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Carers Grant

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been available in the carers grant for each of the last five years; how much was unallocated; and how much will be allocated to the carers grant for each of the next three years. [86293]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the table. The entire grant was allocated.

Year	# million
1999–2000	20
2000–01	50
2001–02	70
2002–03	85
2003–04	100
2004–05	125
2005–06	185

Change Agent Team

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the members of the Department of Health's Change Agent Team. [86371]

Jacqui Smith: As of 5 December, members of the change agent team are: Richard Humphries (Director), Fran McCabe, Maureen Allan, Anne Ashby, Janet Crampton, Ruth Eley, Moira McGrath, Fiona McLeod, Liz Sargeant, Elizabeth Foley, Michael Padgham.

Children

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has to introduce legislation to give children the same legal right of protection for assaults as adults; and if he will make a statement. [83220]

Jacqui Smith: The law governing assault is the same for adults and children, except only in respect of the Xreasonable chastisement" defence of the physical punishment of children. Use of this defence is now governed by the outcome of the European Court of Human Rights ruling in the case of A. v. United Kingdom, which was heard on appeal from the domestic courts. Since the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in the UK in October 2000, the Courts have been obliged to take note of the outcome of the European Court of Human Rights ruling. Following the A. v. UK case, certain factors must be taken into account by the Courts when considering whether a punishment may be described as reasonable chastisement. These factors include the nature and duration of punishment, its physical and mental effects and the state of health and age of the child. The Government believe that parents have the right to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to use physical punishment in bringing up their children. The law is therefore formulated to allow

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them to make that choice, while affording protection for children against unacceptable forms of physical punishment.

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been diagnosed obese since 1997; and what percentage of these children were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. [84544]

Ms Blears: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in children in England. No exact figures on how many children are obese are available, although analyses of the Health Survey for England (1999) showed the prevalence of obesity was 10 per cent., at age six rising to 17 per cent., at age 15. There are also no figures available on the numbers of children who are obese and have Type 2 diabetes. There is however evidence to suggest that the rise in the number of children with Type 2 diabetes is in proportion to the number who are obese.

The Government are committed to tackling the rising trend in childhood obesity and have put in place cross-Government programmes of work to improve eating habits and increase physical activity levels. One Government Department cannot tackle obesity on its own. The Department of Health is working with other Government Departments and a wide range of other partners at national, regional and local levels.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received from non-Members on the reform of the child protection system; and if he will make a statement. [85138]

Jacqui Smith: We receive many representations on this important issue although exact numbers are not available.

The Government is aware that a wide range of views about the reform of child protection have been submitted for consideration by the Victoria Climbié Inquiry, and we look forward shortly to receiving Lord Laming's report. The recommendations of the Victoria Climbié Inquiry, together with those contained in the Joint Chief Inspectors report Safeguarding Children will provide the Government with an authoritative basis for any reforms to child protection that may need to be made and, if reform is necessary, the Government will implement it.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the introduction of the Children Act 1989 in prisons following the High Court ruling on 29 November; and what extra resources his Department will make available to social services departments to ensure its implementation. [86288]

Jacqui Smith: Mr. Justice Munby's judgment, handed down on 29 November, ruled that the Children Act 1989 applied to children in prison, subject to the requirements of imprisonment. This was the Department's own view, set out in its statement to the court.

The Department therefore sees no immediate need to revise existing guidance to councils with social services responsibilities or to review resource allocations. However, we will, together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department,

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carefully study Mr. Justice Munby's judgment, in the context of the recommendations of the joint chief inspectors' report, XSafeguarding Children".

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in care have access to the internet at home, broken down by local authority. [85155]

Jacqui Smith: We do not hold central information on how many children in care have access to the internet. However, #20 million has been made available from the capital modernisation fund to increase access to information and communication technology (ICT) for children in and leaving care. The majority of this money is being paid to local councils over this year and next as part of the Quality Protects programme (details in the circular LAC(2001 )28). The remainder is supporting the development of XCareZone" by the Who Cares? Trust. XCareZone" will provide a range of interactive, secure, on-line services for children in care.

Local authorities' Quality Protects management action plans, submitted in January 2002, included details of their plans for increasing access to ICT. The average position reported by councils was that just under half of their looked after children had access to a computer where they lived. This was projected to rise to three-quarters by 2004.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children's hospice funding was paid by his Department in each year since 1997. [85637]

Ms Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, a survey conducted by the association of children's hospices indicated that children's hospices derive, on average, some 5 per cent., of their funding from national health service sources.

Commission for Patient and Public Involvement

in Health

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget estimates have been submitted by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health; what specific allocations have been made; what factors have been taken into account in his estimate of the budget required by the Commission; what his estimate is of the staffing levels required by the Commission for (a) general support for patients forums, (b) cross forum working by patients forums, (c) independent complaints advocacy and (d) community development; and what budget allocations are proposed for each of these budget heads; and if he will make a statement. [84887]

Mr. Lammy: Funding decisions for the next three years will be announced shortly. I will write to the hon. Member when final decisions have been made.

Community Health Councils

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when community health councils will cease to exist; and when patients forums will be established. [84884]

Mr. Lammy: The abolition of Community Health Councils (CHCs) is a matter for the Government and we hope to be able to make announcements about the timetable for the abolition very soon. The timetable for

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the establishment of patients' forums is a matter for the Commission and it is one of the issues currently being considered by the Commissions designate chair, designate chief executive and the interim team. We will be working closely with the Commission to ensure that there is a smooth transition from CHCs to patients' forums.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 3 October 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Karen Smith; [81713]

(2) when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 3 October 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Karen Smith. [83426]

Mr. Milburn: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 4 December 2002.

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