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Civil Service Pensions
Mr. MacGregor: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what would be the cost of indexing pensions paid to civil servants on early retirement under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme from the ages of 50 to 55 years. [14424]
Dr. David Clark: Civil Service pensions, along with those paid to other public service pensioners, are increased in accordance with the provisions of the Pensions Increase Acts. Any change for the Civil Service scheme would have repercussions for other public service schemes; in very broad terms and additional cost of indexing all public service pensions from the ages of 50 to 55 years is likely to be at least £50 million a year. The cost for the Civil Service scheme alone would be some £2½ million. The government have no plans to change the current arrangements.
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION
National Audit Office (Staff)
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission if he will make a statement on the number of staff employed by the NAO. [11705]
Mr. Sheldon: The current strength of the National Audit Office is 751 staff. In addition the Office has at present another 98 staff on secondment with other organisations or on maternity leave or career break.
CABINET OFFICE
Millennium Dome
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what is the expected entrance cost to the Millennium Dome at Greenwich; what number of United Kingdom citizens are expected to visit the Millennium Dome during the year 2000; and if he will make a statement. [13275]
Mr. Mandelson: The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) is developing a comprehensive pricing structure which will aim to maximise visitor income whilst ensuring that the Experience is accessible to all who wish to visit. The NMEC aims to achieve 12 million visits to the Experience from the UK and overseas.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what measures are in place to ensure that there will be no cost overrun for the public sector or from lottery funds relating to the project to construct the Millennium Dome; and if he will make a statement.[13276]
Mr. Mandelson:
The New Millennium Experience Company has robust management and financial controls in place which are in line with the terms set by the Millennium Commission for the award of its grant, and in line with conditions set by me as the Shareholder. When the Prime Minister announced the go-ahead for the project on 19 June, it was on the proviso that there would be no extra burden on the public purse over and above the grant-in-aid allocated to English Partnerships for acquisition and preparation of the peninsula site.
6 Nov 1997 : Column: 345
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Minister without Portfolio what is the planned life expectancy of the Millennium Dome at Greenwich; and if he will make a statement. [13277]
Mr. Mandelson:
The Government are currently considering a range of possible, self-financing, uses for the Millennium Experience Dome over the longer term. Its life expectancy will depend on future use and upkeep, with no significant structural refit expected for at least the first 25 years.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Minister without Portfolio (1) what private sector moneys have so far been secured for the Millennium Dome at Greenwich; what proportion of planned private sector moneys this represents; and if he will make a statement; [13274]
Mr. Mandelson:
There is a significant level of interest from potential sponsors and this is expected to be translated into firm commitments in the coming months.
(2) how many private sector sponsorship deals have so far been signed in relation to constructing and running the planned Millennium Dome at Greenwich; and if he will make a statement. [13279]
Erb's Palsy
Mr. White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the incidence by health authority for each of the last five years of Erb's palsy; and what research into this condition his Department is currently undertaking. [13855]
Mr. Boateng: Information on the number of completed in-patient treatments of those patients admitted to National Health Service hospitals in England with a primary diagnosis of Erb's palsy for the five years up to 1994-95 has been placed in the Library. The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council. The MRC does not currently fund any research into Erb's palsy. It has not received any applications for funds to carry out such work. However, a working group under the auspices of the Confidential Enquiry into Stillbirths and Deaths in Infancy (CESDI) is currently preparing guidance on the management of shoulder dystocia (misplacement of the baby's shoulder in the birth canal) which is considered to be a contributory factor in many cases of Erb's palsy.
Deregulation
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all (a) secondary, (b) other delegated legislation and (c) all deregulation orders his Department made during the summer adjournment. [14384]
Ms Jowell:
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster gave him on 5 November 1997, Official Report, column 216.
6 Nov 1997 : Column: 346
Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent changes have taken place in the private finance initiative aimed at reducing the financing costs of capital developments. [14106]
Mr. Milburn:
Since August the National Health Service Executive has been undertaking a review of the process and product of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in the NHS. One of their tasks is to make specific recommendations on how the cost of the procurement process under the PFI can be reduced. The results of the review will be announced in early 1998.
Jacqui Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made about the future incidence of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. [14092]
Ms Jowell:
On 15 September 1997 the Chief Medical Officer announced the formation of a sub-group of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) with the following remit
The sub-group will have as an early task an assessment of what information will be needed to make soundly based estimates of the future incidence of the disease. However, on present indications it will be three to four years before they are in a position to do this.
In the meantime it remains too early to make confident estimates of the likely number of cases.
Jacqui Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has recently evaluated on the links between Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and new variant CJD. [14094]
Ms Jowell:
Two research papers were published in Nature on 2 October 1997--"Transmissions to mice indicate that new variant CJD is caused by the BSE agent" by M. E. Bruce and colleagues based at the Neuropathogenesis Unit in Edinburgh and "The same prion strain causes nvCJD and BSE" by A. F. Hill and colleagues based at Imperial College School of Medicine at St. Mary's, London.
The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) considered these findings and concluded that they provide convincing evidence that the agent which causes Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is the same as that which causes new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (nvCJD). The Committee also stated that the most likely explanation of the cases of nvCJD to date remains exposure to BSE before the introduction of the Specified Bovine Offals (SBO) ban in 1989.
SEAC also concluded that the necessary measures to protect public health and animal health are in place and saw no need for any changes in the light of these new findings.
6 Nov 1997 : Column: 347
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation (a) has been carried out and (b) is planned by his Department of the total cost of health care provided by the NHS for incontinence. [14029]
Mr. Boateng:
No evaluation of these costs has been carried out and none is planned.
Specific information on the cost of health care provided by the National Health Service for people with incontinence is not collected centrally and we have no plans to change this. The Department is seeking to reduce the burden of data collection by the NHS and rationalise data flows within the NHS and between the NHS and the centre. The collection of additional information on incontinence would not be in line with this policy.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to issue formal guidance to local authorities so as to ensure that BD8 referrals automatically trigger a full community care assessment by local authorities. [14028]
Mr. Boateng:
The proposal that BD8s should automatically trigger a full community care assessment by local authorities is made in a recent report by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, A Question of Risk: Community care for older visually impaired people in England and Wales. The department will study the report carefully.
"To assess the information about the epidemiology of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and develop as far as possible advice on trends in the disease".
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