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Health Protection Agency

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his Answer of 6 March 2003, Official Report, column 1203W, on Getting Ahead of the Curve, if he will estimate the short-term transitional costs in establishing the Health Protection Agency; how these costs will be incurred; and what proposals he has to cut services to meet these costs from within existing resources. [103819]

Ms Blears: There have been and will continue to be some transitional costs.

Initial set-up costs

These comprise largely the costs of a small implementation team and the input of the constituent organizations, which will form the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

These costs, which are in the region of 400,000 to 500,000, have been met from the funding of the organizations moving into the HPA. As staff contributed from a wide range of specialisms, there has been no loss in outputs.

Short to medium term transitional costs

These comprise the establishment of a small separate headquarters for the corporate functions of the HPA pending rationalization of the HPA estate. The cost will be in the region of £500,000 to £600,000 per annum; and

the possibility of a small number of redundancies if—following the application of the change management protocol for filling posts—some staff are left without jobs. This is difficult to quantify at present as organizational structures have not yet been established.

These will be funded from the HPA's allocation from the Department and also underspends/surpluses in 2003–04, which will be rolled forward across the first two to three years of the HPA.

Underspends of almost £3 million revenue and £2.5 million capital have been identified within the organizations which will be subsumed into the HPA; the Public Health Laboratory Service, the National Radiological Protection Board and the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research (CAMR). This is almost entirely slippage of programmes; there have been no cut backs. In addition CAMR has had a very successful trading year, which has resulted in a cash surplus of £5 million to put towards transitional costs.

Healthy Living Centre Initiative

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications for funding from the

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Healthy Living Centre initiative have been received from projects based in Buckinghamshire; and what the outcome was in each case. [105698]

Mr. Caborn: I have been asked to reply.

The New Opportunities Fund received six applications under the Healthy Living Centres programme from Buckinghamshire. One of these applications was successful:

Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust have been awarded £753,906 for the South Court and Walton Court Healthy Living Centre.

Medical Profession (Self-Regulation)

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will withdraw from the medical profession the provision for self-regulation. [105061]

Mr. Hutton: No. Self-regulation of the health professions has been a feature of the national health service since its inception. The Government remain committed to modern, patient-centred professionally led regulation.

NHS Facilities

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) NHS trusts which have wards which do not meet the single sex accommodation standards, (b) NHS trusts which do not meet the additional safety requirements for mentally ill patients and (c) trusts which do not meet the standards for separate lavatory and washing facilities. [102822]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 13 March 2003]: The majority of National Health Service trusts were successful in eliminating mixed sex accommodation by the target date. Over 98 per cent, of wards now meet our guidelines. The remainder will comply once current Private Finance Initiatives and other building projects in 24 NHS trusts are completed.

These projects affect only 164 out of 10,000 wards—less than two per cent., of all wards. To name the trusts involved would give a false impression that the whole trust is not compliant when that is clearly not the case.

Foundation Trusts

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether NHS foundation trusts are to be required to reinvest all year-end financial surpluses in ways consistent with the purpose of health-related activity carried out in the public interest. [105127]

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Mr. Hutton: Subject to parliamentary approval, a national health service foundation trust may retain any year-end financial surpluses, subject to the requirement that they are reinvested in ways consistent with its primary purpose, which is to provide NHS services to NHS patients.

NHS Funding

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each (a) NHS region, (b) health authority and (c) NHS trust for each quarter for (i) 1999, (ii) 2000 and (iii) 2001 the (A) monetary value of approvals to use (1) capital and (2) revenue for capital purposes, (B) number of approvals and (C) total capital allocation. [100712]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 March 2003]: The information requested on capital, revenue transferred for capital purposes, and total capital allocations has been placed in the Library. The Department does not collect details of the number of capital approvals.

Drug Misuse

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the practice of automatic detoxification of patients stabilised in the community on substitute prescriptions has been discontinued. [105182]

Ms Blears: The Department of Health has never endorsed a policy of automatic detoxification of heroin misusers. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to say that the policy of automatic detoxification of patients stabilised in the community on substitute prescriptions has been discontinued. The Department's view is set out in its "Drug Misuse and Dependence—Guidelines on Clinical Management (1999)", which states:

"It is important to tailor the treatment needs to those of the individual needs of the presenting patient, especially where substitute treatment for dependence is concerned.


A dose reduction intervention should be shaped by a realistic appraisal of jointly agreed treatment goals and outcomes between the patient, the doctor and other members involved in the patient's care.


Treatment aims and goals should be adjusted accordingly depending on the patients progress.


Methadone maintenance treatment, incorporating psychosocial interventions, can enable patients to achieve stability, reduce their drug misuse and criminal activity, and improve health. For these reasons such treatment should form an important part of drug misuse services.


There is now a choice of substances available for use in opiate maintenance prescribing. There is a need to monitor research progress in this field and to adjust future treatments in the light of new treatment evaluations."

Primary Care Trusts

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the allocations per head of population to each primary care trust in England are for (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [103766]

Mr. Hutton: Primary care trust revenue allocations per unweighted head of population in 2002–03 and per weighted head and unweighted head of population in 2003–04 have been placed in the Library.

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In 2002–03 the Department allocated to health authorities which allocated to their constituent primary care trusts. The Department calculated 2002–03 unweighted primary care trust populations in preparation for direct allocations to primary care trusts in 2003–04. But 2002–03 weighted primary care trust populations were not calculated centrally.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role strategic health authorities have in ensuring that primary care trusts continue to commission the full range of specialist services. [105566]

Mr. Hutton: Strategic health authorities are responsible for the oversight and performance management of the commissioning arrangements by primary care trusts. This includes the arrangements for specialised services.

Private Health Schemes

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his Answer of 11 March 2003, Official Report, column 246W, on private health schemes, what procedures are in place to monitor national health service trusts and primary care trusts to ensure that the offering of private patient services is not interfering with the performance by a trust of its functions or of its obligations under NHS contracts. [104053]

Mr. Hutton: Strategic health authorities are responsible for the performance management of national health service trusts and primary care trusts. It is, however, primarily for those trusts themselves to establish arrangements to monitor and review the appropriateness of their private patient provision.

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