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Carers
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health the number of cases of bad practice recorded of (a) un-registered carers and (b) registered carers in 1993-94.
Mr. Bowis : Informal carers are usually spouses, relatives or close friends of people with a range of mental or physical needs. They are not registered as such. Poor quality care provided by employed carers is a matter for the employer concerned.
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans she has to set up an independent registration and regulatory body for unqualified paid carers within the health and social services departments ;
(2) what is her policy on the British Association of Social Workers proposals for an independent statutory register of social workers.
Mr. Bowis : There have been various proposals for a General Social Services Council to regulate those employed in social work. These proposals are being considered by the Government.
Asthma
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the adequacy of patient information material on asthma available to general practitioners ; and if her Department will distribute information provided by voluntary organisations.
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Mr. Sackville : We are satisfied that general practitioners have adequate patient information on asthma available.
Prescriptons
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has on the numbers of private consultations which (a) result in a private prescription paid for by the patient and (b) are transcribed on to NHS prescriptions by the GPs.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available.
Burns Unit, Billericay
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to make the decision about moving the burns unit from Billericay to Broomfield hospital, Chelmsford ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The regional health authority is expected to refer this matter to Ministers shortly.
Dental Treatment
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much (a) a basic filling, (b) a crown and (c) a course of bridgework costs (i) an exempt NHS patient and (ii) a patient paying 80 per cent. of the cost of treatment ;
(2) how much a basic filling, a crown and a course of bridgework would cost (a) an exempt national health service patient and (b) a patient paying 80 per cent. of the cost of treatment, if the dental charges were to rise by (i) 5 per cent., (ii) 10 per cent., (iii) 15 per cent., (iv) 20 per cent. and (v) 25 per cent.
Dr. Mawhinney : The statement of dental remuneration gives a range of fees payable to dentists depending on the complexity of the actual treatment provided. Exempt patients pay no charges. For a single filling, excluding root fillings, the charge for a patient paying 80 per cent. of the cost would be between £4.24 and £11.00. For a single crown, the patient's charge would be between £41.52 and £59.32. For a course of bridgework, the patient's charge would be between £184.24 and the maximum of £275 for a single course of treatment. The effect of each 5 per cent. increase would be to raise the patient's charge in the examples given above by £0.21, £0.55, £2.08, £2.97 and £9.21 respectively, but not beyond the maximum of £275.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many courses of dental treatment have been given to expectant and nursing mothers in each of the last 10 years ; and what was the cost of the courses in each of the last 10 years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is provided in the table.
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General dental services number and gross cost of courses of treatment
for expectant and nursing mothers from 1984 to 1993-94<1> adults
England
Courses of Gross cost
treatment
|Total |<2>Expectant|<2>Nursing |Total |<2>Expectant|<2>Nursing
|mothers |mothers |mothers |mothers
Year |Number |Number |Number |£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983 |886,090 |- |- |24,593,360 |- |-
1984 |890,470 |- |- |26,909,170 |- |-
1985 |903,760 |- |- |28,676,670 |- |-
1986-87 |968,720 |- |- |33,916,030 |- |-
1987-88 |978,770 |- |- |34,784,740 |- |-
1988-89 |1,015,140 |- |- |38,843,190 |- |-
1989-90 |1,044,250 |- |- |40,523,920 |- |-
<3>1990-91 |- |- |- |- |- |-
1991-92 |1,117,865 |452,555 |665,310 |45,173,918 |15,074,247 |30,900,671
1992-93 |1,116,531 |443,922 |672,609 |42,846,329 |14,133,933 |28,712,396
<4>1993-94 |1,060,683 |429,382 |631,301 |35,990,624 |12,327,137 |23,663,487
Notes:
<1>Data for 1978 to 1985 are available for calendar year only.
<2>Separate data for expectant and nursing mothers are not available before 1991-92.
<3>Data for 1990-91 are not available.
<4>These figures are estimated using 5 per cent. sample; complete data are not yet available.
Source: Dental Practice Board.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many courses of dental treatment have been given to patients who pay 80 per cent. of the cost of treatment.
Dr. Mawhinney : It is estimated that 21.7 million courses of treatment were completed between 1 April 1993 and 31 May 1994 for which no exemption or full or partial remission was claimed. Some of these courses of treatment will have been affected by the operation of the maximum charge and some will have been started before 1 April 1993--when the 80 per cent. proportion came into effect--and will therefore have been paid at an earlier rate.
Estimated from a 5 per cent. sample of courses of treatments.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) adults and (b) children, who are registered with a dentist, are exempt from paying charges.
Dr. Mawhinney : All children are exempt from national health service dental charges. It is not possible to quantify the number of adult patients registered with a dentist who qualify for exemption.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average cost per adult patient for each course of dental treatment in each year from 1990-91 to 1993-94.
Dr. Mawhinney : The direct cost for a course of treatment for an adult patient is the fee paid to the dentist. The table shows the average fee in each year.
Average cost per adult course of
treatment
England
Year |Average cost
|(£)
---------------------------------------
1990-91 |36.20
1991-92 |39.80
1992-93 |39.11
1993-94 |36.18
Source: Dental Practice Board.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total amount raised from all charges on NHS dental services.
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Dr. Mawhinney : Provisional data for 1993-94 indicates that patient charge income from the general dental services was £367 million, net of refunds to patients. Information is not available centrally on the small amount of income raised by the limited range of patient charges applicable in the community and hospital dental services.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when she will be publishing her response to the report by Sir Kenneth Bloomfield on dental remuneration ;
(2) when she will be publishing the oral health strategy for England ; and what status it will have when it is published.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government's response to Sir Kenneth Bloomfield's report will be published in due course. The oral health strategy for England will be published at or around the same time. The strategy will review the present state of oral health in England and set out objectives for the future.
Community Nurses
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to empower general practitioner fundholders to employ community nurses directly ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : We have no immediate plans to do so.
Orthodontic Treatment
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS episodes of orthodontic treatment there were for the period 1983 to 1993 ; and what was the cost of NHS orthodontic treatment for the same period.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 17 June 1994] : No consistent data are available until 1991-92. Data from 1991-92 onwards are shown in the table.
General dental services: courses of orthodontic
treatment
England and Wales
Year |Number |Cost
|(thousands)|(£ million)
------------------------------------------------
1991-92 |280 |30.8
1992-93 |340 |36.0
Source: Dental Practice Board.
NHS Staff
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) men and (b) women were employed at the latest available date for each grade in the administrative and clerical pay group and of the ancillary staffs pay group of the national health service, for grades one to 30 in the senior managers pay group, for each grade in the ambulance staffs pay group and the ambulance officers pay group, and for general managers and chief executives in the national health service ; and if she will express the figures as numbers and as full-time equivalents.
Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 25 April 1994] : The latest available information by grade and by gender for the relevant staff groups will be placed in the Library.
EMPLOYMENT
Private Members' Bills
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment on what occasions since April 1992 Ministers from his 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. Michael Forsyth : Parliamentary counsel does not draft on behalf of private Members but on the instructions of Departments acting on the authority of Ministers. On one occasion since April 1992, in respect of the Civil Rights (Disabled) Persons Bill, Employment Department Ministers agreed that instructions should go to parliamentary counsel for amendments to a private Members' Bill with the intention that these should be tabled by the Government. These amendments were subsequently passed to private Members.
European Committee of the Regions
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on what contacts his Department has had with the European Committee of the Regions.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Department is in contact with the European Committee of the Regions through directors of Government offices for the regions, several of whom have had meetings with members and alternate members of the committee.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Hunt Trespass
Mr. Morley : To ask the Attorney-General if he will place a copy of his guidelines relating to hunt trespass on railway lines in the Library.
The Attorney-General : I have issued no guidelines of the nature suggested by the hon. Member.
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Euromac Ltd.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Attorney-General what investigation he has made into the reasons for and conduct of the prosecution of Mr. Ali Ashour Daghir and Jeanine Speckman of Euromac Ltd., following their release as a result of a decision of the Court of Appeal.
General Pinochet
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Attorney-General what representations he has received respecting the bringing of criminal charges by the United Kingdom against General Augusto Pinochet ; and if he will respond positively to such requests.
The Attorney-General : Amnesty International (British Section) requested that I should either initiate a prosecution against General Pinochet for alleged offences contrary to section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 or grant consent for a prosecution to be brought. My office responded explaining that I do not myself investigate alleged crime or initiate criminal proceedings. Any action by the public prosecuting authorities would need to be preceded by a criminal investigation. Amnesty International was advised that, if it considered that the public prosecuting authorities in this country should take action, the proper course would be for them to place any evidence in the hands of the police and general guidance was given as to the evidence required to support any application for consent.
EDUCATION
Student Grants
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many representations he has received over the last 18 months on the subject of discretionary grants for students.
Mr. Boswell : My right hon. Friend has received a number of representations on this subject.
Student Numbers
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what has been the total number of students attending university and colleges in each of the last three years ;
(2) what was the number of students attending universities and colleges who are aged over 35, 40 and 45 years, for the latest available period.
Mr. Boswell : The numbers of United Kingdom domiciled higher education students in England were 800,600, 891,200 and 995,200 in academic years 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93 respectively. The numbers of students aged 35 or over in 1992-93 on the same basis were 146, 500. Information on the other age groups is not readily available.
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the projected number of higher education franchised students in further education colleges for 1994-95 ; and what was the figure for the year in which the higher education students early statistics survey was last done.
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Mr. Boswell : In the academic year 1993-94, the higher education students early statistics survey showed an estimated 43,000 franchised home and EC fee-paying HE students in further education colleges. The number of franchised HE students in FE colleges in 1994-95 will depend on decisions taken by individual HE institutions on how and where to deliver the teaching supported by HEFCE funding allocations.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education which grant-maintained schools, under section 93 of the Education Act 1993, have been transferred from one former maintaining local education authority to another for the purpose of the calculation and recovery of annual maintenance grant by the Funding Agency for Schools ; what were the local education authorities in each case ; and what was the effect on the annual maintenance grant of each school concerned.
Mr. Robin Squire [pursuant to his reply, 18 May 1994, Official Report, c. 499] : I originally stated that only one operating grant -maintained school, All Hallows Roman Catholic school, formerly maintained by Hampshire local education authority and located within the boundaries of Surrey, had been affected by section 93 of the Education Act 1993. Further information has since been received by the Department indicating that the London Nautical school, formerly maintained by Southwark LEA, is located within the boundaries of Lambeth. The Funding Agency for Schools is currently considering the basis for the determination of the school's grant for 1994-95. In addition, Hockerill school, which began operating as a GM school on 1 June, was formerly maintained by Essex LEA, but is located within the boundaries of Hertfordshire. The funding agency is currently consulting on the school's grant for 1994-95.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Moorland
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when she expects to implement a scheme for moorland areas under the EU agri -environmental programme ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The details of this scheme are under active consideration following a change in the quota transfer rules. We hope to be able to launch the scheme before the end of this year.
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Common Land
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress she has made in discussions with agricultural interests on the timetable for the introduction of the proposals of the Common Land Forum for legislation to resolve anomalies ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : The Department of Environment is currently formulating proposals to tackle the most immediate difficulties on common land and, in this context, has had discussions with agricultural organisations among others.
Drift Nets
Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on compliance with the EU ban on drift nets over 2.5 km long.
Mr. Jack : The United Kingdom industry was reminded earlier this year that drift nets longer than 2.5 km were prohibited. Subsequently the Commission proposed that enforcement on the north east Atlantic drift net tuna fishery, which is prosecuted principally by French, but also by Irish and British vessels should be enhanced to ensure improved compliance with the regulations in force, including the ban on the use of nets longer than 2.5 km. I have made it clear that I am ready to examine additional cost- effective enforcement measures constructively. National enforcement procedures are kept under review and varied when appropriate.
Arable Area Payments Scheme
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost of payments made under last year's main arable area payments scheme in each county of England in respect of (a) cereals, (b) oilseeds, (c) protein crops, (d) linseed and (e) set-aside.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The table gives the total payments claimed in 1993 for cereals, oilseeds, protein crops and set-aside on land situated in each county of England. The total amounts paid will have been slightly lower because of reductions made for various reasons. However, since such reductions normally have to be calculated on the basis of the total claim, which may include land in more than one county, it is not possible to give figures for the total amounts paid on a county basis. Linseed was not included in the scheme until 1993-94 and county-based figures are not available for 1992-93.
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|Cereals |Oilseeds |Protein crops|Set-aside |Total
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon |1,263,110 |460,557 |205,187 |511,551 |2,440,405
Bedfordshire |5,060,128 |3,267,651 |2,628,276 |2,419,604 |13,375,657
Berkshire |3,568,382 |1,835,365 |353,265 |1,427,301 |7,184,312
Buckinghamshire |4,142,939 |3,321,845 |1,793,044 |2,043,092 |11,300,919
Cambridgeshire |16,635,924 |6,100,373 |6,974,190 |7,204,304 |36,914,791
Cheshire |1,780,105 |589,330 |337,828 |700,326 |3,407,590
Cleveland |1,445,379 |821,399 |229,832 |591,444 |3,088,054
County Durham |3,596,620 |2,216,667 |315,522 |1,545,029 |7,673,839
Cornwall |2,531,028 |450,525 |374,434 |989,125 |4,345,111
Cumbria |720,235 |118,848 |11,409 |265,105 |1,115,598
Derbyshire |2,584,475 |1,473,739 |604,494 |1,155,869 |5,818,577
Devon |4,274,237 |649,056 |1,142,828 |1,703,893 |7,770,015
Dorset |5,616,807 |682,290 |1,057,228 |2,067,180 |9,423,504
East Sussex |2,329,667 |1,148,079 |660,075 |1,019,306 |5,157,127
Essex |16,053,877 |7,973,011 |6,094,061 |7,106,416 |37,227,364
Gloucestershire |6,312,976 |3,891,434 |1,871,244 |2,816,647 |14,892,302
Greater Manchester |407,341 |170,722 |122,700 |175,019 |875,783
Hampshire |10,752,141 |3,407,796 |2,434,460 |3,976,396 |20,570,793
Hereford and Worcestershire |7,700,175 |2,978,188 |3,205,633 |3,433,498 |17,317,494
Hertfordshire |6,080,991 |2,729,974 |2,498,086 |2,696,533 |14,005,584
Humberside |18,726,645 |6,241,866 |7,116,120 |7,838,505 |39,923,137
Isle of Wight |795,051 |313,488 |262,757 |289,895 |1,661,192
Kent |8,733,521 |6,343,054 |4,020,186 |4,072,982 |23,169,743
Lancashire |1,315,884 |396,579 |663,464 |508,987 |2,884,913
Leicestershire |7,917,287 |5,151,317 |3,896,942 |3,797,855 |20,763,401
Lincolnshire |29,642,531 |10,635,771 |13,984,261 |12,882,312 |67,144,874
Merseyside |740,434 |253,374 |314,566 |314,379 |1,622,752
Norfolk |21,513,571 |2,126,744 |6,427,548 |8,394,303 |38,462,166
North Yorkshire |18,974,064 |6,110,437 |4,588,308 |7,722,108 |37,394,918
Northamptonshire |8,512,313 |6,787,823 |4,796,043 |4,366,080 |24,462,257
Northumberland |8,244,767 |4,439,934 |845,488 |3,364,373 |16,894,563
Nottinghamshire |7,779,274 |3,852,044 |2,924,559 |3,460,257 |18,016,135
Oxfordshire |9,951,094 |6,718,368 |2,651,441 |4,390,622 |23,711,525
Shropshire |7,576,999 |1,116,354 |1,573,403 |2,917,073 |13,183,829
Somerset |4,007,406 |650,164 |1,315,194 |1,567,290 |7,540,054
South Yorkshire |3,368,107 |1,963,770 |1,433,119 |1,559,266 |8,324,261
Staffordshire |3,934,570 |1,486,400 |1,069,211 |1,599,768 |8,089,950
Suffolk |17,586,154 |4,276,384 |6,526,543 |7,384,311 |35,773,392
Surrey |1,027,695 |649,340 |351,365 |485,067 |2,513,467
Tyne and Wear |741,792 |610,103 |29,078 |311,713 |1,692,686
West Midlands |458,864 |283,127 |84,256 |224,509 |1,050,755
West Sussex |3,906,997 |1,390,040 |1,762,035 |1,659,823 |8,718,895
Warwickshire |6,021,458 |4,544,970 |3,111,537 |2,989,801 |16,667,766
West Yorkshire |2,137,691 |967,120 |573,338 |929,196 |4,607,345
Wiltshire |11,213,128 |4,337,627 |1,824,493 |4,479,427 |21,854,675
|----- |----- |----- |----- |-----
Total |308,034,248 |126,171,763 |105,162,516 |131,521,783 |670,890,310
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is her estimate of payments to be made under this year's main arable area payments scheme in each county of England in respect of (a) cereals, (b) oilseeds, (c) protein crops, (d) linseed and (e) set aside.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Forward estimates are not made on a county basis. Current estimates for total payments in England under the main arable area payments scheme are :
|£
--------------------------------------------------------
(a) |cereals |413,222,528
(b) |oilseeds |136,070,860
(c) |protein crops|85,940,727
(d) |linseed |63,231,644
(e) |set-aside |194,383,962
|-------
Total 892,849,721
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment her Department has made of the overall environmental quality of the arable areas in England for which payments under the main arable area payments scheme are being made ; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : A three-year environmental and agronomic evaluation of set-aside under the arable area payments scheme is currently being commissioned, and is to start this autumn. The evaluation will identify the environmental and agronomic impact of different management conditions on the set-aside land itself, and on neighbouring and subsequent arable crops.
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Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps she intends to take to prevent environmental damage and improve environmental quality on land on which arable area payments are made.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the information in the reply I gave him on 14 June, Official Report, column 444.
Integrated Administration and Control System
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost to her department of advertising in the media that 15 May 1994 was the deadline for receipt of completed area aid applications under the IACS ; and if she will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The cost of advertising the 15 May 1994 deadline for IACS applications in the national farming press was £16, 694 including production, advertising charges and VAT.
The aid available under the common agriculture policy schemes which require submission of an IACS form is an important part of the income of many farmers. I considered it vital to ensure that there was wide publicity in respect of the deadline because 1994 is only the second year of IACS operation and because two extra schemes were subject to the IACS requirements this year.
Fisheries, Cornwall
Mr. Jamieson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, fisheries and Food if she will make a statement about the effect on the fishing industry in south Cornwall of the Ministry of Defence's proposal to site a naval firing range off Dodman point.
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Mr. Jack : The Ministry of Defence has consulted widely about its proposals to move the naval gunfire support training area from Portland to Dodman point and has arranged meetings and a demonstration firing to inform fishermen of their intentions. I understand that a feature of gunfire support training is that the Royal Navy works around and does not disrupt fishing operations or disturb other marine activity. However, the area adjacent to Dodman point is regularly fished by a number of mainly inshore vessels from local ports and I am aware that considerable local concern has been expressed. MAFF officials have received assurances that MoD will give very careful consideration to the objections expressed by local fishing organisations.
MoD is now analysing the comments received during the consultation period, which ended on 10 June, before reaching any decision.
Less-favoured Areas
Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will provide figures for each year since 1979 for what was the total area of agricultural land in the English less-favoured areas in hectares in each year since 1979 ; and what are these figures as a percentage of the total current English less-favoured areas.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 17 June 1994] : The table shows the total area of land in England, designated as less favoured, in each year in which additional land has been designated and expresses this as a proportion of the current area of designated land.
Column 38
Total area in England designated as less favoured
Area designated
as less favoured
|('000 hectares) |As a proportion of
|total land currently
|designated
|per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1975 |1,476.0 |77.8
1984 |1,889.4 |99.6
1990 |1,897.8 |100.0
WALES
Cereals
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were the average cereal yields achieved on farms in (a) less favoured areas and (b) non-less favoured areas in Wales for each year from 1986 to 1990, excluding the highest and lowest values ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : Estimates of cereal yields are derived from a sample survey, the cereals production survey and from the June agicultural census, both conducted jointly by MAFF and the Welsh Office. The sample survey is not specifically designed for results to be produced at below an all-Wales level and so the average yields are subject to a greater margin of error than for Wales as a whole. The average values shown in the final row of the table are estimated to be accurate to within plus or minus 20 per cent. The requested information is shown in the table. I have set out the position in England for the purpose of comparison.
Column 37
Cereal yield estimates
Yield (tonnes per heactare)
--------------------------------------------
1986 |4.91|5.47|4.97|6.28
1987 |4.67|4.85|5.39|5.61
1988 |4.41|5.02|5.13|5.49
1989 |4.18|4.36|5.02|6.03
1990 |4.50|4.85|5.96|6.23
Average 1986-90<1> |4.53|4.91|5.18|5.96
<1> In each case excluding the year with
the highest yield and the year with the
lowest yield during the period.
Medical Negligence Claims
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what funds his Department has available for statutory or non-statutory contingent liabilities for claims of medical or surgical negligence against GP fundholders.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : None of the Welsh Office funds are available to meet liabilities for claims of clinical negligence against GP fundholders. All general practi-tioners are obliged to make their own arrangements to cover such risks.
Enzootic Bovine Leukosis
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the current number of cattle aged 30 months or under with enzootic bovine leukosis.
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Mr. Redwood : I know of none at 15 June 1994.
Flood and Storm Emergency Services
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provision he made in 1993-94 for flood and storm emergency services financial assistance to local authorities ; and what provision he is making for 1994-95.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Local authorities are expected to make provision for responding to emergencies such as storms and floods when setting their budgets. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may provide extra financial assistance for large scale emergencies under the Bellwin scheme in accordance with section 155 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. In 1993-94 Bellwin payments of £3.76 million have been made. Provision for 1994-95 is £50,000.
Column 39
Groundwork Trusts
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library details of the financial contribution of his Department to the groundwork trusts in Wales in (a) 1992-93 and (b) 1993- 94.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : In 1992-93 and 1993-94 the Welsh Office made the following contributions towards the administrative costs of the four groundwork trusts in Wales and to environmental improvement projects they have undertaken.
£
|1992-93 |1993-94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Core funding grant |292,081 |329,407
European regional development fund |313,926 |639,311
Urban programme |710,000 |689,540
Environment Wales |60,389 |81,408
|---- |----
Total |1,376,396|1,739,666
Sheep Quota
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many applications have been made in the current year for category 3 sheep quota from the national reserve ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : We have received 2,011 applications--1,745 from producers in the less-favoured area in Wales and 266 from producers who fall within the Great Britain lowland--to category 3 of the 1993 sheep national reserves.
These applications will be considered against the criteria established in S.I. 1993 No. 3036, and individual producers notified of the outcome in due course.
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