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Mr. Stewart: The extra financial assistance from the Government to the local authorities affected by last month's severe flooding in Strathclyde takes a variety of forms.
First, the Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance to local authorities has been activated as regards the whole of Strathclyde region. It is therefore open to all authorities within Strathclyde to submit claims for grant under the scheme. No formal claims have yet been received, as again the local authorities are still assessing their costs. Authorities have until 31 May 1995 to submit their claims. It is therefore too early to estimate what the final amounts of any Bellwin grant payable as a result of the flooding might be.
Secondly, a supplementary housing capital allocation of £100,000 was made to Renfrew district council in respect of the cost of re-housing persons made homeless by the flooding and carrying out repairs to council housing stock. I also announced that a further £150,000 was being made available to meet further capital housing requirements in the current financial year for any of the district councils in the affected area: as yet no request has been received for any part of these additional resources.
Thirdly, supplementary non-housing capital allocations totalling £1.365 million was made to Strathclyde regional council for 1994 95. These related to a variety of services, primarily roads and transport and water and sewerage, and met in full the request for additional capital resources made by the regional council. We have advised the district councils affected that we will consider sympathetically, so far as available resources allow, any requests from them for additional non- housing capital allocations for the current financial year. So far no such requests have been received.
Finally, we have made it clear to the local authorities concerned that we will take into account when setting both housing and non-housing capital allocations for 1995 96 any reasonable requests from them for additional resources arising from the flooding. Again no such requests have yet been received, as I understand that the authorities concerned are still assessing the costs to them of the flooding.
We continue to be in close touch with the local authorities and will respond to any requests from them as quickly as possible.
Shipbuilding
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the size of the shipbuilding industry in Scotland in 1979; and what its size is now.
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Mr. Stewart: In 1979, the shipbuilding industry in Scotland employed about 18,800 people in 12 shipyards, excluding ship repair and boat building yards. In 1994, the industry employed 5,200 people in five shipyards, again excluding ship repair and boat building.
Training in Scotland
Mr. Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the allocation of the budgets for Training in Scotland from 1994 95 and 1995 96.
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Mr. Stewart: In 1994 95, a total of £210.063 million was allocated to Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to fund their respective training programmes. The planning figure for 1995 96, which includes provision for the package of training measures announced last year in the White Paper on Competitiveness, is £212.213 million: this figure is subject to parliamentary approval of the estimates. A breakdown of the allocations is as follows:
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£ millions
1994-95 1995-96 (plans)
|Highlands and |Highlands and
|Scottish Enterprise|Islands Enterprise |Scottish Enterprise|Islands Enterprise
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Youth training |87.0 |6.451 |91.386 |6.731
Adult training/training for work |88.431 |5.302 |79.328 |4.925
Enterprise training/training and education support |21.183 |1.696 |27.740 |2.103
Councillors' Allowances
Mr. Kynoch: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the outcome of the recent consultation exercise on councillors' allowances; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stewart: A total of around 50 responses were received to the consultation paper. In the light of these comments, my right hon. Friend has decided to bring forward amending regulations which will apply to the shadow and islands councils from April 1995 onwards. The new system will recognise the workload that councillors will have to undertake after reorganisation and will allow local authorities greater flexibility. The draft regulations will:
provide a Scottish quantum of around £7 million for the payment of basic allowance to all councillors; this may include a discretionary attendance allowance scheme of up to 25 per cent. of each council's share of the quantum;
require the Scottish quantum to be distributed on the basis of population within each of the new council areas in three bandwidths. Details of the three bandwidths and the amount each authority will use to calculate its share of the quantum for basic/attendance allowance are given below. The sum available for each council is calculated by multiplying the figures given by the number of councillors.
leave decisions on the payment of special responsibility allowance at the discretion of councils themselves, who will have to balance their priorities and needs in determining payments. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has indicated its willingness to issue guidance on the level of special responsibility allowances which might be paid;
require that where special responsibility allowance is paid councils will, as at present, pay the allowance to at least one member of an opposition group.
require councils to publish details of their allowances scheme and to publish an annual report of payments made to individual councillors.
My right hon. Friend will consult local authority interests on the draft regulations with the intention that the new system will be in place for the shadow and islands councils in April 1995. The present arrangements for the payment of councillors' allowances will remain in place for the existing mainland councils until the new councils take over in April 1996.
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Basic/attendance allowance
Population over
150,000
--------------------------------------------------------------
City of Aberdeen |6,000
Aberdeenshire |6,000
City of Dundee |6,000
City of Edinburgh |6,000
Fife |6,000
City of Glasgow |6,000
Highland |6,000
North Lanarkshire |6,000
South Lanarkshire |6,000
Renfrewshire |6,000
Population 100,000-150,000
Angus |5,500
East Ayrshire |5,500
North Ayrshire |5,500
South Ayrshire |5,500
The Borders |5,500
Dumfries and Galloway |5,500
East Dunbartonshire |5,500
Falkirk |5,500
West Lothian |5,500
Perth and Kinross |5,500
Population up to 100,000
Argyll and Bute |5,000
Clackmannan |5,000
Dumbarton and Clydebank |5,000
Inverclyde |5,000
East Lothian |5,000
Midlothian |5,000
Moray |5,000
Orkney Islands Council |5,000
East Renfrewshire |5,000
Shetland Islands Council |5,000
Stirling |5,000
Western Isles Islands Council |5,000
The Secretary of State also proposes to align where practicable the rates of travel and subsistence payable to elected members of local authorities with those paid to local authority officials. A circular to local authorities giving details of the new rates which will be effective from 1 April 1994 will be issued in due course.
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GP Fundholders
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much has been received in management allowances by each general practitioner fundholding practice for each financial year since its establishment.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 18 January 1995]: The information requested is not available centrally. The monitoring of individual fundholder's management allowances is the responsibility of individual health boards as part of their role in monitoring the overall performance of fundholders in management of their fund. The allowance has a maximum level--£35,000 for 1994 95 which no practice can exceed.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures are being taken in each health board area in Scotland to promote general practitioner fundholding; how many general practitioner fundholding practices are currently operating within each health board area; and how much it has cost for each health board to promote this policy.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 18 January 1995]: The information requested on current numbers of operational GP fundholding practices is as set out in the table. Each health board is responsible for the promotion of GP fundholding in its area and decides its own measures to promote the scheme. The expenditure incurred is largely indirect costs which are not separately identifiable within overall health board expenditure.
|Number of GP
|fundholders
|currently
|operational
------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |5
Ayrshire and Arran |4
Borders |2
Dumfries and Galloway |1
Fife |4
Forth Valley |4
Grampian |31
Greater Glasgow |11
Highland |3
Lanarkshire |15
Lothian |18
Orkney |-
Shetland |-
Tayside |9
Western Isles |-
Scotland |107
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the general practitioner fundholders currently operating in Scotland, for each health board area, and the dates when these practices were established.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 18 January 1995]: According to the latest information provided by health boards there are currently 107 operational fundholders in Scotland. As listing all with dates of establishment would be rather lengthy I shall arrange for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money has been spent on
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management allowances for general practitioner fundholders for each health board area during the financial year 1993 94; and how much the Scottish Office estimates will be spent on general practitioner fundholder allowances during the financial year 1994 95.Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 18 January 1995]: The information requested is given in the table. GP fundholding has delivered many improvements in quality of care for patients. The costs of the management allowance--at about 2 per cent. of budgets set represents excellent value for money.
The estimated expenditure for 1994 95 is based on health board forecasts. GP practices can be approved for entry to the fundholding scheme at any point during the year and therefore the estimate of expenditure for 1994 95 may underestimate actual expenditure.
|1994-95
|1993-94 |£000
Health board |£000 |(estimated)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |169 |175
Ayrshire and Arran |131 |140
Borders |54 |80
Dumfries and Galloway |32 |95
Fife |84 |153
Forth Valley |135 |169
Grampian |1,006 |1,190
Greater Glasgow |275 |509
Highland |100 |105
Lanarkshire |418 |543
Lothian |428 |717
Orkney |- |-
Shetland |- |-
Tayside |282 |322
Western Isles |- |-
|3,114 |4,198
1. The expenditure includes both revenue and capital
components.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment the Scottish Office has made of the impact of general practitioner fundholding on patient care.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 18 January 1995]: The Scottish Office has provided funding for an independent evaluation of the impact of GP fundholding on patient care. This evaluation is currently being carried out by a team led by Professor John Howie from the department of general practice at Edinburgh university. The final report is due for publication during 1995.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what target has been set by the Scottish Office for the number of general practitioner fundholding practices for each health board area in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The Scottish Office has not specifically set a target number of general practitioner fundholding practices for each health board area in Scotland. However, all health boards other than Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles have agreed with the NHS Management Executive an objective of achieving at least 30 per cent. coverage of the population by 1995 96.
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Civil Servants
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in his Department have reported an offer of employment from an outside employer since February 1993 as required under the civil service management code; and how many of these reports were followed by an application to join the company concerned.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 18 January 1995]: Five members of staff have reported an offer of employment from an outside employer since February 1993.
All these reports were followed by an application to join the company concerned.
Private Patients
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many in -patient and out-patient private patients were treated in NHS hospitals; and what was
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the total income earned from private patients in each of the last five years, and by health board area.Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 13 January 1995]: The figures in the tables have been taken from health board annual accounts and from 1992 93 a combination of health board and NHS trust annual accounts. The figures for 1993 94 are provisional. The number of in-patient and out-patient private patients treated in NHS hospitals for the years 1991 92 to 1993 94 is set out in table 1. The figures for 1989 90 and 1990 91 are not available centrally. The income earned from private patients in each of the last five years by health board area is set out in table 2. The figure for Greater Glasgow in 1993 94 includes overseas patients, and can therefore not be compared directly with those for earlier years.
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Table 1
1991-92 1992-93 1993-94
Health board |In-patients |Out-patients|In-patients |Out-patients|In-patients |Out-patients
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |259 |625 |52 |704 |104 |541
Ayr and Arran |1,217 |318 |410 |215 |406 |194
Borders |182 |60 |214 |119 |142 |84
Dumfries and Galloway |0 |320 |0 |249 |0 |271
Fife |20 |0 |5 |8 |10 |9
Forth Valley |195 |174 |142 |210 |163 |363
Grampian |1,674 |1,644 |214 |368 |169 |330
Greater Glasgow |77 |29 |114 |39 |85 |389
Highland |282 |209 |230 |146 |412 |196
Lanarkshire |0 |24 |0 |1 |0 |3
Lothian |749 |395 |845 |485 |61 |428
Orkney |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Shetland |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Tayside |724 |848 |733 |950 |233 |471
Western Isles |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Total |5,379 |4,646 |2,959 |3,494 |1,785 |3,279
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Table 2
£000
Health board |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 |1993-94
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |69 |57 |49 |43 |36
Ayr and Arran |144 |174 |234 |142 |115
Borders |22 |32 |42 |52 |32
Dumfries and Galloway |3 |5 |6 |6 |8
Fife |1 |1 |4 |0 |1
Forth Valley |82 |22 |37 |33 |55
Grampian |304 |328 |473 |563 |567
Greater Glasgow |34 |43 |12 |19 |485
Highland |28 |37 |54 |60 |117
Lanarkshire |0 |0 |0 |0 |1
Lothian |212 |255 |548 |608 |802
Orkney |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Shetland |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Tayside |130 |162 |184 |193 |244
Western Isles |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
Total |1,029 |1,116 |1,643 |1,719 |2,463
HOME DEPARTMENT
Armley Prison
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners at HM prison, Armley have been on suicide watch for each month since January 1991;
(2) how many complaints have been received at HM prison, Armley from solicitors and probation officers in each year since 1990; and if he will list the nature of them;
(3) what is the number of prison officers at HM prison, Armley as a percentage of the officially assessed establishment figure; (4) how many prisoners at HM prison, Armley have been (a) held in Armley for each year to date since 1989, (b) held on remand for each year to date since 1989, (c) detained for non payment of fines for each year to date since 1989 and (d) transferred from HM prison, Everthorpe subsequent to the recent disturbances there; how many prisoners there are detained three to a cell; when all the new wings will be fully operational; and if he will make a statement; (5) how many staff were employed at HM prison, Armley (a) in administration, (b) as prison officers and (c) educational staff for each year to date from 1989;
(6) how many prisoners in HM prison, Armley have unsupervised access to a telephone;
(7) for how many hours per (a) day and (b) week prisoners at HM prison, Armley are detained in their cells.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for these matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Philippa Drew to Mr. John Battle, dated 19 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions about Leeds prison.
The decision to keep a prisoner on special watch because of the risk of suicide or self harm is noted on the individual prisoner medical records and the computerised local inmate database system, which is updated daily. No central statistical records are kept. The governor of Leeds and the area manager receive a number of enquiries from solicitors and probation staff on a wide variety of matters. Common subjects include sentence calculation, court production and personal injury claims. Copies of such correspondence are kept with the prisoners' individual records, and again no central records are maintained.
The budgeted number of prison officer grades for Leeds is 360. Staffing levels are being reviewed at Leeds to determine the required staffing level for the work being undertaken. There are 361 officer grades employed in discipline duties at Leeds.
The average daily population at Leeds prison in the years 1989 to date was as follows:
P
|Remand
|All prisoners |prisoners |Fine defaulters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989 |1,244 |626 |16
1990 |1,064 |487 |14
1991 |929 |457 |17
1992 |881 |390 |20
1993 |927 |445 |20
1994<1> |1,073 |458 |18
<1> 1994 figures are for January-November.
Forty eight prisoners were transferred to Leeds from Everthorpe prison after the recent disturbance.
The new accommodation at Leeds (E and F wings) is fully operational. "A" wing has been closed for refurbishment. No prisoners are held three to a cell designed for one prisoner.
The information on staff employed at the prison is as follows:
|Officer grades
|Administration |(including |Education staff
|grades |specialists) |(full-time)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989 |48 |321 |7
1990 |48 |318 |7
1991 |50.5 |332 |7.5
1992 |50.5 |363 |6.5
1993 |58 |428 |<1>6
1994 |58.5 |434 |<1>6
<1>Full-time staff contracted from Manchester College since August 1993.
The figures for education staff do not include teaching staff employed on a sessional basis, whose number varies throughout the academic year. The present contract allows for the services of up to 14 part-time teachers to be used.
On average prisoners in Leeds spend 17 hours per day (119 hours per week) in their cells. The minimum time out of cell for any prisoner is three hours, the maximum twelve hours. The governor aims to increase the amount of time prisoners can spend out of their cells by restructuring shift working practices. In the longer term, a new education block and workshops are planned to provide more activity places.
No prisoners at Leeds have unsupervised access to a cardphone. All calls are recorded and may be remotely monitored by staff.
Policing, Shoreham
Mr. Stephen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the cost of policing at Shoreham harbour in West Sussex.
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Sussex as to the cost of policing the demonstrations against the export of live calves at Shoreham harbour; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard: I understand that the latest estimate of the costs of policing the demonstrations against animal shipments at Shoreham is £1.9 million. Fifty-one per cent. of all expenditure incurred by Sussex police in 1994 95 will be met by Home Office grant. The force should look first to its county councils for any extra cash needed. The force budget for the current financial year is some £4 million below its standard spending assessment. Making up that shortfall would attract a further £4 million in Home Office grant, and would give the force increased resources of £8 million in all. This would more than cover the reported costs of the Shoreham demonstrations.
The Government have played its part in ensuring that the Sussex police force is adequately funded. Our current proposals will enable Sussex to spend next year up to £18 million, or 14 per cent., more than it planned to spend in 1994 95.
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is his current estimate of the total overtime payments made to police officers involved in policing the protests at Shoreham;
(2) what has been the total cost to date of the police presence at Shoreham in connection with calf exports.
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Mr. Howard: I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I have given today to a question from the hon. Member for Shoreham (Mr. Stephen).
Overtime payments made to police officers involved in policing the demonstrations could be identified only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Responsibilities
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the division of responsibilities and relationship between his departmental Ministers and agencies.
Mr. Howard: The relative responsibilities of Ministers and chief executives of Home Office executive agencies are set out in the framework documents of those agencies, copies of them are available in the Library.
Prison Catering
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for (a) Doncaster, (b) Lindholme, (c) Wolds, (d) Wakefield, (e) Durham women's wing and (f) New Hall, Wakefield prisons the organisations providing catering; and what are the per capita costs of catering for each establishment.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Philippa Drew to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the
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cost of providing catering services to Doncaster, Lindholme, Wolds, Wakefield, Durham and New Hall prisons.For Wolds and Doncaster, I would refer you to Tony Butler's reply to your earlier Question about the cost of food at privately managed prisons (Hansard 17 February 1994, column 797).
At Lindholme, Wakefield, Durham and New Hall, the catering is provided by Prison Service staff. The costs per inmate day for each establishment are:
|Staff Costs|Food Costs
|£ |£
------------------------------------------------
Lindholme |1.05 |1.36
Wakefield |1.10 |1.36
Durham |1.08 |1.36
New Hall |1.20 |1.38
Prisoners
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for (a) Doncaster, (b) Lindholme, (c) Wolds, (d) Wakefield, (e) Durham women's wing and (f) New Hall, Wakefield prisons, the average number of hours per week which prisoners spend in structured activities for each of the last six months.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Philippa Drew to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 19 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the average number of hours per week which prisoners have spent in structured activities during the last six months at Doncaster, Lindholme, Wolds, Wakefield, Durham women's wing and New Hall prisons.
The information requested is given in the following table:
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Activity hours per prisoner per week
|July |August |September|October |November |December
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durham |20.2 |18.1 |23.8 |25.5 |25.0 |25.2
Lindholme |30.8 |30.3 |29.3 |28.2 |28.4 |27.0
New Hall |27.8 |28.2 |26.8 |27.9 |32.3 |31.8
Wakefield |21.8 |19.6 |21.5 |20.5 |20.7 |18.9
Wolds |21.4 |23.3 |21.2 |22.2 |23.3 |22.5
Doncaster |n/a |n/a |18.8 |19.2 |19.0 |21.3
Algeria
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to prevent funds being collected in Britain to fund terrorist movements in Algeria.
Mr. Howard: I take very seriously any suggestion that foreign terrorist groups are receiving support from within this country and accordingly I ensure that the police and the Security Service have the resources and powers that they need to counter effectively any attempts to raise money here to fund terrorist attacks abroad. Any relevant information which comes to the attention of these services is thoroughly investigated, with a view to action under the criminal law, including the prevention of terrorism legislation, or under the Immigration Act 1971.
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Executive Agencies
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, for each of his Department's executive agencies, the names of those people whose appointments he has approved that have served in (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Air Force and (c) the Royal Navy; and what service rank they last held.
Prison Staff, Pentonville
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will be pursuing disciplinary proceedings against the prison staff involved in restraining Omasase Lumumba in Pentonville prison.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison
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Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Graham Allen, dated 19 January 1995:The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about disciplinary action against the prison staff involved in restraining Mr Omasase Lumumba in Pentonville prison.
A full internal Prison Service investigation into the death of Mr Lumumba concluded that there was no evidence to justify disciplinary action against any individual officer. That remains the position.
Doncaster Prison
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths occurred in Doncaster prison in 1994; and how many were suicides.
Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 19 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about Doncaster prison.
Since it opened on 20 June 1994, two prisoners have died in the prison. Of these one death (that of Ian Buck) has been officially recorded as a suicide. The other (that of Shaun Webster) has still to be determined by an inquest jury.
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