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Overseas Visitors

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many overseas visitors came to Britain in each year since 1979. [10835]

29 Jul 1997 : Column: 166

Mr. Clarke [holding answer 28 July 1997]: The number of visits made by overseas residents to the United Kingdom in each year from 1979 is as shown in the following table.

Year	Visits made to the UK by overseas residents
1979	12,486,000
1980	12,421,000
1981	11,452,000
1982	11,636,000
1983	12,464,000
1984	13,644,000
1985	14,449,000
1986	13,897,000
1987	15,566,000
1988	15,799,000
1989	17,338,000
1990	18,013,000
1991	17,125,000
1992	18,535,000
1993	19,863,000
1994	21,034,000
1995	24,008,000
1996	26,070,000

Source:

International Passenger Survey, Office for National Statistics.

Association of Business Sponsorship of the Arts

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the arts received from the ABSA partnership scheme in current prices in each year since its establishment. [10825]

Mr. Fisher [holding answer 28 July 1997]: The amount of public funding made available to the arts through the national heritage arts sponsorship scheme since its inception, in cash terms and at current prices, is as follows:

	£ million
Year	Pairing scheme grant (Cash)	Pairing scheme grant (1996-97 prices)
1984-85	0.40	0.69
1985-96	1.25	2.04
1986-87	1.75	2.78
1987-88	1.85	2.79
1988-89	2.50	3.53
1989-90	3.00	3.96
1990-91	3.50	4.28
1991-92	3.50	4.02
1992-93	4.50	4.96
1993-94	4.50	4.82
1994-96	4.80	5.07
1995-96	5.55	5.70
1996-97	5.05	5.05

The business sponsorship incentive scheme was launched on 1 October 1994. It was relaunched in February 1995 as the national heritage arts sponsorship scheme--the "pairing scheme".

Department Name Change

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what is his estimate of the total cost of renaming his Department in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99; what sums have been paid for new departmental logos or designs; and if he will make a statement. [11184]

29 Jul 1997 : Column: 167

Mr. Chris Smith: To date, costs of £400, plus VAT, have been incurred in amending the existing logo for use on departmental computers and in altering signs in the Department's headquarters. Designs for a new departmental logo and other materials are being sought with the help of the Design Council. Value for money will of course be a prime consideration in adopting new designs later this year. I do not expect any additional expenditure as a result of the name change in 1998-99.

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what were the costs of changing the title of the Department of National Heritage to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. [11180]

Mr. Smith: To date, costs of £400, plus VAT, have been incurred in amending the existing logo for use on departmental computers and in altering signs in the Department's buildings.

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for what reasons he did not include a reference to tourism in the new title of his Department.[11177]

Mr. Smith: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a large number of responsibilities, not all of which could be included in the name of the Department. The tourism industry is a very important contributor to the economy of this country, and central to my Department's interests.

SCOTLAND

Pre-payment Prescriptions

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many annual prescription pre-payment certificates were purchased in Scotland in each year since 1989; how many of these were refunded during the first month of validity during each year (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of the total; and if he will make a statement.[7763]

Mr. Galbraith [holding answer 10 July 1997]: The information requested is available for the years 1994-95 to 1996-97 only and is set out in the table below. This information is not held centrally as responsibility for the sale of prepayment certificates and any refunds claimed lies with health boards. All aspects of Government expenditure are being scrutinised as part of the comprehensive review of Government spending. Prescription charges will be examined as part of the review process.

Year	Number of annual prescription prepayment certificates purchased	Number of annual prescription prepayment certificates refunded	Per cent.
1994-95	45,525	209	0.46
1995-96	45,602	233	0.51
1996-97	33,928	154	0.45

29 Jul 1997 : Column: 168

Obesity

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what new initiatives his Department is planning in respect of obesity; and if he will make a statement. [8744]

Mr. Galbraith [holding answer 14 July 1997]: The association of obesity with cardiovascular disease and other diseases was recognised in "Eating for Health--A Diet Action Plan for Scotland", implementation of which is now in train. Further action to improve diet in Scotland will be informed by data from the Scottish health survey, which will be published shortly.

Domestic Home Care

Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what provision each council has made for new clients to receive domestic home care in the current year expressed as hours of support available. [9614]

Mr. Galbraith: The information requested is not available centrally.

Homosexuals (Age of Consent)

Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to introduce legislation to create an equal age of consent for heterosexual and homosexual relationships. [9220]

Mr. McLeish [holding answer 21 July 1997]: The Government have long held the view that this is a matter for Parliament to decide on the basis of a free vote.

Asthma

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the net ingredient cost for preparations used in treatment of asthma, in total and per health authority, for each of the last four years. [10224]

Mr. Galbraith: The information by health board and Scotland for financial years 1993-94 to 1996-97 is set out in the table. The costs shown are based on the value of ingredients before the addition of dispensing fees or deduction of any discount or patient charges.

The cost relates to inhaled and oral adrenoceptor stimulants, inhaled steroids, inhaled antimuscarinic bronchodilators and theophylline preparations.

	Cost £ million
Health board	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97
Argyll and Clyde	3.206	3.575	3.867	4.120
Ayrshire and Arran	3.470	3.972	4.373	4.665
Borders	0.880	0.949	0.999	1.036
Dumfries and Galloway	1.078	1.195	1.293	1.412
Fife	2.377	2.627	2.892	3.122
Forth Valley	2.004	2.275	2.490	2.697
Grampian	3.546	3.960	4.337	4.643
Greater Glasgow	7.198	8.099	8.841	9.251
Highland	1.248	1.401	1.557	1.752
Lanarkshire	4.448	5.074	5.706	6.050
Lothian	5.237	5.652	6.091	6.461
Orkney	0.109	0.130	0.144	0.149
Shetland	0.100	0.111	0.128	0.141
Tayside	3.435	3.936	4.388	4.741
Western Isles	0.142	0.172	0.201	0.215
Scotland	38.478	43.128	47.307	50.455

29 Jul 1997 : Column: 169

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of prescriptions for the treatment of asthma, in total and per health authority, for each of the last four years. [10225]

Mr. Galbraith: This information by health board and Scotland for the financial years 1993-94 to 1996-97 is set out in the table.

The numbers relate only to inhaled and oral adrenoceptor stimulants, inhaled steroids, inhaled antimuscarinic bronchodilators and theophylline preparations.

Number of prescription items

	thousands
Health board	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97
Argyll and Clyde	292	307	319	324
Ayrshire and Arran	294	312	321	322
Borders	79	83	85	86
Dumfries and Galloway	107	116	119	123
Fife	220	231	239	246
Forth Valley	190	199	205	209
Grampian	314	331	343	349
Greater Glasgow	675	709	736	747
Highland	123	130	136	139
Lanarkshire	413	434	459	467
Lothian	449	465	481	482
Orkney	10	11	12	12
Shetland	13	13	14	14
Tayside	274	286	293	298
Western Isles	16	17	18	18
Scotland	3,469	3,644	3,780	3,836

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what was the cost to the NHS of providing acute care to adults suffering from occupational asthma attacks in each of the last five financial years; [10226]

(2) what was the cost to the NHS of treating adult occupational asthma sufferers, in each year since 1989-90; [10227]

(3) what was the NHS expenditure on the treatment of asthma, in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of the total NHS budget this represents; [10231]

(4) if he will provide a breakdown of NHS expenditure on the treatment of asthma in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of this expenditure was on prescriptions. [10232]

Mr. Galbraith: I regret that the information currently available from health boards and NHS trusts does not separately identify the cost of treating patients suffering from occupational asthma. The statistics we do collect indicate that the estimated cost of hospital care for asthma to be in the region of £7.5 million for the year 1995-96. This is 0.17 per cent. of the total NHS budget. Unfortunately, there is no information available on the cost of treating asthma in the community/primary care setting. Expenditure on ingredient cost for drugs used in the treatment of asthma is £47.3 million, again for the year 1995-96.

29 Jul 1997 : Column: 170

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the estimated loss of time from work caused by asthma in the last year for which figures are available. [10228]

Mr. Galbraith: This information is not collected by The Scottish Office. However, of some 25,000 employed adults from every part of the UK who responded to a survey conducted for the National Asthma Campaign in 1996, about time off due to asthma in the last 12 months, the following percentages were:

	Per cent.
Not able to work at all	9.0
More than five weeks off work	4.0
Three-four weeks off work	4.5
One-two weeks off work	7.5
Four-seven days off work	9.0
One-three days off work	15.0
Never off due to asthma	51.0

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the expenditure on general practitioner prescribed anti-asthma medication and preparations in each health authority broken down to show (a) net ingredient costs and (b) net ingredient costs per capita in the last year for which figures are available. [10229]

Mr. Galbraith: The information by health board and for Scotland for the financial year 1996-97 is set out in the table. The costs shown are based on the value of the ingredients before the addition of dispensing fees or the deduction of any discount or patient charges.

The cost relates only to inhaled and oral adrenoceptor stimulants, inhaled steroids, inhaled antimuscarinic bronchodilators and theophylline preparations.

Health board	Cost of medication £ million	Cost per patient on GP list (£)
Argyll and Clyde	4.120	9.39
Ayrshire and Arran	4.665	11.91
Borders	1.036	9.56
Dumfries and Galloway	1.412	9.21
Fife	3.121	8.80
Forth Valley	2.697	9.27
Grampian	4.643	8.59
Greater Glasgow	9.251	9.33
Highland	1.752	8.15
Lanarkshire	6.050	10.32
Lothian	6.461	7.93
Orkney	0.149	7.38
Shetland	0.141	6.12
Tayside	4.741	11.57
Western Isles	0.215	7.27
Scotland	50.455	9.40

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