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Mr. David Davis : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster gave provisional results, including the estimated £100 million savings generated, in his statement on 4 November. More detailed figures will be published in the citizens charter second report early next year.
Departmental Progress
41. Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement summarising the progress made by his Department in the current year.
Mr. David Davis : Substantial progress has been made. In its first full year, the Office of Public Service and Science has :
published key statements on public service reform through its White Papers on the citizens charter and open government ; completed a market testing programme which had led to savings of £100 million across the civil service by 30 September ;
set out, in the White Paper "Realising Our Potential" the first Government- wide policy statement for over 20 years on science, engineering and technology.
And within the next few days the Department will :
run the second International Conference on "Service for the Citizen" which will underline the United Kingdom's role as one of the world's leading practitioners of public service reform ; and publish a further White Paper, the 1993 review of next steps agencies in government.
Citizens Charter
42. Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to introduce new charters.
Mr. David Davis : The last week has seen the publication of the courts charter for Northern Ireland. This brings the total number of charters to 38. The Benefits Agency will also be publishing an updated and improved version of its customer charter in the near future and there are a number of new charters planned for 1994. This is a part of the citizens charter's dynamic programme to raise the standard of all public services.
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Magistrates Courts
43. Mr. Bennett : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received about changes to magistrates court arrangements in Stockport and Tameside.
Mr. David Davis : I have been asked to reply.
The Chancellor of the Duchy's responsibilities are for the appointment and removal of magistrates in Stockport and Tameside. He has not received any representations about changes to magistrates courts' arrangements in these two areas. Management of the courts is the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Passengers Charter
44. Mr. Luff : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations the citizens charter unit in his Department has received from the Central Transport Consultative Committee on the subject of the passengers charter.
Mr. David Davis : The citizens charter unit has received a number of representations from the Central Transport Consultative Committee on all aspects of the passengers charter, with particular reference to BR's standards and compensation arrangements. We appreciate the value of the CTCC's observations in ensuring that the passengers charter really does meet passengers' needs.
Open Government
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what progress has been made with the open government initiative.
Mr. David Davis : Preparations for implementing the code of practice on open government are going ahead in the light of consultation responses. Proposals for legislation on access to personal records and health and safety information are being developed. Over 6,500 public records have already been released under the openness initiative.
Civil Service
Mr. Paice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what intentions he has to reform recruitment to senior posts within the civil service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Davis : I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath (Mr. Townsend) on 22 November, columns 7-8 .
NAO and PAC
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many files marked "Not for National Audit Office eyes" are held by the Department ; and how many are marked "Not for Public Accounts Committee eyes".
Mr. David Davis : The marking "Not for National Audit Office eyes" is used in accordance with an agreement between the Treasury and the National Audit
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Office under which documents relating to the handling of relations between Departments, the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee are not automatically available to the National Audit Office while they are current. A total of 122 Cabinet Office and OPSS files are so designated.There is no marking "Not for Public Accounts Committee eyes".
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Mr. Tony Lundy
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Attorney-General when a decision will be made by the Director of Public Prosecutions concerning the allegations made against ex-Detective Superintendent Tony Lundy formerly of the Metropolitan police ; when the matter was referred to her ; and if he will make a statement.
The Solicitor-General : The Director of Public Prosecutions was first made aware of the present investigation during the summer of 1991. On 5 May 1992, leading and junior counsel were instructed to examine the reports, statements and documents then available from the South Yorkshire police, who were investigating this matter under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority.
Between May 1992 and November 1993 further instructions were sent to counsel and they advised in consultation on a number of occasions. Counsel were preparing to submit their written advice to the Director in November 1993. However, fresh developments have required the police to open a new line of inquiry which they are pursuing as a matter of urgency. Until the results of this further inquiry are available, it is not possible to state when a final decision will be made.
Government Car Service
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Attorney-General what is the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers ; and how many vehicles are involved.
The Attorney-General : The total cost to the Department of the Government car service for Ministers for the financial year 1992-93 was £129,700. Two vehicles were involved.
NAO and PAC
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Attorney-General how many files marked not for National Audit Office eyes are held by the Department ; and how many are marked not for Public Accounts Committee eyes.
The Attorney-General : There are 19 files in the Departments for which I am responsible marked "Not for NAO eyes".
The marking "Not for NAO eyes" is used in accordance with an agreement between the Treasury and the National Audit Office, under which documents relating to the handling of relations between Departments and the NAO and PAC are not automatically available to the NAO while they are current.
There is no marking "Not for PAC eyes".
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Executive Agencies
Mr. Burns : To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to establish any of his Departments as executive agencies.
The Attorney-General : Consideration is to be given to the question whether it would be appropriate for three of my departments, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office, and the Treasury Solicitor's Department, to become agencies in Government under the next steps programme. I shall be setting in hand studies of the appropriateness of agency status in each case and will reach a decision in the light of this further work.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Weil's Disease
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by regional health board for the last five years, and this year to date the number of people who have been infected by Weil's disease.
Mr. Ancram : Weil's disease is the more serious form of leptospirosis in humans but is not in itself notifiable. Leptospirosis has only been notifiable since April 1990 and the number of cases is as follows :
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Notified cases of leptospirosis
|Eastern |Northern|Southern|Western |Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |1 |1 |- |- |2
1991 |1 |1 |- |1 |3
1992 |- |1 |- |- |1
1993 (to 6 November) |1 |1 |1 |- |3
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |3 |4 |1 |1 |9
Strip Searching
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many female prisoners in Northern Ireland have been subjected to forcible strip searching since March 1992.
Sir John Wheeler : No female prisoners in Northern Ireland have been forcibly searched since 2 March 1992 ; on that date, 21 female prisoners had to be restrained in order to comply with a search.
Agricultural Wages Board
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many submissions he has received to the consultation on the future of the Agricultural Wages Board in Northern Ireland ; and how many of those were in favour of the abolition of the board.
Mr. Ancram [holding answer 3 December 1993] : Ten responses were received to the consultation paper on the future of the Agricultural Wages Board in Northern Ireland. None was in favour of the abolition of the board.
HEALTH
Medical Devices Directorate
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many safety warnings have been issued by the Medical Devices Directorate relating to (a) pacemakers and (b) artificial heart valves since the directorate was established.
Mr. Sackville : The Medical Devices Directorate of the Department of Health has issued 17 pacemaker technical notes and one hazard circular relating to pacemakers, and one safety warning letter related to heart valves, since it was established in August 1990.
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Tilade
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will order an investigation into the prescribing of Tilade and the way it has been promoted.
Mr. Sackville : Recent allegations in the press regarding the methods used by the manufacturer to promote the prescribing of Tilade are currently under investigation by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority under its guidelines on the promotion of medicines, copies of which are available in the Library. The production of Tilade is monitored routinely by the medicines inspectorate, as is the manufacture of all licensed medicinal products, we have no knowledge of any concerns which would justify a special investigation.
Prescriptions
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacies in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster, (c) Rotherham and (d) Sheffield dispose fewer than 1,700 prescriptions per month.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is in the table.
Family Health |Total number of |Number dispensing |Percentage
Services Authority |pharmacies |less than 1,700
|prescriptions per
|month
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barnsley |42 |3 |7
Doncaster |49 |2 |4
Rotherham |41 |3 |7
Sheffield |110 |9 |8
1. The source of the data is the table C20 from the Prescription Pricing Authority and
includes pharmacies that operated throughout the 1992-93 financial year with closures excluded
and new openers annualised.
2. The figures are based on the FHSA areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.
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Funding Allocations
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients her Department assumes have private health assurance when adjusting funding allocations ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Assumptions about the incidence of private health insurance do not feature in our weighted capitation formula for allocating resources to regional health authorities.
Disabled Employees
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the target percentage for registered disabled employees within the national health service ; and what is the actual percentage of registered disabled employees.
Mr. Sackville : Although not bound by the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944, the Department which includes the national health service management executive has accepted the provision that 3 per cent. of employees should be registered disabled.
At 1 December 1993, 1.4 per cent. of the Department's work force were registered disabled. In addition, there are other people with disabilities, who are not registered disabled.
Advertising
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department spends annually on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising and (c) press advertising ; and what were the corresponding figures for 1985 and 1979.
Mr. Sackville : Information for the years 1979 and 1985 is not available in the form requested. Annual spend for the past five financial years is as follows :
|£ million
-------------------------------
1988-89
Television |1.662
Radio |0.205
Press |1.196
1989-90
Television |3.549
Radio |0.127
Press |2.739
1990-91
Television |1.900
Radio |0.005
Press |2.258
1991-92
Television |4.489
Radio |0.015
Press |3.104
1992-93
Television |2.773
Radio |0.020
Press |1.976
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London, Making the Best Better"
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the future of University College hospital in the light of the discussion of medical research contained in "London, Making the Best Better".
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government's policy is not only to maintain but to enhance the quality of medical education and research. Any changes to the configuration of services within University College London hospitals will be considered with this objective in mind.
Northumbria Ambulance Service
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing for each month from January 1992 the number of emergency calls responded to by the Northumbria ambulance service and the number and percentage responded to within (a) 14, (b) 20, (c) 25, (d) 30, (e) 40, (f) 50 and (g) more minutes.
Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally. Information on response times within eight and within 19 minutes for the financial year 1992-93 for Northumbria ambulance service national health serutes
Per cent. Total number of |Response within 8 |Response within 19 emergency calls |minutes |minutes resulting in ambulance arriving at scene of incidents ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 77,602 |68 |99
Whipps Cross Hospital
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make resources available for facilities at Whipps Cross hospital for permanent pacemaker implantation and cardiac catheterisation work to be undertaken.
Mr. Sackville : I understand that Forest healthcare trust is investigating with Redbridge and Waltham Forest health authority the possibility of developing local cardiology services at Whipps Cross hospital. The hon. Member may wish to contact the trust chairman, Lord Jenkin of Roding, for details.
Herbs
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all those organisations from which she has recently received representations calling for restrictions on the availability of herbs and herbal produce.
Mr. Sackville : We have received no such representations.
Civil Servants
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each civil service grade in her Department (a) the total number of people employed, (b) the total number of black people and (c) the total number of Asians.
Mr. Sackvill : The answer is :
Grade |Total Staff<1>|Total Black<2>|Total Asian<2>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 |2 |0 |0
2 |4 |0 |0
3 |26 |0 |0
4 |27 |0 |0
5 |212 |<4>- |8
6 |112 |<4>- |<4>-
7 |557 |<4>- |11
SEO |343 |<4>- |12
HEO |678 |7 |18
EO |882 |42 |71
AO |955 |112 |71
AA |521 |100 |26
AT |13 |0 |0
HEO(D) |27 |0 |0
SGB1 |57 |<4>- |0
SGB2 |146 |6 |<4>-
SPES |59 |<4>- |<4>-
PES |338 |59 |10
|--- |-- |--
Total<3> |4,959 |333 |234
<2>Based on the response to the Department's ethnic origin survey. An
asterisk means the number is five or less and the exact information has
not been given to preserve anonymity.
<3>Totals include numbers excluded to preserve anonymity-see note 2.
Dentists Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on remuneration for general dental practitioners in 1993-94.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government announced on6 April 1993 that general dental practitioners were to receive the full 1.5 per cent. pay increase allowed under the Government's policy of restraint in public sector pay. This meant that dentists' target average net income--TANI--increased to £36,352. The dental rates study group met in the spring to consider how this increase in TANI could be paid, and agreed that the increase would be achieved by leaving in place the present scale of fees for dentists.
The group also agreed that should it appear that this fee scale was under or over-delivering TANI either the Government or the dental profession could ask that the group meet again. At a meeting of the dental rates study group held on 1 December, the group recommended that there should be an increase in the fees payable to dentists of, on average, 2.9 per cent. from January 1994. The Government have accepted this recommendation. This is to implement the pay increase of 1.5 per cent. already agreed, and does not alter the pay target of £36,352.
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Death Rates
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to reduce regional variations in actual death rates.
Mr. Sackville : Concentrating effective action on reducing avoidable deaths in the five key areas of coronary heart disease and stroke, cancers, mental illness, sexual health, and accidents is a central plank of "The Health of the Nation" strategy. Within this strategy, the Government's approach to variations in health is set out in paragraphs 4.15 and 4.16 of the Green Paper--Cm 1523--and paragraph 2.5 of the White Paper--Cm 1986-- copies of which are available in the Library.
In the 17 months since the strategy was launched, there has already been encouraging evidence of activity, both within the national health service and more widely. Responding to geographical and other variations in death rates from specific causes is one of the importantelements of local strategies, both in the implementation of "The Health of the Nation" and in other fields of health policy--notably, perinatal and infant mortality.
Community Care Grant
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received regarding the requirement for local authorities to spend 85 per cent. of special transitional community care grant in the independent sector.
Mr. Bowis : The current requirement is for at least85 per cent. of the social security transfer element of the special transitional grant to be used on community care services provided by the independent sector. We have received a number of representations from the independent sector, local authorities and others, all of which have been considered carefully. Details of the grant conditions for 1994-95 will be announced shortly.
AIDS
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give a breakdown by age of the total number of known cases of (a) HIV infection, (b) AIDS cases and (c) AIDS deaths which have to date been registered by her Department among (i) males and (ii) females.
Mr. Sackville : The information for England and Wales is shown in the table based on reports to the public health laboratory service. The table gives age at testing for HIV infection, age at diagnosis of AIDS and age at death.
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England and Wales-Cumulative to June 1993
Male data Female data
cumulative to June cumulative to June
1993 1993
Age Groups (years) Deaths in AIDS AIDS HIV<1> Deaths in AIDS AIDS HIV<1>
cases cases
|No. |Per cent.|No. |Per cent.|No. |Per cent.|No. |Per cent.|No. |Per cent.|No. |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0-14 |33 |1 |65 |1 |303 |2 |21 |9 |46 |9 |87 |4
15-24 |111 |3 |282 |4 |2,501 |16 |22 |10 |68 |14 |582 |29
25-34 |1,314 |31 |2,519 |37 |6,845 |44 |100 |44 |235 |48 |1,022 |51
35-44 |1,618 |38 |2,444 |36 |3,875 |25 |54 |24 |95 |19 |226 |11
45-54 |817 |19 |1,045 |15 |1,432 |9 |21 |9 |31 |6 |61 |3
55+ |339 |8 |389 |6 |462 |3 |11 |5 |13 |3 |29 |1
Total 100 per cent. |4,232 |- |6,744 |- |15,418 |- |229 |- |488 |- |2,007 |-
Not known |22 |- |12 |- |423 |- |- |- |2 |- |58 |-
<1>42 HIV infection reports, age and sex not recorded, are not included.
Infant Formulae
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to meet representatives of the Royal College of Midwives to discuss the arrangements for the implementation of the European directive on the marketing of infant formulae.
Mr. Sackville : Draft regulations to implement this directive are the subject of a consultation document issued on 3 December by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which is being sent to the Royal College of Midwives, among others.
Departmental Files
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many files marked "Not for National Audit Office eyes" are held by the Department ; and how many are marked "Not for Public Accounts Committee eyes".
Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Wallsend (Mr. Byers) on 3December. There is no marking "Not for PAC eyes".
NHS Supplies Authority
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of establishing the headquarters for the NHS Supplies Authority in Reading including (i) relocation of staff, (ii) furnishing of offices and (iii) landscaping.
Mr. Sackville : The cost of relocating National Health Service Supplies Authority staff to Reading was approximately £230,000. The accommodation was acquired as furnished by the previous tenants, so that only small items of furniture were purchased, at a cost of about £200. No landscaping costs have been incurred.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place a copy of the NHS Supplies Authority catalogue in the Library.
Mr. Sackville : The National Health Service Supplies Authority has catalogues for each of its six operating divisions. We are arranging for the copies to be placed in the Library.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the top 50 suppliers to the NHS as identified by the NHS Supplies Authority, the value of the contract and the goods provided.
Mr. Sackville : The top 50 suppliers whose importance is such that the National Health Service Supplies Authority manages them on a national basis are :
Supplier and Product ------------------------------------------------------- AAH-Medical and pharmaceutical distribution |190 BT-Telephone services |120 British Gas-Gas supply |60 Glaxo-Pharmaceuticals |39 Digital-IT hardware/software |36 ICL-IT hardware/software |35 Baxter-Medical and pharmaceutical |33 Hewlett-Packard-Medical equipment, IT hardware and software |32 Ethicon-Sutures |25 Olympus Keymed-Medical equipment |25 Molnlycke-Incontinence disposables |24 IGE-Medical equipment |24 Siemens-Medical equipment |24 Abbott-Medical and pharmaceutical |21 Wellcome-Pharmaceuticals |21 Philips-Medical equipment |20 Cow and Gate-Baby feeds |20 Johnson and Johnson-Medical consumables |18 Shell-Oil |18 Smith and Nephew-Medical consumables |18 BOC-Medical gases |16 SMA Wyeth-Baby feeds |15 Howmedica-Medical consumables |14 Fresenius-Pharmaceuticals |14 London International Group (LRC)-Medical consumables |14 3M-Medical consumables |13 British Coal-Coal |13 Batchfords-Patients appliances |12 British Car Contracts-Vehicles |12 Camp-Orthotics |12 Esso-Oil |12 Ford Contract Motoring-Vehicles |12 Kodak-X-Ray film/equipment |12 Steeper-Patients appliances |12 Vernon Carus-Medical consumables |12 Dupont-X-Ray film/equipment |11 McDonnell Douglas-IT hardware/software |11 BP-Oil |10 IBM-IT hardware/software |10 HMSO-Stationery and printing |9 Intial Contract services-Hotel services |9 Becton Dickinson-Medical consumables |8 Jamont-Hand towels |8 Remploy-Patients appliances |8 The Buying Agency-Catering equipment |8 Toshiba-X-Ray film/equipment |8 Biomet-Medical consumables |6 Charringtons-Oil |6 Davis and Geck-Medical consumables |6 Kimberley Clark-Toilet tissue |6
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the annual salary costs of (a) the six divisional directors of purchasing, (b) the staff in the divisional offices and (c) the members of the national purchasing unit of the NHS Supplies Authority.
Mr. Sackville : The 1993-94 total salary costs--including national insurance and superannuation contributions, overtime and allowances--are as follows :
a. six divisional directors of purchasing £285,000
b. all divisional staff, including warehouse staff £35.8 million c. all national purchasing unit staff £1.2 million
NHS Supplies
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for health what were the salary costs of NHS employees engaged in supplies work at (a) regional, (b) district and (c) unit level for 1990-91. Mr. Sackville : The nearest available information relates to January and February 1992. At that time, there
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were around 5,000 supplies staff employed by over 70 different employing authorities. The staff costs were approximately £64 million a year, including national insurance, superannuation, overtime and allowances.NHS Expenditure
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been, in 1992-93 prices, total gross public spending for each year since 1991-92 ; and what is the projected expenditure for each year to 1995-96 for NHS trusts.
Mr. Sackville : The information for 1991-92 to 1993-94 is shown in the table. Forward estimates of these figures are not prepared.
Year |Public expenditure:
|NHS trusts<1> £
|million
------------------------------------------------------------
1991-92 |2,632
1992-93 |6,635
1993-94 |<2>13,052
<1> This figure comprises NHS trust income from NHS
purchasers of health care plus external finance. All
figures are at 1992-93 prices.
<2> Forecast outturn.
Regional Offices
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a map showing the new boundaries for the eight regional health authorities which are to replace the existing 14 ; and whether the proposed reorganisation of the NHS management executive will maintain these regional offices.
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