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Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of (a) men aged 65 years and over and (b) women aged 60 years and over for each year since 1979 in Tower Hamlets.
Mr. Dorrell : The estimates of resident population requested for Tower Hamlets are given in the table.
Thousands
Mid year |Men aged 65|Women aged
|and over |60 and over
------------------------------------------------
1979 |9.0 |17.3
1980 |8.9 |17.4
1981 |8.8 |17.1
1982 |8.8 |17.2
1983 |8.5 |17.1
1984 |8.4 |16.9
1985 |8.5 |16.8
1986 |8.7 |16.7
1987 |8.8 |16.5
1988 |8.7 |16.2
1989 |8.7 |15.9
NHS Trusts
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance he has issued to health authority trust funds about inappropriate investment ;
(2) what information he has on the incidence of health authority trust funds investing in tobacco companies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The Trustee Investment Act 1961 gives the basic powers for investing in particular securities. We have not issued any specific guidance. Information about investment by health authority trust funds in any particular security is not held centrally.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals have been closed in each year since 1974.
Mr. Dorrell : This information is not available centrally.
RU486
Dame Jill Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what trials the drug RU486 has undergone ; and for how long a period.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Mifepristone (RU486) has been used by over 100,000 women worldwide and by more than 80,000 women in France.
Permission to perform clinical trials in the United Kingdom under the Medicines (Exemption from Licences) (Clinical Trials) Order 1981, S.I. No. 164, was granted in December 1986. These trials have been carried out in 15 centres, with approximately 1,500 women taking part.
Health Promotion
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the role of health visitors in health promotion and health education in the community and their role in providing advice to people in their own homes and in the context of their own lifestyles and family circumstances ;
(2) what appropriate qualifications he supports for nurses undertaking health advice and health promotion work in the community.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 2 July 1991] : All health professionals have a responsibility to promote positive health in their work with patients and clients and their families and carers. Health visitors are uniquely placed as a profession to make a significant contribution in health promotion and education and disease prevention. The Government's new strategy for health puts an even stronger emphasis on improving health. Health visitors provide advice systematically and opportunistically to people in their own homes as well as other places.
Nurses in possession of a health visitor or district nurse qualification are especially equipped with skills in health promotion and disease prevention. Other nurses who have been suitably educated and trained for their roles in the community are also able to fulfil these functions.
Health Visitors
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sponsored places for health visiting students there have been in each of the past 10 years ; and what steps he is taking to ensure that health visiting training is adequately funded and that there is sufficient sponsorship of students.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 2 July 1991] : The number of sponsored places is not collected centrally. Details of the number of student health visitors and those entering training can however be found in "The NHS Workforce in England 1991", a copy of which is in the Library. It is for health authorities to determine their own manpower plans, including training needs. Regional health authorities have, however, been advised that post-registration professional training, including health visitor training, should, for the time being, be funded from a separate and protected regional budget, and they have been asked to identify current investment in such training.
Disability Manifesto
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy towards the recommendations of the "Disability Manifesto : An Agenda for the 1990s", a copy of which has been sent to him, which relate to his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 3 July 1991] ; In his reply to a similar question from the right hon. Member, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out on 4 July at column 184 the aim underlying the policies of the Government towards people with disabilities.
In order to achieve the aim of enabling people with disabilities to take a full part in the life of the community, we are continuously reviewing and improving the provision of a broad spectrum of services for disabled people.
We agree with the authors of the manifesto that access to information is essential to enable people with disabilities to make reasoned choices.
In March I announced the establishment of the national disability information project, which has a budget of £3 million over three years, to fund pilot projects to identify good practice in the collection and dissemination of information at a local level to disabled people and their carers.
Guidance on the implementation of the community care reforms and the Children Act 1989, which will be
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implemented in October, draws attention to the need for service providers to produce information in formats which are appropriate for people with a sensory disability.The Department grant-aids the production of Braille and has provided financial support for a variety of initiatives concerned with the development of sign languages and other communication techniques, including the production of information about the NHS reforms in Braille and sign language formats.
We agree that the prevention of disability and improved rehabilitation services are important goals. An advisory group on rehabilitation was set up earlier this year to advise on developments in NHS rehabilitation which would improve the range of services available to people with disabilities, and help them to lead as full a life as possible.
In May we announced a central initiative to improve rehabilitation services for people with brain injury. We will be supporting the development of a number of centres around the country which can act as models to the rest of the NHS, and carrying out an evaluation of the services they provide.
Between 1987-89, the Department contributed £800,000 towards a new rehabilitation centre for people who are deaf and blind with additional handicaps. In April 1990, the Department introduced new procedure for certifying people as blind or partially sighted. In 1990, the Department launched two new initiatives under which it will make available nearly £3 million to the NHS for a cochlear implant programme and 12 pilot projects aimed at improving hearing aid services.
We will shortly publish the results of a review of continence services, including the recommendations for action to promote a good quality service throughout the country.
In June, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State made a statement at Mencap's annual conference on the future developments of services for people with learning disabilities. We have recently issued for consultation a draft local authority circular on social care for people with learning disabilities, and a parallel draft health circular on the role of the NHS in providing health care for this client group.
Considerable additional resources have already been committed to personal social services, including services for people with disabilities, where spending has increased by 53 per cent. in real terms since 1978-79.
When the new arrangements for community care are fully implemented in April 1993 local authorities will be required to assess the needs of people with disabilities and to provide the appropriate services that will best meet those needs. We make it clear in our guidance that users of the service and their carers should be involved as closely as possible in decisions about what services should be provided to them individually and that voluntary organisations representing users and carers be consulted in the preparation of community care plans.
One of the key objectives of the Government's proposals is to ensure that service providers make practical support for carers a high priority. The introduction of a complaints procedure open to all service users and their carers is a major step forward. It is part of the progress being made towards making services responsive to users' needs and it will encourage the drive for better quality services.
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In addition, this year we are spending over £2,300,000 on grants to voluntary bodies in the disability field.Internationally, the Government are actively participating in the European Community's HELIOS programme which aims to promote the integration into the community of both adults and children with disabilities.
We maintain an active role in the Council of Europe as members of the committee on rehabilitation.
We support the United Nations world programme of action concerning disabled persons and in particular the UN global project designed to mark the end of the UN decade of disabled persons 1983-92. These major programmes, taken together with a range of other initiatives, illustrate the level of commitment to improving services for disabled people. We will continue to build on them in the future.
WALES
Urban Development Corporation
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the budget of each urban development corporation to cover the provision for training in each of the years 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. David Hunt : Cardiff Bay development corporation's expenditure on the provision of training was £17,300 in 1989-90 and £124,500 in 1990-91. The budget for training and social grants in 1991-92 is £399,000, of which it is estimated that £120,000 will be spent on training.
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of the capital provided in the budget for all the urban development corporations for the provision of housing for the years 1989- 90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. David Hunt : Cardiff Bay development corporation does not have a budget for the provision of housing. The value of land given to housing associations within the urban development area in 1989-90 and 1990-91 was :
|£
------------------------------
1989-90 |Nil
1990-91 |3,275,000
It is estimated that land valued at £66,000 will be donated for housing association use in 1991-92.
Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of houses provided by each of the urban development corporations for each year of operation to 31 March.
Mr. David Hunt : Cardiff Bay development corporation does not directly provide housing. The number of housing units built within the urban development area was :
|Units
--------------------
1987-88 |206
1988-89 |198
1989-90 |249
1990-91 |115
The development corporation's strategy proposes 6,000 new homes, of which a quarter will be for social housing.
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HIV
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people have been diagnosed as HIV positive in each health authority in Wales for each of the past 36 months.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : For reasons of confidentiality and in line with the AIDS (Control) Act, numbers between one and nine inclusive are given as "less than 10". The figures requested are all less than 10.
Transit Itinerants Site, Gresford
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposes to require an environmental assessment regarding the transit itinerants site at Gresford.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : Under the terms of the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environment Effects) Regulations 1988 environmental assessment is not required for gipsy sites.
Learning Difficulties
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many places planned specifically for adults with learning difficulties were available in Wales in each of the last five years ; and how many are available in the present year.
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Sir Wyn Roberts : This information is not available.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many hospitals have been closed in each year since 1974.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Terrorism (Londonderry)
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show for each year, or if more convenient financial year, since 1968 to the latest available date (a) the sums claimed for (i) criminal damage and (ii) criminal injury, resulting from terrorist activity in Londonderry city, and the sums paid in each such year, relating as far as possible the sums to the year in which the damage or injury was inflicted.
Dr. Mawhinney : Such information as is available is contained in the tables.
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Amounts of compensation paid by financial year
Criminal damage
Year |1978-79 |1979-80 |1980-81 |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91
damage
sustained
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1973-74 |91,976 |85,120 |38,357 |0 |500 |0 |7,381 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
1974-75 |66,594 |73,919 |27,632 |128,862 |250 |0 |0 |0 |0 |248,872 |113,799 |0 |0
1975-76 |28,015 |49,056 |43,689 |0 |5,504 |0 |2,496 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
1976-77 |486,793 |541,862 |341,529 |173,140 |137,255 |21,156 |0 |0 |0 |4,000 |0 |0 |0
1977-78 |470,539 |267,472 |36,490 |2,605 |55,652 |12,328 |5,203 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
1978-79 |194,527 |734,385 |344,232 |28,485 |27,559 |16,600 |20,546 |23,400 |3,354 |0 |0 |0 |0
1979-80 |0 |1,006,610|749,813 |372,396 |180,642 |44,081 |195,260 |173,553 |26,348 |0 |2,197 |0 |0
1980-81 |0 |0 |820,886 |475,951 |557,772 |244,617 |29,393 |3,434 |3,890 |0 |0 |0 |10,000
1981-82 |0 |0 |0 |1,480,629|1,236,601|437,946 |135,314 |90,852 |53,801 |248,872 |113,799 |0 |0
1982-83 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1,281,162|621,326 |231,432 |153,116 |81,578 |2,291 |7,000 |0 |10,000
1983-84 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |546,311 |599,498 |174,984 |9,461 |14,167 |295 |740 |0
1984-85 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |208,834 |635,755 |143,909 |107,313 |33,442 |0 |0
1985-86 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |418,675 |690,881 |271,807 |47,374 |58,997 |28,727
1986-87 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |43,395 |98,871 |26,584 |22,921 |301
1987-88 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |334,006 |303,246 |102,921 |14,948
1988-89 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |20,192 |451,761 |153,295
1989-90 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |370,134 |116,642
1990-91 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |4,825
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Totals |1,338,444|2,758,424|2,403,108|2,664,068|3,482,897|1,944,365|1,435,357|1,673,769|1,056,617|1,081,327|556,129 |1,007,474|338,739
Amounts exclude costs and fees incurred by applicants.
Amounts of compensation paid by financial year
Criminal injury
Year |1978-79 |1979-80 |1980-81 |1981-82 |1982-83 |1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91
injury |(part
sustained |year)
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1977-78 |13,579 |25,750 |33,000 |25,000 |5,000 |5,000 |54,400 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |5,000
1978-79 |5,232 |3,229 |19,250 |9,600 |34,400 |5,000 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
1979-80 |0 |7,469 |10,375 |64,284 |50,250 |4,800 |26,500 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
1980-81 |0 |0 |12,000 |58,500 |8,800 |55,600 |193,000 |0 |9,000 |0 |0 |0 |0
1981-82 |0 |0 |0 |38,200 |160,603 |205,910 |157,598 |350,000 |39,000 |0 |3,250 |0 |0
1982-83 |0 |0 |0 |0 |22,100 |74,483 |91,880 |165,884 |45,000 |2,750 |23,500 |0 |0
1983-84 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |64,400 |70,516 |165,728 |102,415 |411,550 |27,550 |4,517 |0
1984-85 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |9,350 |210,087 |198,510 |21,027 |45,134 |73,500 |4,250
1985-86 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |600 |22,416 |68,302 |121,575 |3,500 |103,573
1986-87 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |12,000 |62,063 |512,722 |169,447 |56,574
1987-88 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |5,000 |81,999 |99,973 |61,661
1988-89 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |61,929 |144,352
1989-90 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |2,000 |54,762
1990-91 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Totals |18,811 |36,448 |74,625 |195,584 |261,153 |415,193 |603,244 |912,299 |426,341 |590,692 |815,680 |414,866 |430,172
Amounts exclude costs and fees incurred by applicants.
Rural Action Programmes
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on rural action programmes which contribute to overcoming isolation and poverty.
Mr. Hanley : Given the rural nature of much of Northern Ireland most Departments and statutory agencies administer programmes which help to a greater or lesser degree in meeting social and economic need in rural areas.
A particular example is the community regeneration and improvement special programme, jointly funded by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland and the International Fund for Ireland, which provides assistance to community groups and district councils undertaking projects to achieve local economic regeneration in villages and smaller towns in areas of particular disadvantage. In order to assist those local groups developing plans to tackle social and economic need in the most deprived rural areas of the Province, and to optimise the impact of the Government's social and economic programmes in the more remote areas, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State accepted recently the recommendations of the Interdepartmental Committee on Rural Development. He appointed me the Minister responsible and accordingly I am at present engaged in setting up a Rural Development Council outside Government to act as an advice and resource centre for rural community groups. An executive chairman has already been appointed. Within the Department of Agriculture a rural development division has been established which will support a small team of area co-ordinators to co-ordinate the local delivery of statutory programmes and services and to provide integrated statutory responses to local development plans. It is hoped that these structures will be fully in place by the autumn of this year.
Toxic Waste
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of, and levels of, any potential catalytic metals in the structure or in the containment drums for waste incinerated at the proposed incinerator at Maydown, Londonderry.
Mr. Needham : Such details are not yet available. If the proposed incinerator comes into operation the types of waste are likely to be organic chemicals and non-metal bearing. The drums are likely to be of carbon steel which presents no environmental risk.
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what studies are available to him of
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technologies for the disposal of the types of toxic waste it is proposed to incinerate at the Maydown, Londonderry site.Mr. Needham : The assessment of any proposal to incinerate waste would include the study of comparative and alternative facilities. Officials in the Department of Environment for Northern Ireland are, of course, aware of such studies in other parts of the world.
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish details of the specifications of the type of incinerator which is being proposed fo Maydown, Londonderry.
Mr. Needham : Such details will emerge only after the completion of the feasibilty study and could be made available only when a formal application is made by Du Pont (UK) Ltd.
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Du Pont company on the possibility of shipping the toxic and hazardous wastes produced by the company in Northern Ireland to the Du Pont incinerator in the United States of America.
Mr. Needham : The United Kingdom Government are anxious to cease the export of waste out of their territory and there is a presumption in favour of national self-sufficiency in the provision of hazardous facilities.
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with any companies about the construction of chemical or other plants in Northern Ireland which would produce the type of material the proposed incinerator at Maydown, Londonderry could burn ; and what assessment he has made of the expected amount of such materials to be produced in Northern Ireland in the next four years.
Further Education
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the document entitled "Further Education in Northern Ireland-- The Road Ahead" launched on 25 June will be available in the Vote Office.
Dr. Mawhinney : This document was not required to be laid and was not, therefore, placed in the Vote Office. However, it has been available in the Library since 26 June. In addition, copies were sent on the day of publication to Northern Ireland Members of Parliament at their home addresses.
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Student Grants
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is the maximum level of grant aid available to students at third level education, pursuing degree courses, and staying in lodgings ; (2) what period of time is the student grant designed to cover.
Dr. Mawhinney : The maximum maintenance grant for a student living away from home during term time is £2,265 : for those living in London this rises to £2,845. These rates of grant cover the normal period of 213 days--178 days in the case of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge- -during which a student is expected to be in attendance at a course, together with the Christmas and Easter vactions. Tuition fees are also paid : the current year amount is £1,675.
A student who is required to attend a course for longer than the normal period is eligible for a supplementary maintenance grant for each week or part week of the further period. For a student residing in the London area the weekly rate is £63.15 : elsewhere in the United Kingdom it is £47.30.
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TRANSPORT
British Rail
Miss Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to require the chairman of British Rail to publish the environmental impact study which was made on the line from Peckham via Brixton and Clapham to Waterloo.
Mr. Freeman : No environmental statement was necessary for the works at Waterloo and at Stewart's lane, which were authorised by the Channel Tunnel Act 1987. British Rail agreed with nearby residents to undertake measures to mitigate noise.
SCOTLAND
Schools
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the level of capital expenditure on schools in (a) each regional authority in Scotland and (b) Scotland in total, in each year since 1978-79, in constant prices.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information given in the following table has been compiled from local authority financial returns. The fall in expenditure in real terms during the period reflects a substantial and progressive decline in pupil numbers which has reduced the requirement for new school building.
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Capital expenditure by local authorities on schools
at 1989-90 prices
£ thousands
|1978-79|1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borders |642 |1,108 |1,774 |1,424 |928 |970 |1,199 |1,325 |1,055 |1,087 |1,128
Central |8,208 |6,550 |4,606 |3,741 |2,004 |1,474 |1,422 |1,753 |2,863 |3,198 |4,651
Dumfries and Galloway 2.444 |3,028 |2,666 |2,579 |2,948 |3,312 |3,120 |3,068 |2,531 |750 |1,767 |1,809
Fife |7,239 |4,599 |4,244 |3,821 |3,364 |2,353 |3,784 |5,336 |5,525 |2,374 |5,056
Grampian |16,775 |13,733 |14,682 |18,252 |12,393 |8,969 |7,624 |10,273 |9,548 |2,585 |3,626
Highland |6,935 |4,667 |4,450 |4,953 |4,062 |2,276 |1,073 |1,644 |1,354 |2,881 |3,888
Lothian |21,055 |15,541 |14,790 |10,938 |11,555 |8,139 |7,803 |7,638 |4,493 |9,267 |8,327
Strathclyde54,418 |34,699 |32,241 |36,291 |27,452 |27,220 |26,226 |25,002 |20,816 |22,532 |26,484 |26,476
Tayside |5,390 |4,471 |2,922 |2,782 |2,892 |2,000 |2,776 |3,427 |2,422 |3,734 |3,835
Orkney |974 |311 |161 |931 |1,750 |1,238 |1,646 |1,508 |1,099 |1,119 |1,092
Shetland |4,142 |5,831 |5,245 |5,497 |3,913 |3,460 |2,402 |1,314 |604 |614 |988
Western Isles |951 |973 |1,062 |2,199 |2,365 |1,265 |1,266 |1,480 |3,906 |4,425 |2,336
Scotland |129,177|95,511 |88,843 |93,408 |75,626 |62,676 |60,341 |63,768 |56,216 |54,566 |63,178
Notes:The figures includes expenditure on nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.
Outturn figures have been converted to 1989-90 prices using the GDP deflator.
Mental Illness Grant
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the amount sought for the mental illness specific grant in 1991-92 by each regional and islands authority in Scotland and the amount actually paid out to date.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The amounts sought and grant offered are as follows :
Region |Amount |Grant
|sought |offered
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------
Borders |75,000 |75,000
Central |105,000 |92,372
Dumfries and Galloway |85,000 |85,400
Fife |131,806 |131,806
Grampian |240,000 |190,426
Highland |107,100 |79,800
Lothian |279,844 |279,844
Strathclyde |851,697 |736,197
Tayside |170,792 |148,512
Orkney Island |35,000 |35,000
Shetland |39,900 |39,900
Western Isles |50,000 |50,000
|----- |-----
Totals |2,171,139|1,944,257
Nothing has been paid out to date because the grant is payable three monthly in arrears.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hospitals have been closed in each year since 1974.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally for the period 1974-1979. However, from 1979 to June 1991 51 hospitals have been closed in Scotland. During the same period, 74 major new hospitals have been opened.Fife Social Work Department
Mr. Douglas : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will indicate when he expects to receive and publish the report by Sheriff Kearney into the social work department of Fife regional council.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : As I said in my reply of 23 April to the hon. Member, the chairman of the inquiry into child care policies in Fife has finished hearing evidence from the parties concerned and my right hon. Friend hopes to receive the report in the near future. As soon as he has the report he shall make a decision about publication.
Crofting
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make a statement on the provision of housing assistance for fishermen through the crofting building grants and loans scheme.
Mr. Lang : The primary purpose of the crofting building grants and loans scheme (CBGLS) is to provide assistance to those who intend to live on and cultivate crofts, since crofting tenure does not allow the croft house to be used as security for a commercial loan. However, under the powers available through the Congested Districts (Scotland) Act 1897, the scheme has also been used to provide assistance to tenants of fishermen's holdings created in Lewis following the first world war and to fishermen feuars in the former crofting counties who have been able to demonstrate a secure title to a house site. In practice, however, only a relatively small proportion of loans and grants under the scheme have been made to applicants in these categories.
Over the years, the provision of special housing assistance to certain categories of fishermen through the scheme has become increasingly anomalous since the individuals do not face the same barriers as crofters in obtaining other forms of housing finance. In the light of these considerations and the announcement in April 1990 about the criteria for assistance under the scheme, I have decided that in future housing assistance will not be available to fishermen who do not otherwise qualify as crofters or to the occupants of the Lewis fishermen's holdings. However, to avoid any undue hardship those fishermen who at the date of this announcement have title to a house site and are currently eligible to apply will have a period of three years from the date of this announcement to bring forward an application for assistance.
All applications received during this period will be considered on their merits in the light of the existing eligibility criteria for the scheme.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Computer Misuse Act 1990
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the convictions under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
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Mr. Leigh : To date, there has been one conviction under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. The defendant was convicted of two offences under section 2 of the Act at Bow street magistrates court, London, and was sentenced to pay a fine of £450 for each offence.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to make an announcement on United Kingdom attendance at the forthcoming CSCE conference on the human dimension in Moscow ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hurd : We plan to send a delegation to the Moscow CSCE conference on the human dimension, subject to developments in the Soviet Union between now and September. Participation in the conference would enable us to press for further improvements over those human rights issues which cause us concern.
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