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HEALTH
GP Fundholding
Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the percentage of patients currently covered by GP budget fundholders in (a) the Dartford constituency, (b) the Dartford and Gravesham Health Trust area, (c) the county of Kent, (d) the South Thames regional health authority, (e) England and (f) the United Kingdom. [14566]
Mr. Malone: Information available from the enhanced general practitioner census of 1 April 1994 is shown in the table. Information is not collected below family health services authority level.
|Population coverage
Area |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------
Kent FHSA |53
South Thames RHA |37
England |34
Information relating to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Secondary Fuels
Sir Anthony Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidence she has collected from other countries of ill health caused by the burning of secondary liquid fuels in cement kilns or incinerators; [14425]
(2) what evidence her Department has of ill health caused by the burning of secondary liquid fuels in (a) the kilns of cement industries and (b) waste incinerators; and if she will make a statement. [14428]
Mr. Sackville: The Department is not aware of any evidence that the burning of secondary fuels has caused ill health.
In England and Wales, cement kilns and waste incinerators are authorised under the integrated pollution control regime of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution. Under this Act, the operator of the plant is required to use best available techniques not entailing excessive costs to prevent, minimise or, where that is not practicable by such means, for rendering harmless any releases.
Dental Services
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish a table showing for each localhealth area in England (a) the number of general dental practitioners and (b) the number of general dental practitioners per 1,000 population, for each year since 1986. [14723]
Mr. Malone: This information will be placed in the Library.
Industrial Discharges
Sir Anthony Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all industries the processes of which
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discharge dioxin or heavy metals into the atmosphere together with details of illnesses directly or indirectly attributed thereto; and if she will make a statement. [14427]Mr. Sackville: The main industrial processes which discharge dioxin and/or heavy metals are incineration plants, power stations and other combustion plants, metal industry processes and chemical plants.
The health effects of emissions from the burning of any fuel cannot be determined unless the specific components of the fuel and the method and temperature of its combustion are known. Discharges of dioxins and heavy metals must be kept within levels whereby no harm to health should occur. No illnesses are known to be directly or indirectly caused by such discharges in the United Kingdom.
NHS Complaints Procedures
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will make an announcement on the Government's response to the report of the review committee on NHS complaints procedures, "Being Heard". [15644]
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: I shall publish tomorrow a booklet entitled "Acting on Complaints". This will set out our plans for a speedier, simpler and more effective national health service complaints procedure in England. Copies will be placed in the Library. Similar systems are being introduced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I will also be responding tomorrow to the recommendations in the First and Sixth Reports of the 1993 94 Session of the Select Committee on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, which relate to NHS complaints procedures in Great Britain.
Family Health Services Appeal Authority
Mr. Coe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Eastbourne of 22 November 1994, Official Report, column 88, what arrangements she has made to create a special health authority to undertake the functions of the family health services appeal unit. [15647]
Mr. Malone: Statutory Instruments were laid before this House on 8 March 1995 to come into effect on 1 April 1995 creating the Family Health Services Appeal Authority. The authority is to be located in Harrogate. The chairman of the authority will be Mr. Alan Crute and Mrs. Hilda Harvey, Mr. John Goss and Mrs. Josephine Larbie have been invited to be non-executive members.
London Ambulance Service
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the number and percentage of emergency ambulance calls in London that took (a) 14 minutes and (b) for each subsequent minute up to 70 minutes in February 1995. [14773]
Mr. Sackville: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 25 January at columns 251 52.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all the visits she has made since the start of the current parliamentary Session to the
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constituencies of other hon. Members, without prior warning to those hon. Members, for any purpose connected with her departmental responsibilities. [15016]Mr. Sackville: Ministers always do their best to give prior warning to hon. Members when they visit their constituencies in an official capacity.
Ethnic Origin
Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people of (a) Turkish origin, (b) Turkish Cypriot origin and (c) other Turkish origin, including Kurdish origin, were resident in (i) each of the London boroughs and (ii) the United Kingdom as a whole at the latest available date. [15104]
Mr. Sackville: Information is not available as these categories were not listed in the 1991 census ethnic group question. However, there was a space for people to enter their ethnic group if they felt that none of the printed, pre-coded, categories, was appropriate. Counts for the London boroughs of these "write-in" answers for the category of "Turkish", without any sub-division, are included in the 1991 Census Report for Ethnic Group and Country of Birth (table a), copies of which are available in the Library. The ethnic origin question was not asked in Northern Ireland and this table relates to Great Britain.
Sarah Varley
Mr. Waller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to publish the report submitted by the city of Bradford metropolitan council concerning the circumstances leading to the death of Sarah Varley, together with the response of her Department's social services inspectorate; and if she will make a statement. [15441]
Mr. Bowis: It is for the Bradford area child protection committee to consider publication of the report. The review, completed in 1993, made a number of recommendations to the area child protection committee. The social services inspectorate has asked the Bradford director of social services to report on action taken to implement the recommendations.
Waiting Lists
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if patients given definite dates for treatment and operations are then removed from the waiting list. [15185]
EMPLOYMENT
Remploy
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the work of Remploy as clothing suppliers has met his quality control standards.
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
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Letter from R.M. Phillips to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 21 March 1995 :The Secretary of State has asked me, in the absence of the Chief Executive, to reply to your question about whether the work of Remploy as clothing suppliers has met his quality control standards. Although Remploy receives substantial financial support from Government (£92.1 million for 1994/95), and operates within an Annual Performance Agreement setting targets in relation to the employment of disabled people, in every other respect it operates as a normal commercial company. As such, any quality control standards are a matter for Remploy and its customers.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many contracts have been awarded to Remploy since the special contracts arrangements were introduced.
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Peter Thurnham, dated 21 March 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about how many contracts have been awarded to Remploy since the special contracts arrangements were introduced.
To date Remploy has received orders in excess of £20 million since the introduction of the Special Contracts Arrangements on 29 November, 1994.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of whether the special contracts arrangements are working effectively.
Miss Widdecombe: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Mr. Chidgey) on 15 March, Official Report , column 624 .
Industrial Workers' Salaries
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the average change in real terms of industrial workers' salaries since 1979.
Mr. Oppenheim: The average real weekly earnings of an industrial worker rose 32 per cent. between 1979 and 1994.
Disabled People
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 7 March, Official Report , column 143 , if he will identify the six employer associations which, in the consultation process, expressed a view in favour of exempting small firms from the requirement not to discriminate against disabled employees and the three employer associations which were against this.
Miss Widdecombe: No. As I made clear in my answer of 7 March 1995, it is not our policy to publish particular responses to the consultation and this includes identifying the views that particular organisations expressed in those responses.
Forth Railway Bridge
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when the Health and Safety Executive will make a complete independent assessment of the Forth railway bridge. [15101]
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Mr. Oppenheim: I understand the director general of the Health and Safety Executive, Mr. Rimington, has asked Her Majesty's railway inspectorate to undertake an assessment of the Forth bridge. A time scale for the completion of this work has not yet been confirmed.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all the visits he has made since the start of the current parliamentary Session to the constituencies of other hon. Members without prior warning to these hon. Members for any purpose connected with his departmental responsibilities. [15024]
Mr. Portillo: I always do my best to give prior warning to hon. Members when I visit their constituencies in an official capacity.
Unemployed People (Study Courses)
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to reinstate a scheme along the lines of learning for work for unemployed people who would benefit from full-time study. [15336]
Mr. Paice: Learning for work will not be replaced by another scheme. The Department, through training and enterprise councils and the Employment Service, provides a range of programmes and services to help unemployed people prepare for work. Training for work, career development loans, job clubs and restart courses all play an important part of this package of help.
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if part-time study by unemployed people will be a positive outcome of restart interviews. [15339]
Miss Widdecombe: It is appreciated that undertaking part-time education can enhance some clients' prospects of finding work in the longer term, so advisers will give advice and guidance on part-time education opportunities available and the implications for benefits. However, a client who starts part-time education following a restart interview is not counted towards the positive outcome targets unless he also leaves the unemployment register.
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if a course of study being undertaken by an unemployed person by the Employment Service is not exceeding 16 hours of guided learning will be disregarded in any further tests of availability for work. [15335]
Miss Widdecombe: People claiming jobseeker's allowance will be able to take part-time courses provided that they remain available for, and actively seeking, employment.
Courses of part-time study will not be disregarded by the Employment Service in availability for work tests.
After three months unemployment, the course will not of itself be grounds for finding someone unavailable for work, but it will continue to be the case that a jobseeker may not turn down or refuse to apply for a vacancy notified to him merely because it conflicts with his course of study.
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the new rule on hours of study will apply during the first three months of unemployment. [15337]
Miss Widdecombe: People claiming jobseeker's allowance will be able to take part-time courses provided
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that they remain fully available for, and actively seeking, employment. After three months unemployment, attending a part-time course will not of itself be grounds for finding someone unavailable for work, but it will continue to be the case that a jobseeker may not turn down or refuse to apply for a vacancy notified to him merely because it conflicts with his course of study.Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if people who were studying part-time while employed may be required under the rules for jobseeker's allowance to give up their courses on becoming unemployed. [15343]
Miss Widdecombe: People who become unemployed will be able to continue to study part-time within the rules of jobseekers allowance and receive benefit, so long as they remain available for, and actively seeking, employment.
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if study for a skill or qualification will be taken into account by the Employment Service under the rules for jobseeker's allowance, in judging the suitability of a job which an unemployed person may be directed to take. [15334]
Miss Widdecombe: The Employment Service does not set out to offer claimants unsuitable jobs, and employment officers may take into account a range of factors before notifying claimants of vacancies. However, jobseeker's allowance, like current unemployment benefits, will be for people whose first priority is to find a job. Study must not conflict with claimants' availability for work and active jobsearch and they will be liable to sanction if, without good cause, they refuse or fail to apply for a job that has been notified to them by an employment officer as vacant or about to become vacant. This does not mean that they must necessarily leave their course: it may be possible, because of the increasing flexibility of modern courses, to combine work and study. But it will continue to be the case that claimants may not turn down or refuse to apply for a vacancy notified to them merely because it conflicts with their course of study.
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if courses for the long-term unemployed funded from the European social fund and provided at present by training and enterprise councils, further education colleges, local authorities and voluntary organisations will be made exempt from the 16-hour limitation and the actively seeking work requirement brought within the training for work programme or in some other way. [15338]
Miss Widdecombe: Courses part-funded by the European social fund and run under training for work will be subject to the rules of that programme. People undertaking part-time courses part-funded by ESF while claiming jobseeker's allowance will be subject to the rules of JSA, which will include an upper limit of 16 guided learning hours per week in Further Education Funding Council funded courses and a requirement to be available for, and actively seeking, employment.
South Thames Training and Enterprise Council
Ms Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much was paid in grants from any section of the European Union budget to the South Thames TEC for each year since 1992. [14730]
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Mr. Paice: Payments to South Thames training and enterprise council under objective 3 of the European social fund for 1993 and 1994 are shown in the following table. The TEC had no applications approved for support in 1992.
|ESF grants paid
Year |£
------------------------------------------------
1993 |308,770
1994 |166,100
HOME DEPARTMENT
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the visits he has made since the start of the current parliamentary Session to the constituencies of other hon. Members without prior warning to these hon. members for any purpose connected with his departmental responsibilities. [15013]
Mr. Howard: On 16 February 1995 when, at short notice, I visited Wormwood Scrubs prison, and my office tried but was unable to contact the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley).
Television Licences
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted for not having a television licence in the latest year for which figures are available; what sentences they received; and how many people eventually served a period of imprisonment.
Mr. Maclean [holding answer 15 March 1995]: Information held centrally by my Department on the number of court proceedings under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts 1949 to 1967 cannot separately identify the offence of TV licence evasion. I understand from the national television licence records office that the number of prosecutions in the last two years was as is shown in the table. Over 97 per cent. of people found guilty were fined. A total of 845 people in 1993 and 754 in 1994 were imprisoned for default on fines imposed for using a TV without a licence.
Offenders prosecuted and found guilty of television licence evasion England and Wales Year |Prosecuted |Found guilty ---------------------------------------------------- 1993 |243,025 |212,952 1994 |223,985 |199,970 Source: National television licence records office.
Parole
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 13 March, Official Report , column 375 , what is the length of the delay beyond their parole eligibility dates in the cases of each of the 569 prisoners mentioned in his answer. [15194]
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Mr. Michael Forsyth: I regret that the information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Bookmakers
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has made to the request from the British Betting Office Association for a seat on the bookmakers' committee to the levy board and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 6 March 1995]: My right hon. and learned Friend has decided to review the composition of the bookmakers' committee in the light of representations from the British Betting Office Association.
We have written today to the BBOA, the Secretary to the bookmakers' committee and to the levy board to inform them of this decision. Officials will be writing to the BBOA and the associations represented on the committee in order to undertake the necessary consultation.
A decision on whether the BBOA will be granted representation on the committee and the size of any such representation will be taken following the consultation.
Armed Response Units
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police authorities have permanently staffed armed response units; and how many second officers from other duties for short periods. [14841]
Mr. Maclean: On 31 December 1993, 34 police forces in England and Wales had armed response vehicles. A complete breakdown of this figure between forces which maintain a 24-hour armed response vehicle service, and those which do not, is not centrally available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Victim Support
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the level of financial support provided to Victim Support and the total number of victims so supported since 1989. [14396]
Mr. Maclean: Details of Home Office funding of Victim Support since such funding began in 1979 were given in a reply to a question from the hon. Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 22 February at column 236 .
Victim Support does not record how many victims have actually been helped, but its records show that in the period 1 April 1989 to 31 March 1994 it made more than 3.9 million offers of support to victims of crime.
Crime Prevention
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those local authorities which have established designated units with a specific responsibility to reduce the fear of crime and improve crime prevention measures, reporting direct to the chief
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executive, by party of control. [14397]Mr. Maclean: This information is not held centrally.
Police
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of uniformed officers with a commitment to a specific geographical area by police authority, in each year since 1989; and what these figures are as a percentage of uniformed officers in each area. [14299]
Mr. Maclean: This information is not collected centrally.
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice his Department issues to police authorities about the account taken of community liaison work when considering the career progression of individual officers. [14400]
Mr. Maclean: Guidance on best practice in operating career development and staff appraisal system does not specify how particular aspects of police work should be treated. It is for chief constables to take decisions on the career progression of their officers, taking into account the skills and abilities of the officers concerned, the long-term and short-term needs of the individual, and the needs of the force and the police service as a whole.
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of medium and high-level community liaison posts by police authority, in place for each year since 1989. [14401]
Mr. Maclean: The information requested is not held centrally. Each police force in England and Wales has a community liaison department, generally headed by an officer at superintendent or chief inspector rank. Officers at various levels in forces will have community liaison responsibilities, exercised locally as circumstances require.
Retailers (Prosecutions)
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions of retailers for the sale of (a) alcohol, (b) tobacco and (c) 18-classified video products to people who are under age were undertaken in the last year for which figures are available; and what advice his Department issues to the police regarding such offences. [14713]
Mr. Maclean: Information held centrally shows that in England and Wales in 1993, 156 defendants were prosecuted for the illegal sale of alcohol on licensed premises to persons under 18. In 1993, 143 defendants were prosecuted for offences related to the illegal sale of tobacco to children under 16.
The Video Recordings Act 1984 does not differentiate the supply of a video recording of classified work for hire from other forms of commercial supply, such as the supply of a classified video for sale. In 1989, there was one prosecution under section 11 of the Act relating to supply of a video recording in breach of the classification awarded. Information collected centrally from 1990 to 1994 does not identify individual offences committed under this specific Act from other summary offences. However, from 1995 onwards the information is being recorded separately. Home Office guidance to the police and local authorities in 1992 on the law relating to the
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sale of tobacco to children indicated that enforcement action was primarily a matter for the latter.Metropolitan Police Committee
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what considerations underlay his rejection of nominations for the Metropolitan police committee made by local authority associations. [14442]
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