| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
GP Vacancies
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to monitor the number of vacancies for general medical practitioners in Wales. [20254]
Mr. Hague: It would serve no useful purpose to collect this information routinely at a national level. Family health services authorities hold information about the number of vacancies in their area and provide advice to my Department on general trends as and when necessary.
FHSAs also provide more specific advice to the Medical Practices Committee. The MPC has responsibility for controlling the distribution of GPs in England and Wales with the aim of ensuring that there are adequate numbers of GPs throughout the country.
Livestock Schemes
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many claims for the four main livestock schemes his Department's agriculture department's divisional offices have dealt with in (a) 1994 and (b) 1995; and if he will make a statement. [20170]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The numbers of claims processed were as follows:
| 1994 | 1995 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances | 14,143 | 13,444 |
| Sheep Annual Premium Scheme | 16,440 | 15,441 |
| Suckler Cow Premium Scheme | 15,752 | 14,777 |
| Beef Special Premium Scheme (Finals) | 22,420 | 25,017 |
The number processed under each scheme each year varies according to the number of claims carried forward for payment from one year to the next.
14 Mar 1996 : Column: 749
Manufacturing Projects
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 5 March, Official Report, column 207, on the number of new manufacturing projects given financial assistance by his Department, if he will review the industrial investment incentives of his Department to secure a higher number of offers in Gwynedd and Dyfed; and if he will make a statement. [20265]
Mr. Hague: There are no proposals for the operating departments to review the terms of the regional selective assistance scheme. The Welsh Development Agency and others are working very hard to achieve a wider spread of manufacturing projects throughout Wales.
School Computers
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of primary schools use (a) Acorn personal computers and (b) Pentium personal computers supplied by Research Machines. [20004]
Mr. Richards: Precise percentages are not held by the Department.
Sea Empress
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what funds will be available to recompense those engaged in tourism who have been financially affected by the oil spillage from the Sea Empress. [20010]
Mr. Hague: Compensation for economic loss caused by oil pollution from the Sea Empress will be available from the vessel's insurers and from the international oil pollution compensation fund, up to a limit of about £57 million.
In addition, the Wales tourist board has launched a campaign to reassure visitors that the beaches of south-west Wales will be clean by the summer season.
Council of Ministers
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the occasions on which he and his predecessors have attended Council of Ministers meetings since 9 April 1992. [20846]
Mr. Hague: I attended the meeting of the Environment Council on 4 March this year. My predecessor attended a Transport Council on 19 June 1995. The then Minister of State, Welsh Office--the right hon. Member for Conwy (Sir W. Roberts)--attended the informal council on regional policy on 12 and 13 November 1993.
Wilprint Ltd.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date Wilprint Ltd. was removed from the approved contractors' list for departmental printing work. [20845]
14 Mar 1996 : Column: 750
HEALTH
Pensioners (Health Costs)
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many pensioners received (a) free prescriptions, (b) courses of (i) free and (ii) reduced rate dental treatment and (c) free NHS sight tests, reduced private sight tests and spectacle vouchers for (1) 1989 and (2) the most recent year for which information is available under the NHS low income scheme; [19651]
- (2) how many pensioners received assistance with NHS health costs from (a) income support, (b) being in receipt of certificate AG2 and (c) being in receipt of certificate AG3; and what estimate he has made of the number who paid full charges but could have received reduced charges if they had applied for AG2 or AG3 in (i) 1989 and (ii) the most recent year for which information is available. [19650]
Mr. Malone: All pensioners are entitled to free national health service prescriptions. Pensioners as a group are not entitled to free NHS sight tests, spectacle vouchers or dental treatment but may be entitled to help through the NHS low income scheme. Pensioners are not identified in the information collected about the number of free or reduced cost courses of dental treatments, NHS sights tests and spectacle vouchers. No information is available about the number of pensioners who pay for sight tests, spectacles and dental treatment but would be entitled to help if they made a low income scheme claim.
The available information is in the table:
| 1989-90 | 1994-95 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pensioners claiming income support | (10)1,432 | (10)1,584 |
| 2. Partners of pensionable age | 179 | 208 |
| 3. Pensioners holding certificate AG2(11) | not available | 229 |
| 4. Partners of pensionable age | not available | 87 |
| 5. Pensioners holding certificate AG3(11) | not available | 178 |
| 6. Partners of pensionable age | not available | 73 |
| 7. Prescriptions dispensed to pensioners | (12)147,300 | (13)184,200 |
| 8. Courses of NHS dental treatment for patients aged 65 or over treated as exempt on grounds of low income(14) | 370 | (15)-- |
Lines 1-6 are in respect of Great Britain. Lines 7-8 are in respect of England.
(10) From a sample in May each year.
(11) AG2/AG3 are issued for six months.
(12) Based on fees for prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors only.
(13) Based on items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors only.
(14) This includes holders of AG2s/AG3s and recipients of Income Support or Family Credit. Information is not available separately in respect of each group.
(15) Figures are not now produced routinely and recent figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Pensioners are women aged 60 or more and men aged 65 or more.
Safety of Medicines
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget the Licensing Authority made available to the Committee on Safety of Medicines for each year from 1971 to 1994 in respect of its statutory role to promote the collection of adverse drug reactions. [20060]
14 Mar 1996 : Column: 751
Mr. Malone: The Medicines Control Agency undertakes the role of promoting the collection of adverse drug reactions on behalf of the committee and seeks its advice as appropriate. An overall budget of £821,986 was devoted to running and promoting the spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting scheme in the financial year 1994-95. Information since 1971 is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the occasions since the coming into effect of the Medicines Act 1968 on which (a) the Licensing Authority, (b) the medicines division of the Department of Health, (c) the Medicines Control Agency or its staff and (d) the Committee on Safety of Medicines or its chairman have (i) sought and (ii) obtained an injunction or interdict preventing publication of information relating to the safety of medicines licensed or formerly licensed under the provisions of the Act; and if he will list for each case the date on which an injunction or interdict was sought, the products concerned, the grounds on which the action was taken, if the action was contested, and the outcome. [20064]
Mr. Malone: We have no record of any such proceedings.
Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the procedures of the Medicines Control Agency. [20058]
Mr. Malone: The procedures of the Medicines Control Agency are a matter for the agency chief executive operating within relevant statutory provisions and the agency's framework document. The chief executive is accountable to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health for the efficient management and overall performance of the agency. The agency is subject to regular review. The latest review was completed last year and a summary of its findings placed in the Library.
Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are available to members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines who wish to raise matters of concern in relation to the workings of the committee. [20062]
Mr. Malone: Committee members have the power to regulate the committee's procedures under schedule 1, paragraph 4 of the Medicines Act 1968. In addition, individual committee members are free to raise any issues which they consider to be of relevance to the workings of the committee, either with the chairman, at committee meetings or by writing to the appointing authority, the United Kingdom Health Ministers.
Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training in the interpretation of epidemiological data is provided to new members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines on their appointment. [20061]
Mr. Malone: Members are appointed for their individual expertise in the fields of medicine, pharmacy or science. Their specialist knowledge and judgment contribute to the advice given by the Committee to the Licensing Authority. In addition, I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 11 December 1995, Official Report, columns 521-24.
14 Mar 1996 : Column: 752
Mr. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates (a) he and (b) his ministerial colleagues met the chairman of the Committee on Safety of Medicines since 1 January 1995. [20063]
Mr. Malone: The chairman of the committee met me on 3 October 1995.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |