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Clinical Indicators
Mr. Lilley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to publish (a) mortality rates and (b) frequency of performing medical procedures for (i) individual consultants and (ii) hospitals. [113850]
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Mr. Denham:
In 1999 the Department published six Clinical Indicators, which included headline indicator sets of mortality and hospital readmission rates by National Health Service trust. This information allowed NHS organisations to explore their position relative to other similar organisations and to take action to review variations in performance. A similar set of clinical indicators are due to be published in June 2000.
Dr. Stoate:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will announce his decision on the awarding of section 64 grants for the coming financial years. [113841]
Mr. Hutton:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Mr. Hope) on 8 February 2000, Official Report, column 117W.
Dr. Stoate:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the percentage allocation of section 64 grants to charities which specialise in long-term medical conditions. [113842]
Mr. Hutton:
Around 20 per cent. of the section 64 budget for 1999-2000 was allocated to voluntary bodies that provide various forms of support for people with disabilities and medical conditions. The allocation of section 64 funds across the voluntary sector is kept under review in light of the Department's priorities.
Mr. Burnett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Government plans to implement the report from the Royal Commission on long-term care for the elderly chaired by Sir Stewart Sunderland. [114740]
Mr. Hutton:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Belfast, South (Rev. Martin Smyth) on 1 March 2000, Official Report, column 321W.
Mr. Ashdown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the number of people waiting for outpatient appointments at the (a) East Somerset Health Trust and (b) Taunton and Somerset Health Trust on 1 February for each of the years (i) 1995-96, (ii) 1996-97, (iii) 1997-98, (iv) 1998-99 and (v) 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [114180]
Mr. Denham
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: The Department does not collect information on the total number of people waiting for outpatient appointments on any given day. Because of the high turnover of outpatient waiting lists (75 per cent. of patients are seen within 13 weeks) it would not be a useful indicator to have the total number of waiting at the last day of the quarter.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on (a) his Department, (b) health authorities, (c) NHS trusts and (d) NHS primary care groups of the extension to all duties of public authorities of the provisions on indirect discrimination contained in the Race Relations Act 1976. [114539]
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Mr. Denham
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: The Department is currently working with lawyers to assess the impact of the extension to all duties of public authorities of the provisions on indirect discrimination contained in the Race Relations Act 1976. This includes implications for the Department, health authorities and National Health Service trusts and primary care groups.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has offered to health authorities on the priority which they should give to non-medical circumcision. [114538]
Mr. Denham
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: We issue guidance on national priorities for treatment. For all other services local health authorities and primary care groups are responsible for identifying local need and commissioning services in response to that need.
Mr. Dawson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to deal with the problem of children being used for the purposes of begging; and if he will make a statement. [114723]
Mr. Hutton:
We are very concerned about the exploitation of children, and are committed to ensuring that all children are safeguarded and protected from harm. The police can act to prevent children being used for begging under Section 4 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Local authorities have a statutory duty under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to make inquiries where they have reasonable cause for concern that a child may need protection.
Mr. Dawson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the role of residential care as a placement option for looked-after children; and if he will make a statement. [114722]
Mr. Hutton:
Residential child care remains a valued placement option for some children who are looked after by local authorities. About 6,300 children were living in children's homes at 31 March 1999. This figure is much the same as the previous year.
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to eliminate the backlog of payments of minimum income guarantee to pensioners in Norfolk. [113829]
Mr. Rooker:
I understand that although my hon. Friend refers to Minimum Income Guarantee, for which there are no backlogs, the question should have referred to delays in payments arising because of NIRS2.
In Benefits Agency offices in Norwich and King's Lynn there are a total of 1,064 pension cases which were affected by the delayed implementation of NIRS2 that are still to be reviewed. Not all these cases, however, will result in the current rate of benefit being revised.
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Where awards of pension cannot be immediately calculated using information from NIRS2 a clerical calculation is made. This arrangement will continue until all cases can be calculated using NIRS2. Extra staff have been made available for this.
Mr. Welsh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list (a) the offices (i) owned and (ii) rented by his Department and its agencies in Scotland and (b) the number of staff (y) employed and (z) that can be accommodated (1) in total and (2) at each site. [114235]
Angela Eagle:
This Department no longer owns nor rents any offices. Since the PRIME contract began in April 1998, the Department has purchased serviced office accommodation from our private sector partners, Trillium plc.
A list of the buildings in Scotland where Trillium provides serviced office accommodation to the Department, as the major occupier, is given in the table.
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The table gives details of the total number of staff employed and a breakdown, by business unit, of the number of staff at each site.
Information about the numbers of staff that could feasibly be accommodated within the space currently occupied is not held centrally but details of the total business square metres available to each business unit is provided in the table. An average square metre allocation per member of staff is also given. This is a "notional" figure, however, and takes no account of the purpose for which the accommodation is maintained nor of less populated areas such as public caller areas and reception areas.
Trillium are contractually obliged to help business units to plan the effective and efficient management of their own accommodation and are actively working with the Department to achieve a greater degree of sophistication in our space utilisation plans. The ultimate aim is to maximise the benefit of the accommodation for all users, while maintaining an effective service to the customer.
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AD 12--West of Scotland Area Directorate
AD 13--East of Scotland Area Directorate
AD 2--Chilterns Area Directorate
DCBD--Disability and Carers Benefits Directorate
Note:
No DSS staff--occupied by service provider, EDS staff
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