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12 Jan 2005 : Column 558W—continued
Public Engagements
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list his public engagements fulfilled in each month since September. [204874]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 20 December 2004]: My right hon. Friend, the former Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly), carried out the following public engagements between September and 15 December 2004.
Regulatory Accountability Panel
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions the Prime Minister's Panel for Regulatory Accountability has met since March; which regulations likely to impose a significant cost to business have been scrutinised by the panel; and which regulatory proposals have been (a) rejected and (b) delayed by the panel. [203888]
Mr. Miliband: We do not disclose information relating to the proceedings of the Cabinet and its committees.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office on how many occasions between 31 March 2002 and
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31 March 2003 his special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [207763]
Mr. Miliband: In the financial year 2002–03, Cabinet Office special advisers did not make any visits overseas in an official capacity.
Working Time Regulations
Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials working in ministerial private offices in the Department have worked more than a 48 hour week at any time in the last 12 months for which figures are available; how many of those had signed a waiver under working time regulations; and what percentage these figures represented of the total in each case. [204150]
Mr. Miliband: The Working Time Regulations provide workers with the protection of a limit of an average of 48 hours a week working time. This is not an absolute cap of 48 hours in any one week. This average is normally calculated over a 17-week reference period, although this can be longer in certain situations (26 weeks) and can be extended by agreement (up to 52 weeks). Workers may choose to work more than 48 hours per week over this reference period by signing an opt-out agreement, but employers cannot force a worker to sign an opt-out, and workers cannot be subjected to detriment for refusing to sign an opt-out.
The Cabinet Office has two officials working in ministerial private offices who have signed a waiver under the working time regulations.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Sexual Health
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many newly-acquired acute sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS (a) were recorded in 2003 and (b) have been recorded to date in 2004 in the Province. [206340]
Angela Smith: The number of newly acquired acute sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS that (a) were recorded in 2003 and (b) have been recorded to date in 2004 in the Province are shown in the table below. Information is based on the initial contacts at Genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics in Northern Ireland.
| Number of newly acquired acute sexually transmitted infections | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 9,197 |
| 2004 | 4,743 |
Notes:
Information for 2003 covers the time period 1 January to 31 December 2003. Information for 2004, from 1 January 2004 until 30 September, is incomplete; as not all returns have been submitted at this point in time therefore this figure is provisional.
Breast Screening
Mrs. Iris Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many additional staff have been
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recruited to assist with the increased level of breast screening resulting from widening the age range for screening in the Province. [206128]
Angela Smith: The Department aims to have the extended breast screening programme implemented in 2006. In the meantime a total of 2.1 (whole time equivalents) additional radiographers have been recruited to expand the capacity of the system, in order to accommodate the screening of women in the 65–70 age group.
Clinical Negligence
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many clinical negligence cases are pending within each health trust in the Province. [206351]
Angela Smith: At 30 November 2004, the number of cases pending in each Trust was as follows:
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how much has been spent by each of the Northern Ireland Departments on (a) rent or hire of accommodation for staff conferences and (b) overnight stays in hotels for staff in each year since 1997; [207739]
(2) how many staff conferences have been organised by each of the Northern Ireland Departments in each year since 1997; and at what total cost; [207740]
(3) how many civil servants in each of the Northern Ireland Government Departments have attended staff conferences involving an overnight stay in each year since 1997. [207741]
Mr. Pearson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Health Care Funding
Rev. Martin Smyth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the £214 million increase
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in health care funding in 2003–04 has been provided for (a) meeting inflation, (b) improving staff terms and conditions of employment, (c) changes in policy on charging for some services and (d) planned service developments. [206385]
Angela Smith: The DHSSPS budget uplift for 2003–04 amounted to some £214 million for Healthcare, Personal Social Care, Fire Service and Food Standards Agency. This included:
(a) £66 million—to meet pay and price inflation,
(b) £23 million—to improve terms and conditions for staff including the Consultants New Contract, the Junior Doctors Working Time Directive and the new GP Contract;.
(c) Specific monies were not made available to address changes in policy on charging for some services.
(d) £39 million—for planned service developments.
Hospital-acquired Infection
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent in the Province in the last year for which figures are available on products to combat MRSA. [205956]
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Angela Smith: It is not possible to distinguish products purchased to combat MRSA from those to combat other pathogens. However information received from Trusts indicates that hospitals are spending around £83,000 annually altogether on products such as alcohol gels and antiseptic wipes which are regarded as crucial in combating MRSA. In addition a considerable amount of expenditure occurs in hospitals on infection control activity and products to deal with all types of pathogens.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received regarding new products for combating MRSA in hospitals. [205957]
Angela Smith: My Department has recorded no particular representations regarding new products for combating MRSA in hospitals.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of MRSA were detected at each hospital in the Province in each of the last 12 months. [206347]
Angela Smith: Data on MRSA bacteraemia rates is collected, collated and analysed by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) on a quarterly basis.
The following table covers the four quarters ending June 2004.
Data for April to June 2004 are provisional. Data quoted do not take account of the activity rates of each trust. Further data and background information on this mandatory surveillance is available at: http://www.cdscni.org.uk/publications/AnnualReports/pdf/3rd%20report%20MRSA%20Blood%20Cultures%20NI.pdf
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