---

5 Feb 2004 : Column 1070W—continued

Regional Assemblies

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which of his powers will be transferred to elected regional assemblies where they are introduced; and which body holds each of those powers. [152101]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The White Paper, "Your Region Your Choice", set out the Government's plans for the powers and responsibilities of English regional assemblies.

An assembly will:

Have a duty to promote the health of the population of the region. This will include scrutinising the assembly's own policies and strategies;

Support the development and implementation of a health improvement strategy for the region, working with the relevant regional director of public health;

Appoint the regional director of public health as the assembly's health advisor.

None of these will require a transfer of powers from the Secretary of State for Health or from any agencies accountable to him.

Respite Care

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money his Department gave to projects that deal with respite care projects for terminally ill children in 2003. [151665]

Dr. Ladyman: Funding for projects providing respite care for terminally ill children is available from national health service primary care trusts. Information on the amount provided is not collected centrally.

School Fruit

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 585W, on the School Fruit Scheme, how much the Government spent centrally on administering the National School Fruit Scheme in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03, excluding the cost of the fruit. [152750]

5 Feb 2004 : Column 1071W

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 3 February 2004]: Payments by the Department to local operators in the 27 areas that piloted the National School Fruit Scheme in 2001–02 included an estimated £20,000 for administration.

All costs in 2002–03, in these pilot areas and in the three whole regions that joined the scheme during the year, were met by bodies receiving grants from the lottery-funded New Opportunities Fund. These grants included 1.7 per cent. for administration; on the basis of which the estimated cost of administrating the scheme in 2002–03 was £170,000.

Smoking

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress in smoking policy reviews in Government buildings. [150814]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We have not undertaken a formal review of smoking policies in all Government buildings. The Department has taken the lead from April 2003 in making our buildings smoke-free and we continue to encourage employers and managers of public places to introduce smoke-free policies.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of (a) how many and (b) what proportion of children aged between 11 and 15 years smoke. [152557]

Miss Melanie Johnson: It is estimated that, in England in 2002, 10 per cent. of 11 to 15-year-olds smoked cigarettes regularly (at least one cigarette a week), around 324,000 young people aged 11 to 15.

Statins

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of the new general medical services contract on the prescribing of statins in primary care for patients with high cholesterol levels. [152833]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The quality indicators for the new general medical services contract include cholesterol management for patients with coronary heart disease. This will reinforce general practitioners' current work to deliver the quality standards set out in the national service framework for coronary heart disease, which are driving the present increase in statin prescriptions, with an estimated saving of 6,700 lives per year and preventing many more people from having heart attacks.

Universal Vaccination

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has assessed relating to the value of universal vaccination as a means of protecting the population against disease. [151313]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Vaccination has been one of the most effective interventions along with improvements in clean water supplies and nutrition in reducing infectious diseases throughout the world. The introduction of vaccines in the United Kingdom against a number of childhood diseases, including whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, haemophilus

5 Feb 2004 : Column 1072W

influenzae type B (Hib), and diphtheria has lead to significant reductions or elimination (in the case of smallpox) of these diseases.

There are a number of good examples where the level of a disease has fallen following the introduction of an effective vaccine. Following the introduction of Hib in 1992, there was a 98 per cent. fall in the number of laboratory confirmed cases in children under five years of age. Similarly, the meningococcal C vaccine, introduced in November 1999, resulted in a reduction in the number of laboratory confirmed cases of meningococcal group C disease by around 95 per cent. in babies under 12 months of age. Oral polio vaccine has been extremely effective in eliminating poliomyelitis from the UK. Excellent progress towards worldwide eradication is being made, and the World Health Organisation hopes to have interrupted wild polio transmission by the end of 2005.

Vegetables

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list in respect of all vegetables their carbohydrate content; and which are regarded by his Department as having too much carbohydrate to qualify for inclusion as vegetables in a healthy diet. [145535]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Carbohydrate content of vegetables is given in McCance and Widdowson's 'The Composition, of Foods' (Sixth summary edition), copies of which are available in the Library.

Government guidelines for a healthy diet, set out in the Food Standards Agency's 'Balance of Good Health' model, recommend eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and also plenty of foods rich in starch (carbohydrate) and fibre. Potatoes and yams, cassava and plantains are usually eaten as the main source of carbohydrate in a meal and, for the purposes of the 'Balance of Good Health', are grouped with other starchy foods in the 'bread, other cereals and potatoes' section. Vegetables eaten in addition to the main starchy food are covered by the 'fruit and vegetables' section.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Civil Service (Disabled People)

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out the number of employees in the Department who have a disability, broken down by disability type. [148985]

Mr. Lammy: The following table is as at 1 April 2003. 442 members of staff in the Department for Constitutional Affairs have declared a disability. This information is obtained through a confidential survey issued to all staff, and collected against the following categories, which are based on Cabinet Office guidance. My Department is a member of the Disability Working Group.

Disability description	Total
Reduced physical capacity	159
Hearing impairment	65
Mobility impairment	61
Visual impairment	33
Physical co-ordination difficulties	28
Learning disabilities	19
Mental illness	8
Speech impairment	(31)—
Reduced physical—with one or more other disabilities	32
Mobility—with one or more other disabilities	20
Hearing—with one or more other disabilities	12
Visual—with one or more other disabilities	5
Learning—with one or more other disabilities	(31)—
Physical co-ordination difficulties—with one or more other disabilities	(31)—
Disfigurement—with one or more other disabilities	(31)—
Mental illness—with one or more other disabilities	(31)—
Disability unknown	(31)—

⁽³¹⁾ No declarations have been received.

5 Feb 2004 : Column 1073W

Committee Membership

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who the members of the (a) Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, (b) Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of

5 Feb 2004 : Column 1074W

Income Tax, (c) Civil Procedure Rule Committees, (d) Judicial Studies Board, (e) Council of Tribunals and (f) Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated. [151815]

Mr. Lammy: The following table details the membership of: (c) Civil Procedure Rule Committee, (d) Judicial Studies Board, (e) Council of Tribunals and (f) Legal Services Consultative Panel (which replaced the Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct on 1 January 2000).

There are 86 Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, each having between and eight and 16 members in total. They would each normally serve nine years in total and are not remunerated.

There are 74 Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of income tax, each having between six and eight members in total. They would each normally serve nine years in total and are not remunerated.

I will place a copy of the full list of names in both Libraries of the Houses when they are available.

Public Body	Member	1st Term	2nd Term
Civil Procedure Rule Committee Remuneration: Members of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee do not receive remuneration. However, under Civil	Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (ex officio)	1 October 2000–.
Procedure Act 1997 Section 2(5), the Lord Chancellor	Sir Andrew Morritt (ex officio)	17 July 2000–
may reimburse the members of the Committee with "travelling and other out-of-pocket expenses". Subject	Sir John Dyson	1 September 2003 (without term)
to that, there is no payment made to members.	His Honour Judge StephemOliver-Jones QC	25 September 2002–31 August 2005
	District Judge Carlos Dabezies	1 September 2001–31 August 2004
	Master Steven Whitaker	25 September 2002–31 August 2005
	Michael Black QC	15 February 2000–31 August 2004
	Philip Rainey	1 September 2001–31 August 2004
	Richard Walford	1 September 2003–31 August 2006
	Julie Herzog	1 September 2001–31 August 2004
	Nicholas Burkill	25 September 2002–31 August 2005
	Andrew Parker	1 September 2003–31 August 2006
	Ahmad Butt	1 September 2003–31 August 2006
	Peter Candon JP	1 September 2003–31 August 2006
Judicial Studies Board Remuneration: Susan Hewett and Sonia Shah-Kazemi each receive a fee of £150 for	Lord Justice Keene (Chairman)	31 July 2003–30 July 2007
attending each meeting as they are not full time members of the judiciary.	Lady Justice Smith DBE	2 October 2000–1 October 2004
	Mrs Justice Hallett DBE	1 October 1999–30 September 2002	1 October 2002–30 September 2004
	Mrs Justice Cox	31 July 2003–30 July 2007
	Mr Justice Crane	1 October 2001–30 September 2005	.
	Mr Justice Sumner	1 October 1999–30 September 2002	1 October 2002–30 September 2004
	Mr Justice Sullivan	1 October 1999–30 September 2002	1 October 2002–30 September 2004
	Judge Richard Bond	1 August 2001–24 June 2002	25 June 2002–24 June 2004
	Judge Dick Pollard	1 April 2000–31 March 2002	1 April 2002–31 March 2004
	District Judge Jeremy Cochrane	1 August 2001–28 February 2004
	District Judge (MC) Phillip Wassell	1 October 2002–30 September 2006
	Godfrey Cole	4 January 2004–3 January 2006
	Susan Hewett JP OBE	1 January 2003–31 December 2005
	Sonia Shah-Kazemi	30 September 2003–29 September 2005
	Sir Hayden Phillips (ex officio member)
Council on Tribunals The Chairman receives an annual retainer of £44,973 plus travel expenses. The Chairman of the Council's Scottish Committee receives an annual	The right hon. The Lord Newten of Braintree PC QBE	1 October 1999–30 September 2002	1 October 2002–30 September 2007
retainer of	John Elliot	1 June 1998–31May 2001	1 June 2001–31 May 2004
	Carolyn Berkeley JP	1 April 1999–31 March 2002	1 April 2002–31 March 2005
£22,486 plus travel expenses. Members receive an annual retainer off £10,945 plus travel expenses.	Michael Brown JP	1 May 1996–30 April 1999	1 May 1999–30 April 2002 3rd term 1 May 2002–30 April 2003
	Elizabeth Cameron	2 September 2002–1 September 2005
	Anne Galbraith	1 September 1997–31 August 2000	1 September 2000–31 August 2003
	Rosalind Hepplewhite	1 September 2002–31 August 2006
	Susan Howdle	1 April 1998–31 March 2001	1 April 2001–31 March 2004
	Penny Letts	1 September 2002–31 August 2006
	Stephen Mannion	10 August 2001–9 August 2004
	Bernard Quoroll	1 May 2003–30 April 2007
	Douglas Readings	1 September 1997–31 August 2000	1 September 2000–31 August 2003
	Professor Genevra Richardson	1 February 2001–31 January 2004
	Sandy Russell CB	1 January 2002–31 December 2004
	Paddy Waring	1 November 1997–31 October 2000	1 November 2000–31October 2003
	Heather Wilcox	1 February 2003–31 January 2007
	Ann Abraham	4 November 2002	n/a
Legal Services Consultative Panel.	Lord Justice Potter (Chairman)	1 January 2000–31 December 2001	1 January 2002–31December 2004
Members are not renumerated	Professor Hugh Brayne	1 January 2002–31 December 2004
	Lady Elizabeth Finsberg	1 January 2000–31 December 2005
	Karen McKay	1 January 2002–31 December 2004
	Richard Moorhead	1 January 2002–31 December 2004
	John Randall	20 March 2000–31 December 2005
	Simon Sapper	1 January 2000–31 December 2005
	Alan Street	1 January 2000–31 December 2005
	Peta-Sweet	1 January 2000–31 December 2005
	Dr. Matthew Weait	1 January 2002–31 December 2004
	Jonathan Acton Davis QC	1 January 2004–31 December 2006
	Jonathan Goldsmith	1 January 2004–31 December 2006
	John Hannam	1 January 2004–31 December 2006
	David Mclntosh	1 January 2004–31 December 2006
	John Young CBE	1 January 2004–31 December 2006
	John Randall	1 January 2004–31 December 2006

5 Feb 2004 : Column 1075W

---