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Hospital Waiting Times

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients have been waiting for treatment for more than 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [20729]

Mr. Win Griffiths: Latest published figures for Health Authorities show that at the end of September 1997, 90 per cent. of Welsh residents had waited less than 12 months for inpatient or day-case hospital treatment; 6,810 people (10 per cent. of those on the waiting list) had waited more than 12 months.

Telemedicine

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to encourage the use of telemedicine. [20731]

Mr. Win Griffiths: Wales has been at the forefront of developing telemedicine; an experimental project in North Powys showed the benefits to patients and practitioners from having electronic access to distant specialists. To take this work further, the Welsh Office is supporting the Ceredigion and Mid Wales NHS Trust in its "Keeping Care Local" project. This project will review the full range of trust services to find ways of using telemedicine technology to benefit much larger numbers of patients. The results will be published at a conference and exhibition on telemedicine in Cardiff on 27 and 28 April 1998. I expect health authorities and trusts to learn from such work and to exploit opportunities in their own areas.

17 Dec 1997 : Column: 211

SCOTLAND

Water and Sewerage Authorities

Mr. Ernie Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce the external finance limits which will apply to the Scottish water and sewerage authorities in 1998-99 and in the following two years. [20741]

Mr. Macdonald: The External Finance Limit (EFL) for the three water authorities has been set at £185.956 million for 1998-99. Indicative EFLs for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 will be determined in the light of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

The allocation of EFLs to each authority in 1998-99 will be: East Authority £58.985 million, North Authority £55.582 million, and West Authority £71.389 million.

Council Tax

Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will amend the law to remove students from joint and several liability for council tax payments. [20351]

Mr. Macdonald: We intend to amend the council tax liability rules to remove students from joint and several liability from council tax as soon as a suitable legislative opportunity arises.

Housing Association Rents

Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total gross revenue from housing association rents in the last year; and what proportion of this was met by housing benefit. [20747]

Mr. Macdonald: The available information is as follows. In 1995-96, gross revenue from housing association rents in respect of housing associations registered in Scotland is estimated by Scottish Homes to have been £180 million. The Department of Social Security, which has responsibility for housing benefit, estimates that in the same year tenants of housing associations in Scotland--whether registered or not--received in total around £78 million of housing benefit.

Starter Pistols

Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his Department's policy on the use of starter pistols; and what representations he has received from (a) the police and (b) representatives of athletic associations on this subject. [20800]

Mr. McLeish: The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 contains an exemption which allows the possession of starting pistols by certain officials for use in the starting of athletics races. These pistols must be held on a firearm certificate which will be issued only where the police are satisfied that the individual requires the pistol because of the status of the athletics meetings at which he officiates. Most starting pistols can fire only blank rounds.

No representations have been received from the police on this issue. The British Athletic Federation sought the retention of the exemption when the Government announced their intention to ban small-calibre pistols. The Federation is currently funding research into an effective alternative to the starting pistol.

17 Dec 1997 : Column: 212

Marine Minerals

Mr. Ernie Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the review of licensing arrangements for the dredging of marine minerals. [21620]

Mr. Macdonald: Currently the Crown Estate, as owners of the seabed, issue licences for minerals dredging. A prerequisite to the issue of a licence is a favourable "Government View" (GV) issued by the Scottish Office which co-ordinates and considers the views of Government Departments and responses to public consultation on the proposals before issuing a GV.

After consideration of all the responses to earlier consultation on the review of the GV procedure, we have concluded that the way forward is to introduce statutory procedures for the better regulation of marine minerals dredging in Scotland to replace the non-statutory GV procedure. The new arrangements would be based on the Secretary of State for Scotland being responsible for administering, monitoring and enforcing the new dredging consents; those consents being subject to regular review; the costs of administering the new statutory procedures being recovered from operators; and a statutory right of appeal against refusal. Although to date there has only been limited dredging activity in Scotland, pending legislation an interim scheme will be introduced and administered by the Scottish Office in place of the Crown Estate's current role in the GV process.

Environmental Protection Agency

Mr. Ernie Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the first annual report of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency will be published.[21621]

Mr. Dewar: I laid a copy of SEPA's First Annual Report and Accounts before both Houses on 16 December. It contains details of the progress made by SEPA in its first year of operation, and a copy of its accounts, which cover the first 18 months of its existence. I am pleased to see that SEPA has made a good start and has done very well to pull together the very diverse bodies from which it was formed. I am also satisfied that SEPA is now on a firm financial footing and can move forward confidently to bring about the continuing improvement of Scotland's environment which we all wish to see.

Water Authorities

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce the new appointments to the three Scottish water authorities. [21666]

Mr. Dewar: I have made the following appointments to the three Scottish Water Authorities:





17 Dec 1997 : Column: 213



Industrial Tribunal Decisions

Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what estimate he has made of the number of industrial tribunal decisions which are fully complied with within a period of two months from the tribunal decision; [21171]

Mr. Wilson: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given today by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry, the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney).

CABINET OFFICE

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister without Portfolio if he will provide a list of the areas on which he is prepared to answer questions in respect of the Millennium Experience and a list of the areas on which he is not prepared to answer questions. [21327]

Mr. Mandelson: I aim to answer all questions on my responsibilities to the best of my ability.

Millennium Experience

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Minister without Portfolio, pursuant to his answer of 24 November 1997, Official Report, column 388, concerning his meeting with the French Minister for European Affairs on 16 September, if any civil servants were present at the meeting; and if he will list the subjects discussed. [21351]

Mr. Mandelson: We discussed the Jobs Summit and French ideas for "Euro-X". Civil Servants were present.

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