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21 Jun 2004 : Column 1262W—continued
Sure Start Maternity Grant
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Manchester Central have taken up the Sure Start maternity grant. [177743]
Mr. Pond: I refer the hon. member to the answer that I gave him on 27 May 2004, Official Report, column 1811W.
Winter Fuel Allowance
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior citizens in Manchester Central have benefited from the winter fuel allowance since 1997. [177739]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of senior citizens in Manchester Central who received a Winter Fuel Payment in each year since 1999–2000 (including provisional figures for 2003–04) is in the table. Information relating to the 1997–98 and 1998–99 winters is not available.
| Year | Payments |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 11,810 |
| 2000–01 | 12,560 |
| 2001–02 | 12,370 |
| 2002–03 | 12,295 |
| 2003–04 | 12,120 |
Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Please note that the figures for 2003–2004 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 per cent. samples.
21 Jun 2004 : Column 1263W
Work Incentives (Homeless Households)
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he plans to introduce to increase work incentives for statutorily homeless households placed in temporary accommodation. [178738]
Mr. Pond: Homeless people who are at a distinct disadvantage in the labour market, and who are claiming benefits, are entitled to early access to the range of help available from Jobcentre Plus, such as the New Deal. This includes those statutorily homeless households placed in temporary accommodation. In addition, Jobcentre Plus is also piloting specialised support for clients who have additional barriers to work including homelessness. These pilots are aimed at helping homeless people, alcohol misusers and offenders move into work. There are progress2work-Linkllp pilots based in 22 Jobcentre Plus Districts.
Working Time Directive
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees in his Department have (a) signed a formal opt out from and (b) are exempt from the Working Time Directive; and how many employees in his Department have recorded hours, including any accruing on a flexitime basis, in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive in the last month for which figures are available. [178368]
Jane Kennedy: The Department for Work and Pensions discourages staff from working excess hours as a matter of principle, as it runs contrary to the values which the Department holds on respecting people, and reflects its concerns as a reasonable employer for employees' work/life balance. All timesheets are locally checked on a monthly basis with responsibility devolved to individual line managers to monitor the situation.
Where employees in the Department for Work and Pensions wish to opt out of the Working Time Directive, managers are instructed to explore all available alternatives such as redesigning jobs and allocating extra resources to avoid excess hours being worked. At the end of that process, employees in the Department who still wish to opt out are required to sign an opt out agreement. A register of such staff is maintained centrally.
In 2003 there were 13 staff in the Department in pay bands up to Unified Grade 6 who had recorded such an opt out and eight in senior civil service pay bands.
Statistics for the year ending May 2004 are in the process of being collated and figures should be available by the end of June.
No employees are covered by sector specific provisions.
Information is not held centrally on the numbers of staff who have recorded hours in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive, including any accruing on a flexitime basis. Such information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
21 Jun 2004 : Column 1264W
HEALTH
Aldehydes
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the carcinogenic effects of aldehydes on humans. [177482]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department has not commissioned research in this area.
The committee on carcinogenicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment provided advice in 1995 on the carcinogenicity of acetaldehyde in the context of their review of the carcinogenicity of alcoholic beverages. The committee noted that acetaldehyde has been shown to induce malignant nasal tumours in rats and laryngeal carcinomas in hamsters following inhalation exposure to high concentrations. They concluded that the observation of these tumours in animals was not relevant to human consumption of alcoholic drinks.
The committee on the medical effects of air pollutants considered the carcinogenicity of formaldehyde when drawing up a statement on the effects on health of aldehydes in ambient air in 2000. They concluded that although formaldehyde is a carcinogen in rats, the risks to humans associated with exposure to ambient concentrations, if any, is extremely small.
Allergies
Mr. Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients by region were referred for allergies treatment in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by region. [179001]
Dr. Ladyman: That information is not collected centrally. However, the table shows the count of finished admission episodes by strategic health authority in England with allergy as the primary cause for 2002–03.
(29) Primary (ICD-10) Diagnosis Codes
T78.0 Anaphylactic shock due to adverse food reaction
T78.1 Other adverse food reactions, nec
T78.2 Anaphylactic shock, unspecified
T78.4 Allergy, unspecified
T80.5 Anaphylactic shock due to serum
T80.6 Other serum reactions
T88.6 Anaphylactic shock due to adverse effect of correct drug or medicament properly administered
T88.7 Unspecified adverse effect of drug and medicament
J30.1 Allergic rhinitis due to pollen (hayfever)
J30.2 Other seasonal allergic rhinitis
J30.3 Other allergic rhinitis
J30.4 Allergic rhinitis unspecified
J45.0 Predominantly allergic asthma
K52.2 Allergic dietetic gastroenteritis and colitis
L23.Allergic contact dermatitis
External cause (Secondary ICD-10) codes
Y40-Y59 Drugs, medicaments and biological substances causing adverse effects in therapeutic use
Notes:
1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2. The cause code is a supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects.
3. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
4. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital episode statistics Department of Health.
21 Jun 2004 : Column 1265W
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