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31 Mar 2003 : Column 553W—continued
Tuition Fees
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills from which universities he has received representations recommending the setting of tuition fee levels at above £3,000 per annum; and what those representations were. [104627]
Margaret Hodge: We have received a number of representations on a wide range of issues. In setting the cap at £3,000 per annum, we wanted to balance giving the higher education sector the freedom to raise fees with fairness to prospective students and their families.
Universities (Participation)
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money will be allocated to widening participation in universities in each academic year to 2010–11. [102304]
Margaret Hodge: The Higher Education Funding Council for England is providing £296.2 million for widening participation in higher education in 2003–04. The Learning and Skills Council is also providing £15.6 million for widening participation in higher education in 2003–04. That is a total of £311.8 million for widening participation in higher education in 2003–04.
These figures do not include funding for targeted student support. The Councils have not set their widening participation spending for future years.
University Research Funding
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much HEFCE funding of research will be diverted from university departments graded (a) at 4 and (b) below 4 annually to finance enhanced payments for departments graded at 5 or above. [105303]
Margaret Hodge: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has used extra resources provided by the Government to increase the total recurrent funding for research by £102 million in 2003–04 compared with 2002–03. HEFCE has re-balanced the funding levels between ratings to ensure better resourcing and improved quality of the best research. This did mean a reduction in funding of £21 million for departments rated 4 and a net reduction of £4.3 million for departments rated 3a and 3b. This takes into account the new capability development funding for 3a and 3b departments in subjects where there is a particular need to boost research. The Government are keen to encourage more mid-rated
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departments to aspire to ratings of 5 or above and we have asked HEFCE to look at how funding for these departments can be related to potential to progress further.
HEALTH
Delayed Discharges
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of delayed discharges to the NHS in (a) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency and (b) Suffolk in the last year for which figures are available; [104804]
- (2) how much delayed discharge of patients cost the NHS (a) nationally, (b) in Suffolk West PCT and (c) in Central Suffolk PCT in the last year for which figures are available. [104834]
Jacqui Smith: Information is not available in precisely the form requested. In the last year for which figures are available, up to December 2002, there was an average of 5,233 delayed transfers of care of patients of all ages, on any single day, in England. However there are only figures available at a primary care trust level for the first three quarters of 2002–03, (April to December 2002) when the average number of patients delayed on any one day was 32 in Suffolk West PCT, and 18 in Central Suffolk PCT. On the same basis the average figure for all the PCTs in Suffolk was 130 per day.
On the basis of an average cost to the national health service of £100 per day, the broad estimate of the cost to the NHS where these patients have experienced delays in an acute hospital bed for this period is around £500,000 per day for England as a whole, £3,200 per day in Suffolk West PCT and £1,800 per day in Central Suffolk PCT. The estimate for all PCTs in Suffolk is £13,000 per day.
GPs
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many potential registered patients are required to justify authority for establishing a GP practice in Edenfield, Rossendale. [104948]
Jacqui Smith: The decision on whether there is a need to establish a general practitioner practice is at the discretion of the primary care trust.
Head and Brain Injury Rehabilitation
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the decision was taken to devolve commissioning responsibility for head and brain injury rehabilitation services to health authorities and primary care trusts; and what assessment he is undertaking of the impact of that devolution on service provision. [104721]
Jacqui Smith: In October 2002 the NHS Reform and Healthcare Professions Act provided for most of the functions of the health authorities to be conferred onto primary care trusts (PCTs) and for health service resources to be allocated directly to PCTs by the Secretary of State. PCTs are expected to establish collaborative commissioning arrangements for specialised services, of which head and brain injury
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rehabilitation services are one, and strategic health authorities are expected to oversee and performance manage these arrangements.
Health Services (East Yorkshire)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) direct and (b) indirect costs are for the (i) establishment and (ii) operation of the Strategic Health Authority headquarters in York. [105229]
Jacqui Smith: The creation of the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority (StHA) was part of the Government's 'Shifting the Balance of Power in the NHS' proposals, which were committed to delivering savings of £100 million for re-investment in services.
The establishment of the StHA was within this national programme and included a period of 'shadow' running during 2001–02 while the three former health authorities were dissolved and responsibilities transferred to the new organisation. During this period, temporary office space was rented in the York Science Park at a cost of approximately £3,500, to facilitate the establishment of the StHA.
The StHA was established on 1 April 2002 with a ceiling for operating costs of £4 million set by the Department. In the financial year 2002–03, expenditure is forecast to be £3.3 million. This comprises payroll costs of £.9 million and non-pay costs of £1.4 million.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) current and (b) proposed PFI projects for the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust. [105232]
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Jacqui Smith: There are three current or completed Private Finance Initiative projects for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust.
The Maternity and Acute Development at Hull Royal Infirmary has a capital value of £22 million and enables the rationalisation of clinical services onto a major hospital site. The first patients are due to attend in early April 2003.
The reprovision of out-patient, radiology and urology services at Castle Hill in Cottingham, with a capital value of £8 million, was opened in spring 2002.
The Withernsea Community Hospital and Resource Centre, with a capital value of £3 million, opened in November 1998.
There is one planned PFI project for the trust. The development of a new integrated oncology and clinical haematology centre at Castle Hill Hospital has a capital value of £53 million and was put out to tender in November 2002.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were registered with NHS services in each of the last five years in the area covered by the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust. [105235]
Jacqui Smith: Information on the number of patients registered with the national health service is not available on an NHS trust basis. The table shows the number of patients registered across the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority area for the last five years, and the number of patients registered with local primary care trusts since they were established in 1999.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England Patients of UPEs | 50,904,322 | 51,110,352 | 50,894,064 | 51,332,917 | 51,249,672 |
| North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire StHA | 1,655,197 | 1,631,540 | 1,653,512 | 1,648,770 | 1,639,945 |
| East Yorkshire PCT | — | — | 147,325 | 146,709 | 145,743 |
| Eastern Hull PCT | — | — | 124,804 | 123,813 | 119,914 |
| West Hull PCT | — | — | 162,587 | 160,276 | 162,393 |
(56) UPEs include QMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPsNote:Data has been converted to match Strategic Health Authority structures for 2002Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
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