| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Orphan Medicinal Products
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the definition is of orphan medicinal products referred to in Chapter 20 of the statement of revenue and expenditure of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products for 2001. [158355]
Ms Stuart: An orphan medicinal product is one used to treat a rare disease. A rare disease is defined by the Regulation (EC No. 141-2000) as one affecting not more than five people per 10,000 in the European Community.
24 Apr 2001 : Column: 214W
Nicotine Replacement Therapies
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has collated on the effectiveness of the investment of smoking cessation services set up following the White Paper, "Smoking Kills". [158353]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 23 April 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) on 5 April 2001, Official Report, column 267W.
Nicotine replacement therapy, as announced on 14 March, is now available on National Health Service prescription from 17 April in England. This fulfils our commitment made in the NHS Plan last year.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding has been allocated for (a) nicotine replacement therapies and (b) bupropian (Zyban), for (i) 2000-01 and (ii) 2001-02. [158343]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 23 April 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) on 26 March 2001, Official Report, column 452W.
Honey
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list cases of honey sold in the United Kingdom found to contain GM pollen. [158503]
Ms Stuart: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that it is not aware of any cases of honey containing genetically modified (GM) pollen on sale in the United Kingdom. Research commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has shown that GM pollen, if present, would represent no more than 0.00000000003g to 0.000000005g in a 500g jar of honey.
Foot and Mouth
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish guidance on the public health aspects of disposal of carcases of animals slaughtered as a result of the foot and mouth disease epidemic. [158892]
Mr. Milburn: I have today published guidance on measures to minimise the risk to public health from the slaughter and disposal of animals. The guidance will be issued to Regional and Health Authority Directors of Public Health, along with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and military personnel responsible for implementing the policy on slaughter and disposal.
Copies of the guidance are available in the Library.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
School Achievement Awards
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools were misinformed by his Department about school achievement awards in England (a) in total and (b) in each local education authority. [157309]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 6 April 2001]: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answers of 20 March 2001, Official Report, column 160-64W, on school achievement awards, which of the schools have since been found not to have been entitled to awards and which schools have been added to the list; and if he will make a statement. [157098]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 5 April 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt) on 30 March 2001, Official Report, column 842W. The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Learning and Skills Council
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of appointees to (a) each Learning and Skills Council and (b) Learning and
24 Apr 2001 : Column: 216W
Skills Councils in total have declared political activity for (i) the Labour party, (ii) the Conservative party, (iii) the Liberal Democrats and (iv) other parties. [157508]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 9 April 2001]: Appointments to the LSC and its local arms have been made through fair and open competition, in accordance with guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). We have sought to attract applications from individuals with a wide range of appropriate experience, regardless of any political affiliation they may have.
We wrote to all English MPs last year, asking them to encourage suitable candidates to apply. The great majority of applicants for LSC membership and of those appointed as members declared that they were not politically active within the last five years.
Of the 16 members appointed to the national Learning and Skills Council, five (31 per cent.) declared political activity with the Labour party. There were no declarations in respect of other parties.
141 of the 641 people who have been appointed and remain as members of the local Learning and Skills Councils declared political activity. These figures exclude Executive Directors of local Learning and Skills Councils as they were not required to declare political activity when applying for these posts. A breakdown by political party is set out in the table:
| Appointed | Percentage of politically active members | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 21 | 14.9 |
| Labour | 107 | 75.9 |
| Liberal Democrat | 10 | 7.1 |
| Other | 3 | 2.1 |
| Total | 141 | 100 |
As a percentage success rate, based on the number of applications by party, this breaks down as: 24 per cent. for Labour; 21 per cent. for the Conservatives; 13 per cent. for the Liberal-Democrats; and 12 per cent. for other parties.
The table shows the percentage of appointees to each of the 47 local LSCs who have declared political activity, by party:
24 Apr 2001 : Column: 215W
24 Apr 2001 : Column: 217W
24 Apr 2001 : Column: 217W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |