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27 Apr 2004 : Column 955W—continued
Correspondence
David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 15 March 2004 regarding a DWP branch of the PCS Union. [168887]
Maria Eagle: I replied to the hon. Member today.
Safety Representatives and Safety Committees
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what income was received in each year between 2000 and 2003 from the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees publication. [166863]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 26 April 2004]: The income received from the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations publication is as follows, by calendar year.
| Income received (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 53,676.00 |
| 2001 | 46,951.20 |
| 2002 | 49,140.00 |
| 2003 | 42,109.20 |
Secondments
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what secondments (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) Ernst and Young and (d) KPMG have made to his Department since 2001; for what (i) periods and (ii) tasks the secondments were made; whether secondments of staff from his Department have been made to those firms; and for what (A) periods and (B) tasks. [156919]
Maria Eagle: Secondments are part of the Interchange Initiative which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. Before an Interchange can occur all parties must be satisfied that no conflict of interest arises.
The available information is in the tables. Information for 2003–04 is not yet available.
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| Company | Number | Period | Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | 0 | — | — |
| Deloitte and Touche | 0 | — | — |
| Ernst and Young | 0 | — | — |
| KPMG | 1 | 3 October 2002 to 6 June 2003 | Head of the National Employment Panel's Performance Committee Team |
| Company | Number | Period | Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | 0 | — | — |
| Deloitte and Touche | 165 | 2001–02 | Piloting welfare to work reform options for clients of working age, as part of the One project. |
| Deloitte and Touche | 1 | 1 April 2002– 10 May 2002 | Piloting welfare to work reform options for clients of working age, as part of the One project. |
| Ernst and Young | 0 | — | — |
| KPMG | 0 | — | — |
Temporary Staff
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff the Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; what percentage this is of total staff employed; and how much the Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04 to the most recent date for which figures are available. [158249]
Maria Eagle: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
HEALTH
Local Government Finance
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional financial resources have been made available to local authorities in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05 to enable them to perform their role of scrutinising health trusts. [166316]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government have given powers to local authorities to review and scrutinise health services as part of their wider responsibilities to promote the economic, environmental and social well-being of local people. The Department believes it is right that local authorities prioritise their resources and indeed activities to fit locally identified needs. Health scrutiny is no different.
Central Government funding to support local authorities in 2003–04 was approximately £70 billion. For 2004–05, this amount will increase by six per cent. Funding to support overview and scrutiny committees should be seen in this wider context.
The Department is conscious of the need to enable local authorities to undertake their new powers as effectively as possible. It is for this reason that a one-off payment of £2.25 billion has been made to the Centre for
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Public Scrutiny to develop and support health scrutiny, and to ensure that lessons from good practice are learned and disseminated.
Cancelled Operations (Weston Area)
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were cancelled by the Weston Area Health NHS Trust in each year since 1997. [167528]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on cancelled operations for each national health service trust is available for each quarter from 2001–02. Prior to this, information was collected for each health authority. Both are available in the Library.
Children's Continence
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment has been made of how children with bladder and bowel problems impact on family life; [169052]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the financial cost to families with children who have nocturnal enuresis. [169053]
Dr. Ladyman: It is estimated that continence conditions affect over 500,000 children and young people over the age of five years and it is well established that these conditions reduce children's social opportunities and impact upon family life. Information on the financial cost to families with children who have nocturnal enuresis is not collected centrally.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what extra funding is planned to be devoted to the implementation of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [168825]
Dr. Ladyman: Funding to implement the guidance and recommendations of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is not separately identified in primary care trust (PCT) allocations.
The national health service is currently receiving the largest sustained increase in funding in its history, so the question of affordability of NICE recommendations should not be an issue. The total of PCT allocations is £45 billion for 2003–04, £49.3 billion for 2004–05 and £53.9 billion for 2005–06. This represents an increase of £12.7 billion, or an average of 30.8 per cent. over the three years 2003–04 to 2005–06.
EU Enlargement
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to ensure the adequacy of training of health (a) professionals and (b) other workers originating from the EU accession countries, who wish to work in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [167202]
Mr. Hutton:
We are in regular contact with the European Commission and the other member states on this issue. The Commission's assessment is that training in all acceding countries will meet minimum requirements after 1 May 2004. If the qualifications
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awarded by the acceding countries do not meet minimum requirements, the regulatory bodies are entitled to require proof of recent and substantial practice experience as a condition of recognition. Where such proof is not available, they are entitled to assess applicants on a case-by-case basis.
We have provided advice to the national health service on European enlargement and the implications for health professions. Copies have been placed in the Library and are also available on the Department's website at www. dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/International/European Union. Employers must ensure that applicants have suitable qualifications, skills and experience for the particular post they are applying for (including language skills), and can take into account references, evidence of good standing and criminal record checks where appropriate.
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