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NHS Pay
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to await the conclusion of an enabling agreement by the Nurses and Midwives Negotiating Council before promoting any local pay settlements for nurses; and if he will make a statement. [17869]
Mr. Richards: NHS trusts have freedom to negotiate local deals. However, an enabling provision in the national terms and conditions of service will facilitate local pay bargaining.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the administrative costs borne by the NHS in Wales under the present national pay bargaining system; what estimate he has made of the likely level of comparable costs under localised pay bargaining; and if he will make a statement. [18249]
Mr. Redwood: Localised pay bargaining costs will be contained within existing management resources.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the level of pay increases (a) awarded and (b) offered to (i) chief executives of NHS trusts and health authorities in Wales, (ii) managerial staff generally and (iii) accounts staff in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [18247]
Mr. Redwood: NHS trusts have the freedom to determine their own pay arrangements; information on the level of pay increase is not available for staff who have opted for such terms. Salaries of chief executives will be published in trusts' annual reports with effect from 1 April 1995. Chief executives of health authorities had an increase of 2.2 per cent. pay with effect from 1 September
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1994 and are entitled to a supplement reflecting individual performance.Managerial and accounts staff retaining national terms received a 2.2 per cent. pay rise from 1 September 1994 and are also entitled to individual performance related supplements.
Negotiations are under way for the 1995 pay round.
Job Losses
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the jobs that have been lost to agencies in his Department in the past two years that have (a) been taken over by contractors and (b) disappeared. [18337]
Mr. Redwood: Cadw has contracted two jobs to the private sector. Its staff numbers fell by 32 between 31 March 1993 and 31 March 1995.
NHS Research and Development
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to advertise for the post and appoint a new director of research and development for the national health service in Wales. [18167]
Mr. Richards: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) on Monday 3 April 1995, Official Report Column 975 .
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the date of the departure of the former director of research and development for the national health service in Wales, Mr. Ian Russell; and what factors led to the delay in appointing a successor. [18166]
Mr. Richards: Professor Ian Russell departed from his post as director of the office of research and development NHS Wales on 31 December 1994. The opportunity has been taken to review the future function and setting of the office of research and development. These have now been agreed.
Local Government Reorganisation
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from the Local Government Management Board regarding central funding for reorganisation appeals; if he will make it his policy to introduce funding in full for such appeals; and if he will make a statement. [18241]
Mr. Redwood: I have received no such representations. I have no plans to provide funding for appeals on staffing matters which result from local government reorganisation. The revenue settlement for 1995 96 takes account of a number of reorganisation costs, such as these, which will fall to local authorities.
Radiological Protection
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the Health and Safety Executive concerning the discontinuation of the forms KH 10a, b and c as regards the monitoring to adequate standards and statutory requirements of radiological protection for patients and staff. [18245]
Mr. Redwood: It was not necessary to consult the Health and Safety Executive before dropping these forms. The responsibility for maintaining adequate standards and meeting statutory requirements for the radiological
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protection of patients and staff is the responsibility of the district health authority or trust. The Welsh Office will shortly be issuing guidance to the health service in Wales setting out statutory requirements and general advice on the use of ionising radiation.Stillbirths and Infant Deaths
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the relative merits of (a) the confidential inquiry into stillbirths and deaths in infancy statistical exercise and (b) the discontinued form LHS 27/1; if he will list the principal points of difference between the two; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: The confidential inquiry into stillbirths and deaths in Wales is a detailed study of deaths of babies after the onset of labour and within the first two weeks of life where the birthweight was greater than 1499 grammes and there and there was no gross or life-threatening abnormality. It seeks to inform and improve clinical practice by increasing the understanding of ways in which numbers of deaths might be diminished, with particular regard to identifying departures from accepted standards of care which could have played a part in the ensuing death.
The discontinued LHS 27/1 return simply recorded the total number of live births and stillbirths to residents of the district health authority and births, stillbirths and deaths in the first 28 days, analysed by weight. It was discontinued as the central requirements that it covered were available routinely from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
Kwiksave, Prestatyn
Mr. Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he intends to make to Kwiksave with regard to their consultation on the closure of their Prestatyn depot and the transfer of jobs to England. [18238]
Mr. Richards: Kwiksave is keeping me informed on the proposed closure of its distribution depot at Prestatyn, which represents a loss of 20 per cent. of the work force at the site. Targed is also aware of the proposal and stands ready to do all that it can to ensure that any future training needs are catered for.
While all job losses are regrettable, Kwiksave will nevertheless remain a major employer in Prestatyn and in north Wales.
Non-teaching Staff
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list by local education authority all categories of non-teaching staff employed (a) in schools and (b) outside schools, indicating which are considered to be administrative staff; and what is the ratio to teachers. [17653]
Mr. Richards [holding answer 3 April 1995]: Numbers of non- teaching staff in schools are collected through the annual schools census. The following list shows the categories of staff for which information is collected by type of school. Information about numbers in each category is available from each local education authority.
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NurseryClass I nursery assistants
Class II nursery assistants
NNEB students in training
Permanent supply nursery assistants
Primary
NNEB qualified nursery assistants
NNEB students in training
Other assistants/aides employed in the class room
Clerical/office workers
Secondary
Special needs support staff (including ancillary sessional workers)
Laboratory or workshop technicians
Resource technicians
Nurses/matrons
Office or clerical staff including library assistants
Special
Qualified nursing/childcare staff
Unqualified nursing/child care staff
Qualified ancillary staff
Unqualified ancillary staff
The Local Government Management Board collects information about local authority staff employed outside schools. Figures are compiled of the number of full-time and part-time non-manual staff employed in the education service, other than lecturers and teachers. This category comprises all non-manual staff identified as employed within the education service and includes administrative, secretarial and clerical staff, youth and community workers, nursery and other non-teaching classroom assistants, library staff serving educational establishments, education psychologists and careers guidance staff. Figures for individual education authorities are not released into the public domain because estimates at this level of disaggregation are not considered sufficiently reliable by the LGMB.
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The use of different terminology defining the categories used in the schools census forms means that it is not possible to eliminate double counting of the same people in the LGMB figure and the school census results. A ratio of administrative staff to teachers can therefore not be calculated.North East Wales Institute
Dr. Marek: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the total cost of (a) the Touche Ross report into the financial affairs of the North East Wales Institute commissioned by the Higher Education Funding council for Wales, (b) the subsequent Touche Ross report entitled "NEWI Outline Structure Recovery Plan" and (c) the work undertaken to date with regard to NEWI by Mr. Fuller of Touche Ross and his associates. [17861]
Mr. Richards [holding answer 3 April 1995]: The report commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales cost £45,237. The subsequent report and the consultancy work were commissioned and paid for by NEWI and the cost of these is a matter for the Institute.
Examination Achievements
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many pupils in each of the last three years have gained grades A to C in English, Mathematics and Science, and what percentage this was of the year group. [17992]
Mr. Richards [holding answer 3 April 1995]: The following table shows the number of 15-year-old pupils in Wales who gained grades A to C in 1992 and 1993, and those who gained A* C in 1994, in the specified GCSE subjects. Percentages are calculated on the basis of pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year, as it is not known in which year group examination candidates are taught.
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Pupils aged 15<1> achieving GCSE grade A (A*)-C
1992 1993 1994
|Number of |Per cent. of|Number of |Per cent. of|Number of |Per cent. of
|pupils |age group |pupils |age group |pupils |age group
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
English<2> |14,398 |42.4 |13,717 |42.8 |14,924 |46.2
Mathematics |11,568 |34.1 |11,645 |36.3 |12,834 |39.7
Science<3> |11,972 |35.3 |12,123 |37.8 |12,476 |38.6
Combination<4> |8,650 |25.5 |8,227 |25.7 |9,256 |28.6
Notes:
<1> Pupils aged 15 at August 31 of previous year.
<2> Includes pupils' better result of English language and literature.
<3> Includes pupils' best science result.
<4> Pupils achieving the combinations of mathematics, science and english GCSEs grades A(A*)-C. Includes
pupils' best result in science and the better result of English first language and Welsh first language.
Figures for the combination of mathematics, science and english alone are not available.
Source:
Welsh examinations database.
DEFENCE
Base Storage and Distribution Agency
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about Defence Agency status for the Army's Base Storage and Distribution Organsiation. [18855]
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Mr. Soames: The Army's Base Storage and Distribution Organisation will become a defence agency of the Ministry of Defence on 4 April 1995. The agency will be responsible for storing and distributing a vast range of general and technical stores, ammunition and vehicles and fuels to meet the Army's requirements in peace, crisis and war. In addition, the agency will provide a training environment for field Army personnel to gain
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the skills in storage and distribution functions to operate logistic bases in combat zones and theatres of operations. The agency, to be known as the Army Base Storage and Distribution Agency will comprise a small headquarters at Andover which will manage the operation of seven base storage depots in the United Kingdom, together with their supporting distribution outlets, and three base storage depots in Germany. The agency currently employs some 5,700 civilian staff and 600 military personnel.As the first chief executive, Brigadier K. J. W. Goad will be offered new opportunities to build on the current organisation's professional expertise and high performance standards. Through a more commercial approach, the chief executive will actively seek to improve the efficiency of his organisation and thereby fulfil the agency's aim of providing its customers with an efficient service which offers the best value for money. The chief executive has been set the following key targets for financial year 1995 96:
1. Deliver to customers by the required delivery date at least 99 per cent. immediate, 98 per cent. high priority, 97 per cent. medium priority and 95 per cent. routine demands.
2. Deliver a military logistic support capability which the field Army can deploy worldwide, meeting at least a satisfactory opeval standard.
3. Introduce by 31 March 1996 formal tasking agreements with main ABSDA customers, and establish performance standards and annual targets for service improvement.
4. Complete by 31 March 1996 a competing for quality review of £5,000,000 (operating costs) of ABSDA business activities.
5. Achieve by 31 March 1996 a further 2.5 per cent. improvement in efficiency.
6. Close by 31 March 1996 17 storage depots in accordance with the programme endorsed by the defence costs study.
7. Introduce accruals accounting during the first year of operation and produce a set of "shadow" accounts for 1995 96. 8. Define by 31 March 1996 ABSDA's future financial and business information needs as a statement of requirement for a corporate management information system.
I shall arrange for copies of the agency's framework document to be placed in the Library of the house.
Transport and Movements Executive
Sir David Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about defence agency status for the Directorate of Transport and Movements (Army). [18856]
Mr. Soames: The Directorate of Transport and Movements (Army) will become a Defence Agency of the Ministry of Defence on 4 April 1995 when its name will change to the Defence Transport and Movements Executive. As a fully rationalised tri-service organisation, the main focus of DTMX will continue to be concentrated at its headquarters at Andover, alongside the Quartermaster General's headquarters. It will in due course absorb the surface freight functions carried out by the Navy Department, Air Force Department and the MOD Procurement Executive. The agency has other assets and personnel located at Marchwood military port, Bicester international freight terminal and the Ministry of Defence main building. In all there are some 250 staff comprising 92 military and 158 civilian.
The role of the agency is to provide an agreed transport and movements service for the world-wide support of HM armed forces, the MOD and other Government Departments and sponsored organisations. In so doing, it will meet the appropriate operational logistic support
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requirements in peacetime, crisis, transition to war and war for all its customers within agreed standards by the most efficient and cost-effective means available.As the first chief executive, Brigadier M.G.R. Hodson CBE will be afforded greater responsibility and flexibility to build on the current organisation's professional ability and reputation for excellence. This in turn will provide the framework and ethos to give him the essential delegations and autonomy to interface effectively with industry whilst still retaining the military control necessary for policy and planning, which is so essential to mount military operations in any theatre. By adopting a more commercial approach, the chief executive will strive to improve efficiency and value for money and by so doing fulfil the agency's requirement to manage and control an effective operational transport and movements system that supports and sustains the armed forces world wide, while offering best value for money.
The chief executive has been set the following challenging key targets for the first year of operation:
1. To confirm and satisfy the operational requirement through the achievement of a satisfactory operational evaluation.
2. To develop with the owner by August 1995 criteria to measure DTMX's fitness for its wide peacetime transport and movements role. 3. To provide an agreed transport and movements service which meets the standard priority system requirements, as laid down in Department regulations (JSP 336), to time in 95 per cent. of cases. 4. To implement the agency's competing for quality strategy including specifically:
a. To investigate partnering for Falkland Islands resupply by 1 December 1995.
b. To complete the statement of requirement for the tri-service freight distribution market test by November 1995 and issue invitation for tender by January 1996.
5. To introduce a system for accruals accounting by:
a. Developing an accounts feeder system and interim accruals accounting system by 1 September 1995 prior to the introduction of the ASCOT accruals accounting system by 31 March 1996.
b. Producing accruals accounts for 1995 96 for a shadow NAO audit in order to produce accruals accounts for 1996 97 for a full NATO audit.
6. To reduce by 2 per cent. annually the ratio of DTMX management overheads compared to the total value of overall business.
7. To identify the potential utilisation and throughput at Marchwood military port and 25 Squadron Royal Logistic Corps, Bicester in order to provide a base line against which future targets can be set for the utilisation of owned assets.
8. To complete the initial development, basic installation and staff training for the DTMX management information system and activity-based costing system as defined in the IS strategy by 31 March 1996.
9. To introduce by 31 March 1996 service level agreements with the main DTMX customers and suppliers and establish performance standards and annual targets for service delivery and improvement. I shall arrange for copies of the agency's framework document to be placed in the Library of the House.
Rescue Co-ordination Centre
Mr. Gallie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future location of the rescue co-ordination centre Pitreavie and Air Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland. [18857]
Mr. Soames: As a consequence of the "Front Line First" recommendation to close the maritime headquarters
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at Pitreavie by April 1996, it was originally intended to relocate the rescue co-ordination centre and Air Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland to RAF Leuchars. Subsequent studies have, however, identified that substantial operational advantages and cost savings would be gained by relocating RCC Pitreavie to RAF Kinloss, which would subsequently become the home for the new, single national military rescue co-ordination centre by 31 March 1997. The proposed relocation of RCC Pitreavie to RAF Kinloss, which would involve the transfer of 36 posts, 30 service and six civilian, will be subject to the usual process of consultation with the trade unions. AOSNI and his staff will relocate from Pitreavie to RAF Leuchars as originally planned, at which time the post will be combined with that of station commander.Sub-strategic Nuclear Capability
Mr. Brandreth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the United Kingdom's sub-strategic nuclear capability. [18913]
Mr. Soames: In 1993 the Government announced that in the longer term we would utilise the flexibility of the Trident system to under take the sub-strategic as well as the strategic nuclear role. I am pleased to say that the arrangements for this are progressing well. The Trident system will provide a continuously available sub-strategic capability when the second submarine--HMS
Victorious--joins the patrol cycle around the end of this year, and the capability will be fully robust when HMS Vigilant enters service in 1998. In the light of this we have decided that the WE177 free-fall bomb should be withdrawn from service by the end of 1998.
Seized Documents
Mr. Bermingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the practice of his Department in respect of the classification of documents as company documents; and if the documents referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) of 21 July 1994, Official Report , column 554 , as company documents were the personal copy of a director of board minutes and related documents. [17009]
Mr. Soames [holding reply 28 March 1995]: I have nothing further to add to my answer to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 21 July 1994, Official Report , column 554.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which minister authorised the raid by the Ministry of Defence police on the officers of British Manufacture and Research Company in April 1990; who now has possession of the documents seized; when he expects that the documents; will be returned to the former chairman; and if he will make a statement. [18242]
Mr. Soames: No ministerial approval was either needed or given. The Ministry of Defence police were acting properly within their legal powers to pursue a criminal investigation and it would have been quite improper for Ministers to intervene. The documents seized were returned to the official receivers in June 1993. They were all regarded as company documents and treated as such throughout the Ministry of Defence police investigation.
Dr. Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date his Department took possession of
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documents taken from the company BMARC; on what date these documents were handed over to the Scott inquiry; and if he will list the Ministers who had access to these documents within his Department. [18300]Mr. Soames: Documents from Astra/BMARC premises were seized by Ministry of Defence Police on several occasions between March and August 1990. These were not MOD-owned documents and were returned to the receivers of Astra in June 1993. The question of the provision of any of these documents to the Scott inquiry is one for the receivers of the inquiry. No Minister had access to the documents which had been seized by the Ministry of Defence police for the purposes of an investigation into alleged corruption.
Statutory References
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what statutory references to hon. Members have been made in legislation introduced by his Department, or its predecessors, since 1965. [17036]
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