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Training (North Yorkshire)
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 338, what is the number of people aged under 25 years living in north Yorkshire, and in any sub-division of North Yorkshire for which figures are available, attending a Government-funded training scheme (a) currently and (b) at the same date in each of the previous five years. [14268]
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Mr. Paice: The information requested is available for North Yorkshire training and enterprise council, and is given in the following table.
| Date | Number of in-training |
|---|---|
| October 1996 | 4,000 |
| October 1995 | 3,100 |
| October 1994 | 3,000 |
| October 1993 | 3,000 |
| October 1992 | 3,000 |
| October 1991 | 3,400 |
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Ministerial Statements
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the application of the principles of Pepper v. Hart to ministerial comments (a) in the Official Report, (b) in ministerial correspondence and (c) outside the House; and if he will make a statement. [13599]
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 30 January 1997]: The decision in Pepper v. Hart enables courts in certain circumstances, if legislation is ambiguous or obscure, to take account of statements made in Parliament by Ministers or other promoters of a Bill in construing that legislation. It does not have application to statements made in correspondence or otherwise outside Parliament.
Textural clarity and precision, and the avoidance of ambiguity, are of course high priorities in the drafting of legislation. None the less, administrative procedures are in place for avoiding or correcting any errors or ambiguities arising out of ministerial statements during the passage of legislation. In particular, speeches and speaking notes will generally be reviewed by departmental legal advisers for possible influence on interpretation; the Hansard record of Ministers' contributions to debates on legislation will similarly be reviewed to consider whether there is any inaccuracy; and, where it seems sensible to do so, Ministers may more frequently offer to reflect and take further advice on points of interpretation that are raised in debate.
If it does prove necessary to correct a ministerial statement, the aim will be to do this as promptly as possible at an appropriate point during the further consideration of the Bill.
Mr. David Shaw:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the panel of senior business figures he appointed last year will be submitting its report; and if he will make a statement. [14230]
The Deputy Prime Minister:
The panel, chaired by Sir Bryan Nicholson, has reported to me and I am today placing copies of its report in the Libraries of the House. I am very grateful to the panel members for the time and energy they have freely devoted to this task. The Government believe strongly in the value of interchange in improving individuals's skills and in fostering co-operation and understanding between the public and private sectors. It whole-heartedly endorses the panel's
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conclusion that interchange between these sectors serves the national interest as well as the interests of individuals and their employers.
The panel has made a wide-ranging set of recommendations designed to bring about an increase in the size of the current interchange programme and improvements in its focus. The Government accept all the panel's recommendations and Departments and agencies are now beginning work on an action plan for implementation. Any new and reinvigorated programme of interchange will, of course, also benefit a wide range of private sector organisations and once a preliminary action plan is drawn up I will be inviting key figures and organisations in the private sector to consider how best they can co-operate.
Intensive Care
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many intensive care beds are currently available in the Northern and Yorkshire region. [12921]
Mr. Horam: The information is not available centrally in the form requested. The average daily number of available beds in intensive care wards, other than for children or elderly patients, in national health service hospitals in the Northern and Yorkshire region in 1995-96 was 402.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) his Department's budgeted expenditure on (i) advertising, (ii) publicity and (iii) public information campaigns for the period January to March 1997 and (b) the actual expenditure on (1) advertising, (2) publicity and (3) public information campaigns in the period January to March in each of the past five years. [13464]
Mr. Horam: Budgeted expenditure on paid publicity for the period January to March 1997 is £8.96 million, of which £1.83 million is estimated to be spent on advertising.
Actual expenditure for the periods January to March in earlier years was:
| £ million | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total paid publicity | Advertising | |
| 1995-96 | 8.77 | 1.70 |
| 1994-95 | 8.55 | 2.37 |
In the years before April 1994, our budgetary record systems do not allow us to break down expenditure into specific quarters, only whole years.
Health Authority Funding
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the average amount allocated to health authorities in each of the past three years; what was
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the percentage increase each year; and if he will provide equivalent figures for the South East Essex health authority. [13508]
Mr. Horam: Before 1996-97, allocations to health authorities were made by the regional health authorities. Comparable figures before this year are therefore not available centrally. The information requested for 1996-97 and 1997-98 is shown in the table.
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | |
|---|---|---|
| National average allocation (£000) | 208,860 | 218,164 |
| National average percentage cash increase | 3.86 | 3.93 |
| Allocation to South Essex Health Authority (£000) | 273,134 | 288,089 |
| Percentage cash increase | 7.06 | 4.76 |
NHS Patients (Private Hospitals)
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Leeds are currently paying private sector hospitals to treat NHS patients; if he will list the hospitals; and what are the costs involved. [13810]
Mr. Horam: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 7 March 1996 at column 320.
Intensive Care Units
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds there are in intensive care units in Leeds infirmary, St. James' hospital, Leeds and Pinderfields hospital, Wakefield. [13817]
Mr. Horam: Information on the daily number of available beds by ward classification is collected annually from each trust. The latest published information shows that in 1995-96 the average daily number of available beds in wards classified as adult intensive care was as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| United Leeds Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust | 29 |
| St. James' University Hospital National Health Service Trust | 11 |
| Pinderfields Hospital National Health Service Trust | 26 |
1. Figures on numbers of beds by Trust are published annually in 'Bed Availability for England' copies of which are available in the Library.
2. The figures above exclude neonatal intensive care cots and paediatric intensive care beds.
Medical Staff (West Yorkshire)
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors and nurses have been employed in NHS hospitals in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Leeds since 1990; and how many vacancies for doctors and nurses in West Yorkshire and Leeds remain unfilled at present. [13815]
Mr. Malone: Individual hospital units cannot be separately identified in the Department of Health's hospital and community health services work force censuses, but staff can be sub-divided between those working in hospitals and those working in the community
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on the basis of their area of work. The table gives information available centrally for West Yorkshire health authority area--formerly Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Calderdale district health authorities--and Leeds health authority area--formerly Western Leeds, Eastern Leeds and Leeds district health authorities.
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Yorkshire HA | ||||||
| Hospital doctors | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 420 |
| Nursing and midwifery staff | 3,030 | 2,750 | 2,780 | 2,820 | 2,810 | n/a |
| Leeds HA | ||||||
| Hospital doctors | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 960 |
| Nursing and midwifery staff | 5,140 | 5,470 | 5,290 | 5,250 | 5,210 | n/a |
| Excluded from figures above | ||||||
| Learners(14) | ||||||
| West Yorkshire HA | 820 | 720 | 540 | * | -- | n/a |
| Leeds HA | 870 | 300 | 180 | 60 | 30 | n/a |
Notes:
(14) Learners are nurses on traditional nurse training courses and are directly employed by the NHS HCHS. Project 2000 training was introduced in 1989 and has gradually replaced traditional pre-registration nurse training. Project 2000 students are funded by bursaries. They are supernumerary, not employees, and thus excluded from the count of NHS HCHS nursing staff. Figures for Project 2000 students are not available by health authority.
n/a = Not available. It is not possible to provide figures for hospital doctors below regional level before 1995 or to provide numbers of nursing and midwifery staff in hospital areas of work after 1994.
* denotes five or less.
All figures are rounded to the nearest ten whole-time equivalents.
Source: Department of Health annual medical and dental and non-medical workforce censuses.
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