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Hospital Care Beds
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute hospital care beds there are in NHS hospitals in the Greater London area. [122077]
Mr. Denham: The average daily number of available acute hospital care beds in the London region in the financial year 1998-99 was 17,022.
Bed data are not collected by general geographical area. The area covered by London Regional Office has been used as the closest approximation of Greater London.
General Social Care Council
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to establish the General Social Care Council; and if he will make a statement. [122766]
Mr. Hutton: We propose to establish the General Social Care Council on 1 October 2001.
Originally we had intended to establish the new Council on 1 April 2001. However, the GSCC Advisory Group, set up to consider the requirements for a well functioning Council, has recommended October 2001 as a more appropriate start date. This will allow sufficient time to complete the many tasks that have to be undertaken for the Council to begin its important work. The Care Standards Bill, which is currently before this House, proposes vital functions for the GSCC that will increase the level of safety offered to the public. We see it as being in the best interests of the public and the GSCC itself that sufficient time is allowed in order to deliver a Council that is ready and able to take forward these vital functions.
The GSCC Advisory Group will be continuing its role until the Council is established in shadow form.
Female Circumcision
Ms McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to chairs of local authority social services committees concerning the operation of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985. [122492]
Mr. Hutton: As well as being illegal, female circumcision is an extremely unpleasant practice with lasting mental and physical effects on those girls on whom it is carried out. We have issued no specific guidance on this matter to chairs of social services committees but our wider advice, set out in "Working Together to Safeguard Children" on child protection procedures is clear. The Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 makes female circumcision, excision or infibulation (female genital mutilation (FGM)) an offence, except on specific physical and mental health grounds. A local authority may exercise its powers under section 47 of the Children's Act 1989 if it has reason to believe that a child is likely to be or has been the subject of FGM.
Departmental Vehicles
Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles operated by his Department were manufactured (i) in the UK, (ii) in the EU and (iii) elsewhere. [122258]
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Ms Stuart: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dystonia
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed as having dystonia in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [119914]
Mr. Denham: The table shows a count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) in National Health Service hospitals in England where the primary (main) diagnosis was dystonia, for the years 1994-95 to 1998-99.
| Data year | FCEs |
|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 1,414 |
| 1995-96 | 1,953 |
| 1996-97 | 1,967 |
| 1997-98 | 2,477 |
| 1998-99 | 2,709 |
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Minimum Wage
Mr. Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employers, broken down by size of firm, have been fined for paying less than the minimum wage. [122534]
Mr. Alan Johnson: The National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act provides for officers to issue a financial penalty against an employer who does not comply with an enforcement notice. So far, 141 enforcement notices have been issued. Only one of these has required follow up action with a penalty notice fining the employer for each day of non-compliance with the enforcement notice. The company concerned employs between 0-10 people.
It is also a criminal offence to refuse or wilfully neglect to pay the NMW. So far it has not been necessary to use these criminal powers, though we will do so in appropriate circumstances.
Cosmetic Surgery
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the operation of regulations pertaining to advertising of cosmetic surgery. [122307]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 16 May 2000]: I am satisfied that the powers given to the Director General of Fair Trading by the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988, together with the self-regulatory system operated by the Advertising Standards authority, are effective in controlling advertising in the United Kingdom. However, the Government recognise that advertising controls alone may not be sufficient in the field of cosmetic surgery to ensure that the information patients receive is of an acceptable standard and my colleagues in the Department of Health are therefore considering how best to take this matter forward.
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Chief Scientific Adviser
Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 11 May 2000, Official Report, column 445W, what engineering skills and qualifications will be required of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser. [122496]
Ms Hewitt: The Government's Chief Scientific Adviser will need to have a first class international reputation in science or engineering. Candidates for the post are likely to be Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering or of the Royal Society. In addition to being excellent in their own disciplines candidates will need to have an understanding of a wide range of science and engineering issues.
Post Office
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has set the financial target for the Post Office for 2000-01; and if he will make a statement. [122924]
Mr. Alan Johnson: The Government are setting the Post Office a return on capital employed target of 13 per cent. in 2000-01 and this translates into an operational pre-tax profit target of £392 million in 2000-01. This target excludes the network of post offices, where the PIU report is awaited, and the non-operational interest arising from past surpluses held on the Post Office's balance sheet. This target will be subsumed within the overall post-tax profit target for the Post Office as a whole, as described in the White Paper.
As already announced, the 'dividend' that the Government effectively take out of the Post Office is set at 40 per cent. of the post-tax profits of the business as a whole. This is subject to a dividend floor payment which this year will be raised from 80 per cent. to 90 per cent. of the dividend that would be paid if the Post Office meets its overall profit target.
In order to help the Post Office to plan for the medium term, the Government are also setting an indicative financial target for 2002-03 of 13 per cent. return on capital employed (ROCE) in the Post Office's operational business, excluding the network of post offices and any non-operational interest arising from past surpluses. Return on capital employed is defined as profit before interest payable and tax, but after operating interest receivable, divided by operating capital employed.
I have set the Post Office's financial target and dividend floor for 2000-01, and the indicative financial target for 2002-03 in the light of external benchmarking, the likely regulatory environment, market expectations, the Post Office's approved Strategic Plan for 1999-2004, and other projections from the Post Office.
Communications White Paper
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on consultation on the Communications White Paper. [123003]
Mr. Byers: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and I have already announced an invitation for any comments on the Communications White Paper to be submitted to us by 23 June. As a further contribution to the debate and
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discussion on the issues at the heart of the White Paper, we have also asked a number of external experts individually to prepare policy papers on a variety of related subjects, which will form the basis for discussion at a seminar in July and which will be published on the internet.
- Quentin Thomas (Chair)
- David Cleevely
- Elizabeth Forgan
- Andrew Graham
- Janice Hughes
- Mark Oliver
- Damian Tambini
- George Yarrow.
Export Credit (Military Goods)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times countries which have been granted export credit for military goods have defaulted on their repayments in each of the last 10 years. [122246]
Mr. Caborn [holding answer 16 May 2000]: The following list details the countries on which ECGD has paid claims in each of the last 10 years as a result of payment defaults in relation to export credits for defence equipment.
1990-91
Algeria
Argentina
Brazil
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
Nigeria
1991-92
Argentina
Brazil
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
1992-93
Brazil
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
Venezuela
1993-94
Brazil
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
Venezuela
1994-95
Algeria
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
Venezuela
17 May 2000 : Column: 134W
1995-96
Algeria
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
Venezuela
1996-97
Algeria
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
1997-98
Algeria
Egypt
Jordan
Kenya
1998-99
Indonesia
Jordan
Kenya
1999-2000
Indonesia
Zimbabwe.
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