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NHS Trusts (Employees)
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has issued to NHS trust employees about part-time employment as consultants in companies which might bid for contracts with NHS trusts ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : Guidance is contained in HSG (93)5, copies of which are available in the Library.
Allergies
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will list by region the national health service centres for treatments (a) for allergies in general and (b) for allergic reactions to steroid treatments ;
(2) what research her Department has commissioned into the links between serious allergic reactions and steroid treatments ; and if she will publish the conclusions of the research.
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Mr. Sackville : A list of national health service allergy clinics is published by the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, copies of which will be placed in the Library. The Department has no plans to carry out research into allergic reactions to steroid treatment. Allergic reactions to steroid treatment are extremely rare, and most frequently affect the skin, in which case treatment would be obtained in the dermatology clinic in the district hospital.
Residential Care and Nursing Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proposals she has for amendments to legislation concerning the regulation and inspection of residential care and nursing homes ; when such proposals will be published ; and if she will make a statement ;
(2) what proposals she has to issue new guidance or amend existing regulations concerning the regulation and inspection of residential care and nursing homes ; when the proposals will be published ; and if she will make a statement ;
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Mr. Bowis : The Department is discussing those matters with regulatory and provider interests. We will consult more widely if, in due course, we have specific proposals for improving regulation and inspection processes while retaining safeguards for vulnerable residents.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps will be taken to ensure the suitability of the lay assessors proposed for the monitoring of residential care.
Mr. Bowis : The recruitment and selection of lay assessors, and the terms on which they are engaged, are matters in which authorities are free to use their discretion. However, the Department's policy guidance emphasises the need for authorities to satisfy themselves about the suitability of the people they engage. Copies of the guidance, LAC(94)16, will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what independent research has been undertaken into the operation of the Registered Homes Act 1984, as amended ; and in what way this is being taken into account during her review of this Act.
Mr. Bowis : We are not aware of any such research.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to monitor and evaluate the cost of inspection and regulation of residential care and nursing homes.
Mr. Bowis : Local authorities and health authorities provide information annually on their costs in registering and inspecting residential care homes and nursing homes respectively. Those costs are kept under review by the Department.
Home Life" Manual
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are currently being taken to review the provisions of her Department's "Home Life" manual.
Mr. Bowis : We are considering with respresentatives of the local authorities associations and other interested parties the need for a review of "Home Life".
Orthopaedic Implants
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date the replacement of the "Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Orthopaedic Implants" by the
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"Quality Systems for Orthopaedic Implants- Good Manufacturing Practice" became effective ; who was responsible for the replacement ; what consultations she undertook in relation to the replacement of the former by the latter ; and if she will make a statement.Mr. Sackville : The "Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Orthopaedic Implants" was replaced with the "Quality Systems Document for Orthopaedic Implants" by the supplies technology division of the Department of Health with effect from 1 May 1991. The main reason for the change was to bring departmental standards in line with international standards for quality assurance, BS 5750 Part 1 1987 equivalent to ISO 9001. Relevant medical device trade associations were consulted in the drawing up of the revised document.
Patients Over 70
Mr. Cann : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is issued in the NHS on whether patients aged 70 years and over admitted to hospitals with suspected heart attacks should be placed in coronary care units rather than general wards.
Mr. Sackville : Decisions about the most appropriate admission and treatment are based upon the needs of the individual patient and should be taken by the clinicians in charge of the patient.
Out-of-hours Work (Doctors)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish the report by KPMG Peat Marwick about out-of-hours work by doctors.
Dr. Mawhinney : Ministers are currently considering the report.
NHS (Private Finance)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 14 April, Official Report, column 293, if she will provide details of the value of private sector capital for each of the 20 schemes which have been approved centrally since February 1993 and the private sector companies involved.
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table.
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NHS projects using private capital over £1 million approved since February 1993
NHS partner |Scheme |Private sector |Capital cost
|partner
|(£ million)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health |Lease of office accommodation |Sun Alliance |3.0
Agency
Yorkshire Regional Health Authority |Clinical waste incineration |Yorkshire Water Enterprises |6.0
Hastings and Rother NHS Trust (Conquest |Staff residences |Croudace Homes and Orbit Housing |1.4
Hospital)
West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust |Endoscopy unit |Lister Bestcare |1.0
North Bedfordshire Health Authority |Residential accommodation |Health and Care Services (UK) Ltd. |1.4
(Steppingley and Biggleswade Hospitals)
Bolton Health Authority |Clinical waste incineration |Yorkshire Water Enterprises |2.6
New River Health Authority |Lease of office accommodation |Markheath plc |2.0
Leicester Mental Health Services NHS Trust |Lease of new headquarters |Raynsway Properties Ltd. |1.6
South East Kent Health Authority (William |Clinical waste incineration |Dyvell Ltd. |3.0
Harvey Hospital)
Barnet Health Authority (Hendon Hospital) |Residential accommodation |Metropolitan Housing Trust and Servite |2.3
|Houses
Plymouth and Torbay Health Authority |Clinical waste incineration |South West Water plc |2.0
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster |Staff residences |Higgs and Hill Ltd. |2.5
Health Authority (Carlton Gate)
East Sussex Health Authority |Residential accommodation |Associated Nursing Sevices |3.0
Brent and Harrow Health Authority (Clamp |Residential accommodation |Community Health Services Ltd. |2.1
Hill)
Doncaster Healthcare NHS Trust |Clinical waste incineration |Motherwell Bridge Envirotec |2.7
Kent and Canterbury Hospitals NHS Trust |Staff accommodation |Bradford and Northern Housing Association|3.3
|and Wiltshier Construction (South) Ltd.
St. James's University Hospital NHS Trust |Combined heat and power plant |Yorkshire Cogen Ltd. |3.0
Hertfordshire Health Agency |Lease of office accommodation |Brixton Estate Management Ltd. |4.2
Hillingdon Health Agency |Lease of office accommodation |Scottish Metropolitan |1.7
Urban Policies
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list every urban policy that has been instituted or operated from 1979, the date that each scheme began operating, where appropriate when they ceased operating and the funds available on an annual basis at current prices.
Mr. Baldry : Economic, social and physical regeneration is supported through main programmes by several Government Departments and by targeted initiatives. My reply of 25 April 1994 to the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) Official Report, columns 36-37, contained detailed information about the latter programmes, including spending from 1981-82. For the urban programme, which began in 1979, the additional figures sought are £83 million for 1979-80 and £112 million for 1980-81 in cash terms. All the programmes listed in the earlier reply have now been combined within the single regeneration Budget from 1 April 1994.
While not included in the earlier reply, enterprise zones, also a targeted urban initiative were launched in 1981. They offer a range of incentives to industrial and commercial firms in designated areas. These have not involved any direct expenditure, but an estimated £1.7 billion has been forgone in rates and taxes.
EDUCATION
Thamesmead Primary Schools
5. Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to meet parents and staff of primary schools in Thamesmead.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Vandalism
14. Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what special help is available for schools suffering especially severe problems of vandalism.
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Mr. Boswell : Detailed security measures appropriate for a school suffering vandalism problems are best determined by the school governing body in consultation with the local police crime prevention officers.
The Department has published comprehensive guidance for schools on measures commensurate with the risk they are facing.
Liverpool Schools
15. Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to make resources available to refurbish older and pre- war schools in Liverpool.
Mr. Forth : Capital support for maintained schools in the area of Liverpool local education authority, including voluntary aided and special agreement schools, amounts to over £7 million in 1994-95.
Ethnic Minority Pupils
16. Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he next plans to meet the Home Secretary to discuss the effect of the cuts to the section 11 budget on equal access for pupils with an ethnic minority background to the curriculum in schools.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.
Grant-maintained Schools
17. Mr. Connarty : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have voted to opt out of local education authority control under the Government's present scheme ; and what is the average revenue grant given by the Government to such schools in the first year of their direct grant-aided status.
Mr. Robin Squire : To date parents at more than 1,100 schools in England have voted in favour of grant-maintained status.
In addition to the recurrent grants which grant-maintained schools are eligible to receive each year, schools new to the sector receive a grant to help meet transitional costs in the first year. In 1994-95, schools with
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less than two years' experience of managing a delegated budget will be eligible to receive a grant equivalent to £30,000 plus £30 per pupil. Other schools will be eligible to receive £20,000 plus £15 per pupil.19. Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement about the number of primary schools opting for grant-maintained status.
Mr. Robin Squire : To date, 445 primary schools have voted for grant -maintained status. The number of self-governing primary schools has more than trebled in the past year.
20. Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidelines he has issued to local education authorities as to what would be a reasonable percentage deduction for the provision of central support services prior to the allocation of funds to grant-maintained schools.
22. Mr. Jim Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many parental ballots have taken place on the issue of grant-maintained status since September 1993 ; what were the results ; and what were the figures for the previous 12 months.
Mr. Robin Squire : Since 1 September 1993, 217 ballots on grant- maintained status have closed, 137 of which resulted in votes in favour of self-government, and 80 in votes against. In the preceding 12 months, there were 703 ballots, 544 of which resulted in a yes vote and 159 in a no vote.
Education Expenditure
21. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what are his proposals for future spending on education in England.
Mr. Forth : Planned spending by central Government, subject to review in the public expenditure survey, rises from £10.4 billion in 1994-95 to £11.3 billion in 1996-97. The 1994-95 grant settlement allows for LEAs in England to spend £17.1 billion on education ; the 1995-96 settlement will be announced later in the year.
Further Education Colleges
24. Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the implementation of new contracts in further education colleges.
Mr. Boswell : In order to implement our policy to encourage flexibility by holdback, the Further Education Funding Council will be asking colleges to sign a declaration shortly about the introduction of new contracts. I understand that most colleges have introduced a new contract for newly appointed staff.
Student Loans
25. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what correspondence he has received from students on the question of student loans in the last month.
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Mr. Boswell : During March 1994, the Department received about 270 letters about student support issues. It is not possible to separate letters about student loans from letters on the other student support matters.
School Leaving Age
26. Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to raise the school leaving age.
Special Educational Needs
27. Mr. Berry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to provide suitable training for special educational needs co- ordinators in schools.
Mr. Forth : The draft code of practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs confirms the importance of training for special educational needs co-ordinators. Over £5.5 million is newly available to schools this year to help them develop special educational needs policies and train co-ordinators. This is on top of the support of nearly £10 million for training in special educational needs more generally. In addition, the Department is planning measures to disseminate the messages of the code of practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs, subject to parliamentary approval of the draft, to special educational needs co-ordinators and others.
National Tests
28. Sir David Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what further discussions he is planning with the education services concerning national tests this year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : We have not received any further requests to discuss the 1994 national tests, and we have no plans to do so.
Educational Exports
29. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to encourage the growth in the export of British educational services.
Mr. Boswell : I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans).
Bolton Institute of Higher Education
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects to reach a decision on Bolton Institute of Higher Education's application for research degree availability powers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.
The institute's application for research degree-awarding powers is currently under consideration and a decision will be reached as soon as possible.
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Specialist Subjects
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of local government reform on the work of local education authorities in relation to the provision of teaching in specialist subjects.
Mr. Robin Squire : Any changes resulting from the review of local government will not affect schools' responsibilities for delivering the national curriculum. The Local Government Commission is required to consider the implications of reorganisation for all local authority services including education.
Nursery Education
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals he has further to extend nursery education ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Ms Short), Official Report, 29 March, column 738.
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total amount of money allocated in the education budget for nursery and early year training and initiatives in 1994-95 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : The 1994-95 local authority grant settlement allows for local authorities in England to spend £17,087 million on education. It is for individual local authorities and schools to decide how much to spend on nursery and early years education, including staff training, in the light of their own particular circumstances.
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what advice is given by his Department to
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schools on the provision of resources for the training of nursery teachers and nursery nurses in 1994-95 ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Robin Squire : No such advice has been given. The allocation of their resources for the training of staff is a matter for schools themselves.
Single-sex Education
Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make an official visit to the London borough of Havering to assess the adequacy of the provision of single-sex education in the area.
Mr. Forth : My right hon. Friend sees no need for such a visit.
Civil Servants (Business Appointments)
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many civil servants in his Department applied in each year since 1986 through the business appointments system to take up an outside appointment (a) as an independent consultant, (b) in a firm of consultants and (c) in other employment ; how many were referred to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments ; and how many were granted.
Mr. Boswell : Detailed records of outside appointments taken up under the business appointments system have been maintained by the Department since 1990. The information required is given in the table.
The great majority of applications in 1990 and 1991 came from former members of Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools.
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Number of Number With whom Number referred to
|applications |granted |Advisory Committee
|on
|Business
|Appointments
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |23 |23 | 4 - Independent consultants|}
| 2 - Consultants |} |2
|17 - Other employment |}
1991 |16 |16 | 5 - Independent consultants|}
|11 - Other employment |} |None
1992 No applications recorded
1993 |6 |6 | 2 - Independent consultants|}
| 1 - Consultants |} |2
| 3 - Other employment |}
1994 To date one application has been submitted which has been referred to the Advisory
Committee on Business Appointments. Awaiting a decision.
Education Support and Training
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received on the matter of reduction in grants for education support and training ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : In responding to the Department's letters indicating allocations for 1994-95, a number of local educational authorities have indicated that they would have preferred larger sums. The national reduction from £320
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million in 1993-94 to £270 million in 1994-95 reflected the growing number of self-governing schools and overall pressures on public expenditure.Urban Policy Initiatives
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list every urban policy initiative that has been instituted or operated since 1979, the date that each scheme began operating, where appropriate the date that the scheme ceased operating and the funds available on an annual basis under each scheme.
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Mr. Robin Squire : The Department has provided grant support over three years--1992 to 1995--for projects to raise standards in inner city schools through activity 19 of grants for education support and training. Total supported expenditure for each of the three years is given in the table.
|£ million
------------------------------
1992-93 |6.6
1993-94 |10.3
1994-95 |8.0
Local Management of Schools
Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects all primary and secondary schools to have fully delegated powers under local management of schools.
Mr. Forth : All primary and secondary schools now have delegated budgets, except in a very small number of cases where deregulation has been withdrawn by LEAs.
Security
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the use of private detective agencies and security companies by his Department.
Mr. Boswell : The Department makes no use of private detective agencies. In so far as security companies are concerned, I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Walsall, South (Mr. George) on 22 April 1994, Official Report, column 677.
City Technology Colleges
23. Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list his responsibilities in relation to the organisation of city technology colleges.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend's responsibilities are laid down in section 105 of the Education Reform
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Act 1988 and in the funding agreements drawn up under that section for each city technology college. Copies of the Act and the model funding agreement are available in the Library. CTCs are independent schools given the maximum discretion to manage their own affairs.Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will place in the Library a copy of the management plan of each of the 13 schools listed in his announcement of 26 April.
Mr. Robin Squire : No. Applications under the technology colleges initiative were prepared by individual schools and their sponsors for submission to the Department. Management plans were not necessarily prepared with any expectation that they would become public documents.
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