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Asylum Seekers
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many asylum-seeking children are being provided with education in each of the state primary and secondary schools in London; and what proportion of pupils in each school this represents. [108793]
Jacqui Smith: Local education authorities do not routinely keep information on the number of asylum seeker children in their area so it is not possible to provide details on the numbers of children who have been offered school places.
The Department does not instruct local education authorities to return information about asylum seeker children educated in schools. The figures are volatile which means that they are out-of-date soon after collection. This and the inevitably high costs for LEAs of carrying out frequent counts renders such an exercise as being of limited value.
Higher Education (UK Component Countries)
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many undergraduate students in each of the component countries of the United Kingdom are enrolled on a course in another component country. [110394]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 21 February 2000]: The most recent information available is shown in the following table.
(19) Full-time and part-time students
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Mr. Hilary Benn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment who will be responsible for leading the INSET training days in schools in connection with the new pay arrangements for teachers; and if he will make a statement. [111583]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Schools are free to arrange INSET days in the way that best suits their needs. They will have a range of written materials available and my Department will be issuing further guidance. Some schools may wish to use the additional INSET day to work through the threshold arrangements with staff. Others may wish to use it to develop a performance management policy for the school with staff and governors. Headteachers and representatives of LEAs have been invited to one of a series of threshold training events taking place between 27 March and 14 April. At these events they will be given training packs and a "tool-kit" to take back to schools to help them explain the threshold process to teachers and governors. We are also arranging for trained performance management consultants to be available later in the summer to offer training and support including a one day training conference for a representative from each school.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 17 January 2000, Official Report, column 275W, on education initiatives, if he will list the individuals and organisations that have carried out consultancy and advisory work for his Department on a non-commercial basis. [109090]
Ms Estelle Morris:
This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
BCG Vaccine
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the existing arrangements with Medeva Pharma for supply of the BCG vaccine. [107989]
Yvette Cooper:
Medeva Pharma is the sole United Kingdom licensed manufacturer of BCG vaccine. The shortage of this vaccine is clearly unsatisfactory. The previous Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), met senior staff from Medeva twice in 1999 asking them to provide detailed explanations for their manufacturing problems and sought details of the plans for their resolution. The Department continues to be in close contact with
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Medeva monitoring the manufacturing progress. It is of considerable concern that despite numerous interventions supply of BCG vaccine is not forthcoming. Opportunities for alternative supplies from across the world are being investigated.
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons there is a shortage in the supply of manufactured BCG vaccine; what action he will like to restart the programme of vaccination in schools; and how he will ensure that supplies of the vaccine remain (a) constant and (b) sufficient. [107997]
Yvette Cooper:
There is only one licensed manufacturer of BCG vaccine in the United Kingdom--Medeva Pharma. Over the past months, this company has experienced severe manufacturing problems with their BCG production facility in Speke, Liverpool. Medeva has indicated to the Department that the production volumes are not currently sufficient to support the routine schools programmes. Until manufacturing resumes in sufficient quantities, stocks are being used specifically for those at higher risk of tuberculosis. The Department has had no alternative but to request health authorities to suspend their routine schools immunisation programme.
As soon as the problems with the manufacturing facility have been resolved and this has been demonstrated by stocks becoming available in sufficient quantities, the Department will advise health authorities to recommence their routine schools programmes.
Since vaccines are biological products whose manufacture can never be guaranteed, continuity of supply can only be assured by having sufficient stock manufactured in advance, preferably from more than one manufacturer. The Department is in contact with Medeva Pharma to offer any assistance in resolving their manufacturing problems. The Department is also investigating the possibility of alternative suppliers who can produce licensed, batch released vaccine for the UK market.
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2000, Official Report, column 335W, on BCG vaccinations, what is the procedure for a doctor to apply for BCG vaccinations; to whom the application is made; who takes the decision on issuing the vaccination; and who monitors and records the results of the vaccination programme. [108673]
Yvette Cooper:
BCG vaccine is ordered in the same way as for childhood vaccines. This may be direct from the distributor, Farillon, or via a local hospital pharmacy, dependent on local policy.
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BCG will continue to be issued as now, as it becomes available, for higher risk groups, in particular to maintain selective neonatal immunisation of infants at higher risk of exposure to tuberculosis.
Uptake of BCG vaccine is recorded by National Health Service trusts and the information collated by the Department on central return KC50. Figures are published annually in the Department's Statistical Bulletin, "NHS Immunisation Statistics". Surveillance of tuberculosis is the responsibility of the Public Health Laboratory Service, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. Vaccine uptake and the incidence of tuberculosis are monitored by both the Department and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the independent expert committee that advises the United Kingdom Health Departments on immunisation matters.
Mr. Hilary Benn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the development of NHSnet; and if he will make a statement. [108212]
Ms Stuart:
NHSnet is the National Health Service's own secure internal network for voice and data services. It already links most NHS trusts and health authorities, and a proportion of GP practices. Increasingly it will become the main vehicle for communications between the Department and the NHS, and between and within NHS organisations. Development plans include:
Mr. Gill:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ensure that NHS dentistry is available throughout the UK. [109836]
Mr. Hutton:
We recognise the problems of access to National Health Service dentistry which exist in parts of the country and which it inherited in 1997. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made it clear that, by the end of 2001, everyone should be able to find an NHS dentist simply by calling NHS Direct. We have already addressed the problem with the Investing in Dentistry initiative which generated up to 800,000 patient registrations with dentists, and the Personal Dental Service projects which include "phone and go" dental access centres. By the end of the year there will be about forty access centres in the areas which need them most, providing the full range of high quality NHS dentistry to patients who are not registered with a dentist. Further measures will be set out in the forthcoming strategy for NHS dentistry in England.
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to connect all computerised general practitioner practices with full e-mail and internet access
to use NHSnet for appointment booking, referrals, discharge information, radiology and laboratory requests and results in all parts of the country
to open a national electronic Library for Health with accredited clinical reference material on NHSnet to support clinical decision-making
in the longer term to support the development of telemedicine services between hospitals and GP surgeries.
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