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Sierra Leone
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of her Department's bilateral country programme aid for Sierra Leone is spent by the Government of Sierra Leone. [126458]
Clare Short: Currently, we are providing £10 million of programme aid to the Government of Sierra Leone for two purposes: to meet the Government's debt service obligations to the international financial institutions (IFIs); and to help pay the salaries of public sector teachers and health workers, and the police. The programme aid grant is administered on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone by Crown Agents Financial Services Ltd. (CASL). CASL make current debt service payments direct to the IFIs on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone as they become due. CASL reimburses the Government of Sierra Leone for prior expenditure on public sector salaries, and then carries out independent audit checks on payroll to guard against fraudulent claims.
Ministerial Offices (Refurbishment)
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the total cost of refurbishment and redecoration of her Department's ministerial offices since 1 May 1997. [126444]
Clare Short: Since 1997 our Department has spent the following amounts on the refurbishment of ministerial offices, which included replacement furniture and redecoration:
- 1997: £7,978
- 1998: £7,376
- 1999: Nil.
Know How Fund
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid her Department is providing to Eastern European countries under the Know How Fund; and if she will make a statement. [125229]
Clare Short: Over the last five years bilateral programmes of financial and technical assistance to Eastern European countries have totalled around £80 million a year. This assistance is channelled directly to Governments, and also to other institutions including local governments,
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non-governmental and civil society institutions. In addition the UK provided assistance through its contributions to multilateral institutions including the European Community and World Bank.
HEALTH
Mead Webber Plant
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the nature is of the investigation the Meat Hygiene Service is planning into official veterinary surgeon supervision at the Mead Webber plant since 10 April; and what the timescale is for the investigation. [122042]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 15 May 2000]: I understand from the Food Standards Agency that it is arranging for Mead Webber Ltd.'s complaints against the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) to be investigated independently. The investigation will be carried out as quickly as possible.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Official Veterinary Surgeons have attended the Mead Webber abattoir since the Meat Hygiene Service took over responsibility for supervising it; and when Mr. Yogaratnam was appointed as OVS to the plant. [122056]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 15 May 2000]: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that, owing to a fire at a central Government filestore in 1998, the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) is unable to provide a categorical statement as to how many official veterinary surgeons (OVSs) have attended the Mead Webber abattoir since it took over responsibility for supervising these premises.
However, available records show that 19 OVSs have attended the Mead Webber abattoir since the MHS took over responsibility for supervising it. Two of these have acted as the lead OVSs throughout this period, and as such have been responsible for the production of HAS scores for the plant. The other 17 have been used to provide locum cover.
Mr. Yogaratnam was appointed as OVS to the Mead Webber plant in April 1997.
Staff Secondments
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff from his Department were seconded to private sector companies in (a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999 and (c) May 1999 to April 2000; and if he will list in each case the companies to which staff were sent, the names and ranks of the staff involved and the duration of the secondment. [123424]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 24 May 2000]: Interchange is a key component of the reform agenda. The Modernising Government White Paper committed us to increasing interchange, in particular by bringing in more people on secondment and sending more of our people out. Secondments and attachments are part of the Interchange Initiative which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All sectors of the economy are involved: voluntary, education, health, public and private.
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Central records are held on the following secondments to the private sector which commenced in the years shown in the table.
| Date | Number | Details |
|---|---|---|
| May 1997-April 1998 | 2 | Howard Bloom, SCS, to Sema Group for 5 years |
| Mr. W. Flynn, IP4 to Dawn til Dusk Plc for 1 year | ||
| May 1998-April 1999 | 0 | No secondments, according to central records |
| May 1999-April 2000 | 1 | Robert Newton, IP3 to Federal Mogul for 6 months |
Accident and Emergency Units (Violence)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had, and with whom, about giving greater support to nursing staff working in accident and emergency units at NHS hospitals in the Greater London area to combat violence towards staff from the general public. [125767]
Ms Stuart: We are determined to ensure that National Health Service staff who spend their lives caring for others are not rewarded with intimidation and violence. Violence to staff is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
"Working Together", the national human resources strategic framework for the NHS, sets out a number of HR targets and priorities for NHS employers. One of these concerns violence to staff. NHS employers have been asked to put in place systems for the recording and monitoring of violent incidents and to meet targets to reduce these by 20 per cent. by 2001 and 30 per cent. by 2003. Regional offices of the NHS Executive are asked to monitor progress against these targets. The London Regional Office through its performance management processes will be measuring progress against these targets in 2001.
Cosmetic Surgery
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2000, Official Report, column 129W, on cosmetic surgery, what assessment he has made of the operation of regulations pertaining to advertising of cosmetic surgery; and what contact has taken place between his Department and the Department of Trade and Industry on the same. [126320]
Ms Stuart: Our response to the Health Committee's Fifth Report on the regulation of private and other independent healthcare made it clear that we agreed that normal advertising controls alone may not be sufficient in the field of cosmetic surgery to ensure that the information that patients receive is of an acceptable standard. Officials in the Department of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry worked together on this issue. The Care Standards Bill, as drafted, will allow us to introduce regulations covering standards of information given to patients in the independent sector, including promotional material.
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Diabetes
Mr. Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has (1) to improve awareness among health care professionals of the risk factors and symptoms of diabetes; [126513]
- (2) to raise awareness of diabetes among the public, with particular reference to those in higher-risk groups. [126512]
Mr. Denham: We recognise the importance of raising awareness about the risk factors and symptoms of diabetes among both the public and health care professionals. Ministers have asked the United Kingdom National Screening Committee, which advises Government on all aspects of screening policy, to consider whether there is a case for the introduction of a targeted screening programme for Type 2 diabetes and, if so, how this could most effectively be achieved. The conclusions of the Committee will inform the work of the Expert Reference Group for the National Service Framework for diabetes in England.
The aims of the diabetes National Service Framework are to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes by raising the quality of services and reducing variations between them. Its scope includes prevention, identification and management of diabetes and its complications.
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what methods his Department will use to identify the estimated one million people living undiagnosed with diabetes; [126427]
- (2) what plans he has to move resources within the NHS from treating the complications of diabetes towards prevention and early diagnosis; [126397]
(3) what plans he has to reduce the incidence of diabetic complications through prevention, early diagnosis and intensive management of the condition. [126418]
Mr. Denham: We recognise the importance of detecting diabetes as early as possible. Ministers have asked the United Kingdom National Screening Committee, which advises Government on all aspects of screening policy, to consider whether there is a case for the introduction of a targeted screening programme for Type 2 diabetes and, if so, how this could most effectively be achieved. The conclusions of the Committee will inform the work of the Expert Reference Group for the National Service Framework for Diabetes in England that we announced last year. The scope of the Framework includes prevention, identification and management of diabetes and its complications.
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