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Pensions
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average public sector pension in payment and the average length of service of public sector pensioners in the current year.
Mr. Portillo : Information about average pensions and lengths of service of all public sector pensioners is not kept centrally. Estimates of the average pensions payable from the main public service schemes in the latest year for which information is readily available is as follows :
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Number of Average pensions
pensioners
Scheme |Year |Members |Dependants |Members £ |Dependants £
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Civil service |1993-94 |399,600 |123,500 |4,093 |1,700
NHS (England and Wales) |1993-94 |312,600 |46,800 |4,125 |2,391
NHS (Scotland) |1993-94 |49,100 |5,800 |3,647 |1,638
Teachers (England and Wales) |1993-94 |306,000 |22,000 |6,300 |2,000
Teachers (Scotland) |1993-94 |32,100 |3,500 |6,459 |2,129
Armed forces |1993-94 |263,500 |84,900 |4,326 |2,338
Local government (England and Wales) |1991-92 |573,000 |111,100 |2,515 |1,127
Local government (Scotland) 1991-92 85,467<1> 2,036<1>
<1> Figures include both scheme members and dependants.
North Sea Oil and Gas
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the total amount of revenue which has accrued to the Treasury from the development of North sea (a) oil and (b) gas in each year since exploration and development began.
Mr. Dorrell : Revenues raised from United Kingdom oil and gas production are as follows :
£ million Year |Annual revenues ------------------------------------------------ 1968-69 |1 1969-70 |2 1970-71 |5 1971-72 |10 1972-73 |15 1973-74 |15 1974-75 |20 1975-76 |25 1976-77 |81 1977-78 |238 1978-79 |565 1979-80 |2,313 1980-81 |3,743 1981-82 |6,492 1982-83 |7,822 1983-84 |8,798 1984-85 |12,035 1985-86 |11,348 1986-87 |4,783 1987-88 |4,618 1988-89 |3,168 1989-90 |2,368 1990-91 |2,312 1991-92 |979 <1>1992-93 |1,278 <1> provisional estimate.
It is not possible to subdivide these amounts as to those derived from oil production and from gas production, or those from areas outside the North sea.
Mrs. Ewing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number of projects which have specifically been funded by revenues from North sea oil and gas revenues in each year since tax revenues accrued from exploration and development.
Mr. Dorrell : None. It is not the policy of this Government, or any other in recent history, to hypothecate tax revenue to particular projects.
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Corporation Tax
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total corporation tax paid by the 25 largest United Kingdom companies, measured by turnover, in each of the last five years.
Mr. Dorrell : The 25 largest United Kingdom companies and company groups, based on the levels of turnover in their latest accounts, had corporation tax liabilities, including advance corporation tax, as follows in the years 1987 to 1991 :
£ billion Year |Number --------------------- 1987 |3.1 1988 |3.0 1989 |3.5 1990 |3.5 1991 |3.3
Liabilities for 1992 are not available yet. Corporation tax liabilities exclude double tax relief for tax paid overseas.
Commemorative Coins
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans Her Majesty's Government have to issue new commemorative coins.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the recommendation of my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames (Mr. Lamont), that a 50p coin be issued featuring a special design to commemorate the 50th anniversary next year of the D-Day landings of June 1944. It is intended that the coin should be available in 1994 for general circulation. There will also be collector versions in base and precious metal.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Cambodia
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Government policy in regard to the current activities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia ; and what action will be taken to ensure that human rights initiatives are maintained in that country.
Mr. Goodlad : We deplore the Khmer Rouge's refusal to co-operate with the United Nations Transitional
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Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and the attacks on United Nations personnel and ethnic Vietnamese. We believe that the results of the election last month show that the vast majority of the Cambodian people reject the Khmer Rouge and its ways.We co-sponsored the resolution at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in February requesting the United Nations Secretary General to appoint a special representative to co-ordinate the United Nation's human rights presence in Cambodia and mandating the centre for human rights to run a human rights programme in Cambodia after the withdrawal of UNTAC. The former President of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, has been nominated special representative.
Israel
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to ask the United Nations to intervene in the case of the 400 Palestinians expelled from Israel last December.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We voted for United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 799 which calls for the return of the deportees. We welcome the recent Israeli Government announcement that they have no plans to resort to deportations and their hope that compliance with SCR 799 can be achieved.
Nuclear Non-proliferation
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the statement made by the head of the United Kingdom delegation to the first preparatory committee meeting for the fifth review conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty held in New York in May.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 7 June, c. 86.
Cyprus
Mr. Deva : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will implement the recommendations of the Third report of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs of Session 1986-87, HC 23, on Cyprus, in connection with contracts between northern Cyprus and the outside world.
Mr. Goodlad : Government policy on contracts remains as stated in the published observations on the report.
Paris (Visit)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what matters were discussed and decided during his most recent visit to Paris.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Discussion between the French Foreign Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs concentrated on the situation in former Yugoslavia. They agreed to continue to work closely together for a solution.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the subjects discussed with the French Foreign Minister at the meeting in Paris on 1 June.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : Discussion between the French Foreign Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs concentrated on the situation in former Yugoslavia. They agreed to continue to work closely together for a solution.
Yugoslavia
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will call for a specific investigation of alleged Croatian atrocities and war crimes in the former Yugoslavia at the next meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The investigation into violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia, by all parties to the conflict, is being conducted by the United Nations Commission of Experts established under United Nations Security Council resolution 780.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support the principle of trials for suspected war criminals in the former Yugoslavia regardless of the ethnic origins of either the perpetrators or the alleged victims ; and if he will make a statement on the United Nations Security Council's decision to set up an international tribunal to deal with such war crimes.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : We fully support the UN Security Council's decision to establish an ad hoc tribunal to try those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia. The tribunal is mandated to bring alleged perpetrators from any of the parties to justice.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support the reconvening of the London conference on the former Yugoslavia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : There may be a case for reconvening the London conference at the right time. But, before going ahead, there would need to be prior agreement among all parties on objectives and a clear idea of the desired outcome. We would give particular weight to the views of the co- chairmen of the steering committee of the international conference on the former Yugoslavia, Lord Owen and Mr. Stoltenberg.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Croatian Government following the establishment of road blocks around the village of Kruscica ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : None. We are investigating reports which suggest that Kruscica is being blocked.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Lord Owen since the Foreign Ministers' meeting in Washington DC on 22 May ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs had an informal meeting with Lord Owen on 6 June and on 8 June attended the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg,
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which Lord Owen briefed on his efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement in Bosnia. The normal arrangements will be made to inform the House of the outcome of the Council.HEALTH
Doncaster Health Care Trust
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to receive the financial results of the Doncaster Health Care Trust for the year 1992-93 ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : Doncaster health care trust, in common with all other national health service trusts, is required to present its annual accounts to an annual public meeting no later than 30 September following the year-end accounts.
For the financial year 1992-93, the trust will need to hold this meeting on or before 30 September 1993.
North Western RHA
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on hospital closures in the North Western regional health authority.
Mr. Sackville : This is a matter for North Western regional health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Bruce Martin, the RHA chairman, for details.
Equal Opportunities
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the equal opportunities guidance from the Department of Health management executive requires the completion of a job description prior to (a) advertising, (b) interviewing or (c) appointing persons to a post within a hospital or medical school.
Dr. Mawhinney : Departmental guidance EL(91)71, a copy of which is available in the Library, recommends that job descriptions should be issued to members of all hospital appointments committees to provide an objective basis for shortlisting and interviewing. Appointments to medical school posts are made by universities, which are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education.
Nurses
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current status of the consultation exercise being undertaken by the United Kingdom central council in conjunction with her Department concerning proposals to amend the criteria for community nurse status ; and when she expects the United Kingdom central council to produce its final proposals.
Mr. Sackville : The United Kingdom central council's current consultation on its proposals for the reform of post registration education and practice finishes at the end of September. We would expect to receive its final proposals in the autumn.
Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the decision of the United
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Kindom central council not to recognise courses and seminars taken by practice nurses for accreditation towards community nurse status.Mr. Sackville : This is a matter for the United Kingdom central council as the body with statutory responsibility for the type and standard of nursing, midwifery and health visiting training.
Population and Mortality
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is (a) the population and (b) the standardised mortality rate for each health region.
Mr. Sackville : The information for 1991 (the latest year for which information is available) is shown in the table :
Population and standardised mortality ratios for England and Wales by regional
health authority for 1991
|Provisional estimate|Standardised
|of resident |mortality ratio<1>
|population at |1991
|mid-1991
|(thousands)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England and Wales |50,954.8 |100
England |48,068.4 |100
Wales |2,886.4 |101
Northern |3,084.2 |113
Yorkshire |3,661.5 |103
Trent |4,700.4 |102
East Anglian |2,091.9 |92
North West Thames |3,560.4 |95
North East Thames |3,756.7 |99
South East Thames |3,686.2 |96
South West Thames |3,023.1 |92
Wessex |2,983.0 |91
Oxford |2,559.9 |94
South Western |3,298.0 |92
West Midlands |5,254.9 |103
Mersey |2,407.5 |108
North Western |4,000.7 |111
<1> A standardised mortality ratio (SMR) is a single figure measure of mortality
and is used to examine the relationship between: (1) the actual number of deaths in
any given area and for any given period, and; in this instance (2) the number that
would have been expected had that area experienced the sex and age specific
mortality rates observed in England and Wales as a whole during that year. England
and Wales in this instance is the standard' by which the other areas are measured
and accordingly has an SMR of 100.
Health Authority Chairmen
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will discontinue the payments of salaries to health authority and trust chairmen and non-executive directors and replace them with payments for loss of earnings.
Dr. Mawhinney : We have no plans to do.
Triazolam
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the availability of products containing triazolam in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Mawhinney : All licences for triazolam products, including the brand named Halcion, to Upjohn Limited are being revoked on 9 June 1993. Triazolam products, which were available for the treatment of insomnia between 1978 and 1991, will therefore remain withdrawn.
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On the advice of the Committee on Safety of Medicines, licences for Halcion were suspended in October 1991 on grounds of safety and all triazolam products were withdrawn from the market at that time, pending proceedings to revoke the licences.The three bodies who have heard representations from Upjohn against the proposed revocation of the triazolam licences have given conflicting advice. The Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Commission were both concerned about the safety of triazolam and advised that the 0.25 mg product licences should be revoked but they differed as to whether or not the 0.125 mg licences should be revoked. In contrast, a panel of persons appointed by the licensing authority under the Medicines Act 1968 concluded that the benefits of both dose forms of triazolam outweigh the risks and appeared largely reassured by the revisions of the product information proposed by Upjohn.
The licensing authority has based its decision on consideration of the safety of triazolam. It has taken into account the views of each of the advisory bodies in reaching the decision and carefully considered the underlying reasons for the differences in the conclusions and advice received. The licensing authority has not accepted the conclusions of the panel and is not reassured of the safety of triazolam.
The licensing authority has examined measures alternative to revocation of the licences for triazolam but has concluded that restrictions in the dose, duration of treatment or availability of triazolam would not provide adequate safeguards against its hazards in normal use.
The first concern must be for patients. Because we are not satisfied as to the safety of triazolam, we believe it is right to be cautious.
In summary, the licensing authority has considered the basis of the panel's conclusions carefully but remains not reassured of the safety of the triazolam products, and considers that the risks of triazolam outweigh its benefits in normal use.
Copies of the report of the panel of persons appointed and detailed reasons for the licensing authority's decision are available in the Library.
NHS Estates
Mr. Congdon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the plans for the NHS Estates executive agency.
Mr. Sackville : We are pleased to report that the National Health Service Estates Management and Health Building Agency (NHS Estates) has had a successful year as an executive agency of this Department. We have agreed the agency's 1993-96 three-year corporate plan and the annual business plan. Targets for 1993-94 are to :
(i) Deliver all products and services on time and within cost. (
(ii) Review with customers the quality of services provided, frequency and style depending on the nature of the contract terms. (
(iii) increase revenues from the NHS and private sector to 67 per cent. of the cost of services purchased. (100 per cent. in 1995-96). (
(iv) Increase income from United Kingdom consultancy services by 5 per cent. to £640,000.
(v) Untie £725,000 of Agency resources to the NHS (market test) and recover through sales. (Total £1.2 million now, £2.4 million 1995 -96).
(vi) Achieve BS5750 quality assurance accreditation by 31 March 1994.
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(vii) Explore the scope for market testing functions carried out on behalf of the NHS Management Executive by 30 September 1993. ((viii) Keep within agreed Public Expenditure Survey baselines and additionally make 4 per cent. (£400,000) efficiency savings on the running costs element.
(ix) Complete relocation of new headquarters to Leeds, saving £1.1 million per annum.
(x) Co-ordinate an induction and training programme for all staff (75 per cent. of agency staff are new personnel). This will be ongoing and will be incorporated in the appraisal programme. (
(xi) Develop an overall measure of efficiency based on a cost weighted activity index by 1995-96.
National Health Service Staff
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement about her plans to publish new advice to staff in the national health service about relations with the public and the media.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Sir Duncan Nichol has now issued new advice, "Guidance for staff on relations with the public and the media", under cover of executive letter (93)51. The guidance has been issued to national health service employers, including regional, district and family health services authorities and national health service trusts. The guidance provides a framework within which local procedures can and should be developed to enable staff to raise legitimate concerns about health care issues in a responsible way. Copies of the executive letter and accompanying guidance have been placed in the Library.
National Health Service Trusts
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether NHS employees acting as non-executive directors of trusts may receive remuneration from both sources.
Dr. Mawhinney : National health service employees who are eligible to act as non-executive directors of trusts are entitled to receive the standard level of remuneration of £5,000 per annum, regardless of any other earnings.
National Health Service Employees (Cars)
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her Department's policy about NHS employees being provided with foreign- produced cars.
Dr. Mawhinney : The decision as to which vehicle to provide to national health service employees required to travel regularly on official business is entirely for local management.
Ambulance Service
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest available response times for ambulances dealing with 999 calls in Bordon, Hampshire.
Mr. Sackville : Information on the Bordon area is not available centrally.
In 1991-92, the Hampshire ambulance service as a whole responded to 97 per cent. of emergency calls within the 19-minute patients charter standard.
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received about providing paramedic cover in ambulances serving Bordon, Hampshire, in response to 999 calls.
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Mr. Sackville : I have received one letter from my hon. Friend the Member for Hampshire, East (Mr. Mates).
Hampshire ambulance service, which includes the Bordon area, is well on the way to meeting the Government's target of having one paramedic on each front-line ambulance by the end of 1995.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Cost Increases
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what he estimates will be the increase in social security costs in the next year ; and what is the breakdown of those costs between increases due to costs related to (a) unemployment and (b) other factors.
Mr. Scott : The estimated increase in social security expenditure from 1992-93 to 1993-94 is £6,152 million, of which £2,035 million is due to costs related to unemployment.
National Insurance
Ms Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many men and women paid both class 1 and class 2 national insurance contributions in 1991-92 and 1992-93 ; and what those figures represented as a percentage of the combined total of both classes of NI contributions in each year.
Mr. Hague : Figures for 1991-92 and 1992-93 are not yet available. The latest figures are in the table.
1990-91 |Men |Women |Total -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mixed class 1/2<1> number of contributors |242,000 |70,000 |312,000 Percentage of total class 1 and 2 |1.7 per cent.|0.7 per cent.|1.3 per cent. <1> Figures show the number of contributors who paid at least one class 2 contribution and some class 1 contributions during the tax year. It is not possible to distinguish between those who were concurrently or consecutively employed and self-employed.
Ms Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to change the situation whereby a self-employed person who also works part-time for another employer is required to pay both class 1 and class 2 national insurance, regardless of the level of the combined incomes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hague : We have no such plans. The current arrangements ensure that where someone has earnings from more than one employment, regardless of the level of the combined incomes, the total contributions payable under class 1 and class 2 are subject to an annual maximum ; currently £1,795.84.
If someone works for an employer and earns less than the lower earnings limit, currently £56 a week, no class 1 contribution is due. Similarly, self-employed people who expect their earnings to be less than a prescribed level, currently £3,140 a year, can apply to be excepted from paying class 2 contributions.
Where contributions from more than one occupation are payable, they are aggregated for the purposes of calculating entitlement to contributory benefits.
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