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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 2 December 1994
HOME DEPARTMENT
Revenge Agency Services
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has in respect of those who (a) advertise and (b) publish advertisements for Revenge Agency Services.
Mr. Maclean: I am not aware of this organisation.
School Crossing Patrols
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces have transferred responsibility for school crossing patrol services to either local authorities or local education authorities.
Mr. Maclean: Information in the form requested is not available but we understand from a recent survey that about 10 police forces in England and Wales provide school crossing patrol services on behalf of local authorities.
Intoxicating Liquor
Sir Dudley Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what considerations led him to refuse to give consent over a byelaw on the consumption of intoxicating liquor in public places in Leamington Spa.
Mr. Baker: My right hon. and learned Friend has not refused to give consent to the byelaw. Home Office officials wrote to Warwick district council on 29 November seeking some additional necessary information to enable the byelaw application to be further considered.
Disclosure of Evidence
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for giving effect to the recent High Court judgment on disclosure of evidence in alleged cases of miscarriage of justice; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholas Baker: I am considering what action to take in the light of this judgment.
Safer Cities Projects
Sir Ivan Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make a statement on the further safer cities projects to be established in Wales.
Mr. Maclean: I am pleased to announce that we are setting up two further safer cities projects in Wales to bring the total to three. These will be established in Cardiff and Rhyl early next year to add to the one already running in Merthyr Tydfil. A total of 32 areas have now been selected for projects under phase 2 of the safer cities programme.
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Murder (Right to Silence)
Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he intends to take to ensure that parents who murder their children and refuse to give evidence against each other are brought to justice.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 28 November 1994]: The courts will impose a life sentence on any person convicted of murder. But a court will not convict if there is no evidence to link a particular person to the murder. Nor, in the absence of any other evidence, will a court convict a defendant on the basis of his silence alone. The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice considered the issue of inferences from silence, but did not recommend any changes to the principle against self-incrimination.
HEALTH
GP Fundholders
Mr. Milburn: to ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the management allowances payments made to general practitioner fund- holding practices and practices preparing to be fundholders (a) by wave and (b) in total for each (i) family health service agency and (ii) region.
Mr. Malone: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Health gave him on 26 January at column 300 . The available figures for 1993 94 will be placed in the Library.
Regional Health Authorities
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the total loss to public funds of maladministration of Wessex, West Midlands and Trent regional health authorities.
Mr. Malone: The 57th report of the Public Accounts Committee contained an estimate that some £10 million was lost on the management of the former regionally managed services organisation of West Midlands regional health authority. It has also been estimated that some £20 million of expenditure on the regional information systems plan has not resulted in benefits to patients in the former Wessex region. In the case of Trent RHA, the district auditor issued a report to the authority about the transfer of services to the private sector between 1988 and 1992, in which he stated that there was no reliable method of determining the difference between what the authority had spent and what would have been spent if competitive tenders had been sought.
Hospital Wards
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to ensure a choice between single sex and mixed wards for all patients of NHS hospitals; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville: It is for individual hospitals to decide in the light of local conditions whether, and if so in what circumstances, mixed sex wards should be used. A new standard in the revised and expanded patients charter to be issued in the new year will expect patients to be told in advance if they are to be treated in mixed sex wards. This will allow them to raise any objections with the
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hospital which will, where possible, take account of their views.Health Service Authorities
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of (a) regional health authorities, (b) health authorities, (c) family health service authorities and (d) health trusts at 30 September.
Mr. Malone: The numbers of authorities and trusts at 30 September 1994 were:
Authorities and |Number Trusts ------------------------------------------------------------------- Regional health authorities |8 District health authorities |111 Family health services authorities |90 NHS trusts |419
NHS Managers
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will instruct health authorities and NHS trusts to take urgent steps to reduce the number of managers and increase the number of nursing and care staff; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Malone: No. General and senior managers represent only 2.6 per cent. of the NHS work force compared with 50.3 per cent. for nurses. Between 1983 and 1993 the number of qualified nurses increased by 8.3 per cent. and in 1993 there were additionally about 28,000 Project 2000 learners who are not included in the figures.
Dentistry
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ensure the availability of free national health service dentistry to all who require it; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Malone: Family health service authorities report that there are no patients for whom national health service dental treatment cannot be arranged. There are extensive arrangements for exemption from and remission of NHS dental charges. The Green Paper, "Improving NHS Dentistry", makes clear that we have no plans to change these arrangements.
Patients' Complaints
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes to legislation are necessary to enable her to dismiss health authority chiefs who fail to deal properly with patients' complaints.
Mr. Malone: Chief executives are employees of health authorities and, as such, can be dismissed only by them. Primary legislation would, therefore, be required to enable my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to have such power of dismissal.
Ambulances
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what limitation exists on the total number of hours that ambulance drivers can be called upon to work in any 24-hour period.
Mr. Sackville: Ambulance drivers are subject to the United Kingdom legislation on drivers' hours.
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For non-emergency work, these regulations limit driving time to 10 hours a day and impose a daily duty limit of 11 hours.Any driving in the course of an emergency call-out does not count towards a crew member's daily driving limit, nor to a crew member's daily duty limit.
Diabetics
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will reconsider the decision not to provide pen needles to diabetics on NHS prescription.
Mr. Sackville: We have no plans to do so.
Children (Wandsworth Council)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will institute an inquiry into the role of Wandsworth council in the investigation of alleged rapes of children in its care.
Mr. Bowis: The only such allegation of which we are aware, which relates to an alleged incident in 1984 is currently being considered by the local government ombudsman. If the hon. Member has knowledge of any other cases, he should refer them to the appropriate authorities.
Prednisolone
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she has taken to avoid deaths of children due to the administration of prednisolone.
Mr. Sackville: The Medicines Control Agency and Committee on Safety of Medicines have investigated the issue of the effect of corticosteroids, such as prednisolone, on the body's defence system and in particular the association of severe or fatal chickenpox. Their findings and recommendations were published in the bulletin, "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance", which was sent to all doctors and pharmacists in February 1994. Doctors were also reminded of this issue in the Chief Medical Officer's update in May 1994. Copies of the documents were placed in the Library.
The Medicines Control Agency has also requested that all pharmaceutical companies producing corticosteroids administered by mouth or injection include further warnings and precautions in their product information, and introduce patient information leaflets. This action is expected to be completed in the near future.
Patients' Rights
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to introduce into the patients charter rights as to the holding of open inquiries.
Burnley Health Care NHS Trust
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the pension entitlement of Mr. James Rawson the former chairman of Burnley Health Care NHS trust.
Ministerial Speeches
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what occasions since 1979 civil servants in her Department have been asked to draft speeches of a
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constituency nature for use in a Minister's own constituency.Mr. Sackville: None. Civil servants may provide briefing of a factual nature for Ministers on matters relating to their own Departments. In addition, Ministers in preparing for a constituency speech can draw on material produced by their Department during the normal course of business.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease there are currently diagnosed in the United Kingdom; and what representations she has received regarding the link with pre-1985 infertility treatment.
Mr. Sackville: One hundred and fifty nine definite or probable cases of Creutzfeldt-jacob disease in the United Kingdom have been reported to the CJD surveillance unit, Edinburgh over the four-year period May 1990 to April 1994. No cases have been reported where there is a link with infertility treatment.
On 1 September 1993 the Department established a helpline for women who had been treated for infertility with human derived pituitary gonadotrophin--a treatment no longer given, but which may be associated with the risk of developing CJD. Since 1 September 1993 we have received 15 letters on the subject from hon. Members on behalf of their constituents.
Private Bed Units
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals had private bed units; and what was the number of beds in each, in 1990 91 and 1993 94, respectively.
Mr. Sackville: These are local matters about which the Department does not collect information.
Child Minders
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to issue further guidance to local authorities on the registration of child minders; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis: The Department has today issued local authority circular (94)23, "The Children Act 1989: Registration of Child Minders", which clarifies current guidance on the use of physical punishment by child minders. Copies of the circular have been placed in the Library.
ENVIRONMENT
SSSIs
Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will include in the Environment Agencies Bill provisions for the reform of the sites of special scientific interest system.
European Charter of Self-government
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all countries who have (a)
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signed and (b) ratified the European charter of self-government, giving individual dates for each country of signature and ratification.Mr. Gummer: The information requested, relating to the European charter of local self-government, is as follows:
|Date of ratification
Member state |Date of signature |or accession
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austria |15 Oct. 1985 |23 Sept. 1987
Belgium |15 Oct. 1985
Bulgaria |3 Oct. 1994
Cyprus |8 Oct. 1986 |16 May 1988
Denmark |15 Oct. 1985 |3 Feb. 1988
Estonia |4 Nov. 1993
Finland |14 June 1990 |3 June 1991
France |15 Oct. 1985
Germany |15 Oct. 1985 |17 May 1988
Greece |15 Oct. 1985 |6 Sept. 1989
Hungary |6 April 1992 |21 March 1994
Iceland |20 Nov. 1985 |25 March 1991
Italy |15 Oct. 1985 |11 May 1990
Liechtenstein |15 Oct. 1985 |11 May 1988
Luxembourg |15 Oct. 1985 |15 May 1987
Malta |13 July 1993 |6 Sept. 1993
Netherlands |7 Jan. 1988 |20 March 1991
Norway |26 May 1989 |26 May 1989
Poland |19 Feb. 1993 |22 Nov. 1993
Portugal |15 Oct. 1985 |18 Dec. 1990
Slovenia |11 Oct. 1994
Spain |15 Oct. 1985 |8 Nov. 1988
Sweden |4 Oct. 1988 |29 Aug. 1989
Turkey |21 Nov. 1988 |9 Dec. 1992
Energy Conservation Bill
Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the parish, town and community councils which have made representations to the Government regarding the Energy Conservation Bill.
Mr. Robert B. Jones: During 1994 the Government have received letters from about 500 members of the public and local councils concerning this Bill, and a larger number on energy efficiency generally. Detailed analysis could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
Water Companies
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each of the separate water companies established since privatisation and for each (a) month and (b) year since the companies were privatised, (i) the total number of disconnections carried out by each company and (ii) the percentage of customers of each company this total represents.
Mr. Gummer: The Director General of Water services publishes data on disconnections twice a year, by water company area, for both domestic and non-domestic customers. Information about the numbers of disconnections in the six months to 30 September 1994 showing, for domestic disconnections, the rate per 10,000 households billed, together with numbers of disconnections in each year since 1989 90, was published in an Ofwat news release on 15 November. Copies of this and earlier Ofwat news releases containing similar information are in the Library.
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Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment by what date he expects to reply to the letter concerning future options for water charging sent to him on 30 September 1994 by the Water Services Association and Water Companies Association; what plans he has for announcing the contents of his reply; if he will place a copy of his reply in the Libraries of both Houses; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer: The letter from the associations setting out their views on future methods of charging for water is still being considered. A reply will be sent in due course.
National Rivers Authority
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list (a) all areas of activity currently undertaken by the National Rivers Authority to which the duty of the National Rivers Authority to further conservation apply and (b) any specific such areas of activity or specific activities to which this duty will not apply under his current plans for an environment agency for England and Wales;
(2) if he will publish the exact wording of the clause which he intends to introduce into the Environment Agency Bill to carry forward the current duty of the National Rivers Authority to further conservation; whether this new duty will apply across the full and complete scope of activities of the proposed environment agency for England and Wales; and if he will list all duties which he currently envisages being carried out by the environment agency for England and Wales to which this new duty will not apply.
Mr. Gummer: As I advised the House on 18 November, I wish there to be no doubt about the conservation and sustainable development role of the agency; I am providing a clear duty for the agency not simply to consider conservation issues in relation to all the agency's functions, but to further conservation as appropriate.
The Environment Bill, presented for first reading in another place on 1 December, sets out the conservation duties of the proposed environment agency in clauses 6 and 7.
The conservation duties of the National Rivers Authority are set out in clauses 2 and 16 of the Water Resources Act 1991.
Local Government Reorganisation
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, what arrangements he proposes to make for the costs of local government reorganisation in 1995 96.
Mr. Curry: In his statement yesterday, my right hon. Friend announced that provision of £50 million has been made for the transitional costs of local government reorganisation in 1995 96. Following extensive consultation with local authorities on draft proposals, I am today issuing the details of arrangements under which reorganised authorities will be able to apply for additional resources, in the form of supplementary credit approvals, to cover reorganisation costs in 1995 96. Copies have been placed in the Library.
Invitations will be issued next week to authorities in the Isle of Wight, Cleveland, Avon, North Yorkshire and Humberside to submit applications under the scheme.
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Integrated Pollution Control
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether a change is to be made to the scheme of fees and charges for integrated pollution control operated by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.
Mr. Atkins: A minor change to the HMIP integrated pollution control fees and charges scheme 1994 95 is to take effect retrospectively from 1 June 1994. It introduces a provisional application fee of nil for a number of processes included under IPC by the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations, pending further consultation on possible amendment to those regulations.
Copies of the amendment to the scheme are being placed in the Library of both Houses.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Rape
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give the number of cases of rape heard by (a) male and (b) female judges each year since 1990.
Mr. John M. Taylor: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
WALES
Ophthalmology
Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the number of referrals from general practitioners to ophthalmology out- patients clinics for 1990 91 and 1991 92.
Mr. Richards: The number of referrals to NHS hospital out-patient departments for the specialty of ophthalmology was as follows:
Year |Number ---------------------- 1990-91 |45,303 1991-92 |44,514
Cable Network Franchising
Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has for extending cable network franchising in Wales.
Mr. Redwood: Today, the Independent Television Commission is preparing to advertise new franchises for much of south Wales early next year. Franchises for north Wales will follow.
The ITC will consider further franchises as soon as it receives expressions of interest.
I want the whole of Wales to benefit from the broad band communication revolution and look forward to expressions of interest from companies.
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PRIME MINISTER
Nuclear Proliferation
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what matters in regard to nuclear proliferation were discussed during his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart on 28 November.
The Prime Minister: Non-proliferation was not raised in my meeting, but my right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, discussed non- proliferation in south Asia with the Pakistani Prime Minister when he called on her on 30 November 1994.
Honours System
Dr. Wright: To ask the Prime Minister upon what grounds the grant of an honour may be withdrawn; and in which cases this has happened since 1979.
The Prime Minister: The statutes of most orders of knighthood and the royal warrants of decorations and medals include provision for the Queen to "cancel and annul" appointments and awards. Cancellation is considered in cases where retention of the appointment or award would bring the honours system into disrepute. There are no set guidelines for cancellations, which are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Since 1979, the London Gazette has published details of cancellations of 15 appointments and awards--three knighthoods, one CBE, five OBEs, four MBEs and two BEMs.
Dr. Wright: To ask the Prime Minister how many Conservative hon. Members have received knighthoods since 1979.
The Prime Minister: One hundred and fifteen Conservative hon. Members have received knighthoods since 1979.
Former Ministers
Dr. Wright: To ask the Prime Minister which rules cover former Ministers who wish to take appointments in the private sector; and what plans he has to reconsider such rules.
The Prime Minister: Guidance is contained in paragraph 105 of "Question of Procedure for Ministers". This matter is within the terms of reference of the Nolan committee and I will consider the guidance in the light of any recommendations that it may make.
Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister what documentary evidence is available to Her Majesty's Government to support the belief that the bomb which destroyed Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie was dispatched from Luqa airport, Malta.
The Prime Minister: My noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to establish the allegations made in the criminal charges against the two Libyans accused, which include the
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allegation that the bomb was introduced on to an aircraft at Luqa airport, Malta. However, he cannot give details of that evidence while criminal proceedings are pending.SCOTLAND
Sports Clubs
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total amount of discretionary rates relief given to Scottish sports clubs in the current year; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 1 December 1994]: Provisional figures provided by regional and islands authorities indicate that the total amount of discretionary rates relief given to Scottish sports clubs in 1994 95 will be £3.464 million.
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