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Mental Health Services (Sheffield)

Mr. Bill Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on community mental health services in Sheffield. [36061]

Mr. Bowis: Health authorities are responsible for ensuring that a comprehensive range of services is provided to meet the health needs of their local population within available resources. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of Sheffield health authority for details of community mental health services in Sheffield.

In-patient Operations (Costs)

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of a NHS in-patient operation; how many were performed in the last year and five years ago; and if he will make a statement. [36064]

Mr. Horam: In 1994-95, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 3,556,048 ordinary admissions--that is, excluding day cases--in all specialties in England, where an operation was recorded, compared with 3,349,095 in 1990-91.

We do not collect information on the average cost of an operation.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Units

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the development of cardiac rehabilitation units. [36659]

Mr. Horam: It is for health authorities to identify cardiac rehabilitation needs, and for providers of health care to meet those needs within available resources. The Department of Health is providing funding to the British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation and will continue to encourage the development of the service.

Radiological Emergencies (Planning)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Prime Minister's letter of 8 January, to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what consideration he has given to evidence regarding stable iodine prophylaxis, in relation to United Kingdom health service planning for radiological emergencies. [36644]

Mr. Horam: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 11 March at column 487.

Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Consultant Posts)

Mrs. Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many consulting posts in obstetrics and gynaecology were unfilled at the latest date for which figures are available; [36943]

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(2) what estimate he has made of the number of consultancy posts in obstetrics and gynaecology which have remained unfilled for a period of three months; [36944]

(3) what estimate he has made of the number of consultancy posts in obstetrics and gynaecology which have been vacant for a period of (a) six months and (b) between six and 12 months. [36945]

Mr. Malone: In September 1994, there were 23 vacant consultant posts in obstetrics and gynaecology. Information is not available centrally on the period for which posts are vacant.

Information for September 1995 will be available shortly.

Local Community Care Charters

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities have published local community care charters. [37604]

Mr. Bowis: I understand that almost all the local authorities in England have published their own local charters.

NHS Advertising

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 July, Official Report, column 237, on advertising costs, if he will publish such information as is available. [37698]

Mr. Malone: No data are available which separately identify advertising expenditure. The available data include information about a range of expenditure such as recruitment advertising, health promotion initiatives and measures to improve local accountability such as the production of annual reports and information about services.

The information available is as follows:

Expenditure which includes advertising by health authorities and NHS trusts in England by region

	1993-94	1992-93	1991-92	1990-91
Region	£	£	£	£
Northern	1,536,557	1,308,722	1,399,551	1,323,781
Yorkshire	1,686,291	1,854,389	1,546,213	1,859,669
Trent	2,704,686	2,293,997	2,085,979	2,216,819
East Anglian	1,172,152	1,036,682	907,766	1,025,380
North-west Thames	2,498,796	2,194,458	2,207,702	2,486,098
North-east Thames	2,455,868	2,490,538	2,621,400	3,221,808
South-east Thames	2,337,759	2,420,354	2,031,840	2,274,056
South-west Thames	1,833,519	1,653,714	1,867,469	2,328,691
Wessex	1,270,588	1,201,590	1,070,856	1,334,230
Oxford	1,666,571	1,611,181	1,363,725	1,811,388
South Western	1,674,348	1,416,404	1,509,019	1,495,296
West Midlands	2,110,235	2,273,185	2,271,774	2,788,696
Mersey	1,016,055	974,966	868,299	881,187
North Western	1,469,480	1,306,521	1,504,003	1,761,767
Special health authorities	633,838	633,378	735,386	784,834
Total England	26,066,743	24,670,079	23,990,982	27,593,700

Source:

1. The annual financial returns of NHS trusts, 1991-92 to 1993-94.

2. The annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1991-92 to 1993-94.

3. The annual accounts of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals 1990-91.

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Expenditure which includes advertising by health authorities and NHS trusts in England by region

	1994-95
	£
Northern and Yorkshire	3,597,713
Trent	3,327,513
Anglia and Oxford	4,263,608
North Thames	8,214,511
South Thames	6,398,960
South and West	4,070,058
West Midlands	3,706,907
North Western	3,310,769
Special health authorities	135,606
Total England	37,025,645

Source:

1. The annual financial returns of NHS trusts.

2. The annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals.

Consultancy Index

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the numbers of (a) adverse reports from employers made to his Department's consultancy index for each year since 1979 and (b) notifications from the police for convictions for each year since 1979. [36707]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 11 July 1996]: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the United Kingdom since 1990 in the age groups (a) 20 to 30 years and (b) 30 to 45 years. [35858]

Mrs. Angela Knight: I have been asked to reply.

Data are not available for the age groups requested. However, the numbers of registrations of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the United Kingdom in 1990, the latest year for which data are available, in the standard age groups (a) 20 to 29 years and (b) 30 to 44 years are as follows:

Age groups	Number of registrations(21)
20-29	166
30-44	609

(21) Provisional.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Earnings Disregard

Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of the costs of extending the child care disregard to claimants of income support in each of the cases where (a) one child in the family is aged under 11 years and (b) the disregard is applicable to (i) each child aged under 11 years, (ii) one child in the family under five years, (iii) each child aged under five years, (iv) one child in respect of whom a

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disabled child's premium is payable, (v) each child in respect of whom a disabled child's premium is payable and (vi) each child in a family irrespective of age; [34237]

(2) what is his estimate of the cost to public funds of ignoring (a) travel-to-work expenses and (b) reasonable child care expenses from earnings before the earnings disregard is applied to (i) income support, (ii) housing benefit and (iii) council tax benefit; and how many people would gain from these changes. [34230]

Mr. Roger Evans: The estimated cost of ignoring travel to work costs before the earnings disregard is applied in income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit, and the numbers who would gain from this is set out in the table.

Costs are estimated using the 1994 quarterly statistical enquiry and the 1991, 1992, 1993 family expenditure surveys, uprated to 1996-97 levels. Information on travel-to-work costs is taken from the 1994-95 family resources survey. This data should be interpreted with caution, as no figures are collected directly on costs of running cars or motorcycles. Instead, costs are estimated using mileage rates--42p per mile for cars and 9p per mile for motorcycles. Outlying cases have been ignored.

Cost of disregarding travel to work costs	Costs	Gainers
	£ million
Income Support	15	40,000
Housing Benefit	75	170,000
Council Tax Benefit	25	180,000

1. Costs are rounded to the nearest £5 million, gainers to the nearest 10,000. Estimates are very general as they are based on information on average travel-to-work expenses for benefit recipients.

2. Figures for income support include the cost of jobseeker's allowance from October 1996.

3. Behavioural effects have not been measured.

The costs of registered child care of up to £60 a week for families with at least one child aged under 11 are already disregarded in housing benefit and council tax benefit as well as in family credit and disability working allowance. Income support is not an in-work benefit. The number of income support recipients who pay for registered child care is extremely small and the cost, subject to any behavioural effects, of disregarding such expenses is negligible.

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