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20 Apr 2004 : Column 425W—continued
Expert Patients' Programme
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the expert patient programme; and what plans his Department has to extend the programme. [164869]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The expert patients programme provides training in self-management for patients with chronic conditions and helps build informed partnerships between patients and health and social care professionals. The programme is currently being piloted within primary care trusts in England. The report, entitled: The Expert Patient: A New Approach to
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Chronic Disease Management for the 21st Century, which was published in September 2001, commits us to making the programme integral to mainstream National Health Service healthcare provision between 2004 and 2007.
Skin Diseases
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has conducted into quality indicators for the treatment and management of inflammatory skin diseases. [164904]
Miss Melanie Johnson: In 2001, the National Health Service health technology assessment programme published systematic reviews of treatments for atopic eczema and severe psoriasis. These are available on the programme's website at www.hta.nhsweb.nhs.uk. Further assessments in eczema, psoriasis and acne are in progress.
Last year, the Nuffield Trust published Measuring general practice: a demonstration project to develop and test a set of primary care clinical quality indicators. The project looked at 19 disease areas, including acne, and was conducted in partnership with the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (NPCRDC), based at the University of Manchester. NPCRDC is funded largely by the Department.
Care Homes
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many outbreaks of infectious disease there were in care homes in each year since 1997. [165241]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Information about all outbreaks of infectious diseases in care homes is not collected centrally.
The Health Protection Agency has provided the information shown in the tables on infectious intestinal diseases and on influenza from their voluntary reporting system.
| Year | Number of outbreaks |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 152 |
| 1998 | 178 |
| 1999 | 167 |
| 2000 | 219 |
| 2001 | 159 |
| 2002 | 331 |
| 2003 | 187 |
| Total | 1,393 |
provisional data.
Source:
HPA GSURV outbreak database 30/3/04
| Year | Number of outbreaks |
|---|---|
| 1997 | No data available |
| 1998 | 10 |
| 1999 | 7 |
| 2000 | 1 |
| 2001 | 1 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2003 | 3 |
| Total | 23 |
Source:
HPA data.
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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Farm Incomes
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm income levels for farmers in the Ribble Valley and Fulwood in the past five years. [165510]
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm income levels for farmers in Birkenhead in the past five years. [166612]
Alun Michael: Owing to the small number of farms in the constituencies of Ribble Valley and Fulwood and Birkenhead, there is no robust data available on farm incomes for farmers in that area over the last five years. Net farm income for farms in the North EU "Super Region" and for England over the last five years are shown in the table below.
| 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North EU Super Region | 8,272 | 8,659 | 12,456 | 16,457 | 18,512 |
| England | 10,359 | 7,981 | 9,886 | 13,558 | 16,435 |
Source:
Farm Business Survey
Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business.
Advisory Committee on Pesticides
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the membership for the Advisory Committee on Pesticides; and which organisations are allowed to attend. [166457]
Alun Michael: The membership of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides is already published and can be viewed on the Pesticide Safety Directorate's website at http://www.pesticides:gov.uk/acp.asp?id=203.
Those who attend the meetings of the committee in addition to its members are departmental assessors and advisors and are listed in the ACP's annual report published at http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/uploadedfiles/Web Assets/ACP/ACP annrep 2002.pdf.
The Committee's annual report for 2003 is in preparation and is expected to be published within the next month.
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On occasion the Committee invites individuals, such as applicants for approvals, to make a presentation related to a specific item of the committee's business. These individuals are not present when decisions are taken.
Home Energy Efficiency
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in Birkenhead have benefited from Warm Front. [166613]
Alun Michael: Between the launch of Warm Front in June 2000 and the end of March 2003, approximately 3,780 households in Birkenhead received assistance from the scheme.
Horses and Ponies
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of regulations which affect horses and ponies as (a) food producing, (b) agricultural and (c) pet or companion animals. [166443]
Alun Michael: We have been working on revisions to the Horse Passports (England) Regulations 2003, and to European legislation on animal welfare during transport and on veterinary medicines; reviewing national legislation on animal welfare (including regulation of tethering, livery yards and riding establishments); and working with the horse industry to develop a 10-year health and welfare strategy. The Ragwort Control Act, which is part of our work on animal welfare, came into force in February and was accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment. The Act provides for a Code of Practice on the Control of Ragwort, which should be in place towards the end of June. We recently issued the draft Code, and a draft environmental appraisal, for public consultation. Last month we published the first-ever research on the horse industry as a whole, jointly funded by the Department and the British Horse Industry Confederation.
Greyhounds
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many greyhounds have been collected by local authority dog wardens in each year since 2000. [165485]
Alun Michael: Under section 149(8) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authority dog wardens are required to keep a register containing the prescribed particulars of, or relating, to dogs seized and the register shall be available, at all reasonable times, for inspection by the public free of charge. However, we do not collect that data centrally as there is no requirement for it to be supplied to Government.
Rights of Way
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what obligations Plymouth City Council has to consult the public over variations to public rights of way; and whether her Department monitors the exercise of such powers. [165911]
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Alun Michael: When making changes to a right of way, a local highway authority must, in most cases, (a) serve a notice of the relevant order on every owner, occupier and lessee of any land affected by the order, (b) publish the notice in at least one local newspaper and (c) notify all statutory consultees. The notice must also be displayed at the ends of the right of way affected by the order. Defra does not monitor the exercise of these duties, but councils are well aware that an order can be challenged if a local highway authority has failed to give correct notice and that it is in their interests to follow the correct procedures.
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