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Mr. Ancram : There are no specific arrangements for the collection of the imperial war museum to be exhibited in Northern Ireland. It is however open to museums in Northern Ireland to borrow artefacts from other national museums by negotiation.
Arable Land Payments
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total paid to farmers in (a) arable aid scheme set-aside payments and (b) total arable area scheme payments in Northern Ireland following the 1993-94 harvest ; and how many farmers in Northern Ireland have received arable area payments of £1 million or more.
Mr. Ancram : In Northern Ireland to date, the total amount paid to farmers for set-aside under the EC arable area aid scheme is £243, 086. The amount paid under the arable area aid scheme for eligible crops harvested in 1993 is £3,727,725.
No farmer in Northern Ireland has received arable area payments of £1 million or more.
Housing
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Housing Executive dwellings, and of what types, have been demolished in each of the last five years and the current year to date ; and what are the projections for the next three years in each council area in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Tim Smith : This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive but I have been advised by the chief executive that the information is as follows :
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District Council |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1992-93 |1993-94 |Projection
Area
|for three
|years
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim |- |6 |323 |13 |17 |13 |56
Ards |14 |- |50 |45 |- |- |70
Armagh |2 |24 |10 |3 |7 |1 |-
Ballymena |- |5 |13 |29 |- |2 |130
Ballymoney |- |4 |- |- |- |- |47
Banbridge |36 |21 |41 |2 |1 |- |3
Belfast |1,321 |911 |734 |645 |514 |- |1,653
Carrickfergus |34 |1 |- |6 |69 |4 |28
Castlereagh |- |- |1 |2 |- |11 |-
Coleraine |6 |3 |2 |8 |- |- |80
Cookstown |3 |- |- |- |17 |- |4
Craigavon |117 |139 |145 |16 |54 |- |29
Derry |38 |123 |52 |14 |3 |63 |84
Down |10 |10 |32 |1 |- |- |85
Dungannon |5 |13 |2 |10 |2 |4 |24
Fermanagh |13 |- |- |- |- |2 |16
Larne |1 |- |4 |- |59 |- |19
Limavady |- |- |1 |- |- |- |-
Lisburn |7 |2 |2 |- |4 |- |61
Magherafelt |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Moyle |1 |1 |- |1 |- |- |26
Newry and Moyle |60 |61 |31 |8 |- |10 |-
Newtownabbey |3 |43 |16 |95 |152 |15 |335
North Down |- |- |- |- |- |- |5
Omagh |6 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Strabane |1 |19 |7 |13 |1 |- |2
Magh
Information on types of dwellings demolished is available only for Northern Ireland as a whole, and is estimated as follows :
|Per cent.
-----------------------------------
Bungalows |7
Houses |67
Maisonettes |9
Flats |16
Rural cottages |1
The above figures include dwellings acquired or which the executive hope to acquire, for re-development or housing action area activity.
Illegal Fishing
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the present position within the Fisheries Conservancy Board of the scientist alleged to have been involved in the unauthorised removal of salmon from the Grillagh river for the purpose of stripping salmon eggs from them in 1990.
Mr. Ancram [holding answer 11 March 1994] : It would not be appropriate to disclose this information.
HEALTH
Family Health Centres
Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many family health centres per 1,000 population there are in (a) Inner London, (b) Greater London, (c) Birmingham, (d) Newcastle, (e) Liverpool, (f) Leeds and (g) Manchester.
Dr. Mawhinney : Health centres are furnished by district health authorities under the terms of section 21 of the National Health Service Act 1946, and provide
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community health care. Some general practitioners, about a quarter, practise from them, but may use them partly in conjunction with their own premises.The number of health centres per 1,000 of the population for the areas in question at 1 April 1993 is shown in the table :
Family health |Health |Population |Health
services
authority |centres |centres per
|1,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inner London |118 |5,770,000 |0.02
Greater London (inclusive
of Inner London
figures) |135 |6,906,000 |0.02
Newcastle |9 |282,000 |0.032
Leeds |19 |722,000 |0.026
Birmingham |28 |1,009,000 |0.028
Liverpool |12 |479,000 |0.025
Manchester |13 |435,000 |0.03
Amyl Nitrate
Ms Estelle Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research has been carried out into the effects of amyl nitrate on children ; and if she will publish the results.
(2) what research her Department has carried out into the extent of the use of amyl nitrate among school children.
Mr. Bowis : The Department has not carried out any research directed specifically at the extent of the use of amyl nitrate among school children, nor are we aware of any research carried out specifically into the effects of amyl nitrate on children. The Department gives financial support to St George's hospital medical school for its collection of statistics on deaths associated with abuse of volatile substances.
We are aware of concerns that alkyl nitrites are being misused by young people in the rave scene. Both the Government and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
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Drugs, an independent body of experts set up under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, are keeping the matter under review.Dental Services
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what controls exist on the prices which may be charged for private dental treatment ; and what plans she has to change them.
Dr. Mawhinney : Arrangements for private dental treatment, private dental charges and information about them are matters between the dentist and the patient.
Schizophrenia
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the reason for drugs used to treat schizophrenia being excluded from the list of drugs exempted from prescription charges.
Dr. Mawhinney : The list of medical conditions that confer prescription charge exemption was drawn up in 1968, when prescription charges were reinstated. This was done with the full co-operation of medical practitioners, whose representatives made it clear that they could only agree to exemption for certain readily identifiable medical conditions, which called automatically for life-long medication.
The list has been reviewed on a number of occasions, but on each it has been concluded that no change should be made. There are extensive general arrangements for prescription charge exemption, which coupled with charge remission under the national health service low income scheme, protect vulnerable groups in the community. These arrangements ensure that no one need be deterred from obtaining necessary medication for financial reasons.
Mental Health
Mrs. Browning : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will introduce standardised forms for use in all aftercare cases, covered by section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Mr. Bowis : We are actively considering that proposal.
North Yorkshire Health Authority
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the reasons why North Yorkshire health authority has appointed a chief medical officer in addition to a director of public health ; and if she will describe the responsibilities of each post.
Dr. Mawhinney : That is the responsibility of North Yorkshire health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman, Mrs. Susan Wrigley, for details.
London Ambulance Service
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paramedics are employed by the London ambulance service ; and how many have been transferred to work in stations in (a) south-east London and (b) Lewisham.
Mr. Sackville : The London ambulance service currently employs around 400 paramedics. It plans to train more than 750 further paramedics by the end of 1996.
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Operational decisions on the deployment of staff are made by individual ambulance services in the light of local circumstances. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Martin Gorham, chief executive of the London ambulance service, for futher information.NHS Trusts
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many National Health Service trusts she expects to be operational on 1 April.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I have today approved a further eight applications from units wishing to become national health service trusts in the fourth wave. That will bring the total for the fourth wave to 143. There will now be 419 fully operational NHS trusts from 1 April 1994.
The eight new trusts are : Hammersmith hospitals--incorporating Charing Cross hospital, Hammersmith hospital, Queen Charlotte's hospital and Acton hospital--Chelsea and Westminter Healthcare ; Mount Vernon and Watford hospitals ; West Hertfordshire Community Health ; Harrow and Hillingdon Healthcare ; University College London hospitals ; Royal Victoria infirmary and associated hospitals ; and Newcastle City Health. I have not approved the application from Surrey Heartlands.
Eye, Ear and Throat Surgery, Shrewsbury
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received (a) for and (b) against retaining eye, ear and throat surgery in Shrewsbury ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : We have received a number of representations all of which have been referred to Shropshire health authority, which is currently undertaking a public consultation exercise on the future provision of the service.
Yorkshire Regional Health Authority
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to public funds of the retirement dinner for the former chairman of the Yorkshire regional health authority ; and from which budget the function was funded.
Dr. Mawhinney : That is a matter for the Yorkshire regional health authority.
Prescribing Patterns
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has about the prescribing patterns of (a) fundholding and (b) non-fundholding general practitioners ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : General practitioner fundholders are leading the way in improving the cost-effectiveness of prescribing while ensuring that patients receive all the medicines that they need. They prescribe drugs in generic form more often than non-fundholders--49 per cent. compared with 43 per cent.--and their prescribing costs are increasing by around 4 per cent. per year less than those of other GPs.
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Hospital Beds
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds there were in each year between 1978-79 and 1988-89 in the area covered by the London implementation group.
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Dr. Mawhinney : The average daily number of available beds, wards open night and day--24 hours--1979 to 1988-89 in the area covered by the London implementation group is shown in the table :
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Year |Inner London |Special health |Outer London |Inner, Outer
|district health|authorities |district health|London DHAs
|authorities |authorities |and SHAs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |28,629 |3,411 |32,812 |64,852
1980 |27,396 |3,357 |31,910 |62,663
1981 |27,006 |3,393 |31,462 |61,861
1982 |26,476 |3,346 |30,877 |60,699
1983 |26,092 |3,328 |30,171 |59,591
1984 |25,222 |3,236 |28,922 |57,380
1985 |24,140 |3,087 |27,918 |55,145
1986 |23,024 |3,025 |26,660 |52,709
1987-88 |21,202 |2,860 |25,052 |49,114
1988-89 |20,454 |2,780 |23,543 |46,777
Source: SH3 1979-1986.
KHO3 1987-88 to 1992-93.
In 1979 there were 1,061,064 in-patients treated in inner and outer London district health authorities and special health authorities. The figure for 1988-89 increased to 1,373,377--a 29 per cent. increase.
Pacemaker Leads
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been implanted with (a) Sorin S80049 bi-polar leads and (b) Medtronic 4012 leads since 1987 ; and how many in each case have since died.
Mr. Sackville : There is no S80049 pacemaker lead made by Sorin Biomedica.
Data returned on a voluntary basis to the national pacemaker database show that, since 1987, 611 patients were implanted with Sorin Biomedica lead model S80 0149, 25, of whom have since died, while 954 patients were implanted with Medtronic 4012 lead model, 140 of whom have since died.
In none of the above cases was the cause of death recorded as lead related.
Heart Valves
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people who have been implanted with heart valves since 1980 have died ; and how many have died as a result of faulty valves.
Mr. Sackville : No figures are available for heart valve implants before 1986. However, according to the United Kingdom heart valve registry 31,271 patients were implanted with heart valves between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 1992. Of those, 5,841 have died. None of the deaths was related to faulty valves.
Of patients implanted prior to 1986, 43 deaths have been reported following failure of mechanical heart valves.
Thalidomide
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the product licence for the drug thalidomide was lapsed or was withdrawn ; and how long it had been in force.
Mr. Sackville : Thalidomide was first made available to doctors in the United Kingdom in 1958 and withdrawn on
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2 December 1961 before the introduction of the Medicines Act 1968. A product licence was therefore not necessary at the time.Allergens
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the link between exposure to traffic fumes and susceptibility to allergens.
Mr. Sackville : The Department's advisory group on the medical aspects of air pollution episodes has concluded that there is evidence that certain but not all constituents of traffic fumes, or chemicals formed from them, such as ozone, may worsen the symptoms of some allergic conditions. The group was assisted in its considerations by a leading immuno- toxicologist, and is reviewing the evidence in its current assessment of the interaction of all traffic pollutants.
Further advice has been sought from the Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants. It has asked for information from two leading research workers currently undertaking studies into the relationship between levels of air pollutants in London and symptoms among hay fever sufferers.
The British Society for Clinical Allergy and Immunology has set up a working party to look at the possible relationship between pollutants and allergic disease. The Department is represented on that group.
Psychiatric Unit, Torbay
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have died within six months of being discharged from the Edith Morgan psychiatric unit, Torbay hospital in the latest convenient period.
Mr. Bowis : The information is not available centrally.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultations she has had with the Edith Morgan psychiatric unit, Torbay hospital.
Mr. Bowis : The Department of Health consults national health service authorities and trusts on a wide variety of matters.
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Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each of the five years, the number and causes of deaths at the Edith Morgan psychiatric Unit, Torbay hospital.
Mr. Bowis : I refer the hon. Member to the chairman of the South Devon healthcare trust, for these details.
Air Pollution
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information her Department has regarding any correlation between levels of disease and of air pollution ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The Department is advised on these matters by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants and by the advisory group on the medical aspects of air pollution episodes. The latter's three reports are in the Library ; they are on ozone ; on sulphur dioxide, acid aerosols and particulates ; and on oxides of nitrogen. MAAPE is reviewing the evidence in its current assessment of the interaction of all traffic pollutants. Also, COMEAP has formed two sub-groups ; one is to consider the relationship between air pollution and asthma and the other the medical effects of particulates in the air.
Advice and information for the public is provided on the freephone helpline : 0800 556677.
Management Costs
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure on management and financial consultants by her Department, the National Health Service Management Executive and any centrally run patient care services, not including trusts and health authority direct spending.
Mr. Sackville : The Department spent £19,377,397 on all types of consultancy in 1992-93. It is not possible separately to identify expenditure on management and financial consultants.
Orthopaedic Services, Hampshire
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will outline her reasons for endorsing the proposal of the Basingstoke and North Hampshire district health authority to transfer orthopaedic services from Lord Mayor Treloar hospital to Basingstoke district hospital.
Mr. Sackville : The proposal arose following the decision of a local health authority to withdraw from 1993 its substantive contract for elective orthopaedic services from Lord Mayor Treloar hospital in order to purchase those same services locally. Without new work from other health authorities, the cost to Basingstoke and North Hampshire district health authority of obtaining the same level of service from Lord Mayor Treloar hospital would increase substantially at the expense of reduced services elsewhere. We gave very careful consideration to the proposal to transfer orthopaedic services from Lord Mayor Treloar hospital to Basingstoke district hospital and to the views of the organisations and individuals who had responded to consultation. In deciding to approve the proposal, we were satisfied that the proposal would enable the district health authority to make better use of its resources in meeting the overall health needs of the local
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population, that the consultation process had been adequate ; and that the alternative proposals that had been suggested did not provide a more appropriate option.Breast Screening
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure on public relations by her Department, the national health service management executive and the breast cancer screening programme that can be identified, excluding trusts and health authority direct spending, in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Sackville : Functions that are commonly associated with press and public relations are carried out by the Department's information division. The service also covers the national health service management executive. Manpower and running costs for 1992-93 were £1.749 million.
The breast cancer screening programme spent £42,400 on publicity in 1993-94. That included the production of an annual review, quarterly newsletters to those involved in breast screening and responses to press questions and articles about the screening programme. In addition, £18,000 was provided to part fund the production of an information leaflet for women and £25,000 on the production of videos specifically for ethnic groups on the benefits of breast screening.
Food Hygiene
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list those local authority areas where environmental health officers have prosecuted under food hygiene regulations restaurants and public houses engaged in the culinary practice of cooking and serving beef on hot stones.
Mr. Sackville : The information is not separately identifiable from the returns provide from local authorities. Such practices would not necessarily constitute an offence under the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1970.
WALES
Library Services
Mr. Ray Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to ensure that the new local authorities he proposes for Wales will be able to fulfil the statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service in accordance with the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Local Government (Wales) Bill sets out the powers that it is proposed should be available to my right hon. Friend. The existing powers under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 remain unchanged.
Under the Bill, the new authorities will be required to produce service delivery plans for all services, including the public library service.
Poultry Slaughtering
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many poultry birds were slaughtered in each year since 1988 in Wales.
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Mr. Redwood : Information on poultry birds slaughtered in Great Britain because of salmonella infection has been collected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food since 1989. Figures for Wales are given in the table.
Poultry slaughtered in Wales<1>
Year |Birds
|slaughtered
------------------------------------
1989 |381
1990 |106,715
1991 |64,790
1992 |18,060
1993 |22,896
Source: Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food.
<1> There is wide variation in the
number of birds slaughtered in each
individual case of salmonella
infection depending on the size of
the flock that may have been
affected or potentially affected.
Disabled Employees
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many registered disabled people are employed in his Department ; and what percentage this is of the total.
Mr. Redwood : As at 1 January 1994, 39 staff--1.6 per cent. of the total in my Department--had registered as disabled. My Department also employs several unregistered disabled people.
Egg Consumption
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the figures for egg consumption in Wales for each year since 1988.
Mr. Redwood : Estimates of household consumption of eggs are provided from the national food survey which is carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The estimates, which are expressed in terms of average numbers of eggs consumed per person per week, exclude eggs used in manufacturing or catering and institutions. The figures are given in the table.
!
Egg consumption in Wales
Year |Number per
|person per
|week
---------------------------------
1988 |2.39
1989 |2.09
1990 |2.14
1991 |2.23
1992 |2.15
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for the last 12 months how many parliamentary questions he has referred to his Department's executive agency for answer ; and what percentage of parliamentary questions to his Department this represents.
Mr. Redwood : The chief executive of Cadw has answered six parliamentary questions in the last 12 months from a total of 3,425 received by my Department.
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Cwmcarn Grant-maintained School
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales under what regulations the former head teacher of Cwmcarn secondary grant-maintained school, Gwent, was given early retirement and sick leave, in the second year of grant-maintained status.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Teachers (Compensation for Redundancy and Premature Retirement) Regulations 1989 provide arrangements for the governing bodies of grant-maintained schools to compensate teachers who are prematurely retired. Decisions in respect of sick leave are the responsibility of the governing body as employer of staff at the school.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many schools in Wales voted during 1993 to adopt grant-maintained status ;
(2) how many schools in Wales have voted to adopt grant-maintained status ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Eighteen schools in Wales have voted in favour of applying for grant-maintained status. Six of the ballots were held in 1993.
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