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|£
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Northern and Yorkshire Region
Royal Victoria Infirmary and |multi-storey car |3.2
Associated Hospitals National | park
Health Service Trust
South Thames Region
Eastbourne Hospitals National |clinical waste |3.0
Health Service Trust | incinerator
Merton Sutton and Wandsworth |residential |1.0
Health Authority | accommodation
Mid-Downs Health Authority |magnetic |1.0
(Princess Royal Hospital) | resonance imaging
Child Protection Register
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children (a) in the Hastings and Rother area, (b) nationally and (c) in east Sussex are on the child protection register.
Mr. Bowis: Figures in "Children and Young People on Child Protection Registers Year Ending 31 March 1994", copies of which are available in the Library, show that 0.32 and 0.60 per cent. of the population aged under 18 were on the child protection register at 31 March 1994 in England and east Sussex respectively. Information is not available centrally for areas smaller than local authorities.
Depressive Illness
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cases of clinical depression have been diagnosed in the NHS for each year since 1990;
(2) how many cases of seasonal affective disorder have been diagnosed in the NHS for each year since 1992.
Mr. Bowis: This information is not available centrally for England. The situation in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Insulin Pens
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the total annual projected cost of making the provision of insulin injection pens and needles available on general practitioner prescription.
Mr. Malone: The cost of making injection pens and needles prescribable by general practitioners would depend upon the price the Department is able to negotiate with the manufacturers, and the rate at which general practitioners prescribe them.
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Anabolic Steroids
Mr. Pendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 7 February, Official Report , column 158 , if she will list all seizures of anabolic steroids made by the Medicines Control Agency for each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville: The Medicines Control Agency does not keep separate statistics on the quantities of anabolic steroids seized as a result of its enforcement action.
However, investigations into the illegal trade in anabolic steroids remains a high priority of the MCA. During the last year, as a result of 28 investigations, anabolic steroids with a black market value of several million pounds were seized.
Reactive Hypoglycaemia
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what study she is making of the south Cumbria alternative sentencing options study, and other evidence as to the links between reactive hypoglycaemia and crime; and what plans her Department has to recognise reactive hypoglycaemia as a medical condition requiring further clinical study and research.
Mr. Sackville: We are not aware of the study to which the hon. Member refers. If the hon. Member sends me a copy, I will write to him.
The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant- in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each NHS trust the annual budget for public relations for (a) 1992 93, (b) 1993 94 and (c) 1994 95.
Mr. Sackville: We do not collect this information centrally. It is for each national health service trust to decide how much of its budget it should spend on public relations.
If the hon. Member is concerned at the public relations expenditure of a particular NHS trust, he should write to the chairman.
Disabled Living Centres
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each of the last three years the level of funding for disabled living centres by each district health authority.
Mr. Bowis: This information is not available centrally.
Deregulation
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ensure that the enforcement provisions contained in the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 apply to all regulations for which her Department is responsible, past, present and future; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs gave him today.
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Statutory Instruments
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the statutory instruments which her Department has sponsored in the last 12 months.
Mr. Sackville: A list be will placed in the Library.
The Royal Hospitals NHS Trust
Mr. Shore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her oral statement of 20 February, Official Report, column 31, on the London health service, what is the capital investment sum needed to provide at the Royal London Whitechapel site the services and facilities to be withdrawn from the London child hospital, the Queen Elizabeth hospital for children and St. Bartholomew's hospital; over what time scale the expansion of the Whitechapel site will take place; and how much of the capital needed will be provided by her Department.
Mr. Malone: The estimated gross capital cost of the proposed single site option, phased over five or six years, as set out in the consultation document "Health Services for the Future" published by East London and the City health authority, is £202 million. This is £106 million more than the £96 million needed to maintain the status quo.
Funding sources will be confirmed when the Royal Hospitals Trust has developed its full business case following the outcome of public consultation.
Paracetamol
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the link between paracetamol use and the occurrence of migraine.
Mr. Sackville: The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Control Agency continually monitor the safety of all licensed medicines in the United Kingdom, including products that contain paracetamol. Since 1964, there has been one report of migraine as a suspected adverse reaction to paracetamol. An estimated 2,000 million paracetamol tablets are sold in the United Kingdom each year. The alleged link between paracetamol and the occurrence of migraine has not been substantiated.
London Ambulance Service
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what number and percentage of emergency ambulance calls in London took 14 minute and each subsequent number of minutes up to 90 minutes in January.
Mr. Sackville: Information from the London ambulance service has been placed in the Library.
Primary Care, London
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her oral statement of 20 February, Official Report, column 40, regarding further investment in primary care initiatives of £85 million in London, if she will list the areas which will receive it, the amounts that they will receive and the initiatives that will be funded.
Mr. Malone: The areas are those covered by the London initiative zone--LIZ:
Brent (excluding Harrow)
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Ealing, Hammersmith and HounslowKensington, Chelsea and Westminster
Barking (excluding Havering)
Camden and Islington
City and East London
Eastern Enfield and Edmonton area of Haringey
Waltham Forest (excluding Redbridge)
Greenwich (excluding Bexley but including Thamesmead)
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham
Wandsworth (excluding Sutton and Merton)
North Croydon
The amount of funding each area receives will be determined by North and South Thames regional health authorities and will be based on plans submitted by local health authorities.
The investment will fund a wide range of primary and community care schemes, details of which can be obtained from local health authorities. A total of £10 million of the investment will be specifically allocated to develop a new educational programme for London general practitioners as I announced on 16 February 1995. Details of the schemes which will form part of this programme can be obtained from the Thames regional health authorities.
Residential Care
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has of the extent to which local authorities have used their discretion to increase the personal expenses allowance of a married person in long-term residential care to enable them to support their spouse remaining at home; on how many occasions this rule has been operated by a local authority because the whole of a resident's occupational pension has been used to pay for the costs of care; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis: This information is not available centrally. The Government have reminded local authorities that they have discretion to vary the resident's personal expenses allowance to assist the spouse remaining at home.
Child Care
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest estimate of the number of mothers who do not live with or directly care for their natural dependent children.
Mr. Sackville: No suitable estimate is available.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Equal Opportunities
Mr.Booth: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the current position in the civil service regarding equality of opportunity for women, people of ethnic minority origin and disabled people.
Mr. David Hunt: I am pleased to announce the publication today of the first in a series of annual data summaries of equal opportunities in the civil service. The Government are committed to equality of opportunity for all people and is determined that the civil service should set the best possible example. Figures show that, taking the service as a whole, steady progress has been made
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over the last five years by women, individuals with disabilities and members of ethnic minorities. They make up a higher proportion of the service overall and are increasingly to be found at senior grade levels.Hon. Members may also like to see an Office of Public Service and Science paper describing in more detail the current situation regarding ethnic minorities in the civil service. "Equal Opportunities in the civil service for People of Ethnic Minority Origin" was presented to the Home Secretary's advisory council on race relations by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary, OPSS, on 26 January 1995. Copies of both publications have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Science Budget
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, if he will make a statement on the allocation of the science budget.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy announced the allocation of the science budget of £1,281.675 million for 1995 96, subject to parliamentary approval of the Supply estimates, Official Report , 2 February, column 754.
The figures for the two subsequent financial years have now been provided to assist the bodies funded from the science budget with their forward planning. As the table shows, part of the provision has not been attributed to individual bodies at this stage, in order to provide flexibility to target funding to emerging high priority initiatives, including those resulting from the technology foresight exercise. The total provision will also be reviewed in the normal way in the forthcoming public expenditure survey. Actual allocations for 1996 97 will be announced early next year following advice from the Director-General of Research Councils.
Science budget: Planning figures for financial years 1996-97 and
1997-99
|1996-97 |1997-98
|£ million|£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council |160.03 |161.63
Economic and Social Research Council |60.63 |61.23
Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council |354.96 |358.51
Medical Research Council |275.06 |277.81
Natural Environment Research Council |153.94 |155.48
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research
Council<1> |196.37 |196.37
Royal Society |20.79 |20.79
Royal Academy of Engineering |2.62 |2.62
Pensions |34.77 |37.06
OST initiatives |2.25 |2.25
High performance computing<2> |12.21 |12.21
Additional funding for LINK |6.00 |12.00
Technology Foresight/strategic initiatives |20.76 |31.43
Total |1,300.39 |1,329.39
Notes:
1. includes £8 million provision for international subscriptions reserve
(to be adjusted as necessary to provide the agreed level of cover).
2. high-performance computing was previously included within the EPSRC
allocation.
Hydrates Research
Mr. David Porter: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the British contribution to the research ship Joides Resolution experimental drilling programme for hydrates in the Atlantic; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: One scientist, a microbiologist from the geomicrobiology group of Bristol university, will join the programme for part of December 1995 to investigate the contribution of bacteria to the formation and breakdown of the gas hydrate.
Civil Servants (Fast Stream)
Mrs. Maddox: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of those accepted for fast-stream entry for which his Department is responsible in (a) 1991, (b) 1992, (c) 1993 and (d) 1994 were women.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: For the departments and agencies for which my right hon. Friend is responsible, and other areas which fall within the Cabinet Office vote, the information is as follows:
|1993|1994
----------------------------------
Total |42 |41
Women |16 |17
Women (percentage) |38 |41
The figures include European fast streamers who are subsequently assigned to Departments.
Information for the years 1991 and 1992 is contained in the Civil Service Commissioners' report for the relevant year. Copies of the reports are available in the Library.
Multiple Sclerosis
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much the Medical Research Council spent on research into multiple sclerosis in (a) 1993 94 and (b) the current year.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes: The Medical Research Council is the main agency through which the Government support medical and related biological research. It receives its grant in aid from my Department. The MRC is an independent body deciding what research to support in the light of its own judgment of priorities and the quality of research application it receives. The council is always willing to consider soundly based scientific proposals in competition with other applications for research funding.
The MRC supports a wide range of neurological research relevant to multiple sclerosis--in particular, studies of the neuromuscular system. The 1993 94 funding in this area was a total of £19 million. The council's specific expenditure on multiple sclerosis in the financial year 1993 94, the latest year for which figures are available, was £137,000. It is not yet possible to provide figures for the current financial year. In addition, the MRC's initiative on the neuroscience approach to human health will help to promote several approaches which may be relevant to the disease.
Besides MRC-funded work, there is also research being undertaken in various universities and NHS hospitals with
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public funding. However, information is not collected centrally on other Government-funded research on multiple sclerosis.Sick Leave
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report , columns 124 28 , what factors underlie the disparity between the figure given for sickness absence at the Department of National Heritage in 1993 and the figure given in the answer from the Secretary of State for National heritage to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Mr. Chidgey) of 25 January, Official Report , column 195 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The figure given in the answer of 25 January by the Secretary of State for National Heritage was for the number of spells of absence and not the number of days lost. The number of days lost is as given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member of Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report , column 756 , what factors underlie the disparity between the figure given for sickness absence at the Chessington computer centre in 1993 and the figure given in his answer to the hon. Member of Eastleigh of 26 January, Official Report , column 756 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February is based on workings days lost--excluding weekends and public holidays. The figure given in the answer of 26 January was calculated including weekends and public holidays, as explained in the letter from the chief executive.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report, columns 124-28, what factors underlie the disparity between the figure given for sickness absence at the Lord Advocate's Department in 1993 and the figure given in the answer from the Secretary of State for Scotland to the hon. Member for Eastleigh of 31 January, Official Report, column 651 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February is based upon workings days lost--excluding weekends and public holidays. The figure given in the answer of 31 January by the Secretary of State for Scotland was calculated including weekends and public holidays.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report, columns 124-28 , what factors underlie the disparity between the figure given for sickness absence at the Intervention Board in 1993 and the figure given in the answer from the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the hon. Member for Eastleigh on 3 February,
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Official Report, columns 923-24; and if he will make a statement.Mr Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February was for 1993. The figure given in the answer of 3 February by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was for 1994 as requested.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report, columns 124-28 what factors underlie the disparity between the figures given for sickness absence at the Government property lawyers in 1993 and the figure given in the answer from the Attorney-General to the hon. Member for Eastleigh of 27 January, Official Report, columns 409; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February is based upon working days lost--excluding weekends and public holidays. The figure given in the answer of 27 January by the Attorney-General was calculated including weekends and public holidays.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report, columns 124-28 , what factors underlie the disparity between the figures given for sickness absence at the Serious Fraud Office in 1993 and the figure given in the answer from the Attorney- General to the hon. Member for Eastleigh of 27 January, Official Report, column 409 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February is based upon full-time equivalent staff years, excluding casual workers. The figure given in the answer of 27 January by the Attorney-General is based upon total staff, including casual workers. The remaining difference is accounted for by differing is accounted for by differing techniques for counting sickness absence, which extends over more than one year.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report, columns 124-28, what factors underlie the disparity between the figure given for sickness absence at the Public Record Office in 1993 and the figure given in the answer from the Lord Chancellor to the hon. Member for Eastleigh of 25 January, Official Report, column 389 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in my answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February was expressed as days lost per staff year. The figure given in the answer of 25 January by the Lord Chancellor used a lost time rate calculation which, when recalculated using the previous method, produces an analogous figure.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 February, Official Report, columns 124-28 , what factors underlie the disparity between the figure given for sickness absence at the
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Central Office of Information in 1993 and the figure given in his answer to the hon. Member for Eastleigh on 2 February, Official Report , column 754 ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The sickness absence figure given in answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 7 February is based upon working days lost--excluding weekends and public holidays. The figure given in the answer of 2 February was calculated including weekends and public holidays, as I explained in that answer.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member of Eastleigh of 16 February, Official Report, column 782 , what factors underlie his statement that the figure given for sickness absence at the Treasury Solicitor's Department in 1993, given in the answer from the Attorney-General of 27 January, Official Report, column 409 , also includes factors not attributable to sickness.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 24 February 1995]: The factors not attributed to sickness absence given in my answer of 16 February to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Mr. Chidgey) include maternity leave, special leave and secondment outside the Department.
Consultants
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are his latest estimates of the expenditure on all external consultants, including management consultants, for each year since 1987, in 1994 prices, for his Department and its agencies; and what are the quantified annual cost savings which such expenditure has resulted in.
Mr. Robert G. Hughes [holding answer 9 February 1995]: This information is not held centrally and for the period prior to 1992 93 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The costs of all external consultants, including management consultants, met by Cabinet Office, including the Office of Public Service and Science and its agencies, since 1992 93 are as follows:
$
Cabinet Office including OPSS and
its agencies<1>
|£
|1994 prices
------------------------------------
1992-93 |6,450,700
1993-94 |6,898,300
<1> Includes operational business
expenditure undertaken by CCTA on
behalf of other Departments.
The major portion of this expenditure is incurred by CCTA on information technology projects to enable Government Departments to enhance the effectiveness of their IT systems.
The costs of all external consultants, including management consultants, met by COI and HMSO since 1992 93 are as follows:
|£ (1994 Prices)
------------------------------------------------
COI
1992-93 |143,400
1993-94 |58,200
HMSO
1992 |431,100
1993 |1,082,200
1994 |1,750,750
Consultants are used in a variety of activities designed to produce different types of benefits. Much of the work undertaken by consultants is linked to the requirement of Government programmes such as training and designing IT systems, rather than cost saving exercises. In the financial year 1993 94 the OPSS spent £70,838 on consultancy support for its central market testing programme, which produced quantifiable savings of £393,924.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Postal Services
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects that a European Union policy for postal services will be in place; and what progress has been made towards this, so far.
Mr. Eggar: The European Council of Ministers' resolution of December 1993 mandated the Commission to bring forward proposals by July 1994 that defined the universal postal service and an appropriate area of reserved services, and established quality and technical standards. This flowed from the recommendations of the EC Green Paper on the development of the single market for postal services, published in June 1992. The Commission has not as yet come forward with these proposals: the delay, we understand, is due to problems with drafting the directives and debate about the appropriate legal basis. The Government will continue to press for draft directives, but it is too early to predict the likely time scale for their introduction, adoption and implementation.
Exports (Indonesia)
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report , columns 314-15 , with regard to the £17.1 million claims paid in respect of export credits for capital goods and projects to Indonesia in 1985 86 what percentage of those moneys related to exports unrelated to defence equipment.
Mr. Needham: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) on 6 December 1994, Official Report , column 125 .
Bank Receptions
Dr. John Cunningham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions since April 1992 banks and other commercial interests have hosted receptions for his Department; and if he will publish the names of the hosts involved in each event.
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