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NHS Charges
Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to increase National Health Service charges and the value of optical vouchers.[HL3023]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We shall lay before the House regulations to increase National Health Service charges in England from 1 April 2002. There will be a
cash increase in the charge of 10p (1.64 per cent) from £6.10 to £6.20 for each quantity of a drug or appliance dispensed.The cost of prescription prepayment certificates will rise to £32.40 for a four month certificate and £89.00 for an annual certificate. These offer savings for those needing more than five items in four months or 14 in one year. Prescription charges are expected to raise some £434 million for the NHS in 2002–03.
Charges for elastic stockings and tights, wigs and most fabric supports supplied through the hospital service will be increased similarly. The maximum patient charge for a single course of dental treatment begun on or after 1 April 2002 will increase from £360 to £366.
We have restricted the prescription charge increase to the same cash amount as the previous three years and the other increases are in line with this percentage increase.
Optical voucher values will increase overall by 1.95 per cent to help children, people on low income and certain people with complex sight problems with the cost of spectacles or contact lenses. NHS charges and optical voucher values in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.
Details of the revised charges and optical voucher values have been placed in the Library.
Internment
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many people were interned in the United Kingdom during the course of World War II; what collective description was used as a criterion for internment; and whether laws or regulations are currently in force to intern people under the same criteria or amended criteria.[HL1116]
The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn): Information is currently being collated from the Public Record Office regarding the number of people interned in the United Kingdom during World War II, and I will write to the noble Lord as soon as this information is available. By virtue of the passage of time this exercise is not straightforward.
A collective description used as a criterion for internment during World War II is set out in Section 18B Subsection I of the Defence Regulations, being regulations made under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Acts, 1939 and 1940, printed as amended up to and including 4 October 1940.
Part IV of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act allows the detention of those the Secretary of State has certified as threats to national security and who are suspected of being international terrorists where their removal is not possible at the present time.
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