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Education SSA (Leicestershire)

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received from Leicestershire schools about Leicestershire's education standard spending assessment for 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [69471]

Ms Estelle Morris: We have received a number of representations from Leicestershire schools welcoming the underlying 6.3 per cent. increase in the education SSA for Leicestershire, but criticising the decision not to change the distribution formula. The Government will carry out further research over the next few years designed to improve the fairness of the current formula.

HEALTH

Nursing Care (Funding)

Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide guidance to health and local authorities regarding the funding of nursing care as a result of the R-v-North and East Devon Health Authority, ex parte Pamela Coughlan judgment. [66383]

Mr. Hutton: We understand North and East Devon Health Authority have submitted an application for leave to appeal against the judgment ex parte Coughlan. We will consider the need for guidance to health and local authorities once the result of the application is known.

Expenditure (London)

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the NHS Executive for London plans to allocate the capital budget for 1999-2000; and on what basis. [64934]

Mr. Denham: Initial capital allocations for 1999-2000 will be notified to National Health Service trusts and health authorities in February. Further allocations will be made throughout the year following approval of business

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cases. Allocations will be made in accordance with the priorities set out in Health Service Circular 1998/214, copies of which are available in the Library.

ME

Mr. Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of people in Britain diagnosed as suffering with chronic fatigue syndrome; and how many are receiving, or have received, specialist treatment for their condition. [67010]

Ms Jowell: The information is not available in the form requested. A number of definitions, disease descriptions or diagnostic criteria have been proposed to describe chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. However, there is no general agreement as to which should be used. This makes the results from studies on the prevalence of CFS/ME difficult to interpret and there is no agreement on the incidence of the illness.

There is no information available on outpatient appointments. However, figures for CFS/ME for ordinary admissions and daycases in NHS trusts in England, for financial years 1995-96 to 1997-98 are shown in the table.

The National Health Service provides a considerable number of services to which sufferers from CFS/ME have access, because of the wide range of symptoms people with CFS/ME can experience they are seen within a wide range of hospital specialties. Under the present system it is for health authorities and general practitioners to plan and arrange the services available to people in their care, following an assessment of their needs.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Year	FCEs
1995-96	705
1996-97(24)	600
1997-98(24)	650

(24) Figures for 1996-97, 1997-98 are provisional, no adjustments have yet been made for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed)

Notes:

1. Ordinary admissions and daycases combined--finished consultant

episodes (FCEs) by primary diagnochronic/post viral fatigue syndrome in NHS trusts in England.

2. ICD1 10 code used is G93.3.

3. An FCE represents a complete period of inpatient treatment under the care of an individual hospital consultant and in about 95 per cent. of cases represent a complete spell in hospital.

Source:

Department of Health, Hospital Episode Statistics

Nurses (Pay)

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the impact on voluntary sector organisations which employ nurses of the proposed public sector pay award for nurses. [69010]

Mr. Denham: The Review Body for Nursing Staff, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions allied to medicine makes recommendations on the remuneration of groups within their remit employed in the National Health Service.

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Voluntary organisations are responsible for assessing, determining and reviewing their own running costs and it would be inappropriate for the Department to become involved in that process.

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which establishments have paid a regular lead to nursing staff in each year since 1970; what was the annual value of the lead; what was its purpose; and if he will make a statement. [69054]

Mr. Denham: National terms and conditions for nursing staff include a range of leads and allowances paid under certain circumstances. Details of all such allowances were set out in Annex 1 of our 1998 evidence to the Review Body for Nursing Staff, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions Allied to Medicine, copies of which are available in the Library. This included information on the current national rate of payment and a brief description of conditions for payment. Further information on conditions for payment is in the Nursing and Midwifery Staffs Negotiating Council Handbook. The value of leads and allowances each year from 1970 can be found in the Advance Letters issued to the National Health Service, copies of which have been placed in the Library. All NHS bodies which employ nurses on national contracts pay these leads and allowances, if qualifying conditions are met. Since 1994 employers have had the flexibility to increase leads and allowances locally which some NHS trusts have done. In their sixteenth report for 1999, laid before Parliament by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, the Review Body recommended that London allowance and on-call and stand-by allowance should be increased and urged NHS trusts to increase relevant leads and allowances. The national rate of London allowance will increase by 15.4 per cent. from 1 April 1999 and on-call and stand-by allowance will also be increased by 19 per cent. from 1 April 1999.

HIV-Aids

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in 1997-98; and how much was spent on HIV/AIDS research in 1997-98 on projects wholly and partly funded by his Department. [69167]

Ms Jowell: In 1997-98 health authorities in England were allocated £199.3 million for the treatment and care of HIV/AIDS patients. This amount was not ring-fenced to allow health authorities flexibility to spend more or less in the light of local circumstances. The Department does not routinely collect information on the amount actually spent on HIV/AIDS services.

In 1997-98, local authorities were provided with £13.7 million as a contribution towards the cost of community care services for people with severe HIV and AIDS. The AIDS support grant scheme operates on a 70:30 basis with local authorities providing at least 30 per cent. of the total spent. The Department also made available £1.5 million to the voluntary sector through the Section 64 general scheme to provide care, support services and information to people affected by HIV and AIDS.

In 1997-98 health authorities in England were allocated £52.3 million which was ring-fenced for HIV Prevention activities and in the same year £4.6 million was spent on national health promotion campaigns and initiatives.

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Departmental expenditure on HIV/AIDS research in 1997-98 was £117,000 for wholly funded work and around £1.275 million on partly funded research. The National Health Service research and development levy is also used to support research and development in health care settings. Project details are not held centrally and some further HIV/AIDS work may be supported by this route.

Waiting Times

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of patients waiting for more than 12 months for treatment in each year during the past 20 years. [69163]

Mr. Denham: The number of patients who had been waiting more than 12 months for hospital admission at the end of march and the end of September in each of the last 20 years (1978-98) is set out in the table.

	Admissions
	Ordinary	Day case	Total
September 1978	158,308	--	n/a
March 1979	185,195	--	n/a
September 1979	197,532	--	n/a
March 1980	196,983	--	n/a
September 1980	187,993	--	n/a
March 1981	180,774	--	n/a
September 1981	180,905	--	n/a
March 1982	175,554	--	n/a
September 1982	192,902	--	n/a
March 1983	198,546	--	n/a
September 1983	205,920	--	n/a
March 1984	194,614	--	n/a
September 1984	189,546	--	n/a
March 1985	171,197	--	n/a
September 1985	160,227	--	n/a
March 1986	161,326	--	n/a
September 1986	164,682	--	n/a
March 1987	162,273	--	n/a
September 1987	184,580	24,860	209,440
March 1988	182,161	25,764	207,925
September 1988	192,591	27,338	219,929
March 1989	193,952	29,359	223,311
September 1989	187,528	30,588	218,116
March 1990	175,777	32,083	207,860
September 1990	172,025	30,715	202,740
March 1991	145,109	24,652	169,761
September 1991	134,661	23,860	158,521
March 1992	69,000	11,585	80,585
September 1992	66,821	13,760	80,581
March 1993	45,195	11,682	56,877
September 1993	54,317	16,705	71,022
March 1994	46,404	18,104	64,508
September 1994	44,858	17,483	62,341
March 1995	21,750	10,444	32,194
September 1995	19,815	8,123	27,938
March 1996	3,686	890	4,576
September 1996	10,733	4,260	14,993
March 1997	20,732	10,476	31,208
September 1997	35,583	22,083	57,666
March 1998	40,170	27,853	68,023
September 1998	37,760	25,720	63,480

Note:

Before September 1987 figures relate to ordinary (overnight) admissions; the numbers of people waiting for day cases were not collected before this date.

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