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Police Escorts
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the cost in police time of escorting wide or exceptionally loaded vehicles for the last year for which figures are available for each police authority in England and Wales. [67792]
Mr. Boateng: The information requested is not available centrally but it has been estimated by the Association of Chief Police Officers that the costs are over £7 million a year.
Plastic Bullets
Mr. Sedgemore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the review of the guidelines covering the use of plastic bullets will be completed; and when he will publish his conclusions. [67997]
Mr. Boateng:
Consultation is continuing with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Royal Ulster Constabulary about whether any changes to the current Home Office guidances covering the use of baton rounds in England and Wales are required. Any such change will be announced in due course.
28 Jan 1999 : Column: 377
Mr. Sedgemore:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take action to abolish the use of plastic bullets as a means of riot control in the United Kingdom. [67998]
Mr. Boateng:
The use of baton rounds is one tactical option available to police in dealing with situations of serious public disorder. There are no plans to remove this option from the police service in England and Wales, for which the Home Secretary has responsibility.
Mr. Keith Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make MI5's history of its operations from 1908 to 1945 available for commercial publication. [67981]
Mr. Straw:
The Public Record Office released the first tranche of Security Service records relating to World War II on 27 January. Records relating to the period 1909-19 were released, in November 1997. The Security Service is reviewing the remaining records covering World War II and those for the inter-war years.
Once released by the Public Record Office, such records are in the public domain but may be subject to copyright in the usual way.
The Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on Public Records, chaired by Lord Woolf, has recently conducted, at my request, a review of the criteria used by the Security Service in deciding whether to retain files on grounds of historical interest. I will be publishing their report and announcing my conclusions on their recommendations as soon as possible.
Mr. Soames:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and financial efficiency of the Commission for Racial Equality. [68186]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
A study of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was conducted by a senior Home Office official in July 1998 for budgetary purposes. This raised no serious concerns about the financial propriety of the CRE's expenditure of public money. It did, however, make recommendations to improve its business planning, including closer working links with the Home Office. Officials are in regular contact with the CRE and are taking these forward.
Mr. Soames:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date he met the former Commission for Racial Equality member, Mrs. Blondel Cluff; what detailed response he has made to the paper on the Commission for Racial Equality which she submitted to the Home Office; and if he will place a copy of his response to her paper in the Library. [68185]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
I met Mrs. Cluff on 6 July 1998. At this meeting she passed me her report.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote a private letter to Mrs. Cluff thanking her for her service on the Commission. In this he said that her points on the role and philosophy of the Commission would help inform the Government's thinking on the future shape for race relations legislation.
28 Jan 1999 : Column: 378
Mr. Swinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will detail by project of over £10,000 the moneys made available to local authorities under the spend-to-save programme for 1997-98; what projects have been earmarked for funding in (i) 1998-99 and (ii) 1999-2000, and how much funding has been allocated to each; what is the proposed total budget for the spend-to-save programme for each of the next three financial years; and what percentage of this will be under the control of the Scottish Parliament. [65935]
Mr. McLeish
[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The spend-to-save scheme was introduced in 1997-1998 to allow councils flexibility between capital and revenue spending to deal with costs arising from reductions in revenue budgets. The spend-to-save initiatives and the amount of capital allocations surrendered for the purpose are entirely a matter for individual authorities. £37.3 million and £12.171 million was used in 1997-98 and 1998-99 respectively for spend-to-save purposes. There are no plans to continue the scheme beyond this year. From 1 July, local government finance will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Swinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a breakdown of allocations of money over £10,000 made under the New Futures Fund in the financial year 1997-98; if he will list the allocations over £10,000 already made under this programme for financial years 1998-99 and 1999-2000; if he will give (a) the amount allocated to running costs and (b) the total funds available for each of the next three financial years; and what percentage of this will be under the control of the Scottish Parliament. [65800]
Mr. Dewar
[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The operational management of the New Futures Fund (NFF) is the responsibility of Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and I will ask their Chairmen to write to the hon. Member. The funding for the NFF is provided from within the financial allocations made to SE and HIE and as such will be under the control of the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Swinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the percentage of the NHS performance pool money announced by his Department on 18 March 1998 for NHS trusts which met waiting list targets which has been allocated; if he will give the value of such money distributed to each health trust; what criteria were used to make awards; and if he will publish the target levels for waiting lists for each health trust and the actual current level of waiting list. [65807]
Mr. Galbraith
[holding answer 18 January 1999]: No allocations have yet been made from the money set aside to reward good performance by NHS Trusts in reducing waiting lists. The target levels for waiting lists reductions are held at Health Board level and are given in Table A. Waiting lists figures, by Health Board, at 30 September 1998 are set out in Table B. Waiting lists data, by Health
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Board, is published quarterly, and the figures for 31 December 1998 are not yet available. From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
| Health Board | Target |
|---|---|
| Argyll and Clyde | 7,304 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 6,113 |
| Borders | 1,565 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 2,290 |
| Fife | 7,732 |
| Forth Valley | 4,308 |
| Grampian | 8,757 |
| Greater Glasgow | 13,307 |
| Highland | 3,380 |
| Lanarkshire | 9,525 |
| Lothian | 11,874 |
| Orkney | 184 |
| Shetland | 379 |
| Tayside | 7,336 |
| Western Isles | 450 |
| Health Board | Number waiting |
|---|---|
| Argyll and Clyde | 7,083 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 5,916 |
| Borders | 1,497 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 2,137 |
| Fife | 8,109 |
| Forth Valley | 4,030 |
| Grampian | 9,583 |
| Greater Glasgow | 13,738 |
| Highland | 3,403 |
| Lanarkshire | 9,264 |
| Lothian | 10,701 |
| Orkney | 213 |
| Shetland | 413 |
| Tayside | 8,252 |
| Western Isles | 419 |
Source:
SMR3, ISD Scotland
NHS Building Projects
Mr. Swinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the current building projects in the NHS, with the exception of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, of value greater than £100,000; which of these involve PFI contracts and what is the PFI share of the cost of each project; what will be the (a) annual cost and (b) total cost to the public purse of each of these projects over the next five years, stating the amounts to be paid under PFI contracts; if he will list the property transfers made as part of the PFI contracts in each case; which of these buildings will be in public ownership; and if he will make a statement. [65933]
Mr. Galbraith [holding answer 18 January 1999]: Other than the new Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, there are currently 35 building projects with a capital value greater than £100,000 under way in the NHSiS. These projects are listed as follows:
- Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Service Reconfiguration
- Arbroath Infirmary Redevelopment
- Arran Day Hospital, Ailsa Hospital, Ayr
- Ashludie Community Hospital
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- Bo'ness Community Hospital
- Borders Mental Health Renewal Programme
- Crosshouse Hospital Service Developments
- Cumbernauld Health Centre
- Dumfries Community Extended Treatment Unit
- Dundee Dental Hospital Upgrade
- Dundee Limb Fitting Centre
- Dundee Palliative Care Day Hospital
- Edinburgh Western General Redevelopment
- 3 Health Care Houses, Edinburgh
- Galashiels Health Centre
- Glasgow Royal Infirmary Maternity and Plastic Surgery Development
- Glasgow Southern General Neuroscience Ward Upgrade
- Glasgow Southern General Prosthetics Unit
- Glasgow Western General Infectious Diseases Unit
- Glasgow Western General Linear Accelerator Bunkers
- GP Premises in Orkney
- Hairmyres Hospital (DGH Replacement)
- IPCU and ICCU at St. John's, Livingston
- Law Hospital (DGH Replacement)
- Learning Disabilities Nursing Home, Edinburgh
- Lerwick Health Centre
- Old Irvine Road Clinic, Kilmarnock
- Renal Endoscopy Unit at Monklands Hospital
- Scalloway Health Centre
- Southern Isles Hospital, Balivanich
- Special Care Baby Unit at Ninewells, Dundee
- Stranraer Resource Centre
- Turriff Hospital
- Waverley Park, Glasgow
- Woodilee Hospital Reprovision.
In addition, there may be other projects which fall within NHS Trust and Health Board delegated limits and for which information is not held centrally.
Of these projects two are being procured through PFI, namely, the new Hairmyres Hospital and the new Law Hospital. The capital value of the facilities being procured through these projects is £67.5 million for Hairmyres Hospital and £100 million for Law Hospital. The facilities will be designed, built, financed and operated by the private sector and the NHS Trusts will enter into 25 to 30 year contracts for the use of the facilities.
NHS Trusts pay capital charges (depreciation and a return on capital employed) on all publicly owned assets which they use. For facilities provided through the PFI, no capital charges will be paid but the Trust will instead pay the private sector provider for the use of the facility.
No payments will be made to the PFI provider or costs incurred prior to the facility coming into use. Over the next 5 years the total running costs of the facility (including the cost of the PFI contract) and the PFI contract costs will be as detailed in the table.
28 Jan 1999 : Column: 381
| £000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hairmyres hospital | New Law hospital | |||
| Year | Total running cost | PFI contract | Total running cost | PFI contract |
| 1999-2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000-01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | 50,545 | 10,554 | 61,356 | 16,145 |
| 2002-03 | 44,694 | 12,530 | 74,409 | 19,579 |
| 2003-04 | 44,563 | 12,399 | 76,641 | 20,166 |
| Total | 139,802 | 35,483 | 212,406 | 55,890 |
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