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Court Sittings (Judges)
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the recommended amount of time per day that judges should sit in courts. [138864]
Jane Kennedy: There is no single recommended or prescribed sitting time for judges, as they are required to work outside sitting hours for other purposes, for example, reading or preparing case papers, preparing reserved judgments, dealing with listing directions, liaison with magistrates and chairing meetings of local user committees.
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the average amount of time per day spent sitting in court by judges (a) nationally and (b) at courts in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement. [138865]
Jane Kennedy: Information relating to the average length of courtroom sitting days in given in the table.
(10) Figures are expressed as decimals--e.g. 4.75 hours = 4 hours 45 minutes
(11) The Crown court figures relate to all types of judge. The county court figures cover only circuit judge level sittings
(12) Period covers January to September 2000
Notes:
1. Only Gloucester Crown court sits within Gloucestershire.
2. Only Gloucester county court hears circuit judge level trials within Gloucestershire.
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SCOTLAND
Government Expenditure and Revenue (Scotland)
Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will publish the Government Expenditure and Revenue (Scotland) report for the year 1998 to 1999. [138525]
Dr. Reid: The next report on Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland, in common with previous reports, is being prepared by the Government Economic Service and Government Statistical Service. No date has been set for publication.
HEALTH
Alder Hey Hospital
Mr. Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for (1) Health if he will make public the reports of Professor Robert Tinston, Chief Executive of the NHS North West Regional Office, in respect of the inquiry into the disposal of children's organs at the Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool; [131651]
- (2) how many parents of deceased children have been consulted by the Redfern Inquiry; what form that consultation has taken; if he will extend the time of the inquiry; and if he will make a statement; [131649]
(3) if he will call for an interim report from the Redfern Inquiry into events at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool; [131650]
(4) what extra resources have been provided to Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, to enable it to co-operate fully with the Redfern Inquiry; and if he will make a statement. [131652]
Mr. Denham: Internal reports between officials and Ministers are normally exempt from disclosure under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information that relates to information that would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion, unless justifiable reasons are presented why they should not be covered by this exemption clause.
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The independent inquiry should detail in its report the extent and form of parental consultation. The Inquiry has taken longer than first indicated to allow for the work to be completed.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State received the Report on 7 November and will study its findings over the next few weeks before publishing his response.
The National Health Service Executive recognised that extra expenditure would be incurred by the Trust in addressing issues relating to organ retention, including the Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry. The trust has been allocated additional funding in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 to meet these costs and after that any recurring element will be funded from the normal commissioning process.
Infertility Treatment
Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the operation of his guidelines to local health authorities on the availability of infertility treatment; and if he will make a statement. [135489]
Yvette Cooper: The Department has not issued any guidelines to health authorities on the provision of infertility treatment.
However, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has published three sets of comprehensive clinical guidelines for the management of infertility in primary, secondary and tertiary care. These guidelines have been distributed to Royal College's members working in the field.
We share concerns that have been expressed about the unacceptable variations in the level of NHS funded infertility services across the country. We are examining ways to tackle this problem.
We also propose shortly to publish a report on the results of a survey the Department undertook last year into health authorities' provision of infertility services.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letters to him dated 22 May, 29 June and 2 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Griffith. [136089]
Ms Stuart: A reply to my right hon. Friend's letter was sent on 7 November.
Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine
Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about single dose measles mumps and rubella vaccines, with particular reference to availability of an option for parents to have these vaccines administered to their children singly. [136201]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr (Ms Osborne) on 19 June 2000, Official Report, column 49W.
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Maternity Units
Sir Archie Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of maternity units in England have no (a) paediatric special care units on site and (b) doctors routinely attached to the units; how often patients have had to be transferred as emergency cases from these units before, during and after labour to hospitals with full maternity and paediatric facilities in the last 12 months; and what was the incidence of child mortality (i) in maternity units in (a) and (b) and (ii) in all hospitals in the last 12 months. [136821]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not available. The latest data available for child mortality in all hospitals for 1998-99 are shown in the table.
| Age | Died | Stillbirth |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2,852 | 2,249 |
| 1 | 184 | -- |
| 2 | 102 | -- |
| 3 | 62 | -- |
| 4 | 47 | -- |
| 5-9 | 170 | -- |
| 10-14 | 209 | -- |
| Age not known and others | 262,002 | -- |
| Total | 267,668 | -- |
Notes:
Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health
Civil Servants Relocation
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which relocation companies hold contracts with his Department for the relocation of civil servants; when the contracts were last renewed; where the contracts were advertised; and what the length and value of each contract is. [137187]
Ms Stuart: The contract for relocation of Departmental staff is held by Cendant Relocation (UK) Ltd. (formerly PHH Relocation plc). The contract was advertised in June 1997 in the European Official Journal and, following a tender exercise, was awarded to PHH to run from 1 January 1998 for a period of three years, with an option to extend for a further two years at the end of the initial period. There is no set value to the contract as Cendant charge for their services on a by case basis.
Drug Abuse
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those projects his Department supports which are engaged in highlighting the dangers of drug abuse to children and young people. [137339]
Ms Stuart: We are committed to a 10-year strategy of joint action to tackle the problem of drug misuse. One of the aims of the strategy is to ensure that young people have access to all the information and support they need in order to resist drug misuse and thus to achieve their full potential in society.
The Department is contributing to this objective through a wide range of projects and initiatives that are listed in the United Kingdom Anti-Drugs Co-Ordinator's
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Annual Report 1999-2000, copies of which are available in the Library. One example is the "Primary Care and Primary Schools" programme that was launched earlier this year. This project will enable healthcare professionals to support primary school teachers in the delivery of drug education. We are also supporting drug prevention work in the 26 Health Action Zones. This work is targeted at young people who are particularly at risk of developing problems with drugs.
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