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5 Dec 2005 : Column 1057W—continued
Southend Magistracy
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) men and (b) women (i) applied to join, (ii) were appointed to and (iii) left the Southend magistracy in each of the last five years. [33659]
Ms Harman:
Applications to join the magistracy are made to the applicant's local advisory committee who recommend candidates for the local justice areas for which they are responsible. The number of men and
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women appointed to and leaving the Southend magistracy in each of the last five years is shown in the following table 1 .
1 The figures shown are for the South East Essex Local Justice Area which covers the court that sits at Southend.
| Men appointed(42) | Women appointed(42) | Men leaving(43) | Women leaving(43) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| 2002 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
| 2003 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| 2004 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2005 (to date) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
(42)Including transfers into the Bench.
(43)Including resignations, retirements, transfers out and deaths.
State Prayers
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions Ministers have had with (a) the Royal Household, (b) the Archbishop of Canterbury and (c) officials at Clarence House on varying the State prayers; and if she will make a statement. [34507]
Ms Harman: It is the long-established custom that communications between Ministers and the Royal Households remain confidential. There has been no discussion between Ministers and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether it is intended that a court warrant will be issued adding a name to the State prayers; and if she will make a statement. [34508]
Ms Harman: The Government has no plans to do so.
Tamworth Magistrates Court
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many arrest warrants were issued from Tamworth magistrates court for the arrest of non-attendees resident in Tamworth constituency in the last year for which figures are available. [33729]
Ms Harman: Figures are only available for south Staffordshire. The number of police warrants for non-attendance issued for the south Staffordshire magistrates courts of Tamworth, Stafford, Cannock and Burton on Trent between October 2004 and October 2005 was 1,440. The figures are not broken down by the defendant's residence.
Voting Age
Mr. Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the Government's policy is on lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years for (a) local, (b) parliamentary and (c) European elections. [33423]
Ms Harman:
The Government intends to keep the minimum age of voting under review.
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HEALTH
Alcohol-related Hospital Admissions
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of attendances at accident and emergency departments were alcohol-related in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [24221]
Mr. Byrne: Reasons for attendances at accident and emergency departments are not collected centrally. However, data are collected on emergency admissions. The percentage of all alcohol-related emergency admissions has fallen from 1.2 per cent. in 1999–2000 to 1 per cent. in 2003–04.
Alliance Medical
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 October 2005, Official Report, column 2810W, on Alliance Medical, when she envisages the new data reporting system will be in place; and at what cost. [18882]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 17 October 2005]: The new diagnostic data collection will start across England in January 2006. It will enable the national health service to track progress towards meeting the Government's election pledge of a maximum wait of no more than 18 weeks from general practitioner referral to the start of hospital treatment. It will identify areas requiring focused attention and assist diagnostics capacity planning for future years.
The Department estimates that, once the initial implementation stage is complete and being submitted through Unify, the Department's new system designed to capture and analyse NHS performance data, the cost burden on the NHS will be lower than for existing monthly returns.
Ambulance Response Times
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely impact on ambulance response times in Warrington of creating a single North-West Ambulance Trust. [30716]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 22 November 2005]: Ambulance trusts in England are expected to meet national requirements on response times to 999 calls. If our proposals to reconfigure ambulance trusts are accepted, national response time requirements will be unchanged.
Cataract Units
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether funding projections for trusts will take account of take-up rates by patients at independent treatment scheme cataract units. [17414]
Mr. Byrne:
Patient referral levels to independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) have been estimated and agreed by primary care trusts (PCTs). These form a key part of the contracts with ISTC providers, to which PCTs are party. The financial cost at national health service tariff of the projected referrals should be included by PCTs in their financial projections.
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Cheshire and Merseyside Health Authority
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of running the Cheshire and Merseyside health authority has been in each year since it was set up. [31477]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 24 November 2005]: The Cheshire and Merseyside strategic health authority has received allocations for its running costs of £4.7 million in 2003–04, £5.1 million in 2004–05 and £5.4 million in 2005–06.
Clinical Negligence
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many successful claims of clinical negligence were made against each hospital in hospital trusts in the Lancashire strategic health authority in 2004–05; and what the total cost of all successful claims was against each hospital. [33043]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 29 November 2005]: The number of successful clinical negligence claims made against hospital trusts in Lancashire strategic health authority (SHA) in 2004–05; and the total cost of all successful claims against each hospital trust is shown in the following table.
Source:
NHS Litigation Authority
Clinical Services Review (East Lancashire)
Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultations with clinicians have taken place as part of the review of clinical services being undertaken by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. [26124]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 29 November 2005]: This is a matter for the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust.
Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library the evidence presented to the review of clinical services being undertaken by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. [26126]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 29 November 2005]: This is a matter for the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust. The Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authority report that evidence is still being submitted to the current review of clinical services and that the trust intends to publish this early next year.
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