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17 Mar 2004 : Column 384W—continued

Port Clarence

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his Answer of 4 March 2004, Official Report, column 1106W, on Port Clarence, Stockton, whether future involvement of English Partnerships and One North East in the development of Port Clarence would be subject to EU regulations concerning shipbuilding subsidies. [160788]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.

Any proposals for port and associated developments that are of potential assistance to commercial shipbuilding would be subject to the EU framework on state aid for shipbuilding (2003/C 317/06). However, these considerations do not apply where such developments are clearly for the sole benefit of naval shipbuilding, since military vessels are excluded from the provisions of the framework.

R and D

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister to whom his Department distributes expenditure on research and development; how many staff are employed as a result; and how many research establishments (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have in each region of England. [154358]

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Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not distribute expenditure on research and development to external bodies and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its agencies do not have research establishments.

HEALTH

Drug Treatment (Crosby)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Crosby are receiving drug treatment. [160623]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Crosby is part of Sefton drug action team. There were 936 people receiving drug treatment in Sefton in 2000–01. This is the latest available data. Data broken down by drug action team for 2001–02 and 2002–03 have not yet been finalised and published.

Biomedical Sciences

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what bursaries are available for the training of biomedical scientists in the NHS; and on what criteria bursaries are awarded to support (a) paramedical services and (b) professions supplementary to medicine. [161013]

Mr. Hutton: National Health Service bursaries are available to students who attend any one of a range of degree or higher education diploma-level health professional courses commissioned and funded by strategic health authority workforce directorates.

Biomedical scientists will usually have attended a non-NHS vocational degree course where the funding for the course and student support arrangements fall under the Department for Education and Skills' general arrangements for students. This is followed by pre-registration training where they are paid a salary and work under a qualified biomedical scientist whilst gaining experience leading to state registration.

Training for the paramedical services is not usually undertaken by means of undergraduate or equivalent courses, instead it is usually done through employment-based training and short vocational courses. In-service candidates are funded by ambulance trusts from their own budgets.

NHS bursaries are available to students undertaking undergraduate courses leading to professional registration in a range of professions supplementary to medicine, now referred to as allied health professions. The aim of this policy is to support recruitment to those professions supported under the scheme and hence to those branches of health care.

Breast Feeding

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has collated about the relationship between breast feeding and obesity. [161345]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 15 March 2004]: In 2002, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy reviewed the benefits of

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breastfeeding in its Scientific Review of the Welfare Food Scheme and stated that breastfed babies are less likely to become overweight as children. Since then, a further review in 2003, by Dewey et al, found that most large studies show a protective effect of breastfeeding against overweight in children and adolescents.

The continued protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding remains a major public health priority. Further work is being undertaken by the Health Development Agency, which has appointed two collaborating centres in maternal and child nutrition. Their work will include increasing the body of evidence.

Cancer

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects his Department's cancer genetic risk assessment trials to be completed. [160073]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We announced in the White Paper, Our Inheritance, Our Future—Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS, published on 24 June 2003, that the Department would be co-funding, in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Relief, a programme of pilot projects to support people who have a family history which suggests that they may have an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer.

My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, announced the £1.5 million programme setting up four pilot sites on 20 February 2004. The pilot services will offer genetic assessment to appropriate individuals, but this is not a trial of genetic risk assessment per se. The pilots will, rather, test out ways to provide an integrated service for individuals who are, or are concerned that they may be, at increased risk of cancer due to genetic factors. The pilot sites will run for up to three years and will be evaluated to ensure lessons about how best to deliver this type of service can be shared by the wider National Health Service.

There are other relevant developments in the area of assessment of genetic risk of cancer. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is preparing guidance for the NHS in England and Wales on the identification and management of genetic risk of familial breast cancer. This is due to be published shortly and is expected to include guidance on how to assess risk and when it is appropriate to refer individuals for genetic testing.

Care Homes

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to ensure that appropriate procedures are being put in place to monitor the quality and effectiveness of methods for dealing with complaints in relation to care homes, in the transition from the National Care Standards Commission to the Commission for Social Care Inspection. [161830]

Dr. Ladyman: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will, at least initially, continue to use the same procedures that the National Care Standards Commission uses for dealing with complaints about regulated services and monitoring the quality and effectiveness of those procedures.

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The CSCI Commissioners have endorsed a decision to set up a CSCI complaints project board. One of the board's key objectives will be to review the effectiveness of the current arrangements for handling complaints about regulated providers under the Care Standards Act.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he plans to take to investigate price differentials between self-funded and publicity-funded residents in care homes, in order to establish whether there is evidence of cross-subsidisation. [161831]

Dr. Ladyman: It is not unusual for service providers to charge different prices, nor to offer discounts for bulk purchasing, for example when councils block contract for a number of places. Care homes are required to provide transparent information so that future residents are aware of the full charge that will be made for the service.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the decision by the Office of Fair Trading to undertake an investigation into the care home market. [161833]

Dr. Ladyman: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has acknowledged the complexity and changing nature of the care home market, but has also found evidence that the challenges this throws up can and is being met at local level. This confirms the Government's view that local problems are most amenable to local solutions. I am particularly heartened by the OFT's decision to focus in some depth on issues that have a particular bearing on information and choice for consumers. I look forward to reading the findings when they are produced, especially any recommendations for making the market work better for consumers.

Children's Hospices

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what children's hospices are open in England; and where they are situated. [161503]

Dr. Ladyman: There are 28 children's hospices registered with the National Care Standards Commission. They are situated as follows:



















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