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Century Date Change (Computers)
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the cost effects of the millennium date change on the computer systems operated by his Department. [2610]
Mr. Willetts [holding answer 5 November 1996]: Whilst the millennium effect on computer systems generally may be significant, within the Cabinet Office and its agencies this effect is likely to be minimal.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Hon. Members' Activity Reports
Mr. Allen: To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will introduce provisions to enable hon. Members to send twice-yearly reports of their activities to each of their constituents at the House's expense; and if he will make a statement. [1988]
Mr. Newton: I have no such plans.
Leader of the Opposition
Mr. Luff: To ask the Lord President of the Council what resources from public funds are available to the Leader of the Opposition, additional to those available to other hon. Members, to enable him to (a) run his office and (b) deal with correspondence. [2186]
Mr. Newton: Public funds are made available, under the terms of the resolution of the House of 4 November 1993, to assist the official Opposition in carrying out its parliamentary business.
The Leader of the Opposition certifies that expenditure has been incurred in accordance with that resolution and the Fees Office makes payments to the Labour party on a monthly basis. Details in respect of the office costs and correspondence are a matter for the Opposition.
There are of course similar arrangements in respect of other parties in the House, as defined in the above resolution, apart from the party in government.
World Food Summit
28. Mr. Brian David Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what discussions he has had with development non-governmental organisations regarding the forthcoming world food summit; and if he will make a statement. [1333]
30. Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who will represent the United Kingdom at the world summit in Rome. [1335]
Dr. Liam Fox: My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development will represent the United Kingdom at the world food summit in Rome.
The ODA has held extensive consultations with NGOs. It organised, with an independent moderator, a public consultation in July at which Her Majesty's Government's
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policy towards the summit was explained and the views of NGOs and other interest groups sought. The ODA has also held frequent discussions over the last year with an umbrella group of non-governmental organisations.
29. Mr. MacShane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent proposals he has made to eliminate child labour in developing countries. [1334]
Dr. Liam Fox:
The ODA has recently approved funding for two initiatives: an International Labour Organisation research programme to combat trafficking in children and exploitation in prostitution and other forms of child labour in Asia; and, a series of workshops organised by a network of NGOs involved in child labour issues in Asia.
Dounreay Nuclear Plant
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will arrange for the Atomic Energy Authority nuclear establishment at Dounreay to publish an inventory of the contents of the on-site shaft used for radioactive and other waste disposal. [2639]
Mr. Page [holding answer 4 November 1996]: I have been asked to reply.
A copy of the inventory published in 1988 was placed in the Library of the House in December 1995. In addition, I am advised by the UKAEA that the inventory is now computer based and can be viewed on request at the Dounreay site.
Tuberculosis
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of school leavers in Scotland have been vaccinated against tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement. [1562]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: BCG vaccination has been offered to schoolchildren in Scotland since 1953. In more recent years, the target age group has been 12 to 13 years. Statistical information about the numbers of children vaccinated appears in "Scottish Health Statistics 1995" (Table 8.8). In 1995, 97.9 per cent. of children who were tuberculin tested were either vaccinated or tested positive, indicating that they already had immunity and therefore did not require vaccination. My right hon. Friend accepted the recent recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that the schools-based BCG vaccination programme should continue.
BSE
Mr. Home Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland by what mechanisms his Department is able to identify the cattle assessed as being at risk from BSE which require to be slaughtered under the Florence
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agreement; how many such cattle there are in Scotland; and what is the minimum practical time scale for completing that accelerated cull in Scotland. [2137]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Data on all herds with confirmed cases of BSE are held at the Central Veterinary Laboratory. This data can be used to identify the herd of birth of BSE cases--and hence animals subject to the same feeding regimes; that is, the birth cohorts. To identify all these at-risk animals, it is necessary to visit the herds of origin, to identify the cohort animals remaining in such herds and finally to determine the present location of cohort animals which have moved to other herds. This involves detailed inspection of records. In May of this year, the CVL made an estimate that a maximum of some 127,000 cohort animals were present on farms in Britain, of which some 4,300 were in Scotland. Given the need for on-farm visits and reference to on-farm records, it is impossible to give a reliable estimate of how long it would take to identify all these animals.
Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage and total amount of BSE eradication and compensation scheme expenditure has been received by (a) farmers, (b) slaughterers, (c) renderers and (d) other recipients; and if he will make a statement. [2161]
Mr. Robertson: Between April and October 1996, the total expenditure on BSE eradiation and compensation schemes broken down by recipient was as follows:
| £ million | Per cent. | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Farmers | 477 | 68 |
| (b) Slaughterers | 97 | 14 |
| (c) Renderers | 78 | 11 |
| (d) Other Recipients | 48 | 7 |
| 700 |
Breast Cancer
Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of breast cancer were identified in women aged 65 years and over in each year since 1992; and what proportion they represent of all women diagnosed as having breast cancer. [2397]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested is set out in the table:
| Year | Breast cancer cases in women aged 65 and over | Breast cancer cases in women of all ages | Women (aged 65+) with breast cancer expressed as a percentage of all women with breast cancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 1,353 | 3,240 | 41.8 |
| 1993 | 1,330 | 3,111 | 42.8 |
| 1994 | 1,307 | 3,074 | 42.5 |
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Community Care, Tayside
Mr. Bill Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the report into the provision of community care in Tayside will be presented. [1937]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Angus Skinner, the chief social work inspector, has completed his report on community care services in Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross. It will be published on 14 November 1996.
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Neonatal and Perinatal Mortality
Mr. Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the (a) neonatal and (b) perinatal mortality rates for the last four years by each health board. [2670]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested is given in the table.
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| Neonatal(13) | Perinatal(14) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health board area | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1992(15) | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |
| Scotland | 4.6 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.6 | 9.0 | 9.6 | |
| Argyll and Clyde | 4.6 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 8.3 | 11.6 | 9.3 | 9.7 | |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 5.5 | 3.7 | 2.1 | 4.5 | 9.9 | 8.3 | 7.6 | 12.6 | |
| Borders | 5.0 | -- | 1.7 | 2.6 | 10.0 | 5.2 | 6.1 | 6.8 | |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 5.7 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 4.3 | 8.0 | 9.3 | 13.1 | 8.5 | |
| Fife | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 9.3 | 8.7 | 7.7 | |
| Forth Valley | 3.5 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 8.6 | 10.7 | 8.4 | 11.2 | |
| Grampian | 4.2 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 10.0 | 6.8 | |
| Greater Glasgow | 5.3 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 9.8 | 9.9 | 9.5 | 11.9 | |
| Highland | 3.0 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 8.1 | 9.8 | 8.4 | 6.2 | |
| Lanarkshire | 4.4 | 4.4 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 10.1 | 8.6 | 10.5 | |
| Lothian | 5.4 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 9.7 | 9.2 | 8.7 | 9.3 | |
| Orkney | 4.2 | -- | 8.0 | -- | 12.4 | 4.2 | 15.8 | 8.6 | |
| Shetland | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.2 | -- | -- | 6.4 | 3.2 | 6.8 | |
| Tayside | 3.3 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 6.5 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 8.2 | |
| Western Isles | 3.0 | 7.1 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 16.4 | 9.9 | |
(13) Deaths in the first four weeks of life, rate per 1,000 live births.
(14) Still-births and deaths in the first week of life, rate per 1,000 live and still-births.
(15) The Still-Birth (Definition) Act 1992 redefined still-births, from 1 October 1992, to include losses between 24 and 27 weeks gestation. The perinatal mortality rates in this table include all still-births registered in 1992.
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