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3 Apr 2003 : Column 852W—continued
Departmental Invoices
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the occasions on which (a) his Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed credit period in the financial year 2001–02. [104322]
Mr. Lammy: The payment record during 2001–02 is shown in the table.
| Number on time | Percentage | Number late | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Health | 340,881 | 96.35 | 12,921 | 3.65 |
| Agencies | 26,747 | 80.28 | 6,570 | 19.72 |
| NDPBs | 69,711 | 72.71 | 26,161 | 27.29 |
Expenditure (Ministers' Offices)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) his Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) his Department. [105992]
Mr. Lammy: In the financial year 2001–02, it cost £2,876,000 to run Ministers' private offices, £2,242,000 of which was staff costs.
Outturn against the Department's Administration Cost Limit for 2001–02 is reported in Note 6.1 of the Department's resource accounts for 2001–02, a copy of which is available in the Library.
Five-a-day Co-ordinators
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts employ National Five-A-Day co-ordinators; and what the salary is of each. [104076]
Ms Blears: Salford Primary Care Trust was awarded a grant by the New Opportunities Fund to employ Five-A-Day co-ordinators. One is a part-time national post at a salary of £35,000 per annum pro rata; and 10 are regional co-ordinators—seven full-time and three part-time—at salaries between £25,000 and £30,000 pro rata.
Food Standards Agency
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the buildings (a) owned and (b) used by the
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Food Standards Agency, giving in each case (i) their location and (ii) their latest market value; and if he will make a statement. [105090]
Ms Blears: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and its executive agency The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) do not own any buildings. The FSA's head office in Kingsway, London, has an annual rent of £4.2 million. Devolved offices are located in Aberdeen, Belfast and Cardiff with annual rentals of £160,000, £67,000 and £51,000 respectively.
The MHS has its head office in York. The annual rent is £346,000. The MHS has regional offices in York (annual rent £48,000), Edinburgh (£7,000), Wolverhampton (£19,000), Cardiff (£18,000) and Taunton (£16,000).
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the total cost to public funds of the Food Standards Agency in each year from 1999–2000 to 2004–05 (planned). [105091]
Ms Blears: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was formed on 1 April 2000. The total costs to the public funds in the United Kingdom of the FSA, including the activities of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), which is an executive agency of the FSA and its offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the years to 2004–05 are shown in the table.
| Financial Year | FSA | MHS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 (actual) | 80.0 | 3.7 | 83.7 |
| 2001–02 (actual) | 97.4 | 18.1 | 115.5 |
| 2002–03 (planned) | 102 | 25 | 127 |
| 2003–04 | n/a | n/a | 138 |
| 2004– | n/a | n/a | 147 |
Genetics
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to publish the Green Paper on Genetics. [105312]
Ms Blears: We have been developing our proposals on genetics and these will be published shortly.
Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources will be made available to health overview and scrutiny committees from funds previously allocated to community health councils. [106541]
Mr. Lammy: The £23.5 million previously made available to fund Community Health Councils (CHCs) is contributing to the much wider programme of Government initiatives to support and strengthen patient and public involvement.
The functions of CHCs are being picked up by a range of mechanisms which include patient advice and liaison services, independent complaints advocacy services, patients forums, the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health and the scrutiny of health services by local authority overview and scrutiny committees. Overall the funding has increased substantially.
3 Apr 2003 : Column 854W
Funding to support local authority scrutiny of the national health services is currently being considered within the Department and an announcement will be made shortly.
Healthy Workplace Initiative (Buckinghamshire)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) companies, (b) voluntary organisations and (c) public sector organisations based in the Buckinghamshire constituency have signed up to the healthy workplace initiative; what information he has received; and at what cost to public funds. [106378]
Mr. Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the response given to him by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ms Blears), on Tuesday 7 February 2002, Official Report, column 1152W. There has been no change in the position since this response was given.
Human Cloning
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his policy on human cloning. [104207]
Ms Blears: The United Kingdom already has a legal ban, the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, that prevents any attempt to carry out human reproductive cloning.
In its response to the 2002 House of Lords Select Committee report on stem cell research, the Government agreed with the Select Committee that there is a powerfulcase for the use of therapeutic cloning, under strict regulation, as a research tool.
Such research is permitted and regulated under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
Independent Complaint Advocacy Service
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Independent Complaint Advocacy Service will be established. [106358]
Mr. Lammy: I refer my hon. Friend to the response I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) on 19 March 2003, Official Report, columns 849–50W.
Infections (Plane Travel)
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who became ill from infection caused by travelling by plane, broken down by (a) common cold, (b) influenza and (c) other illnesses, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [104489]
Ms Blears: This information is not collected.
Meat Hygiene
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many red meat and poultry meat slaughterhouses (a) have introduced the Meat (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) system since 7 June 2002, (b) have since been the subject of enforcement action because of contravention of the regulations and (c) are
3 Apr 2003 : Column 855W
about to be subject to such action or are being considered for such action because of contraventions of the regulations; and if he will make a statement. [106486]
Ms Blears [holding answer 1 April 2003]: The Meat (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) Regulations 2002 came into effect on 7 June 2002 in respect of large licensed meat plants and of these, 78 red meat and poultry meat slaughterhouses have fully implemented the requirements, 15 such premises have since been the subject of enforcement action because of contravention of these regulations and five are being considered for such action.
Mental Health
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the (a) mental health service improvements announced in the national service framework for mental health and (b) NHS plan for (i) crisis teams, (ii) assertive outreach programmes, (iii) home treatment, (iv) early intervention in psychosis and (v) primary care mental health teams will be launched in the Portsmouth area; and if he will make a statement. [104943]
Ms Blears: The mental health national service framework, published in September 1999, outlines national standards for mental health and how they should be developed and delivered. It concentrates on the mental health needs of working age adults, and covers health promotion, assessment and diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and care, encompassing primary and secondary care as well as the roles of partner agencies.
In the Portsmouth area work to develop mental health services is on-going. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority has advised of the following mental health services in place:
Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment
- Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust (PCT) has gained successful approval of its crisis resolution and home treatment business case at the PCT board and recruitment of key staff posts commenced in March 2003.
- Portsmouth City PCT has a small assertive outreach team, which has been operating since 1999.
- Portsmouth City PCT is working with colleagues in Hampshire to develop a model.
- Portsmouth City has a number of pilot GP practices.
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