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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 22 October 1993
TRANSPORT
Jubilee Line Extension
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the expected start and completion of the Jubilee line extension.
Mr. Norris : Good progress is being made in dealing with the legal and financial issues which must be satisfactorily resolved before the Secretary of State can authorise the start of construction. The extension is expected to enter passenger service 53 months after the start of construction.
European Night Services Ltd.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with the transport and competition directorate of the European Commission in relation to (a) the article 85 exemption procedure and (b) funding for British Rail investment in European Night Services Ltd. with respect to its south Wales-Paris-Brussels service proposal.
Mr. Freeman : The Department itself has not formally discussed these matters with the European Commission. European Night Services Ltd. is a joint enterprise by British Rail with French, German and Dutch railways. It is for them to arrange any exemptions and funding that may be required. The company and the railways concerned have applied to the Commission for formal confirmation that their operating agreements do not constitute restrictive practices prohibited by article 2 of Council regulation (EEC) No. 1017/68. I hope that the application will be viewed in a positive way.
M11 Link Road
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out in full the cost-benefit analysis economic justification for the M11 link road.
Mr. Norris : The last full assessment using an adaptation of the Department's COBA method was prepared for the 1987 public inquiry into the link road scheme. The supporting evidence presented to the inquiry is voluminous and so I will send a copy of it direct to the hon. Member.
Following this and other public inquiries and consultation, and in consideration of all the relevant factors, including but not solely the economics of the scheme, the Secretaries of State decided to proceed with the link road. The first of the four main contracts began on 13 September last and it is our intention to let further contracts to complete the link road by the end of 1997.
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Water Transport
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration his Department is currently giving to the use of the (a) coastal traffic, (b) navigable rivers and canals and (c) ports for moving freight from the motorways to waterways ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : The Department has commissioned two studies examining the scope for shifting freight from roads to water : inland waterways, coastal and short sea shipping.
We expect to publish a summary of the results of both studies shortly.
Additionally, the River Thames working group, which I chair, is looking at both freight and passenger traffic on the Thames, the constraints that limit that traffic, the potential for its development, and the means to realise that potential. The group hopes to report its findings during the late spring of 1994.
London Transport Finance
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes there were to London Transport's core business external financing limit for the financial year 1992-93.
Mr. Norris : The original 1992-93 EFL for LT's core business was £852 million. This was reduced by £84 million following the transfer of the docklands light railway to the London Docklands development corporation in April 1992, but then increased by £65 million in July 1992 due to additional funding to implement measures in London Underground Ltd.'s company plan. The final EFL was therefore £833 million.
From this total, LT was allowed to carry forward £33 million to the current financial year. This was in respect of core business items related to the Jubilee line extension.
Mr. Patrick Doyle
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a list of all meetings held and correspondence exchanged in the past 10 years between his Department and Mr. Patrick Doyle, now of AST Training ; what was the nature of such meetings or correspondence ; what plans he has to meet Mr. Patrick Doyle ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : The Department has no record of any meeting or correspondence with Mr. Doyle and has no plans to meet him.
M1/M62 Link
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the full cost to public funds of work undertaken on the proposal to build an M1/M62 motorway link in west Yorkshire ; and if he will break down the costings into their various elements.
Mr. MacGregor : The total cost to date of preparation work on the M1/M62 link road is £1,682,391. This is made up of :
|£
--------------------------------------------
Design Consultants Fees |1,516,346
Ordnance Survey |36,233
Blighted Property |82,626
Publicity |4,704
Miscellaneous |42,482
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 19 October 1993 (Mrs. Peacock), Official Report , column 200 , to the hon. Member for Batley and Spen, if he will give the full results of the public consultation exercise into his proposal for an M1/M62 motorway link in west Yorkshire, indicating the number of representations in favour and against the various options proposed.
Mr. MacGregor : A leaflet is in preparation which will include the information requested. This will be circulated in the next few days. I will ensure the hon. Member receives a copy.
HEALTH
Prescription List
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the items that will not be available on a national health service prescription from November.
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Member to statutory instrument No. 2421, laid before Parliament on 11 October which lists the drugs and other substances to be added to the list of items which may not be prescribed at national health service expense from 1 November 1993.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions in England were removed from the NHS provision by introducing limited lists in each year since 1988-89.
Dr. Mawhinney : The numbers of products removed from national health service prescription each year since 1988-89 are shown in the table :
Year |Number ---------------------- 1988-89 |174 1989-90 |27 1990-91 |87 1991-92 |100 1992-93 |121 1993-94 |653
Fund Holding
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give for 1993-94 (a) the amount of money budgeted by each district health authority for purchasing services of the types covered by the fund-holding regulations on behalf of patients of non-fund-holding practices, (b) the number of patients registered with non-fund-holding practices in each district health authority and (c) the amount of funding per capita budgeted by each district health authority for purchasing services of the type covered by the fund-holding regulations on behalf of patients registered with non-fund-holding practices.
Mr. Sackville : The information requested in (a) is collected by the Department of Health for regional health
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authorities only, not for individual authorities. That requested in (b) and (c) is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairmen of regional health authorities for this information.Health Authority Chairmen
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she advertises (a) internally and (b) externally for chairmen of regional health authorities whenever a post becomes vacant ; and if she will make a statement ;
(2) whether the recent vacant post of chairman of the West Midlands regional health authority was advertised before the post was filled ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We do not consider it appropriate or necessary to advertise for candidates for appointment as chairman of a regional health authority, as there are many suitable ones already known to us both in other national health service bodies and from outside the NHS.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what qualifications Sir Michael Carlisle had for being made chairman of the community health Sheffield NHS trust ; and if she will make a statement ;
(2) if she will state the age and qualifications of the chairman of the community health Sheffield NHS trust.
Dr. Mawhinney : Chairmen of national health service trusts are appointed for their personal qualities and skills. Sir Michael Carlisle has been involved with the NHS for more than 20 years and he has been chairman of Trent regional health authority since 1982. He is therefore eminently suitable for appointment as chairman of an NHS trust. As stated in the Department's press notice dated 23 August (HN893/925), Sir Michael is 63 years of age.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list by health authorities and by date, for the last 48 months, the amount of compensation that has been paid to chairmen of health authorities who have left before their term of office had expired ; and if she will make a statement as to what the special circumstances were for each payment made.
Dr. Mawhinney : With the agreement of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State decided to make a payment of £10,000 to Sir James Ackers, the former chairman of West Midlands regional health authority, under the provisions of paragraph 9(3) of schedule 5 to the National Health Service Act 1977 ; there have been no other such payments in the last 48 months.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the post of chairman of the community health Sheffield national health service trust was advertised (a) privately or (b) publicly ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : The position of the non-executive part-time chairman of this trust was not advertised. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has indicated that she would be willing to appoint the retiring chairman of Trent regional health authority, Sir Michael Carlisle, to this position on the basis of his record over many years as a chairman in the national health service and his willingness to undertake the important responsibilities that fall upon national health service trust chairmen.
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Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she advertises (a) internally or (b) externally for chairmen of national health service trusts whenever a post becomes vacant ; and if she will make a statement ;
(2) if she advertises (a) internally or (b) externally for chairmen of district health authorities whenever a post becomes vacant ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We ask regional health authority chairmen to assist in the initial selection of candidates for chairmen's appointments to national health service authorities and trusts in their area. It is for them to decide how to obtain a good range of suitable and able people, with close links with the community served by the national health service body in question, and who would be willing to undertake the exacting responsibilities involved in purchasing or providing good patient care for the local community.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what are the maximum ages for the appointment of national health service trust and authority (a) chairmen and (b) non-executive directors ; (2) what are the limits on the number of times national health service trust and health authority chairmen and non-executive directors can be reappointed.
Dr. Mawhinney : There are no limits on the number of times chairmen and non-executives can be reappointed, and no age limit for these appointments.
Community Care
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the progress of the development of a housing input in the second round of community care plans.
Mr. Bowis : Social services departments, housing authorities and other housing providers should work closely together in planning and providing services to meet local need. The social services inspectorate is currently undertaking a study of housing and community care issues.
Computers
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will order a public inquiry into the purchase of computers by the NHS.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the implications of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 for the future competitive ability of any contracting undertakings accepting responsibilities currently those of directly managed units or trusts within the health service, compared to competing organisations tendering in the future which are not subject to the same obligations.
Mr. Sackville : None. It is a matter for contractors through normal commercial practices and judgments to maintain their competitive ability throughout the market-testing process.
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Breast Cancer
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding is available for breast cancer research ; if she will give details of funding for each year since 1979 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The Government are committed to encouraging research into breast cancer. Within the Department's centrally commissioned research programme, £700,000 is expected to be spent on research specifically into breast cancer in 1993-94. Figures for cancer research funded by the Department broken down specifically for breast cancer are only available from the financial year 1990-91 onwards. These are :
|£000s
--------------------
1990-91 |417
1991-92 |477
1992-93 |531l
The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. We understand that MRC expenditure into breast cancer research was £2.7 million in 1990-91 and £1.6 million in 1991-92, the latest years for which figures are available.
Mr. Patrick Doyle
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a list of all meetings held and correspondence exchanged in the past 10 years between her Department and Mr. Patrick Doyle, now of AST Training ; what was the nature of such meetings or correspondence ; what plans she has to meet Mr. Patrick Doyle : and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not met Mr. Patrick Doyle and has no current plans to do so.
If the right hon. Member has any previous meetings or correspondence with officials of the Department in mind, perhaps he will give me further details.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Child Care Facilities
Mr. Allen : To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans he has to introduce on-site child care facilities for the children of hon. Members and staff of the House.
Mr. Beith : At the request of the House of Commons Commission and the Administration Committee, consultants have been commissioned to prepare a comprehensive questionnaire on child care facilities, which will include the option of on-site provision. It will be circulated before Christmas to hon. Members, to staff and to other appropriate groups of personnel working in the House. The information gathered from the responses to the questionnaire will be considered by the Committee and the Commission before any final decision on the provision of child care facilities is taken.
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Late Sittings (Cost)
Mr. Allen : To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what is his latest estimate of the costs of keeping the House open for sittings beyond 10 pm.
Mr. Beith : Additional costs are incurred when the House sits after 10.30 pm, but vary according to when the House rises. The House sat after 10.30 pm on some 37 occasions in May, June and July of this year, and the additional costs incurred in respect of House staff for this period are estimated to be £319,464.
Pre-1834 Furniture
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee (1) where is the pre-1834 table of the House of Commons which used to be on display in the Upper Waiting Hall ;
(2) if a new location can be found for the pre-1834 table of the House of Commons in one of the public areas of the House.
Mr. Ray Powell : The table which used to be on display in the Upper Waiting Hall and which dates from the 1740s is now situated in the Speaker's House. It was moved to the Speaker's State Rooms after having suffered damage as a result of frequent moves made necessary by the staging of exhibitions in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee if he will publish a list of furnishings and fittings and other artefacts that are still located in the Palace of Westminster that were salvaged from the fire of 1834.
Mr. Ray Powell : I shall ask the Director of Parliamentary Works to write to the hon. Member.
Chamber Seating
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee if he will instigate a feasibility study into moving the walls of the Commons Chamber so as to enable the amount of seating to be expanded.
Mr. Ray Powell : It would be inappropriate for the Accommodation and Works Committee to initiate any study of the kind referred to in the question.
Catering Facilities
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee what rules apply to the booking by hon. Members of catering facilities in the House on behalf of outside organisations ; what checks are made on the bona fides of the organisations concerned ; what recent changes have been made in the rules ; and what recent decisions have been allowing exemption from the rules.
Mr. Colin Shepherd : The regulations governing the booking by hon. Members of catering facilities in the House on behalf of outside organisations are set out in a brochure available from the Refreshment Department Banqueting Office or from the Director of Catering Services.
Rooms and facilities may be booked only by Members, Officers of the House and Lords who were formerly
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Members of the House of Commons, who may act as sponsor of a function on behalf of an outside organisation. In such a case, all responsibility for the function, including the checking of the bona fides, rests with the sponsor. There have been no recent changes in the banqueting rules, and no exception from the rules has been knowingly allowed.The Catering Committee is to undertake a review of the operation of the Private Dining Facilities early in 1994 and has invited written evidence.
ENVIRONMENT
Single-parent Families
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of (a) council house accommodation and (b) housing association accommodation is rented by single-parent families.
Sir George Young : The most recent information is from the housing trailer to the 1991 "Labour Force Survey". It shows that in England lone parents with dependent children formed 12 per cent. of all households renting from a local authority and 10 per cent. of all households renting from a housing association.
This and other results of the survey are published in "Housing in England : Housing Trailers to the 1988 and 1991 Labour Force Surveys" (table 2.3), available from the House of Commons Library. Information available from the National Federation of Housing Association's CORE system shows that single parents accounted for 21 per cent. of new lettings by housing associations in 1992-93.
Housing, Lancashire
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what percentage of council properties in Lancashire are unfit to rent ;
(2) what percentage of the total dwelling stock in Lancashire is (a) unfit for habitation and (b) in need of major renovation.
Sir George Young : Data on unfit dwellings, whether occupied or not, and on dwellings which are not unfit but in need of renovation are reported by local authorities in their annual housing investment programme--HIP1-- returns.
On the basis of the data from these returns it is estimated that at 1 April 1993 some 12 per cent. of dwellings in Lancashire were unfit and a further 30 per cent. were in need of renovation. Within local authorities dwellings 0.7 per cent. were reported as unfit.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the value of the capital receipts accumulated by each Lancashire local authority for the last three years.
Mr. Baldry : The latest available information is as follows :
Accumulated usable capital receipts
Figures in £000s
|As at 31 March 1991|As at 31 March 1992|As at 31 March 1993
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blackburn |510 |0 |0
Blackpool |2,730 |1,798 |6,561
Burnley |1,915 |1,044 |389
Chorley |930 |600 |982
Fylde |885 |282 |458
Hyndburn |2 |180 |0
Lancaster |801 |385 |488
Pendle |924 |675 |450
Preston |209 |138 |1,960
Ribble Valley |942 |1,024 |1,291
Rossendale |555 |0 |0
South Ribble |914 |177 |217
West Lancashire |2,038 |1,237 |1,433
Wyre |1,271 |878 |399
Source: Capital Outturn, Capital Receipts and Capital Estimates returns
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new dwellings have been (a) built and (b) bought by each local authority in Lancashire over the past five years.
Sir George Young : Estimates of the total numbers of local authority house-building completions within each local authority area in Lancashire are published in "Local Housing Statistics", table 1. Figures for 1988 are in issue No. 93, for 1989 in issue No. 97, for 1990 in issue No. 101 and for 1991 and 1992 in issue No. 105. The number of new dwellings bought by local authorities are not separately identified on returns made to the Department by local authorities.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received in the last three years in relation to housing problems in Lancashire.
Sir George Young : Ministers and regional officials of the Department of the Environment maintain a regular dialogue with all local housing authorities in Lancashire through the housing investment programme process. In addition, I have personally visited a number of Lancashire authorities to discuss housing issues over the last three years. On 19 October 1992 I met a group of authorities--the North West regional renewal lobby--to discuss problems relating to the operation of the renovation grant system and private sector housing renewal in Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
On Monday 25 October 1993 I look forward to meeting a delegation for Lancashire led by the Bishop of Burnley, to discuss the Lancashire housing inquiry panel's wide ranging report "Putting our House in Order".
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information his Department has on (a) the homeless figures, (b) the general waiting list figures and (c) the sheltered housing waiting list figures for each local authority in Lancashire over the last three years.
Sir George Young : Local authorities report information on their own dwellings in their annual housing investment
programme--HIP1--returns.
The latest available reported figures for each authority in Lancashire, which are at 1 April 1993, appear in section C, homeless ; column B5, households on waiting list ; and column B6B, households on waiting list requiring specialised dwellings of the "1993 HIP1 All Items Print", a copy of which is in the Library.
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Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate his Department had made of (a) the time needed or (b) the financial resources needed to resolve the housing problems in Lancashire.
Sir George Young : None. It is for local housing authorities to prepare comprehensive housing investment programme strategies for their areas, to identify housing problems and, in partnership with other housing providers and players in the housing field, to draw up programme to meet the needs identified.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many clearance projects in Lancashire have been delayed due to problems rehousing those that will be displaced in the process.
Sir George Young : The Department of the Environment does not collect statistics on delayed clearance projects.
Correspondence
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 31 August to the President of the Board of Trade regarding Tarmac Brick and Tiles Ltd. and which was transferred under reference G/ST/P50/2343/93.
Mr. Yeo : I have written to the hon. Member today.
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