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District Plans (Police Authority Objections)
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what statutory authority police authorities may object to local authorities' unitary district plan proposals; and if he will list the occasions on which this has occurred in each of the last five years. [75939]
Mr. Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
Police authorities, like any other individual, body or organisation, can object to a unitary development plan during the statutory periods set out in the Town and Country Planning (Development Plans) Regulations 1991. Information on organisations making objections is not collected centrally.
2001 Census
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received calling for the inclusion of additional categories in the 2001 census to identify (a) race and (b) ethnic origin. [74630]
Ms Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.
The Office for National Statistics, along with the other two UK Census Offices, has conducted a lengthy programme of consultation with all user communities on their requirements for questions to be considered in the
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2001 Census. This consultation process culminated in the submission by users of business cases setting out the uses and values of Census information for each particular topic. Ministers have now considered the case for a revised ethnic group question in the 2001 Census, and the Government's proposals were published in a White Paper on 4 March [Cm 4253].
During the period of consultation, a total of 154 representations calling for the inclusion of additional categories in the 2001 Census to identify ethnic origin have been received as follows:
Mr. Sawford:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there were for breaches of the law in respect of live animal imports for each year from 1990 to the latest year for which figures are available. [75846]
108 from MPs and 31 from MEPs, on behalf of the British Sikh Federation, the Kashmiri Workers Association, the Federation of Irish Societies, Cornwall 2000, Cornish Solidarity and 15 from individual members of the public.
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 60 |
| 1991 | 99 |
| 1992 | 73 |
| 1993 | 58 |
| 1994 | 79 |
| 1995 | 71 |
| 1996 | 71 |
| 1997 | 54 |
| 1998 | 50 |
DEFENCE
Gulf War Veterans
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many Gulf War veterans have died since the end of the war in 1991; [62958]
- (2) how many service personnel who served in the Gulf War of 1991 have died whilst still serving in HM forces. [62960]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 9 December 1998]: The Ministry of Defence has identified 53,462 members of the UK armed forces who were deployed on Operation GRANBY or to a state in the Gulf region at some time between 1 September 1990 and 30 June 1991. As at 5 March 1999, 381 of these individuals were recorded by the MOD as having died since 1 April 1991, of which 254 were regular personnel recorded as having died whilst still serving in the armed forces. Information received by the MOD in respect of a further 17 Gulf veterans who have been reported as having died is currently in the process of being verified.
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Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the cost of moving a non-infantry TA battalion HQ from South to North Wales. [68478]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 1 February 1999]: No assessment has been made of the cost of transferring a non-infantry TA Regimental Headquarters from South to North Wales. There are no non-infantry TA Battalion Headquarters in the South of Wales.
Mr. Corbett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to publish a consultation document following the review of arrangements for compensating service personnel and their dependants injured or killed during service. [72250]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 22 February 1999]: The joint MOD/DSS review of compensation arrangements for service personnel has proved more complicated than expected and therefore taken longer than we originally planned. We are, however, pressing ahead with the work and we hope to publish a consultation document around the middle of the year.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to set targets for the (a) Army Training and Recruiting Agency, (b) Defence Bills Agency, (c) Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and (d) Army Base Repair Organisation for the year 1999-2000. [71943]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 25 February 1999]: We expect to set Key Targets for these four agencies by the end of April 1999.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many air miles have been earned by him and each of his ministers; and how he proposes to use them. [73332]
Mr. Spellar:
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, column 141.
Detailed information on any air miles earned by Ministers as a result of official travel is not recorded centrally.
Mr. Steinberg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what continuing research is in progress on depleted uranium under the medical assessment programme; [74718]
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(3) what tests for depleted uranium have been undertaken under the medical assessment programme; and what consent for such testing was sought from those tested. [74719]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The primary purpose of the Gulf veterans' Medical Assessment Programme (MAP) is to investigate the medical complaints of UK Gulf War veterans and, so far as possible, to diagnose what they are suffering from and recommend appropriate treatment, or provide reassurance if no illness is found.
When the MAP was first established in 1993, its first Head, Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Bill Coker, initially carried out those tests he felt necessary on clinical grounds to establish a diagnosis. When the number of patients referred to the MAP increased, he carried out a number of screening tests, similar to those then used by the US Department of Defense's Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Programme (CCEP), which is broadly equivalent to the MAP. These screening tests did not include a test to detect the presence of uranium because Group Captain Coker had not previously seen any features in patients to indicate that such testing was clinically necessary. The US experience had suggested that the urinary excretion of uranium was only significantly increased in those veterans with retained fragments of depleted uranium (DU). As MOD was not aware of any UK Service personnel who had sustained shrapnel injuries from DU-based ammunition, it was not thought necessary to screen routinely for uranium excretion, although testing could be carried out on a case by case basis if clinically indicated. Any other tests considered clinically appropriate would also be performed, these additional tests varying from patient to patient. This system of investigation was in place at the time of the Royal College of Physicians' (RCP) clinical audit in 1995.
The RCP's subsequent report, published in July 1995, endorsed the MAP's professional independence and integrity and made specific comments on how the Programme could be improved. However, with the exception of a recommendation concerning psychiatric assessments, the RCP did not recommend any changes to the tests and examinations carried out by the MAP.
The baseline tests currently carried out on MAP patients by St. Thomas's Hospital on the MAP's behalf are very similar to those which were in place at the time of the RCP audit in 1995. They are as follows:
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intend that this will be made public in due course. This work will then be followed by a clinical audit which will include a review of the range of tests and examinations currently undertaken at the MAP.
The tests listed are the baseline investigations at the MAP; additional investigations and/or referrals to other consultants/specialists are sometimes required for particular patients. As part of this, any tests which are considered clinically appropriate by the examining MAP physician, which could include those to detect the presence of uranium, are arranged. However, MAP physicians have not so far considered it clinically necessary to conduct tests on any MAP patients to detect the presence of uranium.
Contrary to some recent media reports, the MOD is not conducting testing in relation to the possible exposure of Gulf veterans to DU, secret or otherwise.
On 16 December 1998, Official Report, columns 520-22, I announced that I had asked my officials to collate the information which the Department possesses concerning mechanisms which could be used to test for the presence of uranium in the human body. I expect to publish the results of this work shortly and will make arrangements for copies to be placed in the Library of the House.
(2) for what reason testing for depleted uranium has been omitted from the overt list of standard tests carried out at the medical assessment programme; [74717]
Full blood count and sedimentation rate (FBC/ESR)
Full biochemical screen, including renal function tests (urea, electrolytes and creatinine), liver function tests (LFT), calcium and blood sugar
Immunoglobulin analysis
Creatine kinase
Thyroid function tests (TFT)
Serological screening tests
Chest X-ray (CXR)
Ultrasound abdominal scan
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Urinalysis
Peak-flow lung measurement (to determine the necessity for vitalography)
A management audit of the MAP has recently been conducted, looking at all aspects of patient care and the service provided by the Programme. A final report is in preparation and MOD expects to receive this shortly. We
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