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New Deal (Single Gateway)
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what changes the Government plans to make to the Single Gateway to Benefit before its implementation. [78919]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The Government have announced plans to forge a new culture in the benefits system which puts work first and provides a modern, integrated, flexible service for all. Pilots will begin in June to test the effectiveness of providing a Single Work-Focused Gateway into the benefits system. Intensive work is taking place to put these pilots into operation in four areas from June and a further eight areas from November. We shall evaluate the pilots thoroughly to inform decisions about wider implementation of the Single Gateway approach.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to extend the use of specialised agencies in the New Deal Gateway process. [78918]
Mr. Andrew Smith: In last year's Budget statement my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £50 million investment in the New Deal Gateway, of which £10 million was allocated to enhance specialist provision to help with such problems as homelessness and drug or alcohol dependency. More recently New Deal personal advisers have been reminded of the need to make full use of the help available from partner organisations, including specialist agencies. We are also currently developing more effective ways of assessing at an early stage in the Gateway whether young people are in particular need of specialist help.
I will shortly be inviting New Deal partnerships to submit proposals for innovative approaches to delivering New Deal locally which we might support from our new Innovation Fund. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced additional resources for the Fund in this year's Budget. One of the priority areas for support will be proposals to implement recommendations from the New Deal Task Force report, "Meeting the needs of disadvantaged young people". I hope that some partnerships will come forward with proposals to implement and test out the report's recommendation that specialist agencies could provide effective case- management for young people with particularly severe problems during their time on New Deal.
HEALTH
Mortality Rates (Young Men)
16. Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce mortality rates of young men, with particular reference to men in their early-30s. [77714]
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Ms Jowell:
Mortality rates in some groups of young men are cause for concern. In those aged 30-34, specifically, there has been a progressive increase in rates since 1986 associated, for instance, with increased deaths from suicides, drug and alcohol abuse and infectious diseases (e.g. AIDS). These offset reductions in deaths from other causes (e.g. accidents, cancer and heart disease). The "Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health" highlighted, for example, suicide rates in young men and some action has already been taken. Reducing health inequalities is a key aim of our health strategy and the forthcoming "Our Healthier Nation" White Paper will focus on relevant conditions.
17. Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the financial settlement for Gloucestershire health authority for the next financial year. [77715]
Mr. Denham:
Gloucestershire health authority has been allocated £334.6 million for 1999-2000, which represents a cash increase of £17.4 million (5.5 per cent.).
18. Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the implementation of primary care groups of general practitioners. [77716]
Mr. Denham:
Primary care groups have been implemented to enable family doctors and nurses to shape and develop services locally in a way which better meets the needs of their population and which improves the health of their community.
37. Mr. Burden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress made in establishing primary care groups. [77735]
Mr. Denham:
481 primary care groups, covering the whole of England, will become operational from April, charged with tackling health inequalities and delivering improvements in the quality and efficiency of patient services.
19. Ms Kingham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to raise public awareness of the dangers of skin cancer. [77717]
Ms Jowell:
Skin cancers are largely preventable and we continue to work closely with a wide range of public bodies to raise public awareness of the sun's harmful effects. The Health Education Authority's annual sun awareness week and the new ultra-violet solar index being developed with the Meteorological Office are examples of the work the Department of Health is supporting to provide people with information on the day-to-day strength of the sun's rays and its capacity to burn, advice on the measures a person can take to lessen risks of sunburn, and information on the early detection and treatment of skin cancers.
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20. Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that everybody has access to a local NHS dentist. [77718]
Mr. Denham:
The investing in dentistry (IID) initiative, which we launched in September 1997, and the personal dental services (PDS) scheme, which we announced on 1 January 1998, can both help to improve access to national health service dentistry. IID provides grants to enable dentists to expand existing practices and set up new ones in those areas of the country where the provision of NHS dental services is inadequate and oral health inequalities are most acute. PDS encourages health authorities to work with dentists to develop a variety of new arrangements to improve access to NHS dentistry.
22. Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the underspend on his Department's "investing in dentistry" initiative. [77720]
Mr. Denham:
We expect all the funding available for 1998-99 for investing in dentistry (IID) to be assigned by the end of the financial year. Funding available in the first year of IID was not fully utilised, as most approvals became due for payment in the second year of the scheme.
30. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the "investing in dentistry" initiative. [77728]
Mr. Denham:
Investing in dentistry has been extremely effective. We have approved over £8 million of grants which will enable around 650,000 people to receive access to national health service dentistry. All dentists receiving grants will be monitored by their health authority to ensure that the conditions of the grant are met; if the dentist does not meet the commitment to provide NHS dentistry to the number of people specified, the grant can be reclaimed in whole or in part.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will extend the principles of clinical governance outlined in "A First Class Service" to dentists working in the general dental services. [79414]
Mr. Denham:
Health Service Circular 1999/065 "Clinical Governance: Quality in the new NHS" makes it clear that clinical governance arrangements will include general dental practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists. Clinical Governance in the General Dental Services will be implemented to a similar time scale as the rest of the national health service.
To develop clinical governance in the GDS we will build on the elements already in place, underpinned by continuing professional development and strengthened by self-regulation.
21. Mr. Dawson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress on improving services for young people leaving local authority care since the publication of "Quality Protects". [77719]
Mr. Hutton:
All local authorities were required to submit quality protects management action plans to the Department of Health by 31 January. The management
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action plans had to set out, among other information, the local authorities' plans for improving the services for young people leaving care. This is one of the six priority areas for the payment of the £375 million children's social services special grant.
We shall be publishing the findings of our evaluation of the management action plans in a national overview report due out in the summer.
23. Ms Stuart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the number of people on NHS hospital waiting lists (a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) today. [77721]
Mr. Denham:
The Government inherited the largest and fastest-rising waiting lists ever. We promised that by April 1999 waiting lists would be lower than the position we inherited of 1.158 million. We have delivered this promise a month early by reducing waiting lists by 193,000 since last April to 1.12 million.
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