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Mr. Curry : Our policy is to allow a reasonable time for interested parties to express their views. In order to clarify
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gipsies' position in the planning system, it is important that the guidance is issued as soon as possible. I do not therefore propose to extend the two-month consultation period beyond the end of July.District Councils
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each district council with no overall political control (a) the total population, (b) the total capital budget for 1993-94 and (c) the total revenue budget for 1993-94
Mr. Baldry : I have arranged for the available information to be placed in the Library of the House.
Urban Regeneration Agency
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the selection of a chief executive for the Urban Regeneration Agency.
Mr. Gummer : Lord Walker of Worcester, as chairman-designate of the URA, has selected Mr. David Taylor, currently the managing director of AMEC Developments Ltd., to be the agency's first chief executive. Mr. Taylor has been chosen in open competition from a field of 178 applicants. He will bring to the agency a wealth of experience in regeneration gained during his private sector career. Subject to enactment of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Bill, he will be appointed chief executive by the agency when established later this year.
European Regional Development Fund
Mr. Milligan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he is making for the issue of supplementary credit approvals to local authorities in England in respect of ERDF grants in 1993 -94.
Mr. Curry : Supplementary credit approvals will be issued quarterly for ERDF expenditure defrayed on approved projects for which local authorities have submitted grant claims. In addition, temporary increases in authorities' aggregate credit limits will be available on request to assist the financing of expenditure on approved ERDF projects in the period before supplementary credit approvals are received. Local authorities in England are being advised by letter today of these arrangements.
Building Management Businesses
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made in selling the Building Management Business.
Mr. Curry : I hope to exchange contracts with purchasers of the Building Management Businesses shortly. We are proceeding with individual sales as negotiations are completed. Parliamentary approval of new expenditure to enable the vendor to complete the sales will be sought in a winter supplementary estimate for the sale of PSA Services businesses vote- -class VII vote 13. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure will be met by repayable advances from the contingencies fund.
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Ground Maintenance Work, Chester
Mr. Brandreth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has decided to take against the city of Chester following the notice served on the authority on 1 April, under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988, in respect of ground maintenance work.
Mr. Baldry : My right hon. Friend has given careful consideration to the response which the City of Chester has made to the notice served on 1 April 1993, and has today given a direction under section 14 of the Local Government Act 1988 in respect of ground maintenance work. The direction places restrictions on the extent to which the authority can undertake ground maintenance work without the express agreement of the Secretary of State.
HEALTH
Boxers
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many boxers have been killed, or brain damaged by boxing in each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville : The information requested concerning deaths for the period 1987 to 1991 in England and Wales is routinely published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in its monitor entitled "Fatal accidents occurring during sporting and leisure activities" series DH4 ; information for 1992 is not yet available.
During this period, one death was registered in 1987.
The information requested for the incidence of brain damage is not available centrally.
District Nurses
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of whole-time equivalent district nurses in 1992.
Mr. Sackville : The latest information shows that in England, at 30 September 1991, there were 9,900 whole-time equivalent district nurses.
At October 1992, there were 9,120 whole-time equivalent practice nurses.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department will establish a joint research programme with the Medical Research Council into the physical origins and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Mr. Sackville : A task force on myalgic encephalomyelitis--ME--is preparing a report which should provide a basis for considering a more structured approach to research in this field. Both the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the Department will continue to receive and evaluate individual proposals for ME research.
Thames Region Provider Units
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many neuroscience, plastic surgery, cancer, cardiac and renal beds there are in each provider unit in the Thames region ;
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(2) if she will list the provider units in the Thames region at present in respect of each of paediatric, neuroscience, plastic surgery, cancer, cardiac and renal services ; and the number of beds in each unit.Dr. Mawhinney : The number of ordinary and day case patients treated by specialty for districts and trusts have been published in "Ordinary and day case admissions for England 1991-92", a copy of which is available in the Library. Information on beds by specialty is not available centrally.
Speech Therapy
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children have been identified as requiring speech therapy in the city of Newcastle in each of the last five years ;
(2) what has been the average waiting time, for each of the last five years, for children in the city of Newcastle waiting to receive speech therapy from the point at which speech therapy is recommended to the date at which treatment commences.
Mr. Bowis : The information requested is not available centrally. However, for children aged 15 or under in Newcastle, 670 new episodes of speech therapy treatment were started in 1989-90, 695 in 1990-91 and 727 in 1991-92.
Residential Care
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to initiate a public inquiry into the running of all residential care establishments in connection with allegations of maltreatment of children in such establishments ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : None. Since 1991, there have been a number of inquiries into specific aspects of residential child care. Where there are specific allegations of mistreatment, the Government are always concerned to ensure that they are thoroughly investigated by the managing authorities, as laid down in procedures for child protection and that appropriate action is taken in the event of the confirmation of such allegations. We have recently established a residential child care support force whose prime purpose will be to promote improvements in the quality and delivery of the service for these young people.
Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish the terms of reference of the support force for children's residential care.
Mr. Bowis : We are currently consulting on draft terms of reference which are as follows :
1. a. to offer advice to individual authorities on quality of care and management issues in children's residential care, with particular reference to the appointment and selection, personnel management, and development and internal training of children's residential care staff.
b. to offer advice to individual authorities and, where appropriate, groups of authorities on suitable mechanisms for matching need and supply in their localities or regions, taking account of the potential contributions of voluntary, private and public sectors ; and on related commissioning and contractual issues. A particular focus of the work will be to assist authorities and others to improve occupancy rates and hence reduce unit costs in children's residential homes where this is appropriate.
c. to prepare material for a code of employment practice, for discussion with employer and other interests.
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2. The Children's Residential Care Support Force will work under Department of Health auspices, and from time to time as requested, report on its programme and progress. It will work with social services and, as appropriate, other agencies by invitation in a consulting and facilitating role. The Social Services Inspectorate's advice will be available to it. It will work within the framework of the Children Act 1989 and regulations and guidance issued following that and other relevant legislation ; the Warner report and Government decisions in it ; and other material that may be relevant. Its remit is for a period of two years from the summer of 1993. Ministers will then review the progress made.I expect to be able to announce next month the membership of the support force.
Cervical Smear Tests
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how frequently in each district health authority area (a) women between the ages of 20 years and 35 years and (b) women over 35 years receive cervical smear tests.
Mr. Sackville : The information is not available centrally, but a report by the National Audit Office in 1992 found that at 31 March 1991, 46 per cent. of districts in England recalled women every five years, 39 per cent. recalled every three years and the remaining 15 per cent. recalled different women at different intervals. The central method of collecting information on the cervical screening programme is currently being revised, and it is intended that this information will be available from the financial year 1994-95.
Nurse Regrading
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses have been waiting five years or more to complete the appeals procedure for regrading.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she has to buy out nurses regrading appeals ; and if she will make a statement on the situation (a) nationally and (b) in the Nottingham area.
Mr. Sackville : Local managers have been asked to consider the use of buy-outs where they judge such measures will be cost effective. Some appellants in the Nottingham area have accepted buy-out offers and others will be considering doing so.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Sherwood (Mr. Tipping), of 15 June, Official Report, column 510, if she will give the information on outstanding nurses' grading appeals by grade of nurse, including auxiliaries.
Mr. Sackville : Information on the number of appeals outstanding by grade at employing authority level is not available centrally. At regional level, no reliable data are currently available. The information on the number of appeals outstanding by grade at national level for England is shown in the table.
Nurses and midwives clinical grading appeals outstanding as at 31 May 1993 England Grade claimed |National level --------------------------------------------- B |465 C |214 D |160 E |188 F |415 G |437 H |248 I |27
Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken to reduce the number of new-born babies dying from respiratory distress syndrome ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 17 June 1993] : Information about the effectiveness of clinical treatments is available to doctors through professional journals and other scientific publications. The results of widespread clinical trials have been published which suggest that artificial surfactant is an effective treatment for premature babies suffering from, or at high risk of, respiratory distress syndrome. The use of this treatment has grown rapidly within the national health service, even though it only became available commercially 18 months ago.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Potatoes
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many tonnes of potatoes have been supplied as aid to each region or nation in the former Yugoslavia ; for what purposes they were provided ; where they were sourced ; what was the price per tonne paid to the growers ; what was the price per tonne paid by his Department ; what information he has that seed potatoes so provided were actually planted ; and what further aid is contemplated in respect of the agricultural industry.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : At the request of UNHCR we supplied 2,000 tonnes of seed potatoes to the Tuzla region of Bosnia in March of this year. These were provided as part of our humanitarian aid programme to the former Yugoslavia to provide a cost-effective food source for the local population during 1993. They were procured through a supplier in Scotland who obtained supplies from more than 30 growers. The price paid to the supplier, reflecting both the urgency and the requirement for export-grade super elite standard potatoes, was £140 per tonne for 1,000 tonnes of Desiree potatoes and £145 per tonne for 1,000 tonnes of Pentland Squire potatoes. In addition to the costs of purchase this price included grading, bagging, marking and certification.
Our representatives in the former Yugoslavia have confirmed that the seed potatoes have been planted, and that the aid was well received and used. We have no plans for any further such projects at present.
Somalia
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the number of Somalis dependent for food aid on foreign donors.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In February the World Food Programme/Food and Agriculture Organisation crop and food supply assessment mission estimated that 200,000 tonnes of imported food aid would be required to support approximately 2.5 million Somalis in the period March to August 1993.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about the number of children currently dying in Somalia from measles, dysentery, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, malaria and other illnesses.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The demise of health services in Somalia makes it extremely difficult for relief agencies to compile reliable statistics on the incidence of child mortality.
Since January 1992 and in response to individual requests from relief agencies, we have committed £2.8 million in humanitarian aid funds in support of health care activities. This includes support for mother and child health care programmes and an expanded programme on immunisation, both of which are helping to reduce the incidence of disease in children.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made in removal of mines in Somalia ; and what assistance his Department has given.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The British company Rimfire has been training and supervising more than 400 local people in a major mine clearance programme in north-west Somalia, the worst affected region, for the last 19 months. Over that period, we have contributed £673,000 to the Hargeisa part of the operation. Work in Hargeisa has now been completed. Later this year we expect UNOSOM II to put forward a plan to address the mine clearance needs of the whole of Somalia. In the meantime Rimfire's multi-donor funded operation in the north-west continues.
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in involving Somali professionals in the reconstruction of the country.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : UNOSOM II employs some Somali professional staff and relief agencies rely heavily on Somali staff, many of whom are professionals, to help plan and implement their programmes. We shall encourage the employment of Somali professionals wherever appropriate and expect the numbers employed to accelerate as the process of recovery gets under way.
EMPLOYMENT
Training
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many complaints have been received about the standard of training at agencies to which his Department refers clients.
Miss Widdecombe : There is no central record of such complaints. Local training and enterprise councils contract with providers to deliver Government funded training programmes in their areas. TECs are required to operate quality control procedures and will take up any complaint made to them by a client.
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Disabled People
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement outlining the current training provision given to disability employment advisers concerning the interpretation of reasonable cause for the dismissal of registered disabled people from employment.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The question whether there is reasonable cause for a particular dismissal is a matter of fact for the court to decide in the light of all the circumstances of the case. Disability employment advisers do not advise on such matters and, therefore, receive no specific training on the interpretation of this provision.
Youth Training
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of young people who are eligible for youth training schemes under the youth training guarantee are receiving such training ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : In May there were around 241,000 young people in England on youth training--YT--or participating in youth credits, there were a further 4,000 young people who were covered by the YT guarantee and had been waiting for a YT place for eight or more weeks, of whom 1,600 had already received an offer.
Information on how many young people who are in training and were covered by the guarantee is not available.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Sunday Trading
12. Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have taken place on breaches of the Sunday trading laws in the last 12-month period for which figures are available.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : In 1991, the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available, 522 prosecutions were brought under part IV of the Shops Act, of which 86 were brought to successful conclusions.
Street Violence
13. Mr. Couchman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what priority he attaches to initiatives addressed to street violence and mugging.
Mr. Charles Wardle : A high priority is given to such initiatives. Many of the schemes funded by the safer cities programme have been targeted at street violence.
Fire and Civil Defence Authorities
14. Mr. O'Hara : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when next he plans to meet representatives of the fire and civil defence authorities to discuss their funding requirements for 1994-95.
Mr. Charles Wardle : There are no immediate plans for such a meeting.
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Prison Privatisation
15. Ms Eagle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of his Department's prison privatisation programme.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Following the contracting out of the Wolds remand prison and Her Majesty's prison Blakenhurst, tenders for Her Majesty's prison Doncaster are to be invited in July. The market testing of Manchester prison is proceeding and a decision on the service supplier is expected in July.
17. Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will allow the existing prison service to bid to run the prison in future prison privatisation.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Prison Service will not be bidding in the next competitive tender to run Her Majesty's prison Doncaster. This continues the policy of no in-house bids for new establishments in the current building programme, which ends with Doncaster. The service will concentrate on preparing in-house bids for the next tranche of market testing of existing establishments.
Police Service (Changes)
16. Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans next to meet representatives of the Superintendents Association in the north-west to discuss the Government's proposed changes to the police service.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to meet north-western representatives of the Superintendents Association.
Sentencing
18. Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding appeals against lenient sentences ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : We receive representations from time to time both about individual cases and about the scope of the powers vested in my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. His careful and discriminating use of those powers has repeatedly proved the wisdom of that legislation.
Juvenile Offenders
19. Mr. Wells : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has carried out into current methods of dealing with persistent juvenile offenders.
Mr. Maclean : The Home Office has commissioned more than 47 research projects on various aspects of juvenile crime since 1979 ; but the Government's conclusion that the existing powers of the courts to deal with persistent juvenile offending are unsatisfactory also took account of views firmly expressed by experienced practitioners within the criminal justice system. Currently an in-depth survey of persistent juvenile offending, and the response made to it, is being carried out in two London
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boroughs and one midlands county as part of the preparation for the introduction of the new secure training order for persistent juvenile offenders which my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) announced in his statement on 2 March 1993, Official Report, columns 139-42.22. Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current measures to deal with persistent juvenile offenders.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. and learned Friend shares the view of his predecessor that the powers currently available to the courts when they have to deal with persistent juvenile offenders are unsatisfactory. He intends therefore to take forward the proposals for the secure training order which my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) announced to the House on 2 March 1993, Official Report, columns 139-42, and to bring the necessary legislation before the House as soon as possible.
Mr. Jim Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers to discuss the problems arising from juvenile offenders ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. and learned Friend met the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers on 28 May 1993 although he has not yet had the opportunity to discuss the subject of juvenile offending with representatives of the association. He is, however, aware of the views which they have expressed about it, for example in evidence given earlier this year to the Select Committee on Home Affairs.
Crime Levels, Yorkshire
20. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to visit Yorkshire in the near future to discuss levels of crime.
Mr. Maclean : My right hon. and learned Friend has, at present, no plans to make such a visit ; but we have, and will maintain, regular contacts with services, organisations and individuals knowledgeable about crime in Yorkshire.
Security Services
21. Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy towards parliamentary accountability of the security services.
Mr. Howard : Government policy on the accountability of the Security Service was set out in their reply to the report of the Select Committee on Home Affairs which was published on 27 May.
British Summer Time
23. Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the extension of British summer time.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : As I explained in my reply to a question from the hon. Member on 30 November 1992,
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Official Report , column 7 , the Government will bring forward proposals on future summer time arrangements when the outcome of the current review by the European Commission is clear.Car Crime
24. Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with car manufacturers about reducing the incidence of car theft.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is represented on the Home Office advisory committee on car crime prevention, one of the main aims of which is to consider what practical steps car manufacturers and others can take to reduce the incidence of car theft.
Mr. James Hill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with fleet buyers in seeking to prevent car crime.
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