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Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimate of the number of refugees from Rwanda who are now in Tanzania.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, some 50,000 Rwandese refugees have remained in Tanzania following flows into that country over many years beginning in the 1950s. Some 20,000 more arrived following the events of early April and an estimated
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250,000 crossed the border over a 24-hour period around 28 April. Since then, UNHCR workers report--as of 9 May--that a further 150-200 people have arrived by boat each day. Owing to the number of refugees and their emergency needs, UNHCR has not yet undertaken a comprehensive registration exercise.Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance is being given by the Government and the European Union to assist Tanzania to cope with refugees from Rwanda.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Since 6 April 1994, Britain has committed £3.35 million bilaterally of humanitarian assistance for Rwandan refugees in the region, of which £1.75 million is for those in Tanzania. Other EU countries and the European Commission have announced nearly£2 million-worth of assistance so far for Rwandan refugees in the region, including Tanzania.
EU Development Ministers discussed the situation in Rwanda on 6 May and have asked political directors to consider, at their meeting today, the possibility of an EU mission to the countries bordering Rwanda to examine the problems caused by the flows of refugees.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the right hon. Member for
Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment he has made of the new shift hours and arrangements for staff in the Members' Smoking Room from 11 July ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Beith : In accordance with established practice I shall ask the Director of Catering Services to write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee, what changes are proposed in the hours of opening of the Members' Smoking Room ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Colin Shepherd : The Catering Committee has agreed to endorse the proposal made by the Refreshment Department that the Members' Smoking Room should continue to open at 11 am and should normally close 15 minutes after the rising of the House, rather than one hour after the rising of the House as at present. If the House rises after midnight, the Smoking Room will close when the House adjourns. This change reflects the pattern of usage experienced over a considerable period of time, but will be subject to further review as necessary.
Mr. Cummings : To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission how many personnel and in which departments within the Palace of Westminster have taken the House authorities to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal ; and how many cases have been won and at what cost to the Exchequer in each year since 1989.
Mr. Beith : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Paisley, South (Mr. McMaster) on
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14 April Official Report, column 259 which describes the one case since 1989 concerning a member of staff of the House.Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he visited the minefields during his recent visit to the Falkland islands and what is his assessment of the practicability of the mines being removed by current technology.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did not visit a minefield during his visit.
Following the Argentine offer to pay for mine clearance, we are still looking at the practical aspects to see if the means exist to clear the mines to an acceptable level.
Mr. Duncan Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which European Community countries have been fined for not complying with directives or regulations and have not yet paid the fine.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : There have not yet been instances of member states being fined for failure to comply with European Community directives or regulations. The power of the European Court of Justice to impose such fines is a new one, introduced in the Maastricht treaty following a British initiative.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 3 May, Official Report, column 427, which firm of consultants was joined by a civil servant from his Department in 1990 ; and how many contracts they have undertaken for his Department.
Mr. Goodlad : In 1990 a retired civil servant from my Department joined Market Access International as an independent consultant. Neither the diplomatic wing nor the Overseas Development Administration has awarded any contracts above £10,000 to this firm since 1990. No central records are kept for contracts below £10,000.
Mr. Davidson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place between the United Kingdom and (a) the United States and (b) Mexico on guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Belize.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : We have made it clear to the Belize Government that we stand ready to participate in any consultations that they may request on Belize's future security, and that we are prepared to play our part in any consultations that would lead to an appropriate response should the security of Belize be threatened in the future. It would not be right for me to comment on any discussions with other countries.
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Mr. David Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what arrangements have been made in the forthcoming European elections for the people of Gibraltar to be represented in the European Parliament.
(2) if he will make a statement on the electoral representation of the people of Gibraltar in the European Community.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Annexe II of the EC Act on direct elections of 1976 limits to the United Kingdom itself the franchise for elections to the European Parliament. It follows that Gibraltar will not be formally represented in the new European Parliament.
Mr. David Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Ministry of Defence and the Government of Gibraltar on the effect of proposed cuts in military and defence personnel in Gibraltar.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : There are frequent and close consultations at ministerial and official levels with the MOD and the Government of Gibraltar. We are conscious of Gibraltar's economic difficulties and of the need to develop alternatives to the MOD presence. We have therefore established a joint economic forum with a remit to explore the possibilities. It met for the first time on 15 March, and included FCO, MOD and Government of Gibraltar representatives.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the NHS estate code was last revised ; and what plans she has to update it.
Mr. Sackville : The latest revision of the estate code series of documents was published in October 1993. These were, "Strategic Asset Management", "Estate Investment Planning", "Analysis of Estate Performance" and "Asset Maintenance". Copies of the documents will be placed in the Library.
Detailed guidance of this kind frequently requires updating and supplementary advice is issued from time to time for that purpose. Further documents are planned to be issued later this year on : NHS Trust Property Management
Listed Buildings
Environments for Quality Care.
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of (a) old peoples homes in the ownership of North Yorkshire county council, (b) people which can be accommodated in these homes, (c) places occupied and (d) shared bedrooms ; and what was the cost for each resident in each of the last three years.
Mr. Bowis : The information available centrally is shown in the table. Information is not available centrally to enable the costs of residential placements in local authority homes situated within North Yorkshire to be calculated.
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North Yorkshire: Local authority staffed residential homes for elderly people,<1> places, and residents As at 31 March |1991 |1992 |1993 --------------------------------------------------- Number of homes |46 |42 |41 Number of places |1,823|1,612|1,546 Number of residents |1,566|1,371|1,296 Places not in single rooms |657 |442 |366 <1> Includes homes primarily for elderly or elderly mentally infirm people.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total percentage of savings in 1991-92 of general practitioner fundholders used for (a) clearing waiting lists, (b) providing equipment and (c) improving practice premises.
Dr. Mawhinney : Regional health authorities are responsible for the general practitioner fundholding scheme in their areas, including ensuring that efficiency savings are used to improve services for patients.
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the trends in mortality of the 10 per cent. and 20 per cent. of most deprived and most prosperous electoral wards for the latest 10 years for which information is available.
Mr. Sackville : This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) of 18 April, Official Report, column 399, if she proposes to invite the social surveys division of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to include income and socio-economic status questions in the 1994 and 1995 health surveys for England.
Mr. Sackville : The 1994 health survey for England has been running continuously since January and, as in previous years, is collecting information relating to a range of socio-economic indicators such as social class, employment, housing, marital status, household type and ethnic group. These indicators currently meet data needs within the limited space available for such questions.
The 1994 and 1995 surveys are being carried out by Social and Community Planning Research in conjunction with University college, London.
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the national health service has spent on counselling in each of the last three years.
Mr. Bowis : The cost of counselling of staff on patients is not calculated separately on a national basis.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 28 March, Official Report, column 600, if she will now publish the information on medical negligence claims for 1992-93.
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Dr. Mawhinney : The available information supplied by national health service bodies on the number of cases settled and on the total costs of damages awarded together with legal costs is shown in the table. The information is incomplete because not all NHS bodies have submitted returns.
1992-93 Region |Cases |Cost £ --------------------------------------------------------- Northern |344 |3,395,500 Yorkshire |49 |1,720,000 Trent |105 |2,952,700 East Anglian |37 |3,294,700 North West Thames |183 |6,209,500 North East Thames |76 |1,624,200 South East Thames |117 |5,714,042 South West Thames |64 |2,542,700 Wessex |72 |681,100 Oxford |113 |917,100 South Western |56 |3,517,300 West Midlands |165 |3,660,700 Mersey |192 |3,621,900 North Western |160 |4,456,600 Special Health Authorities |5 |752,100
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many district nurses, community psychiatric nurses, health visitors and hospital nurses there were in Birmingham in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Sackville : The information available is shown in the table.
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District nurses, health visitors, community psychiatric nursing and hospital nursing and midwives in central, north, south east and west Birmingham DHA areas at 30 September 1983 to 1992 Whole-time equivalents |District nurses |Health visitors |Community |Hospital nurses and|Practice nurses |psychiatric nursing|midwives |(Birmingham FHSA |at 1 October) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1983 |160 |190 |20 |9,740 |39 1984 |160 |190 |20 |9,680 |<4>36 1985 |190 |200 |40 |9,750 |62 1986 |190 |220 |50 |9,550 |44 1987 |180 |230 |70 |9,630 |50 1988 |180 |220 |70 |9,490 |68 1989 |210 |220 |80 |9,550 |86 1990 |220 |220 |90 |9,500 |123 1991 |220 |220 |90 |9,660 |140 1992 |210 |210 |90 |9,660 |177 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Agency nurses are excluded. 3. In 1992 there were approximately 18,300 project 2000 nurses in England. <4> At 1 July.
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether hospital trusts that manage area hospitals are fulfilling their responsibilities over follow-up monitoring and necessary after-care of patients who have undergone surgery.
Mr. Sackville : None. It is for individual health authorities and, where relevant, general practitioner fundholders, who purchase health care, to ensure they have effective arrangements in place to monitor health services in accordance with the terms of contracts, including monitoring the adequacy of out-patient clinics, and patients' progress following surgery, and the provision of community services to meet the needs of discharged patients.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many junior doctors are contracted for more than 83 hours per week in each hospital in each of London's regional health authortities ; and how many have regularly worked more than 83 hours per week since 1 January 1993.
Dr. Mawhinney : At 31 March 1994, the number of junior doctors and dentists in London regional health authorities, contracted to work for more than an average of 83 hours a week, was reported to be :
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|Number ------------------------------------ North East Thames |0 North West Thames |1 South East Thames |5 South West Thames |4 |-------- Total |10
Information on individual hospitals and on hours of work is not available centrally.
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the key business targets for the National Health Service Pensions Agency for 1994-95.
Mr. Sackville : I am pleased to announce that I have approved the National Health Service Pensions Agency key business targets for 1994-95. These challenging targets covering customer service are shown in the table.
Key Customer Service Targets Product and |Proposed |Increase on 1993-94 Clearance Standard |Target |Achievement |Percentage |Percentage --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pension Awards Within 4 weeks of receiving application from employer |95 |- Within 8 weeks of receiving application from employer |<1>99 |- Pension Estimates |reduction of timescale (Practitioner) | by 16 per cent. Within 5 weeks of receiving |reduction of percentage request |80 | cleared by 13 per cent. Within 8 weeks of receiving request |<1>99 |+1 Pension Estimates (Non-Practitioner) Within 4 weeks of receiving request |95 |+2 Within 8 weeks of receiving request |<1>99 |- Transfer Payments Within 8 weeks of receiving application |<1>99 |- Transfer Estimates Within 8 weeks of receiving application |<1>99 |+27 Correspondence Cleared within 4 weeks |100 |+2 <1> Achievement not within total control of Agency, 100 per cent. target is considered unattainable. Efficiency Gains Ensure that the Agency's expenditure is contained within agreed running costs and other cash limits and deliver at least 5 per cent. efficiency gains by 31 March 1995.
Mr. Davidson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has of the age of a patient being taken into account by a general practitioner or a general practitioner practice when determining whether to accept a new patient on to their lists ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will list the individuals and organisations which submitted written objections to the closure of the Royal orthopaedic hospital in Birmingham (a) during the West Midlands regional health authority's formal consultation on the proposed closure during 1992 and (b) prior to her decision of February 1993 to approve the closure ; (2) if she will list the individuals and organisations which submitted written objections to the closure of the accident and emergency unit in Birmingham during (a) the West Midlands regional health authority's formal consultation on the proposed closure during 1992 and (b) prior to her decision of February 1993 to approve the closure ;
(3) on what date in February 1993 she agreed the closure of the accident and emergency unit in Birmingham ;
(4) on what date in February 1993 she agreed the closure of the Royal orthopaedic hospital in Birmingham.
Mr. Sackville : South Birmingham health authority was responsible for consulting on the proposal to close the Birmingham accident hospital and the Royal orthopaedic
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hospital and the consequential transfer of services elsewhere within the South Birmingham acute unit. In seeking the agreement to the reconfiguration proposals, South Birmingham health authority prepared a paper analysing responses to the consultation exercise for the board of the west midlands regional health authority. This was considered at a meeting held in November 1992. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Bryan Baker, Chairman of the West Midlands regional health authority, for specific details. We have received a number of letters from various organisations about the closure of the Birmingham accident and Royal orthopaedic hospitals. In October 1992, a petition was received by the Department opposing the closure of the Royal orthopaedic hospital.The Department of Health agreed the closure of these hospitals on 1 February 1993.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the status of the letter dated 24 March sent by Tom Luce of her Department to inspection unit managers on the regulation of residential care and nursing homes.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make available the latest figures on the cost of registering and inspecting residential care and nursing homes for each local authority in England.
Mr. Bowis : The information is not available in the detail requested. Local authorities have provided returns showing their gross costs of registering and inspecting residential care homes run by private or voluntary organisations under the Registered Homes Act 1984 in 1991-92-- the latest year for which data are available. The data do not cover children's homes. Local authorities do not register or inspect nursing homes. Local authorities do not provide separate returns on the cost of inspecting local authority-run homes.
Costs of registering and inspecting residential care homes run by private or voluntary organisations Costs in 1991-92 in £'000s Local authority |Cost ------------------------------------------------------- Avon |380 Bedfordshire |56 Berkshire |230 Buckinghamshire |132 Cambridgeshire |280 Cheshire |347 Cleveland |150 Cornwall |<1>- Cumbria |122 Derbyshire |144 Devon |743 Dorset |250 Durham |151 East Sussex |<1>- Essex |869 Gloucestershire |140 Hampshire |589 Hereford and Worcester |241 Hertfordshire |174 Humberside |227 Isle of Wight |210 Kent |533 Lancaster |725 Leicester |226 Lincolnshire |153 Norfolk |377 Northamptonshire |168 Northumberland |15 Doncaster |110 Rotherham |33 Sheffield |60 Gateshead |71 Newcastle |129 North Tyneside |76 South Tyneside |54 Sunderland |143 Birmingham |371 Coventry |135 Dudley |<1>- Sandwell |111 Solihull |<1>- Walsall |<1>- Wolverhampton |127 Bradford |187 Calderdale |42 Kirklees |89 Leeds |311 Wakefield |24 City of London |<1>- Camden |52 Greenwich |<1>- Hackney |142 Hammersmith and Fulham |20 Islington |45 Kensington and Chelsea |32 Lambeth |<1>- North Yorkshire |311 Nottinghamshire |<1>- Oxfordshire |159 Shropshire |161 Somerset |222 Staffordshire |177 Suffolk |203 Surrey |<1>- Warwickshire |<1>- West Sussex |323 Wiltshire |302 Isles of Scilly |<1>- Bolton |79 Bury |47 Manchester |166 Oldham |153 Rochdale |60 Salford |193 Stockport |97 Tameside |127 Trafford |<1>- Wigan |<1>- Knowsley |<1>- Liverpool |170 St. Helens |63 Sefton |<1>- Wirral |208 Barnsley |<1>- Lewisham |137 Southwark |93 Tower Hamlets |<1>- Wandsworth |35 Westminster |<1>- Barking and Dagenham |6 Barnet |85 Bexley |<1>- Brent |75 Bromley |59 Croydon |261 Ealing |103 Enfield |131 Haringey |144 Harrow |162 Havering |144 Hillingdon |5 Hounslow |90 Kingston-upon-Thames |71 Merton |60 Newham |132 Redbridge |103 Richmond-upon-Thames |22 Sutton |23 Waltham Forest |70 <1> No information provided.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the average cost of a tribunal under the Registered Homes Act 1984 ; and what is its average duration ;
(2) what provision is made to compensate local authorities for the cost of tribunals under the Registered Homes Act 1984.
Mr. Bowis : The average duration of Registered Homes tribunal cases in 1992 and 1993 was just over four days. Information which would show the average cost of such hearings is not available centrally. However costs to local authorities in relation to such appeals are included in the cost of their duties under the Registered Homes Act 1984 reported to the Department. The level of fees payable by home owners will therefore take into account the cost involved.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals she has to modify the requirement for the inspection of residential care and nursing homes, except small homes, at least twice a year.
Mr. Bowis : We have at present no specific proposals. We shall consult more widely if we decide to bring forward proposals to improve existing arrangements, while retaining safeguards for vulnerable residents.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East (Mr. Barnes) of 22 March, Official Report, column 125, what evidence has been drawn to his attention within the NHS of the existence of a two-tier health system.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy in respect of the treatment by national health service chiropodists of the residents of independent sector residential and nursing homes.
Mr. Bowis : It is the responsibility of the national health service to provide chiropody to people who need it irrespective of where they live.
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) what consideration he has given to the potential conflict of interest created by the appointment of Mr. Gummer as chairman of the Arts Council national lottery advisory panel, in the light of the appointment of Shandwick Communications as advisers to a bidder for the national lottery franchise ;
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(2) if he will seek information on which bidders for the national lottery franchise are advised by companies in which Mr. Gummer, chairman of the Arts Council national lottery advisory panel, has a financial interest.Mr. Brooke : Mr. Gummer is a chairman and chief executive of Shandwick Communications, a public relations company which is advising one of the companies that have applied to run the National Lottery.
The operation of the lottery and the distribution of lottery funds are entirely separate and distinct functions. The successful applicant to run the lottery will have no function in the distribution of lottery funds ; the Arts Council, supported by its national lottery advisory panel, as a distributor of the national lottery proceeds, will play no part in the running of the national lottery. There is therefore no real or potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what instructions he has given to the Director-General of the Office of the national lottery to disqualify bids from companies where there is prima facie evidence of conflicts of interest involving their directors or advisers.
Mr. Brooke : None. The Director General of Oflot has a statutory duty under section 4 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 to ensure fitness and propriety in the running of the national lottery and must take account of any matters he deems appropriate to fulfil that duty.
In addition, section 5(4) of the Act states that the Director General of Oflot shall not grant a licence to run the lottery unless he is satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper body, and section 6(4) states that he should not grant a licence to a body to promote a lottery that forms part of the national lottery unless he is satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper body.
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 425, what is his estimate of the amounts spent in the United Kingdom on motor sports advertising and promotion.
Mr. Brooke : These figures are not available. The sponsorship figures provided under the terms of the current voluntary agreement do not include the international sponsorship of motor racing which benefits this country.
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 425, what was the maximum amount in cash terms of allowable expenditure on sports sponsorship by tobacco manufacturers under the terms of the voluntary agreement in each of the years given in the table ; and what are his projections of the maximum amounts allowable for the next five years.
Mr. Brooke : The maximum expenditure by tobacco manufacturers on sports sponsorship allowed under the current voluntary agreement is based on the expenditure in 1985-86, increased in line with inflation. The values, rounded to the nearest £1,000, are as follows :
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|£ --------------------------------- 1985-86 |8,252,000 1986-87 |8,582,000 1987-88 |8,881,000 1988-89 |9,580,000 1989-90 |10,357,000 1990-91 |11,210,000 1991-92 |11,662,000
No projections have been made for the next five years.
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 425, if he will publish the full returns submitted to his Department by the tobacco manufacturers.
Mr. Brooke : The full returns, submitted on behalf of the Tobacco Advisory Council, are as follows :
Year |Fees to |Costs of |organisers/ |advertising/ |governing |promotional |bodies |material |£ |£ ---------------------------------------------------- 1985-86 |5,635,000 |2,617,000 1986-87 |5,887,000 |1,812,000 1987-88 |5,523,000 |388,000 1988-89 |5,004,000 |325,000 1989-90 |6,596,000 |657,000 1990-91 |6,878,000 |752,000 1991-92 |8,294,000 |687,000
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 425, what definition of expenditure on sports sponsorship the Government use when requiring tobacco manufacturers to provide information under the terms of the voluntary agreement.
Mr. Brooke : Paragraph 7 of the voluntary agreement clearly defines the information that tobacco manufacturers are required to provide. A list of recognised sporting activities is at appendix 2 to the agreement. Any doubts over the interpretation of the voluntary agreement would be resolved between the tobacco industry and the Minister for Sport.
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 425, what is his estimate of the total expenditure on sports sponsorship in the United Kingdom for each of the years listed in his table.
Mr. Brooke : Estimates of the overall size of the sports sponsorship market are as follows :
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