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Benzodiazepines

Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on trends in the prescribing of benzodiazepines and the action his Department is

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taking to implement the advice of the Committee on Safety of Medicines in January 1988 concerning the continued long-term use of these drugs. [136013]

Ms Stuart: There has been a gradual reduction in the number of benzodiazepines dispensed in the community in England from 16.6 million in 1991 to 13.4 million in 1999.

Health professionals are reminded of the Committee on Safety of Medicines advice on benzodiazepines in a boxed warning in the British National Formulary. Product information for all benzodiazepines includes warnings and patient information leaflets have been updated to include advice about usage.

It is for individual clinicians, in consultation with their patients, to make decisions about prescribing, bearing in mind the risks and benefits of particular treatments.

Salmon Farming

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on public health of the methods used in the farming of salmon. [136562]

Ms Stuart [holding answer 6 November 2000]: There is currently no evidence to suggest that salmon farming methods affect the health of farm workers or the wider community here, or in other countries where salmon are farmed. Furthermore, European Community legislation requires monitoring for a wide range of chemical residues in both wild and aquacultured fish. The situation is constantly monitored and salmon are tested for both unlicensed residues and residues of licensed medicines in line with European Union legislation. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate in Surrey collates this information.

Abattoirs

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) small, (b) medium and (c) large abattoirs have closed since May 1997. [136758]

Ms Stuart [holding answer 6 November 2000]: Abattoirs producing meat for sale for human consumption must be licensed in order to operate. They are classified as either full or low throughput. A licence may be revoked for a number of different reasons. These include where premises fail to comply with the requirements of the regulations or cease operating for commercial reasons.

The number of abattoir licences revoked in the United Kingdom since May 1997 is as follows:

	Fresh meat		Poultry meat, farmed game meat and rabbit meat
	Full throughput	Low throughput	Full throughput	Low throughput
England	21	46	13	10
Scotland	5	1	0	3
Wales	0	1	0	5
Northern Ireland	1	0	0	1
Total in Period	27	48	13	19

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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy on the use of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 to permit the creation of embryos by cell nuclear transfer. [138669]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 16 November 2000]: Research involving the creation of an embryo by cell nuclear transfer is not prohibited by the 1990 Act provided it is for one of the current specified research purposes.

Counsel's advice to the Government is that the 1990 Act includes the use of embryos created by cell nuclear replacement, which means that embryos created in this way are subject to regulation by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

We announced in our response (Command 4833) to the Donaldson Committee Report "Stem Cell Research: Medical Progress with Responsibility" (June 2000) our intention to bring forward legislation, when the parliamentary timetable allows, to set out unequivocally the ban on reproductive cloning by the cell nuclear replacement technique.

Emergency Contraception

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to frame the proposed re-classification of levonorgestrel 0.7 mg as an over the counter product so that it does not contravene Section 58A of the Medicines Act 1968 in relation to its side-effects; and if he will make a statement. [138893]

Ms Stuart: The proposals to widen availability of emergency contraception follow an application to reclassify levonorgestrel 0.75 mg for emergency contraception from prescription only to pharmacy availability for women aged 16 years and over. The application was referred for independent expert advice to the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM). In formulating their advice, the CSM carefully considered each of the relevant criteria for prescription control laid down in Section 58A of the Medicines Act 1968. The Committee concluded that all the steps required to supply safely emergency contraception could be successfully completed in a pharmacy and advised that levonorgestrel 0.75 mg for emergency contraception may safely be supplied as a pharmacy medicine for women aged 16 and above. The Committee noted that information on correct use would be provided with the product including any possible side effects and advice on what action to take.

The results of a public consultation on the proposal, and the advice of the Medicines Commission, were presented to Ministers for a decision. If we decide to proceed with the reclassification, an Order will be laid before the House shortly.

Prescription Medicines

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the financial

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losses to the NHS as a result of prescription medicines not being returned by patients; and if he will make a statement. [139114]

Ms Stuart: In September, we published our pharmacy programme "Pharmacy in the Future--Implementing the NHS Plan". This sets out a range of initiatives designed to help patients to get the most out of their medicines and to reduce waste. We will invest at least £30 million in the next three years to support that work.

Stem Cell Research

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research involving the (a) creation of embryos and (b) use of adult stem cells by cell nuclear transfer (i) is being funded by his Department and (ii) has been funded in each year since 1995; and at what cost per annum. [139487]

Yvette Cooper: The Department has not funded any research in this area.

Richard Neale

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the holding of a public inquiry into the case of Richard Neale; and if he will make a statement. [140303]

Mr. Hutton: We have received several representations requesting a public inquiry into the case of Richard Neale. We are presently taking advice into the form of any inquiry which would best answer the questions that have been raised by this case. Any inquiry would be full, independent and expertly advised.

Autism

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) evaluations and (b) comparative studies have been made in the last 10 years of interventions and therapies for children with autism. [140749]

Mr. Hutton: There is a large volume of research on all aspects of autism. Details of projects can be found on the National Research Register (NRR) which also contains details of projects and trials funded by the Medical Research Council and other research funders. The NRR shows that there are currently 51 ongoing and 82 completed projects on autism.

Recent research on autism was drawn together in the 1998 report "Educational Interventions for Children with Autism: A Literature Review of Recent and Current Research" by Rita Jordan and Glenys Jones of the University of Birmingham which was commissioned by the Department for Education and Employment.

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to hold centrally information on the number of children under the age of 10 years, by local authority, who have been diagnosed with autism in each year since 1990. [140743]

Mr. Hutton: The Department has undertaken an initial survey of children in need, including disabled children. In analysing the returns to this survey we are giving further consideration to how we can revise the categories of

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impairment used so that we have a better understanding of the services needed for disabled children, including those with autism.

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to assist the study of autism announced by the MRC on 3 April; and if this study will provide information on the number of children under the age of 10 years who have been diagnosed with autism in each year since 1980. [140742]

Mr. Hutton: We are keeping in touch with the Medical Research Council (which is funded mainly by Government) on this research study. It is a case controlled study comparing matched samples of autistic and non-autistic children and looks at causal factors rather than incidence. The study will not, however, provide information on the number of children under the age of 10 who have been diagnosed with autism since 1980. We will be taking a close interest in the progress of the study and its outcome.

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent reviews his Department has made of the use of the drug secretin for treating sufferers of autism; and if he will make a statement. [140747]

Mr. Hutton: The most recent published results of a scientifically controlled trial on secretin of which the Department are aware appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, 9 December 1999, volume 341, number 24. This came to the conclusion that secretin achieved no significant improvement in various outcome measures as compared with a placebo.

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