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8 Mar 2004 : Column 1338W—continued

Security Passes

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in departmental agencies in the last 12 months. [147906]

Ms Rosie Winterton [pursuant to her reply, 15 January 2004, Official Report, c. 859W]: I regret my previous response was incorrect. The response should have read as follows.

"The records, where available, of building access passes issued by Department of Health Executive Agencies, and subsequently reported as lost or stolen, indicate that 37 passes were lost and three were stolen during the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003."

Sexual Health

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken to implement the 2001 Sexual Health Strategy. [157917]

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Miss Melanie Johnson: A full programme of action to implement the strategy is taking place, as set out in the Strategy Implementation Action Plan (2002), backed by significant investment of £47.5 million, plus a further £40 million committed over the next two years. In addition, a further £26.4 million has been invested this year. The Government's response to the Health Select Committee report on sexual health published in September 2003 (cm 5959) contains details of the work being undertaken, including the national chlamydia screening programme; measures to improve access

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to services; improve genito-urinary medicine clinic premises; national sexual health promotion campaigns; and work to support local implementation.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) gonorrhea, (b) syphilis, (c) chlamydia and (d) thrush have been diagnosed in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last five years. [149670]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information for the Yorkshire and Humberside area is shown in the table.

Selected diagnosed STIs seen in Yorkshire and Humberside NHS Region 1998–2002

Condition code	Condition name	Sex description	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
A1A2	Primary and Secondary Infectious Syphilis	Male	5	11	12	28	53
A1A2	Primary and Secondary Infectious Syphilis	Homosexually acquired	0	5	3	10	16
A1A2	Primary and Secondary Infectious Syphilis	Female	0	1	3	6	11
B1B2	Uncomplicated Gonorrhoea	Male	562	582	911	1,016	1,421
B1B2	Uncomplicated Gonorrhoea	Homosexually acquired	79	67	103	118	146
B1B2	Uncomplicated Gonorrhoea	Female	318	332	445	503	673
C4A,C4C	Uncomplicated Chlamydia Infection	Male	2,222	2,491	2,617	3,290	4,234
G4A,C4C	Uncomplicated Chlamydia Infection	Homosexually acquired	24	32	34	44	62
C4A,C4C	Uncomplicated Chlamydia Infection	Female	3,135	3,478	3,742	4,549	5,479
C7A	Anogenital Candidosis	Male	480	475	486	429	403
C7A	Anogenital Candidosis	Female	5,267	5,093	4,967	5,273	5,358

Source:

Health Protection Agency

Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre

Variant CJD (Rachel Forber)

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has referred the issue of possible transmission of variant CJD via (a) blood transfusion and (b) urine-derived products to the Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee for advice. [157592]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The first possible case of blood transfusion-associated transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) was referred to the 81st meeting of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) which took place on 25 February 2004.

The SEAC has not discussed urine-derived products.

York District Hospital

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of building the children's assessment and treatment area at York District Hospital was. [157521]

Miss Melanie Johnson: This information is not available centrally in the format requested. However, this facility forms part of the modernised and expanded accident and emergency facility at York District Hospital, which cost £2.16 million.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Bonny Island

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Serious Fraud Office has received a request from (a) French authorities, (b) US authorities and (c) Nigerian authorities for assistance into investigations of allegations involving payments by the consortium TSKJ in connection with the Bonny Island liquified natural gas plant in Nigeria; and whether the SFO is investigating these allegations. [158311]

The Solicitor-General: For operational reasons the SFO cannot confirm or deny whether a specific matter has been referred to it, or is under investigation.

Bribery

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General (1) if she will make a statement on Serious Fraud Office investigations into bribery of a foreign public official since 1997 under (a) the UK's corruption laws and (b) the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; [158305]

(2) what the Serious Fraud Office's operational policy is on investigating allegations of bribery of a foreign public official which took place prior to the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 where an element of the offence may have occurred within the UK prior to February 2002. [158306]

The Solicitor-General : The purpose of the SFO is to investigate and prosecute suspected offences of serious or complex fraud that meet the published acceptance criteria agreed by Ministers. The SFO does not have separate operational policies relating to each offence that it can prosecute, nor does the SFO prioritise by reference to specific offences.

After a case has been accepted and the investigation has advanced, the SFO must then consider which offence/offences are the most appropriate to prosecute.

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The facts of a case may give rise to a number of possible offences including for example conspiracy to defraud, theft, fraudulent trading as well as corruption. If a prosecution is justified by the evidence and public interest then the charge selected will be the one that best represents the conduct of the individuals charged.

A referral that includes bribery of a foreign official that took place prior to February 2002 would be assessed on the same basis as every other referral and this basis is outlined above.

The SFO has one investigation where bribery of a foreign official represents an element of the overall case. It is not known at present whether it will be appropriate to prosecute this element.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

After-School and Breakfast Clubs

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) after school clubs and (b) breakfast clubs are run in Chorley schools, broken down by school. [157979]

Margaret Hodge: The Department does not keep figures on the number of after school and breakfast clubs on offer, by area or school. It is for local authorities and schools to determine what provision will best meet the needs of the young people in the area.

However, more such clubs have been established in a number of schools through Government funding for study support or child care provision. Lancashire local education authority has informed my Department that it has allocated £44,447 from the Department's Standards Fund this year to provide study support opportunities for young people in schools in Chorley. Study support includes activities such as sport, the creative arts and cultural activities, as well as after school and breakfast clubs. Chorley has also received £501,324 this year from the New Opportunities Fund "Out of School Childcare Programme" to fund 627 places.

Alice House

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the future of Alice House in north-east Lincolnshire. [158119]

Mr. Miliband: It is for the local authority and the local education authority to make suitable provision that will best meet the needs of local children and young people, including teenage mothers.

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will take steps to ensure that the proposed Arts and Humanities Research Council has the same status as science-based research councils when it is funded by the Office for Science and Technology; and what steps he is taking to safeguard funding for research in the arts and humanities. [158611]

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Alan Johnson: The Higher Education Bill, currently before the House, provides for the proposed Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to operate on the same lines as the existing science Research Councils under the auspices of the Office of Science and Technology.

As recommended by the Review of Arts and Humanities Research funding, we are providing for a once and for all transfer of funds from the DfES, the Department for Education and Learning in Northern Ireland, the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Executive to the Department for Trade and Industry. The level of future funding for research including Arts and Humanities research is a matter for the Spending Review.

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