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EDUCATION
Pupil Capacity
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the pupil capacity of (a) the Greenwood Dale grant-maintained secondary school, (b) the George Spencer school and (c) the Ravensdale school in Nottinghamshire.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information held by the Department showing the pupil capacity is set out below.
|Number
-------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Greenwood Dale Grant Maintained School |722
(b) The George Spencer Grant Maintained School |980
(c) Ravensdale Grant Maintained Middle School |560
Note: These figures for capacity of schools are derived from
the application for GM status.
Voluntary Schools
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list those voluntary schools which have become
grant-maintained, indicating which ones were previously aided or controlled and the denomination or religion involved in each case.
Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested has been placed in the Library.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Water Pollution (Worcester)
Mr. Luff : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice was given to farmers in the Worcester area following the water pollution incident of 15 April ; how such advice was publicised or drawn to the attention of farmers ; and at what times such advice was offered.
Mr. Jack : The Department was alerted to the incident by the local office of the National Rivers Authority during the morning of 15 April. In the course of the day, Severn Trent water authority issued advice to all residents in the Worcester area not to drink, or use for washing, or wash in, tap water.
The MAFF regional office immediately established close contact with the Severn Trent water authority, the National Rivers Authority and Worcester environmental health department. The normal telephone inquiry service for farmers was operating at the MAFF regional office and was available throughout the weekend. As a precaution, following consultation with the Severn Trent water authority and the National Rivers Authority, farmer inquirers were advised to provide an alternative water supply for animals. The advisory warning was lifted on 16 April.
In consultation with MAFF, the Milk Marketing Board arranged that, pending a food safety risk assessment, milk collected from the affected area on 15 and 16 April should be diverted to processing rather than go for early liquid consumption. On 16 April, Ministry scientists confirmed that the incident did not pose any risk to food safety.
Flood and Coastal Defence
Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the Government's flood and coastal defence strategy.
Mr. Jack : After extensive consultations with a wide range of organisations, my right hon. Friend the Minister published the strategy for flood and coastal defence in England and Wales in October 1993. Copies were placed in the Library of the House. The strategy reaffirms the Government's commitment to reducing the risks to people and to the developed and natural environment from flooding and coastal erosion, by encouraging the provision of technically, environmentally and economically sound and sustainable defence measures. In particular, it emphasises that the safeguarding of lives
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must be the highest priority ; that a strategic approach should be adopted, taking account of the potential impact of defences on natural river and coastal processes ; and that environmental considerations should be integral to flood and coastal defence policy.Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the place of arterial drainage infrastructure and sea defence works in British agriculture.
Mr. Jack : The Government's flood and coastal defence strategy for England and Wales recognises that over 50 per cent. of grade 1 agricultural land is situated in areas which depend on flood defence or arterial drainage works to maintain their productive capacity. The maintenance of this infrastructure is supported through central Government's financial support for local authorities.
As far as capital works are concerned, the Ministry no longer provides financial support for new rural arterial
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drainage schemes which are intended primarily to increase agricultural production but assistance may be available for works intended to alleviate flooding or coastal erosion in rural areas provided these meet the Ministry's technical, economic and environmental criteria.Ewes
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Dulwich (Ms Jowell) of 13 April, Official Report, column 180, if she will list for each consignment of culled milking ewes (a) the date of importation, (b) the number of animals recorded on the animal health certificate, (c) the number of animals inspected on arrival in Birmingham and (d) the numbers of animals recorded at any intermediate stage in each journey.
Mr. Soames : The information requested is in the table.
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Imports of sheep from Spain and Poland since 1 January 1994
(1) |(2) |(3) |(4) |(5)
Date of arrival at |Date of importation |Number of animals |Number of animals |Number of animals
|recorded at
slaughterhouse |recorded on the |inspected on arrival |lairages in Great
|Britain
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 February 1994 |16 February 1994 |300 |289 |Not recorded
8 March 1994 |3 March 1994 |300 |291 |297 animals recorded at lairage at Dover
| (including 2 dead on arrival and 4 unfit
|for further transit
9 March 1994 |8 March 1994 |334 |328 |Not recorded
17 March 1994 |17 March 1994 |351 |350 |No Great Britain lairage used
28 January 1994 |27 January 1994 |300 |243 |Not recorded
15 February 1994 |14 February 1994 |250 |188 |No Great Britain lairage used
8 March 1994 |7 March 1994 |300 |290 |Not recorded
23 March 1994 |22 March 1994 |300 |268 |300 animals recorded at lairage at
| Southampton (including 4 dead on
|arrival and 28 unfit for further transit)
Fisheries
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reasons underlay the decision to grant full Spanish accession to the common fisheries policy as part of the Norwegian accession negotiations ; whether this was at the insistence of (a) Spain or (b) Norway ; and if she will make a statement on reasons for the United Kingdom position on the issue.
Mr. Jack : The accession treaty of Spain and Portugal provides for certain of its fisheries provisions to be amended. The Commission proposed the integration of Spanish and Portuguese fishing arrangements into the CFP in October 1993. The subsequent negotiation on the principles to guide the Commission in drafting detailed rules for the waters and resources concerned was concluded at the Fisheries Council on 12 April. As provided for in the accession treaty, it was decided by qualified majority vote--not as the result of the insistence of a single country. In my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison), Official Report, columns 183-84, I explained why the outcome was satisfactory.
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Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether Spain and Portugal will be fully integrated into the common fisheries policy as from 1 January 1996 and have access to all waters on a non-discriminatory basis.
Mr. Jack : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 5 May to my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Gill), Official Report, column 641.
BSE
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the methods of calculation of the compensation paid to farmers for slaughtered confirmed cases of BSE ; and what changes were made in this calculation between January 1990 and January 1994.
Mr. Soames : From 8 August 1988 up to 14 February 1990, compensation paid to farmers for a confirmed case of BSE was an amount equal to 50 per cent. of either the actual market value of the animal or of 125 per cent. of the average market price--AMP--for commercial grade Friesian dairy cows and heifers in milk and in calf,
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whichever was the lower figure. Details can be found in the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1988, S.I. 1988 No. 1346. This was changed from 14 February 1990 up until 1 April 1994, when compensation paid was an amount equal to 100 per cent. of either the actual market value of the animal or the AMP, whichever was the lower figure--BSE Compensation Order 1990, S.I. 1990 No. 222.From 1 April 1994, the method of determining the ceiling for compensation was modified to reflect the increasing proportion of older cattle being slaughtered as BSE suspects. The monthly AMP was replaced by the indicative market price--IMP--which is a weighted average of prices of Friesian and Holstein cows, heifers in milk and in calf, and barren dairy cattle taking into account the age distribution of cattle slaughtered as BSE suspects in the month. The compensation paid out is an amount equal to 100 per cent. of either the market value of the animal or the IMP, whichever is the lower figure--BSE Compensation Order 1994, S.I. 1994 No. 673.
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average compensation paid out per confirmed case of BSE between January 1990 and January 1994.
Mr. Soames : BSE compensation is paid on all cattle slaughtered whilst BSE suspects. Additional payments may be made in cases where BSE is not confirmed following laboratory examination. Between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 1993, 129,700 cattle were slaughtered as BSE suspects of which 110,101 were subsequently confirmed as having BSE. The total compensation paid out during that period was £92,709, 724. The average compensation for all cattle slaughtered while BSE suspects was therefore £715 per animal. It is not possible without disproportionate cost to separate compensation into that paid for confirmed and unconfirmed cases of BSE.
Beef
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much European Union beef has been exported to developing countries in each of the past five years ; to which countries ; in what quantities ; and what is the value of the European Union subsidy per ton of beef.
Mr. Jack : In the 1992 calendar year, European Community exports of beef to developing countries, as defined by "Eurostat", were as follows in tonnes carcase weight equivalent :
Country |tonnes
-------------------------------------------------
Canary Islands |26,491
Ceuta and Melilla |2,563
Morocco |9,099
Algeria |27,763
Tunisia |14,050
Libya |21,569
Egypt |147,591
Sudan |100
Mauritania |143
Mali |18
Burkina Faso |1
Niger |131
Chad |49
Cape Verde |307
Senegal |1,377
Gambia |421
Guinea Bissau |190
Guinea |2,380
Sierra Leone |452
Liberia |3,332
Ivory Coast |23,986
Ghana |28,529
Tonga |791
Benin |7,760
Nigeria |38
Cameroon |598
Central African Republic |156
Equatorial Guinea |702
Sao Tome and Principe |7
Gabon |16,666
Congo |23,449
Zaire |22,053
Vanuatu |1
French Polynesia |4,104
Polar Regions |13
Iraq |3,709
Iran |53,776
Israel |2,946
Jordan |31,387
Saudi Arabia |67,499
Kuwait |5,669
Bahrain |1,980
Qatar |1,267
United Arab Emirates |6,976
Oman |144
Yemen |3,883
Afghanistan |23
Grenada |52
Aruba |23
Netherland Antilles |86
Colombia |26
Venezuela |917
Guyana |5
Surinam |22
French Guiana |1,653
Ecuador |69
Peru |238
Brazil |231
Chile |3
Paraguay |1
Argentina |31
Falkland Islands |6
Burundi |207
St. Helena |9
Angola |12,815
Ethiopia |5
Dijbouti |191
Somalia |14
Uganda |18
Tanzania |26
Seychelles |107
British Indian Ocean Territories |1
Mozambique |534
Madagascar |5
Reunion |1,233
Mauritius |4,479
Comoros |2,926
Mayotte |1,102
Zambia |346
Namibia |31
Greenland |411
St. Pierre and Miquelon |3
Mexico |19,322
Bermuda |185
Guatemala |140
Belize |116
Honduras |24
El Salvador |23
Nicaragua |115
Panama |153
St. Christopher and Nevis |98
Bahamas |780
Dominican Republic |117
Virgin Islands |26
Guadeloupe |3,904
Antigua and Barbuda |105
Dominica |73
Martinique |4,293
St. Lucia |699
St. Vincent |79
Barbados |703
Trinidad and Tobago |1,723
Cyprus |5,010
Lebanon |26,030
Syria |3,034
Pakistan |39
India |7
Sri Lanka |12
Thailand |65
Laos |59
Indonesia |1,006
Malaysia |77
Brunei |47
Singapore |448
Philippines |18,343
South Korea |122
Taiwan |25
Hong-Kong |1,265
Macao |22
Papua New Guinea |20
Nauru |19
New Caledonia |246
Wallis and Futuna Islands |1
New Zealand Oceania |16
Equivalent information is not yet available for 1993 and, for earlier years, can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, total beef exports from the European Community to all third countries, including developing countries, in the period 1988-1992 were :
|Number
------------------------------
1988 |785,445
1989 |1,024,987
1990 |816,019
1991 |1,324,866
1992 |1,323,389
Source: "Eurostat".
Rates of export refund vary depending upon the type of beef being exported and the export destination. The average export refund for fresh, chilled and frozen beef in 1992 was £1,026 per tonne.
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Horses
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will resist (a) proposed restrictions on the purchase of a variety of veterinary medicines for treating horses and (b) proposed new tests on such medicines, provided they satisfy existing United Kingdom standards ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : I am not aware of any proposals for restrictions on the purchase of veterinary medicines for use in treating horses, nor for any proposed new tests on such medicines. The hon. Member may have in mind recent reports about the possible effects the establishment of maximum residue limits--MRLs--might have on the availability of equine medines. If so, the position remains as I set out in my reply to the hon. Member for Thanet, North (Mr. Gale), Official Report, column 491. Maximum residue limits must be established by 1996 for active ingredients in veterinary medicines used in food producing species. No MRLs are necessary, however, for medicines to be used in horses, irrespective of their value, which are not intended for human consumption.
Fishing Industry
Dr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the recent award to the Southern Irish fishing industry to compensate for bad weather conditions is consistent with the commons fisheries policy ; if she will consider proposing similar assistance for the United Kingdom fishing industry ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The European Commission has a duty to examine all aids introduced by member states. It will consider whether the national aid package for the Irish fishing industry announced by the Irish Government on 18 April to alleviate hardship caused by the recent bad weather is in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of Rome and the guidelines on state aids in the fisheries sector. I have no plans to introduce such aid in the United Kingdom. However, United Kingdom share fishermen who satisfy the conditions of the national insurance rules that apply to them they are eligible to claim unemployment benefit for days they did not fish due to bad weather.
Detective Agencies
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much her Department has spent on contracts with private detective agencies since 1991 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : No use is made of private detective agencies by this Department.
Whaling
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment she has made of the current moratorium on commercial whaling ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The Government's position on the current International Whaling Commission moratorium on
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commercial whaling is clear and unambiguous. We strongly support its retention and will not even contemplate its lifting unless stocks are shown to be at healthy levels, methods used to kill whales are humane and fully effective procedures for managing whale stocks are in place which include ways of ensuring that the rules are observed and enforced.More details of our policy on whaling were contained in the letter I sent to hon. Members on 27 April 1994.
Foodstuffs (Prices)
Dr. Howells : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if she will commission a report on the price of foodstuffs in the United Kingdom and in the USA.
(2) Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will commission a report on the price of foodstuffs in the United Kingdom and in the USA.
Mr. Jack : I see no present need for such an exercise.
Fisheries (Conservation)
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what expenditure has been incurred by her Department (a) up to 31 December 1993, and (b) since 1 January 1994 in making preparations, including the purchase of equipment, for the implementation of the Sea Fisheries (Conservation) Act 1992.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 4 May 1994] : Most of the expenditure was on staff salaries for officials dealing with claims from fishermen for additional days at sea and for the secretariat of the Sea Fish Licence Tribunal. This expenditure amounted to £318,000 up to 31 December 1993 but it includes the salaries of staff who were also working on other tasks such as the 1993 decommissioning scheme. Those officials engaged solely on the implementation of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act have gradually been redeployed over the first quarter of this year and expenditure has been reduced accordingly.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many officials of her Department were engaged in work related to the implementation of the Sea Fisheries (Conservation) Act 1992 in December 1993 ; and how many officials continue to be engaged in work related to the implementation of this Act.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 4 May 1994] : At the beginning of December 1993 10 officials were responsible for assessing fishermen's representations against their provisional days at sea allocations ; they have all been redeployed. The Sea Fish Licence Tribunal secretariat with six staff has also been disbanded.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what amount of computer hardware and
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software has been purchased by her Department for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the Sea Fisheries (Conservation) Act 1992.Mr. Jack [holding answer 4 May 1994] : Computer hardware and software was purchased mainly for the operation of the Sea Fish Licence Tribunal. The hardware has now all been put to good use elsewhere in the Department and future expenditure will be correspondingly reduced.
Privatisation (Consultants)
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which her Department has been engaged since 1980.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 4 May 1994] : Since 1980 my core Department has made no expenditure on consultants in connection with privatisation programmes. However, studies into the privatisation of the Covent Garden Market Authority were undertaken by consultants at a total cost of approximately £41,000.
Ploughing
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many arable acres are estimated to be ploughed (a) by machine and (b) by horse-drawn appliance ; at what estimated cost per acre in each case ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 5 May 1994] : Estimates of the area ploughed are not available. The cost of ploughing will depend on many factors. Typical contractors charges and farmers costs for ploughing are contained in "Farm Management Pocketbook" published by Wye college, no official estimates are available for the costs of horse-drawn ploughing.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will publish a table showing, in 1992-93 prices, the gross public spending for each year since 1990-91 and the projected expenditure for each year to 1995-96 for each executive non-departmental public body sponsored by her Department, as listed in "Public Bodies 1993".
Mr. Jack [pursuant to his reply, 1 March 1994, c. 646-47] : I would now like to submit a revised figure in the case of the Sea Fisheries Industry Authority.
This figure relates to columns showing the "Total Gross Voted Expenditure" for 1990-91 and 1991-92. The line should read :
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£ million
Total gross Total gross voted
expenditure expenditure
|1990-91|1991-92|1990-91|1991-92
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sea Fisheries Industry Authority |8.675 |9.208 |8.463 |4.098
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HEALTH
Managers, West Midlands
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general and senior managers have been employed in the health service in the west midlands in each year since 1986.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information requested is shown in the table. These figures should be treated with caution. The general and senior manager class was introduced into the health service in phases from 1986. Most of the apparent growth reflects the reclassification of staff from professional and administrative groups, including many senior nurses, as managers. The pattern of phased introduction in the west midlands corresponded with the national pattern. General and senior managers account for only 2 per cent. of the total NHS work force in the west midlands.
General and Senior
Managers in the
Regional, District,
and Family Health
Services Authorities
in West Midlands
(in whole time
equivalents) at 30
September.
|Number
---------------------
1986 |60
1987 |90
1988 |150
1989 |530
1990 |1,150
1991 |1,540
1992 |1,830
Source: Non-Medical
Workforce Censuses (
1986-90) and
aggregate returns
KM49 (1991-92).
Note: All figures
have been rounded to
the nearest 10.
Internet
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration is being given to possible use of the Internet or other E- mail system in order further to improve care in the community for the elderly, the disabled and other housebound people ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : The provision of community care services is a matter for local health and social services authorities. Where they are exploring the use of information technology we would encourage them to share their experience widely with other authorities.
The Department is currently putting in place a national health service-wide networking infrastructure to support all electronic communications, including E-mail, throughout the NHS in England. The extent to which electronic communications are used should be decided in the light of whether it is a cost effective way of improving patient care. All connections to NHS-wide networking factilities, either directly or through other networks such as the Internet and those run by social services, will have to meet national technical, security and confidentiality standards.
Infant Mortality, London
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the level of infant mortality in each of the past 10 years in each district health authority in London.
Mr. Sackville : The information will be placed in the Library.
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Gipsy Caravan Sites (Children)
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if social service departments have been requested to make estimates of the number of children likely to be received into care following the repeal of local authorities' duty to provide gipsy caravan sites under the Caravan Sites Act 1968, as provided for by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill.
Junior Doctors
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of junior doctors in each regional health authority in London ; what is the number in each hospital ; and what is the total number of hours covered by junior doctors in each regional health authority in London.
Dr. Mawhinney : In September 1992, the number of whole-time equivalent junior doctors in the Thames regions was :
|Number
--------------------------------
North West Thames |1,840
North East Thames |2,270
South East Thames |1,840
South West Thames |1,320
Information on the number in each hospital and complete information on the total number of contracted hours of junior doctors is not available.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many junior doctors are contracted for more than 72 hours per week in each hospital in each regional health authority in London ; and how many have regularly worked more than 72 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 on average for more than 72 hours a week was reported to be :
|Number
--------------------------------
North East Thames |965
North West Thames |693
South East Thames |604
South West Thames |695
|----
Total |2,957
Information on individual hospitals and on hours of work is not available centrally.
Thyroid Function Tests
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set up an inquiry into procedures used at the north Staffordshire pathology laboratory for the processing of thyroid function tests ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The tests are carried out by trained and qualified medical physicists. The isotope department of the North Staffordshire national health service trust has been doing this work for at least 20 years and there is no sign that it fails to meet required quality standards.
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Local Authority Charges
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statutory provision is made for individuals to appeal against a local authority decision to charge for services ; what provision is made for local authorities to publicise the right to an appeal ; what consultation local authorities have to carry out before introducing charges ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 31 March, Official Report, 1040-41.
Children in Care
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average annual cost of keeping a child in local authority care, at 1993 prices, for each of the last 10 years for which information is available.
Mr. Bowis : Information is available centrally on a consistent basis for the years 1983-84 to 1991-92 and is shown in the table. These figures exclude cases where care is provided at little or no cost to local authorities--for example, placed with parents--or where local authority costs did not relate solely to children in care.
Average annual net cost of keeping a child in care/looked after, at 1993 prices<1> Year |Cost (£) --------------------------- 1983-84 |9,520 1984-85 |9,636 1985-86 |9,726 1986-87 |10,233 1987-88 |10,645 1988-89 |11,182 1989-90 |11,475 1990-91 |12,044 1991-92 |12,889 <1>Using the Gross Domestic Product deflator.
Homelessness
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 30 March, Official Report, column 889, how many of those children received into care because of homelessness remained in care for more than one year ; and how many of those children were not subsequently reunited with their parents.
Mr. Bowis : Information available centrally relates to the duration of the most recent care episode and this was first computed for the year ending 31 March 1977. Figures are available on children whose episode of care ceased because they were self-supporting/under parental care, but these do not separately identify children whose entry to care because of homelessness was in previous years. Figures for 1977 are shown in the table.
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Children who entered care because family was homeless (most recent
care episode): numbers in care, 1977
Care status at |All |Children whose most
beginning and
end of year |children |recent care episode
|lasted one year or
|more
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Children in care at 31 March |1,829 |1,346
1977
2. Children who ceased to be |1,069 |315
in care in the year ending 31
March 1977
3. Children who came into care |604 |n/a
during the year ending 31
March 1977 but were not in
care at that date
4. Children in line (3) whose |596 |n/a
last care episode ceased
because they were self
supporting/under parental
care
n/a=Not applicable.
Source: Department of Health and Social Security. Personal Social Services Local Authority
Statistics, Children in Care of Local Authorities, year ending 31 March 1977. (A/F 77/12).
Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were received into care in England because of homelessness in each of the years following the implementation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 ; and how many of these were gipsy or traveller children.
Mr. Bowis : The information available centrally relates to the number of children in England taken into care on a voluntary basis because their families were made homeless. Figures for the years 1977-78 to 1990-91 are shown in the table. The information available for 1991-92 is an estimate of 110 for the period 14 October 1991 to 31 March 1992. Gipsies and travellers are not separately identified in these figures.
Children admitted to care due to homelessness England, 1978-1991 England Year ending |Number of 31 March |children ------------------------------------ 1978 |559 1979 |421 1980 |529 1981 |471 1982 |378 1983 |317 1984 |244 1985 |215 1986 |207 1987 |209 1988 |179 1989 |223 1990 |225 1991 |138
Westcliffe and Starfield Hospital
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will review the proposals to close continuing care beds at Westcliffe and Starfield hospital.
Mr. Bowis : North Staffordshire health authority is currently reviewing local provision of continuing care beds for the elderly and will conduct a formal public consultation exercise when these plans are sufficiently developed.
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Dementia Sufferers
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will reinstate the NHS continuing care beds for people with dementia in the north Staffordshire area.
Mr. Bowis : Provision of health care for people with dementia in north Staffordshire is a matter for North Staffordshire health authority. I understand that the health authority states that there has been no recent change in the level of continuing care purchased for the residents of north Staffordshire.
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will discuss with the Alzheimer's Disease Society the conclusions of its survey of continuing care provision for people with dementia in the west midlands.
Mr. Bowis : The Department is in contact with the Alzheimer's Disease Society about a range of matters including its survey into continuing care provision for people with dementia in the west midlands.
Hospitals, London
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the paediatric hospitals in London ; and how many beds there are at each of these hospitals.
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