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Health and Social Policy

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals the Government have to improve the co-ordination of health and social care, youth and leisure, careers, guidance, education and benefits services. [68179]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 8 July 2002]: I have been asked to reply.

The Connexions Service, which is currently being rolled out across the country, brings together a range of services working with young people to make sure 13–19 year olds receive cohesive advice, guidance, support and personal development opportunities.

The Government's consultation document, "Building a Strategy for Children and Young People", included proposals for improving the co-ordination of services for all children and young people aged 0–19, building on the experience of Connexions and other initiatives. We are currently considering the responses to this consultation exercise.

Bed Blocking (Lancashire)

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans to tackle bed blocking in Lancashire. [48596]

Jacqui Smith: In 2001–02, the Government allocated in excess of £2 million to the three social services departments, Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen and

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Blackpool, in the form of the Building Care Capacity Grant to reduce delayed transfers of care. In 2002–03, these authorities will receive £4 million. In addition, they will receive more than £1.75 million from the performance fund towards improvements in intermediate care. Delayed transfer numbers in Lancashire are among the lowest in the country.

EU Directives

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the EU directives relating to his Department which have been (a) amended and (b) repealed in 2002. [64951]

Mr. Lammy: The following European Union directives have been amended and repealed in 2002:

European Parliament and Council directive 2001/83/EC on the Community Code Relating to Medicinal Products for Human Use, which incorporated Commission directive 2000/38/EC on administrative action relating to medicinal products (pharmacovigilance), repealed the following EU directives: Council directive 65/65/EEC of 26 January 1965 on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to medicinal products, as amended by:


Council Directive 75/318/EEC of 20 May 1975 on the approximation of the laws of member states relating to analytical, pharmacotoxological and clinical standards and protocols in respect of the testing of medicinal products, as amended by:


Council directive 75/319/EEC of 20 May 1975 on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to medicinal products, as amended by:


Council directive 89/342/EEC of 3 May 1989 extending the scope of Directives 65/65/EEC and 75/319/EEC and laying down additional provisions of immunological medicinal products consisting of vaccines, toxins or serums and allergens.

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Council directive 89/343/EEC of 3 May 1989 extending the scope of directives 65/65/EEC and 75/319/EEC and laying down additional provisions for radiopharmaceuticals.

Council directive 89/381/EEC of 14 June 1989 extending the scope of directives 65/65/EEC and 75/319/EEC on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to medicinal products and laying down special provisions for medicinal products derived from human blood or human plasma.

Council directive 92/25/EEC of 31 March 1992 on the wholesale distribution of medicinal products for human use.

Council directive 92/26/EEC of 31 March 1992 concerning the classification for the supply of medicinal products for human use.

Council directive 92/27/EEC of 31 March 1992 on the labelling of medicinal products for human use and on package leaflets.

Council directive 92/28/EEC of 31 March 1992 on the advertising of medicinal products for human use.

Council directive 92/73/EEC of 22 September 1992 widening the scope of directives 65/65/EEC and 75/319/EEC on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to medicinal products and laying down additional provisions on homeopathic medicinal products.

The Medical Devices directive (93/42/EEC) was amended by directive 2001/104/EC and directive 2000/70/EC as regards medical devices incorporating stable derivatives of human blood or human plasma.

Rapid Response Units

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many rapid response units are operating in each NHS region to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions. [65141]

Jacqui Smith: Information on the number of rapid response units is not collected centrally.

Buildings Insurance

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of buildings insurance to his Department was (a) before and (b) after 11 September 2001. [66925]

Mr. Lammy: Departments are required to comply with the Government's general policy on insurance, which is set out in Government Accounting, Chapter 30, para.30.2.5, which notes that Government do not need to purchase insurance to protect the viability of their business, and should consider insurance only where the value of claims met would exceed the cost of insurance premiums. Commercial insurance of a building is acceptable in cases where (a) insurance is a condition of a lease (b) the lessor will not accept a Government indemnity; or (c) incurring the total cost of the accommodation in question, including the cost of the insurance, is more cost-effective than other accommodation options.

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Financial records show the following payments in respect of buildings occupied by the Department (excluding Agencies) against the heading of building insurance:


Meaningful comparisons between one year and another are difficult to make, due to changes in the estate and consequent insurance obligations. The following four premises were occupied during all or part of 2000–01 and not during all of 2001–02:


The timing of payments during the year, to meet policy renewal notices, mean it is not possible as yet to identify any effects of the events of 11 September on premium levels.

Infliximab

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions have taken place between his Department and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence about the use of infliximab. [66815]

Mr. Lammy: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance on infliximab for Crohns Disease in May 2002 and recommended to the national health service in England and Wales that infliximab should be available to some people with severe active Crohn's disease.

In March 2002 NICE recommended that, etanercept and infliximab, new drugs for the treatment of arthritis, may be given as part of the management of rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients who have rheumatoid arthritis that has not responded adequately to at least two disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, including methotrexate.

As a stakeholder the Department and National Assembly for Wales are given the opportunity to comment on draft scopes and the provisional guidance. The NICE review of infliximab is due May 2005, and during revision the Department and National Assembly for Wales will be given the opportunity to comment on the draft appraisal.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) for what reason the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 2001 annual report and accounts diverged from previous practice in not providing performance data on (a) IVF data, (b) multiple births, (c) two and three embryo transfer and (d) donor insemination; [67137]

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Ms Blears: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has identified some problems with its information technology infrastructure. These problems are now being resolved, but they have delayed the availability of recent performance data.

The annual report was held back in the hope that the data would be ready to include. When this proved not to be possible, the decision was taken to go ahead and publish the annual report without the data.

The data will be made available shortly on the HFEA's website.

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