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St. Paul's Chaldean Church, Baghdad

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received regarding the search by an inspection team of the UN Special Commission of the St. Paul's Chaldean Church in Baghdad on 18 June.[7162]

Mr. Reid: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him today by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett).

Eurofighter

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the minimum number of Eurofighter aircraft needed to meet the RAF's operational requirement. [7893]

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Dr. Reid: The minimum number of Eurofighter aircraft required to replace our Tornado F3 and Jaguar aircraft is 232.

HEALTH

Smoking

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the responsibilities of the British tobacco industry in respect of public health, following the agreement in the United States concerning tobacco industry funding of health care for sufferers of smoking-related diseases. [5955]

Ms Jowell: The full details of the United States settlement will be studied as they become available. All aspects of tobacco control strategy, including this development, will be examined at our Summit meeting of national and international experts on 14 July.

Internet

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for the NHS of the increasing use of the Internet in informing patient choices of the nature and range of treatment available to those suffering from specific complaints. [5949]

Mr. Milburn: Sharing information about health and healthcare is central to the National Health Service Executive's Information Management and Technology Strategy for the NHS. The establishment of a networking infrastructure makes it possible to examine the potential for telemedicine and online booking of appointments, together with the electronic transfer of test requests and results. The network can also be used to deliver multimedia training material to clinicians, together with health educational and informative material that can be targeted at specific groups of patients and the public--for example, on smoking--that could be made available through general practitioner surgeries and clinics.

Scope for direct public access to health information is clearly more limited--it is paramount that there should be no compromise to the security and confidentiality of clinical information systems. Nevertheless there is considerable opportunity for the Department, the NHS Executive, and the NHS to make available generic health information and information about the NHS; an increasing number of trusts and health authorities are already creating publicly accessible websites on the Internet. There is interest within the Department and the NHS on extending these as communications possibilities open up through public library networks and the proposed public access kiosk.

Department of Health officials maintain liaison with industry to ensure their support and co-operation in exploiting the potential of electronic communications in the delivery of responsive and efficient healthcare, and take part in the Department of Trade and Industry's "IT for All" initiative.

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Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the value of PFI projects above which NHS trusts must seek approval to proceed from his Department. [6823]

Mr. Milburn: The table shows the value of Private Finance Initiative projects above which National Health Service trusts must seek approval from the NHS Executive. This value is dependent on turnover.

Total Capital Cost/Whole Life Cost(3)Outline and full business case approval must be sought from the NHS Executive if NHS trust turnover is:
Over £250,000Under £30 million
Over £600,000£30 million to £80 million
Over £1 millionOver £80 million

(3) Whole Life Cost relates to Information Management & Technology projects.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which of his approved PFI hospital projects have (a) outline planning permission and (b) full planning permission. [8148]

Mr. Milburn: "Approved" means that all the parties involved in the project (officials, Ministers, consortia and financiers) have reached agreement to the point where a commercial contract has been signed, thereby ensuring that the project can proceed successfully to financial close.

Two schemes, at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and Norfolk and Norwich Healthcare NHS Trust, have reached this stage and both have full planning permission.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is for each of the approved PFI hospital projects the amount expended to date on legal and financial advice and other consultancy fees by the relevant NHS trust. [8153]

Mr. Milburn: Information is now collected centrally on total expenditure on fees for external consultants involved in major Private Finance Initiative schemes. Two schemes, at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and Norfolk and Norwich Healthcare NHS Trust have reached agreement to proceed to financial close. The figures for the amounts expended to date by these two trusts on legal and financial fees is as follows:


Dental Services

Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what amount was spent on Community Dental Services (a) nationally and (b) broken down by health authority in 1995-96 and 1996-97. [7382]

Mr. Milburn: The level of expenditure on the Community Dental Service is decided by individual health authorities. For 1995-96, we have only information provided by National Health Service trusts on their expenditure on Paediatric Dental Community Services. This expenditure in England was £88.295 million. Information for 1996-97 will not be available until the end of the year.

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Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health authorities have, during the last five years, asked the Secretary of State to use his powers under section 56 of the National Health Service Act 1977 over the provision of the general dental service and of the Community Dental Service in their areas. [7381]

Mr. Milburn: Where there is evidence of inadequate provision of general dental services in any area or part of an area, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health may use his powers under Section 56 of the National Health Service Act 1997 to help health authorities secure the adequate provision of services. This section does not apply to the Community Dental Service. The health authorities who have applied to the Secretary of State for Health since 1992 under Section 56 are shown in the table. The table is based on the new health authority boundaries which came into effect on 1 April 1996.


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The majority of applications made by the former Family Health Service Authorities (FHSA), which were abolished in April 1996, have been assigned to the new health authorities which replaced them.

Where this was not possible the FHSA is indicated by an asterisk.

Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, under the guidelines set out in section D2 of the health service guidelines on primary care dental services (HSG (97) 4) of 14 March, anyone refused NHS dental treatment on the NHS because of a shortage of NHS dentists in their area will be entitled to use the Community Dental Service.[7385]

Mr. Milburn: Health authorities are expected to look first to the Community Dental Service to act as a safety net for patients unable to secure National Health Service treatment, before any alternative measures are considered.

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