| Previous Section | Home Page |
Exclusion Orders
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action he is taking to review the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the use of exclusion orders.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : The operation of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989, including the use of exclusion orders, is the responsibilty of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the latest figures for crime in Northern Ireland.
Sir John Wheeler : The Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary will shortly publish his annual report for 1993, which will show that there was a decrease of 1.9 per cent. in notifiable crimes recorded in 1993 when compared to 1992.
Family Planning
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on family planning services in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Ancram : Comprehensive family planning services are available free of charge throughout Northern Ireland.
Cross-border Co-operation
Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the level of co-operation between United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland security forces.
Column 293
Sir John Wheeler : Excellent co-operation between the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Garda is achieving vital successes against the terrorists. The two Governments support them by continuing to review and refine security co-operation measures in response to the threat from terrorism.
News Reporting
Mr. Fabricant : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he next plans to meet representatives of the broadcasting industry in Northern Ireland to discuss their news reporting.
Sir John Wheeler : I frequently meet representatives of the broadcasting industry in Northern Ireland, as do my ministerial colleagues and officials ; our discussions cover a range of issues of common interest. There is at present no fixed date for my next such meeting.
Activity Centres
Mr. Jamieson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures his Department is taking to ensure the safety of children participating in activities at outdoor activity centres in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Ancram : All schools were circulated with detailed guidance on "Safety in Outdoor Education" in November 1989.
Northern Ireland is represented on the steering group, set up following the announcement on 11 November 1993 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education. This group will shortly be publishing further guidance in respect of safety in outdoor activity centres.
Child Care Training
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on future funding of the Northern Ireland Pre-School Playgroups Association training projects for women wishing to pursue a career in child care.
Mr. Tim Smith : Funding for Northern Ireland Pre-School Playgroups Association training projects includes a contribution from the European social fund. The negotiations with the European Commmission on the 1994- 1999 Northern Ireland structural funds package, which includes European social fund measures, will not be completed for some weeks yet. The future of individual applications cannot be decided until the new programmes have been agreed.
Fair Employment Legislation
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the working of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989.
Mr. Tim Smith : Since the coming into operation of Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989, my predecessors and I have regularly met the chairman of the Fair Employment Commission to assess the implementation of the Act.
In addition, officials meet formally with the chief executive of the FEC every three months to review the full range of work being carried out by the Commission.
I am satisfied with the way the Act has been operating and am encouraged by the progress that has been made to date.
Column 294
Job Creation
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new jobs were created in the last financial year by (a) inward investment and (b) local expansion ; and what is the forecast for 1994-95.
Mr. Tim Smith : During the financial year 1993-94, 3,289 new jobs were created with assistance from the Industrial Development Board. Some 1,548 of these jobs were in foreign-owned and 1,741 in indigenous companies. Additionally, companies assisted by the Local Enterprise Development Unit created 5,890 new jobs during the calendar year 1993. I anticipate a similarly encouraging employment performance in 1994-95.
Bill of Rights
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent representations he has received concerning the introduction and implementation of a Bill of Rights ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Patrick Mayhew : Over the past six months my Department has received representations about the introduction of a Bill of rights from the Ulster Unionist party, the Social Democratic and Labour party, the Liberal Democrats, the Workers Party, the National Peace Council and the Committee for the Administration of Justice. The Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights and the organisers of Initiative 92 have also expressed their continuing support for the idea.
The Government are ready in the context of the political talks involving the Irish Government and the main constitutional parties to consider the case for further enhancing the protection of human rights in Northern Ireland, including some form of entrenchment to provide additional, built- in safeguards against discrimination and disadvantage.
HEALTH
Direct Care Staff
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many direct care staff aged over 70 years are employed in each regional health authority.
Dr. Mawhinney : Pursuant to my reply to the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton), Official Report, 24 March, column 415, a recent further check on the data about employees in this age band has shown it to be unreliable. The information requested is therefore not available.
Health Service Expenditure
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is spent per capita on health services for residents in the (a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham, (d) Sheffield and (e) England as a whole ; and what proportion is spent on treatment (i) in hospital and (ii) by community services, excluding the element cost which is attributable to medical education and research for the latest date she has figures available ; and what were the figures (1) five and (2) 10 years ago.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure per head of population on hospital and community health service by district health authority in the last available year.
Column 295
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) today, which gave the latest available figures for all district health authorities and family health services authorities in England. It is not possible to break those figures down further into spend on hospital and community services, or to remove the cost element of medical education and research from the figures.
It is not possible to give per capita figures for earlier years on a comparable basis.
Parliamentary Counsel
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what occasions since April 1992 Ministers from her Department have (a) requested Parliamentary Counsel to assist in preparing amendments to private Members' Bills on behalf of other private Members and (b) authorised officials to instruct Parliamentary Counsel to prepare amendments which were subsequently passed to private Members.
Mr. Sackville : Parliamentary Counsel does not draft on behalf of private Members but on the instructions of Departments acting on the authority of Ministers. With the authority of Ministers, amendments were drafted by Parliamentary Counsel on instructions from Departments and subsequently passed to private Members in respect of the Osteopaths Bill, the Medicines Information Bill and the Chiropractors Bill.
Cancer
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the level of cancer specialists per head of population to attain that achieved by Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Norway.
Dr. Mawhinney : Comparisons with any international rates of cancer specialists per head of population are not appropriate since data may not always be recorded on the same basis. Neither is it appropriate to identify precise needs for numbers of consultants by specialty, because organisation of medical services varies between countries, and not all consultants in the relevant specialties treat cancer patients exclusively.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Darlington of 16 May, Official Report , column 318 , if she will itemise the trusts in the Northern and Yorkshire region in 1991-92 and 1992-93 and state their contribution to the total regional surplus.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 16 May, Official Report , column 318 , if she will provide details of retained surpluses and deficits by individual trusts.
Mr. Sackville : The information will be placed in the Library.
Aborted Foetuses
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines her Department issues regarding the use of live aborted foetuses in scientific experiments ;
Column 296
(2) how many experiments on live aborted foetuses have been sanctioned by ethics committees since 1968.Mr. Sackville : We are not aware of any experiments on live foetuses ex utero. Any research carried out on a foetus--that is, after termination under the Abortion Act 1967--is subject to the principles set out in the report "Review of the Guidance on the Research Use of Fetuses and Fetal Material" (Cm. 762), known as the Polkinghorne report. The report's code of practice is reproduced in the guidance issued to local research ethics committees. It stresses that issues relating to research or other use of the live whole foetus must be considered in a manner broadly similar to the way such issues are considered for children and adults.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation of the health implications of the location of the first European bank for deoxyribonucleic acid at Whitehaven has been conducted by her Department.
Mr. Sackville : There are no plans to evaluate the health implications of the location of the proposed bank for
deoxyribonucleic acid at the Westlakes Research Institute at Whitehaven. Research undertaken following the establishment and subsequent use of this gene bank will be published in medical journals for peer review and comment.
Foetal Abnormality Survey
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to ensure that, following the restructuring of health authority regions, the work of the Northern regional health authority regional foetal abnormality survey office is replicated in all areas of the country in support of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
Mr. Sackville : This is a matter for the regional health authorities concerned.
Health Services
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has had over local authorities taking over responsibility for commissioning health services.
Mr. Bowis : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 11 January, Official Report, column 119.
Surcharging
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will consider introducing provisions to enable the surcharging of health authority members.
Public Bodies
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of members of (a) regional health authorities, (b) district health authorities, (c) family health service authorities and (d) trust boards are known to be members of patients' organisations ;
(2) what proportion of members of (a) regional health authorities, (b) district health authorities, (c) family health service authorities and (d) trust boards are also members of local authorities.
Column 297
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of members of (a) regional health authorities, (b) district health authorities, (c) family health service authorities and (d) trust boards are doctors, nurses or members of other health professions.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally in the form requested.
Patient Participating Groups
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient participation groups are currently operating.
Dr. Mawhinney : Information on patient participation groups is not available centrally.
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 16 May, Official Report, column 322-23, what assessment has been made of evidence from Australia in respect of the transmission of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease through blood tranfusions.
Mr. Sackville : We understand that no evidence has been provided to the Australian authorities, despite several requests to support the claim associating Creutzfeldt Jakob disease and blood tranfusions.
Patient Co-operatives
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department has evaluated overseas experience of patient co-operatives.
Vulvectomy and Lymph Node Removal
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if existing guidance to hospitals or clinicians allows for vulvectomy and lymph node removal to be carried out in the absence of biopsy reports.
Mr. Sackville : Clinical guidance is primarily the responsibility of the relevant professional bodies.
Patient Participation
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information her Department has on the experience of other countries in relation to patient participation.
Dr. Mawhinney : Departmental officials maintain awareness of initiatives involving patient participation in the United Kingdom and overseas to feed into policy development.
Nottinghamshire FHSA
Mr. Hoon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total funding for general medical services to Nottinghamshire family health services authority in 1993-94.
Mr. Sackville : Audited 1993-94 outturn data are not yet available.
Column 298
AIDS Support Grant
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each local authority has bid for AIDS support grant for 1994-95 ; and how much they were awarded.
Mr. SAckville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 26 April, Official Report , column 159 . Details of the indicative and final allocations will be placed in the Library.
Consultancy Work
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each of the last five years, the cost to public funds of consultancy work provided by (a) KPMG Peat Marwick, (b) Touche Ross, (c) Price Waterhouse, (d) Ernst and Young, (e) CSL, (f) Prime, (g) Basis, (h) Theodore Goddard, (i) Dibb Lupton Broomhead, (j) Capita and (k) Shreeveport to her Department ; and if she will list any other firms which have provided consultancy work and the costs to public funds for each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville : For reasons of confidentiality, and in order to obtain value for money in the future, we are unable to list the specific costs of the consultancies concerned and the amounts paid as this would breach contractual agreements and jeopardise future value for money. The Department however, has spent the following amounts from running costs on consultancy since its establishment as a separate Department.
1990-91 £18,398,000
1991-92 £24,258,000
1992-93 £18,399,000
1993-94 £15,933,037
Information on national health service consultancy expenditure is not available centrally.
Continuing Care
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health who determines where responsibility for funding continuing care arrangements for specific individuals lies ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : Under the new community care arrangements local and health authorities are required to agree their respective responsibilities for long-term care.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will issue new guidance on the provision of continuing care to clarify under what specific circumstances health authorities are expected to fund continuing care ; and if she will make a statement.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to issue comprehensive guidance to health authorities and providers on the responsibility of the NHS to pay for continuing care.
Mr. Bowis : Under the community care arrangements local and health authorities were required to agree their respective resonsibilities for long-term care. The implementation of the community care arrangements has been carefully monitored. The need for any clarification of health and local authority responsibilities is being kept under review.
Column 299
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the responsibility of health authorities and local authorities when responsibility for funding continuing care is based upon reasons of ill health.
Mr. Bowis : The national health service is responsible for meeting needs for long-term healthcare. It is for local health purchasers to determine the level and type of services provided in the light of local needs, resources and clinical practice.
Government Information
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she published her departmental guidance on the implementation of the code of practice on access to Government information, as promised at paragraph 3(ii) of the code issued on 4 April ; and to whom it has been made available.
Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) on 29 April, Official Report, column 372 .
Immunisation
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the Government's policy on informing young people about their rights concerning immunisation ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Consent has to be obtained before any immunisation can be given.
The patients charter requires information to be given when treatment is proposed. In line with this, information prepared by the Health Education Authority, which is used by medical staff and provided to parents and teenagers, now contains more details about issues relevant to immunisation. The Health Education Authority produce a leaflet about rubella immunisation for distribution to teenage girls, copies of which will be placed in the Library. They are also developing leaflets for BCG immunisation and the soon to be introduced diphtheria/tetanus booster dose ; this latter leaflet will also contain information about the school leavers polio booster dose.
Elderly People
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she plans to take on the report of the Royal College of Physicians, "Ensuring Equity and Quality of Care for Elderly People", a copy of which has been sent to her.
Mr. Bowis : This report is aimed primarily at professional national health service staff and managers. We welcome its publication as a further encouragement to high quality services for elderly people.
NHS Charters
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific form of compensation or redress is available under the provisions of the patients charter to (a) out-patients who have not been seen within specific appointment times and (b) patients for whom an operation is postponed twice, and yet are still not admitted within one month of the date of the second cancelled operation.
Column 300
Dr. Mawhinney : Patients should be kept informed about the reasons for any delays or postponements in their treatment. A suitable apology should be offered in appropriate cases.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals have adopted a policy of admitting a patient (a) within one month of the cancellation of an operation and (b) within two months of a second cancelled operation.
Dr. Mawhinney : All hospitals are implementing the policy reflected in the improved patients charter national standard which came into effect on 1 April 1994.
| Next Section
| Home Page |