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Leadership Award Scheme
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the NHS leadership award scheme was established ; how many recipients there have been during each year ; what criteria are used in deciding an award ; who nominates candidates for the award ; who determines each recipient ;
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what an individual award comprises ; what has been the budget for the award for each year ; and who paid for the advertisement in the South London Press of 8 March concerning the receipt of such an award by the chief executive of Lewisham hospital trust.Dr. Mawhinney : The scheme was introduced last autumn by Sir Duncan Nichol as part of his strategy for improving the quality of management within the national health service. Staff were invited to nominate their chief executives or general managers for awards if, as a result of their leadership, improvements in local services had been achieved. On 8 March Sir Duncan presented plaques to the nine awards recipients he had selected in the light of assessments made by senior executives from major public companies. There was no budget specifically for the scheme ; costs were met from within existing management executive budgets for non-staff expenditure. The advertisement to which the hon. Member refers was paid for by private individuals who wanted to celebrate the fact that Mrs. Val Martin was one of the nine awards recipients.
King's Fund Health Policy Institute
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what response she has made to the report published on 24 February by the King's Fund Health Policy Institute ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government welcome this contribution to the debate over the achievements and directions of the national health service reforms and in particular the report's confirmation that the reforms offer potential for real gains to patients.
Emergency Services, South Yorkshire
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current ratio of accident and emergency units to district general hospitals in South Yorkshire ; and what the ratio was (a) two, (b) five and (c) 10 years ago.
Mr. Sackville : This is a matter for Trent regional health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Michael Carlisle, chairman of the authority, for details.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to meet employees of the South Yorkshire ambulance trust and the hon. Member for Don Valley to discuss patient transport services ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : I met the hon. Member on 16 February to discuss the South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance and Paramedic Service National Health Service Trust.
Disabled Employees
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered disabled people are employed in her Department ; and what percentage this is of the total employed.
Mr. Sackville : In February 1994, 1.4 per cent. or 68 members of the total work force were registered disabled. In addition, a number of staff have a disability but are not registered.
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Drugs Prescriptions
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish her estimate for each year since 1985 of the proportion of generic, non-branded drugs as a percentage of the total amount of drugs prescribed by general practitioners ; and what was the total estimated cost in constant prices for both categories for each year.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information available is shown in the table.
The percentage of prescription items and the net ingredient cost of
drugs prescribed generically: England
Year |Percentage |Net ingredient|Net ingredient
|prescribed |cost for items|cost for all
|generically<1>|prescribed |items at 1992
|generically at|prices<2>
|1992 prices<2>|(£ million)
|(£ million)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |35.0 |359.7 |1,877.2
1986 |39.0 |423.1 |2,010.1
1987 |39.0 |443.8 |2,131.2
1988 |40.0 |478.3 |2,248.5
1989 |42.0 |560.5 |2,287.0
1990 |44.0 |643.0 |2,328.6
<3>1991 |43.0 |641.1 |2,423.2
<4>1991 |41.0 |654.4 |2,616.5
1992 |43.0 |786.0 |2,858.0
<1> Prescription items for dressings and appliances are excluded from the
totals in calculating generic prescribing. Items generically prescribed
include those written as a generic but dispensed as a proprietary because
a generic is not available.
<2> The net ingredient cost is the basic cost of drugs before discount and
excludes dispensing costs or fees. The net ingredient cost figures at 1992
prices are calculated using the GDP deflator. The net ingredient cost of
dressings and appliances is excluded.
<3> 1991 data are based on items and have the same coverage as 1985 to
1990 data.
<4> 1991 and 1992 data are based on items and coverall prescriptions
dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing
doctors, and through direct administration to patients by GPs. These
include not only prescriptions originating from general practitioners in
England but also from hospital doctors, dentists, and armed services
doctors and dentists.
Note: 1985 to 1990 data are based on fees and cover prescriptions
dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors only.
Source: Prescription cost analysis statistics.
General Practitioners
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what new measures she proposes to relieve the work pressure and work load on general practitioners in the light of the recent report by the Audit Commission ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We continue to take forward, in consultation with the profession, ways of reducing pressures in general practitioners' work load.
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been removed from the lists of (a)
non-fundholding general practitioners and (b) fundholding general practitioners, for each family health service authority in Merseyside, in each year since 1990.
Dr. Mawhinney : Family health services authorities are not required to record the fundholding status of general practitioners when dealing with a request to remove a patient's name from a doctor's list.
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are issued to general practitioners
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concerning the removal of patients from their lists ; and what rights of redress patients have who have been removed from their general practitioner's list.Waiting Lists
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she will take to ensure that a private out-patient cannot bypass existing national health service waiting lists ; and what steps she has taken to determine the extent to which such patients are currently able to receive priority over NHS patients.
Mr. Sackville : None. Any private work a consultant does is additional to his duties and is carried out in his own time, sometimes using resources bought from the health service. As a result more treatments are given, pressure on the national health service is relieved, and the generality of waiting times is not adversely affected.
Agensic-Anosmic
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has concerning Agensic-Anosmic ; and what research is being undertaken into the loss of sense of smell.
Mr. Bowis : The Department is aware that Ageusic-Anosmic helps people who have lost their sense of taste and smell. Ageusic-Anosmic has campaigned since 1992 to draw attention to the plight of sufferers. Research into the condition is primarily a matter for the Medical Research Council which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Internationally there is research work being undertaken into the possible affects of environmental pollution on the senses of taste and smell and the Department keeps this under review.
Wakefield Health Authority
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons Wakefield health authority has blocked extra-contractual referrals by general practitioners within its area.
Dr. Mawhinney : This is a matter for Wakefield district health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Brian Hayward, the chairman, for details.
Health Authorities (Mergers)
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list health authorities as of 1 April with details of new health authorities formed by merger listing the former health authorities merged.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information will be placed in the Library.
Tobacco Companies
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance or guidelines have been issued by her Department regarding the appropriateness of investment in tobacco companies by NHS trusts or health authorities.
Dr. Mawhinney : Trusts and health authorities cannot invest Exchequer funds in tobacco companies.
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Paragraph 7 of schedule 3 to the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 limits the manner in which trusts can invest any money held to securities of the Government of the United Kingdom, or such other manner as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, approve. Approval has been given for investment in certain United Kingdom public sector institutions, banks which are authorised institutions under part I of the Banking Act 1987, and building societies authorised under the Building Societies Act 1986. Trusts are therefore unable to invest in tobacco companies.There is no provision in the National Health Service Act 1977 which would allow health authorities to invest funds.
Stage Hypnotism
Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to initiate research into the health hazards of stage hypnotism.
Mr. Sackville : None. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 31 January at columns 598-99.
Doctors (Free Speech)
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether doctors employed by NHS trusts are guaranteed the same rights of free speech as apply under paragraph 330 of the Whitley council agreement for doctors employed by health authorities.
Dr. Mawhinney : Doctors have rights specified in their contracts.
Public Immunity Certificates
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many public interest immunity certificates she has signed in each year since 1990.
Mr. Sackville : Two. One was signed in relation to confidential policy formation documents relevant to listeria litigation and the other was to protect a confidential report into a maternal death which was requested by a solicitor in medical negligence litigation against a health authority. In the first case the court allowed the other party to see the documents and in the second case the application has been withdrawn for the time being following receipt by the solicitors of the signed certificate.
Blood Supplies
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of blood supplies in each region were supplied to private hospitals in each of the last five years ; and how many units this represented.
Mr. Sackville : The information will be placed in the Library.
Extra-contractual Referrals
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 8 March, Official Report, column 167, if she will publish for the last two years the quarterly information by regional health authority on (a) forecast outturn spend on extra-contractual referrals and (b) planned level of spend.
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Dr. Mawhinney : This information is estimated and unaudited ; it is collected, and is only appropriate for, internal performance management purposes.
Private Patients
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private patients received treatment in national health service hospitals in each medical discipline for each year since 1990 in each regional health authority.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 4 March 1994] : Figures for 1989-90 and 1990-91 will be placed in the Library. Data for both years are subject to deficiencies in overall coverage and episodes with a valid diagnosis. Because of this, some specialties and regions show wide year-on- year variation, and the data should therefore be regarded as an estimate only.
TREASURY
Taxation
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will produce tables showing (a) the proportion of Government and social contribution income coming from indirect taxation and (b) the top rates of income tax in each other European Union member state.
Mr. Dorrell : The information is as follows :
|Indirect taxes as a |Top rate of
|proportion of total |income tax
|taxes and social |(per cent.)
|security contributions,
|1991<1>
|(per cent.)
Belgium |27.0 |<3>55
Denmark |35.9 |65
France |33.4 |56.8
Germany |31.7 |<4>53
Greece |51.8 |40
Ireland |43.9 |48
Italy |30.1 |<5>51
Luxembourg |n.a. |50
Netherlands |26.7 |<6>60
Portugal |n.a. |40
Spain |<2>31.8 |56
United Kingdom |39.4 |40
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are working in the areas of (a) capital gains tax, (b) schedule D tax, (c) corporation tax, (d) pay as you earn and (e) national insurance contributions.
Mr. Dorrell : Excluding staff employed on central administration, in other supportive roles and those in certain specialist offices the table sets out the total numbers
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of Inland Revenue staff working within its network of local offices for the most recent year for which data are available--1992-93. The table shows how many were working in the areas of (a) capital gains tax, (b) schedule D tax, (c) corporation tax and (d) schedule E tax. Under (d) figures have been provided for schedule E tax rather than as PAYE as PAYE is simply a mechanism for collecting schedule E tax. Resource usage on national insurance contribution work is incidental to mainstream tax work and not separately recorded.
|Number
----------------------------------
Capital gains tax |833
Schedule D |19,664
Corporation tax |3,236
Schedule E |27,065
|-------
Total |50,798
Fuel and Vehicle Taxes
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the yield in 1992-93 and what is the latest estimate of yield in 1993-94 from (a) petrol duty, (b) derv duty, (c) vehicle excise duty, (d) value added tax on petrol and DERV sales and (e) value added tax on vehicle sales.
Sir John Cope : Information on the outturn yield in 1992-93 and the projected yield in 1993-94 is provided in the table :
|£billion|1993-94
|1992-93 |Forecast
|Outturn
--------------------------------------------------
Petrol duty |8.2 |9.3
DERV duty |3.0 |3.4
Vehicle excise duty |3.2 |3.7
VAT on petrol and derv |1.6 |n/a
VAT on vehicle sales |2.9 |n/a
No direct figures are available for the VAT yield on petrol and DERV and on vehicle sales. The table contains estimates of the outturn on total VAT yield that can be attributed to these items on the basis of national accounts data on expenditure. For petrol and DERV the estimate covers only consumers' expenditure--the yield from business expenditure is highly uncertain because the majority of businesses can reclaim the VAT paid as input tax. The relevant data are not available for 1993-94.
Inheritance Tax
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will require all persons who have benefited from exemption from inheritance tax on works of art to publish details of public access to such works of art in the previous year.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 28 January, Official Report, column 454. Records are not kept centrally of how many members of the public exercise their rights to view works of art which are conditionally exempt from inheritance tax.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to publish, at least annually in
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each county, a schedule of all works of art granted exemption from inheritance tax in a form which will enable citizens to exercise their rights of access.Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 28 January 1994, Official Report, column 454. The register of conditionally exempt works of art, which can be consulted at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, the national library of Scotland in Edinburgh, the national museum of Wales in Cardiff and the Ulster museum in Belfast, can be used to pick out items by broad location, usually the county, in which each object is available for viewing. The register is updated quarterly. Copies of the register in computer-readable format may also be purchased from the capital taxes office of the Inland Revenue at £10 each.
Indonesia (Visit)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the purpose of his visit to Indonesia in December ; and what benefits have accrued to the United Kingdom from his visit.
Mr. Nelson : The purpose of the visit was to enable the Chancellor to see at first hand the rapid developments in the Indonesian economy, and to raise the profile of United Kingdom banks and investment houses in top level Indonesian government and business circles. The benefits of the visit will arise over the longer term through the encouragement to Indonesia to look to United Kingdom financial expertise to assist its development programme.
Money Supply
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will publish in table form the change in the money supply for each year since 1976 and the change in the rate of inflation two years later ;
(2) what was the change in the broad money supply for each year since 1972 ; what is his estimate of the proportion of that change directly attributable to (a) the banks, (b) the building societies and (c) the balance of payments ;
(3) what figures he has for the supply of broad money in the United Kingdom and the rate of inflation for each year since 1979 ; and what assessment he has made of the degree of correlation between them ; (4) if he will publish a table showing for each year since 1976 the percentage change in the money supply in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) West Germany ;
(5) what was the increase in the money supply, broadly defined, since May 1979 ; and how much of it was created by Government and how much by other agencies.
Mr. Nelson : Monetary policy is conducted so as to deliver low inflation. Monetary policy decisions are based on an assessment of a range of monetary and other indicators, including narrow and broad money. However, the Government do not rely on any single indicator. The Treasury published a detailed assessment of broad money in the autumn 1991 edition of the "Treasury Bulletin". The Government have also set a monitoring range for M4. But experience indicates that the relationship with future inflation is not sufficiently close to justify establishing M4 as a formal target.
Figures for retail price inflation, narrow and broad money in the United Kingdom since 1972 can be found in the Central Statistical Office's Economic Trends. More
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detailed figures for the money supply--and its components and counterparts--can be found in the Bank of England's "Statistical Abstract" and in its "Quarterly Bulletin". West German money supply figures are available in the International Monetary Fund's "International Financial Statistics". Copies of all these publications are in the House Library. The relationship between the balance of payments and the overseas contribution to broad money growth is described in special articles in the Bank of England's "Quarterly Bulletin" December 1978 and December 1983 editions and in the Central Statistical Office's "Financial Statistics" explanatory handbook.Cuba
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the next meeting of the Paris Club is scheduled to take place ; whether the question of Cuba's public sector indebtedness will be on the agenda ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : The next meeting of the Paris Club is scheduled to take place during the week beginning 21 March 1994. Cuba is not on the agenda.
Cuba's debt position was last discussed by the Paris Club in January. Creditors agreed to consider an application for rescheduling for Cuba during the course of 1994, subject to there being a genuine balance of payments need.
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the extent of Cuba's public sector indebtedness to the United Kingdom, including interest.
Mr. Nelson : Cuba's current outstanding debts with the United Kingdom total £69.82 million, all of which are owed to the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Profit-related Pay
Mr. Fabricant : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of employees in the United Kingdom have their income linked to Inland Revenue approved profit-related pay schemes.
Mr. Dorrell : It is estimated that about 5 per cent. of employees in the United Kingdom were covered by registered profit-related pay schemes at the end of March 1993.
Insurance
Mr. Darling : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table setting out a breakdown of the total revenue he expects to raise from insurance premium tax in 1994-95 and 1995-96 by principal type of insurance risk, including motor insurance, home building insurance, home contents insurance and private medical insurance.
Sir John Cope : The following table shows the estimated breakdown of the expected revenue yield from insurance premium tax.
|1994-95 |1995-96
|£ million |£ million
Motor (business) |25 |110
Motor (private) |35 |150
Building (household) |20 |85
Home contents |15 |60
Medical and other |5 |25
Other business |75 |330
Charities (VAT)
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated cost to the Treasury in 1994-95 of a scheme to allow registered charities to reclaim 25 per cent. of their value added tax liability ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir John Cope : The Charities Tax Reform Group has estimated that such a scheme would cost £80 million a year.
Public Interest Immunity Certificates
Mr. Darling : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many public interest immunity certificates he has signed in each year since 1990.
Mr. Dorrell : No public interest immunity certificates have been signed by Treasury Ministers since 1990.
Council Tenants (Domestic Fuel)
Ms Harman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether councils which provide unmetered supplies of gas and electricity to council tenants through district heating schemes will be able to claim back VAT incurred under section 20 of the Value Added Tax Act 1983; whether council tenants receiving unmetred supplies of gas and electricity through district heating schemes will be effectively exempt from VAT on gas and electricity ; if he will provide an estimate of the number of council tenants receiving unmetered supplies of gas and electricity through district heating schemes ; and how many council tenants receive metered supplies of gas and electricity through district heating schemes.
Sir John Cope [holding answer 14 March 1994] : A local authority can recover the VAT incurred in pursuance of its statutory, non- business activities under section 20 of the Value Added Tax Act 1983. This includes the provision of council housing. Council tenants paying rents which include a flat rate element for heat supplied under an unmetred district heating scheme will, in VAT terms, be receiving only a single supply of heated accommodation and will be unaffected by the extension of VAT to domestic fuel. The number of council tenants receiving unmetred supplies is estimated to be less than half of one per cent. of total United Kingdom households.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Electric Car Project (Coventry)
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what requests he had for assistance to the City of Coventry Peugeot electric car project.
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Engine Emissions
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assistance his Department is giving to the reduction of emissions from engines.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Department is currently supporting some early work on fuel cells which, if successful, could find application in the transport market in the long term. The Department is also considering with other Government Departments a possible programme of field trials for selected vans and buses to assess, among other things, their emissions performance when using a number of alternative road transport fuels.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what study he has undertaken between the relative emissions between diesel engines and petrol engines with catalytic converters in normal urban driving conditions.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Transport have jointly commissioned the energy technology support unit to quantify the implications of a further switch from petrol to diesel in the United Kingdom passenger car market in terms of energy use, emissions and refinery investment. The Departments are currently consulting industry representatives on technical aspects of this work. The completed study will be published in the next few months.
Engine Development
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what direct financial assistance his Department is providing for the development of (a) petrol engines, (b) diesel engines and (c) electric motors for vehicles ; and what research it is sponsoring in each case.
Mr. McLoughlin : The only current research project is the Drives Club II. This involves DTI financial support of up to £790,102 to ERA Technology Ltd. for innovative, pre-competitive research in the field of electric variable speed drives under the research and technology initiative. Although the project is not specifically targeted at motor vehicles, the research is relevant to electric vehicles. Rover Group, Rolls -Royce Motor Cars Ltd. and Lucas Industries are involved in the research.
Excessive Interest Rates
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what is his assessment of the potential effect of the Office of Fair Trading's recommendations on the Consumer Credit Act 1974 on lenders who charge extortionate rates of interest ;
(2) what is his estimate of the number of people who have encountered financial difficulties through their dealings with lenders charging extortionate rates of interest ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : I have made no estimate of the number of people encountering financial difficulties as a consequence of such dealings. In his report "Unjust Credit Transactions", the Director General of Fair Trading said that his recommendations were intended to deter socially harmful lending more strongly and to improve the ability of borrowers who are its victims to gain redress.
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Ice Cream
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he received the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of ice cream ; and when he will publish it.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I received the report on 14 January. It will be published as soon as possible.
Watt Committee
Mr. Morgan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consultations he has had with the secretariat of the Watt Committee on Energy in relation to the proposed publication of the final report of the working group on methane emissions as regards (a) the date of the publication, (b) the inclusion or exclusion of the annex submitted by the dissenting member in the published version and (c) representations concerning the publication of the dissenting member's annex ; and if he will make a statement.
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