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20 Dec 2004 : Column 1481W—continued

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the questions from the hon. Member for Birkenhead, references 201524 and 201525, tabled on 29 November. [206228]

Mr. Hutton: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 2 December 2004, Official Report, column 240W.

Primary Care Trusts (Compulsory Purchase)

Mr. Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers of compulsory purchase primary care trusts (PCTs) have; and how many compulsory purchase orders have been issued by PCTs since their inception. [204187]

Mr. Hutton: Schedule 1 of the Health Act 1999 provides that a primary care trust (PCT) may be authorised to purchase land compulsorily for the purposes of its functions by means of an order made by the trust and confirmed by the Secretary of State for Health.

No order is to be made by a PCT in respect of any land unless the proposal to acquire the land compulsorily has been submitted to the Secretary of State in the form and with the information, required by him, and has been approved by him.

No requests have been received from PCTs, since their inception, for the approval of a compulsory purchase order.

Skipton Fund

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the Skipton Fund is used for administrative purposes, broken down by (a) rent, (b) business rates, (c) phone costs, (d) utilities, (e) costs of medical panels, (f) costs of processing initial decisions and (g) costs of processing appeals. [204567]

 
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The Skipton Fund became operational from 5 July 2004. The Skipton Fund is required to submit a record of their expenditure once a year, including administrative costs.

Surgical Urology

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost of surgical urology treatments in (a) Bournemouth, (b) Winchester, (c) Southampton and (d) Dorchester was in the last period for which figures are available. [205411]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows cost per episode of surgical urology treatments in Bournemouth, Winchester, Southampton and Dorchester. The cost per episode figures supplied for patients using a bed are the closest available to the requested information. 2003–04 is the last period for which figures are available. These figures are provisional.
Cost per episode of surgical urology treatments 2003–04

	£
Bournemouth area	697.43
Winchester area	785.20
Southampton area	677.35
Dorchester area	563.40

Source:
Annual financial returns of national health service trusts and primary care trusts.

Temporary Accommodation

Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effects on the health of families of living in temporary accommodation. [206261]

Miss Melanie Johnson: This Government commissioned an independent review of health inequalities by Sir Donald Acheson. The Acheson Report (1998) identified a number of links between ill health and homelessness, including for those living in temporary accommodation. For example, it found that 45 per cent. of the bed and breakfast population have experienced psychological distress, compared to 20 per cent. of the general population. Building on this and subsequent work, the Department and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have issued guidance to local authorities, primary care trusts and other local stakeholders, setting out how they can improve health outcomes for homeless people in their local areas—"Achieving positive shared outcomes in health and homelessness".

Vaccine Stockpiles

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms the Health Protection Agency has agreed with its equivalent agencies in the European Union to achieve common standards and stocks of national vaccine stockpiles. [204548]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 16 December 2004]: The responsibility for the vaccine stock for the United Kingdom national immunisation programme lies with the Department. The Department's aim is to ensure that there is sufficient stock of vaccines to meet the requirements for the UK.
 
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The Health Protection Agency maintains strong links with European colleagues on a range of vaccination issues.

Ward Housekeepers

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of hospitals have ward housekeepers in place in the NHS in England. [203065]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Data submitted by national health service trusts for 30 September 2004 reports that 53 per cent. of all hospitals have introduced a ward housekeeping service. This means that the NHS Plan target for half of all hospitals to have housekeepers by December 2004 has been met. For hospitals over 100 beds, which account for 86 per cent. of all beds, the percentage rises to 70.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

A3

Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason the public inquiry into the realignment of the A3 at Hindhead has been adjourned; when he expects the inquiry to end; and on what date he expects the Inspector to report. [203077]

Keith Hill: The inquiry was adjourned in response to representations made by the Highways Agency. These representations proposed scheme modifications and Revised Orders. The adjournment was necessary in order for the parties to consider the revisions and to put formal representations to the inquiry. The inquiry is due to resume on 15 February 2005.

At this stage, the Inspectors are aiming to close the inquiry before the end of February 2005 and produce their report by the summer of 2005. But this timetable will be subject to the extent of the representations to the Revised Order.

A303

Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when a decision will be announced in respect of the public inquiry into the A303 strategic improvement. [203078]

Keith Hill: The Inspector is currently preparing his report. A decision will be announced by my right hon. Friends the First Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Transport jointly as soon as possible after receipt of the inquiry Inspector's report.

Affordable Housing

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the status is of the rural exceptions policy for the provision of affordable housing in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on forthcoming targets. [205508]

Keith Hill: The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions published a research report in February 2002 called "Delivering Affordable Housing through Planning Policy". This reviewed the implementation of planning for affordable housing policies, including the operation of rural exception policies. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister drew
 
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on this research in proposing changes to the policy on rural exception housing, which it consulted upon last year. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of 13 December 2004, Official Report, column 938W.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister wrote earlier this month to the Chairmen of the Regional Housing Boards on the outcomes we wish to see from the recommendations they will be making to us in May 2005 on how resources for housing capital investment should be targeted in 2006–07 and 2007–08. It was made clear in the letter that we were looking to the Boards outside London to put forward proposals for targets for rural housing in both market towns and small settlements, which will allow the targets to reflect the region's needs and priorities.

Christmas Cards

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many hours of staff time were taken up in preparation of Christmas cards in 2004. [205120]

Phil Hope: A small proportion of staff time was taken up in selecting and arranging production of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Christmas Card. In addition a small number of staff across the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister were also involved in distribution of the cards. This work is carried out as part of the normal duties of people concerned and is not recorded separately.

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many departmental staff have responsibility for preparing Christmas cards. [205121]

Phil Hope: One member of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister staff has responsibility for selecting and arranging production of the official Christmas cards as part of wider corporate communication activities.

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