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8 Jul 2004 : Column 800W—continued
Departmental Investment
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the schemes for which his Department and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are co-funders, how much was invested by each Department; and what the overall cost of each programme was. [174064]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: Together with my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Sport and Tourism (Richard Caborn), I chair the cross-Government activity co-ordination team (ACT). The ACT is not a direct funding body, but has been tasked with identifying and co-ordinating existing work across Government and identifying new sources of funding for evidence based interventions and innovative pilot projects.
The Department, together with Sport England (a Department for Culture, Media and Sport funded non-departmental public body) and the Countryside Agency, funds the local exercise action pilot scheme with an overall cost of £2.5million over three years. The Department is contributing £1 million and Sport England £0.7 million to this work.
In addition to these cross-Government schemes the Department of Health is taking a range of actions.
In April 2004, the Chief Medical Officer published his report, At least five a week, which brings together the latest evidence on physical activity and health.
The Department, as a co-funder alongside the Countryside Agency and the British Heart Foundation, has contributed £27,000 to a pilot scheme that has distributed 10,000 pedometers for use in primary care.
The Department and Sport England have jointly commissioned research to evaluate existing questionnaires used to determine participation in physical activity and sport.
We have also commissioned work to develop an objective measure of fitness for eventual inclusion in the Health Survey for England and a short physical activity questionnaire for use in general practice.
The Department published a national quality assurance framework for exercise referral systems in 2001 and we have also contributed funding of £120,000 over a three-year period to help establish the register of exercise professionals.
The Government has been consulting on further proposals for how we can increase levels of activity and encourage more people to be more active through the consultation document, "Choosing Health? Choosing Activity". The responses will inform preparation of the Public Health White Paper to be published in the autumn.
Drug Treatment
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to expand the residential drug rehabilitation services. [182228]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Treatment Agency has a national work programme to bring down waiting times and improve access to residential rehabilitation. They have also set up a national steering group to advise the progress of the work programme. The programme includes:
specific work to improve the efficiency of the system to access residential treatment, which includes a national online database of current vacancies in residential rehabilitation units (Bedvacs) to make sure clients are matched to vacancies;
the implementation of new models for regional commissioning of residential drug treatment by the end of 2004; and
a systematic assessment of the need for residential drugs treatment in each part of England.
Empty Houses
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [182147]
Ms Rosie Winterton: My Department has no responsibility for any houses.
Environmental Sustainability
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what have been identified as the most significant sustainable development impacts in relation to the operation of his Department's estate. [181717]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department's estate consists mainly of offices. The most significant sustainable development impacts are water and energy consumption, waste production, and travel.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken by his Department to review arrangements for public reporting of its sustainable development impacts. [181718]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department currently reports sustainable development impacts through its website and the Departmental annual report. The Department has reviewed these arrangements, and will continue to do so to ensure they remain appropriate and accessible.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements his Department has to report publicly on its key sustainable development impacts. [181719]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In line with standard Government procedures, the Department reports on its main environmental impacts through its website.
Since November 2002, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has monitored Departments' performance against targets set out in the "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate". "Performance data is published in the annual Sustainable Development in Government Report" (http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/reports/index.htm). The second annual report, published in November 2003, contains data based on the financial year April 2002 to March 2003. Copies are available in the Library.
There is also a summary of progress in the Department's annual report.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the non-office sites on his Department's estates which have been identified as being likely to provide opportunities for significant water savings. [181720]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No sites have been identified.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been in water consumption by his Department in each year since 1997. [181721]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has records for four of its major London buildings. The figures show that consumption each year in these buildings was as follows:
| Cubic metres | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 60,768m(4) |
| 1998–99 | 30,507m(4) |
| 1999–2000 | 28,428m(4) |
| 2000–01 | 25,440m(4) |
| 2001–02 | 22,167m(4) |
| 2002–03 | 27,287m(4) |
| 2003–04 | 22,256m(4) |
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has joined the Watermark project. [181722]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No, but independently the Department has reduced the annual water consumption per person below the March 2004 target in the framework for sustainable development in the Government estate.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress there has been in reducing (a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions and (b) single occupancy car commuting in his Department against the baseline year. [181723]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department fleet has reduced from 132 vehicles in 2003 to 87 vehicles in 2004. There has been a reduction in emissions and increase in the use of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) vehicles as a cleaner alternative in 2004. Vehicles purchased over the last two years have been assured to comply with Euro IV regulations on cleaner emissions.
Single occupancy car commuting figures are not collected by the Department and are therefore not available. However, we are taking steps to discourage commuting by car to the Department's principal offices, especially in London, by reducing the car parking spaces available.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what parts of his Department's estate are not covered by the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [181727]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The commitments set out in the Framework for sustainable development do not cover those parts of the Department's estate that are not directly owned or managed by the Department as its ability to influence environmental practice is extremely limited in such cases. In the main, these cover small groups of staff and the majority of the Department's estate is covered by the commitments in the Framework.
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