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Student Awards

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the budget for discretionary and postgraduate student awards in cash and constant price terms for 1996-97 and 1997-98; what consequences this will have for the provision of services; and if he will make a statement. [10983]

Mr. Ancram: It is a matter for each education and library board to determine how much of its block grant should be allocated to discretionary awards. The 1996-97 budget is £6.9 million but that for 1997-98 has yet to be determined.

The table sets out the financial information for postgraduate awards made by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland.

£ million
YearBudget (cash)At 1996-97 prices
1996-974.64.6
1997-984.44.3

The detailed application of the 1997-98 budget is still under consideration.

I will write to the hon. Member about both discretionary and postgraduate awards when further

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information becomes available and I will place a copy in the Library.

Urban Regeneration

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the changes in financial and policy terms to the provision for urban regeneration, including "Making Belfast Work", arising from his recent statement on public expenditure in Northern Ireland. [10987]

Mr. Moss: The recent statement on public expenditure in Northern Ireland re-iterated the importance that the Government place on urban regeneration as a major policy initiative. "Making Belfast Work" will have £23 million available for its economic and social programmes in 1997-98 representing a £5 million baseline reduction in the existing allocation.

Otherwise, urban regeneration vote provision is to be reduced by £4 million over the same period, leaving almost £31 million available for regeneration initiatives in Belfast, Londonderry and regional growth centres.

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Royal Ulster Constabulary

Mr. Maginnis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he proposes to publish the 1996 report on the Royal Ulster Constabulary by Her Majesty's inspector of constabulary. [12586]

Sir Patrick Mayhew: Copies of the 1996 inspection report, which is the fourth RUC inspection report to be published, have today been placed in the Library.

I welcome the report and will be considering its recommendations carefully.

HMIC inspections offer the opportunities of independent, professional examination of policing practices, policies and priorities. This inspection forms part of an ongoing programme intended to examine over succeeding years aspects of police management. It is the fourth in a series and has covered a number of areas relating to the effectiveness and efficiency of operational policing.

I am grateful to Her Majesty's inspector for the report and am pleased to note that overall he regards the force as efficient.

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HEALTH

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that every child moved from one foster home to another more than three times should be assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; and if he will make a statement. [11532]

Mr. Burns: The criteria for taking children into care is set out in sections 20 and 31 of the Children Act 1989.

Local authorities have responsibilities and duties under the Children Act to arrange placement for children looked after which will promote and safeguard their welfare. In order to achieve this, authorities must undertake a full assessment of children's needs, including health needs, and match them to appropriate placements. The assessment should, when appropriate, be in collaboration with other agencies. It is for local authorities to monitor the number of times children are moved because of placement breakdown.

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Rural Pharmacies

Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to safeguard rural pharmacies. [11474]

Mr. Malone: In England and Wales the essential small pharmacy scheme already provides financial support to pharmacies located more than 1 km from the next nearest pharmacy and which dispense fewer than 18,636 national health service prescriptions in a year.

Residential Care Costs

Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of a resident in (a) private nursing homes, (b) private residential homes and (c) local authority residential homes; and what estimate he has made of the total number of residents in (a) to (c) and the current annual costs to public funds arising from funding relating to (a) to (c). [11487]

Mr. Burns: Information is collected centrally on the overall numbers of residents of all types of care homes but not on the overall costs or costs per place in independent sector homes, nor on the costs to public funds overall of residents. The latest centrally available information is given in the table, including figures for gross current expenditure per week by local authorities on residential and nursing care for older people per supported resident.

Number of residents in residential and nursing homes and total expenditure by local authorities

(a)(b)(c)
Independent sector nursing homes(13)Independent sector residential homes(13)Local authority residential homes
Total number of residents(14), at 31 March 1996123,600228,60064,200
Gross current expenditure by local authorities in England, 1994-95£371 million£507 million£824 million
Local authority gross current expenditure per week for older people per supported residents(14), 1994-95£231£246£283

Notes:

(13) Information on expenditure on independent sector residential care homes is not broken down between private and voluntary homes.

(14) Residents in staffed homes only.

Source:

Department of Health annual statistical returns.


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Hypothermia

Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the cost of treating (a) hypothermia and (b) hypothermia-related cases in each of the last five years. [11473]

Mr. Burns: This information is not collected.

Dental Services

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 6 December 1996, Official Report, column 820, relating to dentists' pay, what is his definition of a single dentist. [11606]

Mr. Malone: In my answer of 6 December, Official Report, column 820, the "single dentist" was the

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independent contractor who was paid the highest gross fee earnings by the Dental Practice Board in the relevant year.

Capital Projects (Greater London)

Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the capital projects costing over £100,000 which have been started in Greater London since 17 April 1992. [11488]

Mr. Malone: Information is available centrally only on capital schemes costing over £1 million, for which national health service executive approval is required. All such schemes in Greater London, with a start on site date between 17 April 1992 and 30 September 1996--the most recent date for which information is available--are provided in the table.

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Regional officeScheme nameCost(15) (£ millions)Start date

North ThamesHammersmith Energy Centre M and E installation, Hammersmith Hospital1.3218 May 1992
North ThamesHammersmith Hospital Cancer Centre3.761 June 1992
North ThamesHammersmith Hospital Energy Centre, incineration installation1.215 June 1992
South ThamesSt. Thomas' Hospital A and E upgrade/ extension2.3520 July 1992
North ThamesCentral Middlesex Acute Secure Unit/mother and baby unit2.0327 July 1992
South ThamesSt. George's Hospital combined heat and power3.5824 August 1992
North ThamesRegency Street Nursing Home for the Elderly (Victoria)1.782 November 1992
North ThamesGreat Ormond Street Southwood balconies and stairs1.8323 November 1992
South ThamesQueen Victoria Hospital Burns Unit1.4429 December 1992
North LondonChase Farm Hospital (Enfield) Centralization of in-patient services10.321 April 1993
North LondonGreat Ormond Street Camelia Botnar Laboratories11.163 May 1993
South ThamesSt. George's Atkinson Morley Hospital theatres2.354 May 1993
South ThamesSt. John's Twickenham Redevelopment Phase 22.921 June 1993
North ThamesHomerton Relocation of services10.265 July 1993
North ThamesRoyal Free Hampstead Renal Unit centralisation3.4020 September 1993
North ThamesWhipps Cross Phase 25.6125 October 1993
South ThamesKings College Hospital Redevelopment of A and E/Radiology5.041 February 1994
South ThamesSpringfield Hospital Forensic Psychiatry Clinic3.0228 February 1994
North ThamesMoorfields Eye Hospital Redevelopment Phase 3A3.131 April 1994
North ThamesHomerton Development of A and E extension1.5211 April 1994
South ThamesSouth Western Hospital Redevelopment10.1318 April 1994
North ThamesMedium Secure Unit--Hackney4.6219 April 1994
North ThamesBarnet General Hospital16.781 August 1994
South ThamesRoyal Hospital Richmond Redevelopment7.0031 December 1994
South ThamesKings College Hospital A and E and Out-patients Department2.391 February 1995
South ThamesLewisham Phase 2 Redevelopment13.1518 April 1995
North ThamesHomerton Hospital Acute services development11.365 August 1996

Source:

Department of Health, NHSE Estates.

Notes:

(15) Figures rounded up to the nearest two decimal points.


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