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Black Country Careers Services Ltd.
Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment for what reasons Black Country Careers Service Ltd. was unsuccessful in re-tendering to run careers services in the black country; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the tender documents of each tender submitted and of the evaluation report on each. [13410]
Mr. Paice: Black Country Careers Services Ltd. was given the reasons why its bid was unsuccessful at a meeting on 2 January. All careers service bids were subject to competitive tendering, which involved a rigorous, fair, and unbiased assessment process against the criteria published in the prospectus. All bids are treated as commercial-in-confidence and I am therefore not able to reveal or discuss the contents or results of any bids or details of their evaluation.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Indonesia
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the evidence from UNICEF regarding the Indonesian police referred to by the Overseas Development Administration in representative oral evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts on 22 January. [13495]
Dr. Liam Fox: Agreement to release of the letter has been sought from the UNICEF representative in Jakarta. I will write to the hon. Lady as soon as a reply has been received.
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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Public Trustee Service
Mr. Colvin: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what consideration he has given to the continuing need for a trustee service provided by the Public Trustee, following the establishment of the Public Trust Office as a next steps agency; and if he will make a statement. [13912]
Mr. Streeter: A review of the trust functions of the Public Trustee has been carried out by a committee which included representatives from the Public Trust Office, the Official Solicitor's Office, the Treasury Solicitor's Office, the Treasury and the Law Commission. The committee examined a number of options and concluded that there was a continuing need for a trustee service provided by the public sector and that the balance of advantage for trust beneficiaries and for the Exchequer lay in maintaining the present arrangements. The committee's report recommended that some aspects of current trust law should be reviewed with the aim of making it easier for people to administer trusts and that the Public Trustee should review the literature describing the trustee service to make it more informative. The Lord Chancellor has accepted the committee's report and conclusions. The Law Commission will be reviewing aspects of trust law in due course as part of its sixth programme of law reform and the Pubic Trustee has already undertaken a review of her literature. Copies of the committee's report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Eviction Warrants
Mr. Hanson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the consultation process relating to the introduction of fees for eviction warrants suspension hearings; and what notice was given of these fees. [12664]
Mr. Streeter: Copies of the proposed changes to civil fees were sent in July last year to the Law Society, the Bar Council, HM Council of Circuit Judges, the Association of District Judges, the Chief Taxing Master, the Civil Court Users Association, the Advice Services Alliance, the National Consumer Council, the Legal Action Group, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Association of Chambers of Commerce, the Institute of Directors, and the CBI.
Mr. Hanson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the introduction of charges for eviction warrant hearings. [12663]
Mr. Streeter: Defendants are encouraged to put their case before a possession order is granted against them, rather than to apply to suspend a possession warrant on grounds of which they could have informed the court at the proper time. Except in those cases where possession is mandatory, possession is never granted without a hearing at which the defendant has an opportunity to put his case before the court. The £10 fee is to be seen in the context that it is estimated to cost the Court Service over £30 to process and hear each application to suspend a possession warrant.
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Legal Aid
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the total amount of legal aid paid to non-United Kingdom nationals in the last five years. [12552]
Mr. Streeter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) on 18 November, Official Report, column 424.
HEALTH
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of MRSA have been reported each month since January 1992 in each region of England and Wales. [8030]
Mr. Horam: Data on the occurrence of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus are compiled by the Public Health Laboratory Service from isolates voluntarily submitted by hospitals in England and Wales for specialist typing. The number of recorded incidents of MRSA--three or more patients with the same strain of MRSA in a month from the same hospital--in 1996 for each of the old regional health authorities in England and for Wales have been placed in the Library.
Managing Winter Pressures Reports
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the fortnightly figures for the managing winter pressures reports since November 1996 (a) by health authority and (b) by region. [13247]
Mr. Horam: These reports are produced informally to reflect rapidly changing conditions as experienced in regions. They are for internal discussion and advice only and are not intended to replace the statistically valid data which the national health service executive publishes every quarter. These give a reliable indication of the performance of the NHS.
Cancer Treatment Waiting Lists
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were on waiting lists for cancer treatments in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) the Yorkshire and Northern region and (c) England in each quarter in the last three years. [13583]
Mr. Horam: The information requested is not available centrally.
Hospital Waiting Times (Leeds)
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on hospital waiting times in Leeds. [13816]
Mr. Horam: Waiting times for in-patient and day case treatment in Leeds have improved considerably over the last year. Latest published figures show that only 265 patients out of 16,022 were waiting more than a year for treatment at the two main hospitals in Leeds last September compared with 1,164 out of 16,935 in September 1995. As regards first out-patient
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appointments, Leeds hospitals are working towards achieving the patients charter standards so that everyone is seen within 26 weeks of referral by their general practitioner, with nine out of 10 patients seen within 13 weeks.
Colonic Cancer
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on provision within the NHS for screening for colonic cancer. [12028]
Mr. Horam: Genetic testing is available for members of families with genetic syndromes such as familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer, which predispose them to colonic cancer. Recently published results of research on population screening for colonic cancer are to be considered shortly by the national screening committee to weigh effectiveness, acceptability and affordability against potential benefits of such a screening programme.
NHS Staff
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the numbers employed for the period September 1990 to 1995 inclusive expressed as whole-time equivalents and numbers, by gender and by ethnic status for the staff groups; (1) chiropodists, (2) footcare assistants, (3) dietitians, (4) occupational therapists, (5) occupational therapy helpers, (6) orthoptists, (7) physiotherapists, (8) physiotherapy helpers, (9) diagnostic radiographers, (10) therapeutic radiographers, (11) radiographer helpers, (12) technical instructors in professions allied to medicine, (13) other professions allied to medicine, (14) optometrists, (15) pharmacists, (16) speech and language therapists, (17) assistant speech and language therapists, (18) whole-time chaplains, (19) assistant chaplains, (20) clinical scientists, (21) clinical psychologists, (22) clinical psychotherapists, (23) dental auxiliaries, (24) medical laboratory scientific officers, (25) laboratory support grades, (26) medical technical officers and assistants, (27) other professional and technical staff, excluding works staff, (28) administrative and clerical, (29) general managers, (30) senior managers, (31) maintenance, (32) health care assistants and (33) nursery nurses. [13235]
Mr. Malone: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Available information about employees of the national health service hospital and community health services working in these staff groups can be found in various editions of the following Department of Health publications:
"Hospital and Personal Social Services Statistics for England";
"NHS Workforce in England";
"Statistical Bulletin NHS hospital and community health services non-medical staff in England"; and
"NHS hospital and community health services non-medical workforce census; England as at September 1994: ethnic group tables"
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