirmed salmonella infections are based on reports, by the public health laboratory service and hospital laboratories in England and Wales to the PHLS. The majority of these reports relate to individual cases and information as to the cause of infection is rarely available. In outbreaks involving two or more people, a cause other than food is reported infrequently. Occasionally outbreaks resulting from spread from person to person are reported, usually in an institutional setting.
Halcion
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement about the use of the drug Halcion in treating cases of severe depression.
Dr. Mawhinney : Halcion, or triazolam, is a treatment for insomnia and not for depression. It was withdrawn from the United Kingdom market in 1991 on grounds of safety because of psychiatric adverse reactions, including depression. Under the Medicines Act the manufacturer has rights of appeal against the permanent withdrawal of the drug and at the present time the matter remains under appeal.
Hospitals (Location)
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what attention is paid in deciding on locations of hospitals to the relative age and level of car ownership of the surrounding population.
Mr. Sackville : The catchment area of a hospital will be determined by the contracts taken out by district health authorities or fund-holding general practitioner practices, on behalf of their residents and patients. Decisions on new hospital sites will be influenced by a variety of local factors, including accessibility.
NHS Employees (Freedom of Speech)
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 9 March, Official Report, column 487, when the final guidelines on freedom of speech for national health service employees will be published ; and if publication will be delayed to take into account the findings of the Clothier inquiry.
Dr. Mawhinney : We do not consider it appropriate to delay the issue of the guidelines and expect them to be issued in the near future.
Hospitals (Security)
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she has taken or intends to take to improve security in NHS hospitals following the recent report of Crime Prevention Consulting Ltd.
Mr. Sackville : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary has given a detailed reply in another place.
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A full report and its recommendations were presented at a conference, sponsored jointly by the Department of Health, the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, and the National Health Service Trust Federation, on 11 May.My noble Friend wrote to the chairmen of all health authorities and trusts on 13 May bringing the report to their attention. A copy of the letter is available in the Library.
The NHS management executive has also written--EL(93)47, a copy of which is available in the Library--to all general managers and trust chief executives, outlining the key messages in the report and asked them to review their procedures for crime and loss prevention in the light of the review and to submit by 30 September 1993 a report on improvements made or planned.
A new NHS security advisory group is being set up to promote a programme of security improvements and carry forward the recommendations of the consultants' report.
Fertility Treatment
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average waiting period for IVF treatment ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Waiting time information by specialty is published in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics : England", a copy of which is available in the Library. Information on the time that waiting list patients have waited for treatment of specific conditions is not collected centrally.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to amend the waiting list system for IVF and fertility treatment for childless couples to take into account the age of that couple ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Decisions about the appropriate treatment for a couple seeking help over infertility are a matter of clinical judgment. Age is one of the factors clinicians will consider in assessing a patients' suitability for any form of infertility treatment.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mr. Peter Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the hospital waiting times for patients in the Northern regional health authority for 12 months and 18 months ; what were the comparable figures for each of the last two years ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Waiting times information by regional health authority is given in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics : England", published twice a year, copies of which are available in the Library. Latest provisional figures for 31 March 1993 were published on 10 May 1993- -press release H93/740. These show the number of patients waiting for more than a year in the Northern regional health authority has fallen by 72 per cent. or nearly 4,500 patients in the two years since March 1991.
Condensation
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has available about the effect of condensation in the home upon people's health.
Mr. Sackville : The Department is aware of research carried out by the Building Research Establishment, an executive agency of the Department of the Environment.
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Drugs
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she will place in the Library a full copy of the research report from Durham university, prepared for her Department, on the prevalence of drug use among young people.
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 May.
Laboratory Technicians
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 19 May, Official Report, columns 197-98, if the word technician in her answer means laboratory technicians.
Concorde Trials
Mr. Galloway : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the informed consent information and forms which were given to subjects who were asked to take part in the Concorde trials.
Mr. Robert Jackson : I have been asked to reply.
I have today arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
British Nuclear Fuels plc
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what types of information he is obliged to make public regarding British Nuclear Fuels plc ; and which areas of its operation are treated as confidential.
Mr. Eggar : For the considerations affecting the Government's policy in this area, I refer the hon. Member to my replies to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent, Official Report, 7 July 1992, column 140 and 24 March 1993, column 612.
Waste to Energy
Mr. Evennett : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to be able to announce a decision on the proposal for a refuse-to- energy plant in Belvedere.
Mr. Eggar : The timing of his report is a matter for the inquiry inspector. When my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade receives the report he will give timely but careful consideration to it.
My right hon. Friend will announce his decision on the application at the earliest possible opportunity after receiving the report.
British Airways
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will ask the Director-General of Fair Trading to investigate evidence of anti-competitive activities by British Airways against Air Europe, and its parent company ILG, since 1987 ;
(2) what inquiries he has commissioned into the allegations of anti- competitive practices by British Airways against rival airlines ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 580
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Allegations of anti-competitive practices in European air services fall to be considered by the EC Commission under articles 85 and 86 of the treaty of Rome. The Civil Aviation Authority has powers to investigate complaints of anti-competitive practices on specific routes to and from destinations outside the EC and to consider appropriate remedies.
Under paragraph 4(1) of the schedule to the Anti-competitive Practices (Exclusions) Order 1980 (SI 1980 No. 979), any course of conduct pursued by an air transport undertaking solely in respect of carriage by air, otherwise than on a charter flight, is excluded from investigation under the Competition Act.
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he was aware of the evidence of access by British Airways to computer information concerning rival airlines, when he gave his approval to British Airways' takeover of Dan Air in November 1992.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The President of the Board of Trade's decisions in merger cases whether to refer proposed acquisitions to the MMC take account of comprehensive advice from the Director General of Fair Trading on the public interest issues raised by the merger concerned.
Additionality
Mr. McMaster : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has available on how the additionality principle is applied within each member state of the European Community ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : I refer the hon. Member to the European Commission's third annual report on the implementation of the reform of the structural funds, pages 17 to 18, and the European Court of Auditors' annual report concerning the financial year 1991-- Official Journal of the European Communities, C330 of 15 December 1992, pages 130-131, 146, 153, 346, 355, 359--copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
British Aerospace and Rover Group
Mr. Batiste : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the implications for the United Kingdom of the European Commission decision of 9 March requiring the Government to secure repayment of £44.4 million of state aid plus interest from British Aerospace and the Rover Group.
Mr. Heseltine : British Aerospace plc yesterday paid to the Government the sum of £57.6 million made up as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Repayment of state aid received by BAe and Rover in 1988 in connection with privatisation costs and buying out minority shareholders |11.0
Repayment of state aid representing the interest that would have been paid between 1988 and 1990 by BAe had it not been allowed to defer (interest free) the payment of the purchase price of Rover |33.4
Interest on the above sums through to yesterday |13.2
|-----
Total |57.6
The Commission decision is intended to put BAe in the same position, after tax, as if it had not received state aid. Tax relief would have been available for interest of £33.4 million if it had been paid between 1988 and 1990. Tax relief would also normally be available for the interest of £13.2 million on a United Kingdom debt. BAe therefore now intends to investigate whether tax relief is available for both amounts. If relief is available on both sums at 33 per cent.--the current corporation tax rate --it will reduce the net cost to BAe by £11.0 million and £4.4 million respectively. The net cost to BAe of yesterday's payment would then be £42.2 million.
BAe has expressed concern that under United Kingdom law one or both of the amounts of £33.4 million and £13.2 million might not attract tax relief. If that were to be the case, BAe would have paid, and the Government would have received, up to £15.4 million more than the Commission envisaged. The Government understand BAe's concern and have also noted the opinion of the Advocate General that the Commission might reasonably assume that tax relief would be given on the payment of £33.4 million.
To ensure that the payment has the effect that the Commission intended, and that BAe is not disadvantaged by any difference between United Kingdom tax law and the tax assumptions made by the Commission, the Government have made arrangements to ensure that, if tax relief is not available in respect of the two payments, the company is returned to the same position as it would have been if it had not received the state aid. This would be done by transferring to the Inland Revenue, out of the sum received, an amount equal to the tax relief in question. That would then be set against BAe's tax liability. Details of the arrangements are in a note which is being deposited in the Library of the House. Both the European Commission and the Inland Revenue have been consulted about, and have raised no objections to, the proposed arrangements.
Science and Technology
Mr. Batiste : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how the science and technology policy of his Department will be affected by the White Paper on science, engineering and technology published today ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heseltine : The Government want to see a new partnership with industry, bringing together public sector resources, to increase the nation's competitiveness. Today's White Paper on Science, Engineering and Technology commits the Government to partnership in science and technology to ensure they contribute more fully to the nation's wealth and well-being. The DTI is committed to making this partnership work. DTI's budget for industrial innovation is rising by some 15 per cent. this year to around £125 million, despite pressure on public spending. While the main responsibility for innovation must remain with industry, DTI has an important role.
Support for R and D projects from DTI's innovation budget is less than 2 per cent. of industry's own R and D spend. Thirteen United Kingdom companies individually spend more on R and D each year than DTI does through its innovation budget. Moreover, much of DTI's support goes to the large firms who account for so much of industry's total. In view of this, DTI will change the
Column 582
balance of its financial support so as to concentrate in future on helping smaller firms gain access to technology ; building up partnerships between firms, with academia, and overseas ; and ensuring firms have the services they need to innovate and to do business better. Smaller firms need effective local delivery of technology that may require sourcing on a local, United Kingdom or global basis. Both the access to that technology and the infrastructure which can provide it will therefore need to be strengthened, taking account of the Faraday principles, as will the promotion of innovation and the spread of best practice.The Department will significantly improve companies' access to science and technology by making innovation services available locally, for example through one-stop shops. These services will place the national and international expertise on industry's doorstep. One-stop shops will help form sustained partnerships, bringing together public and private sector business services, including DTI technology and innovation services, for the benefit of the local company customer. The DTI will build on the local innovation networks which are already used by firms. These networks draw on expertise in higher education institutions, technical colleges, industrial research organisations and others.
DTI will put more effort into helping firms of all sizes come together to undertake R and D projects, including projects under the LINK and EUREKA initiatives. The Department will also work with other Departments, the research councils and in Europe to help this process to succeed. DTI will therefore :
design its innovation services for delivery involving one-stop shops ;
support the establishment of local partnerships through which firms can obtain the technology and business services they need for innovation ;
consult industry over a more comprehensive information service about technology overseas ;
work to harness publicly-funded effort in science and technology ; through its sector divisions and otherwise, act as a voice for business in science and technology throughout Government.
In view of the decision to increase support for technology transfer and best practice activities, DTI will be reducing its support for industry/industry collaboration through its innovation budget, and from 1 September will support only projects which will result in exceptional economic benefit.
Recognising the particularly important contribution that smaller companies make to the innovative process, direct single-company support to small SMEs will continue under the successful small firms merit award for research and technology--SMART--competition and SPUR--support for products under research--scheme. However, from 1 April 1994 it is proposed to limit SPUR to companies with up to 250 employees in order to concentrate on the smaller firms which have the greatest difficulty in raising R and D capital.
Kvaerner Govan
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much intervention funding Kvaerner Govan has received over the last five years.
Mr. Sainsbury : Offers of grant and details of the amounts paid are matters of commercial confidence between the Department and the company concerned.
Column 583
Mr. Byers : To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many ships Kvaerner Govan has received shipbuilding intervention funding in the last five years ; and what is the total value of the assistance given.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 25 May 1993] : Offers of grant and details of the amounts paid are matters of commercial confidence between the Department and the company concerned.
Lead Batteries
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans his Department has to ensure that the level of lead batteries currently recycled is maintained and increased.
Mr. Eggar : I am aware that a combination of factors, including the current low price of lead, is reported by lead acid battery recyclers to be making their recovery operations increasingly uneconomic. On 5 May my Department issued a consultation paper seeking views on the options open to the United Kingdom for implementing the Directive on Batteries and Accumulators Containing Certain Dangerous Substances (91/157/EEC). This explores the possibilities for maintaining and increasing the traditionally high United Kingdom recycling rate for lead acid batteries. Officials recently met the battery recyclers and their representative organisation, the Lead Development Association, and encouraged them to make proposals as part of their response to this consultation paper.
Swan Hunter
Mr. Trotter : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make an application to the European Commission to allow payments to be made from the shipbuilding intervention fund to Swan Hunter.
Mr. Sainsbury : I have written today to European Commissioner van Miert to ask him to reconsider the eligibility of British warship yards for the shipbuilding intervention fund.
British Coal Superannuation Scheme
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the level in each year from 1983 of the social cost grant provided to British Coal to help it meet the cost of additional contributions to its staff superannuation scheme in respect of early pensions and pensions for redundant miners ; if he will provide full details of the terms and conditions associated with these grants ; and what provision is made for alteration of social cost grant levels if British Coal meets its contributions by using part of the surplus in its pension fund.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 19 April 1993] : Grant provided to British Coal with respect to the staff superannuation scheme has been as follows :
Year |£ million
------------------------------
1983-84 |3.9
1984-85 |9.1
1985-86 |12.5
1986-87 |27.4
1987-88 |47.6
1988-89 |55.3
1989-90 |59.3
1990-91 |68.7
1991-92 |72.1
1992-93 |80.4
|-----
Total |436.3
Grant payments have been made under the relevant provisions of the Coal Industry Acts 1965, 1967 and 1987 and Coal Industry (Restructuring Grant) Orders 1987 to 1992. Grant will continue to be paid in respect of eligible expenditure by British Coal.
SCOTLAND
Police Services
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take the necessary steps to arrange for the prefix royal to be added to each of the police services in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No.
Woodlands
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Griffiths) on 2 February, Official Report, column 177, whether any access agreements have been made or proposed since October 1991 in respect of any woodlands sold by the Forestry Commission before that date.
Sir Hector Monro : The arrangements for securing public access to woodlands sold by the Forestry Commission were introduced in October 1991 and could not apply to land sold before that date.
Forestry Commission
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will set out his current targets for the sale of Forestry Commission land in the United Kingdom in the current year and for each of the next three years.
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