House of Commons Hansard Debates for 3 May 1994

Food Labelling

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action she is taking to improve the accuracy of the labelling of foods with particular reference to the list of contents.

Mr. Soames : Rules on ingredient listing on food labels are harmonised in the European Community. The United Kingdom has pressed for a review of the current exemptions and the Commission is considering this.

Mr. Hardy : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will require the labelling of meat which has already been thawed and then refrozen and ensure that the consumer is warned not to refreeze.

Mr. Soames : Such labelling is currently required. We are consulting interested parties about a proposal to amend this requirement, since the warning cannot be justified on safety grounds.

Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the United Kingdom Ecolabelling Board's timetable for the comprehensive labelling of food produce.

Mr. Atkins : I have been asked to reply.

The United Kingdom Ecolabelling Board was established under the European Communities Act to administer and promote the EC ecolabelling scheme in the United Kingdom. The scheme does not apply to food and, therefore, the United Kingdom Ecolabelling Board has no plans for labelling food produce.

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SCOTLAND

Public Bodies

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in respect of which non-elected bodies whose membership in whole or in part is appointed by him in each case (a) meetings are open to the public, (b) there is scrutiny of financial procedures by independently appointed audit and (c) there are rules governing the declaration of interests.

Mr. Lang : Non-departmental public bodies are not required to hold meetings in public and do not normally do so. The Comptroller and Auditor General either audits the accounts of, or has inspection rights to, all executive non-departmental public bodies for which I am responsible and which receive Government funding. Where he is not the auditor, the accounts of the body are audited in accordance with the statutory requirements of its constitution. I take into account the question of the interests of possible chairmen and members of the boards of executive NDPBs when I am considering appointments to a body. Arrangements for the declaration of interest of members on specific items under consideration by the body are normal practice ; detailed arrangements vary depending on the body.

The meetings of Scottish health boards and NHS trusts are open to the public. The Health Education Board for Scotland and the National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Scotland also hold public meetings. They are subject to audit by either the Scottish Office audit unit or external auditors appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Comptroller and Auditor General has a statutory requirement to examine, certify and report on summarised accounts of these bodies and can examine the accounts of individual bodies and any records relating to them. NHS authorities and trusts have rules governing the declaration of interests.

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Police Officers (Illness)

Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many days work have been lost by police officers due to illness in Scotland in each of the last five years.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 27 April 1994] : The information is set out in the table.


Year          |Number of                  

              |days lost due              

              |to illness                 

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

1989          |175,409                    

1990          |297,431                    

1991          |172,501                    

1992          |176,274                    

1993          |170,693

Prison Vandalism

Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the cost of repairing damage resulting from vandalism by prisoners in each Scottish prison for each of the past five years.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 27 April 1994] : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Scottish Prison Service under the chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Mr. John McFall, dated3 May 1994 : Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the cost of repairing damage resulting from vandalism by prisoners in each Scottish prison.

Vandalism by prisoners ranges from minor incidents such as breaking light bulbs to serious riot damage. Damage of a minor nature caused by vandalism would normally be repaired as part of the on-going maintenance programme and the cost would not therefore be separately identified.

The cost of prisoner damage from major incidents which have occurred in each of the past 5 years is set out in the table below.

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Cost (£)                                                                                                        

Establishment |1989-90      |1990-91      |1991-92      |1992-93      |1993-94      |Total                      

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

Cornton Vale  |-            |-            |-            |-            |1,818        |1,818                      

Dumfries      |2,295        |5,762        |-            |-            |-            |8,057                      

Glenochil     |-            |-            |-            |-            |25,550       |25,550                     

Longriggend   |-            |-            |3,180        |-            |-            |3,180                      

Low Moss      |-            |6,008        |-            |-            |-            |6,008                      

Perth         |-            |-            |36,074       |-            |-            |36,074                     

Shotts        |10,510       |44,825       |32,302       |4,865        |183,045      |275,547                    

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

Total         |12,805       |56,595       |71,556       |4,865        |210,413      |356,234

Prisoners (Home Leave)

Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prisoners in Scotland have been granted home leave in each of the past five years ; and how many prisoners have absconded or committed crimes while on home leave from Scottish prisons.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 27 April 1994] : Responsibility for the subject of the question

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has been delegated to the Scottish Prison Service under its chief executive Mr. E. W. Frizzell. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Mr. John McFall, dated 3 May 1994 :

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of prisoners in Scotland who have been granted home leave in each of the last 5 years ; and how many prisoners have absconded or committed crimes whilst on home leave from Scottish Prisons.

The information requested on the number of prisoners who have absconded while on home leave is published in the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and is as follows :

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Year      |Prisoners|Young              

                    |offenders          

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

1989-90   |29       |12                 

1990-91   |49       |20                 

1991-92   |52       |14                 

1992-93   |54       |34                 

1993-94   |40       |30

The other information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Death Certificates

Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the current cost of a death certificate in each hospital ; and what guidelines have been issued on the amount charged ;

(2) by how much the charge for a death certificate has risen since April 1992 ;

(3) what was the income to hospitals in 1993 from charges for death certificates ;

(4) what is the normal administrative cost of providing a death certificate.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 28 April 1994] : Hospitals make no charge for providing a certificate of the cause of death. If a body is to be cremated, there is a statutory requirement for the cause of death to be certified by two independent doctors in order to guard against the possibility of concealment of crime. The completion of cremation certificates does not fall within the scope of services required from doctors under the National Health Service Acts and they are therefore entitled to charge a fee. Doctors are guided on the level of such fees by the British Medical Association. The recommended fee is currently £32 per certificate ; the recommended fee in April 1992 was £30.

Children (Principal Carers)

Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate how many children are the principal carers for sick or disabled parents or close relatives.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 28 April 1994] : The information requested is not held centrally.

Nursery Places

Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of children under five-years-old have a place in a local authority-provided facility.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 28 April 1994] : It is estimated that 57,600 children under five years had places in local authority education or day care establishments at 31 March 1992. This represents approximately 18 per cent. of children under five. Such places however are used mostly by three and four-year-olds. Many children under five have places in private or voluntary facilities.

Homeless Children

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children were taken into care in Scotland because of homelessness, in each of the 10 years preceeding the implementation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977.

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Mr. Stewart [holding answer 29 April 1994] : The Homeless Person's Act came into force on 1 April 1978. The available information about the numbers of children taken into care because of homelessness between 1969--the earliest year for which information is available--and 1974 are as follows. Following reorganisation, the available figures for the years 1976-78 relate to children in care on census day who were admitted to care due to family homelessness.


Number of       

children taken  

into care       

because of      

homelessness in 

calendar        

year            

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

<1>1969 |526    

1970    |625    

1971    |756    

1972    |774    

1973    |670    

1974    |577    

<1> Year to 30  

November.


Number of children   

in care on 31 March (

census date)         

Year   |Number       

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

1976   |502          

1977   |493          

1978   |496

Scottish Children's Hospice

Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next plans to meet Endell Laird, the editor in chief of the Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail, to discuss the provisions of a Scottish children's hospice ; what is his policy on such a meeting ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 29 April 1994] : My right hon. Friend welcomes the support which the Daily Record has provided for the establishment of a children's hospice in Scotland, but has no plans at present to discuss this with Mr. Laird. I understand that the plans of the Children's Hospice Association Scotland for the establishment of a hospice serving the whole of Scotland are well advanced.

Voluntary Organisation Grants

Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which voluntary organisations for deaf people have been awarded grants by his Department in each year since 1990 ; what commitments he has made for the financial year 1994-95 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Stewart [holding answer 29 April 1994] : The following voluntary organisations have been awarded grants over the period 1990-91 to 1994-95.

For 1994-95 I was particularly pleased to be able to offer funding to the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters and the Scottish Association for the Deaf on a three-year basis ; to offer an additional grant to Sense Scotland towards the establishment of a day centre at Overbridge centre for children and young adults with multiple handicaps and to offer the Royal National Institute for Deaf People a three-year grant towards the development of a network of communication support units in Scotland. In addition to the organisations listed, funding

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is also provided to a wide range of voluntary organisations for people with physical disabilities which also have regard to the needs of deaf people.

Voluntary organisations for deaf people receiving grant

1990-91

Scottish Association of Sign Lanaguage Interpreters