| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Public Spending
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate (a) the size of the change in public spending on goods and services in the first year and sustained relative to base and (b) the size of the change in taxation needed in each case to secure a 1 per cent. point cut in interest rates, assuming broadly unchanged domestic demand; and if he will estimate the effects on the effective exchange rate index for sterling. [145866]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 16 January 2001]: It has been the practice of successive Governments for many years not to run Treasury model simulations in order to answer Parliamentary Questions, principally on grounds of cost.
Euro
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he gave approval to the proposal by the Bank of England to auction 500 million euro notes on 16 January; and what the purpose of the initiative is. [145626]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 15 January 2001]: The Chancellor approved the proposal by the Bank of England to replace HMG as issuer of notes denominated in euro in March 2000. The decision was announced to the public in a press notice dated 21 March 2000. Proceeds of the note issuance will add to the foreign exchange holdings of the Bank of England.
Equitable Life
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when it is intended that the report into the FSA's management of events concerning Equitable Life will be (a) completed and (b) published. [144142]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 8 January 2001]: The FSA's report will cover both the FSA's role as prudential regulator and its exercise of its functions under the Financial Services Act 1986. The report is likely to take some months to complete and will be published.
22 Jan 2001 : Column: 430W
EC Budget (Scotland)
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the sum allocated in the draft EC Budget and Adopted EC budget for 2000 to the European Movement will be spent in Scotland in the 2000-01 financial year. [145659]
Miss Melanie Johnson: It is within the remit of the Commission to decide the criteria for the targeting of such funds.
Miners' Pension Fund
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to hold talks with Miners' Pension Fund trustees regarding the proportion the Government takes from Miners' Pension Fund surpluses. [146233]
Mrs. Liddell: I have been asked to reply.
My Department maintains close links with the Trustees and their representatives, and discussions continue between the Scheme and the Department over the scope for further targeted benefit improvements following the announcement, last August, of a real-terms increase of almost 9 per cent. in miners' pensions.
HEALTH
MMR Vaccine
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which strains of attenuated viruses have been used in the creation of the MMR vaccine over the past 10 years. [145130]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 15 January 2001]: Measles, mumps and rubella combination vaccines contain three attenuated viruses. Since 1992, the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines that have been used in the national immunisation programme (MMR-11 and Priorix) have comprised the following strains: Ender's Edmonston strain and Schwartz strain used in the preparation of the measles component; Jeryl Lynn strain used in the preparation of the mumps component, and Wistar strain used in the preparation of the rubella component.
Before 1992, some children in the United Kingdom may have received a combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine that contained the Urabe Am 9 mumps strain.
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what medical reasons single antigen measles and mumps vaccines are not licensed in the United Kingdom. [145131]
Yvette Cooper: The policy for protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella is a two dose schedule of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. This is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the assessment of the safety of the vaccine by the Committee for the Safety of Medicines.
22 Jan 2001 : Column: 431W
This policy has been endorsed on 12 January 2001 by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association.
Separate doses of single antigen vaccines given at intervals leave children vulnerable to the risk of potentially serious disease. The JCVI advises that there are no benefits from giving the single antigen vaccines compared with the combined vaccine and that a schedule of separate vaccines is less safe than the combined vaccine.
The MCA advises that the single antigen vaccines for measles and mumps currently being imported are unlicensed. Further to my replies to my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr (Ms Osborne) on 19 June 2000, Official Report, column 49W and to the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride) on 24 November 2000, Official Report, column 354W, I have now been informed by the Medicines Control Agency that there are extant licenses for measles and mumps vaccines. However there are no vaccines available for use in the United Kingdom that meet the specifications of those licenses and the vaccines that are in use are not licensed. All single antigen measles and mumps vaccines in the UK are not licensed for use in the UK.
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on allowing parents to choose separate vaccinations for children against measles, mumps and rubella. [145913]
Yvette Cooper: The policy for protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella is a two dose schedule of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. This is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the assessment of the safety of the vaccine by the Committee for the Safety of Medicines.
This policy has been endorsed on 12 January 2001 by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association.
Separate doses of single antigen vaccines given at intervals leave children vulnerable to the risk of potentially serious disease. The JCVI advises that there are no benefits from giving the single antigen vaccines compared with the combined vaccine and that a schedule of separate vaccines is less safe than the combined vaccine. It is not the policy of the Department to offer this schedule.
Emergency Hospital Re-admissions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of patients aged 75 years and over were readmitted as emergencies within 28 days of their discharge for each quarter for the last two years in each NHS Trust, or Health Authority, by NHS region. [141506]
Mr. Denham: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
22 Jan 2001 : Column: 432W
Long-term Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assumptions underlay the estimate of the number of new care packages which would be available; when these packages will be available; how much each package will cost; how many hours of contact will be provided; and if sufficient staff are available to support the extra packages. [141501]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 13 December 2000]: Figures provided by councils show that the number of people in England aged 65 and over per 1,000 population who were being helped to live at home increased by 2 per cent. between 1998-99 and 1999-2000. This amounts to an additional 15,000-20,000 people.
Information is not available centrally on the number of contact hours used for the full range of community-based home care services. Contact hours are recorded only on home help and home care services. Information on the number of staff is available only for those employed directly by social services departments. No figures are collected on staff who work in the independent sector.
Nursing and Residential Homes
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the results of his survey of Social Services Departments in respect of the change in the number of nursing home and residential care home beds between October 1999 and October 2000. [141500]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 13 December 2000]: The data were collected in order to inform judgments about local preparedness and were not part of a national survey within the Department's arrangements for collecting, validating and disseminating national statistics on social care. It would therefore be inappropriate to publish the information.
Chlamydia
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will summarise the result of the pilot studies on Chlamydia; and if he will make a statement. [145355]
Yvette Cooper: As the pilot study only finished in September we are still analysing the results. The final report is expected in the spring and this will be used to help develop national policy via the sexual health and HIV strategy and the National Screening Committee.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |