| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1180W—continued
Stem Cell Research
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding was given to stem cell research in the United Kingdom in the last year for which figures are available. [197098]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In the 2002 Spending Review, the Government allocated £40 million for a major cross council investment in stem cell research. This is being made available in 2004–05 and 2005–06, with the allocations listed in the table:
Student Grants Unit
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the NHS Student Grants Unit will be able to receive email correspondence; [196538]
(2) how many claims were handled by the NHS Student Grants Unit in Blackpool in each of the last three years; [196539]
(3) what targets have been set for payments of NHS bursaries; [196540]
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1181W
(4) what the average grant for a final year medical student from the NHS Bursaries Unit was in the last year for which figures are available; [196541]
(5) how many staff are employed in the NHS Student Grants Unit in Blackpool; and if he will make a statement; [196542]
(6) whether there is a dedicated helpline for hon. Members to contact the NHS Bursary Unit in Blackpool; and if he will make a statement; [196543]
(7) what the target response time by telephone is for the NHS Student Grants Unit in Blackpool. [196980]
Mr. Hutton: Email inquiries to the national health service student grants unit can be sent to nhs-sgu@ukonline.co.uk. A technical problem resulted in the email account going off-line for a short period in the week commencing 1 November, but this issue has now been resolved.
NHS bursaries awards in each of the last three financial years are shown in the table.
| Number of cases | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 80,260 |
| 2003–04 | 85,685 |
| 2004–05(61) | 75,684 |
(61) Figure to date.
The target for bursary payments for first year students is six working days following course enrolment and correct completion of application form. The average NHS bursary awarded to medical and dental students in academic year 2003–04, the last year for which a figure is available, was £1,825. The student grants unit currently employs 73 staff on permanent or fixed term contracts. An additional 10 staff are employed on a casual basis. Hon. and right hon. Members can contact the student grants unit management team on telephone number 01253 393459. This separate British Telecom line has been set up specifically to deal with hon. and right hon. Member's constituent inquiries.
There is no specific target response time for telephone calls. The student grants unit telephone system can deal with 30 calls (in and out) simultaneously and 24 of the unit's staff routinely deal with these inquiries on a rota basis. If no officer is immediately available to deal with an inquiry, the caller is placed in a queuing system until one becomes available. Between January and September 2004, the unit has successfully dealt with 77,038 calls.
Timesheet Fraud
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prosecutions the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service and its predecessor the NHS Counter Fraud Service brought against bank and agency nursing staff for timesheet fraud since September 1998. [196435]
Mr. Hutton
[holding answer 8 November 2004]: Since 1998, we have investigated a number of cases of suspected timesheet fraud by both bank and agency staff. These investigations have resulted in 39 criminal prosecutions. Additionally, during the same period
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1182W
there have been two prosecutions for false identity by a bank member of staff and for obtaining a pecuniary advantage by an agency member of staff.
Voluntary Sector Compensation
Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to compensate the voluntary sector if statutory agencies do not meet the full cost of their public service provision by the 2006 deadline set by the Treasury's Crosscutting Review. [195287]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department is fully committed to the recommendations in the "Treasury's Cross Cutting Review on the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery". The recommendation that Departments should ensure by April 2006 that their procurement policies recognise and reflect the full cost of services, including a legitimate portion of overhead costs, in the price of contracts for voluntary and community sector contractors is already reflected in the Department's procurement policies and practice.
The introduction of payment by results in the national health service will radically change the arrangements for funding providers of care. Comprising a national tariff for the majority of secondary care services, including services provided by voluntary providers when fully implemented, payment by results could in effect provide full cost recovery (FCR) for any contractor. FCR will take time to implement fully with contracts being assessed as they are agreed or renewed up to 2008. In achieving this, the emphasis is on effective negotiation between contracting partners rather than through compensation of one party by another.
Waiting Times
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting for a referral to a specialist from their general practitioner at the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by (a) clinical area and (b) length of wait. [194959]
Mr. Hutton: Information on waiting times for general practitioner (GP) referrals is not collected. However, information on waiting times from GP referral to first out-patient appointment can be found on the Department's website at www.performance.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/2004/q1/index.html
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trusts have maintained maximum nine months wait for in-patient/day case admissions in (a) England and (b) Crosby since July 2003. [195492]
Mr. Hutton: Since the end of March 2004, when a maximum nine month wait for elective in-patient or day case admission became a standard national health service performance requirement, 144 NHS trusts (out of a total of 181) have achieved this standard in each of the reporting periods. Since the end of June 2003, before the standard applied, 22 NHS trusts have achieved a maximum nine month wait in each reporting period.
Since the end of March 2004, both trusts that cover Crosby (Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust) have achieved the
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1183W
standard of a maximum nine month wait for elective in-patient or day care admission in each of the reporting periods. Between July 2003 and March 2004, both trusts reported some waits above nine months.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trusts have maintained the maximum 17-week wait for general practitioner referrals to see a consultant in (a) the UK and (b) Crosby since July 2003. [195494]
Mr. Hutton: Since the end of March 2004, when a maximum 17-week wait for a first out-patient appointment following general practitioner referral became the standard national health service performance requirement, 207 NHS trusts have maintained a maximum 17-week out-patient wait in each reporting period.
Since the end of March 2004, both trusts that cover Crosby (Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust) have achieved the standard of a maximum 17-week out-patient wait in each of the reporting periods. Between July 1003 and March 2004, both trusts reported some waits above 17 weeks.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Pensioners
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the Department's estimate is of the amount paid in rent rebate to pensioners in 2003–04; [197541]
(2) what the Department's estimate is of the amount paid in council tax benefit to pensioners in 2003–04. [197542]
Mr. Pond: The Department's estimate of the amount paid out in rent rebate to pensioners in 2003–04 is £2.316 billion in nominal terms.
The Department's estimate of the amount paid out in Council Tax Benefit to pensioners in 2003–04 is £1.684 billion in nominal terms.
These figures are consistent with data published at Spending Review 2004.
Benefit expenditure tables in relation to the Spending Review 2004 are published on the internet at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp, table 7.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in receipt of (a) old age pensions and (b) pension credit are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, (i) in total and (ii) broken down by ethnic group; and if he will make a statement. [198177]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available. Departmental records do not record a person's ethnic origin as this is not relevant to the benefit entitlement.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |