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Diagnostic and Treatment Centres

Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assumptions were made by his Department about the costs of operations in NHS diagnostic and treatment centres relative to the costs of the same operations carried out at existing NHS hospitals in the same part of the country. [130648]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 16 September 2003]: When the new national tariff for the national health service is fully implemented, the price paid by a primary care trust for treatment at a NHS treatment centre will be the same as that paid in any other NHS trust facility, i.e. the national tariff, adjusted by the market forces

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factor. We expect NHS treatment centres to deliver both high quality services and high standards of productivity and efficiency and therefore we have assumed that their operating costs will be within the national tariff.

Diet

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been undertaken into the health effects on infants of pre-gelatinised starch in babyfood. [130119]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Neither the Department nor the Food Standards Agency has undertaken any such research. Pre-gelatinised starch is included in the list of permitted sources of carbohydrate under the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations 1995.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will press the Chancellor to introduce taxation on foods which are detrimental to healthy living. [130160]

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.

Tax is a matter for the Budget. Most food is zero-rated for VAT, and we remain committed to our manifesto to pledge not to extend VAT to food. Some foods which might be considered detrimental to healthy living are already liable to VAT at the standard rate of 17.5 per cent. These include ice cream, most confectionary, chocolate biscuits, crisps, soft drinks and all hot foods sold by take-away outlets.

Drug and Alcohol Training Programmes

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which wards and programmes within Sefton have benefited from drug and alcohol training programmes administered by the Government Office of the North West. [124385]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government office for the North West (GONW) provides an advisory role with regards to drug and alcohol training programmes. As such, the Department is unable to provide details of any wards or programmes within Sefton that have benefited from drug and alcohol training programmes administered by the GONW.

I have asked that an official from the GONW write to my hon. Friend, setting out its position in more detail regarding the provision of drug and alcohol training programmes.

Food Standards

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his policy on NHS food procurement seeks to encourage the purchase of food produced in the United Kingdom; what guidance on food procurement he has issued to health authorities and trusts; and if he will make a statement. [129362]

Mr. Hutton : The Department has recently compiled an action plan in response to the recommendations included in the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative, which is being taken forward by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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Guidance has already been issued to national health service trusts on how to promote local sourcing, which, together with supporting local communities, is among the key principles of the Department's sustainable development policy.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost is of setting up (a) Combase and (b) Growth Predictor; and what sources of funding are being used. [130090]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Both Combase and Growth Predictor have been designed to provide those involved in food safety, such as researchers, the food industry and those involved in public health, with easily accessible information to assist with risk assessment and risk management.

Combase has been developed as a joint venture by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Institute of Food Research and United States Department of Agriculture. Costs have been shared and the United Kingdom Government has contributed data and software to the value of £8 million over the last 15 years.

Growth Predictor has been funded by the FSA. It cost approximately £200,000 to develop.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are employed by the Government in investigating the fraudulent trade in unfit food. [130086]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Local authority environmental health and trading standards services, in partnership with officers from the Meat Hygiene Service and the State Veterinary Service, are responsible for investigating fraudulent trade in unfit food. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides help and advice to local authorities and has appointed 26 local authority enforcement officers to provide regional advice on investigating unfit food. Each advisor will contribute 10 working days per year to this work on behalf of the FSA. In addition, there is a team of five investigators based at the FSA to assist with this work and two further investigators are being recruited.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Food Standards Agency has to conduct audits of local councils in England and Wales. [130089]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Food Standards Agency launched its United Kingdom-wide local authority food law enforcement audit scheme in April 2001. Audits are carried out against the requirements of the framework agreement on local authority food law enforcement, which sets out minimum standards of performance. Since the launch of the scheme, 149 local authorities across the UK, including 99 in England and 10 in Wales, have been subject to an audit.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget of the Food Standards Agency for food sampling for each year since the Food Standards Agency was established. [130960]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Food sampling as part of the enforcement of food law is the responsibility of local authorities (LAs). LAs carried out 178,000 and 165,000 samples in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Figures are not yet available for 2002.

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Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Food Standards Agency's strategy is to ensure the adequacy of future arrangements for the testing of food samples. [130962]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 16 July 2003, Official Report, columns 413–14W, relating to the work that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is taking forward in close liaison with local authorities (LAs) and the Association of Public Analysts to ensure that food standards sampling effectively contributes to consumer protection.

I am also aware that the FSA is working closely with the Health Protection Agency on the procedures for microbiological sampling of food to ensure an adequate system is in place for LAs.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of testing of food samples was carried out by (a) local authority public analysts, (b) private sector public analysts and (c) the Food Standards Agency's laboratory in York in each year since the Food Standards Agency was established. [130964]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on numbers of food samples tested by individual public analyst laboratories is not held centrally. It is therefore not possible to break down the information on total samples between types of laboratory in the manner requested.

According to the Association of Public Analysts' statistics, approximately 82,000 food samples were tested by public analysts in 2001, but the figures are not split between local authority and private sector public analysts.

The Food Standards Agency does not have its own laboratory. The laboratory in York referred to by the hon. Member is the central science laboratory, an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are plans to train further local authority enforcement officers in illegal meat imports. [130088]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Since April 2003, the Food Standards Agency has run 20 training courses for United Kingdom local authority enforcement officers on imported food issues, which includes the control of illegal meat imports. Further courses are planned, so that enforcement representatives from all UK local authority environmental health Departments, trading standards services and UK ports of entry will have received training by the end of March 2004.

Food Supplements Directive

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet representatives of Consumers for Health Choice to discuss the European Food Supplements Regulations. [128354]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I met with a representative of Consumers for Health Choice on Tuesday 7 October to discuss the Food Supplements Regulations.

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the EU Food Supplements Directive; [132229]

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(2) if he will make a statement about the EU Food Supplements Directive. [132280]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Directive 2002/46/EC on Food Supplements came into force on 12 July 2002 and had to be implemented into member states' national legislation by 31 July 2003. The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 were laid before Parliament on 2 June 2003 and the provisions will come into force on 1 August 2005. Parallel legislation has been made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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