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Dr. Mawhinney : We propose to secure continued improvements in national health service patient care and choice by strengthening purchasing. We are preparing legislation to enable district health authorities and family health services authorities to merge, completing the move to trust status of providers, promoting fundholding so that all general practitioners who are able and wish to can become fundholders and ensuring that the internal market operates to increase competition between providers for the benefit of patients.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) of 18 April, Official Report, column 396, regarding her plans for the work of her Department, what plans she is making to ensure that amendments are made to the Mental Health Act 1983.
Mr. Bowis : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 2 March at column 264, with regard to supervised discharge and extended leave. We have also announced our intention to amend the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983 relating to the return of detained patients who go absent without leave, and are now considering the responses to our consultation paper on this subject.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) of 18 April, Official Report, column 396, regarding her plans for the work of her Department, what timetable she envisages for the establishment of the Medical Devices Directorate as a "next steps" agency.
Mr. Sackville : The matter is currently under consideration. We hope to be able to make an announcement shortly.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) of 18 April, Official Report, column 396, regarding her plans for the work of her Department, what communication strategies she intends to implement ; and what budget she has given this priority.
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Mr. Sackville : Communications with national health service staff and with other agencies involved in the planning and provision of health and social services is an important and ongoing part of the work of the NHS executive.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) of 18 April, Official Report, column 396, regarding her plans for the work of her Department, what steps she is taking to introduce new adoption legislation.
Mr. Bowis : As stated in the White Paper "Adoption : The Future" the Government will bring forward new adoption legislation as soon as the legislative programme allows.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) of 18 April, Official Report, column, 396, regarding her plans for the work of her Department, what steps she is taking to ensure joint working between health and local authorities.
Mr. Bowis : Health authorities and local authorities have a statutory duty to co-operate to secure and advance the health and welfare of the people of England and Wales. An important aspect of this is the joint commissioning of community care services by health and local authorities. Work is in hand to develop practical guidance to encourage this.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) of 18 April, Official Report, column 396, regarding her plans for the work of her Department, what new safeguards she will be introducing to ensure that medicines and medical devices sold or in use in the United Kingdom meet standards of safety.
Mr. Sackville : A range of controls to ensure the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines already exists under powers set out in the Medicines Act 1968. These will be developed further with the coming into force of new European Community procedures--"Future Systems"--from 1 January 1995, which provide for high standards of pre- and post-licensing control across the European Community.
With respect to medical devices, from 1 January 1993 a series of three medical devices directives regulating the safety and marketing of medical devices throughout the European Community started to come into effect in the United Kingdom. The directives will eventually cover all medical devices on sale or in use in the United Kingdom. They are designed to ensure safety and performance and to prohibit the marketing of any devices which compromise the health and safety of patients, users, and where appropriate, any other persons.
Lewisham Hospital
Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she intends to make with regard to Lewisham hospital if her proposed merger of Guy's and St. Thomas's hospitals goes ahead ; what increase she envisages in the number of accident and emergency cases to be dealt with at Lewisham hospital ; and how many additional beds Lewisham hospital will require to meet the increase.
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Dr. Mawhinney : The South East London health authority is working with Guy's and St. Thomas's hospital trust, King's healthcare national health service trust and Lewisham hospital NHS trust to assess the likely changes in patient flows both in attendances at emergency departments and in-patient admissions as a result of proposed changes in the Guy's and St. Thomas's trust. Proposals will be the subject of public consultation later this year.
Treatment Priorities
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received in relation to the report of the Association of Community Health Councils of England and Wales with respect to the differentiation in levels of priority for treatment other than in relation to clinical need ; what consultations she has had with the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts with respect to the contents of the report ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We will study the Association of Community Health Councils of England and Wales report carefully. By ensuring value for money, fundholders are making more resources available to the national health service ; savings are ploughed back into patient care, waiting lists are reduced, and services are made more accessible, for example through out -patient clinics held in the surgery. We regularly meet the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts to discuss how we can build on the success of NHS reforms.
Private Finance
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all those national health service projects worth over £250,000 which have been financed by private sector money since February 1993.
Mr. Sackville : [pursuant to his reply, 14 April 1994, c. 293] : I regret that there was an error in my previous reply. The amended table lists 19 schemes, omitting United Leeds Teaching Hospitals national health service trust which was incorrecly included. National health service projects using private capital over £1 million approved since February 1993
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Agency : lease of office accommodation.
Yorkshire Regional Health Authority : clinical waste incineration. Hastings and Rother NHS Trust : Conquest Hospital staff residences.
West Middlesex Hospital : endoscopy unit.
North Bedfordshire Health Authority : residential accommodation at Steppingley and Biggleswade.
Bolton Health Authority : clinical waste incineration.
New River Health Authority : lease of office accommodation. Leicester Mental Health Services : lease of new Trust Headquarters.
William Harvey Hospital (Ashford) : clinical waste incineration. Barnet Health Authority : residential accommodation in Hendon. Plymouth and Torbay Health Authority : clinical waste incineration.
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Health Authority : staff residences at Carlton Gate.
East Sussex Health Authority : residential accommodation for continuing care of the elderly.
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Brent and Harrow Health Authority : provision of residential accommodation.Doncaster Healthcare NHS Trust : clinical waste incineration. Kent and Canterbury Hospitals NHS Trust : staff accommodation. St. James' NHS Trust, Leeds : combined heat and power plant. Hertfordshire Health Agency : lease of office accommodation. Hillingdon Health Agency : lease of office accommodation.
TREASURY
Public Appointments
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of public appointments made by his Department in 1993 were of (a) Asians and (b) black people ; and if he will list their names.
Mr. Nelson : The percentage of Asian and black people who took up public appointments made by the Treasury in 1993 are 5.5 per cent. and nil respectively.
The data on the ethnic origin of public appointees are collected in confidence. I am therefore unable to list their names.
Fuel (VAT)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amounts of advance payments for fuel had been paid by Government Departments as at 31 March.
Sir John Cope : Government Departments were already subject to VAT on their business use of fuel. Hence expenditure on fuel and power by Government Departments was largely unaffected by the extension of VAT to domestic fuel and power.
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received from (a) individuals and (b) organisations on the imposition of VAT on domestic energy since the original announcement that it would be levied ; and how many in each case were in favour of the increase.
Sir John Cope : I have received a large number of representations on fuel and power, but the records that are kept do not give sufficient information to answer the question in detail.
Fraud (EC Grants)
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost to United Kingdom public funds of fraud involving grants from the EC for which investigations have been completed and charges upheld ; and what is his estimate of the cost to public funds for cases which are still under investigation.
Sir John Cope : It is not possible to give an estimate of the cost to the United Kingdom of EC budget fraud either in the case of investigations that have been completed or in the case of those that are continuing. The cost depends on a number of factors, including : how much was actually paid from Community funds ; how much has been recovered or offset from other expenditure ; where the fraud took place--that is, in the United Kingdom, other member state or third country ; and whether it involved expenditure from the budget or, for example, evasion of duties depriving the Community of revenue.
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What is, however, clear is that fraud against the financial interests of the Community, and therefore of taxpayers in member states, is at an unacceptable level. The United Kingdom is at the forefront of the campaign to reduce fraud and otherwise improve financial management in the Community.Statistics
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect he expects the change in the trade deficit consignment on the reassessment of the Intrastat calculations to have on the exchange rate ; when he expects the revised figures to be published ; and what preparations he is making to safeguard the pound sterling.
Mr. Nelson : With regard to the publication of any necessary adjustments to the estimates of the balance of United Kingdom visible trade, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 18 April 1994, Official Report, column 364.
Sterling's exchange rate is floating and it is not my practice to make predictions about its level. Movements in sterling's exchange rate form part of our continuing assessment of monetary conditions but we do not set target rates.
VAT
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the gross and net yields for value added tax for 1992 and 1993 and the first quarter of 1994.
Sir John Cope : The yields for value added tax gross and net of repayments are as follows :
£ billion
|1992 |1993 |<1>1994
----------------------------------------
Gross |63.5 |64.5 |17.3
Net |37.7 |37.8 |10.7
<1> First quarter.
It should be noted that the difference between the gross and net figures given above relates only to actual repayments to traders.
Privatised Companies (Debt)
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the disposal of some or all of the Treasury's holding of debt in privatised companies.
Mr. Dorrell : The Treasury has agreed to the repurchase of debt issued to Her Majesty's Government by Eastern Electricity plc. The debt is :
£ million |Per cent. ------------------------------ 59 |<1>12.661 59 |<2>12.365 <1> Due September 1999. <2> Due September 2008.
Eastern Electricity plc will today pay Her Majesty's Treasury £144.827 million to repurchase these bonds.
As announced on 1 March, the Treasury is planning to dispose in 1994-95 of part of its holding of debt in BT plc and certain of the privatised electricity companies, as part
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of its strategy for meeting its published proceeds target of £5.5 billion. The Treasury is considering its strategy for this debt disposal.AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Live Animals
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if she will make it her policy to ensure that the transport of live animals will be banned in an effective way from the United Kingdom as soon as possible.
Mr. Soames : A ban on the export of animals would be illegal under the treaty of Rome. The Government are pressing the Community to adopt high standards of protection for all animals during transport.
Primates
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 750, whether arrangements for approval of establishments as sources of primates under directive 92/65/EEC have now been put in place by agriculture departments in Great Britain.
Mr. Soames : Yes, we have written to such establishments setting out the procedures for approval under directive 92/65.
EMPLOYMENT
Earnings
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the current average weekly, and hourly earnings, exclusive of overtime, for each year since 1989, of full-time employees in the categories (a) male manual, (b) male non-manual, (c) female manual, (d) female non-manual, (e) male and female manual and (f) male and female non-manual in (i) Doncaster, (ii) Barnsley, (iii) Rotherham and (iv) Sheffield ; and what are the equivalent national figures.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The available information closest to that requested is for the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire. Information for South Yorkshire and for Great Britain can be found in the "New Earnings Survey" reports for each of the years requested. Information for manual and non-manual men and women workers separately can be found in tables 108, 109, 111 and 112 of part E and information for manual and non-manual men and women workers combined in table X5 of part A. Copies of these publications can be found in the Library.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many parliamentary questions, in the period November 1992 to March 1993, were answered with the response that the information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost ; and how many were referred on to an agency chief executive.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of answers given to parliamentary questions from November 1992 to March 1993, recorded on the POLIS database as including a reference to disproportionate cost or to information not held or collected centrally was 32.
During the same period, the number of questions referred for answer to the Employment Service, the only agency in the Department with responsibility for replying to parliamentary questions on operational matters was 67.
This represents 3.2 and 6.8 per cent. respectively of all parliamentary questions replied to by the Department in the same period.
South Thames Training and Enterprise Council
Ms Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which organisations in Southwark had contracts with South Thames training and enterprise council in 1993-94 and will have no contract with South Thames training and enterprise council in 1994-95 ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : South Thames training and enterprise council has not renewed contracts in 1994-95 with seven of the training organisations in Southwark that it contracted with in 1993-94. The organisations that did not have their contracts renewed are as follows :
Caribbean Teachers Association
Community Youth Provisions
Euroworld Data Ltd.
Mother Goose Nurseries
South Bank University
Southwark College
Walworth Garden Services Ltd.
TECs are responsible for planning and arranging Government-funded training and enterprise programmes. TECs uses their knowledge of the local labour market to help them determine the range and nature of such training and enterprise initiatives that will best meet the needs of both individuals and businesses in their area. These initiatives are delivered through a wide range of colleges, training providers and enterprise agencies. It is for TECs to decide the most appropriate organisations with which to contract.
European Social Fund
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 14 April, Official Report, column 288, what has been the earliest date in each of the past five years on which any voluntary organisations have been told whether they have had funding for European social fund projects starting on 1 January of that year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The earliest date on which any voluntary sector project received notification that it had approval for ESF funding is shown was :
in 1990--December 1990 ;
in 1991--10 May 1991 ;
in 1992--13 January 1992 ;
in 1993--19 January 1993.
These figures relate to projects approved in the period 1990-93 under objectives 3 and 4. Before 1990, the European Commission considered projects for approval and the data are not held.
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Water Pollution, Worcester
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what role the Health and Safety Executive played in the water pollution incident in Worcester on 15 April ; what advice it gave to other public or private bodies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The water pollution incident in Worcester on 15 April is being investigated by the National Rivers Authority and Shropshire county council. The NRA has the primary responsibility for enforcing legislation on water pollution liaising with the Health and Safety Executive as necessary. The HSE has given no advice to public or private bodies but is being kept informed of developments.
Health and Safety
Ms Eagle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many investigations undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive into accidents, incidents and dangerous occurrences in the north-west and in each of the standard administrative regions of England concluded that employee fatigue had played a role.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information is not available in the form requested.
Labour Statistics
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for (a) the Taunton travel-to-work area, (b) Somerset (c) the south-west region and (d) the United Kingdom the total numbers of (i) males and (ii) females unemployed for (1) May 1979, (2) June 1983, (3) August 1986, (4) June 1987, (5) March 1991, (6) March 1992, (7) March 1993 and (8) March 1994.
Miss Widdecombe : Seasonally adjusted claimant unemployment figures are available regionally from April 1974. For travel-to-work areas and counties, only unadjusted unemployment figures are available and these go back to June 1983. All this data can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library.
Youth Training
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many YT recipients in each age group had income below the income support level in (a) the latest available period before 11 April and (b) the period after that date.
Miss Widdecombe : This information is not available.
Industrial Tribunals
Mr. Coe : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is being done to reduce industrial tribunal waiting lists.
Miss Widdecombe : I have asked officials to review the operation of the industrial tribunals with a view to identifying any changes which would help them to cope with an increasing volume and complexity of cases with reduced delays, while containing demands on public expenditure. Meanwhile, additional resources are being allocated to help contain the delays.
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Disabled People
Mr. Berry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the unemployment rate of disabled people.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 28 April 1994] : The labour force survey asks people of working age if they currently have a health problem or disability which limits the kind of paid work they can do. Estimates based on answers to this question will include people with short- term health problems and disabilities as well as those registered as disabled.
The latest LFS estimates for summer 1993 show that, in Great Britain, the International Labour Organisation unemployment rate for such people was 22 per cent.
Employment Appeals Tribunal
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many appellants to the employment appeals tribunal had preliminary hearings in each of the months following the retirment of Mr. Justice Wood.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 28 April 1994] : The figures are shown in the table :
{TITRE]
--------------------
October 1993 |28
November 1993 |49
December 1993 |31
January 1994 |39
February 1994 |83
March 1994 |32
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many appellants to the employment appeals tribunal had preliminary hearings in each of the 24 months prior to the retirement of Mr. Justice Wood.
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