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31 Mar 2003 : Column 556W—continued
Nursing Homes
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of nursing home beds in Suffolk. [104818]
Jacqui Smith: I understand that Suffolk county council has recently agreed a 5 per cent. fee increase in care home fees across the board. In 2002–03, a new investment of £92,000 enabled the council to provide 22 additional places in local council specialist provision for people with mental health needs.
Over the next three years, the Government will increase the funding for social services by an annual average of six per cent. in real terms. Councils can use some of these extra resources to raise care home fees and thereby stimulate extra supply if that is what is required locally.
Parliamentary Questions
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham can expect answers to his Questions Ref 96033, 96059 of 3 February, 97861, 97882 of 10 February and 100554, 100512, 100555, 100416 of 26 February. [106564]
Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the replies that I gave him on 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 882W, on 4 March 2003, Official Report, column 460–1W, and column 996W and on 18 March
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2003, Official Report, column 672W. I also refer him to the replies given by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Mr. Lammy) on 6 March 2003, Official Report, columns. 1212W, 1215W, and 1217–8W. The remaining question was answered by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office (Mr. Hilary Benn) on 7 March 2003, Official Report, column 1276W.
Waiting Times
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of patients waited less than 20 minutes for thrombolysis after arriving in hospital in (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority and (c) each NHS trust at the latest date for which statistics are available; [104411]
- (2) what percentage of patients waited less than 20 minutes for thrombolysis after arriving in hospital in (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority and (c) each NHS trust in each period for which statistics have been collected centrally. [104882]
Ms Blears: Statistics on the time patients wait for thrombolysis are collected through the Myocardial Infarct National Audit Project (MINAP) run by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). MINAP shows that for the last three months of 2002, 44 per cent. of clinically eligible heart attack patients in England were treated within 20 minutes of hospital arrival, an increase of 24 per cent. over the same period in 2000. The data for strategic health authorities and hospitals in England where heart attack patients are treated are available online to individual health authorities and trusts for monitoring purposes. The RCP published the data covering the first six months of 2002 on 19 November 2002 and copies of the report will be placed in the Library. The RCP plans a further publication which will include the full 2002 dataset later this year.
CABINET OFFICE
East Timor
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to release Cabinet Office papers from 1975–76 concerning Indonesia, East Timor and the Balebo killings. [103920]
Mr. Alexander: All Cabinet Office records are considered for release to the Public Record Office under the 30 year rule. 1975–76 papers are, therefore, due to be released in 2006–07. The Cabinet Office archive, however, does not contain papers relating to the Balebo killings.
Pensions
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the (a) funded and (b) unfunded public sector pension schemes for which his Department, its agencies and its non-departmental public bodies are responsible; when the last actuarial valuation was of each scheme; what the value was of the assets at the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; what deficit is disclosed by the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; and if he will make a statement. [104918]
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Mr. Alexander: The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded public service pension scheme made under the Superannuation Act 1972. The last scheme valuation, disclosed in the Report of the Actuary in the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts 2001–02 (HC355), valued scheme liabilities at 31 March 2002 as £64.2 billion.
TREASURY
Air Taxes (Northern Ireland Economy)
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of taxation on air travel upon the Northern Ireland economy and the tourist industry; and if he will abolish air passenger duty. [106048]
John Healey: The Government are currently reviewing their use of economic instruments in the aviation sector. As outlined in the document "Aviation and the Environment—Using Economic Instruments", it is the Government's objective that aviation should be sustainable.
Children at Risk
Matthew Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has through the plans set out in the Children at Risk Green Paper to ensure that support services for adults are provided to their families at times of crisis through (a) the criminal justice system, (b) the health system, (c) housing departments and (d) the benefits system. [104967]
Mr. Boateng: While it is too early to comment in detail on the content of the Green Paper, Government recognises the importance of ensuring that services for parents are sensitive to the needs of their children.
(a) The Home Office is currently taking forward work on children of offenders and children of drug users. Both these pieces of work will feed into the Green Paper.
(b) The supporting people programme, which begins on 1 April, will put in place a strategic framework for the planning and funding of housing-related support services at a local level. Proposals from the Children at Risk Green Paper will complement the role of supporting people to ensure that families in crisis get the support they need to live independently in accommodation.
(c) The Children's National Service Framework (NSF) now in progress is currently developing national standards across the National Health Service and social services for children and young people. The Children in Special Circumstances Expert Working Group to the NSF is looking at how children are affected by the needs of their parents in cases where there is domestic violence, parent with mental health problems and parents in prison.
(d) The Government is committed to tackling child poverty. As a result of personal tax and benefit reforms introduced by the Government since 1997, by April 2003, families with children in the poorest fifth of the population will be, on average, £2,400 a year better off in real terms.
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Matthew Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has through the recommendations in the Green Paper on Children at Risk, to ensure that every child with complex needs, with particular reference to mental health needs, has a key worker; [104968]
- (2) what plans he has to improve mental health training for professionals working with children, as part of the plans set out in the Green Paper on Children at Risk. [104969]
Mr. Boateng: Positive mental health is vital for children and young people's self esteem, relationships with friends and family and ability to enjoy and achieve at school and beyond. The Green Paper on Children at Risk is focusing on children from 0–19 and particularly those with complex needs.
The Green Paper is also looking at ways to improve common training, including in mental health issues for professionals who work with children and young people. This includes considering the possible role of key workers in ensuring more integrated service provision to those most at risk.
Matthew Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Green Paper Team on Children at Risk plans to introduce a transition to parenthood programme as an early preventative strategy. [104970]
Mr. Boateng: Government recognises that parenting and family support is a key preventative service, which is provided in order to enable parents, carers and families to use resources effectively. Local preventative strategies cover parenting support and these are on-going at the moment.
The Green Paper on Children at Risk will build on ongoing work across government, looking at how parents can be enabled to support their children best, from preparing for parenthood, throughout the key early years and as their children grow towards adulthood.
Commodity Price Projections
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research was commissioned by his Department into the future of (a) oil and (b) non-oil commodity prices as outlined in paragraph A15 in the pre-Budget report, Cm 5664. [105339]
Ruth Kelly: The Government do not publish forecasts for oil and non-oil commodity prices. Projections for the public finances are based on an oil price assumption independently audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which was deemed to be reasonable and to incorporate caution when audited at the time of the 2002 pre-Budget report.
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