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14 Feb 2006 : Column 2007W—continued
Visas
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications made in the United Kingdom for a visa submitted prior to the introduction of the new charging policy on 1 August 2003 remain to be dealt with; and when he expects that all such applicants will have heard the result of their applications. [43334]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The date of the introduction of the new charging policy, 1 August 2003, precedes accurate data from the current casework database, and statistics are therefore not entirely reliable. Provisional management information suggests around 500 general group leave to remain cases submitted prior to 1 August 2003 are undecided. Consideration of these cases is ongoing and applicants will be notified as soon as a decision in their case has been made.
Work Permits
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many teachers working in the United Kingdom have been issued (a) visas and (b) work permits to work in the UK. [48605]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply
UKvisas does not hold statistics on the numbers of applicants who apply for and are granted visas at our overseas missions to work as teachers in the UK.
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In terms of work permit applications, the figures for permissions to teach in schools and colleges in the UK that were granted to foreign nationals in the last four years is as follows:
| Permissions | |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 8,353 |
| 2003 | 6,463 |
| 2004 | 5,084 |
| 2005 | 4,349 |
Young Offenders
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of school age have been placed in custody in (a) Ruislip-Northwood constituency, (b) the London borough of Hillingdon, (c) Greater London and (d) England in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [40715]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested for Greater London and England is provided in the table. No people of school age were received into custody in the Ruislip-Northwood constituency or the London borough of Hillingdon.
Information for prison establishments is as recorded on the Prison Service IT system.
Information for Secure Training Centres and Local Authority Secure Children's Homes has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board.
HEALTH
Alcohol Consumption
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate she has made of the proportion of (a) men and (b) women who drink more than the recommended weekly amounts of alcohol; and what assessment she has made of trends in alcohol consumption since 1979. [49533]
Caroline Flint: The Department can provide estimates of the percentage of men and women exceeding the recommended weekly alcohol consumption limit in England from 1992 to 2002 which is shown in table 1. Earlier data are not readily available for England only. We are also able to give estimates of the percentage of men and women exceeding the recommended daily alcohol limit in England from 1998 to 2004 which is shown in table 2. The assessment of alcohol consumption is that the figures have remained constant during the periods covered.
Notes:
1. In 2000 the decision was made to weight the data to compensate for under representation of people in some groups.
2. This table shows weighted and unweighted date for 1998 to give an indication of the effect of weighting. Caution should be exercises when comparing weighted date with unweighted data.
Source:
Office for National Statistics General Household Survey 2002.
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Source:
Office for National Statistics General Household Survey 2004
Ambulance Service
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely effect on the performance of combined emergency services control rooms of mergers of ambulance services. [47798]
Mr. Byrne: The Department is currently consulting on proposals for reconfiguration of ambulance trusts within England, and if established, it would be a matter for the proposed ambulance trusts to decide, following consultation, whether be appropriate locally.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will issue guidance to ambulance trusts to ensure that first responders are not used as a substitute for fully equipped ambulances in life-threatening situations. [47837]
Mr. Byrne: Guidance is set out in the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England: 2004–05" which states that an emergency response may be by:
an approved first responder equipped with a defibrillator, despatched by and accountable to the ambulance service.
Although the initial emergency response may be to send a rapid response vehicle or approved first responder, a fully equipped Ambulance vehicle able to transport the patient in a clinically safe manner is still required to attend the incident within 14 minutes of the initial call in urban areas and within 19 minutes in rural areas.
Both these standards are exceeded nationally, with in 2004–05, 76.2 percent, of category A calls receiving an initial response within eight minutes and 96 percent, of category A calls attended by a fully equipped ambulance within the 14 and 19 minute standards.
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Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the use by ambulance trusts of first responders; and what effect the use of first responders has had on ambulance response figures since they were introduced. [47838]
Mr. Byrne: Clinical evidence proves conclusively that early defibrillation and resuscitation saves more lives. The use of first responders, particularly in rural areas, can help to ensure that patients receive advanced life support as soon as possible and therefore improve outcomes.
The national defibrillation programme has funded community defibrillation officer posts in ambulance trusts. One of the roles of the community defibrillation officers is to monitor the impact of first responder schemes and this work is currently underway.
No national assessment has been made of the effect of the use of first responders on ambulance trust response times.
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