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Minimum Wage

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of the employment effects in the United Kingdom of the introduction of a statutory national minimum wage set at (a) £3 per hour, (b) £3.50 per hour and (c) £4 per hour; and if he will make a statement. [31291]

Mr. John M. Taylor: Assuming a half restoration of differentials, a minimum wage set at the levels indicated would destroy in excess of 1 million jobs.

Mr. Bruce: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer from the introduction of a statutory national minimum wage of (a) £3 per hour, (b) £3.50 per hour and (c) £4 per hour; and if he will make a statement on the basis for the calculations. [31290]

Mr. Taylor: I have made no such assessment. However, it is clear that a minimum wage would destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs, which would have an adverse effect on the Exchequer.

Disabled Employees

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many registered disabled people are employed by his Department; and what percentage this is of the total figures. [30766]

Mr. John M. Taylor: The figures for DTI, excluding its executive agencies, are set out below:

Total staff: 6,511
Registered disabled: 67
As a percentage of total staff: 1.03

The DTI also employs a number of staff with disabilities who have chosen not to register.

Agency chief executives have been asked to respond direct to the hon. Member.

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 582

Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 30 May 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about the number of registered disabled people employed by The Insolvency Service; and what percentage this is of the total figure.
As at 18 April 1996, 17 registered disabled persons were employed by The Insolvency Service, representing 1.24% of the total permanent staff in post.
In addition, there are 28 permanent members of staff with disabilities who have chosen not to register. This represents 2.05% of the total permanent staff in post.

Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 7 June 1996:

I am replying on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency to your question to the President of the Board of Trade about the percentage of disabled people employed.
To ask the President of the Board of Trade, how many registered disabled people are employed by his Department; and what percentage this is of the total figures.
The Radiocommunications Agency has no registered disabled staff.
However, there are a number of staff with disabilities who have chosen not to register.

Letter from John Holden to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 7 June 1996:

You recently asked the President of the Board of Trade, how many registered disabled people are employed by his Department and what percentage this if of the total figures. I am replying as Chief Executive of Companies House.
There are 13 members of staff in Companies House who are registered disabled. This represents 1.2% of total staff.
There are, however, a further 20 members of staff who have identified themselves as disabled but are not registered disabled. This in total represents 3% of Companies House staff with disabilities.

Letter from J. C. Octon to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 31 May 1996:

In the absence of the Comptroller General on official business I am replying for the Patent Office to your question on the number of registered disabled staff employed in the Office. The figures are:
Total number of staff as at 1 April 1996: 810
Number of registered disabled staff: 12
Disabled as percentage of total staff: 1.5%
The Office also has staff with disabilities who have chosen not to register.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 31 May 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to provide information on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory in reply to your question about the number of disabled people employed by DTI.
This Agency has no registered disabled among its 51 employees.

TREASURY

Abortions

Sir David Steel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths were recorded as a result of abortion operations in England and Wales in 1995 [31317]

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 583

Mrs. Angela Knight: The information requested is not yet available. The 1994 deaths following legal abortions will be presented in the Office for National Statistics annual reference volume "Abortion Statistics 1994 Series AB No. 21" due for publication in July 1996.

Drugs-related Deaths

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many drugs-related deaths occurred in (a) Coventry and (b) the west midlands for each year since 1990. [31094]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The number of drugs-related deaths ¹ to residents of Coventry district health authority and West Midlands regional health authority for each year since 1990 are shown in the table.

	Coventry	West Midlands
1990	5	30
1991	1	26
1992	2	29
1993	1	33
1994	1	25

(1) International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision codes 304 (drug dependence) and 305.2-305.9 (non-dependent abuse of drugs).

Deaths for 1992 and earlier years represent the number of deaths registered in each year, while deaths for 1993 and 1994 are deaths which occurred in these years. Also, new procedures for coding cause of death from 1993, and the absence of medical inquires, mean that figures for 1993 onwards may not be exactly comparable with earlier years. For most conditions, however, these effects are small. More details may be found in Office of Population Censuses and Surveys series DH2 for 1993, which was published in October 1995, a copy of which may be accessed by the House of Commons Library.

Child Maintenance

Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the availability of tax relief on the cost of child maintenance for (a) married and (b) unmarried absent parents. [31202]

Mr. Jack: For maintenance arrangements entered into since 1988, tax relief is available only for payments made to a divorced or separated spouse for their own maintenance or the maintenance of a child living with them. The relief is subject to certain conditions and to a limit equal to the married couple's allowance.

EDS Computer Systems

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has revised his estimate of the savings to be made from his Department's information technology partnership with the firm EDS; and if he will make a statement. [31783]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The Treasury and its agencies do not have a technology partnership with the firm EDS.

CRESTCo

Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he will take on the Director General of Fair Trading's report on CRESTCo. [32400]

7 Jun 1996 : Column: 584

Mrs. Angela Knight: My right hon. and learned Friend and I have now considered the Director General of Fair trading's report and we agree with his conclusion that the rules proposed by CRESTCo do not pose any significant competition problems. Accordingly, I have written to the chairman of the Securities and Investments Board to inform him that the Treasury gives the SIB leave to recognise CRESTCo as a recognised clearing house under the Financial Services Act 1986 and to approve CRESTCo as an operator of a relevant system under the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 1995 (SI 1995 No. 3272.

HEALTH

Emergency Ambulance Calls

Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average response time to a 999 call for an ambulance in London. [31321]

Mr. Horam: Average response time figures are not available centrally.

Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis need is assessed in response to 999 calls in London; and what system of prioritisation is employed. [31323]

Mr. Horam: All 999 calls are given equal priority at present.

Doncaster Health Authority

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications, broken down by gender, were received for the position of chairman of the new Doncaster health authority; how many candidates matched the criteria for selection; how many were considered for the shortlist; and what criteria were used for the final selection. [31495]

Mr. Malone: Following a regional advertising campaign and review of the regional database of candidates, two suitable candidates, both male, were identified. Both were interviewed and assessed against the job description for health authority chairmen, copies of which are available in the Library.

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) the contracts for hospital and health services awarded under the competitive tendering process to date by Doncaster health authority, (b) the successful tenderers and (c) the value of the contracts. [31493]

Mr. Horam: This is a matter for Doncaster health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Keith Jones, chairman of the authority for details.

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