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Partnership Grant
Mr. Lock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish guidance on the operation of the Partnership Grant; and if he will make a statement. [69678]
Mr. Hutton: We aim to issue guidance on the Partnership Grant within the next few weeks. The Promoting Independence: Partnership Grant was announced in the White Paper, "Modernising Social Services", which was published on 30 November 1998. The White Paper included broad indications of the aims of the grant, which includes the development of services to promote the independence of social services clients in partnership with local health authorities. Local authorities were notified of their indicative allocations in Local Authority Social Services Letter (98)18, issued on 2 December 1998.
Nurses
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the letter of 27 January from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health to the hon. Member for Christchurch, on the basis of what evidence he made his comparison between the present and previous Governments' treatment of nurses. [70111]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 9 February 1999]: The evidence we have received is the many conversations and correspondence we have had with nurses leaders and ordinary nurses up and down the country ever since the new Government took office.
NHS Dentistry
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Government's strategy for NHS dentistry to be published. [70331]
Mr. Denham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mrs. Brinton) on 15 December 1998, Official Report, columns 743-44.
Foot Health Care
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those health authorities that have conducted surveys of the foot healthcare needs of their residents since 1994. [70341]
Mr. Hutton:
Information is not available centrally on those health authorities who have conducted foot health care surveys as part of developing a foot care strategy. We
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are conducting a review of the National Health Service chiropody services and in due course we intend to make recommendations on whether there is scope for improvement in their organisation and delivery.
Angela Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expenditure was on community chiropody services by each NHS trust in 1997-98. [70339]
Mr. Hutton:
Expenditure figures on community chiropody services for National Health Service trusts in England for 1997-98 have been placed in the Library.
Laura Moffatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes will be made to the cash limits of his Department in 1998-99. [71119]
Mr. Dobson:
Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limit for Class XI, Vote 1 (Hospital, community health, family health and related services, England) will be increased by £273,468,000 (from £31,225,592,000 to £31,499,060,000). This allows for increases of £81,876,000 in respect of the take up of the NHS Trusts' External Financing Limit (EFL) End Year Flexibility, and £208,691,000 from the Reserve for the National Health Service Winter Pressures. In addition the following transfers will take place, £3,300,000 from Class IX, Vote 1 (Department for Education and Employment) for student bursaries (Dearing Report); £60,000 from Class XII, Vote 1 (Department of Social Security) for the Students Grant Unit and £63,206,000 from the non-voted element of NHS Trusts' EFL. These increases are partially offset by transfers of £82,346,000 following a re-appraisal of the drugs budget requirements; £1,021,000 to Class XII, Vote 3 for start up costs for the Compensation Recovery Unit; £79,000 to Class XIII, Vote 3 (Education, industry, arts and libraries, Scotland) for student bursaries cross border flows; £211,000 to Class XIV, Vote 4 (Hospital, community health, family health services and other health services (part) Wales) for student bursaries cross border flows and £8,000 to the Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland for the National Poisons Information Service.
The cash limit for Class XI, Vote 2 (Department of Health, administration, miscellaneous health and personal social services, England) will be increased by £68,133,000 (from £1,152,250,000 to £1,220,383,000). This increase allows for a claim on the Reserve of £61,300,000 to support services for Unaccompanied asylum seeking children, Asylum seekers' accommodation grant and Persons from abroad children's grant; and £7,713,000 in respect of the end year flexibility arrangements for health as announced by my right hon. Friend the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 14 July 1998, Official Report, columns 131-36. The increase also allows for the following transfers, £1,183,000 (running costs) from Class XII, 3 (Department of Social Security: administration) for repayment services; transfers totalling £66,000 (running costs) for the National Screening Committee made up of £52,000 from Class XIII, Vote 4 (Hospital, community health, family health, other health services and welfare food, Scotland) and £14,000 from the Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland; transfers totalling
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£26,000 for the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority made up of £14,000 from Class XIII, Vote 4 (Hospital, community health, family health, other health services and welfare food, Scotland), £8,000 from Class XIV, Vote 4 (Hospital, community health, family health services and other health services (part), Wales) and £4,000 from the Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland; and a transfer of £8,000 (running costs) from Class VIII, Vote 6 (HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor) for legal trainees. The overall increase is partially offset by a transfer of £2,163,000 to Class IV, Vote 2 (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) towards the costs of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) inquiry.
The Department's gross running cost limit will be increased by £1,257,000 from £262,946,000 to £264,203,000.
Overall the NHS Trusts' External Financing Limit has decreased by £63,206,000 from £121,920,000 to £58,714,000. The Medicines Control Agency External Financing Limit has been increased by £6,800,000 from £700,000 to £7,500,000.
All increases will either be offset by savings, increased receipts, transfers to or from other Votes or charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the items sold by his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies from those listed in the National Assets Register of November 1997; if he will give in each case the amount of money realised; if he will estimate the total cash raised from such sales to date; and if he will make a statement. [70416]
Ms Jowell:
A specific exercise was undertaken during 1997 to bring together information from National Health Service trusts, health authorities, the Department itself and a number of other public bodies to produce the Department's contribution to the National Asset Register, which was published in November 1997. Information on changes to this information is not held centrally.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the comparative (a) clinical effectiveness and (b) cost effectiveness of azathioprine and betainterferon in treating (i) relapsing remitting MS and (ii) secondary progressive MS. [70644]
Mr. Denham:
As part of a research proposal a group of experts has made indirect comparisons between the available evidence on clinical effectiveness of beta- interferon and azathioprine in reducing relapse rates in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. They conclude from their analysis that there is no difference in efficacy in these indirect comparisons. Indirect comparisons of evidence from trials using different patient groups and protocols are less reliable than direct comparisons. The safety profiles of the respective drugs must also be considered.
No such analysis is available for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.
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Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of the approval of major capital schemes for the provision of new hospital facilities on sites away from existing hospitals. [70645]
Mr. Denham:
Final decisions to proceed with major capital developments in the National Health Service are made on the basis of approved business cases, written in line with guidance set out in the capital investment manual.
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