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Column 129

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many recipients of income support were in (i) residential and (ii) nursing homes in May 1991, May 1992 and May 1993.

Mr. Burt : The information for Great Britain is in the table :


                     |Residential Care    |Nursing Homes People                     

                     |People receiving    |receiving Income                         

                     |Income Support      |Support (thousands)                      

                     |(thousands)                                                   

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

May 1991             |139                 |94                                       

May 1992             |152                 |116                                      

May 1993             |159                 |124                                      

Note:                                                                               

All data rounded to nearest thousand.                                               

Source: Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries 1991 and 1992.                   

Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry 1993.                                   

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the cash limit values of each category of income support in residential and nursing care in each year since 1990 ; and what percentage they represent in real terms of the limit values in April 1985.

Mr. Burt : The information is in the table.


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                                       April 1990                          August 1990                         April 1991                          April 1992                          April 1993                          April 1994<1>                      

                                      |Cash £ per week  |Per cent. of 1985|Cash £ per week  |Per cent. of 1985|Cash £ per week  |Per cent. of 1985|Cash £ per week  |Per cent. of 1985|Cash £ per week  |Per cent. of 1985|Cash £ per week                    

                                                        |real value                         |real value                         |real value                         |real value                         |real value                                           

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

Residential Care Homes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Elderly                               |150              |103              |155              |104              |160              |104              |175              |109              |185              |113              |194                                

Very dependent elderly<2>             |165              |114              |170              |114              |185              |120              |205              |127              |215              |132              |224                                

Mentally ill                          |150              |95               |155              |96               |170              |101              |185              |105              |195              |110              |202                                

Drug/alcohol dependent                |150              |95               |155              |96               |170              |101              |185              |105              |195              |110              |202                                

Mentally handicapped                  |175              |95               |180              |95               |195              |99               |215              |105              |225              |108              |232                                

Physically disabled under pension age |210              |94               |215              |94               |230              |96               |245              |98               |255              |101              |262                                

Others                                |150              |103              |155              |104              |160              |104              |175              |109              |185              |113              |194                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Nursing Homes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Elderly and others                    |200              |109              |210              |112              |255              |131              |270              |133              |280              |136              |290                                

Mentally ill                          |200              |102              |210              |105              |255              |122              |270              |124              |280              |127              |290                                

Drug/alcohol dependent                |200              |102              |210              |105              |255              |122              |270              |124              |280              |127              |290                                

Mentally handicapped                  |215              |97               |225              |99               |260              |110              |275              |111              |285              |114              |295                                

Physically disabled under pension age |245              |93               |255              |95               |290              |104              |305              |105              |315              |107              |325                                

Terminally ill                        |245              |93               |260              |97               |275              |99               |280              |96               |280              |95               |290                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Greater London Extension                                |<3>                                |<3>                                |<3>                                |<3>                                |<3>                                                  

Residential care homes                |23               |102              |23               |100              |23               |96               |25               |100              |25               |99               |30                                 

Nursing homes                         |23               |102              |23               |100              |33               |138              |35               |141              |35               |139              |35                                 

Notes:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

<1> Real value comparisons with April 1985 limits are based on the all-items RPI in the month in which the uprating occurred.                                                                                                                                 

<2> The higher limit for the very dependent elderly was not introduced until July 1986. Comparisons are with the limit for the elderly in April 1985, which would have applied to these claimants.                                                            

<3> Additions for claimants in Greater London were not introduced until July 1986. Comparisons are therefore with the July 1986 real values, not April 1985.                                                                                                  

Unemployment Benefit

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants had unemployment benefit disallowed due to non- availability for work in each year since 1979 ; and if he will provide a breakdown on these figures identifying the numbers whose unemployment benefit was disallowed (a) due to premature termination of training, (b) for the refusal of suitable employment and (c) because they voluntarily made themselves redundant.

Mr. Burt : The information is available only from 1984 and not in the form requested. Numbers of disallowances on grounds of non-availability are shown in the tables together with the numbers of disqualifications under (a), (b) and (c) .


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Totals of adjudication officers opinions<1> and decisions and        

numbers of                                                           

disallowances on cases of availability                               

                            Availability                             

                           |All decisions|Disallowances              

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

1984                       |83,112       |46,439                     

1985                       |92,628       |52,825                     

1986                       |120,043      |67,127                     

1987                       |179,213      |91,181                     

1988                       |163,899      |86,806                     

1989                       |96,153       |53,237                     

1990                       |57,811       |33,499                     

Quarter March 1991<2>      |10,848       |6,165                      

Year ending March 1992     |86,336       |50,183                     

Year ending March 1993     |87,328       |49,463                     

Half-year September 1993   |36,459       |23,241                     

Quarter-year December 1993 |24,565       |15,217                     

<1> Opinions on availability are given by Adjudication Officers in   

the Employment Service on claims for Income Support.                 

<2> At the end of 1990 statistics ceased to be collected by calendar 

year and changed to a financial year, the quarter ending March 1991  

is therefore shown as a separate quarter.                            


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Totals of adjudication officers opinions and decisions and numbers of disqualifications on cases of refusal of employment,              

leaving employment voluntarily and premature termination of training                                                                    

                  Refusal of                        Leaving                           Premature                                         

                  employment                        voluntarily                       termination of                                    

                                                                     training<1>                                                        

                 |All decisions   |Disqualification|All decisions   |Disqualification|All decisions   |Disqualification                 

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

1984             |6,021           |1,150           |480,679         |288,120         |38,341          |25,591                           

1985             |6,128           |2,039           |499,084         |306,588         |42,428          |29,389                           

1986             |7,795           |2,677           |521,097         |323,001         |41,490          |29,057                           

1987             |8,907           |2,906           |553,086         |342,761         |46,228          |28,421                           

1988             |8,436           |3,035           |456,222         |278,019         |28,083          |18,004                           

1989             |10,081          |3,786           |413,928         |235,890         |4,931           |3,132                            

1990             |7,500           |3,415           |403,428         |231,053         |3,741           |2,243                            

1991<2>          |923             |415             |98,465          |53,495          |-               |-                                

1992<3>          |2,788           |1,143           |396,339         |203,168         |-               |-                                

1993<3>          |1,824           |685             |338,161         |168,567         |-               |-                                

1993<4>          |573             |191             |165,269         |81,059          |-               |-                                

1993<5>          |949             |476             |97,177          |48,339          |-               |-                                

<1> At the end of 1990 statistics for disqualifications of benefit due to premature termination of training, ceased to be collected     

separately and cannot therefore be shown.                                                                                               

<2> Quarter year March. At the end of 1990 statistics ceased to be collected by calendar year and changed to a financial year the       

quarter ending March 1991 is therefore shown as a separate quarter.                                                                     

<3> Year ending March.                                                                                                                  

<4> Half year September.                                                                                                                

<5> Quarter year December.                                                                                                              

SERPS

Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of the population of working age in Britain is (a) currently contributing to the state earnings-related pension scheme or (b) currently opted-out of SERPS and is earning above the national insurance minimum contributions level.

Mr. Hague [pursuant to his reply, 20 April 1993, c. 517] : During 1991-92--the latest date for which information is available--of the population of working age in Great Britain :

a. 15.4 per cent. had earnings above the National Insurance Lower Earnings Level (LEL) and paid National Insurance Contributions to count towards the State Earnings Related Scheme (SERPS) ; b. 34.2 per cent. had earnings above the LEL and were contracted out of SERPS (including those who are members of an Appropriate Personal Pension Scheme) ;

c. 3.0 per cent. had earnings above the LEL and had worked in both contracted in and contracted out employments.

Source : 1 per cent. sample of the National Insurance Recording System and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys mid 1992 population estimates.

WALES

Tirfounder Fields Development Site, Aberdare

Mr. Temple-Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will exercise his powers under part X of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 to direct the Cynon Valley borough council and the Mid Glamorgan county council to dispose of their interest in land required for access to the development site at Tirfounder Fields, Aberdare, owned by Landare Investments, subject to conditions that any purchaser shall provide appropriate means of public access to that development site ;

(2) if he will exercise his powers under part X of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 to direct the Cynon Valley borough council and the Mid Glamorgan county council to dispose of their interest in land required by Landare Investments for access to their development site at Tirfounder Fields, Aberdare, to Landare Investments.


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Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Government's policy is to use the powers of direction under part X of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 in circumstances where land is being held by public bodies without good cause. I understand that both Mid Glamorgan county council and Cynon Valley borough council have agreed to dispose of the relevant land. In those circumstances, a direction would not be appropriate.

Coastal Pollution (Genetic Abnormalities)

Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received during the past two months alleging that there is a danger of genetic abnormalities to babies associated with pollution of the coastline ; what investigations the Welsh Office is making of this issue ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : Fourteen representations have been received during the past two months. The Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys has completed its analysis of the geographical pattern of limb reduction defects in England and Wales, the results of which were announced in the House on 20 April. Separately the steering committee of the small area health statistics unit, which is partially funded by the Welsh Office, is considering the feasibility of conducting a more detailed study into the geographical distribution of these defects.

Training

Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are currently engaged in publicly funded training in Wales (a) in total and (b) by training subject area ; and if he will provide similar figures for each year since 1979.

Mr. Redwood : The total numbers engaged in publicly funded training since 31 March 1989 and in subsequent years are shown in table A. Comparable figures for years prior to 1989 are not available. An analysis of those in training by subject area for September 1992 and September 1993 is shown in table B. Comparable figures for years prior to 1992 are not available. Courses are available to meet training demand for 16 to 19-year- olds under the policy set out to Parliament.


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Table A                     

Wales in training           

              |Total        

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

March 1989    |37,340       

March 1990    |38,594       

March 1991    |26,604       

March 1992    |26,629       

March 1993    |25,883       

February 1994 |25,544       

Note: Figures for March     

1994 are not yet available. 


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Table B                                                                                                                                  

Wales in training by subject area                                                                                                        

                                      September 1992                          September 1993                                             

                                     |Youth training     |Employment training|Youth training     |Training for work                      

                                     |Per cent.          |Per cent.          |Per cent.          |Per cent.                              

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

Initial training                     |2                  |5                  |13                 |14                                     

Managers and Administrators          |>1                 |1                  |>1                 |3                                      

Professional occupations             |>1                 |>1                 |>1                 |2                                      

Assoc. Professional and Technical    |4                  |6                  |4                  |4                                      

Clerical and Secretarial             |14                 |29                 |15                 |25                                     

Craft and related occupations        |39                 |31                 |29                 |30                                     

Personal and Protective Service OCCS |13                 |9                  |13                 |6                                      

Sales occupations                    |7                  |3                  |9                  |3                                      

Plant and Machine Operatives         |10                 |6                  |10                 |8                                      

Other occupations                    |10                 |9                  |6                  |5                                      

Economic Inactivity

Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the latest information he has on levels of economic inactivity in Wales.

Mr. Redwood : According to the autumn 1993 labour force survey the number of economically inactive persons in Wales was 969,000. This represents 42 per cent. of all persons aged 16 and over in private households, student halls of residence and NHS accommodation. Individuals are classified as economically inactive if they are neither in employment nor unemployed on the International Labour Office measure. This includes people staying at home to run the household.

Environmental Protection

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning progress made in environmental protection, listing advances in each of the counties in Wales in each year since 1992.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : A wide range of action has been taken since 1992 to protect the Welsh environment, including the expansion of designated areas, the implementation of new pollution controls on industry and vehicles, improved energy efficiency, enhanced protection for the built heritage, major investment to improve bathing water quality and, as recently announced, a refocusing of the trunk road programme. Further details are provided in the "Environment in Wales" series of reports published by the Welsh Office.

Opencast Coal

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the outstanding planning applications for the opencasting of coal in Wales, county by county ; and if he will make a statement.


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Mr. Redwood : This information is not collected centrally.

Asthma

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he has taken to limit the occurrence of asthma related to car exhaust emissions.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Welsh Office is concerned about the rise in the incidence of asthma and is working with the other Health Departments to find the causes. This includes investigating the possibility that road traffic emissions are an important contributory cause. A sub-group of the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollutants is to undertake a major review of asthma and air pollution and will report later this year. A range of measures is being taken to reduce car exhaust emissions in Wales. In addition the air quality help line provides a public information service enabling asthmatics to take steps to reduce their exposure, should air pollution levels become high.

Pupil Statistics

Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each education authority in Wales, and for Wales as a whole, the number of (a) pupils in assisted places schemes in secondary schools, (b) pupils in secondary schools in total for each year since 1987, and (c) the number in (a) as a percentage of (b) .

Sir Wyn Roberts : The assisted places scheme provides assistance to parents to enable their children to attend certain independent schools. The information requested is as follows :


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                     |Number of pupils on |Number of pupils    |Assisted pupils as a|Number of pupils in |Pupils on the                            

                     |the                 |aged 11 and over    |percentage of                            |Assisted Places                          

                                                               |pupils                                   |Scheme                                   

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

1987-88                                                                                                                                            

Clwyd                |158                 |1,712               |9.2                 |29,160              |0.5                                      

Dyfed                |21                  |489                 |4.3                 |24,173              |0.1                                      

Gwent                |209                 |1,370               |15.3                |30,855              |0.6                                      

Gwynedd              |0                   |734                 |0.0                 |17,486              |0.0                                      

Mid Glamorgan        |0                   |357                 |0.0                 |39,940              |0.0                                      

Powys                |46                  |502                 |9.2                 |8,314               |0.5                                      

South Glamorgan      |188                 |1,611               |11.7                |27,777              |0.6                                      

West Glamorgan       |0                   |484                 |0.0                 |24,274              |0.0                                      

                     |--                  |---                 |--                  |----                |--                                       

Wales                |622                 |7,259               |8.6                 |201,979             |0.3                                      

                                                                                                                                                   

1988-89                                                                                                                                            

Clwyd                |156                 |1,681               |9.3                 |27,875              |0.5                                      

Dyfed                |28                  |523                 |5.4                 |23,940              |0.1                                      

Gwent                |204                 |1,389               |14.7                |29,566              |0.7                                      

Gwynedd              |0                   |763                 |0.0                 |16,581              |0.0                                      

Mid Glamorgan        |0                   |359                 |0.0                 |38,017              |0.0                                      

Powys                |52                  |518                 |10.0                |8,079               |0.6                                      

South Glamorgan      |193                 |1,601               |12.1                |27,063              |0.7                                      

West Glamorgan       |0                   |421                 |0.0                 |23,434              |0.0                                      

                     |--                  |---                 |--                  |----                |--                                       

Wales                |633                 |7,255               |8.7                 |194,555             |0.3                                      

                                                                                                                                                   

1989-90                                                                                                                                            

Clwyd                |145                 |1,691               |8.6                 |26,963              |0.5                                      

Dyfed                |32                  |540                 |5.9                 |23,422              |0.1                                      

Gwent                |206                 |1,391               |14.8                |28,543              |0.7                                      

Gwynedd              |0                   |723                 |0.0                 |15,743              |0.0                                      

Mid Glamorgan        |0                   |342                 |0.0                 |36,670              |0.0                                      

Powys                |58                  |543                 |10.7                |7,909               |0.7                                      

South Glamorgan      |190                 |1,713               |11.1                |26,142              |0.7                                      

West Glamorgan       |0                   |366                 |0.0                 |22,766              |0.0                                      

                     |--                  |---                 |--                  |----                |--                                       

Wales                |631                 |7,309               |8.6                 |188,158             |0.3                                      

                                                                                                                                                   

1990-91                                                                                                                                            

Clwyd                |149                 |1,656               |9.0                 |26,759              |0.5                                      

Dyfed                |39                  |554                 |7.0                 |23,527              |0.2                                      

Gwent                |201                 |1,356               |14.8                |28,445              |0.7                                      

Gwynedd              |0                   |683                 |0.0                 |15,474              |0.0                                      

Mid Glamorgan        |0                   |346                 |0.0                 |36,368              |0.0                                      

Powys                |70                  |530                 |13.2                |7,829               |0.8                                      

South Glamorgan      |175                 |1,687               |10.4                |26,244              |0.6                                      

West Glamorgan       |0                   |343                 |0.0                 |22,846              |0.0                                      

                     |--                  |---                 |--                  |----                |--                                       

Wales                |634                 |7,155               |8.9                 |187,492             |0.3                                      

                                                                                                                                                   

1991-92                                                                                                                                            

Clwyd                |158                 |1,595               |9.9                 |27,212              |0.5                                      

Dyfed                |48                  |509                 |9.4                 |24,225              |0.2                                      

Gwent                |221                 |1,337               |16.5                |29,116              |0.7                                      

Gwynedd              |0                   |680                 |0.0                 |15,532              |0.0                                      

Mid Glamorgan        |0                   |358                 |0.0                 |37,263              |0.0                                      

Powys                |76                  |532                 |14.3                |7,889               |0.9                                      

South Glamorgan      |159                 |1,700               |9.4                 |26,919              |0.6                                      

West Glamorgan       |0                   |317                 |0.0                 |23,104              |0.0                                      

                     |--                  |---                 |--                  |----                |--                                       

Wales                |662                 |7,028               |9.4                 |191,260             |0.3                                      

                                                                                                                                                   

1992-93                                                                                                                                            

Clwyd                |177                 |1,349               |13.1                |27,711              |0.6                                      

Dyfed                |52                  |551                 |9.4                 |24,463              |0.2                                      

Gwent                |219                 |1,315               |16.7                |29,734              |0.7                                      

Gwynedd              |0                   |713                 |0.0                 |15,620              |0.0                                      

Mid Glamorgan        |0                   |306                 |0.0                 |38,198              |0.0                                      

Powys                |81                  |509                 |15.9                |7,979               |1.0                                      

South Glamorgan      |171                 |1,617               |10.6                |27,601              |0.6                                      

West Glamorgan       |0                   |280                 |0.0                 |23,449              |0.0                                      

                     |--                  |---                 |--                  |----                |--                                       

Wales                |700                 |6,640               |10.5                |194,755             |0.3                                      

(a) At September each year.                                                                                                                        

(b) At January each year.                                                                                                                          

(c) Includes number of pupils in LEA and Grant maintained secondary schools, and pupils aged 11 and over in special schools.                       

Secondary Schools

Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each local education authority in Wales, and for Wales as a whole, (a) the number of grant-maintained secondary schools, the total public spending associated with them, and the average public spending per school, (b) the number of non-grant-maintained secondary schools, the total public spending


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associated with them, and the average public spending per school and (c) the total number of secondary schools, the total public spending associated with them, and the average public spending per school.

Sir Wyn Roberts : The most recent financial year for which data are available for both local education authority-maintained and grant- maintained schools is 1992-93. The information is given in the table :


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Total public spending on secondary schools for 1992-93                                                                                    

LEA area               |Status                |Total public          |Number of schools     |Spending per school                          

                                              |spending                                                                                   

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

Clwyd                  |LEA maintained        |75,312,000            |32                    |2,353,500                                    

                       |Grant maintained<1>   |715,144               |1                     |715,144                                      

                       |All maintained        |76,027,144            |33                    |2,303,853                                    

                                                                                                                                          

Dyfed                  |LEA maintained        |63,592,000            |31                    |2,051,355                                    

                       |Grant maintained      |0                     |0                     |n/a                                          

                       |All maintained        |63,592,000            |31                    |2,051,355                                    

                                                                                                                                          

Gwent                  |LEA maintained        |75,282,000            |31                    |2,428,452                                    

                       |Grant maintained<2>   |1,861,639             |2                     |930,820                                      

                       |All maintained        |77,143,639            |33                    |2,337,686                                    

                                                                                                                                          

Gwynedd                |LEA maintained        |43,111,000            |23                    |1,874,391                                    

                       |Grant maintained      |0                     |0                     |n/a                                          

                       |All maintained        |43,111,000            |23                    |1,874,391                                    

                                                                                                                                          

Mid Glamorgan          |LEA maintained        |102,402,000           |42                    |2,438,143                                    

                       |Grant maintained      |0                     |0                     |n/a                                          

                       |All maintained        |102,402,000           |42                    |2,438,143                                    

                                                                                                                                          

Powys                  |LEA maintained        |21,390,000            |13                    |1,645,385                                    

                       |Grant maintained      |0                     |0                     |n/a                                          

                       |All maintained        |21,390,000            |13                    |1,645,385                                    

                                                                                                                                          

South Glamorgan        |LEA maintained        |63,470,000            |27                    |2,350,741                                    

                       |Grant maintained      |0                     |0                     |n/a                                          

                       |All maintained        |63,470,000            |27                    |2,350,741                                    

                                                                                                                                          

West Glamorgan         |LEA maintained        |62,438,000            |26                    |2,401,462                                    

                       |Grant maintained      |2,652,015             |1                     |2,652,015                                    

                       |All maintained        |65,090,015            |27                    |2,410,741                                    

                       |-------               |-------               |-------               |-------                                      

Wales                  |LEA maintained        |506,997,000           |225                   |2,253,320                                    

                       |Grant maintained<1><2>|5,228,798             |4                     |1,307,200                                    

                       |All maintained        |512,225,798           |229                   |2,236,794                                    

<1>Includes a school that opted out on 1 January 1993. The funding for this school only relates to the period 1 January 1993 to 31 March  

1993.                                                                                                                                     

<2>Includes a school that opted out on 1 September 1992. The funding for this school only relates to the period 1 September 1992 to 31    

March 1993.                                                                                                                               

n/a=Not available.                                                                                                                        

Notes                                                                                                                                     

The number of schools is taken from the January 1993 STATS 1.                                                                             

LEA expenditure comprises:                                                                                                                

Net current expenditure on secondary education.                                                                                           

Gross capital expenditure on secondary education.                                                                                         

Spending on schools under budget heads other than education is excluded.                                                                  

Expenditure on pupils at Grant Maintained schools is excluded.                                                                            

Grant Maintained school expenditure comprises:                                                                                            

Annual maintenance grant.                                                                                                                 

Special purposes grant.                                                                                                                   

Transitional grant.                                                                                                                       

Capital grant                                                                                                                             

LEA expenditure on pupils at Grant Maintained schools.                                                                                    

Revenue the school raises itself is excluded.                                                                                             

The use of school reserves is excluded.                                                                                                   

Hospital Treatment

Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each health authority in Wales and for Wales as a whole (a) the total number of people who have received hospital treatment requiring at least one


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night's stay for the latest available 12- month period and (b) the total number of people awaiting hospital treatment for more than one year ; and if he will express (b) as a percentage of (a) .

Mr. Gwilym Jones : Information which relates to in-patient cases and numbers waiting for treatment in Welsh hospitals is given in the following table.


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                    |(a)                |(b)                |(c)                                    

Health authority    |In-patient cases<2>|People waiting more|(b) as a percentage                    

area<1>                                 |than 1 year<3>     |of (a)                                 

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

Clwyd               |73,272             |660                |0.9                                    

East Dyfed          |41,697             |334                |0.8                                    

Gwent               |74,742             |1,157              |1.5                                    

Gwynedd             |41,004             |367                |0.9                                    

Mid Glamorgan       |98,629             |1,030              |1.0                                    

Pembrokeshire       |17,446             |535                |3.1                                    

Powys               |9,070              |0                  |0.0                                    

South Glamorgan     |82,741             |1,396              |1.7                                    

West Glamorgan      |70,023             |351                |0.5                                    

                    |----               |----               |---                                    

Wales               |508,624            |5,830              |1.1                                    

<1> Figures are given according to the district health authority area in which hospitals are        

situated. NHS Trusts are included.                                                                  

<2> In the year ending 30 September 1993.                                                           

<3> People who, at 30 September 1993, were on an in-patient waiting list in Wales and had been      

waiting for more than one year.                                                                     

Wheelchair Repairs

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the award of a contract to SERCO for wheelchair repairs within the NHS in Wales ; and what representations he has received in relation to the award of this contract and its conformity with the tender advertised in relation to facilities management and the direct provision of the repair services.

Mr. Redwood : The Welsh Health Commons Services Authority is responsible for the management of the artificial limbs and appliance service in Wales and has awarded the contract for the repair of wheelchairs to SERCO.

I have received no representations about the award of the contract.

Cardiff Bay Barrage

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the Balfour Beatty Costain construction consortium and the chairman of the Cardiff Bay development corporation concerning a starting date for the construction of the Cardiff bay barrage and guarantees and indemnities relating thereto.

Mr. Redwood : None.

Company Liquidations

Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much public money Deeside Colour Direct received by way of grant before it went into receivership ; how much public money the successor company Patina Press Ltd. received before it went into receivership ; and if he will list the individuals who were known to be directors of both companies.

Mr. Redwood [holding answer 18 March 1994] : I have written to the hon. Member and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.


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DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Crown Servants

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 20 April, Official Report, columns 577-80 , how many of the Crown servants applying to become consultants were (a) to join existing consultants firms and (b) to become independent consultants ; and what were the civil service grades involved.

Mr. Waldegrave : All applications were for permission to accept independent consultancy commissions. Applications to undertake consultancy work on behalf of an existing firm are not separately identified in central statistics and could be isolated only at disproportionate cost. The statistics cover civil service grades from grade 1 to higher executive officer, together with equivalent diplomatic service grades and armed forces ranks.

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 20 April, Official Report, columns 577-80, what were the civil service grades involved of those Crown servants applying through the business appointments system.

Mr. Waldegrave : All grades from grade 1 to executive officer in the civil service and their diplomatic service equivalents. In addition, the statistics included members of ranks in the Royal Navy from admiral to lieutenant commander, in the Army from field marshal to major, and in the Royal Air Force from marshal of the Royal Air Force to flight lieutenant. The numbers of applications by each grade or rank could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.

Market Testing

Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which public services, or parts of public services, are not appropriate for market testing and contracting out ; and what criteria are used in establishing these.

Mr. Waldegrave : The Government's approach is to consider each candidate activity carefully on its merits to determine whether market testing or contracting out would be appropriate at any given time. Criteria include likely improvement in value for money, ease of avoiding potential conflicts of interest, protection of national security, safeguards for confidentiality, strategic control over resource allocation and the need for effective policy formulation.

Parliamentary Questions

Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the provisions of the code of practice on access to government information regarding referral of refusal of information to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration will apply to hon. Members in respect of failure to provide information in response to parliamentary questions.

Mr. Waldegrave : Subject to the disproportionate cost rule, there is no question of withholding from Parliament information which would be available under the code of


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practice on access to government information. However, neither the code nor the powers of investigation of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration apply to proceedings of Parliament and hon. Members have more direct means than the code of seeking information from Ministers.

Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in what circumstances a member of the public will be able to obtain information under the code of practice on access to government information which has been refused in response to a question for written answer put down by an hon. Member.

Mr. Waldegrave : I am aware of only one set of circumstances. By long-standing convention, a Minister may decline to answer a parliamentary question if to do so would involve disproportionate cost. A member of the public might be able to obtain information refused on these grounds, provided that they were prepared to pay an appropriate charge, meeting the request did not involve an unreasonable diversion of resources and the material was not otherwise exempt from disclosure under part II of the code of practice.

Private Security Firms

Mr. George : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years ; what has been the annual value of the contracts ; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.

Mr. David Davis : During the past 10 years the Cabinet Office-- including agencies, HMSO and the Central Office of Information--has employed private security firms as follows :


Year            |Number of firms|Annual cost (£)                

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

1984-85         |7              |215,954                        

1985-86         |10             |311,040                        

1986-87         |11             |388,829                        

1987-88         |11             |395,098                        

1988-89         |11             |460,082                        

1989-90         |12             |484,816                        

1990-91         |12             |632,433                        

1991-92         |13             |722,195                        

1992-93         |14             |847,528                        

1993-94         |14             |875,873                        

It is not possible to estimate how many guards have been employed for each of these years.

TRANSPORT

Mr. Peter Gerosa

Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what dates Mr. Peter Gerosa joined and left his Department ; what position he held ; and what were the circumstances of his departure.

Mr. Norris : Mr. Gerosa joined the civil service on 13 August 1945 as a clerk in the Foreign Office. He worked in various Departments, joining the Ministry of Transport as an assistant secretary on 16 May 1966. He worked in the Departments of Transport and of the Environment until he retired early on 31 October 1982.


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A66

Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department last undertook a traffic study on the A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith ; and what were the conclusions.

Mr. Key : Traffic studies were undertaken on the A66 as part of the trans-Pennine study published on 23 September 1992. Scheme specific figures were collated for the now completed scheme at Bowes to county boundary, the Stainmore to Banksgate scheme currently under construction and the Temple Sowerby to Winderwarth improvement now in preparation.

Commercial Drivers

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to introduce new regulations on the time commercial drivers may work and the use of tachographs.

Mr. Key : The European Commission is preparing proposals for an improved tachograph system to strengthen the control and enforcement of the EC drivers hours regulation. In the light of responses earlier this year to our letter of consultation, we are considering whether any changes are desirable in the domestic rules on driving hours and duty limits which apply to many passenger and goods vehicles exempted from the EC regulations on drivers' hours and tachographs.

Railways

Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to direct the Director of Franchising to include specific services within a shadow franchise or, subsequently, franchise contract.

Mr. Freeman : The Secretary of State has powers under section 5 of the Railways Act 1993 to give objectives, instructions and guidance to the Franchising Director with respect to the provision of passenger railway services in Great Britain. The Franchising Director is under a duty to exercise his functions under the Act, including those of designating services for franchising and of drawing up the terms of franchise agreements, in a manner which he considers best calculated to fulfil those objectives in accordance with the instructions and guidance.

In the objectives, instructions and guidance he issued on 22 March, the Secretry of State instructed the Franchising Director that, for the initial letting of franchises, his specificaiton of minimum service levels for railway passenger services is to be based on that being provided by BR immediately before franchising, taking into account the existence of, and justification for, seasonal variations in service schedule.

SCOTLAND

Radioactive Clothing (Dounreay)

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement as to how the clothing of a German visitor to the nuclear power station in Dounreay in March became radioactive ; what was the cause of this incident ; what was the cost of supplying alternative clothing ; and on how many other occasions this has occurred.


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Mr. Stewart [holding answer 15 April 1994] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Department of Employment gave him on 13 April 1994, Official Report, column 190.

Forestry Commission

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by district, hectarage and location the Forestry Commission land sold in Scotland in each of the past five financial years where (a) access agreements have been concluded and (b) access agreements have not been concluded and the price of each piece per hectare.

Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 22 April 1994] : Lists giving details of the areas of forest land sold in Scotland by calendar year to December 1993 are held in the Library of the House. The lists show the price paid where the purchaser has agreed that such information can be made public. Access agreements had not been concluded for any areas of land sold by the end of 1993. However, agreements had been concluded or were being negotiated in respect of 19 woodlands which were in the process of being sold and local authorities had expressed interest in negotiating agreements in 22 other areas.

Greater Glasgow Health Board

Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the total number of employees of Greater Glasgow health board, broken down by categories and grades, at the end of each of the last five financial years.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 25 April 1994] : The latest available information is shown in a table which has been placed in the Library. Figures for 1989 for staff other than doctors and dentists are available only at disproportionate cost.

Scottish Homes

Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with Scottish Homes regarding stock transfers ; and if he will make a statement.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 25 April 1994] : My right hon. Friend has issued guidance to Scottish Homes regarding the disposal of its stock. The arrangements in particular cases are for Scottish Homes to consider in terms of its published procedures. Transfers of stock require my right hon. Friend's approval and he will require to be satisfied that they represent value for money and that tenants' interests have been fully considered.

Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to ensure that the transfer of Scottish Homes housing stock within the Wyndford area of Glasgow to Cube Housing Association will be completed by 12 May ; and if he will also ensure that the tenants affected by the transfer will not be subjected to any additional increase in rents imposed by Scottish Homes on 15 May if such transfer is further delayed.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 25 April 1994] : Final proposals relating to the transfer of Scottish Homes' stock in Glasgow to Cube housing association were sent to the Scottish Office Environment Department on 6 April 1994. My right hon. Friend has


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made it clear that he will not approve a transfer of Scottish Homes' stock unless he is satisfied that it represents value for money and that tenants rights and interests have been fully considered. A decision will be taken when those aspects have been considered fully and it would not be appropriate to constrain this consideration by prescribing a firm date by which the transfer should be completed. Decisions relating to the rent payable by the tenants concerned are entirely a matter for Scottish Homes.

Coastal and Flood Defences

Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in what circumstances local authorities may undertake work to protect private land or property from coastal erosion or flooding ; and how such work is funded.

Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 25 April 1994] : Regional and islands councils have wide powers under the Coast Protection Act 1949 to take such measures as they consider necessary to protect any land in their areas against erosion and encroachment by the sea. The councils also have powers to prevent or mitigate flooding of non-agricultural land under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961. Those powers make no distinction as to ownership of the land concerned and it is for councils to consider each scheme on its merits. Grants are available to councils towards the eligible costs of coast protection or flood prevention schemes approved or confirmed by the Secretary of State.

Police Complaints Authority

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration he has given to the establishment of a Police Complaints Authority or similar body in Scotland ; and what are his conclusions.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Following a review of the existing complaints procedures by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, published on 11 February 1993, my right hon. Friend concluded that a Police Complaints Authority would not be established for Scotland.

Sheehy Inquiry

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which representatives of the local authorities in Scotland he has met to discuss the Sheehy report ; and when.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My noble and learned Friend the Minister of State has met representatives of the three Scottish police associations collectively and separately to hear their views on the Sheehy report. Individual meetings took place on 19 August, 30 August and 9 September 1993. The associations also made their views known at meetings of the Police Advisory Board for Scotland, chaired by my noble and learned Friend, on 12 March, 9 July and 20 December 1993, and also at a meeting on 20 September 1993 between the United Kingdom police associations and Home Department Ministers. Later meetings have considered the legislative implementation of the Government's conclusions on the report.


Column 145

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many visits to Scotland and of what duration were made by each member of the Sheehy inquiry into the police.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is included in appendix I to the "Report of the Inquiry into Police Responsibility and Rewards" (In Cm 2280.II, June 1993).

Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which members of the Sheehy inquiry into the police have had experience or knowledge of life in Scotland or policing in Scotland ; and what is that experience and knowledge.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Government considered it important for the inquiry into police responsibilities and rewards to be conducted by a fully independent team with expertise in a number of disciplines. The team included Professor Sir Colin Campbell, Vice-Chancellor of the university of Nottingham, who was educated in Scotland, graduated in law and then lectured in law at Scottish universities.


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