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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 7 June 1993
CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Church Funds
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list the number of dioceses which (a) paid and (b) were unable to pay their full quota to central church funds for each of the last 10 years ; and if he will express (a) as a percentage of (b) .
Mr. Alison : This is not a matter for the Commissioners ; a diocese's quota to central church funds is payable to the Central Board of Finance. However, I understand that no diocese has been unable to pay its quota in the last 10 years.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will list the number of parishes which were unable to meet their quota for each of the last 10 years ; and if he will present these totals as a percentage of all parishes.
Mr. Alison : This is not a matter for the Commissioners ; parish quotas are payable to dioceses and details are not held centrally.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Magistrates
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement outlining the reasons for his policy of not appointing the spouse of a serving police officer to the magistrates bench ; and what other categories of spouse are covered by this policy.
Mr. John M. Taylor : In considering the suitability of candidates for appointment to the lay magistracy the Lord Chancellor must have due regard to maintaining the perceived independence of the magistracy. Accordingly, his policy is not to appoint the spouse of a police officer. The Lord Chancellor's Directions for Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, a copy of which is in the Library of the House (paragraph 4.21), sets out the other categories of spouse covered by a similar policy.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the anticipated cost of retraining magistrates in the light of the proposed changes to the Criminal Justice Act 1991.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Statutory responsibility for providing training and retraining magistrates lies with the 105 magistrates courts committees in England and Wales. At this stage it is not possible to say what retraining will be required in the light of the proposed changes in the Criminal Justice Act 1991 or to estimate its cost.
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Public Records
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what safeguards are in place to protect the
confidentiality of public records should their administration be contracted out to private sector companies under existing market-testing proposals.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The existing market testing programme within the Public Record Office does not extend to the function of the administration of public records.
Market Testing
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the cost to date and the expected future cost of his Department's market-testing programme ; how many staff are engaged full time in work relating to market testing ; which firms of consultants have been used in connection with the market-testing programme ; and how they were selected.
Mr. John M. Taylor : There are 12 staff assigned to the market- testing programme in the Lord Chancellor's Department. The programme has cost £505,000 since November 1991. These figures include those engaged on the review of enforcement agents and their cost, as well as the costs of those consultants engaged to assist with managing the programme.
The estimated future cost of this year's market-testing programme to September 1993 is £297,000.
The firms of consultants used by the Lord Chancellor's Department since November 1991 to assist with managing the programme, and to assist in-house teams to prepare bids are :
PE International
AMTEC Consulting
DM Management Consultants Ltd.
Kyte and Co.
Coopers and Lybrand
Price Waterhouse
MBA Consultants
CCTA
All firms were selected by competitive tender with the exception of CCTA which was appointed by single tender.
Crown Courts
Mr. Michael : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many recorded instances of violence have occurred in Crown courts in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The number of recorded instances of assaults on Crown court staff in each of the past 10 years is as follows :
|Number
---------------------
1983 |0
1984 |1
1985 |0
1986 |0
1987 |0
1988 |0
1989 |3
1990 |0
1991 |0
1992 |0
1993 |<1>1
<1> To date.
The only recently recorded instances of violence in a Crown court not involving court staff was one resulting in a fatality at Swindon combined court and a minor incident of assault at Chester Crown court. Both incidents happened in 1992.
Mr. Michael : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the average cost of building a new Crown court room.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The average cost per courtroom of Crown court building schemes completed within the last 12 months is approximately £2.5 million. It is not possible to assess the cost of building a new courtroom in isolation from the supporting facilities provided in the remainder of the building.
Boundary Commission for Wales
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will appoint the deputy chairman of the Boundary Commission for Wales.
Mr. John M. Taylor : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain) on 20 April, Official Report, column 45.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Water Privatisation
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the cost of the consultancy exercise involving the privatisation of water services in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Atkins : The consultancy study was commissioned under conditions of commercial confidentiality and it would therefore be inappropriate to disclose the information requested.
Water and Sewerage Services
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to change the system for charging for water services in Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : The Government have already announced that they intend to introduce new charging arrangements and customer billing systems for water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland, thereby achieving a more direct commercial relationship between the Water Executive and those to whom it provides services. Work is going on at present to identify appropriate arrangements.
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what initiatives he intends to introduce to encourage private finance into water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : As the Minister of State for Northern Ireland said in his statement to the House on 20 April, Official Report, column 296, we are looking currently at the scope to introduce private finance into the provision of water and sewerage services. At this stage it is too early to say how this involvement will be secured.
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Market Testing
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the cost to date and the expected future cost of his Department's market -testing programme ; how many staff are engaged full time in work relating to market testing ; which firms of consultants have been used in connection with the market-testing programme ; and how they were selected.
Mr. Mates : Under present arrangements, information on the cost of the market testing programme cannot be accurately determined across the seven Departments covered by the Northern Ireland programme, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
There are four members of staff engaged full time in work relating to market testing ; otherwise, staff in Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office contribute to the market-testing process as part of wider responsibilities.
The following firms of consultants, which were selected using competitive tendering principles, have been used in connection with the Northern Ireland market-testing programme :
BET FM Ltd.
CAPITA
Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte
Helm Corporation
Leopold Joseph and Sons
Logicom
Michael Willacy Associates
MVM Consultants plc
SERCO
Symonds Facilities Management plc
Touche Ross
Witt Thornton (Management Services)
Terrorism
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what protest has been made to the authorities in the Irish Republic about the terrorist attack on Caledon RUC station involving the use of the Knockaginny footbridge ; if he discussed this incident during the recent meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference ; and what communications he has received from the Government of the Irish Republic.
Mr. Mates : It would not be appropriate to comment on specific terrorist incidents under investigation. However, cross-border security co- operation is a continuous concern of both the British and Irish Governments. At the most recent intergovernmental conference on 25 May, British and Irish Ministers restated their complete support for the efforts which the security forces north and south of the border are making to erode and defeat terrorism. Both Governments are determined to continue, and to enhance, their close co-operation on security matters with the aim of preventing attacks and bringing perpetrators to justice.
Education
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take immediate steps to amend articles 5.6a and 156 (46.2b) of the Education Reform (NI) Order 1989 in such a way as to create the social and educational flexibility which will ensure that siblings born within the same year are not required to be treated as twins.
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Mr. Ancram : The arrangements for commencement of compulsory education are designed so that children can learn and be taught with their peers, with the articles in question setting the boundaries for each class. In any class there will commonly be a wide span of individual birth dates within the 12-month range. This operates satisfactorily and there are no educational grounds for a distinction to be made, in this respect, between children within one family.
Housing
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at which locations the Rural Housing Association has schemes under construction ; and at which locations the Rural Housing Association proposes new schemes for the remainder of the year 1993, 1994 and 1995.
Mr. Atkins : The Rural Housing Association was registered in March 1992 and does not yet have any schemes under construction. It has, however, purchased nine houses under the special house purchase initiative announced in last year's autumn statement.
The association has the following new-build schemes in its development programme :
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|dwellings
-------------------------------------------------------------
1993-94
Ardstraw (Strabane district council) |6
Glenhull (Omagh district council) |6
1994-95
Feystown (Larne district council) |5
Ballinderry (Cookstown district council) |6
Teemore (Fermanagh district council) |6
1995-96
Derrynoose (Armagh district council) |6
Cranagh (Strabane district council) |6
Health and Social Service Employees
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) district nurses, (b) community midwives, (c) health visitors, (d) community psychiatric nurses and (e) practice nurses are or were employed by health and social service boards in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. Ancram : Information on district nurses, community midwives, health visitors and community psychiatric nurses is available on a comparative basis only for the last three years and this is set out in the table. Information on practice nurses is not collected centrally.
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Year Eastern board Northern boardSouthern boardWestern board
|Number|WTE<1>|Number|WTE<1>|Number|WTE<1>|Number|WTE<1>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
District nurses
31 December 1992 |473 |363.74|150 |134.12|161 |126.40|125 |98.85
31 December 1991 |421 |338.91|147 |131.18|144 |111.83|118 |92.65
31 December 1990 |344 |289.80|154 |139.50|87 |71.17 |116 |96.24
Community midwives
31 December 1992 |61 |57.45 |35 |31.13 |27 |23.65 |42 |41.75
31 December 1991 |57 |55.95 |38 |34.16 |17 |14.39 |47 |46.50
31 December 1990 |56 |55.75 |46 |42.53 |17 |16.60 |47 |46.50
Health visitors
31 December 1992 |231 |205.03|92 |86.73 |90 |82.87 |78 |71.26
31 December 1991 |217 |195.19|91 |84.98 |62 |57.35 |78 |71.21
31 December 1990 |121 |114.14|91 |85.47 |61 |55.31 |80 |73.63
Community psychiatric nurses
31 December 1992 |107 |104.03|20 |20.00 |39 |39.00 |28 |28.00
31 December 1991 |86 |86.00 |21 |21.00 |<2>- |<2>- |37 |37.00
31 December 1990 |80 |80.00 |12 |12.00 |<2>- |<2>- |36 |36.00
<1> WTE = Whole-time equivalent
<2> Information not available
Private Nursing Homes
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total number of private nursing home places available in County Fermanagh at 31 March.
Mr. Ancram : Four hundred and ninety.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the residents in private nursing homes in County Fermanagh at 31 March had been, within three months or less of their admission, residents of the Irish Republic.
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Mr. Ancram : The Western health and social services board estimates that at 31 March 1993 72 former residents of the Republic of Ireland were living in private nursing homes in County Fermanagh.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the health care obligations of the Western health and social services board and the Department of Health and Social Services in respect of those admitted from the Irish Republic to private nursing homes in County Fermanagh on or before 31 March.
Mr. Ancram : The Department of Health and Social Services and the health and social services boards are responsible for the health care needs of all people who are ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland, regardless of their origin or date of arrival in Northern Ireland.
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Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what reciprocal provisions were available at 31 March in the Irish Republic, under EC regulations, of private nursing home accommodation and related health care for those previously resident in Northern Ireland or Great Britain.
Mr. Ancram : European Community regulations allow for health care to be provided to persons moving between member states. The type of treatment and, where appropriate, accommodation to be provided were, at 31 March, and still are, matters for the authorities in the state of residence. Under EC regulations there is an annual reconciliation of costs between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and this takes account of the cost of health care provided to state pensioners of one country who reside in the other.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many residents from the Irish Republic in private nursing homes in County Fermanagh at 31 March were discharged to these homes directly from Cavan general hospital or other hospitals in the Irish Republic.
Mr. Ancram : The information requested is not collected centrally. The Western health and social services board estimates that at 31 March 1993 21 patients had been admitted directly to private nursing homes from Cavan general hospital.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is the total cost to the Western health and social services board and the Department of Health and Social Services of maintaining those admitted from the Irish Republic who were resident in private nursing homes at 31 March ;
(2) what has been the cost of general practitioner care involved in providing health care for those admitted from the Irish Republic who were resident in private nursing homes in County Fermanagh on 31 March.
Mr. Ancram : The information requested is not available.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the extent of hospitalisation required by those admitted from the Irish Republic who were resident in private nursing homes in County Fermanagh at 31 March ; and what has been the cost to the Western health and social services board or the Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Ancram : The Western health and social services board estimates that for the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1993 it cost £32,125 to treat in hospital patients from private nursing homes in County Fermanagh who had previously been resident in the Republic of Ireland.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what special hospital equipment has had to be acquired or leased by hospitals in the Western board area in order to treat patients discharged from Cavan general hospital direct to private nursing homes in County Fermanagh ; and what has been the cost.
Mr. Ancram : The Western health and social services board purchased a specialist bed at a cost of £752 for a person who had been admitted to hospital from a private nursing home in County Fermanagh. The person had previously lived in the Republic of Ireland.
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Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what extra financial and other resources have been made available to the Western health and social services board for acute hospital, community and family practitioner services, in order to cater for elderly people from the Irish Republic admitted to private nursing homes in County Fermanagh before 1 April ; and what future provision will be made.
Mr. Ancram : No additional resources have been allocated to the Western board specifically for the provision of services to such people. Within the total resources--including additional resources for community care--made available to the board for its resident population, it is for the board to determine how best to provide acute hospital and community services for the elderly people concerned. In so far as the provision of family health services is concerned this is demand led and funded accordingly. Future funding for the board will be determined in the context of the many competing demands on the health and personal social services resources at that time.
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether European Community legislation obliges a unit of management, after 1 April 1993, to provide for and manage the health care needs of those admitted from the Irish Republic to private nursing homes in County Fermanagh, on or before 31 March 1993.
Mr. Ancram : Health and social services boards are obliged under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 to provide health care to persons who are ordinarily resident in their areas, regardless of their origin or date of arrival in Northern Ireland. EC legislation does not affect this obligation.
Elderly Population
Mr. Maginnis : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number of persons over 65 years normally resident in Northern Ireland who live within the Omagh/Fermanagh unit of management catchment area ; what percentage of Northern Ireland's over 65 years of age population this represents ; and what percentage it is of the population within the Omagh/Fermanagh unit of management.
Mr. Ancram : The latest available information, taken from the provisional 1991 mid-year estimates of population, is as follows :
Over-65s within the |Percentage of |Percentage of total
Unit |Northern Ireland |population within
|over 65s |the unit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11,967 |6.4 |11.9
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Charters
37. Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants and others are estimated to be involved with the production and implementation of charters ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Davis : The charter approach is integral to the delivery of public services, so many civil and other public servants are involved with the charter programme as part of their normal duties. The citizens charter unit in the Cabinet Office has 32 staff.
Performance Standards
38. Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what effect his work on setting and monitoring performance standards in Government are having on the people of Dover and Deal.
Mr. Waldegrave : As a result of the citizens charter, the people of Dover and Deal--like people everywhere--now have published standards for their public services and better information about how these are performing.
Open Government
39. Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on progress made in preparation of his White Paper on open government.
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