House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 May 1995

Micro-enterprise Development

Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with regard to the Grameen trust's training programme application for support. [25090]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: We are keen supporters of micro-enterprise development. We have advised the Garmeen trust that the managers of our micro-enterprise projects in recipient countries will seek to identify suitable opportunities for project beneficiaries to use the trust's training facilities.

Bangladesh

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the amount donated by the Overseas Development Administration department for primary health care in Bangladesh, excluding family planning provision, for the last year in which figures are available. [25309]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: Our expenditure on primary health care projects in Bangladesh in 1993 94 was £2.55 million.

Aid and Trade Programme

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total expenditure on the aid and trade programme in each of the last five years; and which British companies have won contracts under this programme. [24884]

Mr. Baldry: The final outturn of expenditure for ATP in 1994 95 is not yet available.

Expenditure for ATP for each of the previous five years was:


               |ATP actual                   

Financial year |£ million                    

---------------------------------------------

1989-90        |61.671                       

1990-91        |94.424                       

1991-92        |101.183                      

1992-93        |93.019                       

1993-94        |84.687

For lists of which British companies have won contracts under the ATP in the last five years I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Eccles (Miss Lestor) Official Report , 16 May, column 121 , covering 1993 95 and, for the years 1991 1992, to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) on 23 November 1994 at column 199.

Population Control

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what action the Overseas Development Administration takes to ensure that money donated by Her Majesty's Government for family

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planning purposes is not used as part of a coercive family planning programme or to free resources in recipient countries for such programmes; [25313]

(2) what legal provisions govern the funding of coercive population programmes overseas; and what plans he has to promote legislation banning such funding. [25316]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: Bilateral programmes are designed and monitored to ensure that they promote reproductive choice on an entirely voluntary and informed basis. We ensure that organisations to which we give funds for reproductive health activities operate similar policies and approaches. We do not believe that it is necessary to introduce legislation to ensure that aid funds for reproductive health programmes are used effectively and in accordance with our policies.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Overseas Development Administration's policy on the provision of financial, personal or community incentives to encourage contraceptive use in developing countries. [25312]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: We believe that decisions by couples and individuals about the use of particular methods of contraception should be made on an entirely voluntary and informed basis and that the use of incentives which are likely to prejudice this principle should be discouraged.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the officials from the Overseas Development Administration who sit on any board, committee, or regular meeting of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the UN Family Planning Association. [25299]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: The British Government have a seat on the executive board of the United Nations development programme, which is also the governing body of the United Nations fund for population activities. Part of each board meeting is devoted to UNFPA business. The United Kingdom is invited to the annual donors meeting of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. In both cases meetings are attended by officials from the Overseas Development Administration's health and population division.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what visits officials from his Department have made to China to assess the Chinese population control programme or the work of the Chinese Family Planning Association or the UN fund for population activities in China; and what reports exist on such visits. [25303]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: Officials from the British embassy in Peking have regular meetings with the relevant Chinese authorities to discuss a range of issues, including China's population policies.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to which countries the Overseas Development Administration donates money, directly or via a non-governmental organisation, where overseas aid is tied to acceptance of family planning programmes; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on tying overseas aid to acceptance of family planning programmes. [25311]

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Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: None. We do not support making the provision of overseas aid conditional on the implementation of family planning programmes.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what considerations underlie the policy of donating funds from the Overseas Development Administration budget to the core funds of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the UN Family Planning Association rather than to specific earmarked projects undertaken by those organisations; [25298]

(2) if he will list those organisations involved in family planning projects to which the Overseas Development Administration makes donations to their core funds, together with the amount donated for the last year for which figures are available. [25306]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: The United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation have the capacity to allocate and spend their resources in an effective manner. Together with other Governments we set policy for UNFPA and provide guidance for IPPF on the use of resources. Her Majesty's Government representatives seek to ensure that funds are used in ways which are fully in line with British aid policy and priority objectives. On this basis, we and other Governments provide the large majority of funds without earmarking. The efficiency and effectiveness of both organisations would be impeded if the United Kingdom and other donors earmarked their contributions for specific activities.

In 1994 we gave £7.5 million to the general funds of IPPF and £8.5 million to those of UNFPA.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will place in the Library all reports submitted to the Overseas Development Administration since 1989 by the International Planned Parenthood Federation on population policies in China. [25317]

(2) what written statements by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the UN Family Planning Association or the Chinese Family Planning Association condemning or disassociating themselves from any instance of coercive population control in China are held on the files of his Department; and if he will list in each case the instance condemned and the date of the document. [25301]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: The latest annual report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation covering its worldwide operations, together with a sample of statements, by both the United Nations Population Fund and the IPPF, opposing coercion, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on links between the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the British eugenics movement and the Gaton Institute. [25300]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: We understand from the International Planned Parenthood Federation that some individual members at its founding in 1952 may have had links with the eugenics movement. However, eugenics views have never influenced IPPF's policies or programmes. IPPF makes it an unequivocal condition for membership that each autonomous family

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planning association commits itself to fight all discrimination and coercion based on social or economic status, gender, race, colour, creed or political beliefs.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what definition the Overseas Development Administration uses of what constitutes coercive population control; and in which countries such practices have been identified. [25307]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: Population activities would be considered coercive if they sought to infringe the basic right of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children. Population programmes funded by the Overseas Development Administration safeguard and promote this right and facilitate the exercise of such a right by individuals. The Overseas Development Administration does not hold authoritative information on instances of coercion in overseas countries.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the numbers of volunteers provided by the Chinese Family Planning Association to assist in family planning initiatives in China; what assessment he had made of the level of independence of the Chinese Family Planning Association from the central Chinese Government; what information he has on the role played by the Chinese Family Planning Association in recent Chinese "population high tides"; what information he has on the liaison between the Chinese Family Planning Association and the International Planned Parenthood Federation; and what documentation the Overseas Development Administration has received arising from such liaison. [25310]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: The China Family Planning Association is a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. We understand that there are some 75 million volunteers in CFPA, including many doctors and nurses, who assist with counselling and providing information on family planning. The CFPA does not provide clinical services.

The CFPA is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, governed by a board of volunteers drawn from all sections of national society. The CFPA has been appointed by the Chinese Government to monitor the national family planning programme and help to ensure that coercion does not take place in the programme. The IPPF provides information on the activities of CFPA as and when required.

Mr. Alton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessments his Department has made for the unmet need for family planning overseas; and on what assumptions such assessments are made. [25308]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: We use estimates of unmet demand for family planning prepared by the United Nations Population Fund and other organisations with expertise in this area. Such estimates are based on demographic and health survey data collected from individual countries. These surveys collect information about couples using family planning and about couples who do not, but who express a desire to limit their family size. Where necessary, we also undertake our own small-scale studies to assess specific reproductive health needs.

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Child Mortality Rates

Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what additional bilateral aid will be provided to meet the goals set at the 1990 world summit for children, to reduce (a) infant mortality rates and (b) under-five mortality rates, by one third by 2000. [25089]

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 22 May 1995]: We are increasing our support for reproductive health programmes, which will enable children and women to enjoy better health through improved child spacing, safer childbirth, and improved access to other essential health care. We expect to commit, over the years 1994 and 1995, at least £100 million for these purposes and in support of other reproductive health goals.

HEALTH

Nursing Services

Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the change in episodes in (a) health visiting, (b) community nursing services, (c) district nursing, (d) community mental handicap nursing and (e) occupational therapy between 1988 89 and 1992 93. [21743]

Mr. Sackville: The information available is set out in the table.


New episodes of care                                      

                                  |1988-89|1992-93        

----------------------------------------------------------

Community psychiatric nursing     |229.7  |303.4          

Community mental handicap nursing |21.2   |20.5           

District nursing                  |2,383.2|2,152.5        

Occupational therapy<1>           |774.1  |879.4          

<1> Figures for occupational therapy are provisional.

New episodes of care have increased by 32.1 per cent. in community psychiatric nursing and by 13.6 per cent. in occupational therapy. Numbers of new episodes in community mental handicap nursing have remained virtually constant over the period 1988 89 to 1992 93. The number of new episodes has reduced by 9.7 per cent. in district nursing. This may reflect the increasingly complex treatment they provide, requiring a longer time to be spent with each patient, and also their role as team leaders. Simpler treatments often administered by district nurses in the past may now increasingly be provided by other members of the care team or through self- medication by patients, enabling district nurses to devote more time to individual patients who require their specialist skills.

Information on episodes of care for health visitors is not held centrally.

Surgeons (Suspension)

Mr. Cann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health(1) how many surgeons suspended on full pay by NHS hospital trusts have later been (a) dismissed and (b) reinstated; and how many cases await a decision on the surgeon's future; [24729]

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(2) how many surgeons have been suspended on full pay because of concern about their professional competence by NHS hospital trusts since their inception; [24728]

(3) what discussions she has had with the General Medical Council on the employment of suspended surgeons in hospitals, other than those in respect of which they were suspended; and what further discussions she plans to have; [24726]

(4) what advice her Department gives to NHS hospital trusts about the employment of surgeons who have been suspended by other NHS hospital trusts. [24727]

Mr. Malone: The General Medical Council, an independent statutory body, is responsible for protecting the public by regulating the medical profession. Its professional conduct committee may attach conditions to a doctor's registration, or suspend or remove a doctor from the register, if the doctor is found guilty of serious professional misconduct. The committee may immediately suspend a doctor, notwithstanding that he may appeal. In exceptional circumstances, interim suspension for two months may be imposed pending a hearing by the professional conduct committee. A doctor whose name is suspended or erased cannot practise in the national health service.

The GMC's powers are being widened. We have introduced the Medical (Professional Performance) Bill this Session, based on proposals by the GMC, to allow it to take action in cases of seriously deficient professional performance by doctors. This action may include suspension of registration. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will meet the new president of the GMC, when he is elected, to discuss these and other matters.

A doctor suspended by a NHS trust needs the trust's permission to work elsewhere. We would expect the trust to consider carefully the circumstances in which the doctor was suspended before agreeing to any other employment. Working without permission is a breach of contract. All NHS trusts should obtain references from previous employers as part of their duty to ensure that the competence and integrity of a doctor is not in doubt.

A decision to disqualify a general practitioner is made by the NHS tribunal. We have supported the Bill introduced this Session by the hon. Member for Woolwich (Mr. Austin-Walker)--the NHS (Amendment) Bill--which will enable the tribunal to protect patients by suspending a GP before a full hearing takes place.

Guidance on doctors' registration and employment was issued in EL(92)84, copies of which are available in the Library. Figures on the number of suspensions by NHS trusts are not available centrally.

London Health Services Report

Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what response she has made to the report on London health services prepared by the Greater London Association of Community Health Councils for London Members of Parliament, dated 10 May, a copy of which has been sent to her. [24739]

Mr. Malone: No formal response has been made. However, the report on admissions times which monitors the progress of hospitals towards the new patients charter standard, launched in January 1995 is welcomed. From April 1995, all patients should be given a bed within three to four hours. The community health council figures show

Column 517

that progress has been made and it is encouraging to note the relatively small numbers outside the target last year before management attention was focused on this important issue.

Northern Birmingham Mental Health Trust

Mr. Mike O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when a negotiating body was formed by Northern Birmingham Mental Health trust to deal with pay and other trade union related matters. [24777]

Mr. Malone: This is a matter for the trust. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman, Mrs. Judith Mackay, for details.

Hepatitis C

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) letters and (b) other representations she has received in the current year concerning the need to compensate those people who are infected by the hepatitis C virus from contaminated blood; and if she will make a statement. [24946]

Mr. Sackville: Representations about payments include four parliamentary questions, a short debate in the House of Lords and three early-day motions. In addition, Ministers have received 196 letters.

Bull Bars

Sir Nicholas Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions to hospital in (a) the London area and (b) nationally have to a significant extent been due to accidents involving bull bars on road vehicles in the latest available year. [25262]

Mr. Sackville: This information is not available centrally.

Abortions

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions involving admission and discharge the same day were performed on women resident in each district health authority and in each regional health authority in England and Wales in 1993; and how many of these operations were performed in NHS hospitals. [25047]

Mr. Sackville: This information will be placed in the Library.

Medical and Dental Education

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to introduce the model of the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education for the delivery of postgraduate medical and dental education in England; and if she will make a statement. [25048]

Mr. Malone: None. The national health service executive is considering the future arrangements for postgraduate medical and dental education in England and a document entitled "Options for the Future Management of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education" was issued for consultation on 27 March 1995, copies of which are available in the Library. Responses to the document are being considered.

Column 518

Mrs. Gorman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the NHS has to support medical undergraduates' education. [26202]

Mr. Malone: I have placed in the Library a copy of the report, "SIFT into the Future", from an advisory group on future arrangements for the service increment for teaching--SIFT--chaired by Dr. Graham Winyard, health care director of the national health service executive.

I welcome the direction of change proposed by the advisory group. The report recommends development in the way we meet the additional NHS costs to hospitals, community trusts and general practitioners associated with teaching medical undergraduates. Payments will be based progressively on the demonstrated costs of clinical placements and of facilities to support teaching, within a sound framework of responsibilities, relationships and accountability. The report has been welcomed by the steering group on undergraduate medical and dental education and research.

I am sending copies of the report to health authorities, family health services authorities, trusts, universities and other interested bodies, seeking views on the detailed recommendations and on plans for implementation.

Comments are also sought on separate proposals for changes in the service increment for teaching dental students, which follow from the recommendations of the dental hospital subgroup of SGUMDER. I have placed in the Library a copy of the consultation paper about the proposals for change.

Subject to consultation and to detailed development work, changes will take effect from 1 April 1996.

London Initiative Zone, Newham

Mr. Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 16 May, Official Report, column 166 how much of the amount allocated has been spent in (a) 1993 94, (b) 1994 95 and (c) 1995 96 on each scheme funded through the LIZ initiative in Newham listed in her answer. [25214]

Mr. Malone: The information is shown in the table:


                                          Capital spend £        

                                         |1993-94|1994-95        

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Newham                                                           

Essex Lodge (primary care centre)        |22,373 |40,439         

Shrewsbury Road                          |217,000|432,000        

Improvement grants to GP premises        |283,472|97,373         

Star Lane (primary care centre)          |470,128|130,533        

Stratford Corridor (primary care centre) |304,132|188            

Cyprus Dock (resource centre)            |192,000|138,495        

Notes:                                                           

1. Figures for 1995-96 schemes are not yet available.            

2. Some 1994-95 projects have been carried over into the 1995-96 

financial year. These are 533 Barking road, 1 Kennard street,    

Newham GP Forum and security improvements to GP surgeries.

Thalidomide Trust

Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she has considered in response to the 1994 report of the Thalidomide Trust National Advisory Council, with particular reference to the actuarial projections on the life of the trust. [24972]

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Mr. Sackville: The Government have not been asked to respond to this report. Representations have, however, been made by Thalidomide disabled people that the moneys held by the Thalidomide Trust are insufficient to meet their needs, and the Government have brought these concerns to the attention of the trust. The Government welcome the further financial help promised by Guinness plc to secure the future of the Thalidomide Trust and underpin the beneficiaries' needs, but have made it clear that adequacy of the settlement with Distillers--now Guinness--is not a matter in which the Government can intervene.

Dental Services

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number and percentage of the population (a) across the United Kingdom, (b) in the north-west and (c) in Lancashire which have dental treatment outside the NHS for each year since 1979. [25152]

Mr. Malone: Information about the number and percentage of the population who have dental treatment outside the national health service is not available centrally.

New Hospitals, London

Mr Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of new hospitals which have opened in central London in the last 10 years, together with their numbers of beds. [25136]

Mr. Malone: This information is not available centrally. My hon. Friend may wish to contact Sir William Staveley and Mr. William Wells, chairmen of North Thames and South Thames regional health authorities respectively, for details.

Contraception

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the cost of (a) the registered morning-after pill and (b) the equivalent oral contraceptive; and if she will make a statement. [25046]

Mr. Sackville: Schering PC4 is the only product marketed in the United Kingdom for use as a morning-after pill. The cost of a pack of four tablets is £1.40. Oral contraceptives range in price from 37p to £2.77 per cycle, but none is licensed for post-coital use.

Glaucoma

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps her Department is taking to inform (a) people of Afro-Caribbean origin, (b) diabetics and (c) individuals aged over 40 years with a family history of glaucoma of the increased risks that they face of developing glaucoma; [25029]

(2) what steps her Department is taking to inform blood relatives of glaucoma sufferers of the availability of free glaucoma checks after they reach the age of 40 years. [25030]

Mr. Sackville: All close relatives aged 40 and over--parents, brothers and sisters, and children--of diagnosed glaucoma sufferers are entitled to free national health service sight tests. All optometrists are required to display in their practices a notice advising of the services available under the general ophthalmic services.

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Information about glaucoma, and the groups most at risk from it, is also available from the International Glaucoma Association. It would not be appropriate to disclose information about a person's health to third parties.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statistical evidence she has on whether improvements in the early detection of glaucoma have occurred in the last five years. [25031]

Mr. Sackville: There is no centrally collected statistical data on prevalence of glaucoma.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to ensure that uneven standards in testing for glaucoma are minimised. [25032]

Mr. Sackville: Screening for diseases of the eye, of which glaucoma is one, is part of the routine sight test procedure carried out by optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners. We have no evidence which would lead us to believe that standards of sight testing are uneven.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration her Department has given to widening the availability of free eye tests to all groups that face a significantly higher than average risk of developing glaucoma. [25036]

Mr. Malone: Close relatives--parents, children, brothers and sisters --aged 40 or over of diagnosed glaucoma sufferers are already eligible for free sight tests.We have no plans to alter these categories.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Serious Fraud Office

Mr. Byers: To ask the Attorney-General how much was paid to leading counsel for the Serious Fraud Office in the prosecution against Roger Levitt; and how much was paid to the counsel team prosecuting in the Barlow Clowes case. [25780]

The Attorney-General: Leading counsel for the prosecution in the Roger Levitt case acted for the Serious Fraud Office from January 1991 to December 1993 and was paid a total of £137,405 in fees. Over the period 1988 to 1993, covering preparation, trial, and appeal, a total of nine counsel were instructed at different times as part of the prosecution team in the Barlow Clowes case. Five of those nine either were Queen's Counsel or were appointed queen's counsel during the course of the case. The total paid to the team in fees was £1,109,261.80.

The information referred to above is based on payments made inclusive of value added tax.

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