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31 Jan 2005 : Column 751W—continued
NHS Cleaning Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2004, Official Report, column 1481W, on NHS cleaning services, which organisations are responsible for cleaning hospitals where that service has been outsourced. [211081]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 26 January 2005]: The following is a list of companies providing cleaning services to national health service hospitals. This list is based on patient environment action team reports for the period ending May 2004 and may therefore have changed. The list excludes NHS trusts that provide cleaning services to other trusts.
NHS Pension Scheme
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in changing the pension arrangements for NHS consultants. [210090]
Mr. Hutton: The National Health Service Pensions Agency for England and Wales wrote to NHS employers on 23 April 2004 to clarify administrative arrangements for the new contract for consultants. The arrangements will ensure pension benefits are protected for all consultants who move to the new contract.
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the proposal to change the NHS pension scheme from a final salary scheme to an average pay scheme. [210091]
Mr. Hutton: The Government have made no proposals to change the existing pension assessment arrangements for scheme members whose pensions are currently assessed on a final salary basis. The NHS Confederation consultation document on the review of the national health service pensions scheme, produced jointly with the NHS staff side, seeks views on the merits of final salary and career average assessment but makes no recommendation. The Government will consider the responses to the consultation when complete.
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS staff are members of the NHS pension scheme. [210092]
Mr. Hutton: At 5 January 2005, some 1,254,038 people were contributing to the national health service pension scheme in England and Wales.
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhat the current value of the NHS staff pension fund is. [210093]
31 Jan 2005 : Column 753W
Mr. Hutton: The national health service pension scheme is an unfunded scheme and there is no fund value.
NHS University
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost has been of the National Health Service University since its inception. [211262]
Mr. Hutton: We established the NHSU special health authority on 1 December 2003. Its audited accounts for the period 1 December 2003 to 31 March 2004 show expenditure of £13.3 million. The budget for the full financial year 2004–05 is £44.6 million. Actual expenditure in 2004–05 will only be determined once the financial year has been completed.
Obesity
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of issues relating to obesity. [210491]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government are committed to halting the rise in childhood obesity and have outlined their strategy for doing so in Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier". This includes a new cross-Government campaign to raise awareness of the health risks of obesity and the steps people can take through diet and physical activity to prevent obesity. We have already taken a number of steps to increase awareness of issues relating to obesity during the Choosing Health" consultation last year, including staging a conference on obesity and publishing separate consultation papers, Choosing a Better Diet" and Choosing Activity". Ministers and senior officials have presented at a wide range of conferences and seminars on obesity throughout the year and continue to do so.
This builds on the five-a-day programme, which includes a number of initiatives to inform consumers of the benefits of eating a variety of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day as part of a healthy balanced diet, which can help to maintain a healthy weight. Last summer, Sport England also piloted a social marketing campaign to increase exercise in the north east of England. The Everyday Sport" campaign focused on opportunities for people to include more physical activity in their daily routine and will contribute to the evidence base for an obesity awareness campaign. The Department also funds a range of non-governmental organisations to increase awareness of the benefits of healthy diet and active lifestyles.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the levels of obesity were in (a) Romford, (b) the London borough of Havering, (c) Greater London, (d) Essex and (e) England at the most recent date for which figures are available. [210496]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The available information is shown in the table. The figures are taken from the Health Survey for England for 2003, the latest year for which figures are available. No figures are available for Romford, the London borough of Havering or Essex.
31 Jan 2005 : Column 754W
(87)Figures weighted to reduce bias from non-response to the survey.
(88)Figures are for the Government office region for London.
Source:
Health Survey for England 2003
Orthodontists (North-east)
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant orthodontists are employed in (a) Sunderland Royal Hospital, (b) Durham University Hospital and (c) Hartlepool University Hospital. [210140]
Mr. Hutton: The enquiry relating to Sunderland Royal Hospital is a matter for the Chair of City Hospitals Sunderland National Health Service Foundation Trust. I have written to Mr. David Graham, chair, informing him of my hon. Friend's inquiry.
Information requested on Durham University Hospital and Hartlepool University Hospital is shown in the table.
Note:
N/a = not available. This is due to data for June 2004, being taken from the mini census, which collected consultants only.
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.
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