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Earnings
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the numbers of (a) men and (b) women whose earnings are below the level of the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions, indicating for each the estimated average weekly hours of work. [34791]
Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Figures from the labour force survey, winter 1995, show that in Great Britain there were an estimated 550,000 men with earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions; these men worked on average 16.2 hours per week. Of the estimated 2 million women below the limit, average weekly hours were 11.7.
WALES
Forestry Commission Woodland
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of Forestry Commission woodlands in Wales has been sold off since 1981. [34675]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: The question relates to matters undertaken by Forest Enterprise. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. Gordon Cowie, to reply.
Letter from Gordon M. Cowie to Mr. Barry Jones, dated 2 July 1996:
Mr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Forestry Commission woodlands there were in 1981; and how many now exist in what was the former county of Clwyd. [34676]
The Secretary of State for Wales has asked me to reply to your Question about the percentage of woodlands sold in Wales.
Forest Enterprise sold 16,842 hectares of woodland in Wales between 1981 and March 1996 and this represents some 12% of the area owned in 1981.
Mr. Evans: There are no records of the number of individual woodlands in Clwyd, but the area of woodland is estimated to have increased since 1981 from some 22,000 hectares to nearly 23,000 hectares.
EU Business (Veto)
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the items of EU business which have been vetoed by the Government since the announcement of the non-co-operation policy which would have applied in Wales; and what assessment he has made of the impact of each item in Wales. [34489]
2 Jul 1996 : Column: 419
Mr. Hague: Under the policy of non-co-operation the United Kingdom withheld agreement to 74 measures requiring unanimous approval. The Prime Minister announced on 24 June that the policy had been lifted. All the measures affected by the policy are now expected to be taken forward.
Statutory Instruments
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many statutory instruments his Department introduced in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) between 1 January 1996 and 1 May 1996, which had the effect of repealing one or more previous statutory instruments without replacing them with a new regulation. [35035]
Mr. Hague: The number of statutory instruments introduced by the Welsh Office during the past three years which had the effect of repealing one or more previous statutory instruments without replacing them with a new regulation is as follows:
1994: 1
1995: 0
1996 (from 1 January to 1 May): 2.
NHS Nurses
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time nurses were employed in (i) hospitals, (ii) community service and (iii) general practice in the Welsh NHS in (1) 1980, (2) 1985, (3) 1990 and (4) 1995. [35222]
Mr. Hague: A reliable split between nursing and midwifery staff employed in the hospital and community service is not separately available, and so the information given in the first part of the table relates to all directly employed NHS staff in the nursing and midwifery group.
| Numbers of staff in post | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital and community service (excluding pre-registration learners) at 30 September: | ||||
| Full-time | 13,264 | 15,964 | 17,002 | (9)16,152 |
| Part-time | 11,798 | 11,965 | 13,619 | (9)16,515 |
| Nurses in general practice (at 1 October): | ||||
| Full-time | 11 | 15 | -- | -- |
| Part-time | 95 | 196 | -- | -- |
| Total | 106 | 211 | 753 | (10)1,062 |
-- Information not collected centrally.
(9) Excludes staff on local payscales for whom no details of contractual commitment are available centrally.
(10) Provisional.
Health Care Integration
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will set up an evaluation exercise of the comparative costs and benefits of (a) integrated hospital, community and ambulance services and (b) separating ambulance services from other health provider services. [35226]
Mr. Hague: I have no plans to set up an evaluation exercise of this nature.
2 Jul 1996 : Column: 420
General Practitioners
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time doctors were employed in general practice in Wales in (a) 1980, (b) 1985, (c) 1990 and (d) 1995. [35223]
Mr. Hague: Information on the contractual commitment of general medical practitioners was collected for the first time in 1990. The information is given in the table:
| 1990 | 1995 | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | 1,553 | 1,499 |
| Part-time | 82 | 220 |
NHS Trusts
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those trusts which have not to date signed contracts with their local health authorities. [35224]
Mr. Hague: The information provided by NHS trusts is as follows:
| Contracts agreed but not signed | Agreement awaited |
|---|---|
| Wrexham Maelor | Carmarthen |
| Glan Hafren | Ceredigion |
| Gwent Community | Derwen |
| Nevill Hall | Llanelli |
| Gwynedd Community | Pembrokeshire |
| North Glamorgan | Morriston |
| Glan-y-Mor | University Dental Hospital |
| Mid Wales Ambulance | Gwynedd Hospitals |
| North Wales Ambulance | University Hospital of Wales |
| South East Wales Ambulance Llandough Rhondda | Powys |
Ambulance Trusts
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he estimates he will receive proposals for revising the boundaries of ambulance trusts from (a) the Welsh ambulance policy and advisory group and (b) Pembrokeshire NHS trust. [35225]
Mr. Hague: I have not received any formal proposals from either the Welsh ambulance policy and advisory group or the Pembrokeshire NHS trust.
Ambulance Services
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will instigate a study into the costs and benefits of (a) single-handed and (b) double-handed ambulance crews providing first attendance at the sites of accidents and other emergencies; what representations he has received on the proposals to institute single-handed response systems; how it relates to (i) Orcon and (ii) other standards; and if he will make a statement. [35227]
Mr. Hague: The Department of Health has set up a group to review ambulance performance standards. The group's recommendations are expected to address methods of response, and I will be taking advice on the implications of these recommendations for Wales in due course.
2 Jul 1996 : Column: 421
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidelines he has issued to health service units in Wales in relation to the benefits aligning ambulance trust boundaries with (a) the new health authority boundaries and (b) the other emergency services' boundaries; and if he will make a statement. [35228]
NHS Efficiency Savings
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from (a) health authorities and (b) trusts concerning the departmental efficiency savings required from them during the 1996-97 financial year. [35229]
Mr. Hague: A number of health authority and NHS trust chairmen and chief executives have expressed some concern at the ability of their organisations to continue to deliver efficiency improvements of 3 per cent. a year.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Sir Cranley Onslow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to ensure that beef for human consumption imported into the United Kingdom from EC countries conforms to the same standards as beef processed by abattoirs in the United Kingdom in respect of precautions against BSE. [31008]
Mrs. Browning: All fresh meat imported into the UK from other member states or third countries must have been produced in accordance with harmonised Community rules laid down in Council directive 64/433/EC.
The Beef (Emergency Control) Order 1996, as amended, prohibits the sale for human consumption of all bovine meat derived from bovines which, at the time of slaughter, were more than 30 months old. This measure applies to all bovines slaughtered after the commencement of the order, whether in the UK or overseas, other than those born, reared and slaughtered in those third countries specifically excluded by the order listed in the schedule to the No. 2 amendment order. The list of countries is confined to those where the Government are satisfied there is no history of BSE and public health rules do not prohibit imports.
The third countries exempted are from the order are:
2 Jul 1996 : Column: 422
Mr. Tyler:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the total net cost to the Exchequer of the current BSE eradication scheme in the United Kingdom, with particular reference to the effect on the United Kingdom rebate, for (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98, (c) 1998-99 and (d) thereafter. [35330]
Mrs. Browning:
The latest available estimate of the total cost of BSE measures taken in the UK in 1996-97 is £1,037 million. In 1997-98 the cost is estimated to be £748 million and in 1998-99 £685 million.
Estimates for costs in 1999-2000 and subsequent years are not yet available.
After taking account of the net contribution from the EC and the reduction in our abatement, the costs of these measures to the UK taxpayer will be around £2 billion over the three-year period 1996 to 1999.
Argentina
Australia
Botswana
Brazil
Mauritius
Namibia
New Zealand
Paraguay
Poland
South Africa
Swaziland
Uruguay
United States of America
As regards bovines less than 30 months of age, a number of countries with BSE have introduced controls requiring the removal of specified bovine offals. We continue to keep the position under review.
Zimbabwe
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