§ Mrs. Jill Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps his Department is taking to monitor compliance with the regulations laid down in the Sale of Optical Appliances Order 1984; and to whom complaints about alleged breaches of the regulations should be made.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI see no reason to make special arrangements to monitor compliance with these regulations.
Complaints about breaches of any of the prescribed conditions of the Sale of Optical Appliances Order 1984 can be laid on written information before a magistrate. Breaches of the regulations will be a criminal offence under the Opticians Act 1958 and could result in a fine of £1,000. In addition, failure to observe the conditions would be a breach of contract between the consumer and retailer and open to redress through the courts.
§ Mrs. Jill Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will include in publicity material issued by his Department in connection with the Sale of Optical Appliances Order 1984 a reminder that it remains illegal to provide reading glasses without a prescription from a qualified opthalmic optician or ophthalmic medical practitioner.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo. The guide published by our Department is quite clear on what is permitted and what is not.
£ per capita Health Boards Hospital Services Community Health and Family Practitioner services Administration and Related services Total Argyll and Clyde 168.37 81.96 12.83 263.16 Ayrshire and Arran 142.46 81.13 10.79 234.38 Borders 148.87 84.93 13.36 247.16 Dumfries and Galloway 186.84 83.48 13.01 283.33 Fife 144.02 75.74 10.71 230.47 Forth Valley 179.72 80.42 10.49 270.63 Grampian 188.99 75.43 14.16 278.58 Greater Glasgow 305.46 84.60 14.53 404.59 Highland 190.88 91.75 17.44 300.07 Lanarkshire 151.32 78.47 7.79 237.58 Lothian 238.11 80.89 13.71 332.71 Orkney 125.47 105.93 14.24 245.64 Shetland 121.43 97.89 17.10 236.42 Tayside 271.24 81.22 16.48 368.94 Western Isles 144.07 101.53 20.46 266.06 Notes:
1. The expenditure figures used are taken from the annual accounts submitted to the Department by health boards, and are net of charges retained by family practitioners.
2. The population figures used are the mid-year estimates of resident population for 1983.
3. The column headed "Administration and Related Services" shows expenditure on health boards headquarters, on area nurse training, on local health councils and other items not in the category of patient services.
4. The figures do not include expenditure on support services provided by the Common Services Agency which was £10.63 per capita in Scotland as a whole; or expenditure on the main capital programme, which was £12.38 per capita.
The distribution of funds to health boards in Scotland is determined by population weighted according to age, sex and local mortality rates, by the amount of health care provided for patients from neighbouring areas—cross-border flow—by teaching hospital costs, by a number of other commitments, and also by the extent to which individual boards benefit by the operation of the resources equalisation process. It is therefore not possible to draw