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Social Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy on taking power to issue statutory guidance to local authorities concerning their social services charging policies. [121612]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 11 May 2000]: Our White Paper, "Modernising Social Services", recognised that the scale of variation in discretionary charges for non-residential care is unacceptable. This has now been confirmed in the Audit Commission report, "Charging with Care". We are considering all the options for changing the current system, and will consult representatives of service users, carers, local authorities, and other interested parties.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assumptions are made by his Department in the social services Standard Spending Assessment for the recoupment of costs by means of charges. [121611]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 11 May 2000]: The Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) for personal social services comprises four elements: SSAs for children's services, residential care services for older people, non-residential care services for older people, and services for adults aged 18 to 64 years.
The SSA formula for residential services for older people includes an estimate of the actual amount of income collected. The SSA formula for non-residential services for older people reflects differences in the potential to raise charge income in different councils. However, SSAs are intended to reflect relative differences in councils' need to spend. The Department does not set targets for recoupment rates, nor make assumptions regarding the monetary value of cost recoupment.
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The SSA formulae for the other two elements make no assumption about income from charges.
VAT (Continence Products)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the reimposition of VAT on continence products is estimated to cost the NHS in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. [122106]
Mr. Hutton: Details of expenditure on continence products are not held centrally. The estimate of £9 million per annum given in the reply to the hon. Gentleman on 2 March 1998, Official Report, column 487W, was based on an earlier study. However, there is no reason to suppose that this estimate is not valid for 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
Animal Experiments
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of patients in the last five years who knew that the drugs dispensed to them had been tested on animals; and if he will make a statement. [122103]
Ms Stuart: No estimate has been made of the proportion of patients in the last five years who knew that the drugs dispensed to them had been tested on animals. Although there is no statutory requirement for pharmaceutical product labels to include a statement on animal testing, such information is often available in the Summary of Product Characteristic.
Breastfeeding (Food Supplements)
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide mothers with vouchers for food supplements to help with the breastfeeding of their babies; and if he will make a statement. [122142]
Yvette Cooper: The Welfare Food Scheme is being reviewed and the Prevention Modernisation Action Team is examining a wide range of options but no conclusions have been reached. Any proposals for change will be subject to parliamentary approval.
Phenobarbitone
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the increase in the cost of phenobarbitone over the last three years. [122143]
Ms Stuart: Table A shows the change in prescription items and the net ingredient cost of phenobarbitone dispensed in the community, 1996 to 1998, and January 1999 to September 1999.
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Phenobarbitone is included in our proposals to set maximum prices for certain generic medicines, announced on 20 April 2000.
| Year | Prescription items (thousand) | Net ingredient (£000) |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 403.6 | 187.6 |
| 1997 | 381.8 | 215.5 |
| 1998 | 363.8 | 237.2 |
| 1999(2) | 260.1 | 258.8 |
(2) January to September
Notes:
1. The prescription information is from the Prescribed Cost Analysis (PCA) system and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispensed in the community, ie by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. Also included are prescriptions written in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man but dispensed in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospital or private prescriptions.
2. The net ingredient cost (NIC) is the basic cost of a drug and does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.
3. Phenobarbitone drugs are those defined within the British National Formulary section 4.8.1, "Control of epilepsy".
Leukaemia
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what clusters of sufferers of leukaemia there are around (a) current and (b) past rubbish tips. [122154]
Yvette Cooper: Epidemiological studies have not demonstrated that there is a connection between landfill sites and leukaemias. We have commissioned the Small Area Health Statistics Unit at Imperial College, London, to carry out a study of health outcomes, including leukaemias, in populations living near landfills in England, Scotland and Wales during the period 1982 to 1996. The study is expected to be completed this year. Further information is available on the Department website, at http://www.doh.gov.uk/landh.htm
Respite Care (Disabled Children)
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make respite care available for parents of children with severe physical, mental or physiological difficulties. [120943]
Mr. Hutton: Respite care is already available for families with disabled children. Availability of respite care is being boosted by two important Government initiatives. First, the Carers National Strategy, which gives a strong commitment to improving services and support for all carers, including parent carers of disabled children. The Carers Grant in 2000-01 includes £10 million for services for families with disabled children.
Secondly, Quality Protects, the Government's £375 million programme to improve children's services includes the specific sub-objective for all local authorities to:
- increase the number of disabled children receiving family support services (including short term breaks/respite care).
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Deprived Neighbourhoods
Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support is available to businesses in deprived neighbourhoods outside the inner city. [120125]
Ms Hewitt: The full range of business support from the Small Business Service is available throughout the country. In the Assisted Areas, grants are available for eligible investment: in Tiers 1 and 2 Regional Selective Assistance, and in Tier 3 Enterprise Grants. There is a wider range of regeneration initiatives in the most deprived neighbourhoods, and the Government are currently consulting on a new National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal.
Eco-schools Scheme
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support his Department gives to the Eco-schools scheme. [121672]
Mr. Mullin: I have been asked to reply.
Eco-schools is run by Going for Green and is funded through ENTRUST (the approved regulator of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme) by Coca-Cola/Sita Environmental Trust. The Department also pays grant to Going for Green and its sister company, the Tidy Britain Group, to run a number of programmes, including Eco-schools, that will create an awareness of, and a demand for, litter free and sustainable environments. The Department paid a total grant of £3,763,000 in 1999-2000, with the same amount available in 2000-01.
World Trade Organisation
Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to establish UK representation in a WTO parliamentary body to meet alongside future WTO ministerial meetings. [121964]
Mr. Caborn: The UK Government support the current consultations by WTO Director General Mike Moore and General Council Chair Ambassador Bryn which include consideration of WTO consultative and decision-making procedures. We would not like to pre-judge the outcome of these consultations--including any ideas concerning a WTO parliamentary body--which will need to take into account a wide range of views among WTO members on the nature of the issues and the shape of solutions for reform, in order to reach consensus between WTO members on a way forward.
Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions the Government have undertaken with the Inter-Parliamentary Union about organising the representation of parliamentarians at future WTO ministerial meetings. [121965]
Mr. Caborn: The UK Government support the current consultations by WTO Director General Mike Moore and General Council Chair Ambassador Bryn which include consideration of WTO consultative and decision-making procedures. We would not like to pre-judge the outcome of these consultations--including any ideas concerning the representation of parliamentarians at future WTO ministerial meetings--which will need to take into
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account a wide range of views among WTO members on the nature of the issues and the shape of solutions for reform, in order to reach consensus between WTO members on a way forward.
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