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Export Licences
Dr. David Clark : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what information he has on the export of Heckler and Koch machine guns from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates in 1987 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will now publish details of all export licences granted to Royal Ordnance between 1980 and 1993 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what information he has on the export of Heckler and Koch weapons from the United Kingdom to the former Yugoslavia in 1992 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) what information he has relating to the exports of Royal Ordnance to (a) the United Arab Emirates, (b) central America, (c) the former Yugoslavia and (d) the former East Germany ; and if he will make a statement ;
(5) what information he has relating to the export of ethyl cellulose by Royal Ordnance in 1989 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(6) what is his policy regarding the collection and publication of information on the export of weapons by Heckler and Koch from the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 14 January 1994] : It has been the policy of successive administrations not to disclose details of an individual company's export licence applications, which are submitted to my Department in confidence.
Trade Barriers
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the Government's policy towards negotiating bilateral agreements with (a) Russia, (b) Hungary and (c) the Czech Republic in relation to reducing tariff or other trade barriers on agricultural products and food manufactured products ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : I have been asked to reply.
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The negotiation of trade agreements is undertaken on behalf of the Community by the European Commission, working from mandates approved by the Council of Ministers. Europe agreements have been concluded both with Hungary and the Czech Republic, as well as with Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. These provide access to the Community market at concessionary rates of import charge for a wide range of agricultural and processed agricultural products, as well as favourable access terms for the Community's farm exports to their markets. The United Kingdom strongly supported the negotiation of these agreements which should help the development of more market-oriented economic structures in those countries.Russia benefits from certain agricultural concessionary arrangements under the Community's generalised scheme of preference. Negotiations are currently under way for a partnership and co-operation agreement with Russia. This agreement does not contain specific trade concessions but does hold out the possibility of a free trade agreement in the future.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Aid (Kenya)
38. Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new British aid projects are now being considered in discussions with the Kenyan Government.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are discussing new projects in many areas including health and family planning, education, agriculture and wildlife, transport and the police.
Cambodia
41. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contributions Her Majesty's Government are currently making towards the lifting of mines in Cambodia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Since October 1991, we have provided nearly £500, 000 for demining in Cambodia, and we are currently contributing in addition some £135,000.
Brazil (Street Children)
42. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government have given to projects in Brazil concerned with assisting former street children.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Since 1992, we have committed over £400,000 to projects which assist Brazilian street children. This assistance is largely channelled through United Kingdom non-governmental organisations such as Childhope, Womankind and Oxfam.
Nigeria
43. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how aid is being affected by the political situation in Nigeria.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Existing aid projects continue and we are reviewing the rest of our programme. A £23.3 million grant to the power sector has been cancelled.
Sudan
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the impact of conflict in Sudan on the United Kingdom"s aid programme to that area.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We closed our aid projects in southern Sudan in 1986 due to the conflict. In 1991, the continuing civil war was one factor in the decision to terminate our aid programme completely.
South Africa
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the United Kingdom is doing to help the training of the police and crowd control marshals in South Africa, with particular reference to election monitoring.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Following a successful pilot project, we have agreed to help train marshals in crowd control at a cost of £750,000. We also plan to train 6,000 peace monitors who will be deployed during the elections at a cost of some £830,000. In addition we shall contribute to the activities of the new electoral unit to be set up in South Africa by the European Union, and consider any specific requests from the South African Independent Electoral Commission.
World Bank
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the accountability of the World bank and the International Monetary Fund to Parliament ; and what plans he has to make changes to improve accountability to national Parliaments.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The World bank and the IMF are accountable to their shareholders, including the United Kingdom. The Government are accountable to Parliament for payments made to these institutions. These arrangements work and we therefore have no current plans to change them.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the report, "Adjustment in Sub-Saharan Africa" published by the operations evaluations department of the World bank on 30 June 1993.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Individual evaluations produced by the operations evaluation department--OED--of the World bank are not published, but summaries of selected reports highlighting the main findings and lessons are released. Publication of the summary of the OED report on adjustment in sub-Saharan Africa is imminent, and a copy will be placed in each Library of the House as soon as it is received.
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HEALTH
NHS Employees
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to health authorities regarding procedures for suspension of NHS employees and the length of time in which formal disciplinary inquiries should be instigated, where such an inquiry is to take place.
Dr. Mawhinney : Disciplinary proceedings for national health service staff employed on national terms and conditions of service are governed by section 40 of the General Whitley Council's handbook, a copy of which is available in the Library. This provides a framework within which employing authorities determine local disciplinary procedures.
Guidance on disciplinary procedures for hospital medical and dental and community medical staff, where questions of professional conduct or professional competence are involved, was issued to employing authorities in departmental circular HC(90)9, copies of which are available in the Library.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give details of all individuals appointed to chair NHS trusts and serve as non-executive directors, listing their occupation and sex.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what capital allocations have been awarded to each NHS trust in the Northern region for 1994-95.
Dr. Mawhinney : Capital allocations to national health service trusts are not yet complete. An announcement about the issue of trust external financing limits, which control trust capital spending, will be made shortly.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish estimates of the amount of money held in trust funds by (a) district and (b) region.
Mr. Sackville : This information will be placed in the Library.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Mr. Critchley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals are at present engaged in community activities in order to raise money to purchase a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.
Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally.
Surgeons' Assistants
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on cardiac surgeons' assistants.
Dr. Mawhinney : This interesting development is being evaluated at the Churchill John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford. The Royal College of Surgeons is closely involved in the scheme and it will be discussed with the medical profession in the joint consultants committee shortly.
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Optician Registered Premises
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many optician registered premises there were in each of the last five years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The number of ophthalmic opticians premises for the five most recent years for which figures are available is as follows :
at 31 December
|1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992
---------------------------------------------------------------------
England
Ophthalmic opticians premises<2> |4,970|4,944|4,887|4,944|4,927
Other<3> |- |- |735 |734 |832
Total |- |- |5,622|5,678|5,759
Wales
Ophthalmic opticians premises |349 |345 |330 |353 |358
Other |- |- |56 |51 |47
Total |- |- |386 |404 |405
<1>Between 1986 and 1989, data were not collected on those premises
not
classified as Ophthalmic Opticians' premises. In 1990, information
on all
premises was collected. As a result , it became apparent that some
family
health services authorities were wrongly classifying some premises
as
'Ophthalmic Opticians'. These figures should therefore be used with
care.
<2>Premises where the owner or manager is registered with the
General
Optical Council as an ophthalmic optician.
<3>Premises where the owner or manager is not registered with the
General Optical Council as an ophthalmic optician.
Female Consultants
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many female consultants there were in the national health service on 1 January ; and what was the Opportunity 2000 target for female consultants in the national health service by 1994.
Mr. Sackville : Most recent figures available are that there were 2,822 female consultants in the national health service as at 30 September 1992. The Opportunity 2000 target is that 20 per cent. of all consultants should be female by 1994.
Dentists
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were salaried in each of the last five years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is shown in the table.
Number of salaried dentists
in England at 30 September
Year |Number of
|salaried
|dentists
------------------------------
1989 |36
1990 |33
1991 |27
1992 |65
1993 |93
GP Fundholders
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of general practitioner fundholders have spent more than their budgets for 1992-93.
Column 387
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not yet available centrally. The Department is awaiting finally audited figures on fundholder expenditure from some regions.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to be able to publish a regional breakdown of the 1992 93 allocations retained by general practitioner fundholders.
Dr. Mawhinney : These figures are not yet available centrally, as the Department is awaiting finally audited figures from some regions. When these are available, the regional information will be published.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it remains her policy that hospital treatment should be made available equally to the patients of fundholding and non-fundholding general practices ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : All patients are entitled to expect high-quality health care, regardless of whether the treatment is paid for by a fundholding general practitioner, or a district health authority on behalf of the general practitioner.
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received from right hon. and hon. Members identifying instances where is it alleged that different priority in the allocation of treatment is given to the patients of fundholding and non- fundholding general practices ; and if she will in each case identify the establishment allegedly operating any such two-tier system.
Dr. Mawhinney : According to our records, six parliamentary questions--excluding my hon. Friend's--and 61 letters from hon. Members have been answered in the current financial year.
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The establishments named were :Addenbrookes Hospital (twice), Cambridge
Kidderminster General, Kidderminster
Lister Hospital, Stevenage and Queen Elizabeth II Hospital Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
Luton and Dunstable Hospital Trust, Luton
Norfolk Acute Hospitals Trust, Norwich
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Headington
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, Essex
Royal Surrey Hospital, Guildford
Royal United Hospital Trust, Wiltshire
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London
St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey
South Warwickshire General Hospital Trust, Warwick
Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury
Watford General, Watford
Westmorland General Hospital, Kendal and Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.
Cigarette Advertising
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has of the effect of a ban on cigarette promotion on levels of smoking.
Mr. Sackville : The Department of Health discussion document "Effect of tobacco advertising on tobacco consumption" reviewed the evidence on the effect of tobacco bans in other countries. The report makes no estimate of the effect of an advertising ban in the United Kingdom. Copies of the report, published in October 1992, are available in the Library.
Opticians
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many opticians were registered with family health services authorities in each of the last five years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The number of ophthalmic opticians and ophthalmic medical practitioners registered in the five most recent years for which figures are available is :
Column 387
At 31 December
England<1> Wales<1>
|Ophthalmic |Ophthalmic |Total |Ophthalmic |Ophthalmic |Total
|opticians |medical |opticians |medical
|practitioners |practitioners
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1988 |5,378 |832 |6,210 |419 |47 |466
1989 |5,514 |784 |6,298 |436 |43 |479
1990 |5,652 |779 |6,431 |461 |46 |507
1991 |5,745 |757 |6,502 |471 |50 |521
1992 |5,863 |738 |6,601 |477 |53 |530
<1> Practitioners are generally counted only once even if they have a contract with more than one family health
services authority. If however, they
have contracts in both England and Wales, they will appear in figures for both countries.
Confidentiality
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she first announced a plan to publish a code of confidentiality for the NHS ; what progress has been made ; and if she will publish the draft NHS Management Executive document on confidentiality, use and disclosure on NHS information.
Mr. Sackville : In 1984 and in 1989, the Government issued consultation documents on a draft code of practice for handling personal health information. After failure to achieve consensus on this code the Government decided instead to prepare guidance on the matter. This was announced in the reply given by my hon. Friend the
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Member for Loughborough (Mr. Dorrell) to the hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook) on 13 February 1991 at column 509. There have been complex legal issues to resolve, but we hope to issue the guidance for consultation before the end of March.Midwifery
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her Department's policy on the establishment by Leeds university of a chair of midwifery which is open to non-midwives ; and if she will make a statement about the funding of this post.
Mr. Sackville : The qualifications required for appointment to the chair of midwifery are a matter for the university funding the chair to determine.
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Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what communication she has had with the director of research and development about advertisement for the chair of midwifery at Leeds university being open to non-midwives ; and if she will comment about his views.
Medicines Control Agency
Mr. Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to restructure the Medicines Control Agency ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The Medicines Control Agency became an executive agency in July 1991 and a Government trading fund in April 1993. In accordance with the usual arrangements, and as announced in the next steps review 1993, we shall be conducting a review of the performance and operation of the Medicines Control Agency for completion within three and a half years of the agency's launch--that is, by early 1995.
GP Night Fees
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is required on the form on which general practitioners claim night fees.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department of Health has issued a model form for completion by general practitioners claiming night visit fees. However, individual family health services authorities are free to amend this form to ask for additional information if they wish. The model form asks for details of the GP making the visit, including FHSA code number, and his or her relationship to the patient's own GP ; the patient's personal details, including national health service number and date of birth ; place of attendance ; and confirmation that the visit was requested and made between the hours of 10pm and 8am ; additionally, if more than one patient was seen on the same visit to one place, details for each patient are requested.
Christmas Cards
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many official Christmas cards were sent out in 1993 by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) staff of Government agencies working in or to his Department ; and how much these cards cost (i) to buy, (ii) to post and (iii) in staff time to sign, address and place in envelopes.
Mr. Sackville : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Public Bodies
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health who are those people currently appointed to serve on regional health authorities.
Dr. Mawhinney : Non-executive chairmen and members of regional health authorities are as listed. The appointment of executive members to regional health authorities is a matter for the authorities themselves.
East Anglian Regional Health Authority--
Chairman
Sir Colin Walker
Non-executive members
Mrs. J. Hopwood
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