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Mr. Stewart : Yes. The new national co-ordinating unit for cervical screening which is being set up, following the recommendations of the Inverclyde inquiry report, will monitor the achievement of the targets set for health boards on this programme.
Ayrshire and Arran Health Board
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much it cost Ayrshire and Arran health board to produce and distribute its annual report and financial review 1992-93 ; and how much it cost the health board to produce its annual review in 1993.
Mr. Stewart : It cost Ayrshire and Arran health board £12,111 to produce its 1992-93 annual report and £17,000 to produce its annual review in 1993. The 1992-93 financial review was produced in-house and costs are not separately identifiable. Distribution costs cannot be identified. They constitute mainly internal costs and some postage expenses.
GP Fundholders
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the distinction he makes in the roles of general practitioner fundholders compared to non-fundholders in respect of NHS priorities and planning guidance for the future of the NHS ; and on what specific legislation he bases this distinction.
Mr. Stewart : GP fundholders are purchasers of health care and control approximately 20 per cent of the total hospital and community health services budget for the patients on their lists. As such, they are accountable under the National Health Service (Fundholding Practices) (Scotland) Regulations 1993--SI 1993 No. 488--for their purchasing decisions and need to be aware of national priorities and targets which the Government expect purchasers collectively in Scotland--health boards and GP fundholders--to achieve, within the resources it makes available.
Other general practitioners are not accountable in the same way, although the Government have encouraged health boards to involve GPs in planning and in reaching decisions about purchasing care.
Cash Limits
Mr. Kynoch : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes the Lord Advocate proposes to the Crown Office cash and running costs limits for 1993-94.
Mr. Lang : The cash limit for class IX, vote 12--Crown Office, Scotland, procurator fiscal service and Lord Advocate's Department : administration--will be reduced by £400,000 from £39,495,000 to £39, 095,000. Within this total, the running cost limit will be reduced by £400,000
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from £33,722,000 to £33,322,000. The resultant saving will, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, fully offset additional expenditure on class IX, vote 13--Crown Office, Scotland : Crown prosecutions and legal services--resulting from increased court activity and consequential higher than expected witness costs.Mr. Kynoch : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes he intends to make to the cash limits and running costs provision for 1993- 94 within his responsibility.
Mr. Lang : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, I intend to make changes to seven voted cash limits, one non-voted cash block and three running costs limit : (
(a) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 2, agricultural services, Scotland, will be decreased by £6,500,000 from £123,838,000 to £117, 338,000. The reduction arises mainly from lower than expected demand for structural measures and accompanying measures to CAP reform. (
(b) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 7, housing and environmental services, Scotland, will be increased by £12,703,000 from £418,959, 000 to £431,662,000. The increase takes account of £11,112,000 increase in Scottish Homes' grant in aid to assist housing associations in the acquistion of local authority and new town development corporation housing stock ; an increase in provision of £1,589,000 in housing support grant ; and an increase in provision of £2,000 to meet an unanticipated shortfall in appropriations in aid of repayment of loans and grants by first-time buyers. These increases will be partly offset by a reduction in the SO/LA2 cash block. There is also an increase of £200,000 from £12,838,000 to £13,038,000 in the running cost provision for Historic Scotland ; this will be offset by an increase in the agency's appropriations in aid from £7, 674,000 to £7,874,000. In effect this means that there is a net increase of £198,000 in appropriation in aid on the vote as a whole. (
(c) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 12, law, order, miscellaneous health and social work services, Scotland, will be increased by a net total of £2,453,000 from £283,532,000 to £285,985, 000. The supplementary estimate allows for an increase in provision of £2,371,000 for the Scottish Criminal Records Office ; and an increase in running cost provision of £400,000 for the Scottish Prison Service. These will be partially offset by transfers from other votes.
(d) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 14, hospital community health, family health--part--and other health services, Scotland, will be decreased by a net total of £17,724,000 from £2,784,391,000 to £2, 766,667,000. The decrease takes account of a transfer of £21,042,000 to class XIV, vote 13 for changes in the requirements for GP practice
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fundholders and the external financing limit for NHS trusts ; and transfers of £2,000,000 to class XIV, vote 12 and £318,000 from class XII, vote 3. There is also an increase of £5,000,000 in health boards' capital expenditure which will be offset by increased receipts from the sale of land and buildings. The increase in the NHS trusts' external financing limit includes £438,000 for take-up of the end-year flexibility entitlement.(e) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 19, administration of justice, Scotland, will be decreased by £2,300,000 from £53,005,000 to £50,705,000. The decrease is due to fewer than expected cases arising under the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1993.
(f) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 21, Scottish Office administration, will be increased by a net total of £1,142,000 from £164,436,000 to £165,578,000. The increase results from a transfer of £195,000 from the Property Holdings agency in respect of maintenance charges ; a transfer of £1,000,000 from class XIV, vote 19, as a result of running costs being redeployed ; a tranfer of provision of £25,000 to class XIV, vote 12, the Scottish Office Pensions Agency for the provision of security staff ; and a transfer of provision of £28,000 to class XIV, vote 12 for capital provision for the Scottish fire service.
(g) The cash limit for class XIV, vote 22, Scottish Record Office, will be increased by £26,000 from £10,269,000 to £10,295,000 as a result of a transfer from the Property Holdings agency in respect of maintenance charges.
(h) The non-voted cash block SO/LA2, which covers housing capital expenditure by local authorities and capital expenditure by new towns, will be decreased by £11,112,000 from £275,414,000 to £264,302,000. This will fully offset the increase in Scottish Homes grant in aid in class XIV, vote 7.
As a result of the transfers mentioned for votes 7, 12 and 21, the Scottish Office running cost/limit will increase by £1,795,000 from £332,856,000 to £334,651,000.
The change to class XIV, vote 19, Scottish courts administration, requires a decrease in their running cost limit of £2,300,000 from £42,758,000 to £40,458,000.
The change to class XIV, vote 22, Scottish Records Office requires an increase in its running cost limit of £26,000 from £4,054,000 to £4,080,000.
The increases will be offset by savings on other votes within my responsibility and from the reserve. There will not therefore be any addition to the planned total of public expenditure.
Parole Board
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland who are the members currently appointed to the Parole Board ; and what is their term of appointment and their remuneration.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is as follows :
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Members of the Parole Board for Scotland-1994
Members |Year of first |Designation
|appointment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. M. Scott |1982 (member) |Social work |Chairman
|1992 (Chair for |Former District Manager, Strathclyde regional
|2 years) | Social Work Department; former member of the
|Local Review Committee for Dumfries Young
|Offenders Institution
I. McNee |1989 |Independent |Vice Chairman and Managing Director,
|Macdonald Lindsay Pindar plc; former
|Chairman, Lothian Region Children's Panel
D. S. Aitchison |1989 |Independent |Former Assistant Chief Constable, Strathclyde
|Police
Dr. J. Baird |1992 |Psychiatrist |Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, Douglas Inch
|Centre, Glasgow
Mrs. M. Casserly |1990 |Social work |District Officer (Adult Care), Strathclyde
|Region, Social Work Department
W. T. Finlayson |1991 |Treatment of offenders |Former HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Prison,
|former Governor, HM Prison, Cornton Vale
The Very Rev. G. J. T. Forbes |1991 |Independent |Provost, St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh
Ms J. Freeman |1994 |Independent |Director, APEX Trust
Mrs. D. Hutton |1993 |Independent |Chairman, Scottish Consumer Council
Mrs. M. B. Kernohan |1992 |Independent |Former Procurator Fiscal
Dr. J. J. McManus |1988 |Criminologist |Senior Lecturer in Law, Dundee University
The Hon. Lord Milligan |1992 |Judicial |Senator of the College of Justice
Sheriff Gordon Shiach |1991 |Judicial |Sheriff, Edinburgh
Dr. P. Whatmore |1994 |Psychiatrist |Former Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist
Members are appointed initially for a three-year term-unless otherwise specified and can be reappointed.
Members are remunerated on a fee-paid basis. Fees are payable for each meeting attended plus a further 1" fee for the reading time involved in preparing
for meetings. Fees are also payable for other Parole Board-related activities such as interviewing prisoners, representing the board at meetings etc. Rates
of fees are:
Chairman-£211.
Psychiatric members-£217.40.
Lay members-£141.
Serving judicial members of the board do not receive fees.
Prisoners (Educational Qualifications)
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the educational qualifications of prisoners convicted for (a) theft, (b) burglary and (c) violent crimes against the person in each of the past four years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I have asked Mr. E. W. Frizzell, the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 4 February 1994 :
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the educational qualifications of prisoners convicted for theft, burglary and violent crimes against the person in each of the past four years.
Information on the educational qualifications of persons received into Scottish penal establishments is not collected by the Scottish Prison Service.
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Crime Statistics
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many convictions there were in (a) the sheriff court and (b) the High Court for (i) house burglary, (ii) theft, (iii) theft from vehicles, (iv) robbery and (v) murder committed in the parliamentary constituency of Greenock and Port Glasgow in each of the past 10 years ; and if he will give the total number of convictions for each of those offences committed in that area as a proportion of those committed in both Strathclyde and Scotland as a whole.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Information held centrally on convictions does not indicate the location where the offences were committed but information is available for Greenock sheriff court and generally all such convictions will relate to offences committed in Inverclyde district.
The available information is listed :
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Persons with a charge proved who were sentenced in Greenock sheriff court
1983-1992
|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989|1990|1991|1992
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Housebreaking
Number of persons with a charge proved who
were sentenced in Greenock sheriff court |175 |104 |117 |129 |133 |92 |126 |102 |82 |100
Percentage of persons with a charge proved in
sheriff courts in Strathclyde who were sentenced
in Greenock sherrif court |3 |2 |2 |3 |4 |3 |4 |4 |4 |4
Percentage of persons with a charge proved in
sheriff courts in Scotland who were sentenced
in Greenock sheriff court |2 |1 |1 |2 |2 |1 |2 |2 |2 |2
(2) Theft
Number of persons with a charge proved who
were sentenced in Greenock sheriff court |239 |265 |280 |274 |229 |238 |225 |238 |214 |198
Percentage of persons with a charge proved in
sheriff courts in Strathclyde who were
sentenced in Greenock sherrif court |4 |4 |4 |4 |4 |5 |4 |5 |5 |4
Percentage of persons with a charge proved in
sheriff courts in Scotland who were sentenced
in Greenock sheriff court |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2
(3) Robbery
Number of persons with a charge proved who
were sentenced in Greenock sheriff court |12 |4 |10 |13 |9 |12 |9 |7 |7 |5
Percentage of persons with a charge proved in
sheriff courts in Strathclyde who were
sentenced in Greenock sherrif court |3 |1 |3 |4 |2 |3 |3 |2 |3 |2
Percentage of persons with a charge proved in
sheriff courts in Scotland who were sentenced
in Greenock sheriff court |2 |1 |2 |2 |1 |2 |2 |1 |2 |1
Restraints
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what guidelines have been issued to police forces concerning the use of leg restraints and body-belts with handcuffs in cases involving cases of deportation ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : None. Police forces in Scotland are not equipped with leg restraints or body-belts with handcuffs.
Scottish Nuclear Ltd.
Mr. Gallie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the objectives he has for Scottish Nuclear Ltd.
Mr. Lang : I have set the following objectives for Scottish Nuclear ; they are listed in order of priority :
1. To continue the safe operation of Scottish Nuclear's power stations at Hunterston and Torness, and consolidate and develop their operating performance.
2. To decommission successfully Hunterston A power station. 3. To achieve an improved financial performance.
4. To improve the image and public perception of nuclear power generation.
5. To investigate improved generating methods, particularly reactor and related technologies for the future.
6. To consider prudent and relevant diversification which makes sensible use of the company's skills.
Scottish Nuclear has been working to these objectives since it was set up in 1989. They are still valid today, but may need to be reconsidered in the light of the forthcoming nuclear review of the prospects of nuclear power.
Dental Treatment
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the waiting time for children awaiting treatment under an anaesthetic at each dental hospital at the latest available date.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 3 February 1994] : This information is not held centrally.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Law on Privacy
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Government's White Paper on the law on privacy will address the question of the confidentiality of house sale prices ; and if he intends to protect such confidentiality.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The consultation document on the law on privacy, which was issued by the Lord Chancellor's Department on 30 July 1993, did not refer to house sale prices. None of the 122 consultees mentioned it and it will not be specifically referred to in the White Paper.
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House Prices
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what plans there are to enable information about the price paid for a house to be made publicly available ; and how the information is to be limited ;
(2) what, and how many representations, he received before formulating plans to make the price paid for a house public knowledge.
Mr. John M. Taylor : There are no current plans for such information to be made publicly available. A consultation document recently issued by Her Majesty's Land Registry invites views on whether to restore the practice of entering the price paid for a property on to the public land register.
Cash Limits
Mr. Heald : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what changes there will be to the Lord Chancellor's Department's running costs limits for 1993-94.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The cash limit for class IX, vote 11--Public Record Office--will be increased by £309,000 from £37,858,000 to £38, 167,000. The running cost limit for class IX, vote 11 will be increased by £309,000 from £24,200,000 to £24,509,000 to cover certain payments to Property Holdings for building maintenance. This increase will be financed by a transfer of provision from Property Holdings and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
The cash limit for class IX, vote 1--Lord Chancellor's Department ; administration of justice ; England and Wales--will be reduced by £17, 327,000 from £795,529,000 to £778,202,000 as a result of lower than anticipated expenditure on magistrates court grants and because the payment needed for the Land Registry trading fund in respect of the value of work outstanding at 1 April 1993 was £7,327,000 lower than originally estimated.
The cash limit for class IX, vote 3--Northern Ireland court service ; administration of justice--will be reduced by £880,000 from £24,769, 000 to £23,889,000. The reduction arises because of savings from keener than expected tenders in several building contracts and a professional services commission which have been let during the current year. The savings from the cash limit reductions on votes 1 and 3 will more than fully offset additional expenditure on class IX, vote 4, subject to approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, required for higher than estimated expenditure on legal advice and assistance and criminal legal aid.
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DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Service Standards
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to ensure that none of the service standards specified in the charters published to date are relaxed or withdrawn during the current Parliament.
Mr. David Davis : Under the citizens charter, public services are required to set demanding but realistic standards of service. There is no intention to relax or withdraw service standards. On the contrary, as standards are met, so they are being raised.
Charles Barker
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much money was owed to Her Majesty's Stationery Office by the public relations company Charles Barker when it went into liquidation.
Mr. Waldegrave : HMSO Books was owed £1,704 when Charles Barker Ltd. went into administrative receivership.
Cash Limits
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals he has to change the 1993-94 cash limit of running costs limit for the Office of Public Service and Science.
Mr. Waldegrave : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit for the Office of Public Service and Science--class XVIII, vote 1--will be increased by £90,000 from £73,508,000 to £73,598,000 and the gross running cost limit will also be increased by £90,000 from £90,568,000 to £90,658,000. This takes account of a transfer from the Department of Trade and Industry--class IV, vote 1--of £12,000 in respect of the running costs of the Link secretariat which is being transferred from the Department of Trade and Industry to the Office of Public Service and Science. In addition, £78,000 in respect of maintenance charges is being transferred from Property Holdings--class VII, vote 6. The increase is offset by transfers from other Government Departments and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what changes are proposed to the cash and running costs limit in the year 1993-94 in respect of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and health service commissioners.
Mr. Waldegrave : As announced in the Government's White Paper on open government published in July 1993, there will be a major extension to the responsibilities of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration from 4 April 1994. From that date, complaints that Government Departments and certain other bodies have unreasonably refused access to information in contravention of the code of practice proposed in the White Paper may be referred to the commissioner. In preparation for this work, the commissioner has sought a supplementary estimate for 1993-94 for additional staff and to make accommodation and other resources available for them.
Column 970
The supplementary estimate also covers additional staff, their accommodation and administrative costs to match the increasing work loads for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Adminstration and health service commissioners as more complaints are being referred by MPs and received direct from members of the public.The increased provision sought reflects the fact that the main functions of the office of the parliamentary commissioner and health service commissioners are demand led. Accordingly the cash limit for the office has been increased to £5,123,000.
Parliamentary approval of this additional expenditure will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the office of the parliamentary commissioner and health service commissioners--class XIX, vote 4--of £659,000.
PRIME MINISTER
Special Advisers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Prime Minister which advisers to his Office are seconded from other organisations ; and what are the organisations and the lengths and terms of the secondment.
The Prime Minister : Lord Poole is on secondment to the policy unit from James Capel and Co. Ltd. The terms of the secondment are covered by the normal confidentiality rules which apply to employer-employee relationships. The other advisers in my Office are not engaged on secondment terms.
Political Honours
Dr. Wright : To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions since 1979 the political honours scrutiny committee has referred back names submitted to it.
The Prime Minister : The political honours scrutiny committee is a committee of the Privy Council. Its proceedings are never divulged.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Prime Minister if he will arrange for future honours lists to include not only particulars of public service of recipients but information on their donations to party funds over the previous 10 years.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Prime Minister what is the definition of the term "for political services" as used in honours lists.
The Prime Minister : The term is used to indicate that the person honoured has rendered public service through the exercise of a political office or through a political party.
Public Appointments Unit
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister what information is available to right hon. and hon. Members from the public appointments unit ; how this information can be obtained ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : The public appointments unit maintains a register of people who are willing to be considered for public appointments. A nomination form and a leaflet explaining the role of the unit, and giving
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details of the different personal qualities, skills and experience that may be required, is available from the director of the unit, which is in the Cabinet Office. The director welcomes nominations of suitable candidates from all hon. Members.The unit also provides advice to Government Departments on public appointments policy and procedures. Details of central guidance and examples of good practice are given in the "Guide on Public Appointments Procedures", produced in September 1992, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Prime Minister how many names of candidates for public appointments are held on the Chief Whip's list as described in the Cabinet Office guide on public appointments procedures.
Mr. Waldegrave : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend has a number of sources of information upon which he can draw in providing advice, when requested.
Mr. Peter Levene
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Prime Minister what requests his office has received for Mr. Peter Levene to give evidence to the Scott inquiry.
Disabled People
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to promote the rights of disabled people within the international community.
The Prime Minister : Following the United Nations decade of disabled persons--1983 to 1992--a number of resolutions to promote the integration and equality of opportunity for disabled people have been adopted, which the Government have supported. These include standard rules on the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities, and resolutions on the full integration of persons with disabilities and the international day of disabled persons. The United Kingdom is also involved in a number of European Community programmes designed to integrate disabled people more fully into society, including HELIOS, Horizon and TIDE.
No. 10 Downing Street
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 1 February, Official Report, column 610, if he will list each category of miscellaneous indirect costs of non-official events held at 10 Downing street.
The Prime Minister : I have nothing further to add to the reply I gave the hon. Member on 1 February 1994, Official Report, column 610.
Lords-lieutenant
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Prime Minister what are the powers and duties of the lords-lieutenant in England.
The Prime Minister : Lords-lieutenant have no statutory powers. Their principal function is to act as the
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sovereign's personal representative in the county concerned. Their duties include support of the armed forces, the magistracy and voluntary organisations, as well as certain civic and social functions.Public Appointments
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the total number of public appointments made by Ministers of the Crown or by the Crown or nominations by Ministers.
The Prime Minister : The information, as requested, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Belize
Dr. Spink : To ask the Prime Minister what recent contact he has had with the Prime Minister of Belize regarding the security situation ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I met the Belize Prime Minister during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Limassol in October 1993. Mr. Esquivel and I have since exchanged letters.
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