§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in theOfficial Report the acreage of land and the price realised for such land, arising from the sale of the land by each of the district health authorities in Wales since 1979.
§ Mr. GristThe information is not immediately available in the form requested. I will write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
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§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the actual cost of wage and salary increases for each of the district health authorities in Wales in the financial year 1989–90; and what was the financial provision made by the Welsh Office in his revenue funding of each authority to meet wage and salary inflation in that year.
§ Mr. David HuntIt is for each authority to decide how much of its annual increase in discretionary cash provision should be set aside for pay settlements in the light of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Industry Act forecast of general inflation in the economy for the year in question and in the light of the particular composition of its work force. For 1989–90 the forecast of general inflation was 5 per cent. and the initial percentage increase in cash provision of district health authorities in Wales (by comparison with their 1988–89 final allocations) were as follows:
per cent. in-crease Clwyd 6.5 East Dyfed 8.8 Gwent 5.8 Gwynedd 5.8 Mid Glamorgan 6.1 Pembrokeshire 6.8 Powys 8.6 South Glamorgan 5.8 West Glamorgan 5.8 However, it should be noted that these initial discretionary cash increases were subsequently enhanced to take account of the contribution which the Government made towards the cost of meeting the recommendations of the pay review bodies covering doctors and dentists, nurses and professions allied to medicine. This supplementary funding was distributed by reference to paybill data for those categories of staff in authorities 1988–89 accounts and resulted in revised discretionary cash increases for Welsh district health authorities, prior to further enhancement in respect of White Paper requirements, as follows:
Increase Per cent. Clwyd 7.4 East Dyfed 9.6 Gwent 6.6 Gwynedd 6.6 Mid Glamorgan 7.0 Pembrokeshire 7.6 Powys 9.5 South Glamorgan 6.6 West Glamorgan 6.6 It is not possible to estimate the actual cost of pay settlements in 1989–90 without details of the number, grades, and so on of staff employed by each of the district health authorities in Wales during that year. Acccounts data will be submitted to the Welsh Office in June but these will give only the increase in total expenditure on the various categories of staff and will not distinguish the increase in pay levels from changes in the number or composition of staff.
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§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many established posts are currently frozen in each of the nine district health authorities in Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GristThe information requested is not held centrally. Staffing levels are operational issues for health authorities.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to improve the reporting procedures which enable him to monitor the financial performance and delivery of services of district health authorities in Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GristThe main mechanism for monitoring the performance of individual district health authorities is the annual review undertaken each autumn by the executive committee of the Health Policy Board. This provides the opportunity for a rigorous central assessment of local management action and performance, and constitutes a key channel of accountability to the Secretary of State in relation to each health authority's stewardship of health care services and the public moneys which fund them.
The annual review process is being developed to reflect the distinction between the purchaser and provider roles of district health authorities proposed in the White Paper "Working for Patients".
In addition to the annual review, health authorities are required to submit a wide range of financial and service specific returns within the year. These are analysed carefully, and kept under continuous review to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.
Discretionary capital allocations 1990–91 £ million Discretionary capital allocations 1982–83 expressed at 1990–91 prices £ million Percentage change in allocation in period 1982–83 to 1990–91 percentage Clwyd 6.277 1.520 313 East Dyfed 3.205 0.956 235 Gwent 6.184 1.924 221 Gwynedd 1.710 0.870 97 Mid Glamorgan 8.054 2.170 271 Pembrokeshire 1.968 0.306 543 Powys 1.113 0.454 145 South Glamorgan 7.938 2.574 208 West Glamorgan 8.072 1.483 444 Note:
The methodology used since 1984–85 in the distribution of capital resources for the discretionary use of district health authorities (which is reflected in the table above) is not comparable to that used previously. Prior to 1984–85, the distribution of discretionary capital resources between authorities was pro rata to the distribution of their recurrent revenue allocations. Since 1984–85, authorities; discretionary capital allocations have been determined by reference to a formula which was specifically devised for this purpose. The formula, which is population based, also takes into account the distribution of NHS capital stock throughout Wales. The distribution of the resources available for 1990–91 reflects the implementation of the second update of this capital formula.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to meet jointly the chairman of a district health authority in Wales together with hon. Members whose constituencies are served by that health authority when circumstances justify; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GristMy right hon. Friend will continue to consider each request for a meeting on its individual merits.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the most recent figures
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§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the salary or fee paid to each of the chair persons of district health authorities in Wales during 1989–90; and what were the expenses paid to each of these persons.
§ Mr. GristIn 1989–90, the chairmen of district health authorities in Wales received a flat-rate taxable honorarium of £12,462. Information about other expenses which may have been drawn from their own authorities is not held centrally.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the total sums paid by way of performance-related pay to senior managers in each of the new Welsh district health authorities in 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GristNo. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 15 March at column346. Particulars of actual performance-related pay additions to salary made by employing authorities are confidential and information thereon is not held centrally.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if, pursuant to his answer of 18 April to the right hon. and learned Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris),Official Report, columns 932–33, he will publish a table showing for each of the district health authorities in Wales the level of capital allocation in 1990–91 and the corresponding figure in real terms for 1982–83; and what has been the percentage change in each instance.
§ Mr. David HuntThe information requested is given in the table:
available on the death rate for each district health authority in Wales with corresponding figures for five and 10 years previously.
§ Mr. David HuntThe information requested is given in the table:
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Crude death rate1 Welsh district health authorities 1988 1983 1978 Clwyd 12.6 12.9 13.6 East Dyfed 12.4 14.2 214.3 Pembrokeshire 11.8 11.6 Gwent 11.7 11.9 11.9
Crude death rate1 Welsh district health authorities 1988 1983 1978 Gwynedd 12.5 14.0 14.3 Mid Glamorgan 11.6 12.4 12.8 Powys 12.2 13.2 13.4 South Glamorgan 10.7 11.5 11.6 West Glamorgan 12.2 12.5 13.4 Wales 11.9 12.6 13.0 Source: Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
1 Registered deaths of residents (excluding still-births) per 1,000 population.
2Heatlh Authorities were reorganised into nine District Health Authorities in 1982. For 1978 Pembrokeshire figures are shown with East Dyfed.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing for each health authority area in Wales the number of cancer cases newly diagnosed in each of the last five years; and if he will show these figures as a proportion of the base population in each health authority district.
§ Mr. GristThe most recently available information on cancer incidence rates in Wales is presented in "Cancer Registration in Wales, 1974–84" published in 1988. It is intended that full data in respect of the period 1984 to 1986 together with a commentary will be published during 1990.