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Prison Health Service

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 8 April 2004, ref. 164612, on the Prison Health Service, for what purposes the joint letter was issued; and for what reasons the decision was taken to issue the joint letter at that time. [167941]

Dr. Ladyman: The joint letter was issued as part of a continuing programme of partnership work between the Department and the Prison Service to improve the full range of health services for prisoners. Ambulance and paramedic access had been identified as an area on which further guidance could be helpful to local services. The letter was issued to encourage the strengthening of local protocols between prisons and their local ambulance trusts and the sharing of any existing good practice.
 
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Prison Hospital Places

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many high security prison hospital places have been established since June 2001. [167704]

Dr. Ladyman: There were 159 in-patient beds in health care centres in high security prisons in June 2001 and 183 in December 2003. The figures are not directly comparable because an additional establishment was brought within the high security prison estate between those two dates. The number of in-patient beds in the health care centres of the eight prisons that constituted the high security estate in June 2001 had fallen to 145 by December 2003.

Residential Care/Nursing Beds

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) residential care beds and (b) nursing beds have been lost since 1997 in (i) the south west region, (ii) the area served by the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority and (iii) the area served by the Weston Primary Care Trust. [167527]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of residential and nursing places in the south west region and Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority is shown in the table as at 31 March for 1997 to 2001.

Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission, but comparable details broken by region are not available.

Information on the number of care home places in the area served by the Weston Primary Care Trust is not centrally available.
Number of residential and nursing places in the south west region and Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority, 1997 to 2001

At 31 March	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Residential places
South west region	47,610	47,920	(23)46,240	45,760	44,790
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority	15,510	15,230	(23)15,200	15,640	15,570
Nursing places
South west region	26,080	26,360	25,930	24,660	24,070
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority	11,110	11,500	11,300	10,620	10,250

⁽²³⁾ Includes estimated data.
Source:
RA and RH(N) form A.

Waiting Lists/Times

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been to NHS waiting list times for the residents of Weston-super-Mare in the last seven years. [167529]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This Government are committed to reducing waiting times.

In 1997, the maximum waiting time for inpatient treatment was 18 months. The maximum waiting time   for patients waiting for their first outpatient appointment with a consultant was over six months.

From 1 April 2004, these inpatient and outpatient maximum waiting times have been reduced to nine months and 17 weeks respectively.

These improvements apply nationally and benefit the residents of Weston-super-Mare.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis is for his statement that about only 20 or 30 people in England are waiting more than nine months for an NHS procedure. [167244]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 22 April 2004]: The priorities and planning framework for 2003 to 2006 includes the target of achieving a maximum wait of nine months for all inpatient waiters by March 2004. The Department asked strategic health authorities for their estimate of the end-March position and it is this information that was used for the statement. The final figures will be published shortly in the chief executive's report.
 
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what co-ordination took place with the United Kingdom senior representative on the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq concerning the closure of all roads out of Iraq. [167371]

Mr. Rammell: Not all roads out of Iraq have been closed. Any road closures are on the basis of operational decisions taken by Coalition commanders in Iraq. The UK Special Representative to Iraq routinely engages in discussions with the Coalition Provisional Authority about security and other policy issues.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the ownership of the Iraq Central Bank. [167372]

Mr. Rammell: The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) issued in March 2004 a new law governing the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI). A copy of this law, and the Order to which it is attached, has been placed in the Library of the House. The new law provides for an independent central bank whose objectives are to achieve and maintain domestic price stability, foster and maintain a market-based financial system and promote sustainable growth, employment and prosperity. The CBI is required to maintain its independence from the Government of Iraq and, except for the provisions set out in the law, will not take instructions from any other persons or entity, including government entities.

The Governor, Deputy Governors, and other members of the board of the CBI are nominated by the Appointing Authority (which until the transfer of sovereignty on 30 June is the CPA in consultation with the Iraqi Governing Council) and their appointments confirmed in the legislature. The CBI is required to report to the Appointing Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the legislature on its operations.

The new CBI law has been reviewed by the Iraqi Governing Council, acting on the recommendation of its Economic and Finance Committee. The law has also been reviewed by the International Monetary Fund and was promulgated pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483, which calls upon the CPA to promote economic reconstruction and the conditions for sustainable development in Iraq.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implementation of a unified legal system in Iraq. [166928]

Mr. Rammell: The Kurdistan Regional Government Administered Areas (KRG Administered Areas) currently have a separate court system from the rest of Iraq. However, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), produced by the Iraqi Governing Council, establishes a Federal Supreme Court. The Court will consist of nine members, chosen from individuals nominated by the Higher Judicial Council which under the TAL will supervise the judiciary outside the KRG Administered Areas, in consultation with the regional Judicial Councils in the KRG Administered Areas. The Federal Supreme Court will have original and exclusive
 
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jurisdiction in legal proceedings between the Iraqi Transitional Government and the regional governments and governorate and municipal administrations. It will also have jurisdiction to review and declare as inconsistent with the TAL any law, regulation or directive issued by the federal or regional governments, the governorate or municipal administrations, or local administrations. This is of course an Iraqi led process although the UK is providing assistance for the training of judges, prosecutors and lawyers and will continue to consider requests for assistance in building the capacity of the Iraqi justice sector.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the (a) fate and (b) whereabouts of everyone held in custody in Iraq. [166930]

Mr. Rammell: The Coalition is holding around 9,000 detainees. (Precise figures vary as people are released and arrested daily). They include prisoners of war, security detainees and criminal detainees (held under Iraqi court order). Detainees are held at a number of locations throughout Iraq. The main US administered facility is at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. The Coalition Provisional Authority is working to ensure a better flow of information to the relatives of detainees through recently established information centres. The Detainee Review and Appeal Board reviewed the cases of more than 3,000 detainees in February and March and released more than 2,000. This process is continuing. POWs and security detainees are visited regularly by the International Committee of the Red   Cross (ICRC) in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

As of 1 April the UK was responsible for 85 detainees at an internment facility near Basra. UK forces inform the families of interned persons within 24 hours of an arrest. The case of each security detainee is reviewed after 10, 28 and thereafter every 90 days to determine whether they continue to pose an imperative threat to security. The UK internment facility near Basra is subject to regular inspection by the ICRC who are given full and unrestricted access to the detainees.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to whom the Coalition will hand over powers in Iraq on 30 June 2004; and how members of the successor authority will be chosen. [167211]

Mr. Rammell: As envisaged in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) will be replaced on 30 June with an Iraqi Interim Government. The structures and powers of the Interim Government are currently the focus of consultations by Lakhdar Brahimi (UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Iraq) with Iraqis. Mr. Brahimi has outlined his initial proposals to appoint, after thorough consultations with Iraqis and the CPA, a tripartite Presidency, a technocratic Cabinet of Ministers headed by a Prime Minister and after 30 June to hold a national conference to elect an advisory council. He is due to return to Iraq in coming weeks to continue his consultations and to develop his proposals. We welcome these proposals and look forward to working with the
 
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UN and the IGC to forge a consensus on the structures and powers of the Interim Government, which can then be enshrined in an annexe to the TAL.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what powers will be handed over by the Coalition in Iraq on 30 June 2004; and what powers will be retained. [167216]

Mr. Rammell: The Iraqi Interim Government established on 30 June will be an internationally recognised sovereign government, which will replace the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council. Its powers will be circumscribed by the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) agreed by the Iraqi Governing Council on 8 March and by an annexe to the TAL, specifying the structures and powers of the institutions of the Interim Government, which is currently being discussed by Iraqis in consultation with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Iraq.

We anticipate a continued need for a Multinational Force (MNF) after 30 June to work with the Iraqi Security Forces to ensure stability in Iraq. Most Iraqis continue to recognise the necessity of this. Discussions are underway between Iraqis and the coalition on the arrangements under which the MNF will operate after 30 June.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is intended that the political administration that takes over the governance of Iraq on 1 July 2004 will be empowered to    ensure the removal of foreign troops on Iraqi territory. [167368]

Mr. Rammell: Discussions are continuing on arrangements for the Multinational Force after the transfer of power on 30 June.

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