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CABINET OFFICE
Regions White Paper
Joyce Quin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what progress the Cabinet Office has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of (a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in civil service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices, and the Government Offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the civil service and organisations in the regions; [108585]
- (2) what progress has been made within the civil service towards the goal set out in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of (a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in civil service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices, and the Government Offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the civil service and organisations in the regions. [108587]
Mr. Alexander: Training programmes include discussions of the regional implications of policy development as appropriate. The CMPS Partnership Programme takes course members to the regions to see the implementation of policy in action. Other courses have case studies and speakers that examine regional issues. In addition a number of specific programmes are offered which include: "Working with the devolved administrations" and "Devolution in action".
All moves of civil servants between departments are made in the best interests of the business of the departments concerned. The mobility of staff between HQ policy and regionally based directorates and Government Offices (GOs) is an important part of departments' HR strategy to deliver the Government's regional agenda. Information on mobility between regions, HQs and GOs is not held centrally.
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Awareness of the value of interchange is recognised and promoted in each of the nine Government Office regions in line with the objectives set out in the White Paper. The Cabinet Office Interchange Unit has run a series of events in each of the Government Office regions to bring together representatives from civil service departments and other organisations to encourage interchanges at regional level and to help deliver the Government's programme of neighbourhood regeneration through sharing relevant skills and experience between sectors.
HEALTH
Care Orders
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in England were subject to a care order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 in each of the last five years for which information is available. [108161]
Jacqui Smith: The number of children in England looked after by local authorities and the number on a full care order between 1998 and 2002 is shown in the table.
| All children | Full care orders | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 53,300 | 25,900 |
| 1999 | 55,500 | 27,400 |
| 2000 | 58,100 | 28,500 |
| 2001 | 58,900 | 29,800 |
| 2002 | 59,700 | 29,600 |
Source:
SSDA903, a return completed by local authorities providing data on a one-third sample of their looked after children.
Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts and primary care trusts had patient advice and liaison services with staff in post on 1 April in (a) England, (b) London and (c) the South West London Strategic Health Authority. [108994]
Mr. Lammy: Trusts are responsible for establishing and staffing their own services. 97 per cent. of trusts in England provide a patient advice and liaison service (PALS). There is 100 per cent. coverage within the London and South West London Strategic Health Authority areas, although the Department does not hold details of the number of staff working within PALS.
A list of PALS is available at http://www.doh.gov.uk/patientadviceandliaisonservices/
AAT Deficiency
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to make AAT deficiency a priority in medical schools. [106607]
Mr. Hutton: Ministers do not determine the curriculum of university medical schools. Individual university medical schools determine their own undergraduate medical curriculum in the light of recommendations from the General Medical Council's education committee, which has the statutory responsibility to determine the
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extent of the knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications in the United Kingdom.
Assisted Conception
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many patients who had received treatment at Leeds General Infirmary's Assisted Conception Unit before November 2002 have since taken DNA tests; [106851]
- (2) whether the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust will make public how many families are at risk from errors of procedure made at Leeds General Infirmary's Assisted Conception Unit; and how many families have been informed of this risk. [106852]
Ms Blears: The Leeds Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust believes this incident to be an extremely rare occurrence. Since then, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has asked clinics to put new procedures in place to minimise risks even further. The judgment issued last November in the High Court of Justice and the statement issued by the trust made clear that any patient with concerns should discuss them with the trust. Those discussions are a matter for the trust and its patients. So far, five people have raised concerns with the trust, three families have received counselling and one family is considering DNA testing. So far, no one has taken a DNA test.
Children in Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 31 March 2003, Official Report, columns 39–40WS, on children in care, how many and what percentage of female looked-after children (a) had a child, (b) had an abortion and (c) became pregnant in 1998. [107004]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not currently collected at national level. Work is under way to establish the feasibility of obtaining information about births among looked-after children, taking account of legal and confidentiality considerations.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his written statement of 31 March 2003, Official Report, column 39WS on children in care, if he will make it his policy to apply the targets set for children who have been in care for one year or more to adopted children; and against what targets his Department measures performance in relation to adopted children. [108198]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 9 April 2003]: Close monitoring of adoptive placements can be disruptive and could lead to unnecessary stress for children and their adoptive families. It is therefore not the Government's policy to set specific targets on educational attainment for adopted children.
The Government's priority is to increase the number of children adopted from care while not compromising the quality and stability of adoptive placements. The most effective measure of performance is to deliver adoptive placements that last and that are properly supported.
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However, we recognise that the child's educational needs may need very careful consideration as part of any assessment of the child's adoption support needs.
The Government are committed to improving the current system of adoption support. That is why we will shortly be publishing finalised regulations and guidance for a new national framework for adoption support and backing this with £70 million over the next three years from April 2003.
Government targets to increase the numbers of children adopted from care and speed up the adoption process are included in "Improvement, Expansion and Reform: The Next Three Years Priorities and Planning Framework 2003–2006", copies of which are available in the Library.
Children's Trusts
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which boroughs have applied to be Children's Trusts; and how co-terminosity will work between (a) police, (b) Social Services, (c) PCTs and (d) London education authorities. [106215]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 1 April 2003]: The closing date for applying to become a children's trust was 31 March. There have been a significant number of bids, of which a proportion is from partnerships led by London boroughs. One of a number of significant issues in the criteria against which the bids are being assessed is the issue of co-terminosity. It is not possible at this stage to analyse in detail the impact of co-terminosity, or lack of it, on the bidding process or the robustness of the plans.
Commission for Patient andPublic Involvement in Health
Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the work programme of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health and its implementation is commercially confidential; and what his policy is on openness and transparency in relation to the work of the Commission. [108996]
Mr. Lammy: As an independent body, the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) must decide which parts of its work programme and the implementation of it, will be commercially confidential.
The Government expects that all non-departmental public bodies will operate in an open and transparent way and so improve their accountability to the public and other stakeholders. We expect that CPPIH will also operate in this way.
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