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Academic Awards: Jewish Holders

Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in discussions between Department of Health officials and the Commission for Racial Equality concerning the number of academic awards granted to medical consultants from ethnic minorities, persons of Jewish origin are regarded as members of an ethnic minority.[HL614]

Baroness Jay of Paddington: People of Jewish origin are regarded as a racial group, and as such are protected by race relations legislation. However, the ethnic origin categories used by the Office for National Statistics do not include a separate Jewish category. Since these are the categories used for ethnic monitoring of the distinction awards scheme, it is not possible to identify the proportion of award holders who are Jewish. The discussions with the commission concerned a number of measures to be introduced in the 1998 awards round to secure better data, monitoring of outcomes, representation of ethnic minority consultants on awards committees, and some changes to the criteria for awards.

Vitamin B6: Professor Beckett's Letter

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has yet replied to the letter which he recently received from Professor Arnold Beckett and 200 other scientists opposing his recommendations on the safety of Vitamin B6.[HL599]

Baroness Jay of Paddington: The Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has replied to Professor Beckett's letter. A copy of the reply has been placed in the Library.

23 Feb 1998 : Column WA75

Vitamin B6: COT Power to Review Recommendations

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) is able to review his previous recommendations on the safety of Vitamin B6 other than at the request of the Minister; and what steps would need to be taken to permit such a review to proceed.[HL598]

Baroness Jay of Paddington: The Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment could initiate a review of the Committee's previous recommendations on Vitamin B6 if he were convinced that this was necessary.

To do so he would direct the Secretariat to prepare papers for the Committee.

Vitamin B6: Literature Considered by the COT

The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:

In relation to their assertion on 30 October 1997 (WA 254) that the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) "made their recommendations after considering the totality of the published literature on Vitamin B6 toxicity", whether that "totality" refers to the 106 papers named in the list placed in the Library of the House or to the 10,000 papers referred to by Professor Arnold Beckett in a recent letter to the Chairman of the COT; and, if the former, whether the COT consider the remaining 9,894 papers irrelevant.[HL566]

Baroness Jay of Paddington: The Secretariat of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) have not been provided with the search terms that Professor Beckett used and cannot directly verify his statement which indicated that "many address the issue of safety" and therefore presumably there are others that do not.

The searches carried out by the Secretariat identified those papers critical to the COT's assessment.

Health Authority Allocations

Lord Dean of Beswick asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the present financial allocations to the regional health authorities and what these represent in per capita terms in each area.[HL616]

Baroness Jay of Paddington: As a result of the abolition of regional health authorities on 31 March

23 Feb 1998 : Column WA76

1996, allocations for 1996-97 onwards have been made directly to health authorities (HAs).

The most recent allocations relate to 1998-99 and the table shows general allocation and general allocation per weighted head of population for each HA in England. Allocations per head of weighted population are being equalised over time.

1998-99 general allocations and allocation per weighted head of population for health authorities in England

Health Authorities	Allocation	Allocation per weighted head
	£000s	£
Bradford	229,200	450
Calderdale and Kirklees	272,948	459
County Durham	298,927	448
East Riding	261,793	454
Gateshead and South Tyneside	187,624	460
Leeds	339,927	457
Newcastle and North Tyneside	248,792	462
North Cumbria	144,729	463
North Yorkshire	318,712	464
Northumberland	141,701	461
Sunderland	147,757	450
Tees	269,175	451
Wakefield	152,248	471
Barnsley	110,005	440
Doncaster	138,789	447
Leicestershire	378,967	448
Lincolnshire	278,608	463
North Derbyshire	167,949	465
North Nottinghamshire	174,754	452
Nottingham	286,648	447
Rotherham	119,916	450
Sheffield	271,140	471
South Derbyshire	246,395	459
South Humber	145,527	477
Bedfordshire	224,367	448
Berkshire	310,601	446
Buckinghamshire	263,789	460
Cambridge and Huntingdon	170,382	454
East Norfolk	270,403	461
North West Anglia	180,010	451
Northamptonshire	252,747	466
Oxfordshire	234,530	454
Suffolk	280,922	476
Barking and Havering	190,213	468
Barnet	155,454	491
Brent and Harrow	239,173	496
Camden and Islington	251,800	500
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	359,671	479
East and North Hertfordshire	205,436	471
East London and the City	366,867	445
Enfield and Haringey	248,639	471
Hillingdon	118,252	464
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	212,220	443
North Essex	370,351	453
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	231,328	484
South Essex	303,047	450
West Hertfordshire	235,060	476
Bexley and Greenwich	222,784	493
Bromley	134,830	471
Croydon	152,812	464
East Kent	289,217	463
East Surrey	182,949	483
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove	372,547	469
Kingston and Richmond	156,580	496
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	442,521	466
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	322,343	487
West Kent	406,653	472
West Surrey	274,394	489
West Sussex	342,161	463
Avon	429,674	466
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	227,525	465
Dorset	327,559	477
Gloucestershire	242,648	479
Isle of Wight	67,949	504
North and East Devon	221,388	474
North and Mid Hampshire	215,612	480
Portsmouth and South East Hampshire	240,760	468
Somerset	210,919	467
South and West Devon	280,719	469
Southampton and South West Hampshire	235,558	464
Wiltshire	251,545	481
Birmingham	506,138	464
Coventry	142,724	448
Dudley	134,546	459
Herefordshire	72,096	466
North Staffordshire	221,771	451
Sandwell	146,261	460
Shropshire	178,325	458
Solihull	83,831	472
South Staffordshire	239,424	466
Walsall	120,285	446
Warwickshire	218,459	481
Wolverhampton	118,036	456
Worcestershire	222,806	475
Bury and Rochdale	183,925	449
East Lancashire	253,100	451
Liverpool	253,814	465
Manchester	250,313	473
Morecambe Bay	151,742	485
North Cheshire	151,836	482
North West Lancashire	234,450	447
Salford and Trafford	224,171	459
Sefton	145,852	468
South Cheshire	292,831	465
South Lancashire	138,391	479
St. Helen's and Knowsley	162,218	451
Stockport	126,212	447
West Pennine	225,704	446
Wigan and Bolton	273,219	441
Wirral	163,688	457
England total	22,895,307	464

23 Feb 1998 : Column WA78

Vitamin B6: MPs' Letter to the COT

Baroness Wharton asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has yet replied to the letter which he recently received from 47 Members of the House of Commons opposing his recommendations on the safety of Vitamin B6.[HL612]

Baroness Jay of Paddington: The Chairman of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has asked the Secretariat to reply on his behalf. Letters were sent out to Members on 17 February 1998.

Ministers' Official Living Accommodation

Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list those Ministers, by name and office, who occupied official living accommodation in London or elsewhere, giving in each case the address of the accommodation, in:


(a) Janaury 1978;


(b) January 1988; and


(c) January 1998.[HL396]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested is set out in the table below.

23 Feb 1998 : Column WA77

Residence	1978	1988	1998
No. 10 and No. 11 Downing Street	The Prime Minister, Mr. Callaghan; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Healey.	The Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lawson.	The Prime Minister, Mr. Blair; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Brown.
Admiralty House	The Secretary of State for Defence, Mr. Mulley; the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. Mason; the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Mr. Rees.	The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. King; Lord Havers; the Attorney General, Sir Patrick Mayhew.	The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Prescott; the President of the Board of Trade, Mrs. Beckett; the Secretary of State for Defence, Mr. Robertson.
Carlton Gardens	The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Owen.	The Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe.	The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Cook.
Government House in Pimlico	N/A	The Home Secretary, Mr. Hurd.	The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; Dr. Mowlam.
Bute House	The Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr. Millan.	The Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr. Rifkind.	The Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr. Dewar.
Hillsborough Castle	N/A	The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. King.	The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr. Mowlam.
Chequers	The Prime Minister, Mr. Callaghan.	The Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher.	The Prime Minister, Mr. Blair.
Chevening	N/A	The Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe.	The Foreign Secretary, Mr. Cook.
Dorney Wood	Information is not available.	The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lawson.	The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Brown.

23 Feb 1998 : Column WA79

In addition, part of Stormont House is made available to Northern Ireland Office Ministers while on duty.

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