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Neighbourhood Renewal Programme

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) applications and (b) expressions of interest have been received by the Belfast Regeneration Office in relation to the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme; how many of these applications or expressions of interest have been received from (i) North Belfast, (ii) South Belfast, (iii) East Belfast and (iv) West Belfast; which groups have applied for funding; how much funding has been applied for in each case; and what the total budget available for each is. [212328]

Mr. Spellar: The following table gives details of the number of applications/expressions of interest, received by Belfast Regeneration Office, made under Neighbourhood Renewal Phase I & II. A more detailed table giving details of each individual group who has applied, in each of the areas, has been placed in the Library. It should also be noted that the total budget available for each of the constituencies is still under consideration.

Area	Number of Applications received under Phase I of NR	Total amount applied (£)	Number of Applications/ Expressions of Interest received under Phase II of NR	Total amount applied (£)
North	6	81,066.26	69	10,228,292.05
South	2	29,340.17	27	6,324,318.08
East	10	208,148.55	39	4,872,585.25
West	24	756,372.02	168	19,210,113.39

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Iraq

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Solicitor-General whether she has read the legal opinion on the case for war in Iraq. [219698]

 
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The Solicitor-General: As the Prime Minister explained in a written reply on 9 March 2004, Official Report, column 1433W to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith) it is established practice not to disclose details of the circulation of papers to Ministers.

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Attorney-General provided written advice that the invasion of Iraq could be illegal. [219754]

The Solicitor-General: The advice given by the Attorney-General on the legality of the use of force against Iraq is described in paragraphs 378–386 of the Report of the Butler Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Attorney-General set out his view that the use of force would be lawful in a written answer in Parliament on 17 March 2003.

HEALTH

Agency Nurses (Sussex)

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust paid for agency nurses in each year since 2002. [219055]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect separate expenditure information on agency nurses.

The table shows expenditure by the Brighton and Sussex University hospitals national health service trust on non-NHS nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff for 2002–03 and 2003–04 (the latest year for which data is available).

	Expenditure (£)
2002–03	8,086,450
2003–04	6,236,799

Source:
Annual financial returns of the Brighton and Sussex University hospitals NHS trust.




 
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Ambulance Service

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the proposed restructuring of its ambulance service by Westcountry Ambulance Trust. [219412]

Ms Rosie Winterton: I am aware that the Westcountry Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust is currently considering ways to improve and modernise the service it provides. The Department has not made any assessment of the proposed restructuring. In line with our policy of Shifting the Balance of Power, the responsibility for the provision of ambulance services rests with local ambulance trusts and it is for local trusts to ensure that these services meet the needs of their local communities.

Cancer

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his statement of 30 November 2004, Official Report, column 528, on the fall in the premature death rate from cancer since 1997, if he will list the figures from which this statement was derived for each year since 1985. [216332]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 21 February 2005]: Cancer mortality rates in England for people aged under 75 are shown in the table. The figures are averaged over three-year periods and indicate the number of deaths from cancer each year for every 100,000 of the population aged under 75.

The 12.2 per cent. reduction in cancer mortality rates was arrived at by calculating the difference between the 1995–97 baseline figure and the latest available figures (2001–03). This figure is then divided into the baseline figure, thus showing the percentage reduction.

Data period	Three-year average data
1984–86	160.95
1985–87	159.42
1986–88	158.85
1987–89	158.37
1988–90	157.29
1989–91	155.53
1990–92	153.78
1991–93	151.32
1992–94	148.35
1993–95	146.80
1994–96	144.36
1995–97	141.24
1996–98	138.51
1997–99	134.97
1998–2000	132.12
1999–2001	128.83
2000–02	126.55
2001–03	124.06

Note:
Data from 1993 onwards are not directly comparable with data from 1992 and earlier years due to changes in coding.
Source:
Office for National Statistics mortality data.

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what policies his Department has in place for supporting employees with cancer. [218585]

 
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Ms Rosie Winterton: All employees of the Department who are ill, including any staff with cancer, are supported through the Department's occupational health and rehabilitation policies. These policies can include counselling, re-arranging work, introducing flexible or home working or transfer to a different post.

Cardiac Care (Essex)

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trained medical (a) doctors and (b) nurses specialising in cardiac care there are in Romford and Havering hospitals. [219364]

Dr. Ladyman: Data is collectively held on medical staff within the cardiology speciality at Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospitals national health service trust, which operates in Romford and Havering. This data is shown in the table.
Hospital, public health medicine and community health services (HCHS):medical staff within the cardiology specialty in Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospitals NHS trust

As at 30 September 2003	Numbers (headcount)
Barking, Havering and Redbridge RF4 Hospitals NHS trust	5

Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.

Children's Hospices

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much NHS funding has been allocated to children's hospices in each year since 1997; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of the total children's hospice funding that represented in each year; [219661]

(2) many children's hospices there are in England; and how many of them receive (a) funding and (b) the majority of their funding through the NHS; [219662]

(3) how many children's hospices receive less than 10 per cent. of their core funding from the NHS. [219663]

Dr. Ladyman: There are currently 35 children's hospices registered with the Healthcare Commission in England. The Department does not collect information on hospice funding. I supplied my hon. Friend with the most up-to-date estimate we have of the proportion of total children's hospice funding that came from the national health service in my reply to him of 16 September 2004, Official Report, column 1760W.

Children's hospice services are funded from a number of sources, including services commissioned by primary care trusts on the basis of their assessment of children's needs and their priorities. There is no upper limit to the amount of funding which the NHS can provide.

In our ongoing dialogue with representatives of children's hospices, the Department continues to encourage them to engage actively with local NHS bodies over the contribution that hospices can make to the overall pattern of palliative care they commission for children and young people in their localities.
 
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