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Asylum Seekers

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of milk tokens to mothers who are asylum seekers. [35007]

Yvette Cooper: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply he received on 10 January 2002, Official Report, column 1024W.

Statutory Instruments

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the statutory instruments issued by his Department in the last 12 months, indicating (a) the purpose of each and (b) the cost of each to (i) public funds, (ii) businesses and (iii) individuals. [36234]

Ms Blears: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A list of all statutory instruments made by the Department of Health in 2001 and to date in 2002 has been placed in the Library. Information relating to the purpose and cost of each instrument can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

From March 2002, explanatory memoranda will be provided for all affirmative statutory instruments as announced by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 1 February 2002, Official Report, column 584W. Much of the information requested will be provided in this memoranda.

Bed Blocking

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received concerning bed blocking of old age psychiatry beds (a) in the UK and (b) in North Yorkshire. [36917]

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer her to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

Discharges from old age psychiatry beds can be delayed because of difficulties in finding suitable ongoing care for these patients. Standard 7 of the national service

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framework for older people requires that older people who have mental health problems should have access to integrated mental health services provided by the national health service and councils to ensure effective diagnosis, treatment and support, for them and their carers. Implementing the requirements of Standard 7 will minimise the problems of delayed discharges from old age psychiatry beds. In addition, we are planning to encourage the provision of intermediate care services which meet the needs of people suffering from dementia.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the extent of bed blocking in the south-east; and what action he is taking to reduce it. [6257]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 15 October 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

Tackling delayed transfers of care is a high priority throughout the south-east region. Addressing delayed transfers of care features strongly in both performance improvement plans and local modernisation reviews in the south-east. To support this work, over £14 million of additional funding was allocated to local authorities within the south-east this year and over £36 million allocated next year to tackle bed blocking.

A joint social care/national health service regional strategic group has been established to identify specific actions that can be taken to improve availability within the residential and nursing home market. It will also produce a planning model for intermediate care in the south-east.

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of acute beds are blocked in each health authority in England. [37480]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 5 March 2002]: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Long-term Care Beds

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the need for long-term care beds in the (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) public sectors. [35526]

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the need for long-term care beds in the (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) public sectors. [36518]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 26 February 2002]: I apologise to the hon. Members for the delay in responding to this question. I refer them to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

I refer them to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) on 1 February 2002, Official Report, columns 626–27W.

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All types of providers have a role to play in supplying services and we have not made separate assessments for different sectors.

Strokes

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stroke cases have occurred in each health authority in England in the last three years (a) in total and (b) as a per capita figure; and how many stroke cases there were per consultant in each national health service region in the last three years. [37831]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested for consultants is not currently available centrally while essential validation work on data at consultant level is being carried out both centrally and locally at Trust level. It is planned that consultant level information will begin to become available in the summer of 2003.

The information requested for stroke cases for the last three years has been placed in the Library.

Pregnant Women (Exposure to Chemicals)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to minimise exposure of pregnant women to chemicals, including pesticides, that have the potential to disrupt endocrine systems. [38131]

Yvette Cooper: The Department contributes to Government procedures for risk assessment and setting exposure limits for chemicals used in various areas. These procedures aim to protect the public, including pregnant women and the foetus. They include the approval of pesticide products following consideration of the advice from the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides.

The Department, together with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Health and Safety Executive, and the European Chemical Industries Council, the Department is funding a £1.7 million research programme of epidemiological studies to investigate trends in male reproductive health, and the possible influences of occupational or environmental (or other) exposure to chemicals. The programme includes evaluation of effects of maternal exposures on the male foetus. Results from the four studies in the programme are expected to be available by the end of this year.

The Department also participates in European risk assessments of chemicals; has contributed to the development of the European Commission Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters; and is contributing to a comprehensive assessment (through the World Health Organisation's International Programme on Chemical Safety) of the state of the science on endocrine disruption. In addition it supports the leading role which the United Kingdom plays in the test guidelines programme of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which aims to ensure that the harmonised test methods used internationally reflect best practical approaches for assessing the health effects of chemicals. This includes an active role in the work of the OECD Endocrine Disrupter Testing and Assessment Group which is taking forward the validation of new methods for detecting compounds with such properties.

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Further information on this issue, and on Government action, is in the note "Hormone (Endocrine) Disrupting Substances in the Environment" at http://www.defra.gov.uk/ nvironment/hormone/index.htm

As the assessments progress and further scientific evidence becomes available, the Government, together with our European partners, will evaluate whether further action to limit exposure to chemicals is required.

Hospital Admissions

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate of admissions to hospital of children per 1,000 children under 16 that were the result of an unintentional injury resulting in a hospital stay of longer than three days was in 1999–2000. [5237]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 19 July 2001]: I apologise to my right hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs, Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The rate at which children under 16 are admitted into hospital as the result of an unintentional injury resulting in a hospital stay of longer than three days was 1.02 per 1,000 children under 16 in 1999–2000.

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