HC Deb 13 January 1997 vol 288 cc25-7W
Mr. Flyn

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have(a) become crippled and (b) died from taking the steroid Prednisolone in each of the best five years; and if he will make a statement. [9645]

Government borrowing requirement, excluding privatisation proceeds and North sea revenues and included in Scotland's revenue total a 90 per cent. share of North sea revenue and a gross domestic product share of privatisation proceeds; [8877]

(2) pursuant to his answer of 25 November Official Report, column 68, if he will estimate the total relative surplus or deficit of Government expenditure and revenue in Scotland, excluding the gross domestic product share of the United Kingdom surplus or deficit of the general Government borrowing requirement, for each year from 1978–79, assuming a constant relationship between the Scottish deficit, as published in the "Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland 1994–95", and the United Kingdom general Government borrowing requirement, excluding privatisation proceeds and North sea revenues and including in Scotland's revenue total a 90 per cent. share of North sea revenue and a gross domestic product share of privatisation proceeds. [8876]

Mr. Waldegrave

[holding answer 12 December 1996]: The table shows the calculations requested. The assumptions made to produce these figures—particularly for the allocation of North Sea oil revenues to Scotland—are inevitably imprecise.

Mrs. Angela Knight

[holding answer 17 December 1996]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 13 January 1997: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on how many people have (a) become crippled and (b) died from taking the steroid Prednisolone in England in each of the last five years. Data are not held centrally by ONS or the Department of Health on the number of people crippled as a result of taking Prednisolone. Death records with the relevant ICD9* codes for 1993 to 1995 were searched for a mention of Prednisolone. One death in 1993 and one death in 1994 was recorded as having a mention of Prednisolone on the death certificate. To search the data for deaths occurring before 1993 would have incurred disproportionate cost. *International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, underlying cause codes E932.0 and 305.9 and secondary cause code 962.0.