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19 Jul 2005 : Column 1651W—continued
Return to Work Support
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many long-term claimants of incapacity benefit in Birkenhead have been offered support to return to work through (a) the New Deal for Disabled People, (b) work preparation, (c) workstep, (d) the permitted work rules, (e) benefit run-ons and (f) other Jobcentre Plus provision. [12640]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The information is not collated or held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Strychnine Hydrochloride
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many accidents affecting human health as a result of strychnine hydrochloride used by mole catchers have occurred in the last 10 years. [6273]
Mrs. McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive has not received any reports in the last 10 years of accidents affecting human health as a result of strychnine hydrochloride used by mole catchers.
Winter Fuel Payment
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many payments of the winter fuel allowance were made to pensioners living overseas in each year from 2001–02 to 2005–06; in which countries the qualifying pensioners lived; and if he will make a statement. [12408]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The number of payments made to pensioners living overseas is in the table. Payments for winter 2005–06 have not yet been made.
Notes:
1. Pensioners living overseas were first paid in winter 2002–03, these payments included any arrears due for earlier winters. It is not possible to give a separate breakdown of these earlier years.
2. Entitled pensioners living in the 10 countries that joined the European Union in May 2004 could be paid from winter 2004–05.
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Work-related Stress
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of work-related stress have been reported in his Department in each of the last three years; how much compensation was paid to employees in each year; how many work days were lost due to work-related stress in each year; at what cost; what procedures have been put in place to reduce work-related stress; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [7877]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect information in the format requested. Our sick absence statistics contain figures for absences due to mental and behavioural disorders, which is the category which includes stress-related absences, both those which are work-related and those which are not.
In the year to May 2005, the average working days lost per staff year was 12.4, which is an absence rate of 5 per cent. Of this total, days lost due to mental and behavioural disorders represent about 30 per cent. The table sets out the detail about the working days lost due to mental and behavioural disorders.
| Period (1 June to 31 May) | Occurrences | Total working days lost | Salary costs (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 14,965 | 406,747 | 22,800,243 |
| 2003–04 | 15,648 | 434,852 | 25,652,989 |
| 2004–05 | 13,320 | 362,907 | 22,245,941 |
The Department does not collect separate information about compensation payments relating to work-related stress. The total paid in compensation in the last three years is in the table.
| Period | Amount of compensation |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 74,209 |
| 2003–04 | 130,550 |
| 2004/05 | 62,080 |
The Department introduced a well-being at work policy in September 2004 as a means of tackling work-related stress. The HSE Management Standards and associated processes underpin the well-being policy and feature as part of the annual DWP staff survey. In addition, the Department has contracts with Atos Origin to provide an occupational health service, and with Right Core Care to provide an employee assistance service. Such provision is not, however, confined to work-related stress, which means it is difficult to apportion a cost to what is being done to reduce this.
HEALTH
Abortions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been performed in (a) Great Britain and (b) Essex under the Abortion Act, as amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990; and what percentage and how many were performed to save the life of the mother. [8120]
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Caroline Flint: The number of abortions performed in England and Wales on residents of England and Wales in the years 1968 to 2003 was 4.92 million. Of these 23,470 (0.5 per cent.) were performed under Sections 1(1)(c) and 1(4) of the Abortion Act 1967. These are cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, or where the termination is immediately necessary to save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
Due to boundary changes, it is not possible to give the total number of abortions performed in Essex in the years 1968 to 2003. In 2002 there were 4,626 abortions performed in Essex, which accounted for about 3 per cent. of all abortions England and Wales in 2002.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors specialising in abortion procedures there are in the Southend West constituency. [9927]
Caroline Flint: This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many abortions were performed in Southend Primary Care Trust, broken down by (a) grounds, (b) the age of the woman and (c) the number of previous abortions in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; [9969]
(2) how many abortions were carried out at each week of gestation between 18 and 32 in the last year for which figures are available; [10419]
(3) how many women in England had an abortion in each of the last five years for which figures are available who already had had (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five previous abortions; [10422]
(4) how many women in the Southend area had an abortion in each of the last five years for which figures are available who already had had (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five previous abortions; [10423]
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(5) what the total number of abortions performed in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland was in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many were performed in (i) NHS and (ii) private hospitals; [10595]
(6) how many selective reduction abortions there were in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; [10602]
(7) whether her Department requires doctors performing selective reduction of pregnancies to require a certificate stating the grounds for termination of unborn babies under the Abortion Act 1967; [10603]
(8) what proportion of women having an abortion in the latest year for which figures are available were married at the time of the abortion; what the statistical mode figures were for (a) the age of the woman, (b) the gestation of the pregnancy, (c) the number of previous children born to the woman and (d) the number of previous abortions undergone by the woman; and what the most common legal grounds were under which the abortion was performed. [10937]
Caroline Flint: The Abortion Act 1967 requires any registered medical practitioner who terminates a pregnancy to give notice of the termination to the Chief Medical Officer, including selective reduction of pregnancies.
The available information for abortions performed in England and Wales is contained in the annual Office for National Statistics publication, Abortion Statistics, series A8"; Office for National Statistics and the Department's, Statistical Bulletin 2003/23", and Statistical Bulletin 2004/14". Data for 1991 onwards can be found on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/StatisticalPublicHealth/fs/en. Copies of the publications are also available in the Library.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed on girls aged (a) 10, (b) 11, (c) 12, (d) 13, (e) 14, (f) 15, (g) 16 and (h) 17 years of age in each year since 1975; and how many were performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. [10420]
Caroline Flint: The information available is shown in the table.
With regard to the number of abortions performed to save the life of the pregnant woman, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier.
(50) not published.
2 data relate to age under 15.
(51) data relate to age under 14.
19 Jul 2005 : Column 1655W
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been performed in England on grounds of foetal handicap under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended); and what percentage this represents of the total number of abortions. [10593]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
Note:
Section 1(1)(d) of the Abortion Act, that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
19 Jul 2005 : Column 1656W
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the number of (a) live births and (b) abortions was in each year since 1976. [10594]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
(52) Number of live births relate to births occurring in England and Wales. Number of abortions relate to residents of England and Wales.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women were refused an abortion because their particular circumstances did not fit the criteria in the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended) in the last 12 months. [10598]
Caroline Flint: This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations in the field of reproductive health are funded by her Department; how much was given to each in each of the last five years for which figures are
19 Jul 2005 : Column 1657W
available; and whether account is taken of an organisation's stance on abortion in allocating public funds. [10604]
Caroline Flint: Amounts received by voluntary organisations in the reproductive health field funded by the Department through the Section 64 grant scheme over the past five years are shown in the following tables.
A further £11,000 was also provided as a one-off payment to the organisation Education for Choice in 2004, as a contribution towards the costs of website development.
In addition, the following voluntary organisations in the field of assisted reproduction have received Departmental funding within the last five years:
19 Jul 2005 : Column 1658W
The total amount of funding provided each year to these organisations is shown in the following table.
| Total (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 73,357 |
| 2002–03 | 102,000 |
| 2003–04 | 165,000 |
| 2004–05 | 186,515 |
| 2005–06 | 100,900 |
| Total(53) | 627,772 |
(53) Grand total for five years.
The Department considers requests for funding on a case by case basis and will fund organisations where they represent value for money and where we are confident that they have the skills, knowledge and capacity to deliver what is required.
Funding has also been provided to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), as shown in the following table.
(54) All funds paid by the Department, home country contribution (based on the Barnet Formula) recovered during financial year.
(55) Project funding for the redevelopment for the database register and audit of the accuracy of previously recorded data.
(56) Project funding towards costs of relocation to new premises at 21 Bloomsbury Street.
(57) Additional funds to offset in-year budget pressures.
(58) Provisional funding for 2005–06.
The HFEA is a statutory regulatory body. For that reason, it does not promote a view on abortion issues.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when each of the nine recommendations contained in the report of the Select Committee on the Abortion (Amendment) Bill 1975 were implemented; [10606]
(2) if she will list the recommendations contained in the Select Committee on the Abortion (Amendment) Bill 1975, and the First and Second Reports from the Select Committee on Abortion 1975–76 which were implemented (a) in part and (b) in full. [10607]
Caroline Flint: The nine recommendations of the Select Committee on the Abortion (Amendment) Bill 1974–75 were implemented as follows:
Updating this information and providing information on the additional recommendations contained in the first and second reports from the Select Committee on Abortion, session 1975–76, could be done only at disproportionate cost. Since 1976, a wide range of issues relating to abortion were considered by Parliament during the debates informing the Human Fertilisation
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and Embryology Act 1990. In 2001, the national strategy for sexual health and HIV set out the Government's 10 year strategy for sexual health, further bolstered by the 2004 public health White Paper. In this context, the Health Select Committee has itself conducted inquiries into sexual and reproductive health, including abortion issues, in 2003 and 2005.
It is accepted parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion have come from hon. and right hon. Members on the back benches and that
19 Jul 2005 : Column 1660W
decisions are made on the basis of free votes. The Government has no plans to change the law on abortion.
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