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Hospital Trusts (Ex Gratia Payments)
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the changes in the maximum amount of ex gratia payments which an individual NHS hospital trust can give without referral to the NHS executive over the past five years. [25941]
Mr. Horam: The delegated limit to individual national health service trusts for all ex gratia payments from inception to July 1995 was £5,000. In July 1995 the delegated limit in respect of ex gratia payments for clinical negligence and personal injury cases involving negligence was increased to £1 million, for those cases where appropriate qualified legal advice had been obtained and where departmental guidance is followed. In cases where the appropriate legal advice was not obtained the limit remained at £5,000.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| To patients and staff for loss of personal effects | 50,000 |
| For clinical negligence--negotiated settlements following legal advice--where the guidance relating to such payments has been applied | (6)1,000,000 |
| For personal injury claims involving negligence where legal advice obtained and relevant guidance has been applied | (6)1,000,000 |
| Other clinical negligence cases and personal injury claims | 50,000 |
| Other, except cases of maladministration where there was no financial loss by claimant | 50,000 |
| Maladministration where there was no financial loss by claimant | Nil |
| Patient referrals outside the UK and European Economic Area guidelines | Nil |
(6) including plaintiff's costs
Ambulance Service
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the ambulance cost per mile by ambulance authority in 1994-95. [26320]
Mr. Horam: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 29 March, Official Report, column 781.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Gas Network
Mr. Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which companies have submitted bids for the purchase of the old Belfast Gas network; what plans they
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have submitted for developing the Belfast network; which was the highest bid; and what was the Department of Economic Development's response. [24867]
Mr. Ancram: Bids were submitted by Northern Ireland Electricity and Premier Energy Suppliers Ltd. NIE made the higher bid, but both bids were heavily qualified. Both companies submitted plans for developing the Belfast network. The plan submitted by Premier Energy Suppliers Ltd. was considered to meet most closely the Government's objectives of the most rapid and extensive as possible development of a downstream gas industry.
The Department is currently engaged in negotiations with Premier Energy Suppliers Ltd. on licence terms for the development of a natural gas industry in an area which includes Belfast. The availability of the former network is essential to this development and its purchase is an integral part of the negotiations.
Incapacity Benefit
Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland who were in receipt of invalidity benefit have since been declared ineligible for incapacity benefit; and how many have had their cases listed for hearing by the independent tribunal service. [25523]
Mr. Moss: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Alec Wylie to Dr. Joe Hendron, dated 22 April 1996:
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I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on Incapacity Benefit.
You asked for information on the number of people who were in receipt of Invalidity Benefit who have since been declared ineligible for Incapacity Benefit. Unfortunately, records are not maintained on the actual number of claims which were either allowed or disallowed but I can tell you that from 13 April 1995 to 31 March 1996, 7539 claims were disallowed solely on incapacity grounds. Not included in this figure are claims disallowed for other reasons such as insufficient contributions or late claims.
You also wished to know how many cases which were disallowed have been listed for appeal hearing by the Independent Tribunal Service. I can advise you that a total of 1832 Incapacity Benefit appeals have been received for the period 13 April 1995 to 31 March 1996. To date 841 have been cleared, 311 of which were allowed by the Appeal Tribunal. Of the remaining 991, 247 are with the Independent Tribunal Service for hearing and 744 are being prepared by the Agency.
I hope this explains the position for you but I would be happy to provide you with any further information you require.
Prisoner Releases
Ms Mowlam: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners are planned to be released from prison in Northern Ireland in each of the next 12 months; and what proportion of these have benefited from the increase in remission rates introduced in the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentences) Order 1995. [25461]
Sir John Wheeler: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Northern Ireland Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. Alan Shannon. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. D. Shannon to Ms Marjorie Mowlam, dated 23 April 1996:
In addition there are currently 20 prisoners who are in the final stages of release from life sentences and who are provisionally expected to be released during the next 12 months. None of these prisoners have benefited directly from the 1995 increase in remission rates.
23 Apr 1996 : Column: 109
23 Apr 1996 : Column: 109
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to the Parliamentary Question you tabled relating to the numbers of prisoners it is planned to release from prison in Northern Ireland in each of the next 12 months.
The information which you are seeking is contained in the attached table. In brief a total of 513 prisoners of whom 75 are affected by the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentences) Order 1995 are expected to be released from prison during the period 1 May 1996 and 30 April 1997. You should note that this figure does not include 20 prisoners who are in the final stage of release from life sentences and who are provisionally expected to be released during the next 12 months.
You should also note that these figures are based on the prison population at the date of writing and cannot take account of the restoration of remission to individual prisoners.
I hope this is helpful.
Date MAGILL MAGH'B MAZE YOC Total
May 1996 44 (1) 8 (1) 24 (2) 20 (0) 96 (4)
June 40 (1) 18 (1) 14 (4) 11 (0) 83 (6)
July 27 (1) 8 (2) 13 (3) 15 (0) 63 (6)
August 23 (2) 7 (2) 15 (4) 8 (0) 53 (8)
September 24 (0) 8 (2) 15 (8) 5 (0) 52 (10)
October 17 (0) 5 (1) 12 (6) 4 (0) 38 (7)
November 13 (2) 3 (2) 4 (3) 1 (0) 21 (7)
December 20 (1) 4 (2) 9 (3) 2 (0) 35 (6)
January 1997 8 (1) 2 (2) 8 (4) 2 (0) 20 (7)
February 16 (3) 5 (2) 6 (1) 1 (0) 28 (6)
March 7 (2) 1 (1) 8 (4) 4 (0) 20 (7)
April 4 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 4 (1)
Total 243 (15) 69 (18) 128 (42) 73 (0) 513 (75)
Water Quality
Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are presently being taken
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to monitor the quality of water at the point of consumption. [25519]
Mr. Moss: The quality of water supplied to consumers in Northern Ireland by the Water Executive is monitored
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in accordance with the provisions of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, as amended, and the Water Quality Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994. These provisions incorporate EC water quality standards and monitoring requirements. Information about the quality of public water supplies is available on a public register at the four divisional offices of the Water Executive in Ballymena, Belfast, Craigavon and Londonderry. The first annual reports of the quality of the Water Executive supplies, required under the 1994 regulations will be published in June 1996 along with reports to district councils summarising the quality of supplies within their areas.
Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what measures are presently being taken to monitor the level and concentration of asbestos fibres in the public water supply system at the point of consumption; [25520]
- (2) what measures are presently being taken to monitor the level and concentration of asbestos fibres in the water supply system subsequent to breakages in asbestos cement water mains; [25521]
(3) what measures are presently being taken to ensure that the asbestos cement pipes currently in use are of an acceptable structural integrity, with particular reference to corrosion by the water supply; and how long they have been in existence. [25522]
Mr. Moss: Consideration of a report by the water research centre commissioned by the Department's Water Executive into the use of asbestos cement pipes is nearly completed. I expect in the near future to be in a position to make an announcement about the future use of asbestos cement pipes by the Water Executive.
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