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26 Mar 2004 : Column 1128W—continued
Civil Service
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consultation he has conducted with (a) staff, (b) unions, (c) management and (d) senior management within his Department on planned redundancies and redeployment of staff over the next four years; whether he plans to have further discussions with these groups on this matter; and if he will make a statement. [163296]
Maria Eagle: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote, jointly with the Permanent Head of the Department, to all staff and managers immediately following the Budget announcement to explain the context and rationale for the decision to reduce staff numbers.
Shortly after the announcement he met with the General Secretary and other officials of Public and Commercial Services Union.
Officials in the Department meet regularly with the trade unions to discuss workforce management issues and these meetings will continue as detailed plans are now developed.
Winter Fuel Allowance
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior citizens in (a) Greater London and (b) each Greater London borough are eligible for the winter fuel allowance; and what this represents as a percentage of the total number of senior citizens. [163763]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of people in Greater London and each Greater London Local Authority who have received a winter fuel payment so far is in the table. We are not able to say how many people were ineligible for this winter's payment.
Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Please note that these figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run i.e. they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid via late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). However, since late payment runs are mainly in respect of non-system cases whose claim had not been received by Qualifying Week, they are heavily skewed towards men aged 60.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 100 samples
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HEALTH
Agency Staff
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on agency fees by (a) North West London Strategic Health authority, (b) North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and (c) Brent Primary Care Trust in each year since 1997. [149899]
Mr. Hutton: The national health service does not separately record the cost of employing agency staff. The figures in the tables include total cost to the NHS of staff not directly employed by NHS bodies.
The tables show total non-NHS staff expenditure for NHS trusts, health authorities and a primary care trust in the North West London area.
(2) All 2002–03 data are provisional.
Notes:
1. The North West London Strategic Health Authority was established in 2002–03. Prior to this, a combination of four health authorities (Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster HA, Brent and Harrow HA, Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA and Hillingdon HA) serviced the North West London area.
2. In 1999–2000, the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust was established by the merger of two NHS Trusts (Central Middlesex Hospitals NHS Trust and Northwick Park and St. Mark's NHS Trust).
3. Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust was established in 2002–03.
Sources:
Annual financial returns of Health Authorities 1997–98 to 2001–02.
Annual financial returns of NHS Trusts 1997–98 to 2002–03.
Annual financial returns of Primary Care Trusts 2002–03.
Annual financial returns of Strategic Health Authorities 2002–03.
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Bedfordshire Health Authority
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health body has the authority to remove a caution registered against residential property in respect of Bedfordshire Health Authority's interest in relation to a loan required to complete the original purchase of that property. [157601]
Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 1 March 2004]: The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority has the authority to have a caution removed from a property that it has an interest in.
Cancer Services
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many and what percentage of women in Crosby with suspected breast cancer saw a specialist within two weeks in each of the last five years; [160386]
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- (2) how many and what percentage of suspected cancer patients in Crosby saw an NHS consultant within two weeks in each of the last seven years. [160393]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected on a constituency basis but by national health service trust. A copy has been placed in the Library. The information is also available at http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/cancerwaits/index.html
"Choosing Health"
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the evidence on which the finding is based that premature death from (a) cancer has reduced by 10 per cent. and (b) coronary heart disease has reduced by 23 per cent. since 1997, as set out in the foreword to the consultation document Choosing Health. [160660]
Miss Melanie Johnson: "Our Healthier Nation", the Government's overall health strategy for England, sets out targets to reduce the death rates from cancer by at least 20 per cent., and all circulatory diseases by at least 40 per cent., in people aged under 75 years by 2010. Progress in respect of these targets are measured against the baseline of the average of the three years 1995, 1996 and 1997.
The targets are monitored using mortality statistics from death registrations provided by the Office for National Statistics. The mortality rates are subsequently calculated by the Department of Health. Mortality rates are age standardised to allow for changes in the age structure of the population (using the European standard population as defined by the World Health Organisation).
The following tables show the three year average mortality rates for all cancers and all circulatory diseases since the baseline figure was established.
| England | 3 year average mortality rate |
|---|---|
| 1995–96–97 (Baseline) | 141.4 |
| 1996–97–98 | 138.7 |
| 1997–98–99 | 135.1 |
| 1998–99–2000 | 132.3 |
| 1999–2000–01 | 129.1 |
| 2000–01–02 | 126.8 |
| Percentage change in rate since baseline | -10.3 |
Source:
Office for National Statistics (European age standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population from death registrations, calculations by Department of Health).
Source:
Office for National Statistics (European age standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population from death registrations, calculations by Department of Health).
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