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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Public Guardianship Office
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many complaints have been lodged in the last five years with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in respect of the Public Guardianship Office. [27109]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Forty-six complaints have been lodged with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in respect of the Public Guardianship Office since 1 January 1996. Of these nine have been, or are currently being, investigated.
1901 Census
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations she has (a) had from and (b) made to the Public Records Office following the difficulties experienced by members of the public trying to access the 1901 Census on the internet. [26922]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Public Records Office has reported to the Lord Chancellor and myself that it has carried out its statutory duty of making the 1901 census returns available to the public, by providing microfiche copies to local public library and archive services throughout the country and access to a traditional microfiche service at Kew. It has also kept us fully and regularly up to date with the initial difficulties being experienced with the launch of the online service owing to the unprecedented level of demand experienced in the first few days, and the steps that the PRO and its partner QinetiQ Ltd. are taking to resolve these difficulties. A limited online service is already available at the Family Records Centre, the Public Record Office at Kew and some other local libraries and archives.
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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what penalty clauses for performance failure were included in the contracts for the construction, operation and support of the 1901 Census website; if she plans to invoke such clauses; and if she will make a statement. [26507]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The contract between the Public Record Office and QinetiQ Ltd. contains penalty clauses as is standard practice in this type of contract. The operation of these clauses, which are covered by commercial confidentiality, is a matter for the parties concerned.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, if she will place in the Library copies of the contracts awarded for the construction, operation and support of the 1901 Census website. [26509]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This contract contains commercially sensitive information, which it would be inappropriate to put into the public domain.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what estimate she has made of the cost to public funds of the additional work being carried out to allow the 1901 Census to be accessed online. [26508]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No cost to the Public Record Office is involved in the additional work now being carried out. The contractor QinetiQ Ltd. is meeting the costs of this work.
Government Documents
Norman Baker: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what mechanism is used to determine which Government documents are (a) retained within a department, (b) sent to the Public Record Office and (c) destroyed; and what estimate she has made for the last year for which figures are available of the percentage of documents falling into each category. [27541]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The mechanism for determining which Government documents should be sent to the Public Record Office originates from the Public Records Act 1958. Under sections 3(1) and 2(2), public records bodies (which includes Government Departments) are responsible for selection of those records which are to be permanently preserved. This process is carried out under the guidance, supervision and co-ordination of the Public Record Office.
The broad criteria governing selection are set out in the PRO's "Acquisition Policy", published in 1998, with more detailed criteria being set out in operational selection policies relating to particular themes or Departments. These are available on the PRO's website at www.pro.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/.
Records not selected for the PRO may be deposited in other archives that have been approved by the PRO under the Act as suitable places of deposit for public records.
The Public Records Act 1958 makes provision for Departments to retain records over 30-years-old for administrative purposes or other special reasons, subject to the approval of the Lord Chancellor. The White Paper "Open Government" (Cm 2290, 1993) defines the
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grounds on which Departments may apply for permission to retain records. The Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on Public Records assesses the applications from Departments. Where applications for retention seem, either to the Advisory Council or to officials at the PRO, to be inappropriate, the items are referred back to the originating Department for further investigation. Once the Advisory Council is satisfied, a schedule of retention applications is passed to the Lord Chancellor for his signature.
Departments are responsible for destroying records which have not been selected for preservation in the Public Record Office or other places of deposit and which they do not require for continuing administrative purposes.
It is not possible to calculate precisely the percentages of records retained and destroyed because Departments are not required to report the overall quantity of records created. A study of records storage and management in Government, conducted jointly by the Public Record Office and Cabinet Office in 1997 ("Records Storage and Management, a Scoping Study"), estimated that on
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average about 2 per cent. of Government records were selected for permanent preservation, the remainder being considered of no lasting historical interest.
HEALTH
Health Care Funding
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2002, how much funding for health care per patient there is in the parliamentary constituencies of (a) Sedgefield, (b) West Chelmsford, (c) South-West Surrey and (d) North-West Hampshire. [27035]
Mr. Hutton: The health authorities for these parliamentary constituencies, and their allocations per weighted head of population (provided on 8 January) and unweighted head of population in 2001–02, are shown in the table.
It is more meaningful to show health authority allocations per head of population using weighted populations. This is because funding takes into account the relative needs of populations using a weighted capitation formula.
| Parliamentary constituency | Health authority | 2001–02(26) | 2001–02(27) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedgefield | County Durham | 730 | 808 |
| West Chelmsford | North Essex | 728 | 674 |
| South-West Surrey | West Surrey | 749 | 671 |
| North-West Hampshire | North and Mid Hampshire | 736 | 615 |
(26) Allocation per weighted head of population
(27) Allocation per unweighted head of population
Appointments
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the (a) existing and (b) proposed NHS (i) national directors posts, (ii) commissions, (iii) offices, (iv) types of trust, (v) types of authority, (vi) groups, (vii) boards, (viii) committees, (ix) forums, (x) councils and (ix) bodies. [16613]
Ms Blears [pursuant to her reply, 23 November 2001, c. 580w]: I regret that my previous reply contained an inadvertent error, in that the list of planned national health service bodies should not have included a tobacco regulatory authority, which we have no plans at the moment to establish. The full list should therefore read:
- National Bodies planned to be established
- Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals
- Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health
- Health Professionals Council
- NHS Shared Services Programme
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Medical Education Standards Board.
Mental Health
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the additional funding to fast track the delivery of better mental health services has been spent; and where and when. [9511]
Jacqui Smith: Announced with the NHS Plan was additional funding to fast forward the National Service Framework. In 2001–02 £12.35 million revenue and £68 million for capital projects will be allocated. In 2002–03 an additional £93.5 million revenue and £79 million capital, and in 2003–04 £312 million revenue and £26 million capital will be allocated.
In 2001–02 most of the revenue will be spent on improving services in the high security hospitals and in prisons. Revenue in 2002–03 to 2003–04 will be spent on crisis resolution, assertive outreach, early intervention, primary care workers, and services for women and carers. Capital funding will be spent on improving services in the high secure hospitals and in prisons.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what range of services is available to someone with severe mental health problems; how much is being spent on mental health services by his Department in 2001–02; and what plans there are to increase this amount. [25160]
Jacqui Smith: Our policy for England as set out in the Mental Health National Service Framework and the NHS Plan is to ensure that each person with a severe mental illness problem receives the range of mental health services he or she needs. Each person who is in receipt of specialist mental health services should have his or her health and social care needs assessed, and a written care plan should be agreed with him or her. A care
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co-ordinator should ensure that the necessary services are provided, and that the plan is reviewed as the person's needs change.
The range of services available may include:
- support from a multi-disciplinary community mental health team;
access to community-based outpatient and day-care services;
intensive support from an early intervention team for a young person with a first episode of a psychosis such as schizophrenia;
assertive outreach for a person with complex needs who tends to disengage from services;
access round the clock to a crisis resolution team which can, if appropriate, provide home treatment until the crisis is resolved;
timely access, if necessary, to an appropriate hospital bed or alternative bed or place, such as a crisis house, in the least restrictive environment consistent with the need to protect the service user and the public, and as close to home as possible;
24-hour staffed accommodation in the community;
supported housing;
employment rehabilitation services;
advocacy services;
welfare rights advice;
in-reach services for those in prison.
In 2001–02 an additional £12.35 million revenue and £59 million capital will be made available. This funding is on top of the general allocations to health authorities. In 2002–03 an additional £93.5 million revenue and £70 million capital, and in 2003–04 an additional £312 million revenue and £17 million capital.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the (a) number and (b) proportion of people who suffer clinical depression (i) at any one time, (ii) during the course of the most recent year for which figures are available and (iii) during their lifetimes. [24529]
Jacqui Smith: [holding answer 8 January 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 8 January 2002, Official Report, columns 663–64W.
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