| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those sites within the United Kingdom where radioactive shells have been tested in the last 30 years.
Mr. Aitken : I assume that the hon. Member is referring to anti- armour kinetic energy penetrator rounds containing depleted uranium. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Ainger) on 14 June, Official Report, columns 474-75.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what year the testing of radioactive shells was first undertaken within the United Kingdom.
Mr. Aitken : I assume the hon. Member is referring to anti-armour kinetic energy penetrator rounds containing
Column 820
depleted uranium, DU. DU firings in the United Kingdom began with a small research programme at Eskmeals starting in 1963.Military Equipment Exports
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the United Kingdom's 20 principal military equipment customers in terms of descending money volume of purchases.
Mr. Aitken : It has been the policy of successive Governments not to reveal details of arms sales to individual countries. However, table 1.11 of "UK Defence Statistics 1993" gives information on the value of sales broken down by region.
Radiation-related Illness
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a breakdown of the 126 claims for compensation from radiation- related illnesses, as outlined in A5, pages 39 to 40 of the Twelfth report of the Defence Committee, HC479, Session 1989-90, by establishment as well as by year and nature ; and if he will provide comparable information for periods since 1990.
Mr. Aitken : The tables give details of claims made--not necessarily followed up by the claimant or accepted--over the periods referred to in the Defence Committee report HC479, Session 1989-90 and the period from 1990.
Breakdown of claims by establishment
for the period January 1979
to December 1989
|Claims
----------------------------------------
AWE |101
ROF Radway Green |1
RNAY Fleetlands |1
RAF Whitney |1
RRE Malvern |2
RNAD Coulport |3
HNB Faslane |1
HNB Chatham |3
Devonport Dockyard |4
Rosyth Dockyard |2
Vickers-Barrow in Furness |1
HNB Portsmouth |1
Vulcan NRTE |1
HMS Dreadnought |1
HMS Battleaxe |1
Radar Site-Cyprus |1
British Rail Depot-Derby |1
For the period from January 1990 to July 1993, there have been 25 claims received so far.
Breakdown of claims by year and nature
for the period January 1990 to July 1993
Illness |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leukaemia |- |- |- |- |3
Acute Myeloid |- |- |- |1 |-
Acute Lymphoblastic |1 |- |- |- |-
Chronic Myeloid |- |1 |- |- |-
Cancer |- |- |- |- |10
(Unspecified) |1 |1 |1 |3 |-
Lung |1 |1 |- |- |-
Bladder |- |- |1 |- |-
Testicular |- |- |1 |- |-
Others
(Specified) |- |- |- |- |12
Hodgkins Disease
(Lymphoma) |- |1 |- |1 |-
Malignant Melanoma |1 |- |- |- |-
Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma |- |- |1 |- |-
Subarachnoid Haemorrhage |- |1 |- |- |-
Mental Anxiety |2 |2 |3 |- |-
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Sub Totals |6 |7 |8 |4 |25
Breakdown of claims by
establishment
for the period January 1990
to July 1993
|Number
-----------------------------
AWE |14
Rosyth |3
HNB Chatham |4
HMS Revenge |1
HMS Courage |1
RCC Amersham |1
RAF Waddington |1
Atomic Weapons Establishments
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) all laws, statutes and regulations which AWE Aldermaston could claim Crown immunity prior to 1 April and (b) all laws, statutes and regulations which Hunting BRAE, as managing contractors of AWE Aldermaston, can claim Crown immunity from ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : Prior to 1 April 1993, all AWE sites were owned and operated by the Crown. It is a well-established rule that the Crown is not bound by statute unless this is specifically stated, or it is clear that the Crown is to be bound by implication. To list all legislation from which AWE could have claimed Crown immunity prior to 1 April 1993 would therefore involve disproportionate effort and cost. However, even in circumstances where the Crown is not bound by legislation, it is Government policy that it should comply as though such requirements apply to it, wherever this is appropriate and practicable.
Special provisions relating to the operator of the AWE after contractorisation on 1 April 1993 are set out in the schedule to the AWE Act 1991.
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions AWE Aldermaston is having with the nuclear installations inspectorate regarding the possibility of providing a site licence for the atomic weapons establishments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : In the studies leading up to the contractorisation of the atomic weapons establishment, my Department held discussions with the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate concerning the possible licensing of appropriate sites of the atomic weapons establishments. These discussions are planned to continue following the HSE review of health and safety at AWEs and in the light of the conclusions of that review.
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provisions now govern the liability of contractors of the atomic weapons establishments, to prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive for any breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1976.
Column 822
Mr. Aitken : The contractor operating the atomic weapons establishment, Hunting BRAE Ltd., is subject to the full range of legal sanctions available to Health and Safety Executive inspectors under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Defence Commitments
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the United Kingdom's overseas defence commitments by country in (a) 1980, (b) 1985 and (c) 1993 ; and what was the infantry manpower required to meet each of those commitments ; (2) if he will list the United Kingdom's domestic defence commitments in (a) 1980, (b) 1985 and (c) 1993 ; and what was the amount of infantry manpower required to meet each of those commitments.
Mr. Hanley : The United Kingdom's defence commitments worldwide are set out in the "Statement on the Defence Estimates" for 1980, 1985 and 1993 ; overall figures for deployments of each of the armed forces are set out in volume II of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates" for 1980 and 1985, and in "United Kingdom Defence Statistics 1993". Figures for infantry personnel stationed in the United Kingdom and overseas for 1980, 1985 and 1993 are as follows ;
Country |1980 |1985 |1993 ------------------------------------------------- United Kingdom |29,041 |26,147 |24,654 Germany |11,152 |9,921 |5,915 Cyprus |1,181 |1,162 |904 Gibraltar |581 |622 |18 Hong Kong |790 |801 |671 Caribbean |523 |574 |487 Falkland Islands |- |- |175 Others |541 |2,529 |1,548 Notes: 1. Separate figures are not available for the Falkland Islands for 1980 and 1985. Figures for those years are included under "Others". 2. Figures for Belize are included under "Caribbean".
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of United Kingdom Army personnel to meet (a) its domestic defence commitments and (b) its overseas defence commitments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The size of the British Army matches its commitments at home and overseas.
Staff Numbers
Mr. Brazier : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 19 July, Official Report, column 87-88, on the numbers of civilian and service staff in post, if he will publish the comparable figures for 1 January 1990.
Mr. Hanley : The information is as follows :
=
|1 April 1990
-------------------------------------------------------------
Civilian staff in post
Grade 3 |<1>65
Grade 5 |<1>373
Service staff in post
Major Generals (and equivalents) |149
Brigadiers (and equivalents) |393
<1> Civilian data for 1 January 1990 are not available.
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Army's manpower in thousands in (a) 1980, (b) 1992, (c) 1993 and (d) 1994 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The strength of the Regular Army, excluding Gurkhas, as at 1 April of the years in question is as follows :
(a) 1980--159,000, (b) 1992--145,000, (c) 1993--135,000 and (d) 1994-- 120,000 (current forecast).
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the percentage reduction, since the "Options for Change" announcements in (a) first division civil servants and (b) executive officers employed by the Ministry of Defence ; and what are the corresponding reductions in armed forces' uniformed manpower.
Mr. Hanley : The information is as follows :
|1 April 1990 |1 April 1993 |Percentage change
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First division civil
servants |4,071 |3,825 |-4.78
Colonels and
equivalents and
above |2,074 |1,914 |-7.71
Executive officers |42,467 |39,877 |-6.10
2nd
Lieutenants-Lt
Colonels and
equivalents |38,456 |37,380 |-2.80
Note:
First Division civil servants are taken to be Grades 1-7. Executive officers are taken to be
those in the executive band in the Grades of Senior Executive Officer, Higher Executive
Officer and Executive Officer Grades.
Northern Ireland
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much infantry manpower was deployed in Northern Ireland in (a) 1980, (b) 1990, (c) 1991 and (d) 1992 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : I will write to my hon. Friend.
Gurkha Pensioners
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many years it has been the practice of Her Majesty's Government to provide free medical services to Gurkha pensioners in Nepal ; whether this has included provision of free medicines ; and what steps are proposed to maintain such provision.
Mr. Hanley : Although the Government have no obligation to provide medical services, free or otherwise, to Gurkha pensioners in Nepal the Ministry of Defence has since 1969 provided funding, in the form of grant in aid, to the Gurkha Welfare Trust--GWT--a charity whose operating arm, the Gurkha Welfare Scheme, runs a welfare service in Nepal for Gurkha ex- service men. Although at its introduction the grant was intended to cover administrative costs and medicines, in 1973 the GWT requested that the grant be used solely for administrative costs ; the salaries of the field and support
Column 824
staff and the rent of offices. This request was granted on the basis that the cost of providing drugs and medical care would be met from the trust's charitable funds. There are no plans to change this arrangement.In addition, Gurkha pensioners were also able to receive free treatment at the British military hospital in Dharan in eastern Nepal which provided medical care including medicines to serving British Gurkhas and their dependants on a no-cost basis from its opening in 1960 until it was handed over to the Nepalese Government in 1990.
Helicopters
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the EH101 utility support helicopter for the Royal Air Force meets his detailed specification justification.
Mr. Aitken : We have made good progress in defining our support helicopter requirement, and we hope to be in a position to announce our procurement strategy soon.
Property Disposals
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the book value of the land and buildings disposed of by his Ministry in each region of the United Kingdom, for each year from 1988-89 until 1992 -93 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The Ministry of Defence does not maintain a comprehensive set of book values of its land and buildings.
Danger Money
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) which regiments currently receive extra payments in respect of dangerous postings ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what is the amount per month for a United Kingdom service person on top of their basic salary when extra payments are made in respect of a dangerous posting.
Mr. Hanley : No United Kingdom service personnel receive extra payments in respect of dangerous postings.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the agreed code of practice to eliminate racial discrimination and promote equal opportunities in the Army will be made public.
Mr. Hanley : We intend to publish a code of practice on race relations in the armed forces in the autumn. The code will be disseminated throughout the three services and I will arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
Surplus Land
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy on maximising the financial return from the sale of surplus land.
Mr. Hanley : It is my Department's policy to seek to maximise the return for the taxpayer when disposing of
Column 825
surplus sites. This is normally best achieved through open market competitive sale once the full planning potential of the property has been explored.HEALTH
Information Technology
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the companies to which the information management group of the national health service management executive has awarded any contracts and the total sums of money paid to these companies.
Mr. Sackville : The information will be placed in the Library.
Tranquilliser Addiction
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance her Department gives to patients who have become addicted to tranquillisers and are seeking legal redress against those who marketed these drugs ; what is the estimated level of tranquilliser drug addiction in the United Kingdom ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Our "Health of the Nation" strategy addresses the problems of prescribing benzodiazepines and the need to review their use, and health authorities are responsible for purchasing any treatment required. Matters of compensation, however, are for individuals to pursue with the companies concerned, if necessary through the courts, as in other areas of health care. Information about tranquilliser drug addiction is not available centrally.
Herbal Products
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action she will take to ensure that the Committee for Proprietary Medical Products of the EC consults appropriate professional and consumer bodies at European level in respect of the continuous sale of herbal products ;
(2) what representations she has received from the National Institute of Medical Herbalists regarding the recommendations of the Committee for Proprietary Medical Products of the EC that certain herbs should be removed from supply ;
(3) if she will consult the National Institute of Medical Herbalists and other bodies representing consumer interests about the work of the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products of the EC ; (4) what information she has about the recommendations of the Committee for Proprietary Medicines of the EC in respect of the continued sale of herbal products ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The European Community Committee for Proprietary Medicines--CPMP--does consult member states, industry representative bodies and other interested parties on all draft guidelines. Representations were received from the National Institute of Medical Herbalists--NIMH--that it had not been consulted about a list of herbs withdrawn for safety reasons compiled by the CPMP. The NIMH was advised that the list was simply a factual record of those herbs which had already been withdrawn nationally from
Column 826
medicinal products by one or more member states and that the list had been sent to the European Scientific Co- operative for Phytotherapy--ESCOP--in response to ESCOP's proposals for monographs on certain herbal ingredients. The list was published in the recent annual report of the CPMP.Authorisations relating to particular medicinal products are the responsibility of the regulatory body of the member state concerned.
NHS Trusts
Dr. Goodson-Wickes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list by region the NHS trusts in existence or for which applications are in progress, and the direct managed units.
Mr. Sackville : This information will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 20 July, Official Report, column 114, if she will provide a list of trusts which received grants, by wave and district health authority.
Mr. Sackville : I will write to the hon. Member.
NHS Computer Procurement
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines her Department issues to regional health authorities on tendering procedures for supplies information system contracts ; (2) what advice her Department has issued to regional health authorities on the purchase of products related to hospital information support systems.
Mr. Sackville : I will write to the hon. Member.
Prescriptions
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State forr 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1993-94 and (b) the out-turn expenditures so far as available, with the percentage over-or under-spend together with indexes for the combined general practitioner and fund holder spend in each area in cash and standard NHS prices.
Mr. Sackville : We do not hold prescribing information in index form, the available information will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners were requested to supply further information about their prescribing practices in the North Tyneside and Newcastle FHSA areas in 1991-92 and 1992-93 ; and what action was taken on such information.
Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally.
Mental Health
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints by or on behalf of children and young people aged under 18 years have been investigated by the Mental Health Act Commission in each year since 1985.
Column 827
Mr. Bowis : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will seek to extend the remit of the Mental Health Act Commission to cover informal patients.
Mr. Bowis : We have no current plans to do so.
Zoplicone
Mr. Radice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidence she holds on the dependence risk of zoplicone in clinical usage ;
(2) what representations have been made by her Department since 1989 to the manufacturers of Zimovane, in respect of their claims that there is no evidence of dependence in clinical use ; and what was the outcome ;
(3) what action she proposes to take against the manufacturers of Zimovane in respect of their claims that there is no evidence of dependence in clinical use.
Mr. Sackville : When zopiclone--Zimovane--was first marketed in 1989, there was no evidence from clincial studies that the drug could cause dependence. The safety data obtained post-marketing suggest that the drug has some dependence potential. These data indicate that the risk of dependence increases with dose and duration of treatment and is great in patients with a history of alcohol and drug abuse. There is little evidence of dependence if the drug is used at the licensed doses for no more than four weeks.
The manufacturers changed the prescribing information in 1990 and 1992 at the request of the Medicines Control Agency--MCA--to reflect post-marketing experience. The promotional material for zopiclone now states that the drug has minimal dependence potential when used in the short term ; this claim is consistent with the available scientific evidence. The European Community Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products is reviewing the dependence potential of all short-acting hypnotic drugs, including zopiclone. The prescribing information on dependence for all hypnotics may be amended by the MCA as a result of this review.
Drugs (Misleading Advertising)
Mr. Radice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions in each of the last five years her Department prosecuted a drug product licence holder for false or misleading advertising within the meaning of section 92 of the Medicines Act 1968.
Mr. Sackville : No medicines product licence holders have been prosecuted for offences relating to misleading advertising during the last five years.
Young People (Complaints)
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been received from children and young people at each youth treatment centre since the introduction of formal compliants procedures.
Mr. Bowis : Formal complaints procedures were voluntarily introduced in the Glenthorne and St. Charles centres in 1989 and 1991 respectively. The number of complaints recorded by each centre over these periods is shown in the table.
Column 828
|Glenthorne |St. Charles
----------------------------------------------------------
April 1989-March 1990 |36 |-
April 1990-March 1991 |44 |-
April 1992-March 1993 |54 |12
Figures for 1991-92 were not collated as the service was under review prior to establishment as an executive unit of the Department from 1 April 1992.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many complaints have been made by or on behalf of children aged under 18 years concerning (a) hospital care, (b) clinical judgments and (c) health care in the community in each year since 1985 ;
(2) how many complaints by or on behalf of children and young people aged under 18 years have been made to the health service Commissioner in each year since 1985 ; and how many of those complaints concerned (a) health authorities, (b) the Mental Health Act Commission and (c) the Public Health Service Laboratory board.
Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health is she will list the date, incident, and local authority involved on each occasion when she has had reason to intervene under section 84 of the Children Act 1989.
Mr. Bowis : The power has not to date been exercised.
Complaint Procedures (Schools)
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what efforts are currently being made by her Department to monitor the implementation of her Department's guidelines on the establishment of complaints procedures within independent schools.
Mr. Bowis : Independent schools which are children's homes are required by the Representations Procedure (Children) Regulations 1991 to set up a representations procedure with an independent element to consider complaints and other representations made by or on behalf of children accommodated by them but not looked after by local authorities.
Other independent schools with boarding pupils are expected, in fulfilling their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children accommodated by them, to have a procedure to enable the children to raise concerns which cannot be dealt with informally and to raise these with an independent person if necessary.
The social services inspectorate reviews local authorities' inspections of these schools.
Rights of the Child
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the reservations entered by her Department on the United Nations convention on the rights of the child ; and what was the reason behind each reservation.
Mr. Sackville : The Government entered the following two reservations in respect of matters for which the Department of Health has responsibility. These are set out in "Treaty Series No. 44 (1992), Convention on the Rights of the Child", presented to Parliament in July 1992.
Column 829
a. The United Kingdom interprets the Convention as applicable only following a live birth.b. The United Kingdom interprets the references in the Convention to "parents" to mean only those persons who, as a matter of national law, are treated as parents. This includes cases where the law regards a child as having only one parent, for example where a child has been adopted by one person only and in certain cases where a child is conceived other than as a result of sexual intercourse by the woman who gives birth to it and she is treated as the only parent.
The reservations reflect the existing position under United Kingdom law in the fields abortion, adoption and assisted conception.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement outlining the timetable envisaged by her Department for the preparation of the report scheduled to be submitted by the United Kingdom to the United Nations committee on the rights of the child ; and if she will list the organisations to be consulted in the preparation of the report.
Mr. Bowis : The United Kingdom will submit its first report to the Convention on the rights of the child, on the measures adopted by the United Kingdom to give effect to the rights recognised in the convention, by 14 January 1994, as required by article 44 of the United Nations convention.
Accident and Emergency Departments
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 20 July, Official Report, column 116, if she will give the number of accidents and emergency departments in England in each year since 1979.
| Next Section
| Home Page |