House of Commons Hansard Debates for 13 Jul 1994

Steroids

Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ensure (a) the use of steroid warning cards and (b) that a right of informed consent is given to patients prescribed corticosteroids.

Mr. Sackville : The use of steroid treatment cards is a well- established practice. We have no plans to discontinue their use.

Under the patients charter, patients have a right to be consulted about, and to be given an adequate explanation of, their proposed course of treatment, and information on alternatives available through the national health service. However, there will be some cases where doctors will feel that informing patients of the treatment proposed and possible risks could be counter-productive to the well-being of the patient. In such cases, the decision on whether the patient should be informed of the proposed treatment and possible risks or not is for the doctor's discretion.

Official Complaints

Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many official complaints were received from NHS patients by each NHS hospital or trust between January and March.

Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not yet available centrally.

Waiting Times

Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average time that patients in (a) England, (b) each English regional health authority and (c) each hospital or trust waited from the date that their general practitioner referred them to a consultant until the date of their first out-patient appointment between January and March.

Dr. Mawhinney : The information requested is not yet available.

Youth Treatment Service

Mr. Hendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish the annual report of the chief executive of the Youth Treatment Service for 1993-94 ; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Bowis : Copies of the report have been placed in the Library today. The report contains, at annexe 7, the Youth Treatment Service's receipts and payments account for the year ended 31 March 1994. These accounts, which are unaudited and have no form of endorsement by the National Audit Office, represent the service's view of the financial outcome for the year.

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Operating Theatres

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will give the latest figures and those for the previous four years for the total number of operating theatres (a) for England, (b) by region and (c) by district ;

(2) if she will give the latest figures and those for the previous four years for the number of operating theatre sessions cancelled because suitable back-up resources are absent or insufficient (a) for England, (b) by region and (c) by district ;

(3) if she will give the latest figures and those for the last four years for operating theatre sessions cancelled because there was insufficient appropriate staff available to the operating theatre session (a) for England, (b) by region and (c) by district.

Mr. Sackville : Information on operating theatres for financial years 1988-89 to 1992-93 is published in "NHS Operating Theatres Availability and Use", financial year 1988-89, year ending 31 March 1992, year ending 31 March 1993--copies of which are available in the Library.

Reasons for the cancellation of operating theatre sessions are not recorded centrally.

Hospital Admissions

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will give by district the latest figures and those for the last four years for patients funded by general practitioner fundholders waiting for ordinary admission (a) less than three months, (b) three to five months, (c) six to eight months, (d) nine to 11 months, (e) 12-23 months, (f) more than 24 months and (g) in total ; (2) if she will give by district the latest figures and those for the last four years for patients funded by district health authorities waiting for ordinary admission (a) less than three months, (b) three to five months, (c) six to eight months, (d) nine to 11 months, (e) 12-23 months, (f) more than 24 months and (g) in total.

Dr. Mawhinney : Such information on waiting times for in-patient and day case treatment as is available is given in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics : England", copies of which are available in the Library.

Administrative Expenditure

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing the total amount spent on administration by (a) regional health authorities, (b) district health authorities, (c) special health authorities, (d) family health service authorities, (e) trusts and (f) the Department of Health/NHS executive, in 1993-94, in each case breaking the figure down to show expenditure on (i) salaries and wages and (ii) establishment expenses.

Dr. Mawhinney [holding answer 17 June 1994] : Expenditure on Department of Health administration, including national health service executive administration, in 1993-94 was £250 million, of which £117 million was on salaries and wages. The figures are provisional. Information on the 1993-94 expenditure of NHS bodies is not yet available.

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Cardiological Procedures

Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the variations, adjusted by age and sex, in the number of cardiological procedures by purchaser ; and what are the causes of these variations.

Mr. Sackville [holding answer 4 July 1994] : Information about variations in the numbers of cardiological procedures by purchaser is not available centrally. The table shows the number of finished consultant episodes involving a heart operation in 1991-92 by region of residence of patient, expressed relative to the national total, England-100, adjusted for the age and sex distribution within each region.

The Government asked the Clinical Services Advisory Group to advise on access to and the availability of coronary bypass grafting. Its report, which also covers coronary angioplasty, published in March 1993, sets out the possible causes of variations in the services provided ; a copy has been placed in the Library.

Immunisations

Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children per 100,000 have been damaged by vaccine for each category of damage, broken down by first and second immunisations, for each year since 1987.

Mr. Sackville [holding answer 5 July 1994] : The information requested is not available. However, the number of awards made under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 since 1987 is as follows :

Year |Awards ---------------------- 1987-88 |10 1988-89 |3 1989-90 |3 1990-91 |1 1991-92 |7 1992-93 |13 1993-94 |4 Note: Awards do not necessarily relate to vaccines administered in that year.

The Act, which is administered by the Department of Social Security, provides a scheme of one-off, lump-sum payments for people who have suffered either severe

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mental and/or physical disablement of 80 per cent. or more where it can be shown on the balance of probability that damage has resulted from vaccination.

ENVIRONMENT

Energy Saving Trust

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the future funding of the Energy Saving Trust.

Mr. Atkins : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) on 4 July, Official Report, column 22.

Menwith Hill Station

Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when a proposal for two radomes, support buildings, security fencing and extension of service road at Menwith hill station, Harrogate, was referred to him to determine whether the development should proceed ; how many objections have been lodged against this development ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Baldry : The proposal has not been referred to the Secretary of State.

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research the Energy Efficiency Office has carried out to explore top management attitudes to energy efficiency and the environment.

Mr. Gummer : A report outlining the findings of research carried out among a sample of firms with more than 200 employees over the past three years has been published by HMSO today. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

The findings show improvements in top management attitudes to and practices on energy efficiency and the environment. The proportion of firms with an environmental policy has increased steadily over the period from 46 per cent. to 58 per cent. and those with an energy policy from 34 per cent. to 46 per cent. Yet much remains to be done if the Rio target of returning CO emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 is to be met.

I welcome particularly the findings which show that organisations which have joined the "Making a Corporate Commitment" campaign are leading the way in contributing to the CO partnership I have called for. Campaign signatories agree to give board-level commitment to energy management, to reassess their energy efficiency strategy and to set performance improvement targets. The findings show that they are making good progress. For example :

63 have already set energy targets compared to 37 in business generally ; while

85 have actual plans to implement energy efficiency measures in the next 12 months. The corresponding figure for business at large is only 52 .

I urge all organisations to increase the priority they give to energy management and follow the lead of campaign signatories. Such action provides the ideal contribution to the CO partnership. The benefits to business are increased profits. The benefits for us all are a better environment, since energy efficiency is the quickest and most cost- effective response to the threat of global warming.

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North Circular Road

Mr. Tracey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his position with regard to any decision on the proposed north circular road improvement scheme between Hangar lane and Gunnersbury avenue, Ealing.

Mr. Gummer : Given that my London residence is close to the proposed scheme I shall not be taking any part in the decision-making process which will pass to a colleague. Neither will I be commenting on the merits of the scheme as the inspector's report is currently under consideration. The tried and tested method for considering major road proposals is through a public inquiry of which there have been two into this particular stretch of the north circular road. Such inquiries enable the issues to be debated openly and a decision to be made on the merits of the scheme after all those concerned have had a chance to put their case.

Privatisation

Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which organisations, agencies and other bodies relating to his departmental area of responsibility have been privatised since 1990 ; and what plans he has for further privatisation.

Mr. Gummer [holding answer 12 July 1994] : Since 1990, the operating activities of the Property Services Agency Services were sold as follows :

My Department continues to examine regularly all its activities to ensure that the best mode of delivery is achieved. In particular, the Government have a manifesto commitment to privatise the docklands light railway and an announcement will be made in due course.

Victoria Street

Mr. Mudie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated total cost of the refurbishment works on 1 to 19 Victoria street.

Mr. Eggar : I have been asked to reply.

1-19 Victoria street is being refurbished for reoccupation by DTI as its headquarters building. The work is expected to cost £61.4 million, net of VAT, £59 million of which is being provided by the landlord, Legal and General Property.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Quality Standards

Mr. David Shaw : To ask the right hon. Member for

Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans he has to introduce

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compliance with British Standards Institute quality standard BS 5750 in Departments of the House of Commons.

Mr. Beith : While there are no plans to require Departments of the House formally to comply with the performance standards contained in BS 5750, considerable importance is attached to the development of the quality control and management procedures by which performance can be assessed. Details of the measures so far adopted by individual Departments of the House may be found in the Commission's annual reports.

7 Millbank (Lifts)

Mr. Allen : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee if he will make a statement on the number of times the lifts have broken down in 7 Millbank and the penalties incurred by the lift contractors.

Mr. Ray Powell : These are matters for the Director of Works and I shall ask him to write to the hon. Member.

EDUCATION

Parents Charter

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many copies of the updated parents charter have been printed.

Mr. Robin Squire : A total of 20 million copies of the parents charter have been printed.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the printing cost of the updated parents charter.

Mr. Robin Squire : The cost of printing 20 million copies of the updated parents charter was some £2 million.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the delivery and distribution cost of the updated parents charter.

Mr. Robin Squire : The final cost of the household distribution of the updated parents charter has yet to be confirmed.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education where was the updated parents charter printed.

Mr. Robin Squire : The updated parents charter was printed in the north of England.

Grant-maintained Schools

Mr. Tracey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he intends to reply to the first report of the Education Committee of Session 1993-94, HOC 255, on the common funding formula for grant-maintained schools.

Mr. Robin Squire : The Government's formal response has been sent to the Chairman of the Committee today, together with a consultation paper, seeking views on the design and scope of the common funding formula in 1995 -96. Copies of both documents have been placed in the Library.

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Student Loans

Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what figures he has requested from the Student Loans Company for each year on graduates deferring payment of their student loans for (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) indefinitely and (e) refusing payment ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Boswell : The SLC provides certain statistics annually for inclusion in the Department's statistical bulletin "Student Loans". They are not in the form requested by the hon. Member. The last bulletin on student loans was published in February. I will place a copy in the Library.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Livestock Subsidies

Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the cost in 1993 in Northern Ireland of payments under (a) the sheep annual premium, (b) the suckler cow premium, (c) the beef special premium and (d) the hill livestock compensatory allowances ; and what is his estimate of the cost in 1994.

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Mr. Ancram : The information requested is as follows :

£ million |1993 (cost)|1994 (cost) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sheep annual premium |41.7 |30.2 Suckler cow premium |8.8 |39.8 Beef special premium |4.9 |48.8 Hill livestock compensatory allowances |18.5 |13.6

Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991

Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been interviewed by authorised investigators under schedule 5(2) of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 in each year and part year since 1991.

Sir John Wheeler : The following statistics indicate the number of persons interviewed by authorised investigators since schedule 5 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 came into force. They also show the incidence of use, by authorised investigators, of the other powers available to them under schedule 5.

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|1991 |1992 |1993 |<1>1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of applications for appointment<2> |1 |24 |24 |12 Number of appointments made<2> |1 |23 |24 |12 Number of notices to attend issued<2> |1 |30 |29 |16 Number of interviews conducted<3> |1 |23 |26 |14 Number of persons interviewed<2> |1 |22 |19 |12 Number of search warrants obtained<2> |0 |0 |0 |0 Number of persons charged with schedule 5 offences<2> |0 |1 |0 |1 Number of persons convicted of schedule 5 offences<2> |0 |1 |0 |0 Number of search warrants or orders obtained<4> |0 |0 |0 |12 Number of production orders obtained<4> |0 |0 |1 |5 Number of explanation orders obtained<4> |0 |0 |0 |0 <1> Up to 30 June. <2> Under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991. <3> Some persons have been interviewed more than once. <4> Under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989.

I remain of the view that use of the powers available under schedule 5 of the 1991 Act plays an important part in the investigation of terrorist finance.

Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been prosecuted as a result of investigations involving the use of powers authorised by section 57 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 since 1991 ; in relation to what offences these people were prosecuted ; and how many people have been convicted.

Sir John Wheeler : Four persons have been prosecuted as a result of investigations involving the use of the powers authorised by section 57 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991. One person has been convicted of failing to comply with a requirement made by an authorised investigator contrary to paragraph 4(1) of schedule 5 to the 1991 Act. A further person awaits trial on a charge of contravening that provision. One person awaits trial on two charges of false accounting contrary to section 17(1) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. The fourth person awaits trial on two charges of making a false instrument contrary to

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section 1 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 and two charges of false accounting contrary to section 17(1) of the Theft Act 1968.

Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been recovered under confiscation orders obtained under section 47 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1991 since 1991.

Sir John Wheeler : No moneys have yet been recovered under the provision.

Firearms

Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many murders were committed in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years for which figures are available ; of these how many were the result of terrorist activity ; and, of the rest, how many persons were killed by (a) shotguns, (b) handguns and (c) other firearms.

Sir John Wheeler : The available information is as follows :

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Murders committed in Northern Ireland Terrorist Murders Other Murders Total |By |By |By |By |shotgun |handgun |other |other |firearms|means ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1991 |89 |0 |6 |0 |19 |114 1992 |81 |5 |2 |1 |19 |108 1993 |82 |0 |0 |0 |19 |101

Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the persons charged with causing the death of another person by the use of a firearm of any description had authority to possess that firearm, excluding all those cases where terrorists were involved or where the death was caused by a member of the security forces, in each of the last three years.

Sir John Wheeler : The numbers of persons charged with non-terrorist murders involving the use of a firearm in each of the last three years are as follows :

[TITRE ------------- 1991 |2 1992 |5 1993 |Nil

In each case the firearm was legally held but not by the person committing the offence. In addition, in both 1991 and 1992, two persons who could otherwise have faced charges committed suicide.

TRANSPORT

Vehicle Emissions

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further proposals he has to reduce carbon emissions from road traffic.

Mr. Key : We have already introduced measures to address the problem of carbon emissions from vehicles.

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Our fuel duty strategy, which gives a commitment to annual increases in fuel duty of at least 5 per cent., is estimated to save 2.5 million tonnes of carbon in the year 2000. This represents one quarter of the total carbon dioxide emissions the United Kingdom aims to save under the climate change convention. No other European state has given such clear long-term signals on fuel duty movements.

Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish his Department's assessment of the impact and effectiveness of the most recent change of regulations regarding vehicle exhaust emissions ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Key : New emissions limits, which came into force on 31 December 1992, effectively require new cars to be fitted with catalytic converters which reduce emissions of carbon

monoxide--CO--hydrocarbons--HC--and oxides of nitrogen--NOx--by over 75 per cent. Similar measures will apply to new light vans from 1 October 1994. Some three million cars are already fitted with catalytic converters.

From 1 October 1993, emission limits for new diesel-engined trucks and buses over 3.5 tonnes, were reduced by 60, 50 and 45 per cent. respectively, for CO, HC and NOx, and a limit on particulates set for the first time. A further reduction, to be implemented in October 1996, by halving the particulate limit, will increase the level of stringency to that soon to be applied in the United States.

London Transport (Grant)

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out in tabular form (a) total grant, (b) core business capital grant, (c) new lines and extensions capital grant and (d) revenue support grant, excluding the docklands light railway, awarded to London Transport in each year since 1978 ; and what is the planned expenditure for each year between 1994-95 and 1996-97, at both cash and 1993-94 prices.

Mr. Norris : The information requested is as follows :

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Year |Core business |Core business |New lines |Total grant |capital grant |revenue |and extensions |support grant |capital grant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cash Prices 1978 |64 |56 |- |120 1979 |97 |60 |- |157 1980 |116 |102 |- |218 1981 |135 |82 |- |217 1982 |126 |186 |- |312 1983 |167 |175 |- |342 1984-85<1> |137 |186 |- |323 1985-86 |182 |125 |- |307 1986-87 |224 |66 |- |290 1987-88 |159 |44 |- |203 1988-89 |150 |20 |- |170 1989-90 |204 |44 |- |248 1990-91 |366 |74 |2 |442 1991-92 |405 |103 |65 |573 1992-93 |546 |254 |83 |883 1993-94 |506 |66 |120 |692 1994-95<2> |360 |13 |527 |900 1995-96<3> |477 |- |453 |930 1996-97<3> |556 |- |431 |987 1993-94 prices 1978 |184 |161 |- |345 1979 |238 |147 |- |385 1980 |241 |212 |- |453 1981 |256 |155 |- |411 1982 |223 |329 |- |552 1983 |282 |296 |- |578 1984-85<1> |220 |299 |- |519 1985-86 |277 |191 |- |468 1986-87 |332 |98 |- |430 1987-88 |224 |62 |- |286 1988-89 |198 |26 |- |224 1989-90 |251 |54 |- |305 1990-91 |417 |84 |2 |503 1991-92 |434 |110 |70 |614 1992-93 |564 |262 |86 |912 1993-94 |506 |66 |120 |693 1994-95<2> |346 |13 |507 |866 1995-96<3> |442 |- |420 |862 1996-97<3> |503 |- |390 |893 <1>15 months accounting period. <2>In addition to grant in 1994-95 LT will benefit substantially from proceeds from the sale of the subsidiaries of London Buses Ltd. £13 million revenue grant is ear marked for the Dial-a-Ride service. <3>Grant, announced in the Unified Budget, for LT for 1995-96 and 1996-97 has not yet been allocated between revenue and capital spend, but it is expected that all of the core business grant will be used for capital investment with the exception of revenue support of Dial-a-Ride.

These figures understate the growth in the level of investment by LT over the period arising from its improving financial position. With LT's move into operating surplus total capital investment is expected to be £1 billion per annum or more in each of the years 1994-95 to 1996-97 in cash prices.

Bull Bars

Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to introduce legislation to ban the attachment of bull bars to road vehicles ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Key : As I indicated in my reply to the hon. Lady of 21 June, Official Report, column 133, it would not be sensible to legislate without compelling evidence of increased injuries in actual accidents. Meanwhile I support voluntary action by individuals and organisations to remove existing bull bars and my Department has invited the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to discourage their sale.

Petrol

Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the trends in the relative use of (a) benzene and other aromatics and (b) lead additives in petrol ; and if he will make a statement ;

(2) what estimate there is of the increase in the use of benzene and other aromatics as the level of lead additives in petrol has been reduced ; and if he will make a statement ;

(3) what research has been conducted into the possible effects upon the environment of the increase in use of benzene in motor fuel ; and if he will make a statement.

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