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NHS Appointments
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all appointments as (a) chairman and (b) non- executive director of (i) health authorities and (ii) trusts, made since 1 May 1997 where an elected member of a local authority has been appointed; and if he will give the party affiliation in each case. [71667]
Mr. Denham: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list elected members of local authorities who have been appointed to serve on primary care groups stating (a) the party affiliation and (b) the (i) fee and (ii) allowances payable in each case. [71668]
Mr. Denham: Information on primary care group board members who are also elected members of local authorities is not available centrally. Information on the fees and allowances payable to primary care group board members is contained in Health Service Circular 1998/190, copies of which are available in the Library.
Detailed information on the composition of primary care group board members is currently being collected and will be made public as soon as possible.
Carers
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each local authority (a) the amount of grant that will be payable in each year to support the National Carers Strategy, (b) the estimated number of carers and (c) the product of dividing (a) by (b). [71104]
Mr. Hutton: As one part of the carers strategy, we have announced a new special grant to local authorities of £140 million over three years to improve the range and diversity of provision aimed at giving carers a break. Under community care legislation, this provision can be made only for carers who are caring for someone assessed as needing community care services. A special grant report, listing the allocations for each local authority for the carers' grant, will be laid before Parliament shortly. Information is not currently available to allow an estimate to be made of the number of such carers in each local authority area.
Diet
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action the Government have taken to promote healthier diets; [70130]
- (2) what action the Government have taken to provide information in deprived areas on the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables. [70131]
Ms Jowell:
Diet is a matter of personal choice. However, we recognise that it is important that people have the information they need to decide what they want to eat. Our aim, therefore, is to provide clear, consistent and understandable advice to help them make healthy eating choices. For these reasons we fund the Health Education Authority to produce information and advice to increase the knowledge and skills of key professional groups to promote the principles of healthy eating and also to improve consumers' understanding of a healthy diet. "The Balance of Good Health" has been instrumental
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in improving awareness of a healthy and balanced diet as it illustrates in a simple way, by using a picture of a plate, the proportions of the balance of foods recommended by independent experts.
As part of the work which the Health Education Authority undertakes on promoting healthy eating, it has established, in partnership with the National Food Alliance, a food and low income database. This provides information about projects which have been established in response to difficulties which some communities have experienced in accessing fruit and vegetables. On my recent visit to Coventry, I saw one good example of such an initiative. Also using funding provided by the Department of Health, the National Food Alliance and the Health Education Authority together ran a series of regional seminars to bring together those working in the food and low income field to exchange best practice in planning, developing and carrying out community food initiatives and help others new to the field.
More generally, I am the lead Minister for the policy action team which is charged with developing a strategy for improving shopping access for people living in deprived neighbourhoods. This is one of eighteen policy action teams which have been established following the publication of the Social Exclusion Unit's report on neighbourhood renewal last September. The policy action team aims to develop integrated and sustainable approaches on improving shopping access for those living in deprived neighbourhoods.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to require manufacturers of pre-packed and pre-cooked meals to reduce the levels of salt in their food. [70132]
Ms Jowell:
There is a large body of authoritative opinion that the amount of salt in the national diet is unnecessarily high, and we have therefore asked officials in the Department to explore with the food industry the scope for reducing the levels of salt in processed foods. Pending these discussions, we have no plans to require this from manufacturers.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the conventions governing the propriety and cost of press releases issued by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental bodies; and what is the total cost of the press releases issued since May 1997. [71463]
Ms Jowell:
The Department adheres to the Access of Information Code of Practice. The Department continually reviews the most cost effective methods for issuing press releases, however, no separate costing is available, as the cost is absorbed within the expenditure for running the Department's Communications Directorate.
The following figures are the press releases issued since May 1997:
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Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many press releases have been issued by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each of the years 1990 to 1998. [71448]
Ms Jowell:
The information requested is in the table.
May-December 1997: 320
1998: 556
January-12 February 1999: 71.
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 484 |
| 1991 | 529 |
| 1992 | 454 |
| 1993 | 683 |
| 1994 | 610 |
| 1995 | 588 |
| 1996 | 366 |
| 1997 | 406 |
| 1998 | 556 |
Viagra
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will seek to recover the cost of prescribing Viagra from those doctors who do so ahead of the Government's recommendations at the end of the consultation period; and if he will make a statement. [71193]
Mr. Denham: No. Viagra (sildenafil) is not included on either Schedule 10 or 11 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 1992 and it would not be expected that such action would be taken unless, as in any other case, recovery of an amount were to be due by virtue of other provisions relating to general practitioners and their terms of service.
Beta-interferon
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with health authorities regarding the prescribing of beta-interferon; what medical advice he has received regarding the benefits of that drug; what percentage of health authorities prescribe this drug; and if he will make a statement. [71192]
Mr. Denham: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with health authorities regarding the prescribing of beta-interferon.
Clinical advice from the Standing Medical Advisory Committee on the use of beta-interferon-1b in relapsing- remitting multiple sclerosis in adults was included in guidance issued to health authorities in November 1995 to help the National Health Service prepare for the introduction of beta-interferon for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (Executive Letter (95) 97). This included advice that general practitioners should be encouraged not to prescribe beta-interferon themselves, and instead refer patients who apparently fulfil the indications for this form of treatment to a hospital neurologist.
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The majority of beta-interferon prescribing should therefore take place in hospitals. Hospital prescribing and dispensing data are not held centrally.
East Timor
16. Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had about the future of East Timor. [69437]
Mr. Fatchett: We remain committed to the UN process of searching for a solution to the East Timor problem. We are in regular touch with the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker. We welcome the recent Indonesian government announcement that East Timor might reach independence and hope it will prove to be a turning point.
24. Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indonesian Government about military activity in East Timor since their offer of independence for the territory. [69445]
Mr. Fatchett: We are concerned at reports of growing tension in East Timor. We have been in regular touch with the Indonesian government about the situation there since their announcement that East Timor might reach independence.
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