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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 26 February 1999
HOME DEPARTMENT
Horseracing
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the British Horseracing Levy Board's financial plan. [73513]
Mr. George Howarth: It is the British Horseracing Board (BHB) which has produced a financial plan for British racing. We are having constructive discussions with the Chairman of the BHB on the issues it raises.
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met members of the British Horseracing Levy Board; and what was discussed. [73514]
Mr. George Howarth: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary met the Horserace Betting Levy Board in October 1997. I met the Board on 24 March 1998 and have subsequently had several meetings with the Chairman--most recently on 23 February. We discussed a range of betting and racing issues which impinge on the Board's work.
CABINET OFFICE
Minister for Science
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions since July 1998 he has attended a meeting with the Minister for Science where GM foods and crops were discussed; and if the Minister for Science left the room during those occasions. [73126]
Dr. Jack Cunningham [holding answer 25 February 1999]: On the one occasion that policy on GM Foods was discussed in the Ministerial Group on Biotechnology and Genetic Modification, the Minister for Science left the meeting.
Genetically Modified Goods
Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what was the outcome of the departmental stocktake meeting on genetically modified goods held on 22 February. [73724]
Dr. Jack Cunningham: It is not the normal practice of Governments to give details of the outcome of internal meetings.
Air Miles
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many air miles have been earned by him and each of his ministers; and how he proposes to use them. [73286]
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Dr. Jack Cunningham:
The Government's policy on the use and disposal of air miles was set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 12 January 1999, Official Report, columns 141-42.
Detailed information on any air miles earned by Ministers in this Department as a result of official travel is not recorded centrally.
Human Rights
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's policy of linking aid to good governance and human rights in (a) Zimbabwe, (b) Burma, (c) Vietnam and (d) Cuba. [73731]
Clare Short: The Government's White Paper on International Development makes it clear that raising standards of governance is central to the elimination of poverty. All our development assistance programmes take good governance and human rights issues into account. We do not have bilateral aid programmes in Burma or Cuba. We have published a detailed Country Strategy paper for our programme in Vietnam and will shortly be publishing one for Zimbabwe which set out our approaches in those countries.
Sudan
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how she defines leakage in respect of food aid diversion in southern Sudan. [73175]
Clare Short: In Sudan, we regard "leakage" as being synonymous with "diversion" which refers to food aid that is deflected from reaching its intended beneficiaries.
Zimbabwe
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to visit Zimbabwe. [73729]
Clare Short: I made a brief visit to Zimbabwe in January 1998 and have no immediate plans to visit again. I will make arrangements to visit when and if it would contribute to the reduction of poverty and the promotion of sustainable development in Zimbabwe.
HEALTH
General Practitioners
Mr. Prior: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the shortages of general practitioners and the action the Government are taking to encourage more doctors to (a) remain and (b) become general practitioners. [70082]
Mr. Denham
[holding answer 10 February 1999]: We believe that there is no overall shortage of general practitioners at present; and the supply of new GPs is adequate in the short term. However, there are difficulties
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in certain localities at present and, potentially, more widespread problems in the future without effective action.
Recent policy initiatives to improve GP recruitment and retention include the salaried doctors scheme and Personal Medical Services Primary Care Act pilots, both of which provide opportunities for doctors to work in general practice in more flexible ways, without committing themselves to long-term financial investment, and to provide services in the areas where there is most need. They also include improvements to the GP retainer scheme, allowing GPs to work in general practice on a limited sessional basis, keeping in touch with practical and educational developments. On a longer time scale, the continuing support of out of hours developments is having a real impact on GPs' conditions and their morale.
In addition, we announced on 22 July 1998 that undergraduate medical school intake to United Kingdom universities would be increased by about 1,000 places, a 20 per cent. increase. Intake is now planned to rise from the 1997 level of 5,050, to about 6,000 places by 2005.
Maria Eagle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the manufacturers from which the NHS purchased the single mumps vaccine for use in the UK, and the dates when it did so; and what is the cost of a dose sufficient to immunise a child; [71314]
(3) what percentage of immunisations against mumps in the UK on the NHS are by way of (a) the single mumps vaccine and (b) the MMR vaccine. [71310]
Ms Jowell:
The vaccines recommended in the childhood immunisation programme in England are centrally purchased and supplied to doctors free of charge. Single antigen mumps vaccine has never been recommended as part of the childhood programme and has, therefore, never been centrally purchased and supplied to doctors. Medicines Control Agency (MCA) records show that a single mumps vaccine. Mumpsvax (supplied by Pasteur Merieux MSD), has been licensed in the United Kingdom since October 1972, when the licensing of medicines, and records, began and would have been available on prescription. The British National Formulary (September 1998) gives the price of a single-dose vial of Mumpsvax as £4.00. The administration of the vaccine would be a matter between the individual doctor and patient.
During the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998 553,000 children in England received a first dose of mumps, measles and rubella vaccine. Overall, around 1 million children would have received MMR vaccine over the year, taking those who received a second dose into account. Equivalent data on mumps vaccine coverage are not collected, since it is not a recommended vaccine, but, in the same period, a total of 440 prescriptions for mumps vaccine were dispensed. It is not possible to say how many children received the mumps vaccine.
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Mumpsvax was available in the UK until recent changes were made to the manufacturing process. Last year the Department was alerted that, owing to production changes, the US mumps vaccine no longer matched the UK licence and that Pasteur Merieux has no plans to relicense the product. The vaccine has been unavailable on the UK market since August 1998. A small amount of stock may be held by local wholesalers but the Department does not hold this information.
Mr. Martin Bell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what studies his Department has assessed which indicate health outcome benefits from a reduction in the dietary sodium intake of the general population; [72325]
Ms Jowell:
The Government's source of independent expert advice on food and nutrition policy is the Committee of Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA). It considered the dietary requirements for sodium amongst the general population in its 1991 report on Dietary Reference Values, and the relationship between sodium and blood pressure in its 1994 report on the Nutritional Aspects of Cardiovascular Disease. Both of these reports are available in the Library and contain full references of the studies considered. We have no plans to ask COMA to review its recommendations.
(2) between which dates the single mumps vaccine (a) has been available in the UK and licensed for use by the Medicines Control Agency and (b) has been available on the NHS; [71311]
(2) if he will request the COMA Panel to review the recommendations on sodium consumption set out in its 1994 report on Nutritional Aspects of Cardiovascular Disease. [72320]
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