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Faith Schools

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the expressions of interest in the establishment of new faith schools which have been received by her Department in (a) the last year and (b) the last three months. [38857]

Mr. Timms: Expressions of interest in the establishment of new faith schools which have been received by the Department are:

(a) in the last year—

10 Church of England, 12 Muslim, 3 Christian, 2 Jewish, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Russian Orthodox, 1 Hindu, 1 Sikh, 1 Quaker, 1 Cherubim and Seraphim, 1 New Testament Church

(b) In the last three months—

1 Muslim, 1 Christian, 1 Jewish, 1 Russian Orthodox, 1 Hindu, 1 Cherubim and Seraphim, 1 New Testament Church.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many visits she and ministers in her Department have made since 7 June 2001 to (a) comprehensive schools without specialist status, (b) comprehensive schools with specialist status, (c) grammar schools, (d) secondary modern or high schools in wholly selective LEA areas and (e) independent schools, broken down by each category and each minister. [38858]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The following visits, on departmental businesses, have been made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and Ministers in her Department since 7 June 2001.

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The Secretary of State made two visits to comprehensive schools without specialist status and three visits to comprehensive schools with specialist status.

The Minister of State for School Standards made 13 visits to comprehensive schools without specialist status, seven visits to schools with specialist status and one visit to an independent school.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Years and School Standards made one visit to a comprehensive school without specialist status and one visit to an independent school.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Adult Skills made one visit to a comprehensive school without specialist status.

I have visited four comprehensive schools without specialist status and five comprehensive schools with specialist status.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Children and Family Services

Mr. Drew: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when she will publish the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service's Corporate Plan for 2002 to 2006. [40169]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) has published its Corporate Plan today. Copies of the Corporate Plan have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Further copies of the Corporate Plan may be obtained from CAFCASS.

Enforcement Performance

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps she is taking to improve enforcement performance and if she will make a statement. [40170]

Mr Willis: The Lord Chancellor has today announced challenging targets for Magistrates Courts Committees for 2002–03 for enforcement of financial and non-financial penalties, as follows:

Enforcement of Financial Penalties

An increase of five per cent on the 2000–01 national average payment rate, i.e rising from 63 per cent. to 68 per cent.

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Enforcement of community penalty breach warrants 75 per cent. of adult bail and no-bail warrants executed or withdrawn within 28 days of issue, and 75 per cent. of youth bail and no-bail warrants executed or withdrawn within 14 days of issue.

Magristrates Courts Committees will be given nearly ÿ10 million extra from April 2002, ring-fenced for enforcement, to enable them to improve performance. We will expect the amount of fine money recovered to increase as a result of the extra funding and will monitor the position carefully to ensure that performance improves.

We are already taking forward a programme of work to improve enforcement arising from the Department's Post Implementation Review of the Transfer of Warrant Execution project. The Post Implementation Review report will be published on the Department's website on 5 March. We shall be holding a series of conferences for enforcement practitioners in April. These will be followed by the establishment of a Criminal Enforcement Policy Advisory Group, which will be tasked with exploring and evaluating good practice initiatives, revising and updating guidance and taking forward other issues arising from the conferences to improve enforcement.

Copies of the Post Implementation Review report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 5 March.

Disease Control

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if the proposed National Infection Control and Health Protection Agency will have (a) a role and (b) powers in respect of disease control in Scotland; [30687]

(2) who will carry out the functions currently carried out in Scotland by the National Radiological Protection Board following the creation of the National Infection Control and Health Protection Agency. [30689]

Mr. Foulkes: I have been asked to reply. I refer the hon. Member to my answer of today.

Patients Forum

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will know what change in expenditure the creation of patients' forums will require, after taking account of funding for community health councils and PALs; and if he will make a statement. [35495]

Mr. Blears [holding answer 12 February 2002]: We are working to secure funding to maximise the new system of patient and public involvement, including the introduction of patient forums in every trust, as part of the Government spending review. Resourcing the new structures is a matter we are taking seriously and we expect to receive the outcome of this spending review in the summer 2002.

Health Expenditure

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if (a) over-the-counter health remedies bought by private individuals, (b) money spent on health by charities and (c) money spent on non-NHS nursing

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homes are included in his Department's figures for total UK health expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product in comparison to EU country figures. [39209].

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 28 February 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking if (a) over the counter health remedies bought by private individuals, (b) money spent on health by charities and (c) money spent on non-NHS nursing homes are included in figures for total UK health expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product in comparison to EU country figures. I am replying in his absence. (39209).

Comparative figures for total health expenditure in EU countries are published by the OECD in XOECD Health Data 2001", UK figures for this dataset were provided in February 2001 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and do not incorporate improvements made in compilation methods since then. Deviations from the international definitions are fully documented within the dataset.

On 12 February 2002, ONS published estimates of total UK health expenditure for 1997–2000. The methods for estimating some of the components of the total new and relatively untested, so the improved estimates are being released as experimental. ONS has provided the experimental estimates to OECD for inclusion in XOECD Health Data 2002", the release of which is planned for June 2002. These experimental estimates do include expenditure on over-the-counter remedies bought by private individuals, money spent on health by non-profit institutions serving households (mainly charities) and money spent on nursing care in non-NHS nursing homes.

The improvements in methods used bring the total UK health expenditure estimates more into line with the international definition, promulgated by the OCED and supported by the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the European Commission. Details of the methods have been published in Economic Trends No 579 (February 2002) and on the National Statistics website.

North Hampshire Hospital

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will deliver to the North Hampshire Hospital the additional funding for cardiac treatment which he pledged when he visited Basingstoke in May. [15175]

Mr. Blears: As pledged in the NHS Plan, investment in heart disease services will be increased by an extra ÿ230 million a year by 2003/04. There will also be an additional ÿ101 million in health authority baseline budgets this year plus extra funds allocated throughout the year. In addition, there will be an extra ÿ120 million of capital funding from the HM Treasury Capital Modernisation Fund to expand capacity and modernise services.

This year additional funding for North Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been allocated as follows:

ÿ151,000 cardiac care equipment

ÿ101,000 rehabilitation services

ÿ101,000 cardiac management.

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