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County Farms

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the local authorities which own county farms. [31589]

Mr. Boswell: I have been asked to reply.

At 31 March 1995, the following county councils in England owned county farms:


13 Jun 1996 : Column: 283

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Payroll Giving

Mr. Rooker: To ask the Lord President of the Council how many right hon. and hon. Members are currently signed up to the charity payroll giving arrangement operated by the Fees Office. [32075]

13 Jun 1996 : Column: 284

Mr. Newton: There are currently 46 right hon. and hon. Members signed up to the payroll giving arrangement operated by the Fees Office.

LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

Computers (Millennium)

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Lord President of the Council what assessment has been made of the cost effects of the millennium date change on the computer systems operated by his Department. [32668]

Mr. Newton: The Privy Council Office operates only personal computers and the millennium date change is expected to entail negligible costs, if any.

SCOTLAND

Private Investigators

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what use his Department has made of private detective agencies or investigators during 1995-96 and 1994-95; what agencies have been employed; for what purposes; and at what cost to his Department. [30566]

Lord James Douglas Hamilton: The information is set out in the table.

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PurposeYearCost (£)Number of casesAgencies employed
Trace students who have withdrawn from their courses and are required to pay back their grant 1994-95 1995-9617,993 10,003685 480 Lewis Investigation Services John Campbell Investigation Services
Locate individuals or companies who have defaulted on the terms and conditions of their regional enterprise grants 1994-95 1995-96394 3456 5 George Ferrier and Company

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Seals

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to review the Conservation of Seals Act 1970; and if he will make a statement. [31298]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The Government's policy on conservation of seals is kept under review. There are no plans to amend the Act.

Clyde Fishermen (Sharks)

Ms. Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sharks have been caught by lone Clyde fishermen in each of the last five years. [31338]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The information requested is not available.

Bird Habitats

Sir David Steel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research his Department has commissioned into trends in the number of farmland birds. [31313]

Mr. Kynoch: The Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department is currently providing funding for a number of projects covering research into the impact of agricultural practices on the environment, which include bird-related studies. Research

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work on farmland bird numbers is also being funded through Scottish Natural Heritage, the Government's statutory adviser on nature conservation matters.

Examples include the joint funding of the Natural Environment Research Council-led special project on large-scale processes in ecology and hydrology. Three of the projects in that programme are concerned with aspects of bird populations, including analysis of trends. Scottish Natural Heritage has funded research into farmland bird numbers through a Joint Nature Conservation Committee contract let with the British Trust for Ornithology.

Septic Tanks

Mr. Home Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the policies adopted by each of the new Scottish water boards on regular emptying of septic tanks serving dwelling houses, and the charges to be levied for the service. [31615]

Mr. Kynoch: The water authorities in Scotland are required to provide on request a septic tank emptying service for dwelling houses where it is reasonably practicable to do so, and where all proper charges for doing so are timeously paid. For 1996-97, each of the authorities has set a charge of £25 for the first emptying of a septic tank; any subsequent emptyings requested in 1996-97 may be charged at a higher rate or actual cost.

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Civil Servants (Duties Abroad)

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent during the financial years 1994-95 and 1995-96 on sending civil servants accompanying Ministers from his Department on official duties abroad. [32422]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Detailed information is not kept in the precise form requested. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Warrington, South (Mr. Hall) on 22 May, Official Report, columns 262-64, which provides information on the cost of ministerial visits overseas.

NHS Pre-payment Certificates

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has collected through the issuing of pre-payment certificates under NHS regulations in each year for which information is available. [32430]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information for Scotland for the financial years 1991-92 to 1995-96 is as follows:


Water (Fluoridation)

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the approval of both a health board and the relevant water authority in an area is necessary before the introduction of fluoride to public water supplies. [32407]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Section 1 of the Water (Fluoridation) Act 1985 provides that a statutory water undertaker may, where a health authority has made an application to it to do so, increase the fluoride content of the water supplied by it within the area specified in the application.

Prescriptions

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prescriptions were issued by general practitioners (a) in total and (b) in each health board area in Scotland in (i) 1993-94, (ii) 1994-95 and (iii) 1995-96. [32450]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information for Scotland and for each health board for the financial years 1993-94 to 1995-96 is set out in the table. The figures include prescriptions written by general medical practitioners, general dental practitioners, hospital-generated prescriptions, prescriptions from England and prescriptions written for personnel serving in the armed forces. Prescriptions written by other than general medical practitioners account for less than 1 per cent. of the total.

The number of prescriptions issued to patients but not presented for dispensing is not known.

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Number of prescription items issued: 1993-94 to 1995-96

Health board1993-941994-95(10)1995-96
Argyll and Clyde4,682,3934,831,1334,955,014
Ayrshire and Arran4,073,5084,200,1614,291,811
Borders1,049,6441,083,0121,109,136
Dumfries and Galloway1,514,2021,602,0721,668,424
Fife3,186,8063,308,8323,427,578
Forth Valley2,761,5432,858,7802,937,833
Grampian4,288,1244,421,4454,518,156
Greater Glasgow10,143,44810,376,64710,608,351
Highland1,771,5311,863,0251,939,259
Lanarkshire6,105,9276,257,9106,486,009
Lothian6,249,4716,439,0376,601,523
Orkney167,126169,555174,979
Shetland203,180205,234213,517
Tayside3,783,8973,906,9854,036,802
Western Isles276,615293,959305,671
Scotland50,257,41551,817,78753,274,063

(10) Provisional.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many private prescriptions were issued by doctors in Scotland in each financial year for which information is available. [32448]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: This information is not available.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much revenue his Department raised in the financial years 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96 from NHS prescription charges (a) in total and (b) for each health board area in Scotland. [32427]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information is set out in the table. Figures have been taken from audited annual accounts of the 15 Scottish health boards. The figures for 1995-96 are currently not available.

£ thousand

Health board1993-941994-95
Argyll and Clyde2,5532,734
Ayr and Arran2,3752,521
Borders753826
Dumfries and Galloway1,0651,146
Fife2,0862,559
Forth Valley1,8682,004
Grampian3,7724,208
Greater Glasgow3,9854,257
Highland1,2801,443
Lanarkshire3,2213,389
Lothian4,5354,950
Orkney188192
Shetland157170
Tayside2,5412,756
Western Isles136166
Scottish totals30,51533,321

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