265
Written Answers
7 FEBRUARY 1986
WALES
Nursing Profession
Mr. Barry Jones asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he proposes to meet leaders of the nursing profession in Wales regarding hospital management and nursing; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mark Robinson: I have no immediate plans to do so, though of course the Department is in frequent touch with leaders of the nursing and other professions associated with the Health Service in Wales on a wide range of topics, and I met the chairmen of all statutory advisory committees earlier this month for example.
I have also discussed these matters with nursing managers and front-line staff during my visits to date to the health authorities in Wales. Our officials have had useful recent contact with the Welsh branch of the RCN specifically on matters related to the introduction of general management to the NHS in Wales.
Mr. Barry Jones asked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he has taken to improve consultative procedures for nurses employed in the National Health Service in Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mark Robinson: It is a feature of the changes implied by the introduction of general management into the NHS in Wales that lines of nursing and other professional accountability and advice should be made more plain. Health authorities are well aware of their responsibility to ensure proper consultation on appropriate matters with all relevant professional groups.
Cervical Cancer Testing
Mr. Barry Jones asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many workplace agreements have been signed with employers in Wales concerning cervical cancer testing agreements; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mark Robinson: This information is not available centrally. It is for health authorities to decide how best to provide screening facilities, and it is open to them to consider whether it can be provided effectively in the workplace.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Human Right:
Mr. Best asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to the extent of denial of human rights in re-education camps in Vietnam; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton: I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 5 February, at column 182.
Many thousands of people have been detained since 1975 in the so-called "re-education" camps in Vietnam, without charge or trial, apparently on an indefinite basis and in contravention of the international covenant on civil and political rights, which Vietnam ratified in 1982. We are deeply disturbed that the detainees have still been neither charged, nor tried nor released, and that they continue to be subjected to harsh treatment.
Written Answers
Less Developed Countries (Interest Rates)
266
Mr. Beith asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the impact that the rise in pound sterling interest rates has had on the economies of less developed countries.
Mrs. Chalker: The proportion of debt of less developed countries denominated in pounds sterling is so small that a change in sterling interest rates has relatively little impact.
El Salvador
FAV 2901
Mr. Corbyn asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Y Government have taken to seek to ensure adherence to the recent United Nations General Assembly resolution on the situation in El Salvador; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar: No resolution on the situation in El Salvador has been tabled for the next United Nations General Assembly.
Nation
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
School Buildings
Mr. Baldry asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what allocation has been made in the current year for building work on voluntary aided and church schools in Oxfordshire; to which schools money was allocated; and what were the criteria for allocations.
Mr. Dunn: Oxfordshire's allocation for grant-aided building works in voluntary schools for 1986-87 is £470,000. This sum covers committed expenditure and is allocated for the current project at the recently established St. Augustine of Canterbury ecumenical school, Oxford. In making allocations for the aided building programme nationally, first priority was given to expenditure committed to projects already under way. This took up about two thirds of the available resources. The remainder was allocated, first, to projects to provide new school places in areas of population growth; second to those related to approved statutory proposals involving the removal of surplus places; and, finally, to a small number of projects which were urgently and unavoidably needed because of serious dilapidation of school buildings.
Mr. Pike asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has made to the
Toane
county council for additional funding for the repair and maintenance programme for school buildings; and if he will make a
statement.
Mr. Dunn: My right hon. Friend has not received any representations from Lancashire county council.
Mr. Pike asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will pay an official visit to Lancashire to discuss with representatives of the local education authority the current repair and maintenance programme for school buildings in both the county and aided sectors and the adequacy of the current level of resources available for it; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dunn: My right hon. Friend has no immediate plans to pay an official visit to Lancashire in the near
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