| Previous Section | Home Page |
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The policing of particular divisions of police forces is an operational matter for which the relevant chief constable is responsible. Decisions relating to the divisional boundaries within forces following local government reform will be a matter for chief constables and police authorities.
Column 291
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will undertake a feasibility study into the need for an operational police station within the Gleniffer division of Strathclyde regional council ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The need for operational police stations and their locations are matters for the police authority and the chief constable to decide.
Warrant Sales
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to abolish warrant sales as a means of collecting debt ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Warrant sales act as an ultimate sanction within a range of remedies available to the creditor for recovery of all types of debt. The system of warrant sales was reformed by the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987. These reforms removed the most resented and harsh aspects of the procedure. The Government have no plans at present for further major reform of these arrangements.
Paper Industry
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what economic initiatives he is supporting which will encourage the development of paper processing and treatment as an industry ; and if he will make a statement on the importance of the paper and board industry to Scotland in general, and Renfrewshire in particular.
Mr. Stewart : The paper industry in Scotland has access to a wide range of advice and assistance from the Scottish Office and the enterprise network. Advice is available on, for example, exports, technology and best management practice ; and regional selective financial assistance may be available for capital investment projects in assisted areas such as Renfrewshire.
The latest census of employment shows that, in 1991, the paper and board industry in Scotland employed 12,450 people, of whom 270 were employed in Renfrewshire. The industry makes an important contribution to the Scottish economy.
Physiotherapy
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average waiting time for physiotherapy services in each of Scotland's health board areas.
Mr. Stewart : This information is not collected centrally.
Voter Registration
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress he has made in obtaining information on how many British citizens living overseas are registered for voting in each constituency in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the information I gave in answer to his question on 3 February 1994. My understanding is that information is intended to be published by OPCS in the late summer.
Column 292
Gateside School, Paisley
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has available on the provision of special needs education at Gateside school, Paisley ; how many pupils attend the school ; what is the current catchment area of the school ; what proportion of children are transported to the school because they do not reside within its vicinity ; how much the school cost to run in the most recent year for which figures are available ; what was the annual cost per pupil in the same financial year ; how many (a) teaching, (b) specialist, (c) auxiliary, (d) administrative and (e) manual staff are employed at the school ; how many posts are currently unfilled ; what is the reason for each unfilled post ; what are the grades and designations of the unfilled posts ; where is the nearest alternative school providing similar educational services to a similar age group ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas Hamilton : Strathclyde regional council education authority has responsibility for Gateside school which provides for pre- five children with hearing impairment. In September 1993, the latest date for which figures are available, the school roll was 19 and two full-time teachers were employed. All children attended on a part-time basis, the full-time equivalent being 14. The total budgeted running cost for 1993-94 was £101,000 which equates to a budget cost per pupil of £7,210. The other information requested is not held centrally.
The Government's policy is that parents in Scotland of children with special educational needs should have a choice of educational provision for their child, including special schools such as Gateside. It is, of course, for each education authority to support and arrange such provision for children in their area with special educational needs.
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what funding is made available by his Department to Gateside school for deaf children in Paisley ; how funding arrangements will change in future years ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Scottish Office does not fund Gateside school directly. The level of expenditure incurred in respect of the school is a matter for the education authority, Strathclyde regional council, which receives support for its expenditure on education services through aggregate external finance. There are no plans to change the existing arrangements.
Police Salaries
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the salary range of each rank of police officer in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The current salaries of police officers, by rank, are as follows :
|Incremental |Annual salary
|salary point<1> |with effect from
|with effect from|1 September
|1 September |1993
|1993 |£
|£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief Constable
Population band
up to
400,000<2> |57,720 |56,313
400,000-500,000 |59,184 |57,738
500,000-750,000 |61,632 |60,129
750,000-1,250,000 |64,074 |62,511
1,250,000-2,000,000 |68,964 |67,281
over 2,000,000 |73,368 |71,580
Deputy Chief Constable
Population band
up to
400,000 |50,850 |49,605
400,000-500,000 |50,850 |49,605
500,000-750,000 |50,850 |49,605
750,000-1,250,000 |51,258 |50,010
1,250,000-2,000,000 |55,170 |53,826
over 2,000,000 |58,695 |57,264
Assistant Chief Constable |48,426 |47,241
Chief Superintendent
On promotion |- |40,071
After 1 year |-
2 years |- |41,556
3 years |- |42,549
Off-scale point |- |42,696
Superintendent
On promotion |- |36,042
After 1 year |- |36,960
2 years |- |37,875
3 years |- |39,135
Off-scale point |- |39,177
Chief Inspector
On promotion |- |26,496
After 1 year |- |27,237
2 years |- |27,978
3 years |- |28,722
4 years |- |29,472
Inspector
On promotion |- |23,337
After 1 year |- |24,066
2 years |- |25,005
3 years |- |25,749
4 years |- |26,496
Sergeant
On promotion |- |20,343
After 1 year |- |21,267
2 years |- |22,014
3 years |- |22,743
4 years |- |23,337
Constable
On appointment |- |12,744
After 1 year |- |13,626
2 years<3> |- |16,044
3 years |- |16,422
4 years |- |16,965
5 years |- |17,547
6 years |- |18,105
7 years |- |18,666
8 years |- |19,218
12 years |- |20,343
15 years |- |21,267
<1> Payable to chief police officers with a minimum of 3 years' completed
service in their rank.
<2> Chief constables who were in post on this population band at the time of
the agreement on the 1984 pay review received a personal salary supplement
of £500 (pensionable) while they remained in their present
posts; this is increased to £954 with effect from 1 September 1993.
<3> Entry point for those aged 22 or over, who will move to the next point
after 3 years' service.
Lace Manufacturing
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what economic initiatives he is supporting to encourage the development of the lace manufacturing industry in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement on the importance of this industry to Scotland in general, and Renfrewshire in particular.
Mr. Stewart : The lace industry in Scotland has access to a wide range of advice and assistance from the Scottish Office and the enterprise network. The industry has derived particular benefit from the Scottish Lace Guild, which was established in 1991 with assistance from Scottish Enterprise and Enterprise Ayrshire. The latest census of employment shows that, in 1991, the lace industry in Scotland employed 490 people, all of whom were employed in Ayrshire. The industry makes a useful contribution to the economy of that area ; I am not aware that the industry has a significant presence in Renfrewshire.
Emergency Services
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to bring forward legislation to deal more effectively with hoax calls to the emergency services ; if he intends to take any additional action within his current range of powers to deal with this menace ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has no plans to bring forward further legislation in respect of such calls, the making of which is already an offence. Means of dealing with this problem are kept under review, and there is evidence that the frequency of hoax calls is diminishing.
Regional and European Elections
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what individual amounts are payable to (a) returning officers, (b) deputy returning officers, (c) presiding officers at polling stations, (d) polling clerks, (e) supervisors at election counts, (f) counting clerks and (g) other grades for their duties relating to both the regional council and European elections in 1994 ; if he will publish a table showing the amount paid or due to be paid in respect of each of these elections to each returning officer and deputy returning officer in Scotland ; what costs returning officers and deputy returning officers are required to meet from these payments ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has no locus with regard to the payments made to returning officers and their staffs at regional elections. Such payments are the responsibility of the authorities concerned.
With regard to the 1994 European parliamentary elections, the amounts payable to returning officers and their staffs are contained in The European Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers' Charges) Order 1994 (SI 1994/1379) which came into force on 1 June 1994. The
Column 295
costs to be met by returning officers in running the elections are also set out in this order. Details of the information needed to calculate amounts payable to individual returning officers have not yet been forwarded to the Scottish Office Home and Health Department by the returning officers concerned.Cervical Smear Tests
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the average time that patients wait for the results of cervical smear tests in each health board area.
Mr. Stewart : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 11 February 1994 at columns 417-18, and the replies that I gave the hon. Member for Cunninghame, South (Mr. Donohoe), Official Report, 21 January, column 759, 3 February, column 929, and 4 February, column 962.
School Meals
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children received free school meals in each year since 1990 ; how the rules governing eligibility to free school meals have been amended over that period ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 296
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested, taken from annual school meals census returns, is as follows :
Pupils receiving free
school meals
|Numbers
------------------------
1990 |99,303
1991 |101,915
1992 |107,186
1993 |107,709
There have been no changes in the entitlement to free meals since 1990.
Urology Services
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average waiting time for urology services in each of Scotland's health board areas.
Mr. Stewart : The information is shown in the table :
Column 295
Wait (in days) Wait (in days)
for First for 'booked'
Inpatient or Day
Case
Attendance at Treatment<5>
Consultant
Outpatient
Clinic<1>
Inpatients Day Cases
Area of Residence |Mean |Median<2> |Mean |Median<2> |Mean |Median<2>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |84 |78 |92 |53 |73 |49
Ayreshire and Arran |46 |32 |73 |39 |84 |73
Borders |39 |29 |92 |37 |159 |66
Dumfries and Galloway |59 |50 |49 |38 |41 |34
Fife |57 |51 |92 |35 |82 |47
Forth Valley |49 |38 |64 |34 |35 |24
Grampian |73 |54 |44 |36 |36 |30
Greater Glasgow |74 |68 |82 |38 |58 |38
Highland |85 |98 |76 |40 |11 |14
Lanarkshire |81 |55 |92 |55 |62 |48
Lothian |47 |42 |134 |50 |131 |61
Orkney |<4>- |<4>- |24 |21 |<4>- |<4>-
Shetland |29 |29 |11 |6 |<4>- |<4>-
Tayside |77 |72 |59 |42 |60 |33
Western Isles |50 |26 |33 |22 |<4>- |<4>-
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Scotland<3> |66 |56 |86 |42 |69 |39
<1>Includes patients who did not attend their outpatient appointment.
<2>The number of days within which 50 per cent. of patients had waited for treatment.
<3>Includes patients resident outwith Scotland and cases where the patient's address was not recorded.
<4>In areas where there is no specialist in urology some patients requiring urological treatment may be treated within the specialty of general
surgery.
<5>Provisional information.
All information relates to the three months ending 31 December 1993.
Housing (Disabled People)
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of Scotland's housing stock is constructed or adapted to meet the needs of physically disabled people at the latest date for which information is available ; if he will break this information down into categories of housing tenure ; what plans he has to enhance the availability of such housing stock ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : On 31 March 1993, there were 23,184 public authority and housing association
Column 296
dwellings built or adapted for physically disabled people, 2.6 per cent. of the public sector stock. Information on private sector provision is not available centrally.The draft housing and community care circular, issued for comment in February, restates the Government's guidelines on housing for physically disabled people. A letter seeking views on the topics to be covered in a consultation paper on the extension of access requirements in the building regulations to new dwellings has recently been issued to outside bodies.
Slingshots and Catapults
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to ban the sale of slingshots and catapults ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 297
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. Friend has no plans to introduce legislation to ban the sale of slingshots and catapults. The sale of a range of dangerous items which have no apparent legitimate use is already banned under the Offensive Weapons Order 1988. Catapults are sold for legitimate use by anglers and farmers.
Health Service, Central Legal Office
Mr. Chisholm : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publish Laurence Peterken's review of the Scottish health service central legal office ;
(2) what was the remit of Laurence Peterken's review of the Scottish health service central legal office ; and what investigations he has carried out.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 20 June 1994] : Mr. Laurence Peterken has been appointed as special projects director reporting to the chief executive of the management executive. His remit is to undertake an organisational and functional review of the divisions which comprise the Common Services Agency. In reviewing the central legal office his fact- finding included interviews with NHS trusts, boards, private solicitors, and senior management of the CSA and CLO. His findings and recommendations in respect of the central legal office have been reported to the chief executive.
Any decision on the future of the central legal office will be a matter for my noble and learned Friend the Minister of State. It is not the practice to publish advice given to Ministers.
Nursing Homes, Lanarkshire
Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many staff are employed in the inspection of private nursing homes in the Lanarkshire health board area ;
(2) how many licensed private nursing homes there are in the Lanarkshire health board area ;
(3) on how many occasions each of the licensed private nursing homes in the Lanarkshire health board area has been inspected since it was opened.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 21 June 1994] : An assistant chief area nursing officer is employed exclusively on nursing home inspection duties and has access to a full administrative service and other medical, pharmaceutical and additional specialist nursing input, as required.
There are 50 registered nursing homes within the Lanarkshire health board area, all of which are inspected at least twice annually.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what will be the effect on the council tax's single person discount when responsibility for water and sewerage charges is taken away from local government under the Government's proposals.
Sir Hector Monro : The restructuring of water and sewerage services will not affect the availability of council tax discount for single adult households.
Column 298
HEALTH
Appointments
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of (a) chairmen, (b) chief executives and (c) board members of (i) regional health authorities, (ii) district health authorities and (iii) NHS trusts are women.
Dr. Mawhinney : The latest information available centrally is given in the table.
Chairman and non-executive appointees
|Number of |Women as a
|women |percentage of
|appointed |total appointees
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regional health authorities
Chairmen |1 |12.5
Non-executive members |19 |47.5
District health authorities
Chairmen |26 |24.1
Non-executive members |228 |38.4
NHS Trusts
Chairmen |104 |26.0
Non-executive directors |795 |40.4
Information about the number of female chief executives employed is not
available centrally.
London Implementation Group
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the NHS budget for the area covered by the London Implementation Group for (a) 1991-92, (b) 1992-93, (c) 1993-94 and (d) 1994-95.
Mr. Sackville : Residents of London benefit from spending from the total national health service budget by the Department of Health, regional health authorities, district health authorities and family health services authorities. It is not possible to apportion Department of Health and regional health authority spending geographi-cally and consequently it is not possible to give a figure for the NHS budget for this area.
NHS Budget
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the NHS budget for England in (a) 1991-92, (b) 1992-93, (c) 1993-94 and (d) 1994-95.
Mr. Sackville : Gross national health service spending for England is shown in the table for the years requested.
|£ million
-------------------------------
1991-92 |26,809
1992-93 |29,387
<1>1993-94 |30,520
<2>1994-95 |31,970
<1> Estimated outturn.
<2> Current provision.
Mental Health
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she will introduce a system of performance management for mental health review tribunals, including
Column 299
a mechanism for the feedback to tribunal members concerning the outcome for patients they have discharged from their sections under the Mental Health Act 1983.Mr. Bowis : The work of mental health review tribunal members in England is monitored by the eight regional chairmen of the tribunals. This was described in the tribunal's annual report for 1993, a copy of which is available in the Library. Regional chairmen have agreed that it would be useful for members to know more about the outcome for patients whom they discharge and the Department is commissioning research into this and into decision making by tribunals.
Health Campaigns
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of staff employed, and number of inquiries received, in connection with her Department's campaign on (a) "Keep Warm, Keep Well" and (b) Health Service and Professional Recruitment.
Mr. Sackville : Four departmental staff are responsible for the "Keep Warm, Keep Well" campaign, among their wider duties, including its policy and publicity aspects. There were 31,775 requests for the 1993-94 information booklet. A "winter warmth" freephone helpline is run on the Department's behalf by the Help the Aged and is manned by 5.94 staff--whole time equivalent. The helpline received 24,574 inquiries in the period 14 October 1993 to 31 March 1994. During 1993 the health service's professions recruitment campaign generated 11,538 requests for information. A nursing officer co-ordinates the campaign drawing on advice from departmental colleagues as required.
Making London Better"
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff are employed in the clearing house referred to in paragraph 4.46 of the departmental report to assist staff displaced as a result of the changes brought about by "Making London Better" ; what is the total budget of the clearing house ; and how many requests for assistance it has received.
Dr. Mawhinney : The clearing house employs five staff and the total budget for 1994-95 is £212,000. To date the clearing house has received 425 requests for assistance from individuals displaced as a result of service changes in London. Additionally, the clearing house deals with an estimated 70 inquiries per day relating to the clearing house scheme.
Obstetric Cholestasis
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has on the number of still births that arise as a result of the condition known as obstetric cholestasis both in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Mr. Sackville : Between 1986 and 1992 there were no cases of stillbirths registered in England and Wales with obstetric cholestasis or intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy mentioned as a cause on the certificate.
Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and Learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Column 300
The causes of stillbirths are not collected centrally by the World Health Organisation. Individual countries abroad will need to be consulted for information about stillbirths attributed to ICP.Disabled People (Employment)
Sir Harold Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the level of compliance of each health authority in England and Wales with the requirements of the statutory quota scheme for the employment of disabled persons.
Dr. Mawhinney : The latest figures were published in the April 1993 Employment Gazette, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Clinical Standards
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information sources are currently available to purchasers to enable them to assess clinical effectiveness.
Dr. Mawhinney : There are various sources of information on clinical effectiveness currently available, including "Effective Health Care" bulletins, high quality clinical guidelines, the health outcomes clearing house, the Cochrane database and the results of clinical audit. Copies of the bulletins and guidelines are available in the Library.
Paediatric Cardiac Surgery
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is available on the clinical performance and effectiveness of different treatment centres in relation to paediatric cardiac surgery.
Mr. Sackville : The information currently available centrally is from routinely collected data such as the annual hospital episode statistics prepared by the Government Statistical Service, copies of which are available in the Library. The Department is considering a recently received application for funding of a pilot study for clinical audit of paediatric and adult surgical procedures in cardiothoracic centres.
General Practitioners (Suicides)
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners committed suicide in (a) 1973, (b) 1983 and (c) 1993 ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is not available centrally.
Clinical Effectiveness
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will identify those elements of the NHS executive dataset health service indicators which relate to measurement of clinical effectiveness.
Dr. Mawhinney : The health service indicators dataset contains over 500 indicators covering a wide range of national health service activities. Many of the indicators are related to clinical effectiveness, for example, indicators relating to "The Health of the Nation", outcomes, mortality and hospital activity can be used in conjunction
Column 301
with other relevant sources of information to examine the question of clinical effectiveness. Copies of the health service indicators are available in the Library.Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is available on the clinical performance and effectiveness of different treatment centres in relation to the most common cancers.
Mr. Sackville : In contracting for cancer services health authorities will wish to assess the performance of hospitals and other providers of cancer services. Comparative data are not available centrally.
The recently published consultative document entitled "A Policy Framework for Commissioning Cancer Services" recommends that cancer registration and careful monitoring of treatment and outcomes is essential. Copies of the document will be placed in the Library.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measurements currently exist to audit the clinical performance of GPs ; how these are implemented and with what consequences ; and what further measures are proposed.
Dr. Mawhinney : As independent practitioners, general practitioners review their own performance through the process of clinical audit. Our view is that audit priorities are best determined locally by individual GP practices, in the light of local requirements. To assist this, we have made funds available through family health services authorities in each year since 1991 to enable all practices to participate in clinical audit.
Public Bodies
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members there are of (a) special health authorities, (b) trusts boards, (c) district health authorities, (d) family health service authorities and (e) regional health authorities.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is shown in the table.
Column 302
|Chairman |Non-executives
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special health authorities |11 |179
National health service trusts |419 |2,057
District health authorities |112 |560
Family health services authorities |90 |810
Regional health authorities |8 |40
Care Charges
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has issued on charging users or their carers for (a) domiciliary care, (b) day care, or (c) respite care provided by local authorities.
Mr. Bowis : Guidance about charging for non-residential social services for adults--LAC(94)1--was sent to local social services authorities in January. A further more detailed advice note was subsequently issued.
The Department has also issued the "Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide".
Copies of these documents are available in the Library.
Children's Homes
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children's homes and (b) inspectors of children's homes there are in (i) Wales, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the United Kingdom as a whole ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis : The number of children's homes in each country is shown in table (a) . The total for the United Kingdom is not given because the available figures relate to different years.
The number of inspectors of children's homes is not routinely collected centrally. However, the total number of inspectors in each country in 1992- 93 is shown in table (b) . They do not all have specific responsibilities for the inspection of children's homes.
| Next Section
| Home Page |