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Equipment and Furniture
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the cost and number of items of equipment and furniture that (a) have been stolen and (b) are otherwise unaccounted for from his Department and its agencies during the past 12 months, listing by name any such items valued at £5,000 or more, and showing information technology material separately. [17064]
Mr. Horam:
For the purposes of the table, items of equipment and furniture stolen and otherwise unaccounted for are combined because it is not possible in all cases to distinguish one from the other. There are no items valued at £5,000 or more. The Department constantly reviews its security measures in the light of losses.
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| Calendar year | IT items (number) | IT items (estimated cost) | Other items (number) | Other items (estimated cost) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 131 | £35,410 | 10 | £1,065 |
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Vacant Consultant Posts
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant posts were vacant in the Northern and Yorkshire regions in each specialty according to the medical and dental work force census in September 1994, 1995 and 1996. [17486]
Mr. Malone: Information on hospital medical and dental consultant vacant posts by region and by speciality for 1994 and 1995 is available in "Hospital Medical Staff--England and Wales: Consultant, Staff Grade, Senior Registrars and Senior House officers--Regional Whole Time Equivalent and Vacant Posts, Table R5", copies of which are available in the Library. Data for 1996 will be available later this year.
NHS Audits
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS audit activity was devoted to probity audits in (a) 1990 and (b) 1996. [17685]
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Mr. Horam:
The information requested is not held centrally. The examination of probity forms one part of the work carried out by internal and external auditors, and cannot readily be quantified.
Mr. Chris Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of days patients are off sick while waiting for treatment on the NHS in each of the last five years. [17863]
Mr. Horam:
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Sir George Gardiner:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals there were in the
26 Feb 1997 : Column: 269
United Kingdom in (a) 1994-95 and (b) 1995-96; and how many cottage hospitals there were in each of those years. [17532]
Mr. Horam:
The information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the expenditure per head of population in each health district on blood pressure control products prescribed by GPs and recorded in the prescribing analyses and costs systems for the last three years for which information is available. [17537]
Mr. Malone:
The available information has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the incidence of (a) stroke and (b) death from stroke in each health district in England in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [17597]
Mr. Horam:
Information on deaths from stroke--cerebrovascular disease--in 1993, 1994 and 1995 for each health authority in England is published by the Department of Health in the "Public Health Common Data set 1996" copies of which have been placed in the Library. Data on the precise incidence of stroke are not collected centrally.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many questions were tabled for reply by his Department in each Session since 1979-80; in how many instances in each year the reply has been that providing the information involved disproportionate cost; and in how many instances in each year questions have been given the reply that the information was not available centrally. [16791]
Mr. Bowis:
A list of the number of written and oral parliamentary questions answered by my Department in the Sessions 1982-83 to 1995-96, as supplied by the parliamentary on-line information service unit, has been placed in the Library. Figures for 1979-80 to 1981-82 are not available.
The remainder of the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Spellar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the additional costs of constructing the station at the Greenwich exhibition site so that it can cater for visitors to the exhibition. [17646]
Mr. Bowis:
The additional road traffic arising from the development of the millennium exhibition site requires the access road to the station to be constructed to dual carriageway standard, at an additional cost of £700,000.
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This cost will be met from developer contributions. No design changes to the station itself are expected, based on current forecasts for demand arising from the exhibition.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review his policy in respect of children's travel on school trips on coaches built prior to 1988; and if he will make a statement. [17687]
Mr. Bowis:
From 10 February next year, coaches first used before 1 October 1988 will have to be provided with seat belts if they take children on organised trips. These older coaches have been allowed an extra year to have belts fitted for children because it was recognised that some of them would require extensive strengthening work in order to meet the new requirements. Minibuses and coaches already have one of the best safety records of any form of road transport and the new seat belt regulations will improve this even further. I have no plans to review the policy.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce an inspection system to ensure that seat belts used in coaches and minibuses comply with EEC directive EEC/76/115. [17688]
Mr. Bowis:
No. Not all seat belts in coaches and minibuses have to comply with the seat belt anchorage directive EEC/76/115.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the inspection regime in respect of recent seat belt legislation applicable to coaches and minibuses. [17689]
Mr. Bowis:
We take the issue of the adequacy of seat belt installations very seriously and have issued technical advice on what we consider to be "best practice" for seat belt installers. We have also stressed the importance of good installation in advice we have issued for users and operators.
I have decided that these belts should be examined as a part of the annual MOT test and we shall be consulting on the details of this. I have also decided that the Vehicle Inspectorate will include the condition of minibus and coach seat belts in the other enforcement checks they carry out during the year.
Ms Walley:
To ask the secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce a requirement for new minibuses and van conversions to be fitted with seat belt anchorage systems which have passed Vehicle Certification Agency witnessed teats to M2 level. [17690]
Mr. Bowis:
Manufacturers of line built vehicles already have seat belt anchorages approved using a destructive test on an example of their vehicle. Such an approval requirement would be inappropriate for low-volume or specialist conversions.
Mr. Garrett:
To ask the secretary of State for Transport how may towns and cities in England with a population of between 75,000 and 100,000 are connected by dual carriageway to the national motorway network; and if he will list them. [17310]
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Mr. Watts:
There are 30 towns and cities with a population of between 75,000 and 100,000 that are connected via a dual carriageway to the national motorway network. They are:
Mr. Garrett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the roads in England which have been designated part of the trans-European networks which are not currently dualled; and what percentage these non-dualled roads are of the total mileage of the trans-European networks within England. [17311]
Mr. Watts:
The trans-European road network within the United Kingdom is 4,111 miles long. Of that length, 1,220 miles--29.7 per cent.--are single carriageway. Figures for the constituent parts of the United Kingdom are not readily available.
Mr. Garrett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many towns and cities in England with a larger population than that of Norwich are not connected by dual carriageway to the national motorway network; and if he will list them. [17312]
Mr. Watts:
There are two towns with a population larger than that of Norwich which are not connected by dual carriageway to the national motorway network. They are Huddersfield and Poole. The trunk road programme includes schemes to complete the dualling of the A11 to Norwich.
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Ashford
Barnsley
Birkenhead
Burnley
Cheltenham
Chester
Chesterfield
Crawley
Dartford
Darlington
Gateshead
Gillingham
Gloucester
Gravesham
Grimsby
Hove
Lewes
Redditch
Rochdale
Salford
Scunthorpe
Stevenage
Stockton
Taunton
Wakefield
Watford
Welwyn Hatfield
Wigan
Worcester
Worthing
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