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Royal Armoured Corps Pool of Officers

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what criteria were used in deciding to disband the Royal Armoured Corps Pool of Officers; [80687]

(2) what steps he has taken to replace the specialist armoured skills and experience at junior commander level which had been provided by the Royal Armoured Corps Pool of Officers. [80689]

Mr. Doug Henderson: Within the reforms of the Territorial Army, the operational requirement for the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) is to produce trained individual reservists to provide crewmen for Challenger 2 tanks and medium reconnaissance vehicles, and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) specialists. Against this background, there is no longer an operational requirement for an RAC pool of ex-regular officers since there will be sufficient expertise available within the new unit structure, and the Regular Army Retired Officers (RARO) will provide a continued source of specialist armoured skills and experience.

Mr. Nicholas Davies

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will (a) set out his reasons for issuing an injunction on 23 February 1998 concerning plans for publication of a book to have been entitled "Ten Thirty Three", by Mr. Nicholas Davies, and (b) ensure that no investigation or inquiry into the death of solicitor Patrick Finucane is prevented from having access to unpublished material that is in Mr. Davies's possession. [80601]

Mr. Doug Henderson: An injunction was sought (and subsequently granted) because the manuscript contained material which, had it entered the public domain, would have been damaging to national security and could have posed serious risks to the safety of individuals referred to in the book.

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The murder of Patrick Finucane was investigated both by the RUC and subsequently by the investigation team led by John Stevens, then Deputy Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire. In the event of any future investigation into this case my Department would co-operate fully as we did with the earlier investigations including, where appropriate, over information held by third parties. In doing so the Ministry of Defence would continue to take into account our continuing duty to safeguard national security and the safety of individuals.

HEALTH

Restraint Techniques

Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 March 1999, Official Report, column 3, on restraint techniques, if he will publish the figures on deaths in mental health institutions held by the Mental Health Act Commission; and if he will provide a breakdown by ethnicity. [80664]

Mr. Hutton: The data for the year ending 31 January 1999 on deaths of patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 have not yet been validated. The Mental Health Act Commission is currently in discussion with a number of academic bodies about the validation process. The Commission will then be in a position to publish the data and to provide a breakdown by ethnicity.

Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 March 1999, Official Report, column 3, on restraint techniques, what guidance his Department has issued to trusts on what constitutes appropriate staffing levels and policies. [80663]

Mr. Hutton: We have issued no guidance specifically in relation to restraint techniques.

Chapter 19 of the Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice makes clear that hospitals should have written operational policies on all forms of restraint. It is for trusts to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of these policies and to determine appropriate staffing in accordance with the needs of patients.

European Scrutiny Committee

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the occasions since 1 May 1997 when his Department has made available to the European Scrutiny Committee unofficial texts of draft European legislation; [80553]

(2) on how many occasions since 1 May 1997 his Department has made available to the European Scrutiny Committee Council working documents. [80546]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 13 April 1999]: The Department receives a large volume of both official and unofficial/working texts during the course of negotiations on European Union legislation. In order to facilitate the work of the European Scrutiny Committee and to keep it informed of the progress of negotiations, the Department

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regularly submits Explanatory Memoranda to the Committee. Since 1 May 1997, the Department has made no Council working documents available to the Committee and has made unofficial texts available on eight occasions:

17 June 1997:

Proposal for a Council Directive on health protection of individuals against the dangers of ionising radiation in relation to medical exposures, replacing Directive 84-466/Euratom.

28 November 1997:

Council Resolution concerning the report on the state of women's health in the European Community.

4 December 1997:

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on in vitro diagnostic medical devices.

2 April 1998:

Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision adopting a programme of Community action from 1999-2003 on rare diseases in the context of the framework for action in the field of public health.

2 April 1998:

Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision adopting a programme of Community action from 1999-2003 on pollution-related diseases in the context of the framework for action in the field of public health.

20 April 1998:

Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the suitability of blood and plasma donors and the screening of donated blood in the European Community.

2 October 1998:

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on in vitro diagnostic medical devices.

9 November 1999:

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Council Regulation (EC) 297/95 on fees payable to the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products.

Guy's and St. Thomas's NHS Trust

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date the new chair of the Guy's and St. Thomas's NHS Trust was (i) appointed and (ii) told of her appointment; on what date the Trust was told of her appointment; on what date information was given by the NHS of the name of the person appointed; how many and which hon. Members discussed the appointment with Ministers during March, indicating the dates of the discussions; and for what reason the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey was not invited to discuss the appointment with Ministers. [80566]

Mr. Denham: Mrs. Patricia Moberly has been appointed as chair of the Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospital National Health Service Trust for the period from 1 April 1999 until 31 October 2002. Ministers reached their decision on 18 March and Mrs. Moberly was told of the appointment by the regional chairman on 19 March. The trust chief executive was told shortly afterwards. The decision was formally announced in a press release issued by the London Regional Office of the NHS Executive on 26 March and in an internal bulletin at the trust on the same day. On 24 February the regional chairman invited all local hon. Members to give their views by 7 March on the candidates for the chairmanship. No written replies were received by the deadline but a number of hon. Members made informal representations directly to

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Ministers. The hon. Member, for Southwark, North and Bermondsey sent a letter giving his views on 17 March. These were fully considered before the appointment decision was made.

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who has been appointed to chair the Guy's and St. Thomas's NHS Trust from 1 April; how many shortlisted nominees were proposed by the regional office; how many others were Labour party members; and how many had served on NHS trust boards before 1 April as (i) chairmen and (ii) deputy chairmen. [80564]

Mr. Denham: Mrs. Patricia Moberly has been appointed to serve as chair of the Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals National Health Service Trust for the period from 1 April 1999 until 31 October 2002. Two other candidates for the chairmanship were put forward by the regional chairman for consideration by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. All three candidates had served as non-executive board members, Mrs. Moberly on the board of the Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals NHS Trust. One other candidate had served as a chair of another NHS Trust, and the remaining one as a vice-chairman of the Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals NHS Trust. Candidates for such posts are not required to declare party membership.

Junior Football Staff

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is intended that county football associations and junior football clubs shall have access to the register to be established under the Protection of Children Bill when considering the appointment of staff to work with junior footballers. [79910]

Mr. Hutton: The vast majority of such clubs should have access to the list provided that they are "organisations" within the meaning of the Bill, and the post to which the individual is to be appointed meets the definition of "child care position" as set out in the Bill.

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