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Hearing Impairment Aids
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department on aids for those with hearing impairments in each of the last 10 years at constant prices. [1413]
Mr. Burns: The purchase and supply of hearing aids is a matter for national health service trusts. Information on the cost of provision is not available centrally.
Fetal Sentience
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the membership, terms of reference and proposed timetable for action of the working party on fetal sentience established by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. [3310]
Mr. Horam: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is establishing a working party to conduct an independent review of the evidence relating to fetal awareness and to consider whether there is any need for change in current practice. I understand that the college will be announcing shortly the chairman and membership of the working party, along with its full terms of reference.
Cystic Fibrosis Trust
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 4 November, Official
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Report, columns 403-04, if he will make a statement on the purposes for which each of the three three-year section 64 project grants has been given to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. [3071]
Mr. Horam: The grants were for the following purposes:
Family support project (1990-1993): to establish a national network of volunteer family support workers responsible for befriending parents of newly diagnosed children, providing practical help and advice, encouraging the development of home care and providing information about welfare benefits.
Family and adult support volunteer network (1993-1996): to devise and provide a programme of mutual support activities for young adults with cystic fibrosis that would enable them to make the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood and support their efforts to obtain employment and live independently of their parents.
Cystic fibrosis advocacy project (1996-1999): to demonstrate that the best advocates of the needs of people with chronic illnesses are the patients themselves, by training adults with cystic fibrosis in four areas to become advocates for others.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what appointments Mr. J. Greetham (a) holds and (b) has held within the NHS, with their dates; and which (i) Minster and (ii) regional chair signed the letter of appointment in each case. [3082]
Mr. Malone: I refer the Hon. Member to the reply I gave on 29 March, columns 778-79. The further information requested is an follows:
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| Post | From | To | Appointment letter signatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Chairman for the Northern and Yorkshire Region of the NHS Executive | 1 April 1996 | 31 March 1998 | Stephen Dorrell |
| Chairman, Northern and Yorkshire Regional Health Authority | 1 April 1994 | 31 March 1996 | Virginia Bottomley |
| Chairman, St. James' University Hospital NHS Trust | 17 December 1990 | 31 March 1994 | William Waldegrave |
| Non-executive member, York District Health Authority | 1990 | 1990 | Sir Bryan Askew |
| Non-executive member and later Vice-Chairman, Yorkshire Regional Health Authority | 1984 | 1990 | -- |
| Non-executive member, Scarborough District Health Authority | 1980 | 1984 | -- |
| Non-executive member, North Yorkshire Family Practitioner Committee | 1978 | 1980 | -- |
Information about the signatories of the appointment before 1990 is not available.
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BSE and CJD
Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidence his Department has evaluated connecting cases of BSE with cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; [3069]
- (2) what evidence his Department has evaluated indicating the BSE (a) can be and (b) has been transmitted to humans. [3070]
Mr. Horam: The main evidence has been the report of the new variant cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease published in The Lancet on 6 April 1996, Professor Collinge's work on transgenic mice published in Nature on 21 December 1995 and the report of Professor Collinge's glycoprotein mapping experiments published in Nature on 24 October 1996.
We have sought advice on these and on related work from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, which provides independent scientific advice on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
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SEAC's view is that a connection between exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and new variant CJD has not yet been conclusively established. In the absence of any alternative explanation, exposure to BSE remains the most likely explanation and Professor Collinge's latest work provides further support for that view.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 5 November, Official Report, columns 498-500 on tuberculosis cases, how many cases of (a) chemoprophylaxis and (b) tuberculosis including chemoprophylaxis have been recorded in England in each of the last 10 years. [3528]
Mr. Horam:
The figures in the following table give the number of cases of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis in England which have been notified to the Office for National Statistics, and the number of all notifications of tuberculosis in England, including those notified as
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chemoprophylaxis. Cases of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis are not cases of actual tuberculosis and most are therefore not notified.
| Year | Notifications of cases of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis in England | All notifications of tuberculosis (including chemoprophylaxis) in England |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 643 | 6,386 |
| 1987 | 434 | 5,287 |
| 1988 | 265 | 5,225 |
| 1989 | 375 | 5,598 |
| 1990 | 346 | 5,356 |
| 1991 | 456 | 5,726 |
| 1992 | 552 | 6,149 |
| 1993 | 579 | 6,300 |
| 1994 | 482 | 5,891 |
| 1995 | 458 | 5,884 |
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Women Priests
35. Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, how much compensation the commissioners expect to be paid to clergy leaving the Church due to the ordination of women priests. [1340]
Mr. Alison: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) earlier today.
Forestry Commission Woodlands
Mr. Bayley: To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list those woodlands by county sold off by the Forestry Commission over which the Church Commissioners retained rights and regarding which the Church Commissioners were consulted prior to the sale for each year since 1981. [2409]
Mr. Alison: High Plumps wood, a 20-acre wood on the York estate in the county of Yorkshire leased to the Forestry Commission, was sold to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1991 as part of the site for the Central Scientific Laboratory. The Forestry Commission surrendered its lease and the commissioners retained the mineral rights.
Repton Shrubs, a 118-acre woodland on the Foremarke estate in the county of Derbyshire was sold by the commissioners in 1993 subject to a tenancy of 999 years to the Forestry Commission. The site was sold subject to existing rights of way, wayleaves and easements and included the sporting rights, subject to the existing sporting lease.
Details of other relevant sites which have been sold are not currently available, but I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as they are available.
Mr. Bayley:
To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list those woodlands by county currently owned or leased by
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the Forestry Commission in respect of which the Church Commissioners have (i) third party rights and (ii) own the freehold. [2410]
Mr. Alison:
The Commissioners own the freehold of the following woodlands which are leased to the Forestry Commission:
| County | Name | Acreage |
|---|---|---|
| Cambridgeshire | Salome Wood, Leighton Bromswold | 58.09 |
| Derbyshire | Foremarke Estate Woods | 290.48 |
| Staffordshire | Bishop's Wood Plantation | 869.48 |
| Yorkshire | Ampleforth and York Forests (which includes Hagg Wood); Kilburn and Sand Hutton Woods | 646.40 |
| Yorkshire | Millington Wold | 50.17 |
| Yorkshire | World's End, Stockton on Forest | 52.15 |
| Yorkshire | Cawood and Wistow Woods | 786.15 |
| Total | 2,752.92 |
Land Rights
Mr. Bayley: To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what policy the Church Commissioners have regarding (a) the development and (b) the commercial exploitation of shooting over land (i) in its ownership and (ii) for which it has retained the shooting rights. [2411]
Mr. Alison: The commissioners have a duty to try to obtain the best possible return from all their assets for the benefit of the Church of England clergy. Sporting rights are let, following negotiations, either to farm tenants or third parties and are subject to regular review.
Mr. Bayley: To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what mechanism the Church Estate Commissioners adopt to resolve conflicts arising between public access on foot and the commercial exploitation or sale of shooting rights over land or woodland (i) which they own and (ii) over which they have retained the shooting rights. [2412]
Mr. Alison: The commissioners are not seeking any change whatsoever to the existing public rights of access to their woodlands. It is the commissioners' policy to protect any access to these woodlands in the form of public footpaths or bridleways.
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