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7 Feb 2005 : Column 1323W—continued
SCOTLAND
Consultants
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotlandwhat the total expenditure by his Department on external consultants was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2003–04; and what the estimated cost of employing external consultants will be in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii) 2006–07 and (iv) 2007–08. [211683]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. In 2003–04, the office spent £10,044 on external consultants; no expenditure has been incurred so far during 2004–05. Budgets for future years have yet to be agreed.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much the Department spent on lawyers in each year since 1997; how many (a) actions, (b) settlements, (c) court cases there were in each year; and what the costs were of each settlement. [206453]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The in-house solicitors of the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland provide legal assistance to the Scotland Office as well as other UK Departments; it is not however possible to separately identify the legal staff costs involved in defending actions against the Secretary of State for Scotland.
There have been two actions raised against the Secretary of State for Scotland, one of which is ongoing. One case was abandoned by the pursuers but the Office incurred £6,363 in outlays. The current estimated cost of the ongoing case is £6,000.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost of travel within the UK for the Department was in each year since 1997; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence. [206470]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The office also provides support services to the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland (OAG); prior to 2003–04, separate records were not maintained of the travel costs for the two offices. Expenditure was as follows.
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| 2003–04 | Scotland Office | OAG |
|---|---|---|
| Total travel costs | 190,585 | 66,261 |
| Of which: | ||
| Hire cars | 3,282 | 60 |
| Of which: | ||
| Hotel accommodation and subsistence(28) | 46,191 | 12,328 |
(28)The office does not record the cost of hotel accommodation separately from the cost of subsistence
(29)Part year
There has been no expenditure on helicopter hire.
All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in the staff handbook and all ministerial travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code" and Travel by Ministers", copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total expenditure by his Department on (a) advertising and (b) advertising and publicity was in (i) 1996–97, (ii) 1997–98 and (iii) 2003–04; and what the estimate of cost of each will be in (A) 2004–05, (B)2005–06, (C) 2006–07 and (D) 2007–08. [211684]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The Office incurred no expenditure on these matters during 2003–04; no expenditure has been incurred so far during 2004–05. Budgets for future years have yet to be agreed.
Ministerial Visits
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many times a Minister in his Department has made an official visit to (a) an injured soldier and (b) bereaved families of soldiers; and who the Minister was in each case. [214579]
Mr. Darling: These are primarily matters for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence for obvious reasons, and I refer the hon. Member to the reply he received on 2 February 2005, Official Report, column 899W. Scotland Office Ministers have not therefore undertaken any such visits.
Scotland Act
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what amendments have been made to the Scotland Act 1998 in each year since 1998. [212217]
Mrs. McGuire: As the information is rather lengthy, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.
HEALTH
Agenda for Change
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) funding will be made available and (b) time will be set aside for training and development of health professionals under the Agenda for Change programme. [208854]
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Mr. Hutton: By 2005–06, we will have made available around £1 billion of extra investment to fund the implementation of Agenda for Change. This is in addition to the costs of the general pay uplift of 10 per cent. over three years to 2005–06. The National Health Service knowledge and skills framework provides a single, comprehensive framework on which to base the review and development of all non-medical staff in the NHS. This will ensure better links between education and development and career and pay progression. This is additional to any national or local monies allocated for training and development. Detailed arrangements for training and development is a matter for local employers.
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Agenda for Change programme applies to staff employed by private companies providing services within the NHS. [211957]
Mr. Hutton: Agenda for change is a collective agreement between the Department and trade unions representing national health service employees. It applies to a wide range of people employed by NHS organisations.
Private sector contractors were not involved in the agenda for change negotiations and are not party to the collective agreement, which implements agenda for change.
Blood Glucose Strips
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts (PCTs) operate a policy restricting the number of blood glucose strips available to people with diabetes; and how many blood test strips have been supplied to patients in England on average per PCT in each of the past five years. [214518]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on primary care trust (PCT) policies relating to the availability of blood glucose strips is not centrally collected. PCTs plan their services according to local need, taking into account relevant national guidelines.
The following table shows the number of blood glucose monitoring strips dispensed in England from 1999–2003.
Notes:
1.The prescription information is from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system, from the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA), and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispenses in the community, ie by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. Also included are prescriptions written in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man but dispensed in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospitals, including mental health trusts, or private prescriptions.
2.The average number of blood glucose monitoring strips per PCT has been calculated by dividing the total number of strips by 303 (the number of PCTs). It is not a weighted average and hence does not take into account PCT populations, or number of registered patients per PCT. PCTs came into existence in October 2002. For consistency, the average number of strips per PCT has used the current 303 PCTs for all five years.
3.Blood glucose monitoring strips are defined within the British National Formulary (BNF) paragraph 6.1.6 Diagnostic and monitoring agents for diabetes mellitus".
4.More information on prescriptions dispensed in the community in England are available at: http://www.publications.doh.gov.uk/prescriptionstatistics/index.htm
Source:
Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data from the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA).
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