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28 Oct 2004 : Column 1342W—continued

Student Childcare Helpline

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the student childcare helpline does not indicate how much childcare assistance an individual is likely to receive until they have been accepted onto a course for nurse training. [193143]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The national health service student childcare helpline was set up following the announcement made in May 2004 by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health (Mr. Hutton), to introduce an allowance to help students with their childcare costs during training. The purpose of the helpline is to provide prospective NHS professionals with easy access to general information about this new provision under the NHS bursary scheme. As the childcare allowance payable to NHS-funded students is means-tested, it is not possible for the helpline to identify or advise on the actual level of financial support in individual cases. An accurate assessment can be provided only by the NHS Pensions Agency student grants unit on receipt of a fully completed application form from the student, which contains all the necessary supporting information and documentation.

Waiting Times

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times for operations in Nottingham were (a) in 1997 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [193612]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: The information is shown in the table.
Total number of patients waiting for elective in-patient admission

	Number
1997
Under 3 months	6,329
3–5 months	3,478
6–8 months	2,296
9–11 months	1,377
12–14 months	1,008
15–17 months	486
Over 18 months	0
Total	14,974
2004
Under 1 month	2,474
1–2 months	1,744
2–3 months	1,269
3–4 months	793
4–5 months	528
5–6 months	419
6–7 months	211
7–8 months	121
8–9 months	23
Over 9 months	0
Total	7,582

Wilf Ward Family Trust

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1965W, on disabled people, what funding the Department has provided indirectly to the Wilf Ward family trust. [194935]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government do not allocate particular amounts to councils to spend on the care of disabled people. It is for each council to decide how much of its general funding allocation to spend for this purpose. Councils do this in the light of local needs and priorities. This includes funding made available to voluntary organisations.

If the Wilf Ward Family Trust was funded via a supporting people grant, that would be a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Local Government and the Regions (Mr. Raynsford).

NORTHERN IRELAND

Abortions

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where each termination in the Province in each of the last five years was performed; and what maternal illness was responsible in each case. [187803]

Angela Smith: Information is not available centrally on the maternal illness that was responsible for each termination and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many terminations in females from Northern Ireland aged 16 years or younger there were in each of the last five years. [187813]

Angela Smith: While the information required is available, the numbers involved are small and as a result individual patients could potentially be identified. For
 
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this reason it is felt that the disclosure of information on the number of terminations performed on females aged 16 years or younger is not appropriate.

Beef Exports

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to secure the lifting of restrictions on the export of beef from Northern Ireland. [193919]

Mr. Pearson: In Northern Ireland beef exports under the revised Date Based Export Scheme (DBES) have been possible from 30 September 2003. Currently two Northern Ireland companies export beef under DBES to various EU countries.

In the light of the recent positive opinion from the European Food Safety Authority on the UK case for moderate risk status we will continue to work with the EU Commission to ensure that restrictions on UK beef exports are lifted as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, my officials are working with industry stakeholders to explore the possibility of improving the operation of the Date Based Export Scheme. This is to examine ways to make DBES more financially viable for processors and therefore encourage further beef exports. If that can be achieved, it would be a welcome step in the right direction and would add value to beef, which should in turn feed back to producers.

Cancer Care

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was provided for cancer care in the Province in each of the last 10 years. [192932]

Angela Smith: It is not possible to identify separately the amount spent on cancer care in each of the last 10 years. In total, approximately £73 million of capital funding was allocated for the period 1996–97 to 2004–05. Much of this funding is allocated to the construction of the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre (due to be completed at the beginning of 2006).

The Department has also provided significant additional revenue funding to boards for cancer services in the nine years from 1996–97 to 2004–05. In total the Department has allocated approximately £28 million recurrent and £1.3 million non-recurrent additional funding during this period. Boards may also have added to these resources.

We estimate that the total acute hospital expenditure on cancer services was some £62 million in the financial year 2002–03 and this figure is expected to increase in future years.

Child Poverty

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of children in Northern Ireland lived in poverty in (a) 1990, (b) 1995, (c) 2000 and (d) each year since 2000. [193377]

Mr. Spellar: The information sought by the hon. Lady is not available in the form requested, however the following details of child poverty in Northern Ireland are provided:
 
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The Family Resources Survey has recently been extended to Northern Ireland. This contains information on the proportion of children (persons under 16 or 16–18 years old on a course up to c A' level standard) living in households below the 60 per cent. GB median household income level (after housing costs). The 2002–03 figure indicates that 26 per cent. of children are living in such households, with a weekly income below £172, in Northern Ireland.

Research published by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the report 'Low Income Households in Northern Ireland' (2003), contains figures on the number of children living in low income households for the periods 1990–1994, 1997–1999 and 2000–2002. The Northern Ireland Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey (2003) also contains information on the proportion of children in 'consensual' poverty. I will ensure that copies of these reports are made available in the House of Commons Library.

Child Support

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of child support cases in Northern Ireland were being assessed under the new criteria as of 1 October. [193552]

Mr. Spellar: The percentage of child support cases in Northern Ireland being assessed under the new rules as of 1 October 2004 is 15 per cent.

Communicable Diseases

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the (a) size and (b) resources available to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) (NI). [193380]

Angela Smith: The Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) (NI) which is located at the Belfast City Hospital is staffed by two regional epidemiologists, a part-time consultant microbiologist, one epidemiology training fellow, two scientists and five administrative/clerical workers. CDSC is funded and directed by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety although the staff are employed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA). The funding available to HPA/CDSC in the financial year ending 31 March 2005 is £580,000. Expenditure in the year 2003–4 was £375,000.

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