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Electro-convulsive Treatment

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to monitor the use of electro-convulsive treatment following his Department's earlier survey; and if he will make a statement. [113361]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 7 March 2000]: There are no special plans for future monitoring of electro-convulsive treatment. It is expected that more useful and reliable information on ECT will be obtained from the Mental Health Minimum Data Set which is gradually being implemented across all mental health trusts between now and 2003.

BCG Vaccine

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how long the BCG vaccine programme in schools in North Essex will remain suspended; and if he will make a statement. [113517]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 7 March 2000]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 10 February 2000, Official Report, column 261W.

8 Mar 2000 : Column: 765W

Mount Vernon Hospital

Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the future of cleft lip and palate surgery and treatment at Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, Middlesex. [113463]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 7 March 2000]: I understand that following advice from an inter-regional group chaired by Professor John Murray, the National Health Service Executive, London Regional Office and its Regional Specialist Commissioning Group (RSCG) take the view that cleft lip and palate surgery cannot be sustained at Mount Vernon Hospital.

At its meeting of 6 March the RSCG recommended that centres should be designated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in partnership with St. Andrew's Centre Broomfield and Guy's and St. Thomas Hospitals, in partnership with Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. If these proposals are accepted by the health authorities, following consultation, their implementation will require Mount Vernon services to transfer to another site.

My position as a Minister prevents me from commenting further on these proposals at this stage.

Cleft Lip and Palate Services

Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) where in London and the south-east of England he has decided that specialist cleft lip and palate surgical facilities will be located; [113464]

(2) which specialist cleft lip and palate surgical and treatment units will be closed in London and south-east England during the next five years. [113594]

Mr. Denham: The National Health Service is presently undertaking a review of cleft lip and palate services following the report of the Clinical Standards Advisory Group published in 1998, copies of which are available in the Library. Decisions on the designation of specialist cleft centres in London and south-east regions are expected shortly.

Harefield Hospital

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to close Harefield Hospital; and if he will make a statement. [113572]

Mr. Denham: The proposals made by the West London Partnership Forum (WLPF) relating to specialist services in West London are not about closure. They are about improving care for patients of the future. The WLPF wishes to do this by bringing together world leading teams from both hospitals in the best possible environment for patients, clinical services and research. There will be full public consultation on the options for specialist services in west London, starting in the summer 2000. My position as Minister prevents me from commenting further on the proposals at this stage.

Residence Orders

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residence orders are in place for children who might otherwise be looked after; and what plans he has to increase such provision for children and young people for whom adoption is not the right answer. [113040]

8 Mar 2000 : Column: 766W

Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.

We do not have information about how many residence orders are extant; however in 1998, the latest year for which figures are published, 30,398 residence orders were made.

Residence orders and adoption orders are not necessarily or usually alternative disposals in the same case. Residence orders are often made in cases in which no question of adoption or any form of state intervention arises, for example to determine which parent a child will live with following the breakdown of a marriage. The Government have no plans to increase the number of residence orders; it is for the courts to determine whether the making of a residence order is in the best interests of the child in any particular case.

TREASURY

Investment (Indonesia)

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the Inland Revenue designated Indonesia as not being a suitable market in which to invest directly. [112312]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Inland Revenue has a discretionary power to recognise overseas stock exchanges for the general purposes of the Taxes Acts.

Government policy is to consider recognition on application by a foreign exchange. So it does not follow from the fact that an exchange is not recognised that it is considered by the Inland Revenue as unsuitable for investors.

Personal Portfolio Bonds

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors are taken into account by the Inland Revenue in determining whether an overseas stock market should qualify as eligible for inclusion in personal portfolio bonds. [112313]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The test of whether shares and securities are listed on a recognised exchange is widely used to characterise tax provisions and to determine eligibility for tax reliefs. The test is therefore not related specifically to any one particular provision, like personal portfolio bonds.

Income Tax

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the expected change in after-tax income for single-income families with two children who earn (a) £10,000, (b) £20,000, (c) £40,000 and (d) £80,000 of taxable income as a result of the 1p reduction in income tax to be implemented in April. [111573]

Dawn Primarolo: This Government have introduced a range of measures designed to make work pay and to increase support for families with children, including the 10p starting rate of tax, the National Minimum Wage and Working Families Tax Credit. The cut in the basic rate is another of those measures. Families with children will on average be £740 per year better off as a result of measures in the last two budgets.

8 Mar 2000 : Column: 767W

Receivers

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to allow the off-setting for tax purposes of the expenses incurred by (a) receivers in furtherance of their official duties and (b) the Public Trust officers' fees, if he will allow these costs to be available for off-setting against the gross income of persons, incapable of dealing with their own affairs, who require the assistance of receivers and the Public Trust Office; and if he will make a statement. [113269]

Dawn Primarolo: We have no plans to change the tax treatment of these items.

Youth Unemployment (Worcester)

Mr. Michael J. Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the youth unemployment figures on (a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 February 2000 for the following wards within the City of Worcester (i) St. Johns, (ii) St. Clement, (iii) Bedwardine, (iv) Claines, (v) St. Stephen, (vi) St. Barnabas, (vii) St. Martin, (viii) Holy Trinity, (ix) Nunney, (x) St. Peter, (xi) All Saints and (xii) St. Nicholas; and if he will make a statement. [113271]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Michael J. Foster, dated 8 March 2000:

As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on unemployment in Worcester.

The ONS publishes a monthly count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance credits at Employment Service local offices. They must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.

Information on the levels of computerised claims by age for wards can be obtained from the Nomis database at the House of Commons Library. Computerised claims do not include clerical claims which currently make up about one per cent. of the total claimant count. Claimant count statistics for February 2000 will be released on 15 March 2000.

Unemployment Statistics

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for (a) each ward and (b) the total in Shrewsbury and Atcham the number of (i) long-term unemployed, (ii) youth unemployment and (iii) total unemployed for each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [113275]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Paul Marsden, dated 8 March 2000:

As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on unemployed people in Shrewsbury and Atcham.
The ONS publishes a monthly count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance

8 Mar 2000 : Column: 768W

credits at Employment Service local offices. They must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.
Information on the levels of claimant by age and duration (computerised claims only) for wards and parliamentary constituencies can be obtained from the Nomis database at the House of Commons Library. Computerised claims do not include clerical claims which currently make up about one per cent. of the total claimant count.

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