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Clinical Waste
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of whether hospital clinical waste is incinerated correctly and that localities are safe from injurious effects ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : All current guidance on the management of clinical waste, including incineration, has been issued to health authorities and NHS trusts in Wales. Under the pollution control provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the prime regulatory responsibility for hospital incinerators rests with district councils in Wales ; and in licensing the operation of such facilities councils include safeguards to protect public health and the environment.
Dental Health
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he proposes to improve dental health among children of school age.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The "Protocol for Investment in Health Gain : Oral Health", published two years ago outlines arrangements necessary to secure improved oral health of the population including schoolchildren.
The local strategy for health prepared by Clwyd health authority reflects the aims of the protocol in seeking to obtain improvements in patient care and quality of services.
Health Service Staff
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the fairness of the current terms and conditions of NHS authority ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I asume this to be a question about the terms and conditions of service applicable to NHS staff, with the fairness of which I am broadly satisfied.
Nurses Regrading
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the regrading of nurses in (a) Wales, and (b) Clwyd giving the date when regrading began ; and how many regradings have taken place in each of the health authorities.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The new grading structure for nurses took effect on 1 April 1988. The other information requested is not held centrally.
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Dental Care
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he proposes to obtain more NHS dentists in Clwyd ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The assessment of health need and the procurement of appropriate care is the responsibility of the relevant health authority. General dental practitioners are independent contractors who can locate their practices where they wish. The Welsh Office is considering the Clwyd family health services authority's application to employ salaried dentists.
NHS Research and Development
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements are in place in his Department to collect centrally data on the numbers of people employed directly or indirectly to administer research and development in the national health service in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : This information is not held centrally.
Land Schemes
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost in 1993 in Wales of payments made under (a) the countryside stewardship scheme, (b) the hedgerow incentive scheme, (c) the countryside premium scheme and (d) the wildlife enhancement scheme ; and what is his estimate of the cost in 1994.
Sir Wyn Roberts : (a) The countryside stewardship scheme does not operate in Wales. The Countryside Council for Wales runs a broadly equivalent farm-based scheme called Tir Cymen, which was launched in July 1992.
The estimated costs are as follows :
£ million
|1993-94|1994-95
----------------------------------------------------
Total expenditure |2.01 |3.42
Grants paid |1.57 |2.98
Administration and research |0.44 |0.44
(b) The estimated costs of the hedgerow incentive scheme are as follows :
£ million
|1993-94|1994-95
------------------------------------------
Total expenditure |0.45 |0.51
Grants paid |0.38 |0.44
Administration |0.07 |0.07
(c) and (d) There are no equivalent schemes in Wales.
Day Surgery
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many operations on a day-care basis were carried out in the last year in each of the hospitals in Clwyd ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However,
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information on the number of day cases treated in each hospital in Wales is published annually in "Hospital Bed Use Statistics Volume 1 : In-patients and Daycases" the latest edition of which, relating to the financial year 1992-93, is in the Library of the House.DEFENCE
Meteorological Office
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key performance targets have been set for the chief executive of the Meteorological Office executive agency for the financial year 1994-95.
Mr. Hanley : The agency has been set a range of quality, financial and efficiency targets to ensure that it delivers progressive improvements in the provision of weather-related services. The key quality targets set for the Meteorological Office during financial year 1994-95 are to achieve 80 per cent. of all business plan targets for customer satisfaction, forecast accuracy and timeliness ; and in particular to attain an accuracy of at least 84 per cent. for the 24-hour national forecast broadcast at 1755 hours by BBC Radio 4.
The financial targets are to deliver the agreed Meteorological Office programme within a business plan cash limit of £75,000,000 ; to reduce net expenditure, as shown in the annual report and accounts, to £93,200,000, representing a decrease of 9.1 per cent. on the 1993-94 budget ; and to provide a net contribution to the agency's core costs and general overheads of £3,600,000 from commercial services to the public, industry and commerce, excluding the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department of the Environment, representing an increase of £300,000 over the 1993-94 budget. Individual areas of Meteorological Office have been set targets to increase efficiency by between 2 and 3 per cent., typically, through improvement in quality and volume of service and reduced unit costs.
Defence Accounts Agency
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what performance targets have been set for the Defence Accounts Agency 1994-95.
Mr. Hanley : The chief executive of the Defence Accounts Agency is responsible for providing accounting services for the Ministry of Defence as defined in the agency framework document. He has been set the following challenging key performance targets for 1994-95 : a. To complete the following workload within the funds allocated for this purpose :
Manage 92,500 non-industrial pay accounts
Manage 45,200 industrial pay accounts
Complete 150,000 pensions awards/transactions
Approve 500,000 claims for travel or transfer expenses
Pay 17,000 fees claims
Pay 3,300,000 bills
Process 48,000 invoices
Make 420,000 personal payments
Manage 9,000 imprest accounts
Process 35,000 HQ receipts
Process 2,750 banknote orders
Process 2,150 bank fundings
b. To meet the Agency's quality of service standards in Service Level Agreements and performance targets.
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c. To achieve 10 per cent manpower reductions required by centrally managed efficiency measures by 31 March 1995.d. To make efficiency savings with a value of at least £1,100,000 which is approximately 2.5 per cent. of the initial cash allocation, concentrating on the fixed costs identified in a recent study. e. To compete for Payroll and Pension awarding business offered through the Government's Market Testing programme.
f. To operate a Customer Charter for Civil Pay services by March 1995.
g. To complete the Full Study Stage of the Mainframe
Rationalisation Project.
h. To develop a Quality Strategy by 31 March 1995.
Base Storage and Distribution
Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about possible defence-agency status for the base storage and distribution organisation of the Army.
Mr. Hanley : I have decided that the Army base storage and distribution organisation should be considered as a candidate for defence agency status, under the next steps initiative. A prior options study will be undertaken to establish whether agency status or other options would be appropriate. I would welcome comments from interested parties. Comments should be sent by 9 September 1994 to : Major General D. L. Burden CBE
Director General Logistic Support (Army)
Headquarters Quartermaster General
Portway
Monxton Road
Andover
Hants SP11 8HT
Directorate of Transport and Movements
Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about possible defence agency status for the Directorate of Transport and Movements (Army).
Mr. Hanley : I have decided that, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of normal trade union consultation, the Directorate of Transport and Movements (Army) should be considered as a candidate for defence agency status under the next steps initiative. The directorate will undergo a prior options study to determine whether agency status or alternative options would be most appropriate. Comments and ideas would be welcomed from any interested party. They should be sent by Friday 9 September 1994 to :
Major General D. L. Burden CBE
Director General Logistic Support (Army)
Headquarters Quartermaster General
Portway
Monxton Road
Andover
Hants. SP11 8HT
Parachute Training
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the current arrangements for the use of balloons for Army parachute training ; what annual costs are involved ; what plans he has for the replacement of balloons by aircraft ; what savings in costs and reductions in service and civilian numbers are expected ; what are the operational implications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The RAF Balloon Operations Squadron--BOS--provides support both for initial parachute
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training at No. 1 Parachute Training School and for continuation training for units of the three services. The squadron's operating costs for financial year 1993-94 were £3,858,000. The BOS is due to be disbanded on 1 April 1995, when its function will be taken over by a contractorised operation using Skyvan aircraft. Substantial savings are expected and there will be a reduction of 78 uniformed posts. As the Skyvan operation will mirror the existing operation, there will be no operational implications arising from this change.Army Service
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those Army regiments or battalions which served in (a) the Falklands campaign and completed tours there since, (b) Gulf war, (c) Bosnia and (d) Northern Ireland since 1990.
Mr. Hanley : The information requested is set out in the table. Complete regiments and battalions only--the Royal Armoured Corps, Infantry and Royal Artillery--are listed in order of seniority. 1. The Falklands.
a. Operations 1982 :
2nd Battalion Scots Guards.
1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment.
3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment.
1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles. 4th Field Regiment Royal Artillery.
29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
b. Post-Operations :
2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards.
1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.
1st Battalion The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment).
2nd Battalion The Queen's Regiment.
1st Battalion The King's Own Royal Border Regiment.
1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
1st Battalion The King's Regiment.
3rd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.
1st Battalion The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.
1st Battalion The Light Infantry.
3rd Battalion The Light Infantry.
1st Battalion The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment).
1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment.
1st Battalion The Royal Welch Fusiliers.
1st Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers.
2nd Battalion the Royal Irish Rangers.
1st Battalion the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding). 1st Battalion the Royal Hampshire Regiment.
1st Battalion the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons).
1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders.
1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's).
2nd Battalion 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles).
1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets.
3rd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets.
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys). The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars.
14th/20th King's Hussars.
16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers.
2nd Field Regiment Royal Artillery.
12th (Air Defence) Regiment Royal Artillery.
26th Field Regiment Royal Artillery.
32nd Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery.
39th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery.
40th Field Regiment Royal Artillery.
1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.
1st Battalion The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment).
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