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Leeds Health Authority

Mr. Gunnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral statement of 6 March, Official Report, column 356, what will be the amount of grant money allocated for services covered by the Leeds health authority; and what is his estimate of the number of (a) bids and (b) additional staff this will provide if it is all used for this purpose. [22499]

Mr. Horam: In 1996-97 Leeds health authority is planned to receive £310,704,000 for sending on hospital and community health services.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 18 March at column 79.

NHS Expenditure

Sir Terence Higgins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each year since 1966 the annual expenditure on the national health service in real terms. [22668]

Mr. Horam: A consistent series of figures is available only from 1973-74. The information is shown in the table.

NHS total gross expenditure for England

Year	Gross Expenditure (adjusted by gross domestic product deflator to 1994-95 prices) in £ million
1973-74	16,266
1974-75	17,969
1975-76	18,899
1976-77	18,966
1977-78	18,447
1978-79	19,031
1979-80	19,380
1980-81	21,338
1981-82	21,817
1982-83	22,207
1983-84	22,530
1984-85	23,068
1985-86	23,124
1986-87	24,138
1987-88	25,216
1988-89	26,279
1989-90	26,462
1990-91	27,421
1991-92	29,230
1992-93	30,798
1993-94	30,975
1994-95	31,983
1995-96(10)	33,032

(10) Estimated.

26 Mar 1996 : Column: 515

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total cost of answering parliamentary questions in each parliamentary Session since 1989-90. [22898]

Mr. Horam: This Department does not calculate the data requested, and they could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Chiropodists

Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 6 December 1995, Official Report, column 225, about the proposals to extend to state registered chiropodists access to a restricted group of prescription only medicines; what progress has been made; when a final report will be published; and if he will make a statement. [21318]

Mr. Bowis: This proposal is still being considered.

Prescription Charges

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the annual cost of cutting NHS prescription charges by (a) 1 per cent., (b) 2 per cent. and (c) 5 per cent. in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 1997-98. [22837]

Mr. Malone: For 1996-97, a 1 per cent. reduction in the prescription charge would cost the national health service approximately £3 million in lost revenue, 2 per cent. would cost £6 million and 5 per cent. would cost £15 million. The costs for 1997-98 would be similar.

Eye Tests

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of (a) the annual cost of abolishing all charges for eye tests and (b) the annual number of people who presently make some payment for such tests. [22835]

Mr. Malone: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 7 June 1995 at column 187.

Information is not available centrally on the number of people who currently make some payment for eye tests.

26 Mar 1996 : Column: 516

Suicide

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have committed suicide or attempted suicide in each of the last five years; how many involved (a) firearms and (b) stolen firearms; and if he will make a statement. [22300]

Mr. Bowis: Data are not available centrally on whether firearms used in the commission of suicide are stolen.

The following list shows the number of suicides--ICD ¹ E950-E959, E980-E989 excluding E988.8--in England and Wales for each of the last five years for which data are available:

1990: 5,544
1991: 5,486
1992: 5,486
1993: 5,154
1994: 4,787.
¹ International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision.

The following list shows the number of deaths in England and Wales from suicide by means of firearms--ICD ¹ E955.0-4 and E985.0-4--for each of the last five years for which data are available:

1990: 189
1991: 175
1992: 190
1993: 165
1994: 174.
¹ International Classification on Diseases, 9th revision.

The only centrally available information on attempted suicides is for those cases subsequently admitted to hospital. The following list shows estimates--based on the recorded number of emergency admissions taken from hospital episodes statistics--of cases of suicide or self-inflicted injury caused by firearms or explosives in the last five financial years.

1990-91: 23
1991-92: 32
1992-93: 23
1993-94: 33
1994-95: 30 (provisional figures).

We are pursuing a wide range of initiatives towards the "Health of the Nation" target of reducing the rate of suicide by 15 per cent. between 1990 and 2000. These include improving mental health services, increasing public awareness of mental health issues, targeting demographic and occupational groups at particular risk of suicide and reducing access to means.

Bovine Serum (Vaccines)

Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's policy in relation to the use of bovine serum in vaccines. [22914]

Mr. Horam: Currently licensed vaccines do not contain any bovine material sourced from the United Kingdom. Bovine serum albumin, used in the manufacture of some vaccines, is covered by the European Committee on Proprietary Medicinal Products

26 Mar 1996 : Column: 517

guideline on bovine spongiform encephalopathy and medicines entitled "Minimising the risk of transmission of agents causing spongiform encephalopathies via medical products". All UK licensed vaccines comply with this guidance.

Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the countries from which bovine serum for vaccine is banned for use in the United Kingdom and the date on which the prohibitions took effect. [22915]

Mr. Horam: There is no list of banned countries, but bovine serum albumin is not obtained from United Kingdom sources, or areas where bovine spongiform encephalopathy is endemic. Bovine serum albumin used in vaccine manufacture must comply with the European Committee on Proprietary Medicinal Products guideline on BSE and medicines, entitled "Minimising the risk of transmission of agents causing spongiform encephalopathies via medical products".

Drinking Water (Lead Levels)

Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the safe level of lead in drinking water for (a) babies, (b) children under three years of age, (c) expectant mothers and their unborn babies and (d) adults suffering from osteoporosis; [22973]

(2) when the Chief Medical Officer of Health last made a statement on the health dangers of lead in drinking water. [22975]

Mr. Horam: In 1989 the Chief Medical Officer accepted and endorsed advice on lead in drinking water from the Department of Health's expert advisory committee on the medical aspects of contamination of air, soil and water, that

"the aim in the long term should be to achieve compatibility both with the criterion that in not more than 2 per cent. of the population of interest should the blood lead concentration exceed 25 micrograms per decilitre, and with a weekly intake of not more than 25 micrograms lead per kilogram body weight in infants and children."

The advice was published in the Department of the Environment/Welsh Office "Guidance on safeguarding the quality of public water supplies", copies of which are available in the Library. Calculations published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in food surveillance paper No. 27, copies of which are also available in the Library, indicate that the criteria would be met for adults by water with an average lead concentration of 30 micrograms per litre or less, and for bottle-fed babies by water with an average lead concentration of 10 micrograms per litre or less.

Mrs. Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has undertaken and when into the health dangers of lead in drinking water. [22974]

Mr. Horam: Through the health survey for England, the Department is supporting research into the relationship between blood pressure and blood lead levels. Studies on lead and human health have been supported by the Medical Research Council, which is the main agency

26 Mar 1996 : Column: 518

through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research, and which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.

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