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ENVIRONMENT
Programme Expenditure
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table showing for each standard region, with Greater London shown as a separate region, the total expenditure in 1992-93, and the budgeted expenditure in 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96, in respect of (a) estates action, (b) housing action trusts, (c) city
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challenge/urban programme, (d) urban regeneration agency/city grant/derelict land grant, (e) urban development corporations, (f) inner-city task forces and (g) city action teams.Mr. Baldry [holding answer 30 November 1993] : The total public expenditure under these programmes for
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1992-93 and the forecast for 1993-94 are shown, by region, in the following tables. For 1994-95 onwards, these programmes will transfer to the single regeneration budget, which will be administered by the integrated regional offices. A regional breakdown for 1994-95 and 1995-96 is not currently available.Column 381
Total public expenditure for 1992-93 and Provision for 1993-94
Estate Action Housing Action City Challenge<2>
Trusts Urban Programme
Region |1992-93 outturn |1993-94 forecast |1992-93 outturn |1993-94 forecast |1992-93<3> outturn|1993-94 forecast
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North West |59.4 |60.6 |- |- |49.9 |57.3
Northern |24.8 |28.6 |- |- |55.0 |54.2
Eastern |5.1 |5.9 |- |- |- |-
South East |2.1 |4.6 |- |- |- |-
South West |11.6 |12.3 |- |- |2.0 |2.0
London |93.1 |89.8 |11.8 |- |60.7 |85.6
East Midlands |26.6 |27.4 |- |- |16.5 |30.0
Merseyside |37.8 |39.2 |0.2 |- |39.7 |43.1
Yorkshire and Humberside |42.8 |41.3 |14.6 |- |39.7 |48.5
West Midlands |44.7 |46.3 |- |- |50.1 |57.3
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |348.0 |356.0 |26.6 |78.0<1> |313.6 |378.0
<1> 1993-94 provision for distribution amongst Liverpool, Hull, Waltham Forest, Birmingham and Tower Hamlets HATs.
<2> Includes Housing Corporations support towards City Challenge expenditure.
<3> City Challenge expenditure provisional. Final figures will not be available until after receipt of authorities' 1992-93 final audited claims.
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Total public expenditure for 1992-93 and provision for 1993-94
DLG; and City Urban Task Forces
Grant to 10 Development<3>
November 1993 Corporations
Region |1992-93 outturn |1993-94<1> forecast|1992-93 outturn |1993-94 forecast |1992-93 outturn |1993-94 forecast
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North West |35.7 |27.8 |80.8 |58.6 |2.5 |1.1
Northern |13.0 |16.5 |84.3 |75.5 |2.0 |1.8
Eastern |0.2 |16.5 |28.9 |21.8 |16.0 |3.6
West Midlands |32.5 |27.4 |65.1 |60.7 |3.1 |2.6
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |159.4 |<2>139.4 |515.8 |339.5 |24.3 |17.8
<1>Excludes English Estates; resources include DLG receipts.
<2>City Grant regional breakdown to 10 November only. Total 1993-94 provision for DLG (including receipts)/City Grant/English Partnerships (excluding English
Estates) is £172 million.
<3>Excludes receipts from own activities and from the ERDF.
<4>Includes provision for Docklands Light Railway.
Total public expenditure for 1992-93 and provision for 1993-94
City action
teams
Region |1992-93 outturn |1993-94 forecast
--------------------------------------------------------------------
North West |0.5 |-
Northern |1.1 |-
Eastern |- |-
South East |- |-
South West |- |-
London |0.9 |-
East Midlands |0.5 |-
Merseyside |0.6 |-
York/Humberside |0.5 |-
West Midlands |0.5 |-
|------- |-------
Total |4.6 |<1>1.2
<1> Breakdown of 1993-94 provision not yet available
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Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the total amount spent by his Department under the derelict land grant in 1992-93 in (a) the Northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole ;
(2) what was the total amount spent by his Department under the city challenge scheme in 1992-93 in (a) the Northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole ;
(3) what was the total budget allocated by his Department to the Urban Regeneration Agency in 1992-93 for expenditure in (a) the Northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole ; (4) what was the total amount spent by his Department under the city grant scheme in 1992-93 in (a) the Northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole ;
(5) what was the total amount spent by his Department under the inner city task forces scheme in 1992-93 in (a) the Northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole ;
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(6) what was the total budget in 1992-93 allocated by his Department to the city action teams in (a) Tyne and Wear and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole.Mr. Baldry : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) today. This contained programme information for each region in England. City challenge expenditure in England as a whole was £82.1 million in 1992-93 and in the northern region £14.99 million. Tyne and Wear city action team spent £494,000 in 1992-93 and Cleveland city action team spent £645, 000.
My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales, for Scotland and for Northern Ireland are responsible for programmes operating in other parts of the United Kingdom.
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Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the public expenditure provision for each of the four metropolitan borough councils in South Yorkshire for (a) estate action, (b) urban programme, (c) city challenge, (d) direct land grant, (e) city action teams, (f) the development corporation, (g) inner city task forces and (h) housing action trusts for each year since 1979.
Mr. Baldry : The total amount of public expenditure under these programmes in these local authority areas is set out below. None of these areas receives specific city action team or housing action trust funding.
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Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
£ millions
|Estate action |Urban programme |City Challenge |Derelict land |Urban Development|Inner city task
|grant<2> |Corporations<3> |forces<3>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |- |- |- |0.145 |- |-
1980-81 |- |- |- |0.013 |- |-
1981-82 |- |- |- |0.141 |- |-
1982-83 |- |- |- |0.102 |- |-
1983-84 |- |- |- |0.048 |- |-
1984-85 |- |- |- |0.013 |- |-
1985-86 |- |- |- |0.133 |- |-
1986-87 |- |- |- |0.102 |- |-
1987-88 |- |1.790 |- |0.561 |- |<4>-
1988-89 |- |1.913 |- |0.237 |- |<4>-
1989-90 |- |2.323 |- |0.501 |- |1.619
1990-91 |- |2.000 |- |1.372 |- |1.192
1991-92 |2.160 |2.334 |- |0.702 |- |0.189
1992-93 |2.920 |2.210 |<1>- |1.829 |- |-
1993-94 |1.867 |1.288 |<1>- |1.671 |- |-
<1> Dearne Valley Partnership: Expenditure shared between Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Metropolitan Councils.
<2> Local authority derelict land grant only.
<3> Not paid direct to local authorities.
<4> Figures for these years not readily available.
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Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
£ millions
|Estate action |Urban programme |City Challenge<1>|Derelict land |Urban Development|Inner city task
|grant<2> |Corporations<3> |forces<3>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |- |- |- |0.017 |- |-
1980-81 |- |- |- |0.022 |- |-
1981-82 |- |- |- |0.052 |- |-
1982-83 |- |- |- |0.141 |- |-
1983-84 |- |- |- |0.194 |- |-
1984-85 |- |- |- |0.176 |- |-
1985-86 |- |- |- |0.119 |- |-
1986-87 |- |- |- |0.333 |- |-
1987-88 |0.019 |1.370 |- |0.525 |- |-
1988-89 |1.662 |1.420 |- |0.484 |- |-
1989-90 |3.849 |2.101 |- |2.087 |- |-
1990-91 |1.752 |1.859 |- |1.685 |- |-
1991-92 |2.479 |2.143 |- |0.878 |- |-
1992-93 |4.230 |2.164 |7.500 |1.546 |- |-
1993-94 |4.599 |1.342 |15.000 |1.221 |- |-
<1>Includes £7.5 million a year from 1992-93 for Dearne Valley Partnership: expenditure shared between Barnsley Doncaster and Rotherham
Metropolitan Councils.
<2>Local Authority DLG only.
<3>Not paid direct to local authorities.
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Rotherham metropolitan borough council
£ million
|Estate action |Urban programme |City challenge |Derelict land |Urban development|Inner city task
|grant<2> |corporations<3> |forces<3>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |- |- |- |0.372 |- |-
1980-81 |- |- |- |0.549 |- |-
1981-82 |- |- |- |0.050 |- |-
1982-83 |- |- |- |0.067 |- |-
1983-84 |- |- |- |0.069 |- |-
1984-85 |- |- |- |0.027 |- |-
1985-86 |- |- |- |0.059 |- |-
1986-87 |- |- |- |0.252 |- |-
1987-88 |0.252 |1.840 |- |0.493 |- |-
1988-89 |0.280 |1.768 |- |1.747 |- |-
1989-90 |0.436 |2.177 |- |2.638 |- |-
1990-91 |0.005 |2.000 |- |3.876 |- |-
1991-92 |0.309 |2.208 |- |4.586 |- |-
1992-93 |0.682 |2.224 |<1>- |10.486 |- |-
1993-94 |- |1.487 |<1>- |5.913 |- |-
<1>Dearne Valley Partnership: expenditure shared between Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Metropolitan Councils.
<2>Local Authority DLG only.
<3>Not paid direct to local authorities.
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Sheffield City Council
£ millions
|Estate action |Urban programme |City challenge |Derelict land |Urban development|Inner city task
|grant<1> |corporations<2> |forces<2>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |- |2.650 |- |0.031 |- |-
1980-81 |- |3.440 |- |0.031 |- |-
1981-82 |- |3.490 |- |0.022 |- |-
1982-83 |- |4.860 |- |0.010 |- |-
1983-84 |- |4.500 |- |0.010 |- |-
1984-85 |- |4.200 |- |0.071 |- |-
1985-86 |- |4.510 |- |0.592 |- |-
1986-87 |0.277 |5.460 |- |0.091 |- |-
1987-88 |1.786 |5.630 |- |0.514 |- |-
1988-89 |7.262 |5.519 |- |1.078 |7.900 |-
1989-90 |8.296 |5.739 |- |0.053 |9.500 |-
1990-91 |7.880 |6.614 |- |0.134 |19.000 |-
1991-92 |7.255 |10.907 |- |0.636 |13.300 |-
1992-93 |6.968 |5.566 |- |0.265 |13.200 |-
1993-94 |6.180 |3.940 |- |1.060 |12.000 |-
<1>Local authority DLG only.
<2>Not paid direct to local authorities.
Docklands Light Railway
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish the latest estimate available to his Department of the number of passengers expected to use the Cutty Sark station on the Docklands light railway extension ;
(2) if he will itemise and cost each of the savings made to reduce the cost of the Jubilee line extension to Greenwich and Lewisham.
Mr. Baldry : The London Docklands development corporation, the owners of the railway, have made projections of potential passenger traffic at stations along the new extension. Annual projected passenger movements for a station at Cutty Sark rise from 1.4 million when it opens in 1997-98 to 2.5 million in 2001. Forecasts indicate that if Cutty Sark were not to be provided, the majority of potential passengers would use the new Docklands light railway station at Greenwich instead. The Government
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have asked the London Docklands development corporation and the Docklands light railway to consult local interests on the deletion of these stations before a final decision is made.Provision of a new station at Cutty Sark would cost an estimated £13 million ; at Island Gardens an estimated £4 million. The original estimate of costs also included £10 million for initial rolling stock which are now to be provided by Docklands light railway as operators of the extension. Other potential cost reductions may result from a fall in the land acquisition costs and from minor changes in the project's specifications.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria of viability he has applied to the future of the Island Gardens and Cutty Sark stations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The Department, together with the owners of the railway, the London Docklands development corporation, and Docklands Light Railway Limited itself, has made an assessment of the financial viability of the extension to Lewisham in the light of independent merchant banking advice. The conclusion was that the
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forecast incremental revenue from passengers on the extension could not finance the full project as previously costed-- at £140 million. A review of the capital and operating costs of the project has indicated provisionally that the new stations proposed for Island Gardens and Cutty Sark will need to be deleted in order to make the project as a whole viable. These stations would be situated underground at each end of the new tunnel taking the railway under the Thames and would involve much higher costs of construction and operation than the ground level stations along the line. The forecast revenue from both stations would cover only the estimated running costs of those stations and would not be sufficient to contribute towards the capital costs of their construction.The Government have asked the London Docklands development corporation and Docklands Light Railway Limited to consult local interests including businesses before a final decision is made on whether to delete the stations.
The Government have consistently supported this project on the condition that no Government grant or subsidy will be made available. That remains the position. Nevertheless, approval has been given for the project to proceed as a joint venture between the private and public sectors, with capital contributions being made by Lewisham council, South Thames training and enterprise council and Deptford city challenge.
Integrated Sub-Office (Plymouth)
Mr. Hicks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish an integrated departmental sub-office in Plymouth to serve Devon and Cornwall as part of his programme of integrated regional offices ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : We will consider how best the new office in the south west can deliver its services across the whole region in consultation with the senior regional director following his or her appointment.
Environmental Protection Act 1990
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many responses were received to the consultation paper of March proposing amendments to the scope of part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 ; and when he proposes to consult on draft amending regulations.
Mr. Yeo : Two hundred and fifty responses were received to the consultation paper. These have now been considered and I am most grateful to those who sent in their views.
I have today issued a second consultation paper which contains a statistical summary of these responses and invites comments on draft regulations to amend the prescribed processes and substances regulations.
I am pleased to say that a substantial proportion of the amendments should have the effect of lightening the burden on business. The regulations will continue to ensure that processes with the greatest pollution potential still come under the stringent controls introduced by part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. But we have identified cases where businesses had to meet more onerous requirements than were necessary, and opportunities for cutting red tape, for example by reducing the number of authorisations needed by certain processes.
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A copy of the consultation paper has been placed in the Library of both Houses.WALES
Badgers
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many badgers were shot or gassed in each county in each of the last three years ; and how many of these were subsequently shown to have tuberculosis.
Mr. Redwood : The number of badgers killed, following trapping during state veterinary service badger removal operations, in Wales since 1 January 1991 is as follows :
Year |Number of badgers|Number positive
|killed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1991 |22 |0
1992 |- |-
<1>1993 |10 |0
<1>Up to 6 December 1993.
The figures relate to the county of Dyfed. No badgers have been killed by the state veterinary service in any other county in Wales in the last three years. The legal gassing of badgers ceased on 26 June 1982.
Departmental Accounts
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the discrepancies of his departmental approporiation accounts 1992-93, Paper 11-xi, identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report of 2 December.
Mr. Redwood : The Comptroller and Auditor General--C and AG-- reported and qualified his audit opinion on three of the Welsh Office's 1992-93 appropriation accounts within class XVI. On vote 4, he found that
"erroneous payments to Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) continue to exist at significant levels following the transfer of responsibility from the Department of Employment"
on 1 April 1992 ; an understatement, as a result mainly of the incorrect assessment of benefit entitlements, of certain payments made through the Employment Service Agency--ESA. He notes in paragraphs 16-18 and 26-27 the efforts which my Department, TECs and the ESA have devoted to putting these matters right. I recently met the chairmen of all the TECs in Wales, to stress my determination that fully effective systems should be maintained. They agree with me.
On vote 5, the C and AG reported on the progress made in auditing the outstanding claims, brought to Parliament's attention when he qualified his opinion on the 1991-92 accounts, for payments made to highway authorities over the period from 1974 to 1990, and on clearance of claims relating to 1990-91. He has confirmed that the systems now in place have allowed the Welsh Office to record satisfactorily advances made since April 1990. Local authorities too should ensure they accurately record these sums and their use. On vote 11, an error in the method of calculating sums due to authorities in respect of community charge grant let to four overpayments in March 1993 ; the sums were all recovered by 30 September.
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Public Appointments
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if it is necessary for appointment to a non-departmental public body in Wales that a candidate has been included in the register held by the Welsh Office for public appointments.
Mr. Redwood : No, although many names are drawn from the departmental register. Candidates for public appointments may also be nominated by organisations, Members of Parliament and the Cabinet Office public appointments unit. All candidates are considered on their merits irrespective of the source of nomination.
Regional Assistance
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has reached a decision on the level of resources to be devoted to regional selective assistance, the Welsh Development Agency and the Development Board for Rural Wales in 1994-95.
Mr. Redwood : A demand for regional aid, from both Welsh companies and inward investors is still high and I am increasing the money available for regional selective assistance to £67 million to meet that demand.
Grant in aid for the Welsh Development Agency will be increased by almost £10 million, a rise of nearly 16 per cent. The board believes overall expenditure of £167 million can be achieved for 1994-95, given its ability to sell assets. This will enable the agency to build on its success in attracting inward investment to Wales and to continue its support for our indigenous businesses.
The budget of the Development Board for Rural Wales will also increase, to almost £17 million, bringing its expected overall expenditure in 1994- 95 to over £27 million. This increase will enable the board to continue its business park developments at Penrhyndeudraeth and Cardigan, to develop its programmes for the western areas which suffer most from rural decline, and to continue to support the Wales tourist board's Tourism 2000 strategy.
HEALTH
Brighton Health Care NHS Trust
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds are provided currently by the Brighton health care NHS trust ; how many were proposed in the original redevelopment plan ; and how many are proposed under the latest, revised plans drawn up by the trust.
Dr. Mawinney : This information is not available centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. John Spiers, chairman of Brighton health care national health service trust for details.
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Mersey Regional Health Authority
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many personnel are currently employed in administration and how many are employed in clinical services in Mersey regional health authority ; and how many have been so employed for each of the last 10 years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is shown in the table.
Administrators and Clinical Staff in Mersey Regional Health Authority
1982-92 (whole-time equivalent)
|Administrative and|Direct Care<1> |Medical and Dental
|Clerical
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1982 |5,350 |25,870 |2,050
1983 |5,320 |25,780 |2,120
1984 |5,450 |25,530 |2,120
1985 |5,260 |25,970 |2,180
1986 |5,280 |26,160 |2,170
1987 |5,400 |26,000 |2,150
1988 |5,560 |26,180 |2,170
1989 |5,790 |26,180 |2,240
1990 |5,810 |25,390 |2,350
1991 |6,160 |24,510 |2,450
1992 |6,240 |23,940 |2,530
Notes
1. Figures relate to national health service staff employed within Mersey region.
2. Direct Care care includes nursing and midwifery, professions allied to medicine,
professional and technical and scientific and professional. Figures since 1989 are affected by
the regrading of some senior nurses to senior manager posts. Since 1990 figures have been
affected by the exclusion of Project 2000 nurses.
3. Figures exclude agency nursing staff and locum medical and dental staff.
GP Fund-holders
Mr. Rendel : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the population of Berkshire is registered at (a) fund-holding and (b) non-fund-holding general practices.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally. Regional health authorities are responsible for managing the general practitioner fund-holding scheme in their areas. Nationally 25 per cent. of the population is covered by GP fund-holders. In Oxford region this is 33 per cent.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of general practitioners, and the total number of secretaries, administrators, receptionists, and practice managers in general practice in each of the last five years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The available information is shown in the tables.
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|1 October 1989|1 October 1990|1 October 1991|1 October 1992|1 April 1993
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numbers of GPs |25,608 |25,622 |25,686 |25,968 |26,116
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The data relate to England :Column 391
Staff type |1 October 1989|1 October 1990|1 October 1991|1 October 1992|1 April 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Management and administration |n/a |4,595 |5,679 |6,147 |6,147 Secretary/clerical |4,043 |30,576 |10,495 |11,166 |11,109 Receptionist |22,535 |- |20,824 |21,331 |20,862 1. The data relate to whole time equivalent staff in England. 2. No data for management and administrative staff are available for 1989; the figure for 1990 relates only to practice managers. 3. The figure for the secretary/clerical category for 1989 relates only to clerical staff; secretaries are included with receptionists. The 1990 figure for secretary/clerical category includes receptionists. 4. The number of GPs in England has risen steadily since 1979 and now currently stands at an all-time high. The increase in administration staff employed by GPs enables them to delegate much of the day to day business of running a practice. This in turn provides the opportunity for GPs to devote more time to the delivery of clinical care to their patients. While the number of administration staff has increased it should be noted that the number of practice nurses has risen from 888 to 9,120 whole time equivalents an increase of over 900 per cent. between 1 October 1989 and 1 April 1993.
NHS Users
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population using the national health service are (a) female and (b) members of an ethnic minority.
Mr. Sackville : Of all in-patient episodes recorded in England for 1989-90, the latest year for which information is available, 57.6 per cent. of cases were recorded as female. Of episodes with a diagnostic code other than complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium, 52.1 per cent. of cases were recorded.
Information is not collected centrally on patients' ethnic group, although we are currently consulting on the principle of doing so in respect of in- patients.
Diseases
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) dysentery, (b) typhoid, (c) paratyphoid, (d) malaria, (e) TB and (f) jaundice were reported for England and Wales in each year since 1988.
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table.
Notifications of selected infectious diseases reported in England and Wales 1988-92 Disease |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dysentery |3,692 |3,278 |2,756 |9,935 |16,960 Typhoid |174 |164 |178 |182 |201 Paratyphoid |180 |88 |93 |99 |81 Malaria |1,271 |1,478 |1,493 |1,553 |1,189 Tuberculosis |5,164 |5,432 |5,204 |5,436 |5,799 Viral hepatitis<1> |5,063 |7,071 |9,005 |8,860 |8,993 <1>Infective jaundice was redesignated viral hepatitis on 1 October 1988.
The rise in notifications of viral hepatitis seen between 1988 and 1990 was due to increased notifications of hepatitis A infection. This rise was consistent with the regular peaks in incidence of hepatitis A seen every seven to nine years.
The rise in notification of dysentery in 1992 was seen in all major conurbations other than London. Trends in dysentery also exhibit a periodicity, with peaks every seven to eight years, although the peak in 1992 was higher than other peaks in the previous two decades.
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NHS Expenditure
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how she plans to spend the extra money for the NHS announced in the Budget ; and what percentage of it will be spent on administration.
Dr. Mawhinney : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, announced allocations to regional health authorities for 1994-95 on 7 December at columns 198-200. Revenue allocations will rise by an average of 1.3 per cent. above inflation. In addition, health authorities have been given a 2.25 per cent. efficiency target, to ensure existing resources are used to improve patient services. Health authorities and trusts should reduce their administrative costs as far as they can, consistent with sound management of the £22 billion spent on the hospital and community health services. My right hon. Friend recently announced our proposals for streamlining the management structure of the national health service. This will result in further substantial savings in administrative costs so we can maximise the proportion of NHS expenditure devoted to direct patient care.
It is for individual health authorities to determine their own purchasing priorities within the framework of the NHS Management Executive's planning and priorities guidance for 1994-95, EL(93)54 published in June, copies of which are available in the Library.
Junior Doctors
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the figures from the returns for September showing how many junior doctors are contracted for an average of more than 83 hours per week, nationally and by region.
Dr. Mawhinney : The number of junior doctors and dentists in England contracted for more than a maximum average of 83 hours a week, at 30 September, is as follows :
Region |Number
--------------------------------
Northern |0
Yorkshire |5
Trent |0
East Anglian |4
North West Thames |1
North East Thames |32
South East Thames |5
South West Thames |2
Wessex |0
Oxford |0
South Western |0
West Midlands |42
Mersey |0
North Western |0
|--
England |91
Regional task forces are monitoring these remaining posts closely to ensure that they are eliminated as quickly as possible.
Leukaemia
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ensure that the national health service has adequate specialist beds for the treatment of leukaemia.
Mr. Sackville : We are not aware of any evidence to suggest that the clinical facilities currently available for the specialist treatment of patients with leukaemia are in any way inadequate.
Health Authorities
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many chairmen of health authorities in England received emoluments exceeding £500 per attendance in the last 12 months ;
(2) how many non-executive directors of health authorities in England received emoluments which exceeded £500 per attendance in the last 12 months.
Dr. Mawhinney : Chairmen and non-executive members of health authorities receive an annual remuneration and are not paid on the basis of attendance.
The amount of emoluments paid to individual chairmen and non-executive member (a) a district health authority/and (b) a family health services authority have to withold from publication any report on an agenda item to be considered in public session.
Dr. Mawhinney : District health authorities and family health services authorities are public bodies to which the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 apply. Unless a resolution has been passed by the board to exclude the public on grounds of confidentiality, the public would be entitled to attend meetings and to obtain relevant papers.
NHS Management Executive
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to instruct the NHS Management Executive regional offices to hold meetings in public after the abolition of regional health authorities.
Dr. Mawhinney : We have no such plans. The abolition of regional health authorities is subject to the passage through Parliament of the proposed Bill.
Printing Costs
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the cost to the NHS of printing and publishing, by each regional health authority, documents for the information of the public.
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Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally. My hon. Friend may wish to contact the chief executives of the regional health authorities for details.
Spina Bifida
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the rate of spina bifida among newborn babies.
Mr. Sackville : In 1992, the rate per 10,000 total births live and still--was 1.2 for spina bifida in England and Wales.
NHS Patients (Repatriation)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been flown back from abroad in each year since 1990 ; and what was the cost to the NHS.
Dr. Mawhinney : Neither United Kingdom nor European Community legislation contains any power allowing national health service funds to be used to defray repatriation costs incurred outside the United Kingdom by United Kingdom residents. There is no central record of numbers privately repatriated by air.
Young People (Supervision)
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the average monthly cost of keeping a young person in secure accommodation in the last year for which figures are available ; (2) what was the average monthly cost of supervision under the Children and Young Persons Acts for the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Bowis : This information is not available centrally.
Random Breath Testing
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which EC countries have a policy of random breath testing by the police.
Mr. Key : I have been asked to reply.
Police powers vary from country to country and information about precise breath testing procedures in each EC country is not available.
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