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HEALTH

Residual Trust Property (Manchester)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the value of the North West regional health authority residual trust property which is being transferred to Manchester health authority; and where it is located. [28099]

Mr. Horam: No trust fund property is to be transferred to Manchester health authority.

Grant Aid Funding

Miss Lestor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 30 April, Official Report,

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column 500, if he will list (a) the non-London organisations which have received section 64 grant aid funding for the provision of service to HIV clients and (b) the organisations receiving first time grants under section 64 grant aid funding for the provision of services to HIV clients, for the financial year 1996-97. [28465]

Mr. Horam: The non-London organisations which are currently receiving section 64 grant aid funding for the provision of services to HIV clients for the financial year 1996-97 are as follows:

National Network of Body Positive Groups;
Body Positive North East.

The organisations receiving first-time grants under section 64 grant aid funding for provision of services to HIV clients, for the financial year 1996-97 are as follows:

Positive Care Link;
National Network of Body Positive Groups;
UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and Aids;
Body Positive North East.

A new grant was also awarded to the National AIDS Trust, although this was not a first-time grant for the organisation.

Milk (Nutritional Value)

Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated regarding the nutritional value of milk consumed by children between the ages of 11 and 16 years; and if he will make a statement. [28530]

Mr. Horam: (a) The Department, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has commissioned, through the national diet and nutrition survey programme, a survey designed to assess the habitual diet of school children aged four to 18 years. The results of this survey will give information about the amount and nutritional value of milk consumed by children between the ages of 11 and 16 years.

(b) None.

Dental Services (General Anaesthetics)

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the guidelines currently in place for dentists who give general anaesthetics in their dental surgeries. [28620]

Mr. Malone: The Department has issued no guidelines for dentists who give general anaesthetics in their surgeries, as this is a professional matter for the relevant professional bodies. The General Dental Council, in May 1993, published "Professional Conduct and Fitness to Practise", copies of which are available in the Library; paragraphs 17 to 28 are guidelines on general anaesthesia, sedation and resuscitation.

BSE

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department received advice from the Committee on the Safety of Medicines concerning the sourcing of materials from cattle under six months from BSE--free herds; what steps were subsequently taken as a result of this advice; and when. [27980]

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Mr. Horam: In February 1989, at the request of the Licensing Authority, the Committee on the Safety of Medicines, the Committee on Dental and Surgical Materials and the Veterinary Products Committee, convened an expert group to formulate guidelines on the sourcing of bovine materials for the use in the manufacture of medicinal products. These guidelines were considered and agreed by the CSM at its February 1989 meeting. The guidelines recommended that source animals should be calves up to six months of age. A letter containing these joint CSM-VPC Guidelines was sent to the pharmaceutical industry. The industry was asked to provide information on the source and type of material of animal origin used in the manufacture of medicines. Subsequently, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy working party was established jointly by the CSM and VPC. This group considered the replies from companies at its October 1989 and subsequent meetings. Companies changed their source of bovine materials to non-UK sources for parenteral, ocular and topical products applied to broken skin. All products licensed since the 1989 CSM-VPC guidelines were issued, and the subsequent European Committee on Proprietary Medicinal Products 1992 guidelines, which replaced them, have been assessed in accordance with the guidelines for the acceptability of the bovine materials used.

Private Hospitals

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many private hospitals there were (i) by region (ii) nationally in each of the last five years; [29192]

(2) what estimate he has made of the number of private hospital beds (i) by region and (ii) nationally in each of the last five years. [29191]

Mr. Malone: Information relating solely to private hospitals is not available centrally. Information on private hospitals, homes and clinics as a group is available and published annually in "Private hospitals, homes and clinics registered under section 23 of the Registered Homes Act 1984", copies of which are available in the Library. For the last two years, information is presented separately for private hospitals and clinics and for private nursing homes. Additional information on private hospitals can be found in the annual survey of "Acute Hospitals in the Independent Sector with Psychiatric Hospitals Supplement" by the Independent Healthcare Association.

Elective Surgery

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the levels of elective surgery performed in the private sector (a) by region and (b) nationally in each of the last five years; [29184]

(2) what was the amount of elective surgery performed in the private sector privately as a percentage of NHS elective surgery (a) by region and (b) nationally in each of the last 10 years. [29185]

Mr. Malone: Information on elective surgery performed in the private sector is not collected centrally. Information on the volume of elective and emergency admissions in NHS hospitals is contained in the annual publication "Hospitals Episode Statistics", copies of which are available in the Library.

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Cost Rent Schemes

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cost rent schemes have been agreed (a) in London and (b) outside London in each of the last 10 years. [29187]

Mr. Malone: Information is available for only 1994-95 and relates to cost rent projects agreed in principle by health authorities. Details will be placed in the Library.

Human Embyros

Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many embryos have been frozen under the provisions of licences issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority since its establishment; and in how many of those cases storage facilities are no longer able to trace the parents of that embryo. [28999]

Mr. Horam: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave her on 25 March, columns 421-22. Statistics about contacts between licensed centres and patients are not available centrally.

Private Finance (General Practitioner Premises)

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about private finance in respect of general practitioner premises. [29188]

Ms Horam: The primary care sector of the national health service has always used private capital to fund the development of general practitioner premises.

Health Authority Expenditure

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the per capita expenditure by each health authority area in each of the last three years for which information is available. [29070]

Mr. Horam: I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Minister for Health gave the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) on 26 May 1994, column 305 and the reply my right hon. Friend the then Secretary for Health gave the hon. Member for Darlington on 12 December 1994, column 465, for per capita spend for each district health authority in 1992-93 and 1993-94.

Per capita spend for each district health authority in 1994-95 will be placed in the Library.

Comparisons of these per capita spend figures need to be treated with caution. First, not all the expenditure covered arises from population-related activities. Secondly, crude populations do not reflect differences in age structure or relative health care need. These differences feature in the formulae used to inform the main allocations to the former district health authorities.

Adoption Rules (Foreign Children)

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the rules governing transfer of consent by the natural parents on cases of adoption of foreign national children; and what assessment he has made of the compliance of the procedures in the case about which he has been informed with those rules. [29190]

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Mr. Bowis: Where an adoption application has been made to a court in England and Wales in accordance with the Adoption Act 1976, the court may not make an adoption order unless it is satisfied that the child is free for adoption and that agreement of the parent or guardian to the adoption has been obtained. Before making an adoption order, section 16 of the 1976 Act requires the court to satisfy itself that such consent has been given freely and with full understanding of what is involved and that each parent has agreed unconditionally to the making of the adoption order.

Rules of court require that a guardian ad litem be appointed by the court in any case where consent is not given or there are special circumstances. In cases of consent, a reporting officer will be appointed. If he has any doubt about the validity of the consent, the court will consider whether to appoint a guardian. In the High Court, this is the official solicitor unless he declines to act or one of the parties objects. It is the duty of the guardian ad litem to investigate the application and prepare a report for the court.

Parental agreement to the making of an adoption order may be dispensed with by the court in certain prescribed circumstances. These provisions apply to all adoption applications irrespective of the country of origin of the child concerned. Similar provisions apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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