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21 May 2004 : Column 1270W—continued

Waiting Lists/Times

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been to NHS waiting list times in the last seven years for the residents of Burnley. [167953]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on national health service waiting list times is not gathered on a constituency basis. The tables show information based on NHS organisations serving the Burnley area.
In-patient waiting list by provider for the Burnley area (1996–2004)

		Months waiting to be seen
	Unit name	Total	0–2	3–5	6–8	9–11	12–14	15–17
1997–98	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	6,157	3,061	1,470	968	625	33	0
1997–98	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	6,569	3,224	1,844	1,087	412	2	0
1998–99	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	4,895	2,908	1,092	546	288	61	0
1998–99	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	5,357	3,231	1,103	691	318	14	0
1999–2000	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	4,803	2,458	1,190	639	377	120	19
1999–2000	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	5,084	2,977	1,202	606	251	48	0
2000–01	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	4,554	2,335	1,207	686	326	0	0
2000–01	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	5,032	2,924	1,283	593	232	0	0
2001–02	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	4,749	2,266	1,165	778	405	135	0
2001–02	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	4,883	2,532	1,303	692	356	0	0
2002–03	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	4,595	2,219	1,223	761	392	0	0
2002–03	Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	3,968	2,375	1,078	432	83	0	0
2003–04	East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust	8,100	5,045	2,200	855	0	0	0

Out-patient waiting list by Provider for the Burnley area (1996–2004) Weeks waiting to be seen from a GP referral to consultant appointment

	Unit name	Not seen 13 to 25	Not seen 26 plus
1997–98	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	1,266	69
1997–98	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	66	0
1998–99	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	2,371	895
1998–99	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	815	258
1999–2000	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	2,158	1,455
1999–2000	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	516	147
2000–01	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	1,548	521
2000–01	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust	283	24
2001–02	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	1,094	0
2001–02	Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Healthcare NHS Trust	246	0

Weeks waiting to be seen from a GP referral to consultant appointment

	Unit name	Not seen 13–17	Not seen 17–21	Not seen 21–26	Not seen 26 plus
2002–03	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	603	273	0	0
2002–03	Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble       Valley Health Care NHS Trust	164	55	0	0
2003–04	East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust	291	0	0	0

Source:
Department of Health QM08





 
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Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what medical treatment there is the longest waiting time for (a) consultation and (b) treatment at NHS hospitals within the Greater London area. [173078]

Mr. Hutton: The treatment area with the longest wait to receive a first out-patient appointment with a consultant within the five London strategic health authorities (SHAs) is clinical immunology and allergy.

Of a selection of common, elective, surgical operations, the one with the longest average wait to receive admitted treatment within the five London SHAs is knee replacement.

PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will estimate how many Iraqi (a) women, (b) children and (c) civilians have been (i) killed and (ii) injured in the recent siege of Fallujah. [171976]

The Prime Minister: The Coalition always take great care to minimise the risks to civilians in all areas of Iraq. It is not always possible to confirm whether casualties have occurred, as Coalition forces are not always able to enter the areas from which they are being fired on. There are further difficulties in estimating numbers of deaths when those deaths have been caused by terrorist attacks.

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister (1) pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 385W, on Iraq, whether the three UK military personnel were working in the military intelligence section of Abu Ghraib prison; [174330]

(2) whether the three UK military personnel who worked in Abu Ghraib prison between January and April were under the command of (a) British and (b) US authorities during that time; and to which authority they reported. [174328]

The Prime Minister: Yes. The three military personnel were under British Command at all times, reporting to the Senior British Military Representative in Baghdad. They assisted in gathering information important to the Coalition's aim of establishing stability in Iraq through interviewing detainees.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Chapelcross

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer on Chapelcross, of 13 May 2004, Official Report, column 489, whether a breach of the air exclusion zone around Chapelcross took place in 2003; and if she will make a statement. [175147]

Mr. Timms: No breach of the air exclusion zone at the Chapelcross nuclear power station took place in 2003.
 
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Mail Services (Northern Ireland)

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of mail items which were not delivered in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [173591]

Mr. Timms: Delivery services are the operational concern of Royal Mail Group and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Research Assessment Exercise

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will take steps to bridge the funding gap for research projects consequent on implementation of the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. [174183]

Ms Hewitt: The 2002 Spending Review announced the largest sustained growth in science for a decade, providing an additional £1.25 billion a year by 2005 06, including:

a dedicated stream of capital for Higher Education Institutions to develop their science research infrastructure;

substantial new resources to Research Councils to enable them to make a higher contribution to the full costs of the research they sponsor;

increased funding for the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the research component of HEI block grants, to underpin project funding.

Alongside this, changes are being implemented, following consultation, to make explicit the responsibility of HEIs for ensuring the long-term sustainability of their research enterprises and to enable them to cost and price research projects more effectively, whether publicly or privately funded. Taken together these measures will, over time, make a substantial impact on the quality and sustainability of the research base.

The Government will set out its future priorities for   science and innovation in a 10-year Investment Framework for Science and Innovation, to be published in the summer.

Advantage West Midlands

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost was of (a) developing and (b) maintaining (i) the Advantage West Midlands website and (ii) each regional development agency's website in each financial year since 1999. [172372]

Mr. John Smith [holding answer 13 May 2004]: The information requested is set out in the following table.

			£
East of England Development Agency
1999–2000	Not available	Not available	Not available
2000–01	Not available	Not available	Not available
2001–02	Not available	Not available	7,000
2002–03	Not available	Not available	8,900
2003–04	Not available	Not available	5,675
East Midlands Development Agency
1999–2000	26,000	20	46
2000–01	26	20	46
2001–02	26	20	46
2002–03	26	20	46
2003–04	26	20	46
London Development Agency
1999–2000	0	0	0
2000–01	0	0	0
2001–02	0	0	0
2002–03	36,515	18,000	54,515
2003–04	36,515	21,000	57,515
Northwest Development Agency
1999–2000	Not available	Not available	Not available
2000–01	Not available	Not available	Not available
2001–02	Not available	Not available	5,000
2002–03	Not available	Not available	51,214
2003–04	Not available	Not available	37,964
ONE North East
1999–2000	20,735	0	20,735
2000–01	45,127	11,388	56,515
2001–02	71,204	17,520	88,724
2002–03	12,050	17,520	29,570
2003–04	50,275	17,520	67,795
South East England Development Agency
1999–2000	Not available	Not available	7,954
2000–01	Not available	Not available	20,160
2001–02	Not available	Not available	39,234
2002–03	Not available	Not available	48,242
2003–04	10,457	27,213	37,671
South West of England Regional Development Agency
1999–2000	8,400	2,000	104,700
2000–01	14,465	32,735	47,200
2001–02	0	30,000	30,000
2002–03	145,200	15,000	160,200
2003–04	27,000	30,000	57,000
Yorkshire Forward
1999–2000	Not available	Not available	0
2000–01	Not available	Not available	23,275
2001–02	Not available	Not available	14,306
2002–03	Not available	Not available	58,000
2003–04	Not available	Not available	36,647

Note:
A breakdown is not available as the services were contracted out.




 
21 May 2004 : Column 1273W
 

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the salary bill was of (a) Advantage West Midlands and (b) each regional development agency for staff employed in a press office or public relations capacity in each financial year since 1999; and what the average salary was for staff employed in a press office or public relations capacity in each case in each year. [172373]

Ms Hewitt: [holding answer 13 May 2004]: The information requested is set out in the following table:

RDA	Total salary of relevant RDA staff	Average salary of relevant RDA staff
Advantage West Midlands	1999–2000: N/a	N/a
	2000–01: N/a	N/a
	2001–02: 24,136	24,136
	2002–03: 80,519	26,839
	2003–04: 96,692	32,230
East of England	1999–2000: 77,000	31,000
Development Agency	2000–01: 100,000	33,000
	2001–02: 99,000	30,000
	2002–03: 104,000	32,000
	2003–04: 112,000	32,000
East Midlands	1999–2000: N/a	N/a
Development	2000–01: Outsourced	N/a
	2001–02: Outsourced	N/a
	2002–03: 52,000	26,000
	2003–04: 52,000	26,000
London Development	1999–2000: Nil	Nil
Agency	2000–01: Nil	Nil
	2000–02: Nil	Nil
	2002–03: 195,000	39,000
	2003–04: 193,000	39,000
Northwest Development	1999–2000: Nil	Nil
Agency	2000–01: Nil	Nil
	2001–02: 71,123	17,780
	2002–03: 88,582	17,716
	2003–04: 109,078	15,582
ONE North East	1999–2000: 106,305	17,717
	2000–01: 111,900	18,650
	2001–02:117,790	19,361
	2002–03: 135,103	22,517
	2003–04: 175,242	25,034
South East England	1999–2000:75,130	35,956
Development Agency	2000–01: 87,530	37,510
	2001–02: 87,122	29,408
	2002–03: 151,423	33,694
	2003–04: 187,737	30,288
South West of England	1999–2000: 24,754	19,877
Regional Development	2000–01: 68,989	28,830
Agency	2001–02:110,965	27,741
	2002–03: 184,280	31,782
	2003–04: 263,465	29,583
Yorkshire Forward	1999–2000:41,666	20,833
	2000–01: 82,623	20,655
	2001–02: 83,549	23,871
	2002–03: 70,561	20,160
	2003–04: 82,992	23,712

 
21 May 2004 : Column 1274W
 

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