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Delayed Discharges

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the (a) progress of the London boroughs in meeting his targets for the reduction of delayed discharge from hospital between September 2001 and April 2002 and (b) outstanding challenges facing the London boroughs. [69965]

Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.

In September 2001 there were 1126 people who experienced a delayed transfer of care from an acute hospital bed in London. By March 2002, the target reduction to 901 beds had been met. London Boroughs received their share of the £300 million made available through the Building Care Capacity Grant to end unnecessary delayed discharges from hospital. Their total allocation was £42,560,387 over the two years 2001–02 and 2002–03.

London Boroughs have agreed challenging targets for further reductions, averaging between 20 per cent and 25 per cent by March 2003. The targets were set as part of the conditions for receiving the grant. For Personal Social Services, we have already announced annual average growth in real terms of 6 per cent from 2003–04 to 2005–06.

Solihull Hospital

Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish and make locally available a document setting out which services and specialties are (a) now and (b) prospectively available to patients of Solihull hospital, and in particular details of accident and emergency services at that hospital. [67614]

Mr. Lammy: A wide range of information is available to local residents about emergency and other services provided at Solihull Hospital by the Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull National Health Service Trust. Any changes to the services provided will be published as part of the annual patient prospectus.

Mental Health

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions there were of residents and former residents of each Government office region to (a) NHS and (b) private hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) 2001–02. [68905]

Jacqui Smith: The table shows numbers of admissions to National Health Service and private facilities, estimated by Government office region area, of patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in England, for 1999–2000 to 2000–01. Figures for 2001–02 will be available later this year.

19 Jul 2002 : Column 661W

Admissions to NHS and private facilities, within Government Office Region areas, of patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 and other legislation, England, 1999–2000 and 2000–01

	1999–2000	2000–01
NHS Facilities
England	25,200	25,220
North East	1,070	1,050
Yorkshire and the Humber	1,950	1,920
East Midlands	1,480	1,930
West Midlands	2,290	2,410
South West	2,130	2,310
East of England	2,130	2,050
London	7,540	6,900
South East	3,390	3,400
South West	3,220	3,250
Private Facilities
England	1,410	1,410
North East	10	10
Yorkshire and the Humber	40	40
East Midlands	110	40
West Midlands	30	30
South West	50	40
East of England	70	150
London	770	740
South East	230	250
South West	110	100

Source: KP90

Figures have been rounded to the nearest ten.

Figures may not add up due to rounding.

NHS facilities exclude high security psychiatric hospitals.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he received concerning the new draft Mental Health Bill prior to its publication; and if he will place them in the Library. [67961]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 8 July 2002]: The proposals in the Draft Mental Health Bill have been the subject of a long process of consultation by the Government, starting with the Green Paper Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983 published in November 1999. Responses to that document (where the respondent gave permission) were placed in the Libraries of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Since then there have been informal discussions with key stakeholders and letters have been received, for example following the publication of the White Paper Reforming the Mental Health Act published in December 2000. None of these, however, were part of a formal consultation process and there was no expectation by those making representations that the comments would be made public.

Correspondence

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter to the Minister of State, Dept of Health from the hon. Member for Salisbury dated 29 April about mental health services in South Wiltshire. [68930]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 11 July 2002]: A reply was sent on 17 July.

19 Jul 2002 : Column 662W

Fostering

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many placements of foster children have taken place in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [61358]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 17 July 2002]: The data available is shown in the table.

Estimated number of placements in foster care starting during the years ending 31 March 1997 to 2001England   Number

Year	Number of foster placements
1997	59,400
1998	60,000
1999	57,500
2000	56,900
2001	49,000

Notes:

The above table excludes children looked after under a series of short term placements

It will also be noted that the fall in the number of foster placements starting in any one year is mirrored by the increase in their duration. That is, in any one year, whilst there are fewer placements, they last longer.

Dentistry

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the impact dental charges are having on the provision of dental health care for people from low income backgrounds; [68825] (2) what steps the Government are taking to ensure necessary dental health care is provided to those who are working on low incomes and not receiving benefit. [68824]

Mr. Lammy: Working people who are receiving Working Families' Tax Credit or Disabled Person's Tax Credit at the full rate or maximum credit reduced by £72.20 or less per week do not have to pay National Health Service dental charges. Others on a low income may be entitled to free treatment via the NHS low income scheme and those not entitled to full remission of charges may get partial help under this scheme.

The table below shows the number of exempt adult courses of treatment in England for the years 1996–97 to 2000–01. It is not possible to draw firm conclusions about the impact of dental charges from these figures, but the most likely explanation is that they reflect an improvement in economic circumstances. Research has indicated that increases in charges do not have any significant long-term effect on attendance. There are many factors that influence attendance patterns, the primary ones being attitude and habit.

General Dental Service: Number of exempt adult courses of treatment for the years 1996–67 to 2001–02 England

	Number of adult item of service claims			Yearly change (exempt patients)
Year	Exempt	Total claims	per cent of exempt patients	Number	per cent
1996–97	6,563,219	24,720,185	27	..	..
1997–98	6,648,036	25,434,402	26	84,817	1
1998–99	6,694,274	26,316,085	25	46,238	1
1999–2000	6,493,808	26,058,380	25	-200,466	-3
2000–01	6,449,067	26,481,669	24	-44,741	-1
2001–02	6,297,940	26,390,667	24	-151,127	-2

19 Jul 2002 : Column 663W

Energy

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated (a) level and (b) cost of energy use in his Department and associated agencies was in each year since 1997; what proportion of energy was generated from renewable sources; and if he will make a statement. [65954]

Mr. Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the reply provided by my right hon. Friend the Minister for State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Alun Michael) on 3 July 2002, Official Report, column 384–85W.

The information provided does not reflect the current Department of Health position with regard to the procurement of Renewable Energy.

The Department's main electricity supply contract was re-tendered in November 2001 and the approved supplier, London Electricity, provides 92.1 per cent. of our electricity requirement with renewable energy which is not subject to the climate change levy.

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