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22 Nov 2005 : Column 1816W—continued
Scans (Poole)
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the waiting time is for (a) an urgent scan and (b) a non-urgent scan at Poole NHS Trust; [29961]
(2) what the average waiting time is for (a) an urgent scan and (b) a non-urgent scan in each NHS hospital in England. [29962]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 21 November 2005]: Waiting time data for diagnostic scans are not currently collected centrally. A new diagnostic data collection will be rolled out nationally from January 2006 to support delivery of the 2008 18-week target. This will not, however, enable a distinction between waiting times for urgent and non-urgent scans to be made.
School Nurses
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to recruit school nurses. [24253]
Mr. Byrne: The Department is committed to providing new funding so that by 2010, every primary care trust, working with children's trusts and local authorities, will be resourced to have at least one full-time, year-round, qualified school nurse working with each cluster or group of primary schools and the related secondary school.
The Department understands that school nurses have an important and central role to play in tackling health issues among children and younger people, such as obesity, exercise, smoking prevention and cessation and sexual and emotional health.
The Chief Nursing Officer is leading the development and promotion of a new modern role for school nurses, and many school nurses are already modernising their roles and playing a key role in initiatives such as healthy schools, and preventing teenage pregnancy. The NHS Improvement Plan and the nursing strategy Making a Difference' also point towards an expanded role for school nurses, and a three-year school nurse development programme is currently being updated to ensure school nurses remain a dynamic workforce who are able to contribute to good outcomes for children and young people.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many school nurses there are in England. [25656]
Mr. Byrne: As at 30 September 2004, there were 2,409 qualified nurses working in school nursing employed in the national health service in England.
Sign Language
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much of her Department's budget in 2005–06 is dedicated to funding training in sign language and lip reading; [26824]
(2) what measures she is taking to ensure that the NHS delivers specialist support to those who became severely or profoundly deaf after the age of 16 years. [26847]
Mr. Byrne:
This information is not held centrally.
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It is the responsibility of the national health service and local authorities to determine how best to provide services for people with hearing impairments. This includes resource allocation for training staff in appropriate means of communication and specialist support services.
Social Care Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will commission research on the cost-effectiveness of providing preventative social care services. [23099]
Mr. Byrne: The Department's partnerships for older people projects initiative is making available ring-fenced funding of £20 million in 2006–07 and £40 million in 2007–08 to council-led partnerships to establish and test innovative approaches to preventative social and healthcare services. These will be subject to comprehensive evaluation at a local and national level and will become operational on 1 May 2006. The national evaluation will start at the same time as the partnerships pilots and will run for two and half years. Its findings will be integral to the Government's aim of developing an evidence base to support preventative approaches to care for older people.
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital Trust
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she expects there will be further ward closures at Southport and Ormskirk hospital trust sites in the next 12 months. [26585]
Mr. Byrne: This is a matter for the Southport and Ormskirk hospital national health service trust to determine in partnership with local stakeholders.
Sudan One
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the scientific studies which informed her Department's decision to remove Sudan One from the market. [29213]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 16 November 2005]: Sudan One is an illegal substance that is not permitted to be used in food. Under the General Food Law (EC Regulation 178/2002) the food industry has a legal responsibility to withdraw and recall all products known to be contaminated with such substances and to inform consumers.
The decision to recall products containing the dye Sudan One from the market was informed by a risk assessment agreed by the chairs of the independent expert Committees on Toxicity, Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment.
The risk assessment concluded that, based on the available data, it was prudent to assume that Sudan One is a genotoxic carcinogen. The risk assessment, including a list of the scientific studies on which it is based, was published in the 2003 annual report for the three committees.
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Your Health, Your Care, Your Say
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the public from the Hemel Hempstead area have been selected to take part in the Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation exercise. [25750]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Regional events were held in Gateshead, Leicester, London and Plymouth and a citizen's summit was held in Birmingham. None of the participants selected were from Hemel Hempstead.
On 4 November, 147 feedback forms had been received from local consultation events. In addition, over 18,000 on-line questionnaires had been completed and approximately 15,500 hard copies of the questionnaires had been returned. It is possible that participants from Hemel Hempstead may have taken part in these local events or completed the on-line or hard copy form of the questionnaire.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Active People Survey
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) statutory funding and (b) National Lottery funding Sport England plans to spend on the Active People survey; and if she will make a statement. [21574]
Mr. Caborn [pursuant to the reply, 31 October 2005, Official Report, c. 525W]: I regret that my previous answer on how the costs of the Active People survey will be met was incorrect. It should read as follows:
The £2 million annual cost over three years of the Active People survey will be apportioned by approximately (a) £1.1 million of Exchequer funding and (b) £0.9 million of Sport England Lottery funding. Sport England will review the apportionment annually.
Arts Council England
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which black artistic (a) companies, (b) projects and (c) individuals received Arts Council England funding for theatre in 2004–05. [26837]
Mr. Lammy: The table supplied by Arts Council England provides a breakdown of the information requested.
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