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College Staff
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if it is his policy to allow college staff to remain as clerks to governing bodies. [56700]
Mr. Mudie: We shall consider the position of clerks in the forthcoming revision of college instrument and articles of government.
Education Maintenance Allowances
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to announce a decision on the Government's proposals for education maintenance allowances for 16 to 19-year-olds. [56699]
Mr. Mudie: As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his July Public Expenditure White Paper, we will be setting up pilots to test the effect of an Education Maintenance Allowance payable to young people from low-income households. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State intends to make further announcements on this matter before the end of the year.
Citizenship Curriculum
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the new citizenship curriculum requirements for schools will incorporate specific reference to the United Nations. [57087]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The recommendations of the Citizenship Advisory Group include a set of learning outcomes which refer to the work of the United Nations organisations and major non-governmental bodies. These recommendations are currently being considered by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as part of their review of the National Curriculum. Following this review, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will offer advice to the Secretary of State on the place of education for citizenship in the curriculum.
National Grid for Learning
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will assess the advantages of extending the National Grid for Learning Scheme to youth and community services for use in youth clubs. [57456]
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 530
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Government's consultation paper 'Connecting the Learning Society' set out a target date of 2002 for the connection of all schools, colleges, universities and libraries and as many community centres as possible to be connected to the National Grid for Learning via the Internet.
The Government will be seeking to ensure that the National Grid for Learning, the University for Industry and other lifelong learning initiatives will be accessible via a range of technologies including the Internet, and at a range of locations which fit in with people's lifestyles. We will consider a range of ways in which to maximise access to the Grid, including community projects such as youth clubs.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he intends to extend free telephone calls to after 6 p.m. under the National Grid for Learning. [57457]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Government intend to review current arrangements brokered by Oftel with the telecommunications industry, to build on the progress already made in making medium speed connections more affordable to schools. Further announcements will be made shortly.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools in the Chorley constituency have taken advantage of the National Grid for Learning to date. [57455]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
16 schools in the Chorley constituency have so far benefited under the first year of the Standards Fund National Grid for Learning Grant. These grants are intended to progressively enable all schools to secure access to high quality networked educational services on the National Grid for Learning through the replacement of obsolete equipment, the provision of suitable internal and external networking facilities, quality software and on-line services, and associated training in basic ICT use.
All schools which currently have access to the Internet will be able to take advantage of resources and services through the National Grid for Learning.
Mr. Woolas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to issue guidance to local education authorities on education provision for children suffering from attention deficit disorder. [57605]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Education Act 1996 and the Department's Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs advise local education authorities and schools on how to identify and provide for all children with special education needs. We have no plans to issue further guidance specifically about children suffering from attention deficit disorder.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) and Employment if he will make a statement on his proposals for special educational needs; [57681]
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 531
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Consultation on the Green Paper Excellence for all children: meeting special educational needs generated many thoughtful ideas and comments. In the light of these, and advice from the National Advisory Group on Special Educational Needs, we will be publishing an Action Programme shortly.
Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to instruct local education authorities to provide him with information on the provision made by that authority of special educational facilities for children who suffer from autism or other forms of early childhood psychosis; and if he will make a statement. [57048]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Provisions in the Education Act 1981, now consolidated into the Education Act 1996, require schools to submit information on numbers of pupils with special educational needs. In accordance with the recommendation of the Warnock Committee there is no requirement for them to record the nature of the disability or learning difficulty and we have no current intention to require them to do so.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much had been spent from public funds on the new deal for 18 to 24 year-olds by 30 September. [56045]
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 26 October 1998]: Expenditure brought to account on the new deal programme for 18-24 year olds by 30 September was £100.9m. Of this £43.6 million has been spent on preparation, implementation and marketing, the remaining £57.3 million is operational programme costs.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to ensure that every Careers Service contractor is required and resourced to provide guidance to all holders of individual learning accounts and to adults in every local community as part of a locally determined local learning access network to nationally defined quality standards. [56207]
Mr. Mudie:
We are considering our future strategy relating to local information, advice and guidance services for adults in the light of the many helpful comments on the issue we have received in response to "The Learning Age" (Cmnd 3790).
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 532
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of health visitors in each of the next four years. [56176]
Mr. Milburn:
Estimates of numbers of health visitors to be employed are not drawn up centrally. Workforce planning and the commissioning of training places for health visitors is employer led; local workforce plans are drawn up by education consortia which comprise trusts, health authorities and other healthcare providers.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what meetings his Department has had with (a) members of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, (b) members of the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens, (c) the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, (d) the Environment Agency and (e) the Health and Safety Executive, following the finding of abnormal prion protein in the appendix of a patient in Torbay; and if he will make a statement; [57151]
(3) what discussions he has had with (a) SEAC, (b) ACDP, (c) HSE, (d) MAFF and (e) the Environment Agency on the destruction of surgical instruments in the context of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in the context of any further findings over new variant CJD; [56994]
(4) what checks have been made of patients subsequently operated upon in hospitals where individuals infected with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease have undergone operations; [56996]
(5) what research his Department has commissioned following the finding of abnormal prion protein in the appendix of a patient in Torbay; [57021]
(6) what assessment his Department has made of the risk to patients of contracting new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from surgical instruments; and if he will make a statement; [56947]
(7) what contingency plans his Department has made should he be advised that there is a risk that patients could be infected with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease by surgical instruments; [57005]
(8) what action has been taken following the finding of abnormal prion protein in the appendix of a patient in Torbay; what meetings it has held with other bodies on this matter; and if he will make a statement. [57004]
Ms Jowell:
In early July we learnt that abnormal prion protein had been found in the appendix removed from a patient in Torbay who, although he did not show any symptoms of disease at the time, some 2½ years later died of nvCJD.
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 533
The matter was immediately referred to the joint Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens/ Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee Working Group (ACDP/SEAC WG) on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies which considered it at a meeting on 8 July. The advice of this group, as stated by the then Chief Medical Officer in his Press Release of 27 August 1998, is that the overall risk of transmission of nvCJD to other patients is minimal.
On 21 September SEAC considered the implications of this incident for the risks from surgical instruments and a summary of their discussion was made available to a sub-group of the ACDP/SEAC WG specially convened to look at decontamination advice on 24 September. Following the sub-group meeting on 24 September discussions are underway with the HSE, the Medical Devices Agency, and a number of independent experts about changes to instrument design and decontamination procedures aimed at reducing any remaining risk still further. Proposals for further work are also being finalised and these groups will consider their final advice once these discussions are completed.
The existing guidance from ACDP/SEAC "Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: safe working and the prevention of infection" (published in March 1998) aims to minimise the risk to patients and staff from nvCJD and already specified that all instruments used on known or suspect cases of CJD must be destroyed as must those used on procedures involving the brain, spinal cord or eyes of patients thought to be at risk of CJD, for instance recipients of human growth hormone. This guidance also specifies that disposable instruments should be used whenever reasonably practicable for other procedures on at risk patients.
We are considering with the CJD Surveillance Unit in the light of expert advice what follow up studies should be undertaken in respect of patients who had operations in hospitals where nvCJD patients had undergone surgery before they showed any sign of this disease.
The Department, MAFF, the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive have jointly issued a call for further research into the inactivation of TSEs. The call closed on 23 October. The thirteen outline proposals received are now being considered and an announcement will be made as soon as possible about those that will be pursued further.
The aim of all this work is to ensure that any risk of transmission of nvCJD through surgical procedures is reduced as far as it is possible to do so. We shall review the procedures currently in force as more information becomes available about the characteristics of the disease, and about the effects of changes in decontamination procedures or in instrument design, and will take further action if that seems necessary.
As announced on 27 August by the previous Chief Medical Officer the Department, in conjunction with the Medical Research Council, was already considering anonymised pilot surveys to assess whether the abnormal prion protein associated with the disease might be in appendixes and tonsils removed during routine surgery. The proposals received are now the subject of expert scientific review and we expect to make a decision on funding shortly.
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 534
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if his Department records the (a) hospital admissions, (b) operations and (c) dates of any operations undergone by individuals who have been diagnosed with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease; and if he will take steps to make public such information; [56995]
Ms Jowell:
No. The Department does not hold clinical information on individual patients with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD). Personal information of this nature is confidential to the patient, their family, and the clinicians responsible for their care and is not made public. Clinical information is held by the CJD Surveillance Unit (CJDSU) which advises clinicians on the care and treatment of patients. The CJDSU is bound by the same requirements for confidentiality as other clinicians and passes information to the Department only in an anonymous and aggregated form.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease have been recorded in the UK. [56992]
Ms Jowell:
Since new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD) appeared in late 1995 there have been 30 definite and probable cases. All of these patients have died.
Statistical information about Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is published by the Department on a monthly basis. The latest table was published on 2 November.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish the evidence his Department has evaluated on the effectiveness of routine autoclave sterilisation in the destruction of prion proteins; [56993]
Ms Jowell:
The unconventional agents that cause Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) are extraordinarily resistant to physical and chemical treatments that destroy even the most resistant bacteria, spores, fungi and viruses. The current advice on inactivation and decontamination is contained in the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens/ Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committees' guidance on "Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe working and the prevention of infection" which was published in March 1998. Copies have been placed in the Library. Additionally, since publication, the guidance has been available on the Stationery Office website (www.official-documents.co.uk/documents/doh/ spongifm.contents.htm). It contains information on the effectiveness of routine autoclaving in the destruction of the agents of TSEs. The guidance is based upon the best available scientific data on inactivation. It does not itself provide evidence of the temperature required to ensure complete inactivation of prion proteins. The two Committees are keeping this subject under review as part of their continuing work in this field and on 12 September 1998 the Department, jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive, issued a call for further research into the inactivation of TSEs. The call
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 535
closed on 23 October 1998. The thirteen outline proposals that were received are now being considered and a further announcement will be made as soon as possible about those that will be pursued further.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the full findings of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's research. [57022]
Ms Jowell:
The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) does not fund or carry out research. If it considers that new or further research is needed it makes recommendations to that effect. Any recommendations on research would be included in the public summary published after each SEAC meeting.
Recommendations for research are considered by the relevant department and other funders such as the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and by the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) Funders Co-ordination Group and the TSE Research Advisory Group.
A "Strategy for Research and Development Relating to the Human health Aspects of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies" was published in November 1996 and has been available in the Library since December 1996. In July 1998 a comparable "Strategy for Research and Development Relating to the Animal Aspects of TSEs" was published and placed in the Library.
These strategies are kept under review and calls for research proposals issued as necessary by the appropriate funding bodies. The findings of individual research projects are published in peer-review scientific journals as they become available.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans his Department has to inform those patients found to be infected with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease as a result of screening; and if he will make a statement; [56997]
(3) what plans his Department has to screen individuals for signs of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease; and if he will make a statement. [56999]
Ms Jowell:
The report of the detection of the agent associated with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD) in the appendix of a patient who was not showing any clinical symptoms of the disease when the tissue was removed but who died of nvCJD two and a half years later, was published on 27 August. On the same day the former Chief Medical Officer announced that the Department, in conjunction with the Medical Research Council, was discussing with the relevant scientists proposals for anonymised pilot surveys to assess whether the abnormal prion protein associated with the disease might be in appendices and tonsils removed during routine surgery. The proposals received following these discussions are now the subject of expert scientific peer review, and we expect to make a final decision on funding shortly.
3 Nov 1998 : Column: 536
These studies are designed to improve understanding of the epidemiology of nvCJD. It must be emphasised that they are research studies on pathological specimens and are not diagnostic screening tests. The research proposals will be governed by ethical committee approval, as is normal, to safeguard patient interests.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the full findings of the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens research. [57023]
Ms Jowell:
The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens is an independent committee which advises Government, but which does not undertake or commission research in its own right. However, if the Committee considers that research is needed it can make recommendations to Government to that effect. These recommendations would be considered in the context of the Department's overall research strategy.
Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's current estimate of the number of cases of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease likely to be diagnosed in (a) 1999 and (b) 2000. [56945]
Ms Jowell:
No reliable estimates can yet be made about the future numbers of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease cases. To make reliable estimates of the future number of cases we need to have more information about the incubation period, the level of exposure to the agent that can cause the Disease, the route of infection and the role of genetic susceptibility. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee sub-group which advises the Chief Medical Officer on the epidemiology of the disease considers that it is likely to be at least three to four years before we are in a position to make a reliable estimate.
(2) when his special educational needs action plan will be published; and if he will make a statement. [57682]
(2) what recommendations have been made to his Department by (a) the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee and (b) the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens following the finding of abnormal prion protein in the appendix of a patient in Torbay; what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations in each case; and if he will make a statement; [57152]
(2) if his Department records the names of those individuals who have been diagnosed with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. [57002]
(2) at what temperature his Department has been advised that prion proteins are destroyed. [56946]
(2) what plans his Department has to screen tissue specimens for signs of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease; and if he will make a statement; [56998]
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