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14 Jul 2005 : Column 1181W—continued
Northamptonshire Footwear Industry
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his latest assessment is of (a) the economic strength of the Northamptonshire footwear manufacturing industry and (b) the competitive pressures it faces from China and elsewhere; and what steps his Department is taking to promote Northamptonshire's boot and shoe trade. [11198]
Alun Michael: The European Commission has opened two anti-dumping investigations into (a) footwear with a protective toecap from China and India; and (b) footwear with uppers of leather, originating in China and Vietnam. The purpose of the investigations will be to determine whether or not dumping has occurred. Dumping is considered unfair trade and the European Commission may impose anti-dumping duties to counteract it.
UK Trade and Investment is the Government organisation that supports companies in the UK doing business internationally. UK Trade and Investment
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services are available to companies through locally-based teams, including the International Trade team based at Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce and Business Link.
No specific assessment has been made of the Northamptonshire footwear manufacturing industry or of the competitive pressures facing the industry from imports, but details of the Government's manufacturing strategy are available on the DTI website.
Royal Mail (Misdelivery)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that mail is delivered to the correct address by the Royal Mail; and if he will make a statement. [12288]
Barry Gardiner: Ensuring mail is delivered to the correct address is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have received assurances from Allan Leighton and Adam Crozier that the Board will continue to give quality of service top priority.
Royal Mail Board members are incentivised to improve the company's quality of service and meet its regulatory targets. Postcomm has powers to impose penalties on Royal Mail if it fails to meet these targets.
Telephone Boxes
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many telephone boxes he expects to be available in each of the next five years. [10795]
Alun Michael: Approximately 68,000 BT public call boxes exist at present. However, it is impossible to predict how many public call boxes will be available in each of the next five years. Under an Office of Communications (Ofcom) Direction implementing the Universal Service Obligation, local authorities can veto the removal of the last callbox on a site, which comprises any area within a walking distance of 100 metres from the call box..
ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Election Expenditure
Mr. Prisk: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what the total amount spent by the Electoral Commission (a) prior to the 2005 Election and (b) during the 2005 election was on (i) television advertising, (ii) telephone hotlines, (iii) websites, (iv) screen adverts at train stations, (v) posters, (vi) postcards, (vii) postage, (viii) advertisements on buses and bus stops and (ix) radio advertising as part of the About my Vote and Don't Do Politics campaign. [11665]
Peter Viggers:
The Electoral Commission informs me that expenditure in the specified categories as part of the About my Vote and Don't Do Politics campaign is as set out in the following table:
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(3) 2003–04 (a) costs include initial campaign production and spring 2004 registration campaign.
(4) 2004–05 (a) costs include 20 June 2004 election campaign and spring 2005 registration campaign.
(5) Election campaign costs (b) include general election campaign costs incurred from 1 April 2005.
HEALTH
Ambulance Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will amend the targets for ambulance trusts to reflect clinical outcomes rather than vehicle response times. [11434]
Mr. Byrne: The recently published review of ambulance services, Taking Healthcare to the Patient: Transforming NHS Ambulance Services", recommends that while national performance requirements should continue to focus on speed of response for those patients with immediately life-threatening conditions, category A, national performance requirements for category B response times should over time be replaced by clinical and outcome indicators. This change should happen once the evidence base, technology and professional consensus are sufficiently developed to make this possible. Ministers have accepted these recommendations.
"Taking Healthcare to the Patient: Transforming NHS Ambulance Services" is available in the Library.
Asthma (Bedfordshire)
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) adults and (b) children in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire NHS primary care trust have been recorded as suffering from asthma in each year since 1997. [11021]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department publishes information about the number of admitted care episodes in national health service hospitals where asthma was the primary diagnosis. The table shows the finished admission episodes for asthma for under 18 and over 18 age groups for residents in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire strategic health authority (SHA) in each year between 1997–98 to 2003–04.
Information about the incidence of asthma is not currently available. However, the Health and Social Care Information Centre is due to publish data shortly about the numbers of people in each primary care trust (PCT) area recorded with asthma in 2004–05, which will be available on its website shortly.
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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—i.e. the data is un-grossed.
Source:
HES, Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Bedford Hospital NHS Trust
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had regarding the anticipated overspend of Bedford Hospital NHS Trust; and if she will make a statement. [11004]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities to deliver both overall financial balance for their local health communities and to ensure each and every body achieves financial balance.
Officials have been in discussion with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA to ensure it is taking appropriate action in relation to the anticipated deficit position of Bedford Hospital National Health Service Trust.
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of violence were recorded against NHS staff in Bedford Hospital NHS Trust in each year since 1997; and how many people were prosecuted in each year as a result. [11007]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The table shows the number of reported violent incidents against national health service staff in the Bedford Hospital NHS Trust for the years 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03. Information is not available prior to 2000. The information is from the
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violence, accidents and harassments in the NHS survey. As the survey has been discontinued, figures for 2004 are not available. The Department does not collect information about the number of prosecutions resulting from violent assaults.
Notes:
1. Covers 1 April to 31 March for the specific years.
2. This data collection was discontinued in 2003.
Source:
Survey of violence, accidents and harassments in the NHS.
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