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Ambulance Response Times
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the recommended ambulance response times to (a) urban localities and (b) rural localities in each health trust area. [5155]
Mr. Moss: The recommended ambulance response times as per charter standards are based on population densities. Based on this criteria, the Eastern board area is classified as rural so that 50 per cent. of emergency calls should be answered within eight minutes and 95 per cent. within 18 minutes. The other three board areas are classified as separately populated, so that 50 per cent. of emergency calls should be answered within eight minutes and 95 per cent. within 21 minutes. According to those criteria, there are deemed to be no urban areas in Northern Ireland. There is no breakdown for each health trust area.
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the health trust areas that have failed to meet recommended ambulance response times in each of the past five years. [5156]
Mr. Moss: Unfortunately, the information is not available in the format requested. As response times are collected on a health board basis, the information cannot be provided on a trust by trust basis.
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the percentage of total ambulance call-outs in each health trust area in each of the past five years which were (a) within and (b) outside recommended response times. [5159]
Mr. Moss: Unfortunately, the information is not available in the format requested. As response times are collected on a health board basis, the information cannot be provided by health trust areas. However, in all board areas, 50 per cent. of emergency calls were answered within the eight minutes Orcon target. The following boards failed to meet the 95 per cent. target over the past five years:
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 95
| Year | Board area | Performance target 95 per cent. | Calls met per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | Southern | 21 minutes | 91.4 |
| Western | 21 minutes | 92.6 | |
| 1992-93 | Eastern | 18 minutes | 94.8 |
| Northern | 21 minutes | 94.9 | |
| 1993-94 | Eastern | 18 minutes | 93.5 |
| 1994-95 | Eastern | 18 minutes | 94.8 |
| Southern | 21 minutes | 94.7 | |
| 1995-96 | All targets met |
The recommended ambulance response times as per charter standards are based on population densities. Based on this criteria, EHSSB is classified as rural, i.e. emergency calls per cent. within 8 minutes, 95 per cent. within 18 minutes. The other three smaller Boards are classified as sparsely populated i.e. emergency calls 50 per cent. within 8 minutes, 95 per cent. within 21 minutes.
Education and Library Boards
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has for the future of the Northern Ireland education and library boards. [5191]
Mr. Ancram: I refer the hon. Member to my statement of 25 June 1996 on the review of educational administration and to the draft Education and library Boards (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, which was published on 16 October 1996. Copies of both documents are available in the Library.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received from the Northern Ireland Forum regarding the future of the Northern Ireland education and library boards. [5193]
Mr. Ancram: I have received an interim report by the Northern Ireland Forum for political dialogue on its investigation of educational administration in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with community representatives regarding the future of the Northern Ireland education and library boards. [5192]
Mr. Ancram: I have recently had discussions with a wide range of community representatives, including Members of Parliament and district councillors, as well as representatives of the education and library boards.
In-work Benefits
Ms Mowlam: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide a breakdown of expenditure on in-work benefits in each of the past five years. [5731]
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 96
Mr. Moss: The information requested is given in the table:
| Year | Family credit (£'million) | Disability working Allowance (60) (£'million) | Housing Benefit(61) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 37.2 | -- | n/a |
| 1992-93 | 47.8 | 0.1 | n/a |
| 1993-94 | 56.5 | 0.2 | n/a |
| 1994-95 | 62.1 | 0.4 | n/a |
| 1995-96(62) | 71.0 | 0.9 | n/a |
(60) Disability working allowance was introduced in April 1992.
(61) It is not possible to identify separately the amount of housing benefit paid to those in employment.
(62) Estimated figures.
Child Care
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the (a) women who are mothers and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by his Department have received assistance from the Department with child care. [1281]
Sir John Wheeler [holding answer 4 November 1996]: Although Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments collect statistical information on staff employed in Government Departments and executive agencies, information is not collected on parental status of individual staff. It would be inappropriate for us to request this information from staff and difficult to justify the collection of such data. However, in the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments the following child care assistance is available or planned:
Special Leave with Pay;
Reimbursement of expenses when normal working routine is broken by job demands;
Access to Parent Partnership Scheme run by the Northern Ireland Childminding Association;
Childcare information package;
Holiday Playschemes which cater for the children of staff during school holidays have been developed at eight locations in Northern Ireland; and
A pre-school nursery subsidy scheme offering financial assistance currently operating in the Department of the Environment and the Child Support Agency.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Organophosphate Warble Fly Dressing
Mr. Hanson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has undertaken into the effect of organophosphate warble fly dressing on cattle. [461]
Mrs. Browning: All veterinary medicines, including warble fly treatments, are assessed against statutory criteria of safety, quality and efficacy, including the safety of the target animal concerned. The Government are advised on this by the independent scientific veterinary products committee. Manufacturers are required to produce their research as part of the authorisation process for their products and my Department does not undertake nor fund any such research.
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 97
The use of organophosphorus compounds as insecticides, particularly during the campaign to eradicate warble fly, has been claimed either to cause BSE or to render cows susceptible to BSE. The original epidemiological investigation considered any possible association between the use of agricultural chemicals, including OP insecticides, and the occurrence of BSE. None was found. The only positive correlation found was in relation to the use of animal feed which contained ruminant protein in the form of meat and bone meal. MAFF has not undertaken any research on the suggested link between BSE and organophosphates.
The independent Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee has considered the OP theory and concluded that it fails to explain a number of key facts about BSE. It, too, has concluded that there is no justification to extend the current transmissible spongiform encephalopathies research to include the OP theory.
A study was carried out by the toxicology unit of the Medical Research Council to test whether an OP could bind to "normal" prion protein--an essential prerequisite for the development of BSE, according to the OP theory. The scientists conducting the experiment concluded that there was no evidence of binding. This experiment was conducted by the MCR with its own funds and although MAFF was informed we had no part in its design.
Mr. David Shaw:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate his Department has made of the cost of eradicating an outbreak of rabies in the United Kingdom. [3447]
Mrs. Browning:
We estimate that eradicating a single outbreak of rabies might cost the public purse £4 million. Added to this would be the costs of disruption to individuals and business, possibly for several months.
Ms Corston:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will place in the Library the results from tests carried out on badgers culled by his officials at Amberley, Stroud; [3761]
Mrs. Browning:
Seventeen badgers--not 30--have recently been culled from a farm in the vicinity of Amberley, Stroud. Laboratory cultures on tissues from these badgers has not yet been completed--this normally takes six to eight weeks--but I will place the result in the Library of the House when available.
The approach taken before a decision to kill any a badgers for tuberculosis control purposes is as follows. After a confirmed outbreak of bovine tuberculosis, a veterinary investigation is undertaken. All possible causes other than badgers are considered. If all are ruled out and there is evidence of badger activity on the farm, a badger source is suspected.
(2) what factors underlay his Department's decision to kill 30 badgers at Amberley, Stroud; and if he will make a statement. [3762]
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