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EC (Civil Service Employment)
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the implications of the European Communities (Employment in Civil Service) Order 1991 for a person born and resident in Northern Ireland but holding a passport issued by the Republic of Ireland in respect of employment in the Northern Ireland civil service; and if he will list all the posts and departmental agencies to which the order applies. [22925]
Sir John Wheeler: Persons born and resident in Northern Ireland, but holding a passport issued by the Republic of Ireland, provided they still hold British nationality, are eligible for employment in any post in the Northern Ireland civil service in the same way as any other British national. Those who surrender British nationality in favour of Irish citizenship come within the ambit of the European Communities (Employment in the Civil Service) Order 1991 and are eligible, with nationals of other EC--now EEA since the European Economic Area Act 1993--member states and certain members of their families, for appointment to approximately 24,500 posts in the Northern Ireland civil service, or 75 per cent. which do not constitute "employment in the public service" in EC treaty terms. The posts in question are spread across all Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office and their agencies and could be listed only at disproportionate cost.
A8
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland roads service plans for upgrading the A8 from Gingles corner, Larne, to Corrs corner. [21025]
Mr. Moss [holding answer 18 March 1996]: Proposals for the upgrading of the A8 Larne to Belfast road are included in the Department's six to 15-year major road works programme where their priority will be determined as part of a detailed review to be completed later this year.
HEALTH
Pharmacists
Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish his Department's calculations of the working capital requirements for pharmacists; and what have been the changes to the calculated requirements since 1989. [19209]
Mr. Malone: Updating the results of the previous cost enquiries gives a working capital for the median pharmacy of £22,533 in 1989-90 and £35,741 in 1994-95. The cost of servicing working capital is dependent on variations in interest rates.
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NHS Managers and Clinicians
Mr. Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by health authority the numbers and amounts of irregular special payments made to NHS managers and clinicians in each of the last three years. [19663]
Mr. Malone: I refer the hon. Member to the Comptroller and Auditor General's reports on the NHS summarised accounts for England for 1994-95, 1993-94 and 1992-93, his report on the inquiry commissioned by the NHS chief executive into matters concerning the former Yorkshire regional health authority and the Department of Health appropriation accounts for 1994-95, 1993-94 and 1992-93, copies of which are available in the Library.
Adoption
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the directive on adoption issued by his Department to directors of social services on 1 February; and if he will make a statement. [22236]
Mr. Bowis: The Department has received three letters, two of which were from voluntary adoption agencies, following the issue of the guidance on adoption matters on 1 February. A response to these will be sent shortly.
NHS Staff
Mr. Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what remedies are available to (a) himself, (b) the NHS chief executive and (c) chief officers of local health service bodies, to recover money wrongly paid to NHS employees when they (i) change employer within the NHS or (ii) leave the employ of the NHS. [22738]
Mr. Malone: Each national health service trust or health authority is an independent statutory body for the purposes of employment law. Chief officers of health service bodies have the normal remedies in law available to them to recover moneys wrongly paid to their employees, whether they are now employed by another NHS body or have left the employ of the NHS. Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health nor the chief executive employ NHS staff.
Estates Officers
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS estates officers have been made redundant in the last five years; and what has been the cost of the redundancy packages involved for these officers; [22887]
- (2) how many estates officers are currently employed in the NHS; and what was the equivalent figure five years ago. [22886]
Mr. Malone: Information on the numbers of estates officers made redundant and the costs involved is not available centrally. The Department of Health's annual hospital and community health services non-medical work force census collects information on the number of estates officers--known in the census as works staff--employed by the HCHS. Census results for September 1994, the latest year for which figures are available, and earlier
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years are published in the Department of Health's NHS HCHS non-medical work force census statistical bulletin 1984-1994, which is available in the Library.
NHS Maintenance
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures for the backlog of maintenance work in the NHS. [22888]
Mr. Horam: The latest figures collected relating to backlog maintenance are for the year ending 31 March 1995. These total £2.32 billion for all buildings in the national health service estate.
Information
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if patient consent is required before identifiable health information held by his Department is shared with other Government Departments. [22911]
Mr. Horam: The Department of Health does not routinely hold information about individual patients. The sharing of any such information is covered by the Department's guidance, "The Protection and Use of Patient Information", published on 7 March, copies of which are available in the Library.
Tuberculosis
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new cases of tuberculosis were identified in each of the last three years; what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence; and what evidence his Department has evaluated in respect of the emergence of drug-resistant forms. [22893]
Mr. Horam: The numbers of notifications of cases of tuberculosis--excluding chemoprophylaxis--in England in each of the last three years are shown in the table.
| Year | Number of notifications |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 5,721 |
| 1994 | 5,409 |
| 1995 (provisional) | 5,426 |
Source:
OPCS.
The table lists notifications made during a single year, it does not show when infection occurred.
The United Kingdom has an excellent record of tuberculosis control. This has been achieved and maintained through treatment of identified cases and screening of their close contacts, screening and treatment for immigrants, the BCG immunisation programme and active surveillance of TB.
In response to the small rise in tuberculosis notifications in the early 1990s, the United Kingdom health departments set up an interdepartmental working group on tuberculosis with a remit to consider policies for TB control in the UK and to recommend best practice. The first reports from the working group, which are entitled "Recommendations for the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Districts" and "Tuberculosis and Homeless People", will be published shortly and copies will be placed in the Library.
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The public health laboratory service has heightened surveillance of drug-resistant tuberculosis which remains at low levels in the UK. An expert working group has been set up under the interdepartmental working group on tuberculosis to make specific recommendations for the prevention and control of drug-resistant tuberculosis based on all the available evidence.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make asthma a notifiable disease. [22953]
Mr. Horam:
No. Asthma is not infectious or otherwise communicable. It would not be appropriate to make it a notifiable disease.
Mr. Timms:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proposals he has to reflect more fully the costs of (a) homelessness and (b) working with patients with a poor knowledge of English in the funding of NHS trusts; [23344]
Mr. Horam:
The formula takes account of the officially homeless in temporary accommodation and from 1996-97, health authority allocations reflect a new adjustment to take account of homeless "rough sleepers."
(2) what plans he has to introduce needs weighting to the community element of the NHS weighted capitations formula. [23381]
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