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13 May 2003 : Column 220W—continued
Press Office
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997. [108388]
Mr. Blunkett: I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave to the hon Member for Yeovil (David Laws), on 24 February 2003, Official Report, column 335W.
Quarterly Reports
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether copies of the state of the sector quarterly reports will be sent to hon. Members; and what their purpose is. [111692]
Beverley Hughes: The Home Office is establishing a State of the Sector panel to monitor progress against the Government's target of increasing voluntary and community sector activity by 5 per cent. by 2006. The first report on findings from surveys of the panel will be available in the autumn of this year. Copies of the reports will be placed in the Library. In addition, reports will be available on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/sosp.html.
RAF Fairford
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 28 April, ref 108954, on RAF Fairford, on what basis the Terrorism Act 2000 was used to body search demonstrators at RAF Fairford. [111793]
Mr. Blunkett: We do not comment on operational counter-terrorist measures, but the Chief Constable, Gloucestershire Constabulary, has informed me that powers of stop and search under the Terrorism Act were used, for the purpose of searching for articles of a kind that could be used in connection with terrorism.
SARS
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure people of Chinese origin are not discriminated against as a result of the public concerns over SARS; and if he will make a statement. [111786]
Beverley Hughes: The provisions of the Race Relations Act 1976 apply equally to all people irrespective of colour, race, nationality and ethnic or national origin. It is unlawful for anyone to discriminate against another person on any of these grounds in any area covered by the legislation.
The Chief Medical Officer has advised that at present SARS poses a low risk in this country. On 1 May the World Health Organisation removed the UK from the list of SARS affected areas, as there has been no transmission in the UK for over 20 days.
The Department of Health continues to take this situation extremely seriously and have implemented a number of precautionary measures to stop the spread of this infection in the UK. They are taking a precautionary but proportionate approach and all measures are kept under continuous review.
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The current number of probable cases in this country stands at six. All of these patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
Suicide Bombing (Tel Aviv)
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what investigations he is making into the connections and circumstances in the UK in which two British citizens allegedly went to Israel to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on 29 April; and if he will make a statement; [111877]
- (2) if he will investigate the connections of Asif Mohammed Haniff and Omar Khan Shariff with fundamentalist organisations in Britain; and if he will make a statement. [111878]
Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 8 May 2003]: The Metropolitan Police Service Anti-Terrorist Branch is liaising closely with the Israeli authorities and is carrying out vigorous inquiries into all relevant aspects of the case. Six arrests were made on 2 and 3 May under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in connection with these inquiries and three individuals were changed on 8 May with offences under that Act.
Timber
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written answer of 3 April 2003, Official Report, column 872W, on timber, if he will place certificates showing that purchased construction timber for the redevelopment of 2 Marsham Street has been sourced legally and sustainably in the Library. [111015]
Beverley Hughes: When all certificates are received from Anne's Gate Property plc in respect of purchased construction timber for 2 Marsham Street, they will be placed in the Library. This is expected in the next few weeks.
Voluntary Groups
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the way in which his Department intend to take forward the twinning of ethnic minority and mainstream voluntary groups. [111691]
Beverley Hughes: In 2000 the Government launched the Black and Minority Ethnic Twinning Initiative (BMETI) which aimed to increase the involvement of black and minority ethnic people within mainstream voluntary organisations and raise the national awareness of current good volunteering practice in black and minority ethnic communities. In April 2001 an independent external evaluation showed that the initiative benefited both black and minority ethnic organisations and mainstream voluntary organisations. The evaluation contained a number of recommendations for building on the successes of the initiative. They have been taken forward as part of the Home Office Active Community Unit's work with the voluntary sector.
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HEALTH
Asthma
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what targets he has set for the take up of written personal action plans for people with asthma; [111428]
- (2) what efforts he has made to extend the use of written personal action plans for people with asthma in each of the last two years; [111429]
(3) what assessment he has made of the impact of personal action plans for people with asthma in respect of (a) asthma symptoms, (b) working days lost, (c) night time waking, (d) outpatient hospital visits, (e) in-patient hospital visits, (f) emergency events, (g) medicine dependency, (h) prescription costs and (i) other measures. [111430]
Jacqui Smith: The new British Thoracic Society asthma guidelines do recommend written asthma action plans for all patients, particularly those admitted to hospital. We do not collect information centrally on the specific impact of personal action plans, which are not necessarily the same as written asthma action plans.
However, improved management of asthma patients may have helped to contribute to the reduction of hospital admissions for asthma sufferers. The hospital episode statistics data in the table shows hospital admissions between 1997–2002 where asthma was the primary diagnosis.
| Admissions | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 71,434 |
| 1998–99 | 69,824 |
| 1999–2000 | 66,054 |
| 2000–01 | 60,376 |
| 2001–02 | 60,134 |
As part of the current chronic disease management programme, general practitioners are required to prepare an individual management plan with the patient and ensure there are regular reviews. 93 per cent. of GPs participate. Other requirements include ensuring that all newly diagnosed patients with asthma get appropriate education and advice and ensuring that all patients get continuing education including supervision of inhaler technique if necessary.
Care Homes
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received NHS continuing care in (a) nursing homes and (b) residential care homes in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [112164]
Jacqui Smith: The Department does not collect the information requested, but figures from Laing & Buisson's "Care of Elderly People, Market Survey 2002" suggest the following was the number of people in care homes providing nursing care in receipt of national health service continuing care from 1997 to 2001.
13 May 2003 : Column 223W
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 16,000 |
| 1998 | 17,000 |
| 1999 | 18,000 |
| 2000 | 18,000 |
| 2001 | 19,000 |
It would be unusual for an individual in a care home not providing nursing care to be in receipt of fully funded NHS continuing care.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public money has been spent on services provided by private care homes in the last 12 months. [112246]
Jacqui Smith: The gross total expenditure by local authorities in England in 2001–02, the latest year for which data are available, on residential care placements for adults and older people provided by the private and voluntary sector was £3,092 million. The gross total expenditure on nursing home placements provided by the private and voluntary sector in England in 2001–02 was £1,510 million.
Children's Trusts
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department will make available to finance the start up costs of children's trusts in each of the next three years. [112363]
Jacqui Smith: The selected children's trust pilots will be given pump priming of £60,000 per year to assist with the start up costs. Trusts that are particularly large or complex will be able to bid for additional funds, up to a further £40,000.
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