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Capital Convictions (Licences)

Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people reprieved from a capital conviction are now at large in the community on licence ; and what is the rate of recall of such people.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Available records suggest that a total of five individuals are in the community on licence who were reprieved from a capital conviction before the abolition of the death penalty in 1965. Two of these people were recalled to custody, but subsequently re-released.

Two further persons reprieved from a capital conviction were recalled to custody and have not subsequently been re-released.

Electors

Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish tables showing the total electorate, the number of (a) male and (b) female electors, the number of electors attaining the age of 18 years on the current register and the number of electors on the permanent absent voters register in each Euro-constituency, parliamentary constituency and regional electoral division in Scotland.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has arranged for information about the total number of electors and attainers in the 1994 register of electors in each European parliamentary constituency, parliamentary constituency and regional electoral division in Scotland to be placed in the House Library. Information about electors by gender is not held centrally, nor is information about those electors who have been granted absent votes for an indefinite period.

NHS (Staff Cars)

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the expenditure on personal cars for staff in real and constant price terms in the NHS in Scotland in every year since 1979.

Mr. Stewart : This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Non-medical Consultants

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the expenditure on non-medical consultants in the NHS in Scotland in each of the past five years.

Mr. Stewart : This information is not held centrally.

NHS Costs

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the costs of administration in the national health service in Scotland, in real and constant price terms, in each year since 1979 ; and what percentage this took each year of total NHS expenditure.

Mr. Stewart : The information is set out in the table.


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                Outturn                                      Constant price                                             

                               terms<1>                                                                                 

Year           |Administration|Total         |Per cent.     |Administration|Total         |Per cent.                    

               |costs         |expenditure                  |costs         |expenditure                                 

               |(£ thousands) |(£ thousands)                |(£ thousands) |(£ thousands)                               

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1979-80        |72,680        |<2>1,024,002  |7.10          |173,015       |2,437,636     |7.10                         

1980-81        |92,408        |<2>1,329,420  |6.95          |185,913       |2,674,620     |6.95                         

1981-82        |101,288       |<2>1,494,720  |6.78          |185,805       |2,741,951     |6.78                         

1982-83        |132,032       |1,622,742     |8.14          |226,098       |2,778,858     |8.14                         

1983-84        |138,192       |1,726,950     |8.00          |226,159       |2,826,247     |8.00                         

1984-85        |141,829       |1,852,563     |7.66          |221,007       |2,886,781     |7.66                         

1985-86        |153,452       |1,963,711     |7.81          |226,551       |2,899,151     |7.81                         

1986-87        |162,400       |2,081,844     |7.80          |232,942       |2,986,135     |7.80                         

1987-88        |174,541       |2,274,155     |7.67          |237,691       |3,096,954     |7.67                         

1988-89        |189,606       |2,509,327     |7.56          |241,962       |3,202,224     |7.56                         

1989-90        |205,975       |2,730,014     |7.54          |245,761       |3,257,346     |7.54                         

1990-91        |230,766       |2,982,854     |7.74          |254,799       |3,293,497     |7.74                         

1991-92        |263,529       |3,623,885     |7.27          |273,646       |3,763,003     |7.27                         

1992-93        |302,205       |3,899,208     |7.75          |302,205       |3,899,208     |7.75                         

<1> The GDP deflator at market prices has been used to adjust the figures to constant price terms.                      

<2> Community health service administration costs for 1979-80 to 1981-82 were not identified separately in health       

boards' accounts.                                                                                                       

NHS Managers

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many managers have been employed in the national health service in each year since 1979.

Mr. Stewart : General management has been introduced into the national health service in Scotland progressively from 1986 onwards. The data available centrally on the number of staff employed as general and senior managers are given in the table. These figures include staff previously employed on senior nursing or administrative and clerical terms and conditions of service who are now employed on the terms and conditions applicable to general or senior managers.


General and senior managers                  

employed by the national health service in   

Scotland                                     

Whole-time equivalents at 30 September       

Year     |General |Senior  |Total            

         |managers|managers                  

---------------------------------------------

1988     |62.0    |28.0    |90.0             

1989     |62.0    |49.0    |111.0            

1990     |65.0    |281.0   |346.0            

1991     |71.0    |452.6   |523.6            

1992     |73.0    |727.5   |800.5            

1993     |83.0    |1,068.6 |1,151.6          

NHS Public Relations

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the expenditure on public relations in the national health service in every year since 1979 in real and constant price terms.

Mr. Stewart : The information requested is not held centrally.

Greater Glasgow Health Board

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when was the last time a resident of Clydebank was appointed to the Greater Glasgow health board.

Mr. Stewart : Mrs. Margaret McGarry, a resident of Clydebank, was appointed to the Greater Glasgow health board in 1987 for a second four- year term.


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Student Loans

Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current average debt of students in Scotland to the Student Loans Company Ltd.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : This is a matter for the Student Loans Company Ltd. and I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

It may not be possible for the company to distinguish between the different parts of the United Kingdom.

Hairmyres Hospital

Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide the average admission waiting times at Hairmyres hospital for each of the last five years for the departments of dermatology, urology, ophthalmology, ENT, gynaecology and orthopaedic.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 12 April 1994] : The information, for which the mean waiting time for admission from the waiting list has been given, is shown in the table :


Days                                                                      

Specialty     |1989     |1990     |1991     |1992     |1993               

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dermatology   |-        |-        |-        |-        |-                  

Urology       |40.2     |49.4     |101.7    |102.4    |74.6               

Ophthalmology |-        |-        |-        |-        |-                  

ENT           |-        |-        |-        |-        |-                  

Gynaecology   |38.4     |48.4     |51.1     |61.1     |45.9               

Orthopaedics  |86.6     |82.8     |63.7     |70.5     |94.9               

Source: SMR1.                                                             

Notes: 1993 data provisional;                                             

-' No data available.                                                     

Police Functions

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hours per week are worked by civilians in functions which were previously treated as police jobs (a) in total and (b) per civilian employee ; and if he will make a statement.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 13 April 1994] : The information requested is not available.


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Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which functions formerly performed by police officers have been transferred to civilians since 1980 ; and if he will make a statement.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 13 April 1994] : Any function performed by police officers which does not require the powers of a constable can in principle be transferred to civilians. Scottish police forces have recently been advised that the functions set out in the following table should normally be performed by civilians.

Administration and record keeping

Animal health

Audiovisual technicians

CID administration

Communications (technical)

Computer Manager

Computer services

Criminal records

Divisional administration

Drivers

Driving instructors

Fingerprint department

Firearm registration (administration)

Fixed Penalty office

Force information officer

Force welfare officer

Forensic laboratory

Force Finance officer

Force property custodian

Home defence

Identification Branch (including Fingerprints)

Legal documents

Lost property

Photographic department

Public office

Road safety

Scene of Crime officer

School-crossing patrols administration

Station assistants

Support--Air, dogs, marine, mounted, special branch, ports Support--general

Taxi-cab administration

Technical services and other equipment maintenance

Traffic administration

Traffic warden administration

Traffic warden superviser

Turnkeys/matrons

Vehicle fleet workshop or garage including supervisor

Wireless workshop

Out-patients (Waiting Times)

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of patients are seen by a medical practitioner within (a) 30 minutes or (b) within one hour of their out-patient appointment time.

Mr. Stewart : Information on how long patients have to wait to be seen after their appointment time at out-patient clinics is monitored by health boards and is not collected centrally. Health boards report that few patients overall wait longer than 30 minutes ; that where they do they are given an explanation and an indication of how much longer the wait is likely to be ; and that where monitoring reveals a particular problem action is taken to remedy it.

Medical Negligence

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the cost of the proven cases of medical negligence in hospitals in each of the past 10 years ; what was the average time of such cases to completion ; in how


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many cases medical practitioners were (a) dismissed from the health service, (b) advised to retire or (c) suffered some other sanction ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 13 April 1994] : The information requested on the cost of settlements in cases of medical negligence in hospitals in Scotland can be provided only from 1 January 1990 when financial responsibility for medical negligence was assumed by health boards. The costs, including claimants' costs, for this period were as follows :


          |£                  

------------------------------

1989-90   |957,956            

1990-91   |1,290,968          

1991-92   |998,369            

1992-93   |1,091,489          

Figures for 1993-94 are not yet available.

The length of time taken to settle such cases can vary depending on the nature of the case. If agreement is reached before a case reaches the courts, it can be settled within six to nine months of a claim being lodged. If a claim is determined by the courts, the average time taken to reach a conclusion is around five years.

Information on the number of cases in which medical practitioners were dismissed from the service, advised to retire or suffered some other sanction is not held centrally.

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects information on medical negligence claims for 1992-93 to be made available ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 13 April 1994] : The total amount of compensation payments for 1992-93, including claimants' costs, for all health boards and NHS trusts in Scotland in respect of the negligence of their medical and dental staff was £1,091,489.

Inverclyde Royal Hospital Trust

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of a detailed statement of the financial accounts of the Inverclyde royal hospital trust since its inception ;

(2) what analysis he made of the financial viability of the Inverclyde Royal hospital application for trust status before giving it approval ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 13 April 1994] : Inverclyde Royal NHS trust became operational only from 1 April 1994 and its accounts will not be available until after the end of its first year. The trust is required to produce an annual report including accounts in respect of its first year of operation by September 1995. This is a public document which will be published by the trust.

A thorough analysis of the finances of Inverclyde Royal hospital involving financial consultants was made during the public consultation period on the hospital's trust application. This concluded that the hospital was financially viable and there is nothing to suggest otherwise.

Gourock Ropeworks

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement concerning the present circumstances of the Gourock ropeworks in Port Glasgow and its likely future use.


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Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 13 April 1994] : Consideration of the possible future use of the ropeworks building continues to involve Inverclyde district council, Renfrewshire Enterprise and Scottish Home, as well as Historic Scotland which reports to me for my interest in the ropeworks as a listed building.

I intend to write to the hon. Member on this constituency matter.

Hospital Trusts

Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements have been made for the maintenance of pension funds for staff employed at (a) Inverclyde royal hospital trust and (b) other hospital trusts elsewhere in Scotland, and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 13 April 1994] : Employees transfer to national health service trusts on their existing terms and conditions and have the same rights to membership of the statutory national health service superannuation scheme as other national health service employees. New staff recruited by the trusts also have the same rights to membership. Their contributions to the scheme, and those of their employers, are payable to the Exchequer to fund the benefits under the scheme.

Blood

Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what profits the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service made on the sale of blood to private hospitals or health care organisations in each of the last five years ; at what price blood was sold in each year ; what happens to the profits ; and what steps are taken to inform people giving blood to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service that their blood is to be sold to private hospitals or health care organisations.

Mr. Stewart : The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service does not sell blood or blood products and therefore the matter of profit does not arise. Where blood or blood products are supplied to non-national health service hospitals, the administrative and other costs are recovered in the form of a handling charge. Literature is available at donor sessions to explain that a proportion of blood donated may be used to treat non- national health service patients but only where this can be done without detriment to the national health service.

EMPLOYMENT

European Social Fund

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what representations he has had from voluntary organisations about the financial difficulties caused to them by the system of funding for ESF projects ; and what action he proposes to take ;


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(2) what steps he has taken to give voluntary organisations an indication about whether their European social fund projects which started on 1 January last will be funded ; and what are the reasons for this policy ;

(3) what representations he has made to the European Union about the practice of retrospective funding for ESF projects ; and what assurances he has had about improvements.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : There have been a number of representations from voluntary sector organisations concerned about the delay in agreeing plans with the Commission and the consequent effect on money being released from Brussels. This concern is shared by the United Kingdom Government who continue to put pressure on the Commission to respond formally to the objective 3 plan which was submitted last November.

The United Kingdom Government agreed to arrangements that allowed requests for expenditure received by the European Commission by 30 April 1994 against agreed priorities to be regarded as eligible for assistance from the Structural Funds--including European social fund--backdated to 1 January 1994. Plans for objectives 1, 2, 3 and 5b have either been submitted or will be submitted to the Commission by the end of April. However, until plans have been agreed with the Commission it is not possible to approve formally any projects for 1994. No resources can be made available for individual projects until funds are received from the Commission.

For all objectives, the 1993 operational year was extended until 31 March 1994 to allow activity to continue following representations from applicant organisations,. This has helped voluntary organisations, among others, to continue their work.

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on what date in each of the past five years voluntary organisations were told whether they had funding for European social fund projects starting on1 January of that year.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : There is no single date in any year when voluntary organisations are given approval for European social fund--ESF-- funding. A timetable is agreed between the ESF unit and voluntary sector co -ordinators or regional secretariats for submitting applications. This is dependent on the United Kingdom receiving formal decisions from the Commission. Once applications are received, the ESF unit aims to process them within six weeks. We give top priority to the processing of voluntary sector applications.

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give a breakdown in financial and percentage terms of how ESF funding is allocated to his Department's projects, local authority projects, voluntary organisation and other projects in each of the past five years.

Mr. Michael Forsyth : The following table sets out the information requested :


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