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17 May 1996 : Column: 583

Written Answers to Questions

Friday 17 May 1996

ENVIRONMENT

Small Cetaceans (North Sea)

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the population status of small cetaceans in the North sea; and what measures she has taken since the implementation of The Hague memorandum of understanding on small cetaceans to ensure habitat protection in the North sea. [29884]

Mr. Clappison: During 1994 the UK participated in an international project that aimed to record the abundance and distribution of small cetaceans throughout the North sea and adjacent waters. The project, which was co-ordinated by the sea mammal research unit in Cambridge, also received financial and logistical support from the European Commission, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. A copy of the project report can be obtained from my Department.

After The Hague memorandum of understanding, the United Kingdom signed and became a party to the agreement on the conservation of small cetaceans of the Baltic and North seas.

Enterprise Zones

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the location of each enterprise zone and the date each was established since the introduction of such zones. [29906]

Sir Paul Beresford: The tables list the location and date of each enterprise zone established in the United Kingdom since they were first introduced in 1980. Each zone is designated for a period of 10 years, and zones that are still extant are indicated by an asterisk. The names of zones are given where they exist.

Location	Date
England
Corby	22 June 1981
Dudley (No. 1)	10 July 1981
Wakefield: Langthwaite grange	31 July 1981
Salford/Trafford	12 August 1981
Speke (Liverpool)	25 August 1981
Tyneside	25 August 1981
Hartlepool	23 October 1981
Isle of Dogs (London Docklands)	26 April 1982
Wellingborough	26 July 1983
Rotherham	16 August 1983
Scunthorpe: Normanby ridge Queensway	23 September 1983
Wakefield: Dale lane and Kinsley	23 September 1983
Workington (Nos. 1 to 6)	4 October 1983
North-west Kent (Nos. 1 to 5)	31 October 1983
Middlesbrough	8 November 1983
North-east Lancashire (Nos. 1 to 7)	7 December 1983
Telford (Nos. 1 to 5)	13 January 1984
Glanford (Humberside)	13 April 1984
Dudley: Round Oak	3 October 1984
North-west Kent (No. 6 and 7):
No. 6 and 7 Chaltam Maritime*	10 October 1986
Sunderland:
No. 1 Hylton Riverside/Southwick*	27 April 1990
No. 2 Castletown*
No. 3 Doxford park*
East Midlands (Nos. 1 to 7):
Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Holmewood*	3 November 1995
No. 4 Manton Wood, Worksop*	16 November 1995
No. 5 and 6 Crown farm, Mansfield*	22 September 1995
No. 7 Sherwood business park*	21 November 1995
Dearne Valley (Nos. 1 to 6):
No. 1 Manvers east, Rotherham*	3 November 1995
No. 2 Highgate businesspark, Barnsley*
No. 3 Goldthorpe industrial estate, Barnsley*
No. 4 Denaby lane industrial estate, Doncaster*
No. 5 Cortonwood park, Rotherham*
No. 6 Wombwell bypass, Barnsley*
East Durham (Nos. 1 to 6):
No. 1 Bracken hill*	29 November 1995
No. Peterlee north-west industrial estate*
No. 3 Peterlee south-west industrial estate*
No. 4 Seaham grange*
No. 5 Fox Cover*
No. 6 Dawdon*
Tyne Riverside:
No. 1*	19 February 1996
Nos. 2 to 11 (proposed)	Mid 1996
Northern Ireland
Belfast	21 October 1981
Londonderry:
Springtown	13 September 1983
Campsie
Scotland
Clydeband
No. 1	3 August 1981
No. 2	18 August 1981
Invergordon	7 October 1983
Alness
Tayside Dundee (Nos. 1 to 6)	9 January 1984
Tayside Arbroath
Inverclyde (Nos. 1 to 11):
Nos. 1 to 4 Port Glasgow*	3 March 1989
Nos. 5 to 10 Greenock*
No. 11 west of Gourock*
Lanarkshire*	1 February 1993
Wales
Swansea (No. 1)	11 June 1981
Delyn	21 July 1983
Milford Haven:
North shore (Nos. 1 to 7)	24 April 1984
South shore (Nos. 1 to 6)
Swansea (No. 2)	6 March 1985

17 May 1996 : Column: 584

NORTHERN IRELAND

Council of Europe Meetings

Mr. Terry Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings of, or organised by,

17 May 1996 : Column: 585

the Council of Europe since January 1995 have been attended by Ministers or officials of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [29363]

Sir John Wheeler: None. The UK permanent representative to the Council of Europe consults this Department and the Northern Ireland Departments on all issues of particular importance to Northern Ireland.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Council of Europe Meetings

Mr. Terry Davis: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many meetings of, or organised by, the Council of Europe since January 1995 have been attended by Ministers or officials of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [29361]

Mr. Jonathan Evans: During the period in question, the Lord Chancellor addressed a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and spoke during the visit of the standing committee of the Parliamentary Assembly to London. Departmental officials attended one conference, one seminar, one colloquy, and nine meetings of committees of experts, including working groups of those committees.

HEALTH

Midwives

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to encourage midwives to stay in the profession and to encourage non-practising midwives to return to work. [28261]

Mr. Horam: A higher proportion of the total stock of nursing and midwifery staff are working, and using their professional skill for the benefit of patients, than ever before. Local employers are responsible for developing and implementing effective human resource strategies further to improve recruitment and retention.

Nursing Shortages

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 30 April, Official Report, column 505, in which (a) areas and (b) specialties there are nursing shortages. [29466]

Mr. Horam: The national pay review body has considered all the evidence and concluded that there is no widespread shortage of nursing staff.

Mental Health

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with learning disabilities have been detained under the mental health legislation. [29405]

Mr. Bowis: In 1992-93, the latest year for which information is available, there were 252 formal admissions of patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 and classified as mentally impaired or severely mentally impaired.

17 May 1996 : Column: 586

Clinical Negligence Claims

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the cost of clinical negligence claims in each region in each year since 1991-92. [29399]

Mr. Horam: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend the Minister for Health gave him on 6 March 1995, Official Report, columns 40-42. As was made clear at the time, the figures for the earlier years were based on information that was not comprehensive and, in particular, did not include data from national health service trusts. The table shows the regional breakdowns based on latest estimates for 1993-4 and 1994-95 and provisional figures for 1995-96, consistent with the national estimates for those years.

Costs to the NHS of clinical negligence settlements by region

Region	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96
	£ million (estimated)	£ million (estimated)	£ million (provisional)
Northern and Yorkshire	15.2	25.0	16.3
Trent	7.1	11.7	15.1
Anglia and Oxford	10.6	18.2	14.8
North Thames	21.4	30.4	37.2
South Thames	30.6	26.9	18.6
South and West	8.0	19.2	16.4
West Midlands	8.4	6.1	6.4
North West	16.6	22.5	24.3
Total	117.9	160.0	149.1

Ethnic Health Research

Mr. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to take forward the national ethnic health research and development programme. [29527]

Mr. Malone: The Department attaches great importance to ensuring that the health needs of ethnic minority populations are recognised and met. Since 1989, it has allocated £0.5 million each year to fund a range of development projects aimed at improving access to health services. A directory listing the initiatives has just been published, and copies will be placed in the Library.

In addition, the Department's research programme currently funds a number of projects, to a combined value of £3.5 million, which have an ethnic dimension.

Within the national health service executive, the west midlands regional office leads on research and development in this area. It has commissioned projects to a value of £300,000.

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