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Thailand

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has held with the Government of Thailand on improving the human rights record of the Government of Burma before it hosts the 2006 ASEAN Summit. [202799]

Mr. Alexander: I met the Thai Ambassador on 29 November with his colleagues from other ASEAN countries, and urged the need for human rights progress in Burma before 2006. Our Ambassador to Thailand called on the Thai Foreign Minister on 11 November and discussed the need for urgent reform in Burma.

Travel Advice

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice the Foreign and Commonwealth Office gives to British travellers abroad on health care and travel insurance. [204254]

 
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Mr. Mullin: Through its website, the FCO encourages all British nationals to ensure that they have adequate travel insurance and have taken the appropriate medical precautions. In addition, the FCO's travel advice notices provide specific health information for 217 countries or territories and link directly to the Department of Health website. Health and travel insurance issues are also included in the 'Know Before You Go' campaign consular awareness literature. Our network of 185 campaign partners help distribute this information to the public.

Turkey

Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to Turkey to abolish the use of passports for internal travel on the island of Cyprus. [204009]

Mr. MacShane: EU citizens can travel from south to north Cyprus on presentation of their ID cards. EU citizens without ID cards, and Third Country nationals, must present a passport.

Since the partial lifting of restrictions on crossing the Green Line by the Turkish Cypriot authorities in 2003, thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been crossing the line every day. The Green Line Regulation, adopted by the European Council in April this year, has led to freedom of movement throughout the island for EU citizens. The Government welcomes these developments and continues to urge both sides to take further steps towards normalisation.

HEALTH

Care Guidelines

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines he had issued on the respective responsibilities of the national health service and local authority social service departments for the care of people (a) resident in a care home and (b) in their own home, who suffer from a chronic condition. [202134]

Dr. Ladyman: In September 2001, the Department issued guidance, [HSC 2001/17:LAC(2001)26] outlining the arrangements for the introduction of national health service-funded nursing care for all care home residents from 1 October 2001. This transferred the responsibility to the NHS for funding the nursing care of those care home residents paying the full costs of their care from a registered nurse and ensured parity with others who were already receiving NHS-funded nursing care in their own homes or in residential accommodation through NHS community nursing services.

Further guidance, issued in March 2003—HSC 2003/006: LAC(2003)7—outlined the arrangements for implementing NHS funded nursing care for all care home residents from 1 April 2003.

Through domiciliary care services, local authorities provide personal care and support to adults and older people in their own homes.
 
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In 2002 and 2003, the Department issued guidance on fair access to care services. This guidance provides councils with a framework for setting their eligibility criteria for adult social care.

The personal care needs of residents of care homes and those living at home are the responsibility of the individual or the local council.

Services are provided based on an assessment of need and local authorities have a discretionary power to charge for these services. The Department issued guidance—"Fairer Charging for Home Care and other non-residential Social Services"—to all local councils in November 2001, which seeks to ensure that, where councils do charge, this will be based on fairer, well designed charging policies.

Complementary Medicine

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list the complementary (a) treatments and (b) therapies which are available to patients on the NHS. [204331]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government expects decisions on local services to be made by frontline service providers and this also applies to complementary therapies. In making such decisions, national health service organisations take into account evidence for the safety and effectiveness of the treatment, and the availability of properly qualified and regulated practitioners.

Dentistry

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost to train a dentist (a) in total and (b) per year. [200594]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Costs vary across the nine dental schools in England. At current prices, the average, including both the cost of academic and clinical training, for which the Higher Education Council for England and the Department are responsible respectively, is £160,000 or £32,000 per year over the five-year course.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the annual cost to the NHS on average of one NHS dentist under the new dentistry contract. [200595]

Ms Rosie Winterton: All dentists providing general dental services immediately before 1 October 2005, including associates, will have a right to be offered a contract with the primary care trust when the new arrangements come into effect. Dentists will be offered gross earnings (turnover) protection lasting three years based on their most recent gross earnings uplifted by any agreed doctors' and dentists' review body increase provided they maintain the same level of national health service commitment. It is premature to forecast how many dentists will opt for protection but, by way of illustration, we estimate that in 2003–04 the cost of a general dental practitioner dentist with a significant commitment to the NHS was £108,700 net of patient charge income.
 
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Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in Lancashire have received grants to establish and equip their practice in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [203040]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Departmental Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the European Union directives and regulations relating to his Department that have been implemented in each of the last two years, specifying (a) the title and purpose of each, (b) the cost to public funds of each and (c) the cost to businesses of each. [200780]

Mr. Hutton: The Department has led on the implementation of four directives in the last two years, counted since 9 December 2002. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which deals with issues of food safety, has led with the implementation of 31 directives. The number of regulations which FSA is responsible for, and have direct effect in UK law, is 18. This information, together with information about commission decisions, of which there are 18, has been placed in the Library.

This Department does not hold cost information in the form requested and such information could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.

The Department is required to produce regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) for proposals, including those originating in European legislation, likely to impose costs on business, charities or voluntary organisations. Copies of these are available in the Library and on the Department's website.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) new builds, (b) demolition rebuilds and (c) PFI projects in his Department for each of the last two years. [200794]

Mr. Hutton: The capital value of national health service projects completed during 2003 and 2004 (as at 9 December 2004) is as shown in the table.
£ million

	2003	2004	Total
Publicly funded	279	442	721
Private finance initiatives (estimated)	511	89	600
Total	790	531	1,321

Detailed information is not held centrally for schemes with a capital value below £10 million. We do not make a distinction between new build or demolition rebuild.

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