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24 Nov 2005 : Column 2296W—continued
Social Care Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to improve access to community health and social care services for those who experience difficulty in understanding English. [23104]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national health service is founded on the principles of equal access and equal treatment for all. Providing communications support to service users is not an optional extra; this is driven by the requirement to comply with legislation and supporting guidance. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Human Rights Act 1998 make it imperative for public organisations, including primary care trusts, other NHS bodies and local councils, to provide language and other communications support to individuals seeking help. Various pieces of guidance and advice issued to the NHS and social care in recent years have emphasised this point. In addition, since October 2004, NHS Direct has ensured that all callers who have difficulty in speaking English, and prefer to speak in other languages, can have a telephone interpreter on the line during a consultation. The service is available 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Tobacco Advertising
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if (1) she will make a statement on the operation of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002; [28195]
(2) how many (a) males and (b) females have been (i) charged and (ii) convicted in England and Wales of offences under Sections (A) 2 and (B) 3 of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 in each year since 2003; [28196]
(3) how many (a) males and (b) females relied on a defence under Section 5 of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 in the last year for which figures are available. [28197]
Caroline Flint:
The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 has been operating very effectively in the almost three years that it has been in force. It has had a significant impact in reducing smoking. The Act is enforced by Trading Standards Officers who do regular monitoring of local businesses. According to Trading Standards Officers, compliance with the Act appears to
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be very good. The Advertising Standards Authority also monitors advertisements. There have been no prosecutions and there has been only one formal caution, and no prosecutions under the Act.
Vanguard Proposals
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects her Department to reach a decision on the Vanguard proposals for additional health care provision in Plymouth. [27401]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 11 November 2005]: The Department is currently in the process of reviewing this case. Once this review is complete we will be in a position to make a decision and communicate this to the trust.
VAT
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether value added tax is charged on supplies to the NHS; and if she will make a statement. [27984]
Mr. Byrne: Value added tax (VAT) is chargeable on supplies to the national health service in accordance with the normal VAT regulations. Irrecoverable VAT is taken into account in NHS funding.
Waiting Times
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was in each of the last seven years for (a) an in-patient and (b) an out-patient admission in (i) Horsham and (ii) England. [25718]
Mr. Byrne: The median waiting times for in-patient and out-patient admission for each of the last seven years at Horsham Chanctonbury primary care trust, previously West Sussex health authority and England are shown in the following table.
Source:
Department of Health form QF01
Notes:
1.Horsham and Chanctonbury PCT established in April 2002.
2.Figures before then are shown for West Sussex health authority.
Source:
Department of Health form QM08R
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Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time in accident and emergency departments is for each NHS trust in each year since 1997. [25908]
Mr. Byrne: Information is not collected on the average waiting time in accident and emergency (A and E) departments. Since quarter two, 2002–03 information on the number and percentage of all attenders who were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at A and E has been collected and published quarterly. This information is shown in the table and is also available on the Department's website at: www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data_requests/index.htm.
Your Health, Your Care, Your Say
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation meetings were organised by each strategic health authority; and if she will make a statement. [26383]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally. Some strategic health authorities coordinated and others left this to primary care trusts.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Under-age Drinking
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to reduce the number of youths (a) drinking and (b) buying alcohol. [25147]
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Paul Goggins: The Government take underage drinking extremely seriously. That is why we are taking forward work through the Alcohol Harm Reduction Programme to tackle it. Recent activities in the Programme have included the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns in which the police have clamped down on underage drinking—through fixed penalty notices for both buying alcohol while underage and those who buy alcohol on behalf of children, test-purchase operations on licensed premises and confiscating alcohol from young people.
We have also been working closely with the alcohol industry to develop a Principles and Standards document which includes a commitment to prevent sales to under-18s through a Challenge 21" approach and better staff training. The Licensing Act 2003, which comes into force on 24 November 2005, will make it an offence to sell alcohol to minors anywhere in England and Wales, and introduces tougher penalties for those who do. The Violent Crime Reduction Bill builds on this through new powers for the police to close premises for up to 48-hours where alcohol is persistently sold to under-18s.
Alcohol-related Offences
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under the age of 30 years in the area corresponding most closely to Lancaster and Wyre constituency (a) were subject to alcohol treatment orders and (b) were convicted of alcohol-related offences (i) in the last 12 months and (ii)in each year since 1997. [20515]
Paul Goggins: The number of offenders under the age of 30 who were proceeded against or committed from Lancaster and Wyre magistrates courts and given a community rehabilitation order with drug/alcohol treatment is provided in the following table. It is not possible to identify the number of persons under the age of 30 who were found guilty of alcohol-related offences, as the individual circumstances of the offence are not collected. Statistics for 2004 will be available in late November.
Note:
These data are on the principal offence basis.
Source:
RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform
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