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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Working Time Directive

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many civil servants in her Department have been invited to waive the Working Time Directive requirement to work less than 48 hours a week on 17 consecutive weeks; how many civil servants in her Department have refused to waive the requirement; and what is the total cost of compliance with the Directive. [76805]

Clare Short: No civil servants in my Department have been asked to waive their rights. Employers of the Department are highly dedicated to the work and inclined to work long hours. We have decided to tackle instances of work overload through measures such as job re-structuring and work re-prioritisation rather than by the continuing acceptance of a long hours culture. Managers at all levels have been asked to ensure that staff are not put under pressure to work hours in excess of those permitted by the Directive or to waive their rights. The costs of compliance with the Directive cannot be collected as they are not clearly evident.

Nigeria

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proposals she has to ease the debt burden for Nigeria. [76965]

Clare Short: The full extent of Nigeria's debt is unclear. My Department is providing technical assistance to the Government to update its external debt recording and management system. We have also offered to assist the Government to develop a debt management strategy.

17 Mar 1999 : Column: 671

Ministerial Meetings (US)

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many times Ministers in her Department have met their counterparts in the US Government since 1 June 1998; and if she will list the dates and locations of each meeting, the ministers involved on each occasion, and the name of the US counterpart at each meeting. [77120]

Clare Short: I have no counterpart in the US Government. I have met Brian Atwood--head of USAID on a large number of occasions.

17 Mar 1999 : Column: 672

HEALTH

NHS Waiting Lists

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for each of the last 10 years, how many patients have waited (a) three to 25 weeks and (b) more than 26 weeks to see a consultant in each (i) health authority and (ii) English region. [74732]

Mr. Denham: The information requested is not available.

Information on outpatient waiting times by health authority is only available from 1998-99. Available information for the quarter ending December 1998 is provided in the table.

17 Mar 1999 : Column: 671

Number of patients seen for first outpatient appointment, by time band, following written referral by a GP, quarter ended 31 December 1998

	Number seen who had waited:
Health Authority	0 to less than 4 weeks	4 to less than 26 weeks	26 weeks and over
Bradford	6,765	9,350	792
Calderdale and Kirklees	8,998	11,709	1,227
Durham	8,936	14,465	1,071
East Riding	8,506	11,170	569
Gateshead and South Tyneside	6,226	8,822	366
Leeds	8,265	15,751	1,417
Newcastle and North Tyneside	8,834	11,009	787
North Cumbria	4,745	7,861	436
North Yorkshire	9,719	15,552	1,134
Northumberland	4,818	7,635	478
Sunderland	3,068	7,916	260
Tees	8,484	13,881	1,547
Wakefield	5,152	6,732	283
Northern and Yorkshire Region total	92,516	141,853	10,367
Barnsley	3,292	5,352	620
Doncaster	3,984	5,591	752
Leicestershire	11,244	19,599	1,824
Lincolnshire	10,241	13,588	1,467
North Derbyshire	5,385	7,558	216
North Nottinghamshire	6,028	7,399	751
Nottingham	6,547	8,928	1,962
Rotherham	3,458	6,035	346
Sheffield	8,292	10,630	1,385
South Derbyshire	8,108	12,048	922
South Humber	5,186	5,553	327
Trent Region total	71,765	102,281	10,572
Bedfordshire	6,743	12,527	1,354
Berkshire	14,647	21,710	1,022
Buckinghamshire	7,652	14,605	1,296
Cambridge and Huntingdon	5,433	10,622	1,364
East Norfolk	9,349	15,569	1,007
North West Anglia	5,628	9,139	1,181
Northamptonshire	6,171	13,681	1,689
Oxfordshire	11,728	13,162	862
Suffolk	7,659	15,798	1,362
Anglia and Oxford Region total	75,010	126,813	11,137
Barking and Havering	4,407	8,590	716
Barnet	3,717	6,156	422
Brent and Harrow	4,937	9,986	555
Camden and Islington	6,941	9,277	703
East and North Hertfordshire	5,523	11,104	442
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	10,166	15,822	639
East London and City	7,930	13,865	1,918
Enfield and Haringey	5,938	11,180	1,119
Hillingdon	2,154	4,546	293
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	4,966	6,506	171
North Essex	10,577	19,812	1,298
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	5,670	9,529	1,566
South Essex	8,059	17,962	808
West Hertfordshire	5,631	10,046	452
North Thames Region total	86,616	154,381	11,102
Bexley and Greenwich	6,697	9,547	1,040
Bromley	2,761	6,963	577
Croydon	4,904	5,822	215
East Kent	6,975	12,589	712
East Surrey	5,625	6,422	107
East Sussex Brighton and Hove	8,523	19,374	1,015
Kingston and Richmond	4,719	5,264	135
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	7,833	16,693	1,360
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	9,362	14,286	813
West Kent	11,817	19,323	1,725
West Surrey	9,456	13,772	559
West Sussex	5,960	12,807	1,248
South Thames Region total	84,632	142,862	9,506
Avon	13,889	18,176	3,115
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	8,040	11,091	1,578
Dorset	12,574	17,753	315
Gloucestershire	7,682	12,048	765
Isle of Wight	2,290	3,043	8
North and East Devon	6,809	10,459	906
North and Mid Hampshire	8,591	12,939	781
Portsmouth and South East Hampshire	5,102	12,515	3,239
Somerset	7,279	10,734	747
South and West Devon	8,879	12,609	1,395
Southampton and South West Hampshire	5,701	11,435	747
Wiltshire	9,372	14,094	1,257
South and West Region total	96,208	146,896	14,853
Birmingham	15,532	22,710	557
Coventry	2,976	7,446	518
Dudley	4,116	6,953	119
Herefordshire	6,124	4,152	489
North Staffordshire	3,853	8,255	2,258
Sandwell	4,582	6,813	560
Shropshire	5,239	10,345	847
Solihull	2,295	3,993	56
South Staffordshire	7,566	13,020	2,131
Walsall	3,639	5,632	594
Warwickshire	3,438	6,228	478
Wolverhampton	952	1,852	120
Worcestershire	8,415	10,932	134
West Midlands Region total	68,727	108,331	8,861
Bury and Rochdale	5,771	8,749	571
East Lancashire	6,848	13,448	799
Liverpool	5,627	11,127	1,299
Manchester	6,503	10,065	1,303
Morecambe Bay	5,515	7,051	912
North Cheshire	8,214	5,610	181
North West Lancashire	7,221	11,344	562
Salford and Trafford	7,507	11,155	1,200
Sefton	2,499	6,793	593
South Cheshire	9,295	14,462	698
South Lancashire	4,001	7,897	817
St. Helens and Knowsley	5,290	8,086	866
Stockport	5,578	6,818	493
West Pennine	6,164	10,401	1,063
Wigan and Bolton	8,266	14,360	924
Wirral	3,687	6,766	1,017
North West Region total	97,986	154,132	13,298
England total	673,460	1,077,549	89,696

17 Mar 1999 : Column: 673

17 Mar 1999 : Column: 675

Paediatric Services

Mr. Lock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department is providing to health authorities on the provision of paediatric occupational therapy services; and if he will make a statement. [74875]

Mr. Hutton: Guidance on the provision of paediatric occupational therapy services is contained in "Child Health in the Community--A Guide to Good Practice", published in 1996. We expect that Primary Care Groups will work with their local Health Authorities to ensure that Health Improvement Programmes will include adequate occupational therapy services for children.

Medicines Control Agency

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much income the Medicines Control Agency derives from licensing fees. [75727]

Ms Jowell: The Medicines Control Agency receives almost all its income from licensing and associated fees. The balance of its income derives from charges for associated services for which statutory fees are not levied.

In 1997-98, the Medicines Control Agency received in excess of 97 per cent. (£27.4 million out of £28.1 million) of its income from licensing-related fees. Further information can be obtained from the agency's annual report and accounts.

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