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11 Jul 2005 : Column 707W—continued
Public Telephone Boxes
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many public telephone boxes are in use. [9120]
Alun Michael: The regulation of telephone boxes is a matter for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). I understand from Ofcom that there are currently approximately 68,000 public telephone boxes in the UK.
Pyramid Selling Schemes
John Penrose:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons his Department has
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continued to use the Companies Acts and the Insolvency Act 2000 to wind up companies operating pyramid selling schemes following the introduction of the Trading Schemes Act 1997; and if he will make a statement. [10243]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Trading Schemes Act 1996+ and the Trading Schemes Regulations 1997 provide civil sanctions for breach of their provisions and the Fair Trading Act 1973 provides criminal sanctions. However, neither Act nor the regulations provide a power to wind up a scheme which is operating against the public interest. When there are grounds to suspect that a company is operating a scheme in breach of the regulations the company may be investigated under Part XIV of the Companies Act 1985 and, if the investigation findings point to the need to do so, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may present a petition in the public interest for the winding up of the company under section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986. It is for the court to decide whether or not a winding up order should be made.
Renewable Energy Schemes
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will extend support and incentives available to renewable energy producers to include carbon capture and abatement schemes. [10298]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 7 July 2005]: We are currently examining the potential for economic incentives for the deployment of carbon capture and storage and other carbon abatement technologies in the Climate Change Programme Review as announced by the Chancellor in his Budget Statement this year. We expect to report on our findings in the autumn.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will increase funds available to support the development of carbon capture and abatement technologies in the UK. [10299]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 7 July 2005]: I have recently announced some £25 million to support the demonstration of carbon capture and storage and other carbon abatement technologies. This is new money and in addition to the £6 million per year allocated under the 2004 spending round.
Wind Farms
Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the energy mix wind power contributes to UK energy supply; and if he will make a statement. [10287]
Malcolm Wicks: In 2004 onshore and offshore wind together accounted for 0.49 per cent. of the electricity generated in the United Kingdom, up from 0.32 per cent. in 2003. In terms of primary energy supply the percentages were smaller at 0.07 per cent. in 2004 up from 0.05 per cent. in 2003.
In total in 2004 renewable sources accounted for 3.58 per cent. of the electricity generated in the UK (up from 2.67 per cent. in 2003) and 1.54 per cent. of energy supply in primary energy input terms (up from 1.32 per cent. in 2003).
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HEALTH
Delivering Race Equality"
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action has been taken towards the improvement of services for older people specified in Delivering Race Equality". [6400]
Mr. Byrne: Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care" (DRE) was published in January 2005. It is a five-year action plan for tackling discrimination and improving services for black and minority ethnic (BME) patients.
DRE was preceded in 2001 by the national service framework (NSF) for older people. Standard seven of the NSF is clear that older people from BME communities need appropriate and accessible mental health services. DRE recognises that older people from BME communities can face additional barriers to appropriate and effective mental health services. It also recognised that further action was needed for standard seven of the NSF to be implemented fully.
The Department's national clinical directors for older people's services and mental health services, Professors Ian Philp and Louis Appleby, will shortly launch a vision for the future of older people's mental health. This will outline the key components of a model service and build on the service developments that the NSF and DRE have initiated.
A number of focused implementation sites for DRE are being established. These sites will help to develop best practice in mental health care for BME communities, including older people, that can be disseminated across the country.
Accident and Emergency Services
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of those attending accident and emergency departments were not registered with a GP in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS region. [7062]
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Mr. Byrne: The data are not collected centrally by the Department.
Agency Staff
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to reduce the number of agency staff working in the NHS. [7626]
Mr. Byrne: We have a well established work force strategy based on recruiting and retaining a high quality national health service work force. As part of this strategy, we recognise the need to use a flexible pool of staff through NHS banks or private agencies. We expect these staff to be of good quality and for the NHS to get value for money. To ensure that this is the case, we have developed agency framework agreements through our Purchasing and Supplies Agency and have established NHS Professionals as a special health authority. These are playing a significant part in securing the appropriate and effective use of agency staff.
According to a recent independent report, agency spending fell for the first time in recent memory" in 2003–04 and improvements were led by a reduction of £65 million in spend on agency nurses.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action her Department is taking to reduce the NHS's use of agency and bank nurses. [6550]
Mr. Byrne: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr.Hoyle) today.
Alcohol-related Illness
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people (a) under the age of 18 and (b) over the age of 18 were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available, broken down by region. [8009]
Caroline Flint: The table shows how many people under the age of 18 and over the age of 18 were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems in each of the years for which data are available—from 1996–97 onwards—broken down by region.
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(32)Alcohol related diseases defined as following ICD-10 codes recorded in primary diagnosis
F10 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol, K70 Alcoholic liver disease, T51 Toxic effect of alcohol
Notes:
1.A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. 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.The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
3.Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed).
Source:
HES, Health and Social Care Information Centre.
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Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) binge drinking and (b) other alcohol-related emergency cases there were in hospitals in (i)England and (ii) Southend in the last period for which figures are available. [9926]
Caroline Flint: Data are not collected that could distinguish binge drinking from other alcohol related emergency admissions. The following table shows a count of finished admission episodes for alcohol related cases where the method of admission was emergency in 2003–04.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre
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