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My Department has also supported the work of many industry-led initiatives, such as the Wales Quality Centre, the Welsh Medical Technology Forum, and the Mid Wales Manufacturing Group.Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the number of manufacturing jobs (a) created and (b) lost since 1 January 1991.
Mr. Redwood : Comprehensive information on the number of jobs created and lost is not available. According to the Employment Department's Quarterly Estimates Series there was a net decrease in the number of employees in manufacturing in Wales, between December 1990 and June 1993, of 28,000.
Business Closures
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the number of businesses that (a) closed down and (b) went bankrupt in 1988 and in 1992.
Mr. Redwood : There are no official figures for business closures. The number of companies going into liquidation due to insolvency in England and Wales was 9,427 in 1988, and 24,425 in 1992. The number of personal insolvencies, which could be classified to a trade or profession, was 5,601 in 1988 and 19,525 in 1992.
Aerospace Industry
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to meet the chairman of British Aerospace to consider the state of the industry ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : I have no plans to do so at present, but I maintain a close interest in the company's activities in Wales.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many extra people are in employment and what percentage increase that represents over those in employment in 1988 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : According to the Employment Department's Quarterly Estimates Series, the civilian work force in employment in Wales fell by 11,000 between June 1988 and June 1993. This represents a fall of 1 per cent.
Mink Farms
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many mink farms have operated in each county in Wales in each year since 1984 ; and what is the current figure.
Mr. Redwood : There have been no licenced mink farms in Wales from 1984 to the present.
SCOTLAND
Forestry Commission Land
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) the name, (b) grid reference, (c) area, (d) date of sale and (e) whether formal public access agreements have been established, for each piece of land sold by the Forestry Commission since 1981.
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Sir Hector Monro : Lists giving details of the areas of forest land sold by the Forestry Commission from the start of the disposals programme in July 1981 to December 1992 are held in the Library of the House. A list of the forest land sold by the commission in 1993 will be drawn up and placed in the Library in the new year. These lists do not show grid references which could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Arrangements for securing continued public access to Forestry Commission woodlands after sale, by way of prior agreements entered into between the commission and local authorities, were introduced in October 1991. Most of the sales concluded since then were too far advanced in October 1991 to be considered for an access agreement, while most of the areas brought forward for disposal since that date have still to be sold. At the last count, access agreements had been concluded or were being negotiated in respect of 42 woodlands which were in the process of being sold, although none of these has yet been sold. Local authorities have expressed interest in negotiating agreements in over 40 other areas.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what areas of Forestry Commission land have been offered to conservation bodies.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 29 November 1993] : At the stage when the Forestry Commission is considering selling land under its disposal programme, notices are placed in the Estates Gazette in respect of all woods larger than five hectares and all other land having a known conservation, recreation or amenity interest. This gives conservation or other bodies an advance opportunity to express an interest in purchase.
If the Government Department or agency responsible for the particular conservation interest concerned gives an unequivocal statement that the acquisition of a property by a conservation body would be in the public interest, and the commission agrees to a sale on these terms, it takes place at open market value.
No central record is kept of these offers and the compilation of a list would involve disproportionate cost.
Local Government
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has received from Cumbernauld and Kilsyth concerning his proposals for the future structure of local government ; how many of these representations favour his proposals ; and how many favour Cumbernauld and Kilsyth becoming part of the proposed east Dunbartonshire council.
Mr. Stewart : Some 70 individual letters have been received from Cumbernauld and Kilsyth on the proposal to include the area within the proposed north Lanarkshire authority. In addition, about 4,000 postcards and petition signatures have been submitted. Most of these representations have asked specifically for the Kilsyth area to be included in the proposed east Dunbartonshire council.
Press and Publicity
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many press and publicity officers are currently employed in his Department ; and how many were employed in (a) 1985 and (b) 1979.
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Mr. Lang : The number of staff in the Information Officer grades employed, at present, in the Scottish Office information directorate is 30.5 with one vacant post. The comparable figures are 19 staff and one vacant post in 1985 and 22 staff and three vacant posts in 1979, both as at 1 April.
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Advertising
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his 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. Lang : Expenditure by my Department in 1992-93 was television advertising £831,000, radio advertising £120,000 and press advertising £415,000.
For 1988-89 to 1991-92, the figures were :
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|1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92
|£ |£ |£ |£
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Television advertising |576,000 |974,000 |741,000 |556,000
Radio advertising |40,000 |85,000 |188,000 |141,000
Newspaper advertising |378,000 |1,022,000|613,000 |853,000
Figures in the form requested are not available for 1979-80 to 1987-88. Total expenditure on information publicity for 1979-80 was £263,000 and in 1984-85 £704,000.
Information Security
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has incorporated the code of practice for information security management, published by the British Standards Institution, into relevant contracts with information technology suppliers.
Mr. Lang : The security requirements for IT systems and services used by central Government departments are stated in the Government IT security policy document. This document is supported by use of the CCTA risk analysis and management method (CRAMM) and baseline security for IT systems (BSITS) risk analysis methods and by supporting advice and guidance published by the Government IT security authorities. These are regularly reviewed to ensure best practice, have been developed specifically for use within government and have been in operation for some time. The code of practice for information security management was developed by and established for use by commercial organisations for the protection of official information.
Forestry Stewardship Council
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has received on the Forestry Stewardship Council.
Sir Hector Monro : I have received details of the formation of the Forest Stewardship Council, and of its aims.
Glenborrodale Castle Hotel
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was given in grant and loan assistance in respect of Glenborrodale Castle hotel by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and local enterprise companies ; what steps have been taken to recover the money following disposal of the hotel to a private owner ; what he estimates to be the net cost to public funds ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : No financial assistance has been given to Glenborrodale Castle hotel by
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Highlands and Islands Enterprise, any of its local enterprise companies or its predecessor body the Highlands and Islands development board.Mr. Peterken
Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the duration of Mr. Peterken's contract with the Scottish health service management executive ; what will be the annual cost to the Exchequer ; and from which budget the additional funds are to be drawn.
Mr. Lang : The duration of Mr. Peterken's contract is until 31 December 1995. The annual cost to the Exchequer will reflect Mr. Peterken's salary, which is within the range for general manager of Greater Glasgow health board--£66,949 to £83,681 from 1 September 1993--and will be met centrally.
Arable Area Scheme
Mr. Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when his Department first informed the National Farmers Union of Scotland that there was the possibility of an overshoot of the base area in the non-less favoured area region of Scotland under the arable area payment scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 6 December 1993] : Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department officials first informed the National Farmers Union of Scotland in August of the possibility of an overshoot having occurred this year in the Scottish non-less favoured area arable base area.
A77-M77 Link
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to be able to make an announcement about the A77-M77 link road.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 6 December 1993] : Discussions are taking place between the Scottish Office and Strathclyde regional council about this joint project and an announcement will be made in due course.
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Appointments
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all the occasions on which he has appointed a person to a post in the national health service which has not been advertised.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 2 December 1993] : Most NHS appointments are the responsibility of individual health boards and trusts. Some staff of the management executive are employees of the Common Services Agency and a number of such staff have been seconded to that body from another NHS employer without their posts being advertised.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his policy on recruitment of persons to posts in the NHS which have not been advertised.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 2 December 1993] : Posts in the NHS are in general filled by open advertisement or by secondment from another employer.
Health Service Management
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the management structure of the NHS in Scotland.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 2 December 1993] : The management structure is published in the Civil Service Year Book 1993, a copy of which is in the Library of the House of Commons.
Nurses
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) children's and (b) adult intensive care units have four or more whole time equivalent nurses per bed.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 1 December 1993] : The detailed information required to respond is not held centrally. What information is held, however, indicates that 50 per cent. of children's intensive therapy units and 61 per cent. of adult intensive therapy units have on average four or more nursing staff per occupied bed.
Smoke Detectors
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what monitoring regulations he has introduced in relation to the installation of mains-operated smoke detectors in new-build houses in (a) the public housing sector and (b) the private sector ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : With effect from 23 July 1993, applications for warrant to construct new dwellings must provide for smoke alarms to be installed in accordance with the requirements of the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations Technical Standards. The local authority will not issue a completion certificate unless the dwellings have been constructed in accordance with those standards.
The fact that smoke alarms now need to be wired to a main electricity supply should to a large extent remove any need to monitor the power supply as is the case with battery operated alarms.
There is no provision in the Building (Scotland) Act 1959 for the monitoring of the maintenance of systems but
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The Scottish Office Environment Department receives information about the effectiveness of the Building Standards Regulations through contacts with building control and fire authorities.Early indications are that the new smoke alarm provisions have been well received by authorities, builders and house purchasers.
Hospital Building
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the capital allocation for the new hospital building programme announced in November 1992 ; and what is the current figure.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 6 December 1993] : The capital allocation figure announced in December 1992 was £180 million. A further £5 million has become available from the current financial year for redistribution amongst health boards and trusts.
Ayrshire and Arran Health Board
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the contracts awarded by Ayrshire and Arran health board during the last 18 months ; what was the nature of the contracts awarded ; which organisations bid for each contract ; what were the organisations holding each contract prior to them being re-awarded ; when the contracts were awarded ; and what periods were covered by the contracts.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 23 November 1993] : Details of the contracts negotiated by Ayrshire and Arran health board for the year to 31 March 1994 and their nature are provided in the table below. In the last 18 months, only urology services have been the subject of a bidding process : that process involved the South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS Trust and the North Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust with the contract being awarded to the South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which already held that contract, for a period to 31 March 1996. Other changes in service provision within Ayrshire during the last 18 months were the centralisation from 1 April 1993 of ear, nose and throat and oral surgery at Crosshouse hospital under the control of the North Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust. These services were previously provided by North Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust and South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS Trust. These changes formed part of the board's local health strategy and had been endorsed by both trusts. These contracts were also awarded for the period to 31 March 1996.
Provider |Nature of service ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayrshire and Arran Providers South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS Trust |Acute, Care for the Elderly North Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust |Acute, Care for the Elderly Ayrshire and Arran Community |Non-Acute, Mental Health, Healthcare NHS Trust | Care for the Elderly Takare |Care for the Elderly Providers outwith Ayrshire and Arran Dykebar |Mental Health Inverclyde Royal |Acute Royal Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust |Acute Dumfries and Galloway Mental Health Unit |Mental Health Dumfries and Galloway Acute Unit |Acute Royal Scottish National Hospital and |Mental Health Community NHS Trust Stobhill |Acute Glasgow Royal Infirmary |Acute Western Infirmary |Acute Greater Glasgow Mental Health Unit |Mental Health Yorkhill |Acute Glasgow Care for the Elderly Unit |Care for the Elderly Southern General |Acute Victoria Infirmary |Acute Stonehouse and Hairmyres |Acute Ayr Hospice |Hospice
Public Expenditure
Mr. Kynoch : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the provisions he has made in his public expenditure plans for Government-supported expenditure and aggregate external finance in 1995-96 and 1996-97.
Mr. Lang : To assist local authorities in their financial planning, I have decided this year to publish planned figures for both Government supported expenditure (GSE) and aggregate external finance (AEF) for the two forward years of the Public Expenditure Survey. The figures for all three years of the survey are as follows :
|1994-95 |1995-96 |1996-97
|£ million|£ million|£ million
--------------------------------------------------
GSE |6,013.6 |6,175.4 |6,321.1
AEF |5,272.0 |5,378.1 |5,494.9
The above amounts of GSE and AEF are inclusive of the following sums which relate to the transfer of resources to local authorities in respect of care in the community and the independent living fund :
1994-95 |1995-96 |1996-97 £ million |£ million|£ million ---------------------------------------- 115.1 |172.1 |211.6
The underlying percentage increases in GSE and AEF, excluding the above amounts in respect of care in the community and the independent living fund, over the same three years are as follows :
|1994-95 |1995-96 |1996-97
|Per cent.|Per cent.|Per cent.
--------------------------------------------------
GSE |2.25 |1.79 |1.77
AEF |0.97 |0.97 |1.48
Mr. Kynoch : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the provision he has made in his public expenditure plans for the costs of local government reform.
Mr. Lang : In determining the level of Government-supported expenditure (GSE) for 1994-95, which I announced on 30 November, I have included £5 million to cover costs which I expect local authorities will incur next year in preparing for local government reform. A separate grant aided expenditure (GAE) assessment will be created for this amount, which I intend will be distributed to all mainland authorities according to a standard formula. Each authority will receive a flat rate sum of £35,000 and the balance of the £5 million will be distributed amongst authorities on a per capita basis.
The precise level of the extra costs which will face authorities as a consequence of reform in 1995-96 and 1996-97 remains uncertain, and will depend on decisions taken by the new authorities. I do not expect the net costs to exceed £30 to £35 million in either year. In determining the planned level of GSE for these years I have assumed that the existing local authorities will incur local government reform costs of £25 million in 1995-96 and £55 million in 1996-97, and that in the latter year there will also be savings of £40 million. The proposed new authorities would therefore incur net reform costs of £15 million in 1996-97. In subsequent years there would be significant net savings. I shall of course continue to consult the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities each year before determining the local government finance settlement.
Entirely outside the settlement I am providing a total of £1.5 million over the three years to cover the costs of the Staff Commission which I intend to establish to assist the reform process, and a further £23 million in 1995-96 to cover the estimated costs of the proposed new authorities during their shadow period.
I believe that these plans make realistic provision for the transitional costs of local government reform, and demonstrate that allegations that the cost of reform will fall entirely on the council tax are completely without foundation.
HEALTH
Community Health Councils
11. Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received regarding the merger of community health councils.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales recently met the deputy chief executive of the National Health Service Management Executive and, among other things, raised the issue of CHC mergers. We also received a letter from the association which touched on this subject, among others.
Hospital Closures, Birmingham
12. Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received in the last three months regarding hospital closures in Birmingham.
Mr. Sackville : We have received correspondence from a number of people in the west midlands about this issue.
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Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals
15. Ms Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the proposals from the trust board of Guy's and St. Thomas's to remain on two sites.
Dr. Mawhinney : The trust board's outline business case is being assessed by the south NHS Management Executive outpost on behalf of the London implementation group and it would be premature to make a statement before this assessment work is concluded.
Making London Worse"
16. Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what response she has made to the recommendations laid out in the report, "Making London Worse", produced by the Greater London Association of Community Health Councils, a copy of which has been sent to her.
Dr. Mawhinney : We welcome the views of any informed contributor such as the Greater London Association of Community Health Councils on the process of developing London's health services through positive change. We have no plans to make any specific response to this report, but will of course consider it carefully, against the Government's strategy which is set out in "Making London Better".
Adoption Panels
17. Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she intends to strengthen adoption panels.
Mr. Bowis : We shall consult on this in the new year. We propose to introduce more independent panel members, including adoptive parents and representatives from local interests, such as magistrates committees.
Private Care Homes
18. Mr. Hutton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the deregulation of private care and nursing homes.
Mr. Bowis : The Government are committed to ensuring that the interests of residents of residential care and nursing homes are protected and that they receive the care they need in well-run homes.
We have no doubt that regulation to underpin this objective will continue to be necessary, but we are seeking to remove unnecessary controls and to improve the way in which essential regulation is applied and enforced. Any proposed changes would be subject to consultation.
Deaths
19. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths there were in (a) the first and (b) third quarter of 1992 for (i) Britain and (ii) the Northern region.
Mr. Bowis : In the quarter to March 1992, there were 156,060 deaths in England and Wales of which 10,583 occurred in the northern region. The comparative figures for the September quarter were 125,301 deaths and 8,246 deaths respectively.
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Queen Elizabeth II Hospital
20. Ms Abbott : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she has made a decision on the future of the Queen Elizabeth II hospital ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The future provision of childrens' services in east London will be considered in the light of the findings of a study of these services currently being carried out by the East London and City health authority. This will be completed by the end of January 1994.
NHS Purchasing
21. Ms Estelle Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to monitor contracts between purchasers and provider units and to ensure that adequate funds are available for the remainder of the financial year.
Dr. Mawhinney : The National Health Service Management Executive issued guidance on monitoring contracts earlier this year. Recent evidence indicates that generally hospitals are managing their workload smoothly. Local managers are taking the necessary action to ensure activity remains within contract.
Dermatology Provision, Sheffield
22. Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on dermatology provision in Sheffield.
Mr. Sackville : Between April and October, dermatologists in Sheffield treated in excess of 16,800 out-patients. In line with patients charter standards, there are no patients waiting more than 18 months for dermatology treatment.
Female Consultants
23. Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the 1994 target for female consultants within the NHS ; how many there are at present ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : Goal 3 of the National Health Service Opportunity 2000 initiative is that by 1994 the percentage of women consultants in England should be 20 per cent. Figures for September 1992 show 2, 739 female hospital consultants in England, representing 16.3 per cent. of all hospital consultants.
Clinical Audit
24. Mr. Page : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on establishing clinical audit.
Dr. Mawhinney : Over the past four years considerable work has been done on developing medical, nursing and therapy and primary care audit programmes. Multi-professional clinical audit programmes will contribute greatly to continuing improvement in the quality of patient care.
Hospital Waiting Lists
25. Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are currently waiting for hospital treatment.
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Dr. Mawhinney : Provisional figures for the quarter ending 30 September are available in the Library. These show that regions are meeting the patients charter guarantee that all patients will be seen within a maximum of two years. In addition, no patient has to wait longer than 18 months for hip or knee replacements or cataract surgery.
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