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4 Jul 2003 : Column 547W—continued
Strokes
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average age is for (a) men and (b) women suffering strokes; and what the main causes of strokes are. [122392]
Dr. Ladyman: Around 110,000 people in England and Wales have a first stroke each year and the majority affect people over 55. Around 10,000 strokes a year occur in people under the age of 55.The summary report of the National Sentinel Stroke Audit, published in July 2002, showed that the mean age for stroke was 73 in men and 79 in women. A breakdown of these figures is shown in the table.
| Age in years | Age in Years | Age in years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage <65 | Percentage 65–74 | Percentage 75+ | Mean | |
| Male | 23 | 28 | 49 | 73 year |
| Female | 11 | 19 | 70 | 79 year |
There are two main types of stroke, and each has different causes. The first type, an ischaemic stroke, occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery serving the brain, disrupting blood supply. The second main type of stroke is a haemorrhagic stroke, when a blood vessel in or around the brain bursts, causing a bleed or haemorrhage.
Main risk factors for stroke include:
- Previous stroke
- High blood pressure
- Irregular heart beat
- Other cardiovascular disease
- Narrowing of a carotid artery
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol
- Obesity
- Alcohol misuse
- Poor diet
- Low levels of physical activity
- Smoking
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support the Government give to stroke clubs and other organisations helping people who have suffered from strokes; and if he will make a statement. [123399]
Dr. Ladyman: At present, no Government funding is supplied specifically to stroke clubs. Our main source of funding to the voluntary sector is the Section 64 grant scheme. In 2002–03 £22 million was awarded to 394 different organisations. Application forms for the 2004–05 bidding round will shortly be available from
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the grants unit. Voluntary organisations which organise stroke clubs will be able to bid for these funds. Other organisations receiving Government grants may be helping people who have had strokes, but we do not hold this information centrally.
Vitamins and Minerals
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the handling by the press office of the Food Standards Agency of the publication of the Expert Group's Report on Vitamins and Minerals; and if he will make a statement. [122194]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 30 June 2003, Official Report, column 142W.
Vulnerable People
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government intend to include the need to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare of (a) mentally ill adults and (b) older people under Clause 72 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill. [122948]
Dr. Ladyman: The Bill makes provision for the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to have special regard for the most vulnerable group in society, children, but singling them out for such particular attention does not mean that other vulnerable groups will not have their rights and welfare promoted by CSCI.
CSCI will have the responsibility to look at the provision of services for all people, including mentally ill adults and older people.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Animal Experiments
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much he has spent on researching alternatives to animal testing in each of the last 20 years; [122654]
- (2) how much he has spent on animal test research in each of the last 20 years. [122655]
Caroline Flint: Since the financial year 1988–89, the Home Office has made a budget available to the Animal Procedures Committee (APC) for the development and promotion of alternatives which replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used, or refine the procedures involved to minimise suffering. Work aimed at improving the environmental conditions in which laboratory animals are kept and transported has also been sponsored. Details of completed research are published in the annual reports of the Animal Procedures Committee, which are available from The Stationery Office and, for recent years, on the Committee's website. The budget provided to the APC and, where available, the actual expenditure, in each year since 1988–89 was as follows.
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| Financial year | Budget allocated | Actual spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1988–89 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| 1989–90 | 120,000 | n/a |
| 1990–91 | 122,000 | n/a |
| 1991–92 | 215,000 | n/a |
| 1992–93 | 253,000 | n/a |
| 1993–94 | 308,000 | n/a |
| 1994–95 | 273,000 | n/a |
| 1995–96 | 253,000 | n/a |
| 1996–97 | 242,000 | 242,000 |
| 1997–98 | 182,000 | 181,621 |
| 1998–99 | 259,000 | 257,141 |
| 1999–2000 | 259,000 | 275,000 |
| 2000–01 | 265,000 | 170,203 |
| 2001–02 | 280,000 | 173,906 |
| 2002–03 | 280,000 | 272,104 |
The Home Office has no regulatory requirement for animal test data and does not incur expenditure on such research. Nor do Home Office records show any expenditure on any one-off research projects requiring such data.
Charity Commission
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what requests for information the Charity Commission has made of Mr. Robert Winter of Wendover, Bucks, in respect of the activities of (a) Solutions RMC Ltd, (b) Breast Cancer Research Scotland and (c) Breast Cancer Relief; [121199]
- (2) if he will request the Charity Commission to conduct an investigation into the affairs of Breast Cancer Relief in Manchester. [121201]
Fiona Mactaggart: These are matters for the Charity Commission as the Government department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales. The Director of Operations will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
Volunteering
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how effective the Experience Corps (TEC) project has been to date; how many people have participated; what the average age is of participants; what range of placements they are assisting with; what benchmarks are being used to determine the effectiveness of the project; how much money has been allocated to the scheme each year; what TEC activity exists in the Government Office North East region; and if he will make a statement. [121642]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Experience Corps is a national initiative with the aim of encouraging more people aged 50 and over to become or to remain active in their local communities.
The latest figures supplied by the Experience Corps show that around 111,560 volunteers have been recruited since the initiative began and that they have placed over 70,000 volunteers. They report that the average age of the volunteers is just under 61. They have over 423,000 opportunities available in a wide range of
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roles, for example driving for the Red Cross, helping out at Dorset based cricket clubs, or acting as ground crew volunteers for the Great North Air Ambulance.
The effectiveness of the Experience Corps will be determined by the extent to which they achieve targets set in respect of the recruitment and retention of volunteers. The main one is that by 2004 they should recruit 250,000 volunteers reflecting the diversity of people over 50.
The Home Office has allocated the Experience Corps a total of £19.9 million, broken down as £5.5million/£7.2million/£7.2million for the three years to March 2004. A recent evaluation of the Experience Corps raised some concerns surrounding their figures on volunteer recruitment. In the light of this we are currently considering options for funding beyond that date.
The Experience Corps report that they have just under 10,000 people actively involved in projects in the north-east. They work with a number of partner organisations in a variety of projects which demonstrate the intergenerational aspects of their work; they are a recruiter for HANE (Housing Action North East) launched by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister last November with some 400 volunteers supporting homeless people throughout the region taking up tenancies for the first time; and they work with the Sikh and Hindu communities in Newcastle and Sunderland, for example holding a SEVA event at a Hindu temple.
CABINET OFFICE
Government Gateway
Mr. Allan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the open standards compliance of the digital signing system used in the Government Gateway. [123636]
Mr. Alexander: As part of our drive to ensure that central infrastructure meets open standards, work is being carried out to upgrade the signing capability of the Government Gateway so that in due course it will meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard.
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