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Gross Domestic Product

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the latest estimate of the gross domestic product per head in each of the eight Welsh counties, for each of the last 10 years, at constant prices. [9340]

Mr. Hague: The latest available information, at current prices, is shown in the following table. There are no official estimates of county GDP at constant price.

Gross domestic product per head (£) by county at factor cost: current prices

	1981	1984	1987	1989	1991
Clwyd	2,638	3,869	5,451	6,876	7,848
Dyfed and Powys	3,080	3,848	5,194	5,871	6,402
Gwent	2,972	3,836	5,185	6,524	7,288
Gwynedd	2,863	3,500	4,760	5,967	6,477
Mid Glamorgan	2,774	3,227	4,432	5,598	5,883
South Glamorgan	3,797	5,094	6,328	8,022	9,409
West Glamorgan	3,434	3,744	5,273	6,526	7,493

Source:

Central Statistical Office.

Nursery Vouchers

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has had from Wales concerning nursery vouchers; and if he will make a statement. [9329]

Mr. Richards: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Ceredigion and Pembroke, North (Mr. Dafis) on 15 January 1996, Official Report, column 379.

Heart Surgery

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the current availability of cardiac surgical facilities in Wales; and what representations he has received on this matter in the past year. [10337]

Mr. Richards: Cardiac surgery in Wales is currently provided by an adult unit and a paediatric unit at the University hospital of Wales. A second adult unit will open at Morriston hospital in the late summer of 1997.

My right hon. Friend and I have not received any representations on the availability of these facilities in the past year.

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 837

Children with Special Needs

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list by local education authority and for Wales as a whole for each year since 1985 (a) the number of education psychologists employed, (b) the ratio of education psychologists to school children, (c) the number of children with statements and (d) the ratio of children with statements to the schools age population per 10,000 pupils. [8916]

Mr. Richards: Information about the number of education psychologists prior to January 1992 is not centrally available. The available information is shown in the following tables.

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 838

Number of education psychologists(35)

	1992	1993	1994	1995
Clwyd	19	20	17	17
Dyfed	8	10	13	13
Gwent	18	21	20	21
Gwynedd	6	5	6	7
Mid Glamorgan	15	15	15	14
Powys	4	4	5	5
South Glamorgan	10	10	10	10
West Glamorgan	10	10	12	12
Wales	90	95	98	99

Note:

(35) Full time equivalent education psychologists as at January each year.

Source: STATS2 form.

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 837

Number of children with statements of special educational needs(36)

	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Clwyd	1,287	1,665	1,528	1,877	2,328	2,512	2,553	2,244	3,219	2,321	2,370
Dyfed	497	643	701	487	561	648	830	1,066	1,319	1,667	2,024
Gwent	1,722	1,801	1,817	1,571	1,693	1,978	2,116	1,957	2,297	2,489	2,475
Gwynedd	969	889	896	815	722	744	814	860	865	872	1,087
Mid Glamorgan	3,988	3,766	3,983	3,396	2,828	3,282	3,103	3,944	4,016	4,234	1,539
Powys	232	236	744	218	264	293	327	518	517	594	647
South Glamorgan	1,170	1,255	1,268	1,249	1,217	1,323	1,357	1,347	1,374	1,525	1,750
West Glamorgan	1,968	1,959	2,226	2,115	2,129	613	2,175	2,361	2,333	2,598	2,629
Wales	11,833	12,214	13,163	11,728	11,742	11,393	13,275	14,297	15,940	16,300	14,521

Note:

(36) At January each year. Children are shown against the authority in which they are registered, irrespective of where they are educated.

Source:

Forms 21M and STATS2.

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 837

Ratio of education psychologists to school children(37)

	1992	1993	1994	1995
Clwyd	1: 3,704	1: 3,542	1: 4,163	1: 4,214
Dyfed	1: 7,236	1: 5,796	1: 4,470	1: 4,513
Gwent	1: 4,234	1: 3,687	1: 3,940	1: 3,819
Gwynedd	1: 6,013	1: 7,362	1: 6,130	1: 5,347
Mid Glamorgan	1: 6,388	1: 6,478	1: 6,589	1: 7,124
Powys	1: 4,762	1: 4,801	1: 3,851	1: 3,930
South Glamorgan	1: 7,002	1: 7,142	1: 7,263	1: 7,366
West Glamorgan	1: 6,152	1: 6,209	1: 5,241	1: 5,274
Wales	1: 5,411	1: 5,188	1: 5,082	1: 5,093

Note:

(37) At January each year. The ratio of the number of full time equivalent education psychologists to the number of full time and part time children in maintained and independent schools.

Source:

STATS2 form and Schools Census (STATS1).

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 837

Number of children with statements per 10,000 school children(38)

	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Clwyd	175	231	215	269	334	362	367	319	454	328	331
Dyfed	87	114	125	87	98	114	145	184	228	287	345
Gwent	219	234	240	211	228	265	281	257	297	316	309
Gwynedd	235	220	227	212	191	200	225	238	235	237	290
Mid Glamorgan	398	382	411	357	300	347	327	412	413	428	154
Powys	117	122	389	115	140	155	173	272	269	308	329
South Glamorgan	171	185	189	186	181	196	198	192	192	210	238
West Glamorgan	306	312	360	347	350	101	356	384	376	413	415
Wales	235	247	270	244	244	237	276	294	323	327	288

Note:

(38) At January each year. Calculated as the number of children with statements of special educational needs divided by the number of full time and part time children in maintained and independent schools, multiplied by 10,000.

Source:

Forms 21M, STATS2 & STTS1.

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 837

19 Jan 1996 : Column: 839

Severn Estuary

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with (a) the chairman of the National Rivers Authority, Wales and (b) other relevant environmental protection bodies as regards the designation of the Severn estuary west of the Severn bridge as a coastal water within the meaning of the European Union municipal waste water treatment directive. [10658]

Mr. Hague: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Surbiton (Mr. Tracey) on 18 May 1994, Official Report, columns 511-12, by the then Minister of State for the Environment and Countryside.

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what estimates he has made of the incidence of MRSA in Welsh hospitals; when he last issued guidelines with respect to information to be supplied between hospitals as regards incidence of MRSA when patients are being transported between hospitals and in other circumstances relevant to the spread of infection; and if he will make a statement; [10656]

(2) what guidelines he has issued to hospitals, as regards the information to be supplied to (a) health authorities, (b) fundholders and (c) community health councils concerning (i) the incidence of MRSA, (ii) precautionary measures to be taken with respect to reducing the spread of MRSA and (iii) prescribing policies of general practitioners and hospital physicians; and what other steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of the MRSA virus. [10657]

Mr. Hague: Last year, the Chief Medical Officer in the Welsh Office invited the Public Health Laboratory Service in Wales to undertake a surveillance project on MRSA in Wales.

Revised guidance on hospital infection control management arrangements, which includes new advice on the surveillance of MRSA, was issued to the NHS in Wales in June 1995.

My Department has commended to the NHS guidance issued in 1986 and 1990, by the Hospital Infection Society and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy on methods for the control of the spread of MRSA. This emphasises the need for effective communication between relevant parties when managing an infectious disease.

The Department has not issued any formal prescribing guidelines regarding MRSA. However, policies and procedures developed at health authority level are available to all provider units.

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