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Social Services Departments
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what submissions he has had from local government associations in relation to the funding deficit faced by social services departments in seeking to fulfil their statutory duties; what action he is taking; and if he will make a statement. [5822]
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Mr. Burns: We are in regular touch with the local government associations, both through formally constituted channels and informally. In such discussions, the associations raise a wide range of issues concerning the funding of personal social services, and the discharge of their statutory duties.
Community Care
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his policy on the long-term funding of community care, with special reference to disabled people. [5950]
Mr. Burns: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment will be announcing the provisional financial allocations to local government for 1997-98 this afternoon. This will include details of funding for community care.
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the connection between the consumption of over-cooked red meat and malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and if he will make a statement. [6227]
Mr. Horam: Information on research commissioned by the Department of Health is contained in "The Centrally Commissioned Research Programme" and "The Centrally Commissioned Research Programme: Commissions in 1994-95", copies of which are available in the Library.
The relationship between nutritional aspects of the diet and the development of cancer is presently being reviewed by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy. Its report is expected in 1997.
RHAs (Management Spending)
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the level of management spending in each of the regional health authorities; and if he will make a statement. [6318]
Mr. Malone: Regional health authorities were abolished on 31 March 1996, with an expected saving of about £100 million by the end of 1997-98.
Waiting Lists
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the average time taken between a patient (a) being referred to and (b) seeing a specialist (i) for the United Kingdom, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Wales and (v) each regional health authority; and if he will make a statement. [6317]
Mr. Horam: This information is not available centrally. Questions relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Scotland, and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, respectively.
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Blood Donations (Mandatory Testing)
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date mandatory testing of blood donations for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was introduced in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [6311]
Mr. Horam: There is no test available to detect any transmissible agent which may cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the blood of living persons. There is no evidence of any risk of transmission of CJD through blood or blood products. However, as a precautionary measure, national blood service guidelines exclude from giving blood individuals with central nervous system diseases, or who have received human pituitary growth hormone or human gonadotrophin of pituitary origin, and people with a family history of CJD.
Cottage Hospitals
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cottage hospitals (a) opened and (b) closed in each health authority area, in each year since 1979. [6315]
Mr. Horam: The information requested is not available centrally.
NHS Drugs Bill
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the NHS drugs bill in each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement. [6319]
Mr. Malone: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Year | Family health services drugs | Hospital and community health services drugs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-80 | 633 | 156 | 789 |
| 1980-81 | 766 | 185 | 951 |
| 1981-82 | 876 | 214 | 1,090 |
| 1982-83 | 1,009 | 245 | 1,254 |
| 1983-84 | 1,130 | 267 | 1,397 |
| 1984-85 | 1,192 | 279 | 1,471 |
| 1985-86 | 1,275 | 297 | 1,572 |
| 1986-87 | 1,378 | 318 | 1,696 |
| 1987-88 | 1,536 | 352 | 1,888 |
| 1988-89 | 1,744 | 380 | 2,124 |
| 1989-90 | 1,942 | 414 | 2,356 |
| 1990-91 | 2,080 | 460 | 2,540 |
| 1991-92 | 2,317 | 591 | 2,908 |
| 1992-93 | 2,641 | 643 | 3,284 |
| 1993-94 | 2,951 | 710 | 3,661 |
| 1994-95 | 3,230 | 764 | 3,994 |
| 1995-96 | 3,498 | -- | -- |
Note:
The figures provided are actual and have not been adjusted for inflation.
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TREASURY
Euro
Mr. Renton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on the United Kingdom banking system of the TARGET clearing system proposed for the euro. [3095]
Mrs. Angela Knight: TARGET--trans-European automated real-time gross settlement express transfer --will be a payment system to allow high-value euro payments to be settled in real time rather than at the end of the trading day in the European Community. Real-time gross settlement systems in member states which participate in the single currency will be interconnected. Real-time gross settlement systems of member states which do not adopt the single currency will be able to connect to TARGET to process the euro as a foreign currency. It is not yet apparent to what extent TARGET will be used in preference to other payments systems by banks in the United Kingdom, whether or not the United Kingdom adopts the single currency.
The European Monetary Institute has responsibility for developing TARGET and work is continuing on many of its operational details. The final decisions on TARGET will be for the governing council of the European central bank. The Bank of England is fully involved in preparatory work in the EMI and the Governor of the Bank of England is a member of the council of the EMI.
Information and Publicity (Staff)
Ms Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost for staff employed full-time or part-time by his Department, to provide information and publicity in 1996-97. [3572]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The budgeted cost is £139,309.
Public Relations
Ms Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost assumed in his Department's budget for people employed full-time or part-time to work on the press and the media in 1996-97. [3576]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The budgeted cost of staff employed full time or part time in the press office to work on press and media in 1996-97 is £418,916.
Monetary Union
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of recital 13 of the draft negotiation on surveillance and co-ordination of budgetary positions. [5030]
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: Recital 13 merely refers to a regulation yet to be tabled by the Commission for stability programmed for member states with a derogation including for this purpose the United Kingdom. The Commission's thinking so far on these programmes is set out in the Commission communication "Reinforced economic convergence procedures and the new Exchange Rate Mechanism" of 16 October 1996 (COM(96) 498). This was submitted to Parliament with an explanatory memorandum on 31 October. No formal proposal has yet
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been made by the Commission and these procedures all remain to be negotiated and settled by the Council of Ministers in due course.
National Lottery and Pools (Taxation)
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underlie the taxation rates relating to (a) the national lottery and (b) football pools. [5247]
Mr. Oppenheim: The rate of lottery duty was set at 12 per cent. taking into account the extent to which spending was likely to be diverted from other taxed activities, including other forms of betting and gaming. The rate was set with the intention of being broadly revenue neutral.
The rates for the other betting and gaming duties have been set taking into account, among other things, the rates their markets could bear. The reductions in the rate of pool betting duty over recent years have been made to take into account pressure on the pool betting industry.
Employment (Young People)
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what proportion of young people aged 18 to 24 years were in temporary employment in (a) England and Wales and (b) London in (i) 1979-80, (ii) 1990-91 and (iii) 1995-96; and what was the proportion in the work force as a whole; [5280]
- (2) what was the unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds in (a) England and Wales and (b) London in (i) 1979-80, (ii) 1990-91 and (iii) 1995-96; and what was the national average; [5281]
(3) what proportion of the work force was aged 18 to 24 years in (a) England and Wales and (b) London in (i) 1979-80, (ii) 1990-91 and (iii) 1995-96. [5279]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Don Foster, dated 27 November 1996:
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