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30 Jan 2006 : Column 158W—continued
Child Protection
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect of forthcoming primary care trust mergers on the number of designated professionals who safeguard children (a) locally and (b) in England; and if she will make a statement. [27253]
Mr. Byrne: Strategic health authorities (SHAs) are making proposals about reconfiguration of primary care trusts (PCTs) in their areas. Regardless of the configuration, each SHA, PCT, NHS trust or NHS foundation trust will be required to link up with the local authority or authorities that cover the same areas in order to set up a local safeguarding children's board (LSCB) by April 2006. The guidance on safeguarding children, Working Together to Safeguard Children" makes it clear that each LSCB must have access to appropriate expertise and advice.
Children's Hospices
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the funding of children's hospices in England. [37654]
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Mr. Byrne [holding answer 20 December 2005]: Primary care trusts working with their local partners and stakeholders remain best placed to decide the level and range of palliative care needed by the children and young people in their locality and are able to respond directly to their needs. We have made our manifesto pledge to increase funding for end of life care and this includes care for children and young people. We will make further announcements on this funding in the near future.
Consultants
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid by her Department to the consultants McKinseys in each of the last eight years. [34512]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 5 December 2005]: The fees paid in the last five financial years to date are shown in the table. The amounts do not include work relating to Monitor, the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of national health service foundation trusts.
Years prior to this have been archived and the data could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.
| Financial year | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 0 |
| 2004–05 | 240,000 |
| 2005–06 | (47)1,274,875 |
(47) To date.
Correspondence
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) Parliamentary Questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by her Department in each year since 1995 in respect of the percentage her Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if she will make a statement. [37387]
Jane Kennedy: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members'/Peers' correspondence. The Report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–140WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library.
On letters from members of the public, the table shows the totals received since 1999 (we do not have earlier records) and shows, from 2002, the percentage of letters replied to within 20 days. To break that down further would incur a disproportionate cost.
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On parliamentary questions, the information is in the following tables. Ministers endeavour to reply to all parliamentary questions within parliamentary deadlines where possible.
Notes:
1. Numbers reflect days taken from receipt, not days after the question was due for answer. Numbers include questions, where answers within a one month timeframe are not possible—for example, those tabled in July for answer in September or October.
2. 2005 figures as at 14 December.
Departmental Equipment
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) her Department and (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which her Department is responsible in each English region owned in (1) 2003–04 and (2) 2004–05. [40151]
Jane Kennedy:
The Department has held asset information, across all asset types since September 2003. The actual number of assets in each category can vary month on month and therefore a snapshot of information shown in the table represents assets held for 2003–04 and 2004–05. The representative month in each year is September. The Department does not hold centrally asset information for non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies or for other public bodies for which it is responsible.
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| Asset type | September 2003 | September 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| Personal computers | 6,766 | 6,291 |
| Laptops | 2,419 | 2,966 |
| Servers | 586 | 533 |
| Printers | 2,548 | 2,420 |
| Scanners | 202 | 202 |
| Photocopiers | 122 | 122 |
| Fax machines | 464 | 425 |
Departmental Expenditure
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual expenditure on vehicles by (a) her Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which she is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland was in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06. [39973]
Jane Kennedy: For details of expenditure on ministerial vehicles provided to the Department by the Government Car and Despatch Agency, I refer the hon. Member to the letter of 20 December 2005 from the chief executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker). Copies of this letter are available in the Library.
For the core Department, information is not collected on a consistent basis for the years requested. Nor is information on other public bodies collected centrally. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of pension contributions incurred by (a) her Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which she is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06. [39975]
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Jane Kennedy: Employer contributions for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme are (to the nearest thousand) as follows:
Projected costs for 2005–06 are £13,500,000.
Departmental Research
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research projects commissioned by her Department are being undertaken; and what the publication arrangements are in each case. [32987]
Jane Kennedy: The Department funds research that provides a knowledge base for health and social care policy and, separately, to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service. Details of the projects currently forming part of the Department's national research programmes 1 can be found on the National Research Register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.
National programme project findings are placed on the Research Findings Electronic Register (ReFeR) database that can similarly be found on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/research. The researchers concerned are also responsible in each case for publishing the results of the research they undertake. Some national programme co-ordinating centres have freestanding websites and use them separately to disseminate outputs from their programmes.
Details of other research commissioned by the Department are shown in the table.
1 Policy Research, Health Technology Assessment, New and Emerging Applications of Technology, Service Delivery Organisation, Genetics, Forensic Mental Health, Patient Safety, Dental.
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