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Consultant Cover

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairmen of Welsh health authorities concerning the transfer of appropriate geriatric and psycho-geriatric consultant cover corresponding to transfers of beds for the elderly mentally ill from NHS hospitals to private nursing homes. [6162]

Mr. Hague: None.

NHS Treatment

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what statistics he has on the number of patients waiting for in-patient treatment and out-patient diagnosis longer than the patients charter maximum for reasons relating to (a) exercising choice of consultants, (b) failure to attend for first out-patient consultation and (c) other reasons; and if he will make a statement. [6165]

Mr. Hague: All patients who have been on the in-patient or out-patient waiting lists for longer than the patients charter targets are reported to the Welsh Office and the numbers are published in "NHS Wales: Quarterly Statistics" available in the Library. No separate analysis is made of those patients who exercise a choice of consultants: to do so would impose an unacceptable administrative burden on hospitals. If patients who fail to

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 780

attend for out-patient appointments are referred back to their GPs, they would normally be removed from the waiting list.

NHS Trusts

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a copy of the Newport business school report compiling a league table of Welsh NHS trusts' commercial viability in relation to four key financial ratios. [6140]

Mr. Hague: Yes. I have made arrangements with the Newport business school for copies to be made available in the Library of the House as soon as possible.

Prescription Charges

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the administrative cost of collecting prescription charges; and what this figure is as a percentage of the total revenue received from prescription charges. [6152]

Mr. Hague: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) on 22 June 1995, Official Report, column 417, total revenue received from prescription charges and prepayment certificates between April 1994 and March 1995 was £17.8 million. On this basis, the administrative costs shown represent about 18 per cent. of prescription charge revenue.

School Visits

Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions over the past three years he, his predecessor or Ministers in his Department, have visited schools in West Glamorgan; and if he will list the schools concerned. [6127]

Mr. Richards: Schools visited in West Glamorgan over the past three years were as follows:


Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide revenue forecasts for current year and the next five years of expenditure on schemes provided under the PFI. [5724]

Mr. Hague: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 7 November 1995, Official Report, column 808.

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide a breakdown of administration costs incurred to date and forecast for the future on PFI work. [5723]

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 781

Mr. Hague: It is not practicable to isolate the costs of running the private finance initiative in all the many areas of my Department's work which it affects. The costs of the private finance unit, which co-ordinates this activity, are about £52,000 a year.

Assisted Places Scheme

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for the academic year 1994-95 in descending order the independent schools by the proportion of their

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 782

school rolls made up of pupils covered by the assisted places scheme, and the total number of pupils on the school roll; what proportion of the roll at each school was covered by the scheme; how many pupils were covered by the scheme at each school; how many pupils were on the roll of each school; what level of fees was charged for pupils under the scheme at each school; and what sums were received by each school under the scheme. [5902]

Mr. Richards: The information requested is as follows:

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 781

1994-95 Academic Year

School Roll APS pupils Percentage APS pupils on roll Average fees(17) Total(18) received by schools
££
Howell's Denbigh28673265,688368,215
Howell's Cardiff689173253,441460,586
Christ College36488245,616418,460
Llandovery College23955235,160281,347
Monmouth Boys626144234,551471,728
Rydal Penrhos (Girls division)33261185,599320,961
Rydal Penrhos (Co-educational division)33052166,095306,717
Monmouth Girls63174123,879203,552

(17) Some schools charge different fees according to different stages in school.

(18) Accounts for 1994-95 not yet finalised.


14 Dec 1995 : Column: 781

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department has spent on the operation of the assisted places scheme in each academic year since 1981; how many (a) pupils and (b) institutions were covered by the scheme; and what was the overspend on the budget allocated to the scheme. [5790]

Mr. Richards: Details on costs of the assisted places scheme by financial year are as follows. Costs by academic year are not available.

Year Cost £ Pupils Schools Overspend £
1981-82160,7831149--
1982-83274,7772208--
1983-84459,6263188--
1984-85626,8764038--
1985-86842,4884958--
1986-871,519,7725808429,772
1987-881,394,246622847,246
1988-891,359,6816338--
1989-901,589,3926318--
1990-911,756,2836348--
1991-922,064,8136628116,813
1992-932,457,230700857,230
1993-942,621,2616918--
1994-952,771,5047208--


Mr. Donohue: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which independent sector schools charged (a) the highest and (b) the lowest level of fees to pupils covered by the assisted places scheme in the academic year 1994-95; and what charges were levied. [5827]

Mr. Richards: The highest tuition fees of assisted places scheme participating schools in Wales in the academic year 1994-95 were Rydal school--senior pupils--and Colwyn Bay at £6,528, the lowest were £3,441 set by Howell's school, Cardiff.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many independent sector schools have had (a) more

14 Dec 1995 : Column: 782

than 25 per cent. (b) more than 50 per cent. and (c) less than 5 per cent. of their school rolls made up of pupils covered by the assisted places scheme for each academic year since 1981. [5807]

Mr. Richards: The information requested is as follows:

Year More than 25 per cent. More than 50 per cent. Less than 5 per cent.
1981-82------
1982-831--3
1983-841--1
1984-851----
1985-862----
1986-872----
1987-882----
1988-89------
1989-90------
1990-91------
1991-92------
1992-93------
1993-94------
1994-952----


Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many schools covered by the assisted places scheme received (a) more than £1 million, (b) over £750,000, (c) over £500,000 and (d) over £250,000 under the assisted places scheme for each academic year since 1981. [5817]

Mr. Richards: The information requested is as follows:

Year Over £1 million Over £750,000 Over £500,000 Over £250,000
1981-82--------
1982-83--------
1983-84--------
1984-85--------
1985-86--------
1986-87------1
1987-88------2
1988-89------2
1989-90------2
1990-91------3
1991-92------4
1992-93------5
1993-94------7
1994-95------7


14 Dec 1995 : Column: 783

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made by his Department in taking forward proposals for the expansion of the assisted places scheme; and how much his Department estimates this will cost in future financial years for which figures are available when this has been achieved. [5821]

Mr. Richards: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the right hon. Member for Conway (Sir W. Roberts) on 29 November, Official Report, columns 757-58. The estimated cost of the scheme for the financial year 1996-97 is £3.781 million.


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