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consideration--would simply state this in their annual report and show where information about the code can be found. The DTI is also seeking views on two options for public companies that do not follow a code.Comments are sought by 11 May 1995.
Cable Companies
Mr. Allen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those cable companies franchised and licensed by (a) Oftel and (b) the Independent Television Commission stating, in each case, whether the company has reached its most recent agreed milestone; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ian Taylor: Compliance with the obligations contained in Telecommunications Act licences issued by my Department is a matter for the Director General of Telecommunications. I have therefore asked the director to write to the hon. Member with details of the 125 cable franchisees which have been licensed under both broadcasting and telecommunications legislation and whether they have complied with their most recent build obligations. In addition to these franchises, the ITC has
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awarded three further franchises which have yet to be licensed under the Telecommunications Act 1984. The franchises for west Kent, Blackpool and Fylde, and southern-east Anglia have been awarded to Eurobell, SBC Cablecomms and Cambridge Cable respectively.Debt Recovery
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what regulations currently apply to large companies when dealing with small businesses in relation to debt recovery; and what penalties he is considering introducing for large companies if they default on payments to small businesses.
Mr. Ian Taylor: Recovery of debt is a matter on which a number of statutory provisions and rules of common law impinge, both generally and in relation to specific circumstances and sectors. Not all of these are the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry.
In the White Paper on Competitiveness, (Cm 2563), in May 1994 the Government announced that they would re-examine the case for legislation for a statutory right to interest in two years if there has been no significant improvement in payment performance.
Palestine National Authority
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what initiatives his Department has undertaken to promote United Kingdom business in the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Needham: We have sponsored a number of inward visits to the UK of senior Palestinians involved in areas such as water, housing and the medical sector. Sir Derek Hornby, chairman of the British Overseas Trade Board, took a group of business men with him when he visited the occupied territories last October and discussions were held with several groups of Palestinian business men as well as with the Palestinian authorities. We look forward to further enhancing these ties as a result of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's forthcoming visit, where he will be accompanied by me and by a group of leading business people.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much Export Credits Guarantee Department cover is available for projects in the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Needham: No cover is currently available, although the situation is under review.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many projects financed by the Japanese funds have been won by United Kingdom companies in the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Needham: We are not aware that any UK firms have secured such contracts.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he next expects to meet the chairman of the Palestine National Authority to discuss trade matters of mutual interest.
Mr. Needham: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has no immediate plans to meet Chairman Arafat. However, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I, accompanied by a delegation of senior business men, will be meeting him in Gaza to discuss trade matters on 14 March. I last met Mr. Arafat in Tunis in March 1994.
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Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much Export Credits Guarantee Department cover has been already allocated to projects in the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions he has had with European Union Partners to promote European Union partner countries' business with the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the value of existing United Kingdom trade activity with the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Needham: No separate trade statistics exist for the occupied territories so it is not possible to make a realistic estimate of the level of trade activity.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from United Kingdom companies seeking assistance for business in or with the Palestine National Authority.
Mr. Needham: We have a continuing dialogue with a wide range of companies interested in this market.
Employment of Children
Mrs. Golding: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for making offences relating to employment of children grounds for disqualification as a company director.
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 contains a provision, in section 2, for the disqualification of a person who has been convicted of an indictable offence in connection with the management of a company, which would include matters relating to employment. It also provides, in section 6, for the disqualification of a person who has been a director of an insolvent company and whose conduct makes him unfit to be concerned in the management of a company.
It would be for the appropriate court to determine whether the circumstances fell within either of the provisions outlined above, and whether a disqualification order should be made. In the case of section 6, the court would have regard to the totality of unfit conduct of which the offence could form part.
There are no plans to extend section 2 of the CDDA to cover summary offences.
Post Office
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the Post Office complex buildings in Oldfield lane, Greenford, was sold; to whom and for what purposes; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Page: Matters relating to the day-to-day running of the Post Office business, such as the sale of Post Office buildings, are the responsibility of Post Office management. However, I understand that the buildings concerned have not yet been sold.
British Steel
Mr. MacShane: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of the United Kingdom steel crude industry and the engineering steel industry is under the
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control of British Steel following the British Steel purchase of GKN's interest in United Engineering Steels.Mr. Page: Based on tonnage output, British Steel produced approximately 75 per cent. of all UK crude steel produced last year. British Steel and UES together, based on last year's figures, would increase the percentage to approximately 82.5 per cent. with a similar figure for UK engineering steel production. However, the situation is fluid as output this year is increasing at present around 3 to 4 per cent.
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Steel Imports
Mr. MacShane: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the tonnage in tonnes of steel imported into the United Kingdom in each year since 1990 from (a) Germany, (b) Italy, (c) France, (d) Spain, (e) the former USSR, (f) Poland, (g) the Czech Republic/Slovakia and (h) the USA; and what was the percentage of total imports from each country.
Mr. Page: The information is in the table.
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UK imports of steel<1>
000 tonnes
1990 per cen1991 per cen1992 per cen1993 per cent.
of total of total of total of total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany |1,306|24.1 |1,719|30.8 |1,490|27.3 |1,342|27.3
Italy |264 |4.9 |275 |4.9 |303 |5.5 |306 |6.2
France |556 |10.3 |779 |14.0 |795 |14.5 |673 |13.7
Spain |396 |7.3 |391 |7.0 |406 |7.4 |340 |6.9
Former USSR |14 |0.3 |10 |0.2 |62 |1.1 |90 |1.8
Poland |75 |1.4 |67 |1.2 |67 |1.2 |52 |1.1
Czech Republic and Slovakia |38 |0.7 |25 |0.4 |62 |1.1 |50 |1.0
USA |31 |0.6 |53 |1.0 |58 |1.1 |43 |0.9
Other |2,731|50.5 |2,257|40.5 |2,222|40.7 |2,022|41.1
World total |5,411|100 |5,576|100 |5,465|100 |4,917|100
Source:
Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau.
Note:
<1> Products of the steel industry in the Standard Industrial Classification (
1980), Groups 221, 222 and 223.
Manufactures (Import Penetration)
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he is now able to publish firm figures for import penetration of the United Kingdom market for manufactures in 1993; and if he will publish (a) a table showing for 1988 and 1992 his best estimate of the sales value and volume of United Kingdom output of manufactures less food, drink and tobacco together with the value and volume of imports and exports of such manufactures and (b) a table showing the corresponding figures for manufactures including food, drink and tobacco.
Mr. Needham: Information for 1993 is expected to be published by the Central Statistical Office at the end of April 1995. The available information for 1988 is published in Central Statistical Office Business Monitor MQ12, available in the Library of the House. Figures for 1992 are not available.
Deregulation Orders
Mr. Steen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what deregulation orders the Government propose to bring forward in the next three months.
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The Government intend to bring forward a number of proposals under the deregulation order-making power.
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The Government agreed to a recommendation of the Procedure Committee that the new Deregulation Committee should be allowed 28 days before any orders were proposed.The first orders are likely to include some of those measures identified as candidates for the order-making power in "Cutting Red Tape", published in January 1994. Copies of that publication have been placed in the Library of the House.
British Coal
Mr. Tipping: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how British Coal's commitments under the Moynihan agreement will be carried out after British Coal is wound up; and what finance has been made available to meet these commitments.
Mr. Page: It is too soon to say when British Coal will be dissolved or what arrangements might be appropriate for the discharge of any obligations then outstanding. The financing of British Coal's specific obligations is a matter for the corporation, within the overall funding made available.
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Hydrates
Mr. David Porter: To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what assessment he makes of the quantities of hydrates contained in ocean sediments around the waters of the United Kingdom which could be commercially exploited to produce fuel; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what technological advice and financial support his Department is preparing to give to companies active in the North sea to assist them to explore for hydrates which can be turned into fuel; and if he will make a statement;
Mr. Page [holding answer 27 February 1995]: The Department of Trade and Industry, and its predecessor the Department of Energy, has funded research into the systematic mapping of the UK continental shelf over the last three decades ending in the early 1990s. No evidence was found to indicate the presence of hydrates. Further research is under way but not funded by the DTI.
Mr. Edmund Sykes
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when Ministers or officials of his Department last met Mr. Edmund Sykes.
Mr. Ian Taylor [holding answer 24 February 1995]: It is not possible to answer this question on the information provided.
HEALTH
Patients Charter
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will introduce into the patients charter a standard for the maximum delay for (a) the assessment and (b) the treatment of children with speech defects.
Mr. Malone: The patients charter already sets standards for maximum waiting times for in-patient treatment and out-patient treatment offered by hospital consultants. The national health service executive encourages the setting of challenging targets for other non-consultant out-patient clinics.
Civil Servants (Fast Stream)
Mrs. Maddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of those accepted for fast-stream entry for which her Department is responsible (a) in 1991, (b) 1992, (c) in 1993 and (d) in 1994 were women.
Mr. Sackville: The information requested for 1991 and 1992 is published in the Civil Service Commissioner's report for the relevant year, copies of which are available in the Library.
Seven out of 14 of those accepted for entry into the fast stream in 1993 were women, compared to one out of six in 1994.
Hospital and Community Health Services
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what considerations underlay the allocation of 75 per cent. rather than 100 per cent. of funds to health and community health service under the new York formula; and how the 25 per cent. of funds not allocated by the
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new York formula will be allocated to health and community health services;(2) if she will list for a typical health authority the effect of funding by head of population (i) under the present formula, (ii) under the 75 per cent. York formula and (iii) under a 100 per cent. York formula.
Mr. Sackville: There is no "York formula". The consultants from York university were contracted to undertake an analysis of hospital utilisation but it was not part of their remit to produce an allocations formula.
The modified weighted capitation formula--announced in October 1994--is applied to 100 per cent. of hospital and community health services expenditure.
It is not therefore possible to calculate hypothetical targets on the basis sought.
Patients
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are currently treated in the NHS; and what was the figure in 1979.
Mr. Sackville: Information is not available centrally in the precise form requested. The available information is shown in the table:
General and acute specialties
thousands
|Out-Patients first
|attendances |Hospital admissions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |6,771 |<1>4,993 discharges and deaths
1993-94 |8,832 |8,205 finished consultant episodes
Note:
<1> Recording of in-patient activity changed in 1988-89 following a review of Health Services Information. As a result in-patient figures
prior to 1988-89 are not directly comparable with later years.
Sources:
1979, SH3 returns; 1993-94, KH09 and KP70 returns.
Kawasaki's Disease
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what advice is issued to general practitioners about the diagnosis and treatment of Kawasaki's disease; and if she will ensure that all general practitioners in the country receive information at least as comprehensive as that being issued to Birmingham general practitioners by local consultants in communicable disease control; (2) what are the most recent figures on the incidence of Kawasaki's disease in (a) England and Wales and (b) the west midlands region.
Mr. Sackville: Information on the diagnosis and treatment of Kawasaki's disease is available to general practitioners in medical journals. The advice from the Birmingham consultants is helpful and we shall consider whether similar information on this uncommon disease should be issued centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 13 July 1994 at column 602 for the most recent figures available on the incidence of Kawasaki's disease.
Residential Homes (Devon)
Mr. Allason: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether sufficient weight is given to medical opinion as distinct from advice
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from social services advisers, when placements are made in residential homes under the care in the community policy in Devon.Mr. Bowis: Local social services departments are responsible for assessing and deciding with users and carers how the needs of local people should be met, but I have made it clear that there should be an input from doctors or nurses, when appropriate, in continuing care assessment procedures.
Dental Services
Dr. John Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the current shortfall in funding for NHS dental treatment in Whitehaven, Cumbria; and what is her policy for remedying it.
Mr. Malone: Expenditure on the hospital and community dental services in any area is a matter for local purchasers to decide. Expenditure on the general dental services in an area depends upon the number of treatments provided under the national health service by local general dental practitioners, all of whom are independent contractors. Cumbria family health services authority is able to help patients find a national health service dentist.
Birth Registration
Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward regulations to allow a mother, when registering birth, the option of requiring her address to be confidential.
Mr. Sackville: The information to be entered in a register of births is prescribed by regulations. This includes the mother's address. A birth certificate is a certified true copy of the entry in the register and it is not therefore possible to omit from the certificate information contained in the register. We have no plans to change statutory requirements.
Population Estimates
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of the
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population who will in the years 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014, be in the age cohorts 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79, 80 to 84, 85 to 89, and 90 years and over.Mr. Sackville: The information, using the most
recent--1992-based--national population projections, is shown in the table:
Projected resident population of England
Thousands
Year
Age (years) |1999 |2004 |2009 |2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
60-64 |2,368 |2,509 |3,145 |2,938
65-69 |2,140 |2,197 |2,343 |2,954
70-74 |1,937 |1,898 |1,968 |2,117
75-79 |1,724 |1,590 |1,582 |1,660
80-84 |984 |1,252 |1,180 |1,194
85-89 |661 |602 |783 |756
90 and over |354 |424 |428 |527
Residential Care
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average cost per person to public funds of those receiving continual residential care, at full or part cost to the public purse in (a) 1979, (b) 1984, (c) 1989 and (d) 1994.
Mr. Bowis: This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the percentage of the elderly who will require residential care in the years 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 and who will, in that year be in the age cohorts 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79, 80 to 84, 85 to 89 and 90 years and over.
Mr. Bowis: Estimates for the total number of people who require residential care are not made.
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing, for 1979, 1984, 1989 and 1994 the number of elderly people requiring continual residential care in each of the age cohorts 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79, 80 to 84, 85 to 89, and 90 years and over; and what these figures represent of the total population in that age cohort.
Mr. Bowis: The available information is shown in the table.
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Long term residents in residential care homes for elderly and physically and/or sensorily disabled people, England
Long term Percentage of
residents aged population aged
As at 31 March |65-74 |75-84 |85 and over |65-74 |75-84 |85 and over
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |33,900 |62,500 |57,300 |0.78 |3.01 |11.98
1984 |24,100 |74,200 |75,000 |0.58 |3.12 |13.86
1989 |24,600 |92,100 |107,700 |0.58 |3.56 |16.05
1994 |22,300 |80,100 |122,000 |0.52 |3.15 |14.53
Ian Greer Associates
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what items of correspondence were received by Ministers in her Department from Messrs Ian Greer Associates in the last month.
Mr. Sackville: Ministers receive numerous representations about a wide variety of matters.
Juice Plus
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what correspondence has been exchanged
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or received by or between Ministers in her Department in the last three years on the use, distribution or approval of Juice Plus; (2) what meetings have taken place between Ministers in her Department and others in the last three years on the use, distribution or approval of Juice Plus.Mr. Sackville: Two letters promoting Juice Plus have been addressed to Ministers in the Department and there has been correspondence with officials in the Medicines Control Agency. There have been no meetings about these products.
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NHS Pensions
Ms Primarolo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what types of information are supplied by NHS Pensions-Paymaster to (a) commercial and (b) other outside organisations.
Mr. Sackville: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the National Health Service Pensions Agency under its chief executive, A. F. Cowan. I have asked him to reply to the hon. Member.
Letter from A. F. Cowan to Ms Dawn Primarolo, dated 28 February 1995:
The Secretary of State for Health has asked me to respond to your written Parliamentary Question of 23 February 1995.
The NHS Pensions Agency is responsible for the administration of the NHS Pension Scheme. It contracts Paymaster for the administration of pensions payments to retired NHS employees. As a matter of policy the NHS Pensions Agency does not disclose any material about NHS Scheme members to third parties. This policy extends to those whom we contract.
National Blood Service
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the crown forming part of the blood transfusion service logo has been removed permanently from the new design; what are the reasons for changing the design; what consultation was undertaken over the design of the logo; and whether formal authorisation has been obtained for the removal of the crown.
Mr. Sackville: The National Blood Service logo was introduced in April 1994 as one part of the National Blood Authority's identity and communications review. The review, which included consultation with blood donors and blood service staff, indicated that the design of the current logo best reflects the service provided by the NBA. There are no plans to change the design.
Official advice was that it was not necessary to seek formal permission to remove the crown from the logo.
NHS Sight Tests
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many national health service eyesight tests were conducted in each year since 1978.
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