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Telemedicine

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will introduce telemedicine to the NHS; and what development work he has done in this area. [88741]

Ms Blears: As set out in the Government's strategy document, "Delivering 21st Century IT Support for the NHS", our vision for information and information technology is to connect delivery of the NHS Plan with the capabilities of modern information technologies.

In 2006–07, it is planned to introduce telemedicine in general practitioners' surgeries for electrocardiograms and skin disease, ambulance telemonitoring in 20 per cent. of all emergency response vehicles and to make home telemonitoring available in 20 per cent. of homes requiring it.

There is considerable activity already taking place. A notable example is the Cornwall electronic patient record pilot that has implemented a successful use of telemedicine to support minor injuries units and there is fairly widespread take-up of teledermatology services. The recent national health service digital television pilots explored the potential for telehealth through a range of services.

Waiting Time Standard (NHS)

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultations his Department undertook before adopting the two-week waiting time standard as set out in The New NHS-Modern Dependable. [89653]

Ms Blears: The New NHS was published in December 1997 (Cm 3807). A cancer waiting times multi-disciplinary working group was established and met in 1997. The group made recommendations to improve access to cancer services including the need to set specific waiting time targets for all stages of the patient journey. A copy of the working group report is available in the Library.

The group made the recommendation that targets should be set to reduce cancer waiting times. The advice was taken into account in setting the two week outpatient waiting times standard. The NHS Cancer Plan introduced further targets to reduce the time patients have to wait for diagnosis and treatment.

Worcestershire Acute Hopitals Trust

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Commission for Health Improvement will publish its report on the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trusts; and what arrangements will be made to ensure honourable Members representing Worcestershire constituencies have access to the report at the time of publication. [93789]

Mr. Lammy: The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) plans to publish its report of its clinical governance review of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust in the week commencing 24 February 2003.

Hon. Members representing Worcestershire constituencies will be sent a copy of their local trust's CHI clinical governance review report on the day of or

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after publication of the report. CHI's clinical governance review reports are published freely on CHI's website at www.chi.nhs.uk/enq/index.shtml

WRVS

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for health what contracts his Department has entered into for the provision of services by the Women's Royal Voluntary Service; what is the (a) value and (b) duration of each contract; what mechanisms of (i) accountability and (ii) transparency are monitoring these contracts; and what pre-conditions have been attached to these contracts which might affect the remit of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service. [94079]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Asbestos Testing

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to issue guidance on the frequency of air tests in buildings containing asbestos where construction or repair work is being undertaken; and if he will make a statement. [92942]

Mr. Pearson: The requirement to carry out such air tests is contained in the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988. This requirement will be retained in the new Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 which will come into effect by March this year. Clear guidance on the new regulations will be provided by three comprehensive Approved Codes of Practice. However, the actual frequency of air tests is not prescribed as this will depend upon an assessment of each individual situation by the person or persons in control of the work. HSENI will be spearheading an awareness campaign on the requirements of the new regulations during 2003–04.

Care Packages

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) nursing care packages and (b) residential care packages have been awarded in respect of applications made since 1 April 2002 in the Homefirst Trust area. [93985]

Mr. Browne: Homefirst Community HSS Trust has provided 258 nursing home packages and 191 residential care home packages in response to applications made for community care services in the period from 1 April 2002 until 31 December 2002.

Civil Servants (Community Origin)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the numerical and percentage breakdown by perceived community origin of staff employed by (a) the Ministry of Defence, (b) the Inland Revenue, (c) HM Customs and Excise and (d) the Northern Ireland Civil Service. [94421]

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Mr. Pearson: At 1 January 2002, there were 15,928 (54 per cent.) staff employed in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) from a Protestant community background, 12,517 (42.5 per cent.) from a Roman Catholic community background and 1,035 (3.5 per cent.) whose community background was not determined.

The other bodies, for which staffing information has been sought, are not the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Consumer Strategy

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in implementing a new consumer strategy for Northern Ireland. [93929]

Mr. Pearson: The Consumer Strategy for Northern Ireland was published in June 2002, and substantial progress has already been made under its six key themes.

The General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland has initiated a major consumer education project, "Consumer Skills for All", and is further developing its website, "Consumerline". The Council led Consumer Support Network, which brings a joined-up approach to consumer advice, has met twice.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) is on schedule to go live with a pilot telephone helpline for Northern Ireland consumers by 30 June 2003. Recommendations about the delivery of a money/debt advice service are expected to be submitted by 31 August 2003.

In addition, the Northern Ireland Business Support Partnership (BSP) has been established to provide a forum within which regulators and businesses can work together to promote fair trading, legal compliance, business success and consumer satisfaction. The Trading Standards Service has already "signed up" to an Enforcement Concordat to promote fairness and openness in enforcement practices. DETI, through the BSP, is actively encouraging all Northern Ireland regulatory bodies to adopt its principles.

Culture, Arts and Leisure

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, since suspension of the Assembly, the Northern Ireland Office has adhered to the financial proposals made by the Northern Ireland Executive in its agreed budget proposals in respect of those areas under the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. [92887]

Mr. Pearson: The Budget agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive for 2002–03 has not been changed by Northern Ireland Office Ministers other than by the routine reallocation of resources that have become available during monitoring rounds. For future years, the Budget 2002 proposals announced in December 2002, which cover three years from 2003–04, were developed from the Executive's Draft Budget published in September 2002. In the case of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, the revised Budget for each year represents an increase on the position in the Executive's Draft Budget.

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Disability Living Allowance

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people claimed disability living allowance in each of the last three years; how many DLA appeals were heard; and what the average length of time was that individuals had to wait for these appeals to be heard. [93989]

Mr. Browne: The figures are listed in the table.

Number of disablility living allowance claims received, appeals received, appeals heard and their average waiting time

Tax year	New claims	Appeals received	Appeals heard(17)	Average time taken to arrange first hearing (weeks)
2000–01	23,096	5,051	9,832	32
2001–02	23,604	3,992	15,411	36
April 2002—December 2002	17,558	3,225	11,793	30

⁽¹⁷⁾ A single case may have more than one appeal element, so the number of appeals heard is higher than the number of appeal letters received

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