| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Bro Taf Health Authority
20. Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what additional resources are being made available to the Bro Taf health authority following the outbreak of meningitis. [72474]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: No additional funding has been sought by, or provided to Bro Taf Health Authority. Each Health Authority receives an element of discretionary funding in its annual resource allocation which is for the Health Authority to spend according to their priorities in their area.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Mineral Planning Guidance
21. Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received on the mineral planning guidance consultation document (MPG3); and if he will make a statement. [72475]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: My right hon. Friend and I have received over 40 representations which are currently being considered. In future, responsibility for planning and mineral planning policy in Wales will be a function for the National Assembly.
Local Health Groups
22. Mr. Rogers: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in establishing local health groups in Wales. [72476]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: Good progress has been made by all Health Authorities in establishing Local Health Groups (LHGs).
The majority of appointments to LHG Boards are complete and early meetings have been positive. Arrangements are in hand to appoint staff. Shadow LHG Boards and Executive Committees have begun to identify key work priorities, and are taking steps to address their specific training and development needs.
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 782
All 22 LHGs are on course to be operational as sub committees of Health Authorities by 1 April, as planned.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a function for the National Assembly.
26. Mr. Win Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the progress that has been made by each health authority in establishing local health groups. [72481]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
Each of the five Health Authorities in Wales has reported making good progress in establishing Local Health Groups (LHGs).
The majority of appointments to LHG Boards are complete and early meetings have been positive. Arrangements are in hand to appoint staff. Shadow LHG Boards and Executive Committees have begun to identify key work priorities, and are taking steps to address their specific training and development needs.
All 22 LHGs are on course to be operational as sub committees of Health Authorities by 1 April, as planned.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
23. Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of the road haulage industry to employment in rural Wales. [72477]
Mr. Hain:
The road haulage industry plays a vital role in the Welsh economy, in terms of both the distribution of goods and the employment opportunities it provides in both urban and rural areas. The Autumn 1998 Labour Force Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics, showed that there were around 13,000 people in employment in the industry throughout Wales.
Following the transfer of functions, the National Assembly for Wales will take an extremely close interest in employment issues within Wales.
25. Mr. Edwards:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to review the application forms for sheep annual premium, suckler cow premium and the over thirty months scheme to prevent farmers being penalised for inadvertently making mistakes. [72479]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
My right hon. Friend announced in December that £16 million would be invested over the next three years in the Welsh Office's Agricultural Offices to revolutionise the service provided to farmers and speed up the payment process. As part of this we will be reviewing data collection processes. Welsh officials are working closely with producers and their representatives to find out precisely what improvements will deliver most benefit to farmers whilst retaining the necessary controls over expenditure.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 783
27. Mr. Forth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to increase the funding allocations to police authorities. [72482]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
Details of standard spending assessments for Welsh police authorities for 1999-2000 are included in the Local Government Finance Report (Wales) 1999-2000 (HC 203). The report was debated and approved by the House of Commons on 11 February 1999. These represent an increase of £6.7 million or 3.9 per cent. over the current year.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Police grant is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. The allocations for 1999-2000 are set out in the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 1999-2000 which was approved by the House of Commons on 4 February.
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 784
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what studies of social and economic inequalities in Wales have been conducted or commissioned by his Department since May 1997. [69588]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
The Department has drawn upon expertise and ongoing research through the Social Exclusion Advisory Panel and other sources.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many community psychiatric nurses there were in Wales in each of the last three years. [73228]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
The information is given in the following table.
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 783
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Wte | Number | Wte | Number | Wte | |
| Manager | 6 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| 1st level nurse | 509 | 491 | 557 | 528 | 541 | 508 |
| 2nd level nurse | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 13 |
| Nursing auxiliary/assistant | 201 | 175 | 275 | 180 | 218 | 176 |
| Total | 739 | 693 | 862 | 738 | 738 | 707 |
Note:
The figures above may underestimate the actual position as some non-medical staff (1.5 per cent. in 1996, 0.3 per cent. and 0.2 per cent. in 1998) did not have a valid occupation code and have not, therefore, been assigned centrally to a staff group or grade.
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 783
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Schizophrenia
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people discharged from hospital following a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses and subsequently taken to hospital by the police under the Mental Health Acts in Wales were refused admission in the last year for which figures are available. [73235]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: The information requested is not held centrally.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses were admitted for a hospital stay more than once during the last year in Wales. [73234]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
In 1998 there were 1,521 hospital spells in NHS hospitals in Wales where the
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 784
person had a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses. Reliable estimates of the number of people who were re-admitted are not available.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Sir Alastair Goodlad:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the admission by diagnosis and order of admissions indicating the percentage changes over the previous year in numbers and rates per 100,000 population of patients suffering from schizophrenia psychoses in Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [73370]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
The number and rates of discharges from Welsh NHS trusts for the two latest years, 1997 and 1998, are shown in the following table. Information is given for discharges, rather than admissions, as discharge information is more complete. Reliable information on order of admission is not available. The figures represent only those patients admitted to hospital as inpatients or day-cases and will therefore not be an overall picture of all patients suffering from schizophrenia in Wales.
(12) Rates are expressed per 100,000 population
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 785
3 Mar 1999 : Column: 785
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |