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Carers
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of the discount for council tax bills that is available to carers. [6458]
Mr. Raynsford: The Department will be writing shortly to all local authorities to remind them of the need to present information in council tax bills on discount disregards, including the carers disregard, as clearly as possible.
Capital Receipts Initiative
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reasons organisations of disabled people or representing disabled people have not been sent without request the consultation paper on proposals for implementing the Government's Capital Receipts Initiative. [6979]
Mr. Raynsford: The arrangements for issuing the consultation paper setting out proposals for a Capital Receipts Initiative in England focused on local authorities in England and a limited number of other organisations with direct interest in the proposals. However, we have already sent an additional 400 copies of the paper to other organisations or individuals on request.
Sports Grounds (Wheelchair Spaces)
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the (a) advantages and (b) disadvantages of modifying Part M of the Building Regulations so as to provide for a smaller proportion of wheelchair spaces in large sports grounds. [7081]
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Mr. Raynsford:
The Approved Document for Part M provides guidance on reasonable provision of wheelchair spaces in sports stadia including an acceptance that it would be reasonable to provide a smaller proportion of wheelchair spaces in large stadia. The Department has made no assessment of either the advantages or the disadvantages of modifying Part M of the Building Regulations so as to provide for a smaller proportion of wheelchair spaces in large sports grounds.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what his Department plans to spend on advertising the availability of postal votes before the proposed referendum on a strategic authority for London. [7085]
Mr. Raynsford:
No decisions have yet been taken on detailed arrangements in respect of the proposed referendum on a Greater London Authority.
GP Fundholders
Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the differences in the method of operation between GP fundholders and locality commissioning; and when commissioning will be introduced. [6746]
Mr. Milburn: General practitioner fundholders are allocated a budget with which to purchase for their patients those health services included in the fundholding List of Goods and Services. A range of approaches to commissioning have already begun to develop locally. Details vary, but the usual pattern is that GP practices, (sometimes including fundholders) collaborate with their health authority to plan the local health strategy, determine priorities, and in some cases also commission services for all patients to ensure that all have equal access to high quality health care.
I announced on 26 June a programme to evaluate 20 GP Commissioning Group pilots over 2 years from April 1998, to complement an assessment of the range of existing activity.
NHS Appointments (Members of Parliament)
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the Labour and Liberal Democrat hon. Members of the current House of Commons and of the House of Lords who have served as members of (a) NHS trusts and (b) health authorities in the past seven years. [6651]
Mr. Milburn:
The Department does not hold all the information on trust and health authority board posts held by current members of the House prior to this Parliament.
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Current Members of the House of Commons, of whatever party, are disqualified from serving as non-executive members of National Health Service trusts or health authorities. Ten Members of the House of Lords are currently also non-executive members of trust and health authority boards. Of these, one takes the Labour Whip, seven take the Conservative Whip and two sit on the cross benches.
Mr. Norman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general and senior managers currently work in the NHS hospital and community health services; and how many of these have direct contact with patients. [6941]
Mr. Milburn:
There were 20,590 whole-time equivalent senior managers and other administrative managers employed by the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Service at 30 September 1996. Information on how many of these have direct contact with patients is not centrally available. The Government is committed to maximising the proportion of NHS resources devoted to patient care by removing the bureaucratic processes of the internal market and reducing management costs in health authorities and trusts.
Mr. Gunnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will reconsider the recommendations made in 1994 by University of York health economists who were commissioned to produce new funding formulae for health care; [7228]
(3) what change there has been in the needs weighting element of health authority allocations for 1997-98; [7231]
(4) when he expects the review of the national distribution of central Government resources to primary and secondary health care to be completed; [7226]
(5) what assessment his Department has made of the advantages of increasing the weighting for needs in health authority funding allocations. [7230]
Mr. Milburn:
In 1997-98 an interim needs weighting for Community Health Services was introduced and applied to 11 per cent. of expenditure (leaving 14 per cent. not weighted for need).
It is the Government's intention to look at how resources are distributed across both secondary and primary care to ensure that these fully reflect local population needs and operate as fairly as possible. Details will be announced in due course.
Mr. Gunnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the (a) actual and (b) percentage change in the health resources allocated to each region of England in the financial year following the introduction of the market forces factor in the funding formula. [7229]
Mr. Milburn:
Allocations are made direct to health authorities and not to regions. Changes to the formula directly affect target allocations rather than actual
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allocations. The attached table shows the changes to health authority target allocations which resulted from the implementation of the latest market forces factor:
(2) what assessment he has made of the equity of the operation of the market forces factor within the funding formula; [7227]
Source:
1997-98 Health Authority Revenue Cash Limits Exposition Book.
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