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Ms Alison Halford
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the Government Departments and public bodies involved in the proceedings relating to Ms Alison Halford before the European Commission and European Court of Human Rights, indicating the rank and names of the officials who will attend the court hearing in Strasbourg; and if he will make a statement. [8863]
Mr. Howard: The Departments involved are the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It has not yet been decided which officials will attend the hearing in Strasbourg.
Seat Belts
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) drivers and (b) passengers have been prosecuted for not wearing seat belts in the (i) front seats and (ii) back seats of vehicles in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [8206]
- (2) how many (a) drivers and (b) passengers have been prosecuted for not wearing seat belts in the (i) front seats and (ii) back seats of vehicles in Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [8207]
Mr. Maclean: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 13 December, Official Report, column 404.
European Union
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost in the last 12 months of sending Ministers and officials to meetings in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe in connection with his Department's handling of EU business. [4947]
Mr. Howard: I have placed a note in the Library setting out the readily available information, which relates to the cost of attending such meetings over the period April to October 1996. Statistics for the last 12 months could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Television Licences
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) men and (b) women
16 Dec 1996 : Column: 457
are currently held in prison in connection with charges or convictions relating to non-payment of the television licence. [7760]
Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Denis MacShane, dated 13 December 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many men and women are currently held in prison in connection with charges or convictions relating to non-payment of the television licence.
Provisional information for 31 October 1996, the latest date for which figures are available, is that three males and no females were held in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales in connection with non-payment of television licences
Airguns
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many airguns are currently licensed. [7046]
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 2 December 1996]: Higher-powered air weapons require a firearm certificate issued by the police. Information about how many are licensed is not recorded centrally and is not distinguished from other firearms in the total figure. Such information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
HEALTH
Paediatric Intensive Care Beds
Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 20 November, Official Report, column 596, on paediatric intensive care beds, how many of the additional beds (a) are scheduled to open this year, (b) will open shortly, giving the timetable and location and (c) are now available, indicating their location. [6670]
Mr. Horam [holding answer 28 November 1996]: The report "Paediatric Intensive Care" (May 1996), copies of which are available in the Library, described plans to open 23 additional designated paediatric intensive care beds and seven high dependency beds in 1996-97. The current position is as shown in the table.
| Location | Additional beds now open (November 1996) | Additional beds planned to open 1996-97 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIC | HD | PIC | HD | |
| Trent | 2 | 1 | 2 March | -- |
| North Thames | 1 | -- | 1 December | |
| 1 January | -- | |||
| North West | 3 | 4 | -- | -- |
| South and West | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Anglia and Oxford | 2 | 3 | -- | -- |
| West Midlands | 2 | -- | 1 January | -- |
| Northern and Yorkshire | 3 | -- | 1 January | 2 January |
| South Thames | 2 | -- | 2 by April | -- |
| Total | 20 | 8 | 8 | 2 |
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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will announce changes in the membership of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. [9680]
Mr. Horam: Further to my announcement on 7 November at columns 623-25, when I said that a further announcement would be made on one additional appointment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, I am pleased to announce that the following has been appointed as a member:
- Dr. Joan Kathleen Stringer, principal of Queen Margaret college, Edinburgh, and member of the Scottish standing committee of the national committee of inquiry into higher education.
Junior Doctors' Hours
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the Government are making in their target of reducing to 56 by 31 December the number of hours worked weekly by junior doctors. [8804]
Mr. Malone: Steady progress is being made in reaching the ceiling of 56 hours average weekly working hours for junior doctors. This target is contained in the "New Deal on Junior Doctors' Hours", copies of which area available in the Library. At 30 September 1996 regional task forces reported that 22,221 junior doctors, or 78.4 per cent. of all juniors, were complying in full with all the new deal hours limits, including the 56-hour ceiling.
Mr. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals his Department has made to alter the target of 56 hours to be worked weekly by junior doctors by 31 December. [8805]
Mr. Malone: I have no proposals to change the target of 56 hours maximum average weekly hours of work contained in the "New Deal on Junior Doctors' Hours", copies of which are available in the Library. I have made it clear that the Government have a strong commitment to action to bring all junior doctors within this ceiling.
Mr. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the recent NHS executive internal report on junior doctors' hours. [8807]
Mr. Malone: No. The report concerned is an internal discussion paper and as such is covered by exemption 2 part II of the "Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (Internal Advice)".
Tuberculosis, Scurvy and Rickets
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) tuberculosis, (b) scurvy and (c) rickets were reported (i) nationally and (ii) in each region in each year region in each year since 1980. [8806]
Mr. Horam: The numbers of notifications of tuberculosis to the Office for National Statistics for 1980 and provisional figures for 1995 are given in the table. Figures for the intervening years are given by standard
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region in table 5 of the annual publications "Series MB2 Communicable Disease Statistics", copies of which are available in the Library. Changes in the methods for recording numbers of notifications mean that total notification figures for 1980 and 1981 include cases of chemoprophylaxis but from 1982 totals excludes chemoprophylaxis are given. Cases of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis are not cases of actual tuberculosis and most are therefore not notified. There was 458 cases of chemoprophylaxis in 1995.
| Standard region | 1980 (including chemoprophylaxis) | Provisional figures for 1995 (excluding chemoprophylaxis) |
|---|---|---|
| North | 486 | 194 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 884 | 597 |
| East Midlands | 625 | 413 |
| East Anglia | 146 | 80 |
| South East | 3,767 | 2,656 |
| South West | 355 | 202 |
| West Midlands | 1,164 | 654 |
| North West | 1,325 | 630 |
| Wales | 390 | 180 |
| England and Wales(6) | 9,142 | 5,606 |
(6) Excluding Port Health Authorities.
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