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25 Oct 2004 : Column 1040W—continued

Refurbishment Costs

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of any refurbishments to the fabric of buildings owned by his Department has been since May 1997. [185528]

Maria Eagle: DWP was formed in June 2001 from the former Department of Social Security (DSS) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), including the Employment Service (ES).

The costs of refurbishments to the fabric of buildings are in the table.

		£ million
Period	Spend for former DSS Estate	Spend for former ES Estate
April 1997-March 1998	18.8	15.4
April 1998-March 1999	3.3	17.4
April 1999-March 2000	25.0	23.4
April 2000-March 2001	32.4	16.0
April 2001-March 2002	44.5	17.6
April 2002-March 2003	35.2	26.7
April 2003-March 2004	32.7	14.6
Total	191.9	131.1
Overall total		323.0

 
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1041W
 

Social Fund Loans

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what provision the Department has made in its accounts for non-repayment of social fund loans in the next financial year. [192275]

Mr. Pond: The provision the Department has made in the 2002–03 departmental resource account for non-repayment of Social Fund loans falling within one year is £1,971,327.14. The total of the Social Fund Loans debt stock as at 31 March 2003 is £626,918,608.70 which means the amount of the provision for non-repayment of Social Fund Loans in the next financial year is 0.31 per cent. of the total Social Fund Loan debt stock.

The Social Fund Loans provision is made up of provisions against Social Fund crisis loans, Social Fund budget loans and Social Fund funeral payments.

The figures used are from the 2002–03 departmental resource account as the 2003–04 departmental resource account has yet to be finalised.

Staff Redeployment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department is having with the Welsh Assembly Government to redeploy departmental employees to the new regional assembly offices planned for North Wales. [190881]

Maria Eagle: A meeting was held on 11 October 2004 between the Jobcentre Plus H R Business Partner, a representative of the DWP Regional Change Implementation Programme Executive and the Head of Human Resources for the Welsh Assembly Government. The purpose of the meeting was to outline the strategic changes planned for both organisations, the effect that these changes will have on staffing levels and respective timelines for change.

All parties agreed that there are likely to be opportunities for redeployment of DWP staff into Welsh Assembly Government posts at various locations throughout Wales. However, it is currently too early to be able to give an indication of how many posts might be available and from when.

Regular networking arrangements have been put in place to ensure that redeployment of DWP staff is maximised and Welsh Assembly Government posts are filled by skilled and experienced workers.

HEALTH

"Shaping Health Services"

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of (a) the Shaping Health Services document published by the Mid and South Bucks Health Community before the consultation into its healthcare proposals for Buckinghamshire and (b) the Shaping Health Services document on Women and Children's Services entitled Creating Better Healthcare for Buckinghamshire, published recently. [192983]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold the information requested.
 
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1042W
 

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide financial assistance for continued research at the Southern Eye Research Centre, Southampton General Hospital, into age-related macular degeneration. [191750]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 15 October 2004]: No. The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology. The MRC always welcomes high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health and these are judged in open competition with other demands on funding.

Asylum Seekers

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific measures are (a) in place and (b) planned to (i) identify, (ii) assess and (iii) meet the health needs of people seeking asylum in the UK at each stage of the asylum-seeking process. [186577]

Miss Melanie Johnson: A person who has formally applied for asylum is entitled to national health service treatment for as long as their asylum application is under consideration.

A national network of induction centres for newly arrived asylum seekers is being rolled out by the Home Office. All asylum seekers who go through an induction centre are offered a health assessment to identify and assess health needs and to facilitate prompt access to health services where needed within the induction process. A basic health history is recorded in a patient-held medical record which the asylum seeker takes with them when they leave.

Where asylum seekers live in the community, primary care trusts identify and assess the needs of asylum seekers. Individual areas have developed their own mechanisms for ensuring that asylum seekers are linked to primary health care services. One such example is the asylum seeker and refugee centre for health (ARCH) in Birmingham.

The Home Office proposes to accommodate asylum seekers in trial accommodation centres and will provide primary care services on site. The Home Office also provides for the on-site health care of those asylum seekers who go through the fast-track process at the Oakington reception centre or are held in immigration removal centres.

Care Homes

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to public funds of a patient in a care home in (a) the private sector, (b) the local authority and (c) the voluntary sector has been in (i) the Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) Tyne and Wear and (iv) England in each year since 1997. [193609]

Dr. Ladyman: The requested information is not available centrally prior to the 2000–01 financial year. Data for Tyne and Wear as a whole and the Jarrow
 
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1043W
 
constituency are also not available centrally. The table shows the average gross weekly expenditure reported by South Tyneside council and the England average weekly
 
25 Oct 2004 : Column 1044W
 
expenditure of supporting older people and adults aged 18–64 in residential and nursing care between 2000–01 and 2002–03, the latest date for which data are available.
Average gross weekly expenditure per person on supporting older people and adults aged 18 to 64 in residential and nursing care homes

	2000–01		2001–02		2002–03
	South Tyneside	England	South Tyneside	England	South Tyneside	England
Nursing homes
Older people	291	368	436	368	375	394
Adults aged 18 to 64 with learning disabilities	1,806	716	1,038	623	1,056	700
Adults aged 18 to 64 with mental health needs	(25)—	411	(25)—	483	2,224	501
Adults aged 18 to 64 with physical disabilities	284	475	481	504	423	521
Local authority owned residential care homes
Older people	448	426	425	446	446	494
Adults aged 18 to 64 with learning disabilities	783	698	791	797	(25)—	886
Adults aged 18 to 64 with mental health needs	716	651	655	606	(25)—	656
Adults aged 18 to 64 with physical disabilities	(25)—	763	(25)—	772	(25)—	718
Private/voluntary sector owned residential homes(26)
Older people	259	279	326	286	292	313
Adults aged 18 to 64 with learning disabilities	910	630	826	605	916	639
Adults aged 18 to 64 with mental health needs	209	388	284	378	291	422
Adults aged 18 to 64 with physical disabilities	791	502	795	512	567	542

⁽²⁵⁾ Not available.
⁽²⁶⁾ It is not possible to separate privately owned homes from those owned by voluntary sector organisations.
Source:
Form PSS EX1

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