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22 Feb 2005 : Column 505W—continued
Waiting Times (Middlesbrough)
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for surgery on the NHS was for patients in Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005. [215885]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not available at constituency level.
The table shows the average (median) waiting time for elective patients where the patient was awaiting surgery at: South Tees Acute National Health Service Trust, South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Langbaurgh PCT for the years 1997–98, 2001–02 and 2003–04. Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available.
Notes:
1.A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the data year. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2.Data quality—hospital episode statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England. The Department liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.
3.Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
4.Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
Source:
HES, Department of Health.
Working Tax Credit
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has made concerning entitlement to the child care element of working tax credit of a couple where one person is engaged in qualifying remunerative work and the other is a student nurse. [216645]
Mr. Hutton:
The current NHS Bursary Scheme provides an allowance for health professional students who use a registered or approved child care provider during their period of training. Where the student, spouse or partner is in receipt of the child care element of working tax credit no allowance is payable to the
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student. Before the introduction of the allowance to meet child care costs within the NHS Bursary Scheme there was a public consultation.
TRANSPORT
Bus Services
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rural bus services in Morecambe and Lunesdale are supported by rural bus grants. [216778]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department provides specific funding to local authorities for rural bus services through the rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG), introduced in 1998. Lancashire's RBSG allocation for 2004–05 is £1.24 million rising to £1.28 million in 2005–06. Between 1998 and 2003 the Department's annual rural bus challenge (RBC) competitions also provided funds for innovative rural transport schemes. Lancashire has been awarded £3.74 million for eight different RBC schemes.
Local authorities are also able to support rural bus services through their general revenue support grant (RSG) funding. It is a matter for each individual authority to decide which services to support from their RSG and RBSG resources.
Lancashire county council advise us that there are six rural bus services that serve Morecambe and Lunesdale supported by the Department's two rural bus grant schemes as shown in the following table (RBSG unless indicated):
Departmental Costs
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the costs of cleaning the Department and its predecessors were in each year since 1997. [213829]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002.
The total cost of cleaning in the central Department comprising DFT HQ in London and Hastings, The Air Accidents and Marine Accident Investigation Branches and Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service was £384,833 in 2002–03 and £405,480 in 2003–04. For the six departmental agencies, who by the nature of their businesses and operations have a large number of properties located throughout the country, the total costs were £2,772,182 in 2002–03 and £2,931,915 in 2003–04.
Mr. George Osborne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many departmental (a) canteens and
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(b) bars there are; and how much has been spent on the (i) running, (ii) staffing and (iii) supply costs of each in each year since 1997. [213627]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002.
DfT HQ in London at Great Minster House has one canteen, which is provided without direct subsidy. The associated costs cannot be broken down in the detail requested but the overall catering costs were £12,776 in 2002–03 and £24,679 in 2003–04.
Elsewhere DfT's HQ staff at Ashdown House, Hastings have access to a canteen provided by the major occupier but catering costs are covered in the general service charge and are not identifiable separately. The Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency have three canteens at their Swansea offices that are run on a nil cost basis. Driving Standards Agency have one canteen and a bar at their Cardington Training Centre but the individual costs cannot be broken out from the overall delegate charges levied by the company running the contracted out facilities management services at the site. VOSA provides a contracted out canteen service for delegates attending its training courses in Bristol which staff may use and the cost contribution for this service was £13,592 in 2002–03 and £19,002 in 2003–04
Ministerial Stationery
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on official ministerial (a) business cards, (b) headed paper and (c) compliment slips in each year since 1997. [214958]
Charlotte Atkins: The Department's records do not allow me to provide the information broken down to the level of detail requested by the hon. Member. However the combined cost of official ministerial business cards, headed paper and compliment slips is known. The combined costs of these three elements since the formation of the Department in May 2002, in each financial year is:
| Combined cost | |
|---|---|
| 29 May 2002 to 31 March 2003 | 3,994 |
| 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 | 2,198 |
| 1 April 2004 to 31 January 2005 | 2,602 |
Mobile Phones
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of staff mobile phone bills was in each year since 1997. [214897]
Charlotte Atkins: The information requested is not accounted for separately from the cost of other telecommunications throughout the Department, and so cannot be provided on grounds of disproportionate cost.
Motorway Cameras
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what purpose cameras are being placed on traffic message gantries on some sections of the M1 motorway; and what the total cost is thereof. [214176]
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Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 8 February 2005]: The Ml motorway is equipped with cameras for traffic and incident management purposes such as comprehensive surveillance of accidents, traffic and weather conditions. They do not measure individual vehicle speed. However, some cameras measure the average speed of the traffic for the purposes of setting automatic queue-warning signs. These cameras are not used for speed enforcement. The provision of CCTV cameras is controlled by departmental standards and they can only be used for the purposes described. Most cameras are fixed to free-standing masts installed in the motorway verge. In Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, 12 cameras (installed early in 2004) have been fitted to traffic message sign gantries.
On the Al just north of the end of the Ml near Wetherby, a number of traffic and incident management cameras are being provided on message sign gantries. These works are part of the ongoing Al Darrington to Dishforth Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) scheme which is converting parts of the Al into new motorway.
These cameras have all been provided as part of a much larger project, thus an accurate cost of camera only provision cannot be determined. However it is estimated that the typical cost of installing a single camera on a traffic message sign gantry and making it operational is around £15,000.
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