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Written Answers
Tuesday, 25th January 2000.
House of Lords Appointments Commission
Lord Desai asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made on the establishment of an independent Appointments Commission to nominate Cross Bench Peers to the interim House, as set out in the White Paper on House of Lords Reform.[HL729]
The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington): PricewaterhouseCoopers have been appointed to assist in the recruitment of the Chairman and independent members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
The firm of recruitment consultants successfully tendered for the job of trawling and sifting applications and identifying suitable candidates, who must be politically impartial, for the Chair and the three independent members of the Commission. The appointments will be done under the principles of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
As well as using their expertise to identify potential candidates, they will be running a national press advertising campaign to attract as many suitably qualified people as possible from the widest possible field.
The Appointments Commission will take over from the Prime Minister the function of nominating all Cross-Bench Peers to the House of Lords. It is expected to be in place by late spring.
Council of Europe and WEU Assemblies:UK Delegation
Baroness Crawley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will announce the full composition of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of the Western European Union.[HL668]
Baroness Jay of Paddington: The United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Western European Union is as follows:
The Right Honourable Terry Davis MP (Leader)
| Full Representatives | Substitute Members |
| David Atkinson MP | Malcolm Bruce MP |
| Sir Sydney Chapman MP | The Right Honourable The Lord Clinton-Davis |
| Michael Colvin MP | Ms Ann Cryer MP |
| Tom Cox MP | Michael Hancock CBE MP |
| Lawrence Cunliffe MP | Robert Jackson MP |
| Bill Etherington MP | Ms Jenny Jones MP |
| Paul Flynn MP | The Lord Judd |
| Ms Maria Fyfe MP | The Baroness Knight of Collingtree DBE |
| The Lord Kirkhill | The Lord Lucas of Crudwell |
| Kevin McNamara MP | Ms Christine McCafferty MP |
| Jim Marshall MP | Gwyn Prosser MP |
| Edward O'Hara MP | Sydney Rapson MP |
| The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede | Ms Geraldine Smith MP |
| The Lord Russell-Johnston | David Taylor MP |
| John D Taylor MP | Rudi Vis MP |
| John Townend MP | John Wilkinson MP |
| Jimmy Wray MP | David Wilshire MP |
| Anthony Wright MP |
NHS Trust Appointments
Baroness Jeger asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Who appoints members of Hospital Trusts: what are their responsibilities and remuneration; and what qualifications they require.[HL617]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Secretary of State for Health is responsible for the appointment of chairs and non-executives to the boards of National Health Service Trusts in England. The responsibilities of chairs and non-executives and the skills and qualities required are set out in the information pack sent to all people who express an interest in these posts, copies of which are in the Library.
Annual remuneration for chairs is set at three levels, based on the turnover of the trust: band 1 at £19,825; band 2 at £17,625; and band 3 at £15,550. All non-executive board members are entitled to receive remuneration of £5,140 per annum.
Critical Care: Lines to Take: NHS Document
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend to make the document, Critical Care: Lines to Take, issued to National Health Service administrators, readily available to the general public; and[HL601]
Whether the statements contained in the document, Critical Care: Lines to Take, issued to National Health Service administrators, are a true reflection of the current state of the National Health Service.[HL602]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The document referred to is an internal briefing paper. By convention, such papers are not published.
CJD and Fertility Treatment
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many deaths from iatrogenic CJD have been recorded in women who have received fertility treatment in the United Kingdom.[HL620]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: There have been no cases of iatrogenic transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in women who received fertility treatment in the United Kingdom.
A case of a woman, resident in the United Kingdom at the time of death, has been linked with fertility treatment received when she lived in Australia. This case is reflected in the monthly figures that are published by the Department of Health.
Organophosphate Working Group: Membership of Professor Blain
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In the light of the statement by the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment in their report Organophosphates that "It was considered important . . . that members of the Working Group should not be involved with pending litigation concerning OP's", why Professor P G Blain was appointed a member of the Working Party.[HL621]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Professor Blain was appointed as a member of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment's Working Group on Organophosphates because he had appropriate expertise and was not involved with any pending litigation.
Primary Care Groups and Maternity Services
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What guidance they have given to primary care groups on the commissioning of maternity services.[HL589]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Primary care groups, working with health authorities and others, will decide how best to respond to national priorities and local needs within their health improvement programme. This in turn sets the framework within which the health authority and its primary care groups can commission services. Specific guidance was issued in October 1998 (HSC 1998/198), which set out the new arrangements for commissioning all health services, including maternity services.
Hospital Waiting List Reduction: Cost
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much money they have spent since May 1997 to achieve their pledge to reduce in-patient hospital waiting lists by 100,000.[HL555]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: All National Health Service activity contributes to the waiting list position, either directly or indirectly.
In 1997-98, NHS spend was £34,664 million; in 1998-99, NHS spend was £36,611 million; and during 1999-2000, we plan to spend £39,831 million.
Arms Sales Export Credits Ban
Viscount Waverley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- With which countries, since 1990, they have ended export credit support for arms sales.[HL554]
The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The Chancellor announced on 11 January 2000 a unilateral UK ban on export credits in respect of "unproductive expenditure" to 63 of the world's poorest countries. This initiative follows the UK's unilateral two-year ban on export credits for unproductive expenditure to Heavily Indebted Poor Countries announced in September 1997. This is now being extended indefinitely and widened to cover all countries which are only eligible to borrow from the World Bank on highly concessional terms.
Projects supported in future should be measured against the following indicative criteria:
- assist social and economic development; or be of maximum benefit to areas most affected by poverty; or tackle problem areas where private investment is not available; or wherever possible, earn foreign exchange; or encourage viable self financing projects.
These principles need not necessarily preclude ECGD support for the sale of defence or dual use equipment provided that such equipment is, for example, deemed essential for national security, or required to combat the drugs trade, piracy, smuggling, etc. Support for projects must be cleared with the Department for International Development, which must be satisfied that the expenditure is consistent with the above.
The Export Credits Ban Will Cover: 1 Afghanistan 2 Albania 3 Angola 4 Bangladesh 5 Benin 6 Bhutan 7 Bolivia
8 Burkina Faso 9 Burundi 10 Cambodia 11 Cameroon 12 Cape Verde 13 Central African Republic 14 Chad 15 Comoros 16 Cote d'Ivoire 17 Democratic Republic of Congo 18 Djibouti 19 Equatorial Guinea 20 Eritrea 21 Ethiopia 22 Ghana 23 Guinea 24 Guinea-Bissau 25 Guyana 26 Haiti 27 Honduras 28 Kenya 29 Kiribati 30 Lao People's Democratic Republic 31 Lesotho 32 Liberia 33 Madagascar 34 Malawi 35 Maldives 36 Mali 37 Mauritania 38 Mongolia 39 Mozambique 40 Myanmar 41 Nepal 42 Nicaragua 43 Niger 44 Republic of Congo 45 Republic of Yemen 46 Rwanda 47 Samoa 48 Sao Tome and Principe 49 Senegal 50 Sierra Leone 51 Solomon Islands 52 Somalia 53 Sri Lanka 54 Sudan 55 Tajikistan 56 Tanzania 57 The Gambia 58 Togo 59 Tonga 60 Uganda 61 Vanuatu 62 Vietnam 63 Zambia
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