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13 Dec 2004 : Column 981W—continued

Social Workers

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of social workers had registered with the General Social Care Council by 1 December. [202948]

Dr. Ladyman: The General Social Care Council (GSCC) has received 44,435 applications as at 1 December 2004. Recent estimates show that this figure has exceeded 50,000 as at 9 December. Further forms are expected before the GSCC's cut-off date for receiving applications. Accurate data on the number of people in social work positions is yet not available as such data has not been routinely collected for all sectors
 
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in which social workers are based. One purpose of the register is to provide that information for workforce planning and other purposes.

5,700 social workers have been registered to date. The rate of registration is expected to increase significantly in December 2004 when new simplified processes take effect. The GSCC has plans in place to process all applications to register, by 1 April 2005 when protection of the title 'social worker' comes into force.

Sunbeds

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to warn people of the danger of excessive use of sunbeds. [201800]

Miss Melanie Johnson: There is no conclusive direct evidence that sunbed exposure causes skin cancer from either of the recent reports on the effects of ultra violet radiation (UVR) from the National Radiological Protection Board and from the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection. The greatest source of UVR exposure is from the sun.

At the request of Ministers, the SunSmart campaign, which is funded by United Kingdom health Departments, is actively disseminating key messages regarding the dangers of sunbeds. The SunSmart website, at www.sunsmart.org.uk, has a dedicated section on the dangers of sunbed use under the 'stay safe' section. This section includes information on who we recommend should never use a sunbed, which includes people who; are under 16, have fair or freckly skin, burn easily, have a lot of moles, have had skin cancer in the past, have a family history of skin cancer, are using medication that increases sensitivity to UVR.

An expert group, coordinated by Cancer Research UK, is working with the sunbed association in reviewing information they provide in salons, the positioning of such materials and training materials for their staff.

Wandsworth Primary Care Trust

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget was granted to Wandsworth Primary Care Trust in each of the last three years. [204096]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department allocates revenue funding to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. The latest round of allocations were announced in December 2002. Wandsworth PCT's share of the available resources are shown in the table.
Allocation (£ million)
2003–04275.8
2004–05303.1
2005–06332.2

Prior to 2003–04, allocations to PCTs were made by health authorities.

Working Time Directive (Junior Doctors)

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what implications the European Working Time Directive will have for the working patterns of junior doctors in the UK. [202968]


 
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 9 December 2004]: Implementation of the working time directive (WTD) for doctors in training is a matter for individual trusts. To help the national health service to achieve compliance we
 
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have supported a national programme of WTD pilots, which effectively contributed to the extensive innovative solutions now in place and which continue to be developed.