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Small Claims

Mr. Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases have come before the sheriff courts in each sheriffdom under the small claims procedures in the last three years. [22442]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested in relation to small claims initiated is shown in the table.

Sheriffdom	1993	1994	1995
Glasgow and Strathkelvin	11,322	10,401	10,240
Grampian, Highland and Islands	12,175	11,024	9,149
Lothian and Borders	12,733	12,116	11,584
North Strathclyde	11,430	8,646	8,306
South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway	12,026	9,966	8,917
Tayside, Central and Fife	13,028	11,849	11,481
Total	72,714	64,002	59,677

Dental Services

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people have been deregistered from their dentist since 1992 in each health board area; and if he will make a statement. [20875]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Information supplied by health boards about deregistration is listed in the table:

Number of patients deregistered from April 1992 to February 1996 by Health Board

Health Board	Number of patients de-registered(7)
Argyll and Clyde	2,349
Ayrshire and Arran	1,817
Borders	2,156
Dumfries and Galloway	7,033
Fife	1,535
Forth Valley	576
Grampian	3,302
Greater Glasgow	2,231
Highland	1,448
Lanarkshire	903
Lothian	4,127
Orkney	--
Shetland	--
Tayside	(8)1,677
Western Isles	53
Total	29,207

(7) The total is the number deregistered by dentists for reasons other than the dentist moving, relocating, non-payment of bills etc or because a patient has entered into a private contract with the dentist. The information was supplied for management purposes only and is not statistically validated.

(8) From July 1992.

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Departmental Staff (Working Hours)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons in his Department worked in excess of 48 hours per week in any of the last 52 weeks; and what percentage of the staff employed this represents. [21512]

Mr. Michael Forsyth: Records of the number of hours worked by each employee are not held centrally and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Amey Construction Ltd.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list projects in which Amey Construction Ltd. were employed by the Scottish Office as contractors, by subject and by value, in the financial years 1994-95 and 1995-96. [22028]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Amey Construction Ltd. is currently employed by the Scottish Office on only one project, a joint venture with Miller Construction to upgrade the A1 trunk road between Haddington and Tranent.

The contract was let during financial year 1994-95 and is worth £26.61 million.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

Royal Opera House

Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment she has made of the impact of redundancy costs on the Royal Opera House. [18226]

Mr. Sproat: Central Government support for the arts in England is channelled through the Arts Council of England. The council works closely with its client bodies, including the Royal Opera House, in assessing the artistic, financial and management implications of forecast budgets and other plans.

HEALTH

Human Embryos

Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human embryos have to date been licensed for creation and storage by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; in how many of those cases the period of maximum storage for which consent was given was less than five years; in how many of those cases in which the authorised storage period has passed the embryos have been (a) implanted, (b) destroyed, (c) used for research purposes and (d) experienced other outcomes; and if he will make a statement on the action the authority takes to ensure that maximum storage periods are not exceeded and that embryos which reach the end of the authorised storage period die in a manner consistent with their status. [19654]

Mr. Horam: The records of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority show that the number of embryos created in IVF treatment in the period 1 August 1991 to 1994 inclusive--latest available figures--was

25 Mar 1996 : Column: 422

302,156. Of these, the number of embryos placed in store during the same period was 64,161. Information on the number of people who consented to a storage period of fewer than five years and the purpose for which consent was given is not held centrally. This information is contained on the consent forms which are held by patients and the licensed centres.

The HFEA's code of practice sets out the action necessary in licensed centres to sustain appropriate standards in the storage of embryos. Copies of the code of practice are available in the Library. Licensed centres are held to account for compliance with the code of practice when the HFEA carried out its annual inspection of centres.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 4 March, Official Report, column 67, how many live babies were born from the human embryos frozen between 1991 and 1994; and what percentage of the number of embryos frozen this represents. [20385]

Mr. Horam: The number of embryos used in treatment cycles during the period 1 August 1991 to 1994 inclusive includes embryos frozen prior to 1991. The number of babies born from frozen embryos during the period 1 August 1991 to 1994 inclusive was 1,339.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women had embryos implanted from 1991 to 1994 under the terms of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990; and how much was paid in fees for treatment by these women over the same period. [20386]

Mr. Horam: The number of women who had embryos transferred to the uterus in the period 1 August 1991 to 1994 inclusive was 36,867. The Department of Health does not collect information about fees paid for treatment.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human embryos have been frozen in each year since the practice was first sanctioned by law. [18317]

Mr. Horam [pursuant to his reply, 4 March 1996, c. 67]: I regret that there was an error in the information provided. The correct reply should read as follows.

As recorded in the records of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the number of embryos placed in store following in-vitro fertilisation treatment in each year was as follows:

1991: 4,969 (from 1 August)
1992: 15,940
1993: 19,756
1994: 23,496

Data for 1995 have not yet been validated.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many frozen human embryos have been experimented on and then destroyed since the practice was first sanctioned by law; [18318]

(2) how many unfrozen human embryos have been experimented on and then destroyed since the practice was first sanctioned by law. [18319]

25 Mar 1996 : Column: 423

Mr. Horam [pursuant to his reply, 4 March 1996, c. 67]: I regret that there were two errors in the information provided.

The total number of embryos created in in-vitro fertilisation treatment from 1 August 1991 to 1994 inclusive was 302,156, not 498,493. Of these, the number donated for research during the same period was 27,524, not 27,493, as previously stated.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human embryos were used in treatment cycles from 1991 to 1994. [19787]

Mr. Horam [pursuant to his reply, 8 March 1996, c. 386]: I regret that there was an error in the information provided.

As recorded in the records of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the number of embryos used in treatment cycles between 1 August 1991 and 1994 inclusive was 139,973, not 140,410, as stated previously. This includes fresh and frozen embryos.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human embryos were destroyed between 1991 and 1994 at the request of their parents. [19788]

Mr. Horam [pursuant to his reply, 8 March 1996, c. 386]: I regret that there was an error in the information provided.

The number of embryos created in in-vitro fertilisation treatment that were not frozen or used for treatment or for other purposes during the period in question was 90,491, not 90,756 as stated previously. As required by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, decisions about these embryos would have been taken only with the consent of the couple involved.

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